Latest Blogs
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Kim and Todd Saxton: Go for the gold! But maybe not every time.
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Q&A: What you need to know about the CDC’s new mask guidance
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Carmel distiller turns hand sanitizer pivot into a community fundraising platform
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Lebanon considering creating $13.7M in trails, green space for business park
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Local senior-living complex more than doubles assisted-living units in $5M expansion
International theater launching here
You heard it hear first–unless you’ve been hanging out in the halls of Butler University.
BU theater head John Green and prof/actress/director Diane Timmerman will be launching a new theater company next summer. Dedicated to bringing the best of world theatre artists…
You-review-it Monday
As you can see from the previous three posts, I spent most of the weekend on and around Mass Ave soaking up IndyFringe. It was great to see such strong crowds out. The festival continues through Aug. 31 and while…
IndyFringe reviews 3
Today, some family friendly fringe–in the company of my 6-year-old son.
We started with “Tastes Funny,” in which a pair of goofballs (the Ed Grimley-haired Daniel Oldaker and the stunning, “Pretty Woman”-era-Julia-Roberts-looking Ranik Huszar) performed admirable feats of plate spinning, juggling, and…
IndyFringe reviews 1
For the first night of this year’s IndyFringe Theatre Festival (aka IndyFringe or Indy Fringe), I decided to select four showsthat looked to be among the most risk-taking. After all, what’s a fringe without something out there on the fringe? (Skip…
Democrats’ composer in residence
David Amram (recently seen here in town at the opening of the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s Kerouac/Frank exhibition) has been named Composer in Residence for the Democratic National Convention. See full story here.
The story reports that Amram, who has…
Are crosswords anti-reading?
Ron Rosenbaum at Slate.com seems think so.
“What always gets to me,” he writes, “is the self-congratulatory assumption on the part of puzzle people that their addiction to the useless habit somehow proves they are smarter or more literate than the…
New theater launch, part 1
A positive sign on the local arts scene (and we certainly could use those), is the launching of more professional arts organizations. Community theater is fine, but the more paying work there is for actors, directors, and designers, the better…
Happy birthday, Ben Harrison
Today marks the 175th birthday of our homegrown pres, Benjamin Harrison. The BH home at 1230 N. Delaware is celebrating with free tours today from 10-3:30.
I’m celebrating by trying to think of a list of Best Performance by an Actor…
On the brink of IndyFringe 2008
IndyFringe 2008 launches this week with a kick-off party Thursday and performances beginning on Friday.
This year’s lineup includes 270 performances of 53 shows–including one-act plays, improvisational comedy, dance pieces, magic acts, confessional one-person shows and difficult-to-describe oddities.
As in the past, the shows aren’t…
Overdosing on the Beatles?
In putting together this year’s IBJ A&E Season Preview (coming soon to your favorite business paper), I saw a mini-trend emerging.
It starts Aug. 28-29 with “Classical Mystery Tour,” a visit from a quartet of Liverpoolian-look-and-sing-alikes at Conner Prairie.
That same…
You-review-it Monday
I spend more time than I expected to this weekend soaking up Gen Con–including a performance of “Video Games Live” with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. More on the concert–and some great family board games I discovered–in this week’s print column….
‘American Teen’–your comments
So were you there at the IBJ Night at the Movies screening of “American Teen,” the high school documentary shot in Warsaw,
Indiana?
Let us know what you thought of the film.
Thoughts on Gen Con Indy
No, I’m not going to mock the costumed hoards that are converging on the Convention Center over the next few days for Gen Con. Instead, I’m just going to share some observations on the event, its people, and its…
When the art hits the fan
At Switzerland’s Zentrum Paul Klee, an inflatable pile of dog feces the size of a modest ranch home came loose from the museum grounds, knocked down a power line, and broke a window in a nearby children’s home. See the BBC report…
Mayor: budget cannot eliminate arts
And so the Indianapolis arts community exhales. There’s still $1 million in the budget and there’s less chance of our town being seen as culturally regressive.
But what’s the underlying message from Mayor Ballard’s budget speech?
Is it simply that cuts have…
You-review-it Monday
For me, the weekend was bookended with a Friday trip to Bloomington to see singer Maureen McGovern backed by IU musicians and a Sunday run to Beef & Boards for the opening of The “Producers.”
What did you see, hear, read…
Arts budget: Scales comments
Earlier today, City County Councillor Christine Scales e-mailed me regarding the city arts budget and the rumored threats against it. I’m reprinting the letter here (and posting it with the earlier blog) with her permission. Your thoughts are, of…
Latest B’way cast recordings
With a new season starting on Broadway, I thought it a good time to give a listen to a stack of cast recordings of 2007/2008 shows. More than the original production, I believe, the cast recording is what encourages future…