Articles

Venzago out as ISO maestro

Mario Venzago is out as Music Director for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. A search begins immediately for a replacement.

According to a memo sent minutes ago by Simon Crookall, ISO CEO and President, to his staff: “For a number of reasons…

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Small town, budget hotels hold own in difficult economy

While the local hotel industry is being rocked by the current economy, budget hotels and those in the small towns surrounding
Indianapolis are actually seeing gains. Properties affected by the Indianapolis 500, Brickyard 400 and Big Ten Tournament
are among the losers.

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Lawmakers cut state tourism office’s budget in half

Destinations throughout Indiana no longer can count on a state marketing campaign to help drive summer crowds. Lawmakers who
passed a budget during the special session at the end of June sliced the state’s annual contribution
to the Indiana Office of Tourism Management in half—from $4.8 million to $2.4 million.

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Review(ish): student ‘Rent’

Commenting on a summer teen theater workshop production is akin to writing about high school plays. Friends and family constitute 95 percent of the audience, and extended applause between songs and standing ovations afterwards are a given.

So rather than offer…

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Does anyone miss music mags?

Slate has an interesting piece running about the death of music magazines. Writer Jonah Weiner points to the folding of Vibe and Blender, lay-offs at Spin, and staff cuts at Rolling Stone. He further notes te notes the challenges faced in covering music…

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You-review-it Monday

For me, the weekend included closing night at the Indianapolis International Film Festival featuring the deserving-national-release documentary “Racing Dreams” (and subsequent party and award presentation), a Saturday visit with the “Smoke on the Mountain” crew at Beef & Boards’ “Sanders…

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‘Racing Dreams’ & more win IIFF

“Racing Dreams,” an outstanding documentary about competitive karting, took the Audience Award at the Indianapolis International Film Festival earlier this evening. Its three charming teen subjects and its director were all on hand to bask in the acclaim.

Other feature winners…

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Tweeting on the lawn

Annoyed by text-reading patrons at concerts? Well, Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra is now actively encouraging it.

For an upcoming concert at Wolf Trap, it will be Tweeting live program notes to audience members on the lawn during a performance of Beethoven’s “Pastoral.”…

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500 Days of Summer thoughts

So, did you make it to the screening of “500 Days of Summer”? If so, what did you think?

I’ll let a few others post before I chime in with my thoughts.

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How I spent my summer vacation

I just returned from a vacation with family at the New Jersey shore. But, of course, I didn’t leave A&E behind.

No, I didn’t catch any Atlantic City casino shows — although, I regret missing Chazz Palminteri do his one-man show,…

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You-review-it Monday

I’ve been out of town this week, so I’ve missed, well, everything.

But I plan on catching up in a big way this week. In the meantime, tell me about your weekend arts experiences. Did you get to the latest “Smoke…

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LOU’S VIEWS: Abe Lincoln is back at Spencer County theater

After I discovered it one summer, Lincoln Amphitheatre quickly became one of my favorite theaters in the state. Nestled
in a state park in Spencer County, the covered-but-still-outdoor theater’s anchoring attraction was a show about young
Abraham Lincoln, who spent his formative years just yards away.

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DINING: We’ll take sushi over cigars, now and Zen

This week, our exploration of the city’s cultural district dining took us to Mass Ave, where the culinary cultural
offerings just might outnumber the artsy fartsy stuff. Our destination: Bu Da Lounge (429 Massachusetts Ave., 602-3643), which
bills itself as an Asian-inspired cigar bar but is generating buzz for its sushi selection.

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