A new dance company, a theater in crisis, and a WNAP raft race redo

Emptying the notebook on recent news.

—Spotlight Players, the community theater anchored at the former Beal’s department store in Beech Grove, is giving up the space after seven years. A scheduled rent increase and building upkeep are being blamed. No performances—or a new location—have been announced for next season and a sale of just about everything in the building is planned for July 26-27.  A scheduled August production of “Parallel Lives” has been cancelled. Stay tuned.

—Staking a claim as the only resident ballet company in the Indianapolis area, Ballet Theatre of Indiana has announced that it will be offering “La Sylphide” in Oct. at the Schrott Center for the Arts—appropriate since many of the company’s dancer are Butler University graduates. At the helm are Bulldogs Stirling and Sabrina Matheson.

—Art doesn't just show up at museums. It has to be installed. And next week, Roy Lichtenstein’s massive “Five Brushstrokes” is being put in its new home on the grounds of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. A wide range of variables will impact when it happens but it should be a sight to behold.

—WARMfest returns in September for a second year. But first, it’s offering a series of Warm Up to WarmFest events, one of which should be of particularly interest to those nostalgic for yesteryear Indianapolis: The return of the WNAP Raft Race. Even though the station no longer exists, former WNAP radio personalities Cris Conner, Fast Freddie Fever, Ann Craig, Bruce Munson, and Ron Below will be on hand for the Aug. 10 festivities.