You-review-it Monday: 'Pure Prine,' 'Iron Man' and more

Variety spices area stages and screens.

May 10, 2010
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Okay, so maybe I'm the only person who will ever see a double feature of the documentary "Babies" and the action sequel "Iron Man 2," but that's sort of how Thursday went when I attended the former for an IBJ Night at the Movies pre-opening screening at Keystone Art Cinema followed by a midnight screening of "Iron Man 2" at Regal Galaxy.

We gave away tickets to both here on the blog and through the IBJ's free Thursday A&E e-mail blast. Watch for more thoughts on both on an upcoming blog.

I also will be writing about "Pure Prine," the outstanding new show at the Phoenix Theatre that's running for just one more weekend. I expected something akin to the "Hoosier Dylan"-style tributes that have been staged recently. This show is very different and equally satisfying, with a strong cast of actor/musicians including Tim Grimm, Michael Shelton, and Bobbie Lancaster. Plus, wall-to-tavern-wall great John Prine songs. First class work all around.

I also caught Indianapolis Monthly Senior Editor Amy Wimmer Schwarb's short play "Dash Thirty Dash," presented as part of Diva Fest at the Indy Fringe Building. All three performances of that play were sold out, which is a good sign for future installments of Diva Fest, which is designed to help counter the fact that nationally only 17% of produced plays are by women playwrights. A quick check also revealed that only five plays by women have been nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play in the last decade. Clearly, the field isn't quite level yet. And perhaps the reasons should be discussed in an upcoming blog...

One of the few steadily produced women playwrights in America is Rebecca Gilman and, inspired by Diva Fest, I took a look at the film adaptation (now in rotation on cable) of her most popular play, "Spinning Into Butter," starring Sarah Jessica Parker as a college dean caught up in racial politics. Unfortunately, it should have been left on the stage.

Your thoughts? What did you see, hear or do this weekend?

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  • City Island
    Enjoyed an afternoon in the dark to celebrate Mother's Day with my son while my daughter worked. City Island. Quirky. Funny. Some really strong performances and really amusing scenes. Definitely worth seeing...
  • Patsy Cline Tribute at Beef & Boards
    Outstanding show mixed with great songs (Christine Mild, who plays Patsy Cline) and great humor (Erin Parker, who plays Cline's friend and fan, Louise Seger).
    Based on a true story. Incredible music!

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  1. First, let me say that I love the idea of communities being self-sufficient and people in the community not needing cars, living, working and shopping all in their neighborhood. To sum it up; I love good urban planning and hate urban sprawl. However, there are two reasons that I am against this development. First, this building doesn't fit. Density can occur in Ripple by building up top the street and better use of land. The scale of this project should be downtown. Secondly, I would be willing to bet that if a whole foods in Ripple is built, the Nora store would be closed. Here's my reasoning. The Nora Whole Foods expansion plans have been put on hold. I'm guessing they are waiting to see what happens with the Ripple proposal. Communities next to each other should work together to end sprawl and not work against each other and take other neighbors assets. Develop something both communities can be proud of and will attract more development and density. There's my soap box for the day.

  2. My apologies, Lou - it was the Indy Star that printed cost for entertaining "celebrities" during Indy 500. Sorry for confusing the always timely IBJ with Indy's Gannett reprint news source.

  3. That's fine if you want a grocery store that has festivals and live music. I guess with the prices they charge, they can afford to host such activities. As for me, I choose to spend my money more wisely and if I want to go to a festival or a concert, I will pay for that separately - not through my grocery bill.

  4. TIF is not just to attract development but to attract a higher use for that development. Carmel wisely is using TIF for numerous public parking garages. Asphalt seas of parking pay little taxes and bring even less value to a commercial area. Also density is what is going to save Indy and Broad Ripple. The days of trying to compete with burbs are long gone.

  5. The Prestige was an awesome movie.

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