Arts notebook roundup: IRT adds kid’s theater, new IAC events, and the end of the world

—Indiana Repertory Theatre has long been a theater adept at attracting student groups. But now it’s aiming even younger by adding its first children’s productions to its lineup. In Nov. it launches its Exploring Stages series with “The Velveteen Rabbit” aimed at ages 3-8. A positive sign: The adaptation is by IRT playwright-in-residence James Still.

—For those who like to mark their calendars early, the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir has commissioned a new oratorio from composer Mohammed Fairouz to have its world premiere in Indy in April of 2015. With a libretto by actress/writer Najla Said, Fairouz’s “Oratorio on the Psalms of David” will be performed with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and will require a chorus, children’s choir and solists.

—The climactic volume of Ben H. Winters’ apocalyptic “The Last Policeman” series is set for a mid-July release from Quirk Books. My review of the Butler University faculty member’s latest will be posted around that time (I’m reading it now). In the meantime, catch up on the first two books, which I reviewed here.

—The Indianapolis Art Center has added a Collaborations series to its summer offerings, featuring pop-up ArtsPark performances and interactive story gatherings from NoExit Performance, Indy Reads Books, and Know No Stranger.

— “The Beverly Hillbillies: The Musical” will have its world premiere at Theatre at the Center in Munster. Historians may look back on this as the end of theater as we know it.