Priority list includes Artsfest outlaws, a poetic play, a singing chaperone, more

It's wall-to-wall arts at both Butler University and the University of Indianapolis this week. But you can also find a premiere magical-realist play at the Phoenix, a smile-packed musical at Beef & Boards, and more.

ButlerArtsfest

The theme this year is “Outlaws & Outsiders” but don’t let that make you think you can sneak in through a side exit or otherwise shirk the admission expectations. The lineup this year, though, should be worth the ticket price. Lula Washington Dance Theatre, from South L.A., performs April 10, Grammy-winner Christian McBride brings his jazz trio on April 11, Butler Theatre offers a production of “Crime and Punishment” April 9-19—and those are just some of the offerings this week. Next week’s offerings include concerts by opera star Angela Brown, Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, and more. April 9-19 Various Butler University venues Details

“Dontrell Who Kissed the Sea”

A young man journey’s into the Atlantic Ocean in search of a lost ancestor in Nathan Alan Davis’s poetic play. Eli Curry (“I and You”), Milicent Wright (“Love, Loss, and What I Wore”), and Ben Rose (“Clybourne Park”) star, Following Thursday’s performance, IndyHub and Mosaic City present “Awkward Conversations,” a forum for discussion of race and cultural relationships in Indy. Phoenix Theatre April 9-26. Details

“The Drowsy Chaperone”

One of the most delightful Tony-winning musicals of the past decade gets its Beef & Boards debut. It concerns a musical theater buff basking in a recording of his favorite 1920s lame-brained musical—which comes to life in the apartment around him. April 9-May 10  Beef & Boards Details 

UIndy Jazz Week

Performances by student ensembles kick off the week, followed by headlining pianist Steve Allee (April 8), saxophonist Danny Walsh and trumpeter Mark Buselli (April 9), drummer Tim Horner (April 10), and bassist Rufus Reid (April 11). April 6-11 Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center  Details 

Also this week:

David Alan Grier headlines at Crackers Comedy Club in Broad Ripple April 9-11.

The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra offers an all-Beethoven program April 9-11.

As part of the aforementioned Butler Artsfest, the Indianapolis Museum of Art hosts an April 10 screening of “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” preceded by a performance of the score. “Bonnie & Clyde” follows on April 11.

Shovels & Rope dig in at Deluxe at Old National Centre April 7.

International Violin Competition of Indianapolis gold, silver and bronze medalists team up with the Carmel Symphony Orchestra for an April 11 concert at the Palladium.

IU Opera plays “The Magic Flute” April 10-18.

“Rapture, Blister, Burn,” Gina Gianfriddo’s look at contemporary gender politics, gets its local premiere April 10-May 2 at Theatre on the Square.

Ticket admission begins at the Indianapolis Museum of Art on April 7.

Storyteller Donald Davis presents “What Most Children Need is a Good Listening To,” April 12 at the Indiana History Center.