A&E Round-up: Jazz Fest lineup, Big Car’s Monument Circle takeover, more

Emptying the notebook on A&E matters.

—Indy Jazz Fest has announced its full, 10-day 2015 lineup. Performers include Take 6, Dianne Reeves, Jonathan Butler, Sullivan Fortner Quartet, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Four80East, Musica de Las Americas, Cathy Morris, Paul Beaubrun, Pharez Whitted, and the Indianapolis Jazz Collective. Plus a free Indy Jazz Fest Comes to Speedway concert, an opening-night Indy Jazz Fest Band 100th birthday tribute to Frank Sinatra, a CD-release concert with Matt Pivec, a 12-band block party near the Jazz Kitchen, and more. The fest runs Sept. 10-19. Details here.

—From Aug. 1-Oct. 16, Big Car will be programming events on Monument Circle. The plan, called Spark, is designed to "activate the Circle with free, low-key, drop-in games…music, bistro-style seating…conversation, historical characters, fitness and more." Look for activities beginning at 11 a.m. each day. 

—Heather Headley, who grew up in Fort Wayne before leading the cast of Broadway's "Aida," makes a rare semi-local appearance through July 27 as the Witch in "Into the Woods" at St. Louis' MUNY summer theater. Another Indy-connected actor, Indianapolis native Chris Stack, has been cast in the Roundabout Theatre's production of "Ugly Lies the Bone," beginning previews Sept. 10 in NYC.

—The John Dillinger Museum opened at its new location, at the Old Lake County Courthouse in Crown Point, on July 22, the 81st anniversary of Dillinger's death. Museum officials insist that the attraction carries a strong "crime doesn't pay" message.

—Nominations are open for State Poet Laureate/Not a good job for a writer who tends to bloviate. (Okay, take me out of the running.)

For reviews, previews, and a chance to win tickets to see Old Crow Medicine Show, visit www.ibj.com/arts. And look for another IBJ Night at the Movies ticket giveaway soon.