Articles

You-review-it Monday

It was a long weekend. Surely you found some entertainment beyond the barbecue.

Like me, did you take the opportunity to visit with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra at Conner Prairie…on with the Sanders Family in “Smoke on the Mountain: Homecoming”…

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Att. shoppers: explicit material

My just-over-the-cubicle-wall colleagues at Indiana Lawyer reported yesterday that Judge Sarah Evans Barker “threw out a new Indiana law requiring bookstores and other retailers to register with the state and pay a $250 fee if they want to sell…

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‘Wall*E’: Quality as business plan

“Quality is the best business plan of all.”

So Pixar chief John Lasseter told the L.A. Times.

And the combination of reading that statement and seeing Pixar’s remarkable “Wall*E” last night gives me hope for, well, everything.

I’m not going to…

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Avg. TV viewer is now over 50

Today’s Variety quotes a study stating that the average age of TV network viewers–at least, those viewing shows live and not on DVR–is now 50. That’s the highest it’s ever been.

CBS has the oldest average age viewer, at 54. The…

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You-review-it Monday

So did you visit the “On the Road” scroll at the IMA? Swing to “Swing” at American Cabaret Theatre? Try to understand the great Joe Cocker at Verizon Wireless Music Center?

Let us know what A&E you experienced this weekend.

For me, much…

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Meet Indiana’s new poet laureate

I know the suspense was killing you, so here’s some relief.

As of last week, Indiana has a new poet laureate. He’s Norbert Krapf, a St. Joseph’s College grad with an M.A. from Notre Dame. His name is on 21…

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Mayor Ballard, arts patron

When I attended last night’s sneak preview of the “On the Road Again…” exhibition at the IMA, there was Mayor Ballard.

When I attended Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre’s “Hooray for Bollywood” performance at Pike Performing Arts Center, there was…

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Taking the “art” out at Keystone

I’ve got a pretty broad definition of art. And a pretty broad definition of art films.

But “Get Smart”? “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan”? “Indiana Jones”? “The Happening”? “Sex in the City”?

Such is the lineup at Landmark’s Keystone Art…

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Ann Patchett on opera and veggies

“Sometimes I worry that culture is like vegetables and that I’d be better off eating that which is locally grown,” writes novelists Ann Patchett in today’s Wall Street Journal.

The piece isn’t a celebration of local arts. Rather, it’s a tribute to the…

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Tobias Theatre events announced

The folks at the Indianapolis Museum of Art have named names (at least some) for programming at its soon-to-be-opening  Tobias Theatre.

The initial schedule for this new “living room” for the arts includes:

–“Virtuosos and Visions,” featuring violinist Cho-Liang Lin, pipa artist Min Xiao-Fen,…

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DC: Final critical thoughts

More random thoughts from the American Theatre Critics Association conference in Washington.

* If the powers that be in Carmel–or any other place that aspires to be an arts destination–hasn’t already made contact, they should reach out immediately and speak to…

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You-review-it Monday

Okay, so what did I miss?

Anyone visit the ISO on the Prairie, shop at the Eiteljorg’s Indian Market, participate in the 48 Hour Film Project or stop in at the Florie Leviton show at the Indianapolis Art Center?

What A&E encounters did you…

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DC: Awards matter

It’s the fourth day of the American Theatre Critics Association annual conference and my feet or sore, my eyes a little glazed over, and my excitement about theater and its potential increased.

Here are some notes:

* One of the factors credited…

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The death of the CD

Reports of the death of the CD aren’t exagerated.

Wired magazine reports that Apple’s ITunes store has sold over five billion songs.

Meanwhile, Price WaterhouseCoopers LLC released a report that sales downloaded songs will surpass that of CDs by 2010.

In…

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DC: Backstage at the Kennedy Center

The latest in a serious of reports from the American Theatre Critics Association conference in Washington, D.C. 

It’s past intermission, but I chose not to go back into the theater. Stomach issues, I claim. Truth is, I saw a much better directed, better…

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DC: Dancing with Presidents

We’re on the stage of the National Theatre, rich in history but on the verge of irrelevance. With a mere 1675 seats, it’s difficult to compete for tours and concerts with the Kennedy Center and other larger houses.

This is…

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DC: Dinner with Harry Hamlin

“Hi, I’m Harry,” he says, shaking my hand.

And when he sits down at our table, a woman next to him asks, “Who do you write for?”

That’s the standard first question here at the American Theatre Critics Association conference in Washington. But, in this case,…

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“Get Smart”–Your thoughts

Since I’m out of town, I had to miss the Tuesday IBJ Night at the Movies preview of “Get Smart.” So if you were there, enlighten me. What did I miss?

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DC: Critical mass in Washington

It’s been about a decade since I’ve been to Washington, D.C., but memories rush back.

On a junior high field trip, a kid sticking his hand in front of my Super-8 movie camera as I tried to film a “Hard Day’s…

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You-review-it Monday

A busy weekend for me included spending quality time with “Some Men” at the Phoenix Theatre, an afternoon visit to the Indy Jazz Fest, finally getting to see “Iron Man” at the movies, a trip to Bollywood courtesy of the Gregory…

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