Indy Theatre Habit

I was sick the opening weekend of “Bus Stop” at the Indianapolis Civic Theatre so I reluctantly cancelled my media passes and stayed home.  However, a friend had turned me on to William Inge’s work a couple years ago so I very much wanted to see a live production of this William Inge play.  I [...]

Christmas Eve…
Last Sunday I had been sick in bed for more than three days.  My body ached, my soul ached, I couldn’t write, and I couldn’t seem to stop crying.
But on Sunday afternoon I dragged myself out of bed and spent time at a party with friends whose love always makes me feel safer and [...]

Last Sunday afternoon, a new friend and I met at the Phoenix Theatre in downtown Indianapolis to see “A Very Phoenix Xmas 4: Our Stockings Are Stuffed.”  It was conceived and directed by Bryan Fonseca, with musical direction by Kevin D. Smith and technical direction by Christopher Hansen.
In years past, I wrote about Xmas 3 [...]

Last Sunday afternoon I drove to the Indy Fringe Building in downtown Indianapolis to see a production of “Curse of the Starving Class,” by Sam Shepard.  There is only one “the” in the title.  It was directed by Gregory Howard and produced by him and Kari Ann Stamatoplos as a labor of love.
I don’t think [...]

 
Last Friday night I drove north to Clay Terrace shopping center in Carmel, Indiana, to see the inaugural production of the 16-year-old, all-volunteer Carmel Community Players in their new space, the Carmel Community Playhouse.
It was a thrilling experience, not only because the new space is so nifty but also because the acting in this particular [...]

 
Oh, my, the final Saturday of the 2009 Indy Fringe Festival here in Indianapolis, Indiana was sublime.  The weather was glorious, so the walks between theatres were almost as invigorating as the shows themselves.  Plus, I spent most of the day with my theatre buddy, Adrienne Reiswerg, which I always enjoy.
Best of all, the day [...]

 
(FYI:  the above video is a conversation with Erin Schlabach, director of one of my favorite 2009 Indy Fringe shows, “Crossing the Bridge.”  Scroll down to see other videos embedded in the post below.)
One day last week during the 2009 Indy Fringe Festival here in Indianapolis, Indiana, juggler Brent McCoy told me, “The audience is like [...]

 
Last night, after I got off work from my day job, I drove to Massachusetts Avenue in downtown Indianapolis to see the 2009 Indy Fringe Festival Parade and Preview Party.
I got there too late for the main part of the parade, but lots of people were still walking as parade followers so I fell in [...]

I have several local news items burning a hole in my mailbox, but before I do anything else I would like to record a little of what it was like to meet Gregory Maguire a couple of weeks ago in Chicago.
It was wicked.
(’Sorry.  ‘Couldn’t resist.)

Last Thursday, still semi-exhausted from a long business trip for my day job, I looked at my calendar and thought, “Yikes!  A Midwest premiere is opening at the Phoenix tonight!”  I fired off a frantic e-request for a media pass and drove downtown.  I regret not asking one of my usual theatre buddies to go [...]