Indy Theatre Habit

  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 [...]

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 [...]

So this morning I ran into my friend and theatre buddy, David.  I said, “I’m going to see ‘Octopus’ at the Phoenix Theatre tonight.  I won’t have media passes because I already saw it once, but would you like to go Dutch with me?  Tickets on Thursday nights are $15.”

I heard that playwright Steven Yockey (www.redkingdreaming.com) was in Indianapolis for the opening of his new play, “Octopus,” at the Phoenix Theatre.  On a whim, I asked if I could interview him on the day before the show opened.  He said yes! So then I scrambled to read more about his work and to prepare [...]

Last Thursday night, I met a friend at the Phoenix Theatre in downtown Indianapolis to see Jose’ Rivera’s “References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot.”  It was directed by Bryan Fonseca. It is an intriguing show, odd and sexy as a dream.  I will never look at the moon – or war – in the [...]

On Saturday night, April 4, 2009, I drove downtown to the Indiana State Museum to hear visiting storyteller Megan Wells share the epic story of “Helen’s Troy.”  This event was part of the Barnes & Thornburg Storytellers Theater series.  It was presented by Creative Street Media Group and sponsored by Lewis & Kappes through Storytelling [...]

Last Sunday evening, my friend Adrienne and I met at the Indiana Repertory Theatre to see “The Ladies’ Man,” a farce written by Georges Feydeau as “Taillieur Pour Dames” in 1886 and recently freely adapted by Charles Morey for American audiences. At the end, Adrienne pronounced the show “delightful.”  I had a similar verdict:  “frothy [...]

I have now been to two “editions” of the Three Dollar Bill Comedy Company’s “Fiddle Shticks” show at Comedy Sportz.  The first was on Friday, January 9, 2009.  The second was the following Friday, January 16, 2009.  The show is every Friday night at 10 pm for six weeks (through February 13, 2009.)  Each week, [...]

Last night I drove downtown to see “A Night in Vegas” at the Theatre on the Square’s second stage.  I enjoyed this funny show about gay relationships and will post a detailed review of it in the next day or so. In the meantime, I’d like to write about a couple of casual conversations that I [...]