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LD E IDTI ITO I ONN 2 0 1 52017 S PS EP CEI C A IA L E

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240 AMAZING CAN’T-MISS EVENTS!

 INSIDE  2017

ROCK, POP, BALLET, JAZZ, FILM, OPERA, SYMPHONIES, BOOKS, ART SHOWS & MORE!

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STARRING ANGELA BROWN Chuck Todd DAMIEN ESCOBAR John Mayer JANE LYNCH Kristin Chenoweth SEAN CHEN Nick Offerman JANET JACKSON & Many More!

INDY’S CREATIVE PLACEMAKERS

THEATERS ON THE MOVE

P. 10 P. 8

Editor’s Note

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SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR

Laura Kruty

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Todd Urban CONTRIBUTORS

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Pride of Place

With our offices located on Monument Circle, we’ve grown accustomed to hearing the city go through its daily grind of sirens blaring, car stereos booming, horns honking, festivals buzzing, and horse hooves clopping.

But two summers ago, we were introduced to an entirely new set of sounds: wooden blocks tumbling from oversized Jenga games, the soft tink of pingpong balls, the rattle of foosball tables, the clacking of chess and checkers pieces, delighted shrieks of kids on a foam playground, the chatter from an interactive Wagon of Wonders.

They were the noises of Spark: Monument Circle, a program led by Big Car Collaborative. Thanks to that venture, our city’s geographic and civic center came alive in a way we haven’t seen since perhaps Super Bowl XLVI. The energy from those taking part in Spark activities or just enjoying an al fresco lunch in one of the “parklets” was palpable.

And it made a big impact. According to Big Car, 45,000 people engaged with Spark over its 11-week run, with most hanging out 30 minutes to more than an hour. Businesses on the Circle reported a 20 percent increase in sales.

It was creative placemaking at its best, a subject we focus on in “Making Places,” p. 10. It’s hard to say if the Big Car endeavor sparked—pardon the pun—the creative placemaking efforts highlighted in the story, but Spark’s success in getting people to experience Monument Circle in entirely different ways is undeniable. The same goes for the artist-led projects in “Making Places”—I think you’ll appreciate what these programs are doing to spur economic development, rejuvenate neighborhoods, and help residents feel a greater connection to where they live.

Elsewhere, we’ve compiled dozens of events—from Lady Macbeth in Bard Fest (p. 22) and Lady Gaga (p. 32) in concert to Prokofiev’s Piano Concertos (p. 42) and an artistic encyclopedia of the United States (Light Atlas, p. 48)—to fill your calendar this season. You’ll find plenty of reasons to get out and further appreciate this place we call home.

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Editor, The Ticket

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Member, American Society of Magazine Editors. ASME works to preserve editorial independence and speaks out on public policy issues, particularly those pertaining to the First Amendment.

2017

Inside Indy

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EVENT HORIZON

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MOVIN’ ON UP

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SPRING FORWARD

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SCENE IN ...

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FRIGHT NIGHT

Locals in the arts and culture field share which happenings they’re checking out this fall.

PRESENTED BY

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The dish on The Cabaret and Phoenix Theatre’s new digs.

It’s not too soon to look ahead to these notable events in 2018.

Do you recognize the backgrounds of these films shot in Indiana?

Find your ultimate Halloween event.

Feature 10 MAKING PLACES Creative placemaking— artist-led, culture-based programs—are changing and strengthening Indy neighborhoods.

Calendar 17 THEATER & DANCE Plays, musicals, ballets— the best of what’s taking the stage this fall.

27

45

57 8

27 POP, ROCK & MORE Jazz, a cappella, country, showtunes, and more.

37 CLASSICAL MUSIC Beethoven and Brahms, opera, concerts, and galas.

45 VISUAL ARTS Museum exhibits, fairs, and new shows opening at local galleries.

57 MOVIES, BOOKS, ETC. Films, author visits, and one-of-a-kind events.

69 VENUES & MENUS Details on restaurants and late-night spots in the city’s artsiest areas.

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ON THE COVER Angela Brown by Roni Ely; Chuck Todd ©2014 NBCUniversal Media LLC; Damien Escobar ©2009 Eric Chen; John Mayer by Frank Ockenfels; Jane Lynch courtesy The Cabaret; Kristin Chenoweth courtesy The Center for the Performing Arts; Sean Chen courtesy American Pianists Association; Nick Offerman courtesy Live Nation; Janet Jackson by Alexander Tamargo.

THEATERS ON THE MOVE 8

SPRING ARTS EVENTS 8

Featuring the city’s iconic landmarks, Columbus isn’t the only recent film shot in the Hoosier State, p. 8.

INDIANA IN FILM 8

YOUR BEST HALLOWEEN EVER! 9

INSIDE INDY

Event Horizon Locals share which happenings they’re most looking forward to taking in this season.

ILLUSTRATION BY KIM THORNTON; AMSTUTZ COURTESY INDIANA HUMANITIES; STARK COURTESY INDIANAPOLIS SYMPHONIC CHOIR; DE LA ROSA, TAFT, NEAL BY TONY VALAINIS

JOANNA TAFT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE HARRISON CENTER FOR THE ARTS I’m definitely looking forward to the holiday window walk at the Harrison Center for the Arts in December. It begins on December 1 during the First Friday event and continues every night until the end of the month. Twenty-four windows are decorated by local artists. My favorite last year was a window by Asa Gauen, which featured live kittens for adoption.

ERIC STARK ARTISTIC DIRECTOR FOR THE INDIANAPOLIS SYMPHONIC CHOIR The King’s Singers are coming to Clowes Memorial Hall this fall, as part of their tour celebrating the 50th anniversary of the group. It’ll be an amazing chance to hear one of the most incredible and well-loved singing groups in the world.

ROBERT NEAL INDIANA REPERTORY THEATRE ACTOR AND 2017 LUNTFONTANNE FELLOW I’m excited for the opening night gala for the ISO in September featuring the great Renee Fleming singing a song cycle based on letters by Georgia O’Keeffe. I think both women are brilliant.

Renee Fleming is not just a great singer, but a great operatic actor. I’m a huge fan of O’Keeffe’s work as well. My wife and I have a print of hers above our bed.

JINGO DE LA ROSA ILLUSTRATOR AND ART EDUCATOR On the top of my list would be the Indy Jazz Fest, an annual ode to Indianapolis’s rich jazz history. It’s so refreshing to see a true American art form be celebrated in our great city. Another one that I’m looking forward to is visual artist Alicia Zanoni’s solo show at the Harrison Center. I’m convinced that she’s the future of the Indy arts community at only 24 years old.

KEIRA AMSTUTZ PRESIDENT AND CEO OF INDIANA HUMANITIES I love unique events in unique places. Crown Hill is one of the most fascinating sites in Indianapolis and is the perfect backdrop for the brilliant work of Storytelling Arts of Indiana. I would love to take my teen daughter to their Ghost Stories event October 14.

Inside Indy

Movin’ On Up In January, the Phoenix Theatre and The Cabaret raise the curtain on new locations. We took a look at how the soon-to-open digs compare to the old.

Spring Forward The arts season just began, but we’re already looking to these 2018 events.

THE CABARET

PERFORMANCE SPACES

PERFORMANCE SPACES

OLD (749 N. Park Ave.): Two stages and 10

OLD (Columbia Club): One stage and 40

productions per year.

shows per year.

NEW (705 & 709 N. Illinois St.): Two stages and

NEW (924 N. Pennsylvania St.): One space and

nine Phoenix shows, plus guest productions.

likely a similar number of performances.

CAPACITY

CAPACITY

OLD: 210. / NEW: 240.

OLD: 142. / NEW: 200.

FOOD & DRINK

FOOD & DRINK

OLD: Sun King, wine, and sweets.

NEW: About the same.

OLD: A full menu and bar were available.

NEW: Comparable to previous offerings.

PARKING

PARKING

OLD: Along residential streets or

OLD: Also challenging, thanks to events

Mass Ave—Godspeed.

NEW: A 50-car lot.

on and around Monument Circle.

NEW: Lot with 100-plus spaces.

PERKS OVER THE OLD SPACE

PERKS OVER THE OLD SPACE

A dedicated rehearsal space and scene and costume shops, a larger lobby, more restrooms, a prep kitchen, and a donors’ lounge.

Capacity to be an “incubator” with classes and open-mic nights, participation in First Fridays, and greater control over event dates.

PLIÉ PREMIERE The Indianapolis School of Ballet is set to debut the city’s first professional company in more than 10 years, dubbed Indianapolis Ballet. Shows will be held at the IMA’s Toby.

SO LONG, FAREWELL Before the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra takes part in the SHIFT Festival in Washington D.C., hear a sneak peek Bon Voyage concert April 11 at the Hilbert Circle Theatre.

OFF BROADWAY When Priscilla Queen of the Desert hits the Footlite Musicals stage in May, the cast will sport Oscar- and Tonywinning outfits straight from the Broadway production. For the first time ever, Footlite will rent original Broadway costumes, which is an expensive endeavor, but still less costly than crafting the 500 pieces that make up the drag queens’ extra-fabulous get-ups.

Scene In ...

The settings for these films might look pretty familiar.

—SYDNEY ALLEN 8

Columbus

The Good Catholic

Sarge

A couple explores the city’s local modernist landmarks, grappling with complicated family and personal issues along the way. SHOT IN Columbus (spoiler!), including the Miller House.

Idealistic young priest Daniel, played by an IU grad, falls for a fiery woman he meets in confessional. SHOT IN Bloomington, primarily Trinity Episcopal Church on Kirkwood Avenue.

Sgt. Franklin Spencer, an Army vet living with dementia and PTSD, wants nothing more than to attend his granddaughter’s graduation. SHOT IN Carmel, mainly CrownPointe assisted-living facility.

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PHOENIX BY THE SOSA GROUP/RATIO ARCHITECTS INC.; CABARET BY RATIO ARCHITECTS INC.; POSTERS COURTESY COLUMBUS, THE GOOD CATHOLIC, SARGE; MILLER HOUSE COURTESY IMA; TRINITY EPISCOPAL BY AMANDA FIELD PHOTOGRAPHY; CROWN POINTE BY TONY VALAINIS

PHOENIX THEATRE

Fright Night

Concerts, movies, theater, ghost tours—it’s scary how many ways you can celebrate Halloween in Indy. Here, find your ideal hair-raising All Hallow’s Eve happening.

Irvington Halloween Festival (throughout Oct.).

The fest’s large slate of events means there’s something for goblins of all ages.

Children’s Museum Haunted House (Oct. 7–31).

Choose to hike through Wicked Woods’s tangles of trees with the lights on or off.

Frankenstein (Oct. 27–29, Nov. 2–4 & 9–11). It’s alive!

UIndy adapts this 200-year-old literary classic for the stage.

WE MAKE A GHOULISH GANG.

NO, NOT REALLY.

BWAH-HAHA!

AND SO DOES MY WHOLE FAMILY.

I LIKE TO SCARE KIDS.

REALLY?

YOU SHOULD SEE MY CUTIE’S GIRAFFE COSTUME!

TRUE CRIME ALL THE WAY, BABY.

YEAH, IT’S AWESOME!

AH, YOU’RE AN EDUCATED KINDA FELLA! SHELLEY OR IRVING?

LITERARY THEATER?

START

I DRESS UP FOR IT!

Zoo Boo (Oct. 5–8, 12–15, 19–22 & 26–29). Little ones can try pumpkin bowling, go trick-or-treating, and more at the Indianapolis Zoo.

WANT TO SOLVE A MURDER OR PREVENT ONE?

Broad Ripple Zombie Walk (Oct. 21). Sport your best Walking Dead makeup for this prowl through Broad Ripple.

MARY SHELLEY’S MONSTER!

LIKE TO PASS OUT CANDY TO KIDDOS ON HALLOWEEN?

Headless Horseman (Oct. 12–15, 19–22 & 26–29).

Part of this Conner Prairie event includes a live telling of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

ICHABOD CRANE MAKES MY HEAD SPIN!

SPINETINGLING TALES?

NAH. LIVE PERFORMANCE IS MORE MY STYLE.

I TURN OFF THE LIGHTS AND HIDE IN THE BASEMENT.

AND SNEAK THOSE SNICKERS INTO THE MOVIES.

Ghost Stories (Oct. 14). Amid headstones at Crown Hill Cemetery, listen to accounts of the dead and undead.

SPOOKY MUSIC?

Music of the Night & Skeletons in the Closet walking tour (Oct. 19–21 & 26–28). Take in an organ concert followed by a jaunt through Crown Hill Cemetery.

BUT NOT FOR LONG— I’VE GOT STUFF TO DO AFTER DARK.

I TRY TO, BUT MY KIDS KEEP EATING IT.

Family Night Out: Spooky Science (Oct. 13). Make glow-in-the-dark art and embark on a flashlight tour at the State Museum.

A SCARY MOVIE? CUE THE THEREMIN.

SOUNDS SUSPICIOUS. DO YOU LIKE GHOST HUNTERS OR SVU?

LET’S PUT THIS ENERGY TO GOOD USE ...

AND GET EXPERIMENTAL WITH SCIENCE!

BUT MAYBE NOT TOO SCARY.

THE CREEPIER, THE BETTER!

Silent Halloween (Oct. 27). An organ provides live music to a chilling silent film at the Indiana Landmarks Center.

Halloween (Oct. 13 & 14). At the Artcraft Theatre, prison escapee Michael Myers seeks revenge on his hometown.

STOP THOSE FIENDS IN THEIR TRACKS!

I’M A DETECTIVE AT HEART.

I BELIEVE IN GHOST HUNTERS!

AND MAKE SOME ART!

AND LEARN ABOUT HISTORY!

Victorian Villains (Oct. 13–14 & 20–22). Protect society from a host of notorious bad guys at the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site.

Whodunit? (Oct. 20). Interview suspects and follow clues at the Indiana History Center to solve this murder based on a 1920s case.

Unseen Press tours and Irvington Ghost Tours (throughout Oct.).

Discover the dark side of Chatham Arch, Irvington, and the ’burbs.

Ghoulish Garfield (Oct. 25–26). Make creepy crafts, play games, and take a tour of the Haunted Conservatory at Garfield Park.

Gravestone Secrets: A Cemetery Hunt for Kids (Oct. 14). Traipse around Crown Hill to hear about famous Hoosiers buried there.

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VACANT LOTS, ABANDONED BUILDINGS, BOARDED-UP HOUSES—ALL BLIGHTS THAT CAN CONTRIBUTE TO AN AREA’S DEMISE. BUT WHEN ARTISTS START TACKLING THOSE EYESORES AND TURNING THEM INTO SOMETHING POSITIVE, RESIDENTS BENEFIT IN THE FORM OF GREATER ENGAGEMENT WITH AND CONNECTIVITY TO THE PLACES IN WHICH THEY LIVE. THOSE CULTURE-BASED INITIATIVES ARE CALLED CREATIVE PLACEMAKING, AND THEY’RE TRANSFORMING UNDERSERVED NEIGHBORHOODS THROUGHOUT INDIANAPOLIS. <<< by Marc D. Allan >>>

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POETRY AND BOXING WOULD SEEM TO

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“PLACES ARE MADE WHEN THEY FEEL LIKE HOME. WHEN EVERYBODY IS WELCOME AND COMFORTABLE. ARTISTS CAN AND SHOULD SUPPORT LIFE IN NEIGHBORHOODS THROUGH CULTURE, CREATIVITY, AND COMMUNITY.”

bring people together and make neighborhoods better. He puts it succinctly on bigcar.org: “Places are made when they feel like home. When everybody is welcome and comfortable. Artists can and should support life in neighborhoods through culture, creativity, and community.”

The ideas and goals of creative placemaking have been around for decades. A 2010 National Endowment for the Arts report defined the phrase as “when partners from public, nonprofit, private, and community sectors strategically shape the physical and social character of a neighborhood, town, city, or region around arts and cultural activities.” If that sounds like dull bureaucratese, well, yeah. But the

projects being done in Indianapolis are anything but.

Creative placemaking is giving elementary students a safe passage to school on the west side, clearing drugs and prostitution off a corner on the east side, and using the arts to start conversations, change culture, and restore pride in previously downtrodden neighborhoods around the city.

“You’re looking at changes in the neighborhood that the residents want to see,” says Julia Moore, director of public art for the Arts Council of Indianapolis. “Maybe it’s housing, maybe it’s food access, maybe it’s better education, maybe it’s keeping youth away from gangs. And using arts and culture as a strategy to make those things happen.”

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go together like white wine and bologna, like peanut butter and petroleum jelly. But Jim Walker knew what he was doing on that early July evening when he paired three fights—including a bout featuring Golden Gloves champ Frank Martin—with a reading by IU Ruth Lilly Professor of English Adrian Matejka at the Tube Factory, his allpurpose art space near Garfield Park.

“There’s a lot of stratification of our society now,” Walker says. “These things get people to come into the space where they’re comfortable and then they experience the art. Or people come in and experience the art and then stay for the boxing.”

Time proved him right. Over the next couple of hours, more than 100 people moved in and out. Most admired the Carlos Rolón artwork hanging in the gallery, some of which was boxing themed, then headed downstairs to watch fights and hear poetry. The audience was a mix of hipsters in Nirvana T-shirts drinking Sun King and folks from the neighborhood, all brought together through what’s known as creative placemaking—using arts and culture as a platform for positive community change and to address issues such as crime, economic development, and social cohesion.

As a co-founder of Big Car Collaborative, Walker has, since 2004, worked to

TUBE FACTORY ARTSPACE, CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT Guests check out Carlos Rolón’s

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THE MOST VISIBLE AND PUBLIC EXAMTUBE FACTORY PHOTOS COURTESY BIG CAR COLLABORATIVE

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artwork during First Friday; IU Ruth Lilly Professor of English and poet Adrian Matejka reading inside the ring; boxers duke it out during a First Friday match.

ple of creative placemaking is scheduled for October 7, when the Harrison Center for the Arts plans to stage its Pre-Enact Indy: Monon 16, telling the story of the three-block stretch of 16th Street between the Monon Trail and Dr. Andrew J. Brown Avenue. For the past two years, the Harrison Center has been gathering neighbors’ recollections of the days when people sat on their porches and kids went to Polk’s Sanitary Milk Company factory for ice cream.

But as executive director Joanna Taft points out as she drives around

the neighborhood, segregation was everywhere then. Re-enacting the past was not an option. Hence the pre-enactment, which will turn the area into a stage where set designers will build temporary storefronts on vacant lots, theater groups will depict a “healthy neighborhood,” and a local pastor and his wife will renew their vows for all to watch. There will be a blues concert, school and affordable-housing fairs, and re-enactments of speeches by Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, and others.

Pre-enactment, Taft says, is based on understanding the brokenness of the past.

“You must know the past before you

can have authentic hope,” she says.

“We’re creating a neighborhood that ought to be. And you can’t do that unless people’s hearts change. So creative placemaking for me is all about surprising. When you’re dating, you want to woo and surprise, right? When you want people to fall in love with their city, you have to surprise them.

Creative placemaking creates those moments where people’s hearts are stirred and they connect.”

The Harrison Center has been practicing creative placemaking for years— sometimes through acts as simple as painting the snow outside its building to give motorists a smile on their commute past 15th and Delaware.

“But we didn’t know it was called ‘creative placemaking’ then,” Taft says.

“Creative placemaking is always responding to a community need. We did art shows about the education achievement gap. We got neighbors together for outdoor cultural activities. We just thought we were showing movies on the side of a building in a bad neighborhood.”

The Harrison Center tried out largescale placemaking last summer in the Maple Crossing area at 38th and Illinois streets, the intersection of the Butler-Tarkington, Meridian-Kessler, Crown Hill, and Mapleton-Fall Creek neighborhoods, and it repeated the efforts again this year with scavenger hunts, the creation of a rap song honoring neighborhood barber Robert Moore, and an art installation inside the vacant store at the northwest corner.

In 2016, artist Alicia Zanoni spent much of the summer outside the strip of stores at 38th and Illinois, creating paintings of street scenes. This year, Zanoni was at it again, talking to passersby as she worked on a painting of the Costumes By Margie storefront.

“I was surprised to see how art broke down barriers between people who would otherwise not be talking to each other,” she says. “When I’m standing here at my easel, they’re interested in what I’m doing, so they’ll stop, and conversations will start. I learned so much about the neighborhood because people would come up to me and start talking about their childhood here.

And because I was painting this area that they knew so well, they felt like we had a connection.”

That’s just the point, Taft says.

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“The more we can connect people, the stronger this area will be,” she says.

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SUSAN VOGT CAN’T SEE OUT OF THE

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“THE MORE YOU INVITE PEOPLE TO THE TABLE, YOU HAVE TO BE ADAPTIVE AND ALLOW IT TO CHANGE AND GROW ORGANICALLY. YOU CAN’T BE ATTACHED TO THE OUTCOME. YOU HAVE TO BE ATTACHED TO: IS THERE PROGRESS?”

“Public art is art for everybody,” she says. “Done well, it makes an impact.”

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LASHAWNDA CROWE STORM GETS IN

her minivan and drives from Burdsal Parkway north on Rader Street to show the creative placemaking work being done to take back this westside neighborhood. We pass vacant lots and boarded-up houses, but also well-kept homes and land being cleared to make way for new tiny homes that are under construction at nearby New Life Development Ministries.

“We’re reclaiming a corridor in our community,” says Phyllis Viola Boyd, Storm’s partner in this effort they’re

calling RECLAIM. Their work started in large part because the students in nearby IPS Elder W. Diggs School 42 felt unsafe walking in a neighborhood where abandoned properties, loose dogs, and human predators were a constant.

“The way we approached it was: How do we use our gifts, skills, and talents to address the issues around safety?”

Storm says. “The more we talked about it, the more people wanted to do something. We wanted to try to use our art to not only transform that corridor, but to figure out what we can do to bring the neighborhood back.”

One part of the solution was simply clearing the sidewalks, which were cracked and covered with dirt and

ZANONI COURTESY HARRISON CENTER; FASHION SHOW BY TONY VALAINIS

front of the Near East Area Renewal office at 10th and Rural streets—a truck heading south on Rural had plowed through the front window a week or so earlier, so the entrance was boarded up.

But if she could, she would see an area with economic and law-enforcement challenges, but also hope in the form of new restaurants, breweries, and other businesses.

About a year ago, the Arts Council of Indianapolis approached NEAR about using creative placemaking to transform the area, which borders the Rivoli Park, Springdale, Brookside, and St. Clair Place neighborhoods. As part of what’s known as Indy East Art Peace, they’ll soon be in the process of selecting artists and members from each neighborhood, and teaming them with IMPD East District officers trained in creative placemaking and Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design techniques (lights over doors, secure locks, keeping landscaping trim so criminals have no place to hide). The four teams representing each area will meet with the community and generate suggestions to reduce crime, improve public safety, and kickstart development—starting with this intersection.

“Here’s a corner with a lot of drug trafficking,” Vogt says, walking outside and pointing out IMPD’s new security camera overhead. “What can we do?”

The teams will generate 20 to 25 ideas, pitch them to the community, and let the residents choose. Vogt, NEAR’s economic development director, doesn’t know what they’ll come up with—a mural, a park on the currently vacant northwest corner, a music festival. But whatever it is, “it’s community engagement—bringing people together to have an impact in their neighborhood.”

Vogt says the arts are just one part of the redevelopment process, which for NEAR has also included buying, rehabbing, and reselling dozens of homes.

But she believes in creative placemaking because she’s seen it work. She was with Riley Area Development Corp. for 16 years and helped with the rotating collection of public art on Mass Ave that in part spurred the district’s boom.

on reclaimed furniture and repurposing other items.

“Once we found the building, we wanted to help revive that neighborhood,” Clark says. “So our plan and our goal was to be that first beacon of light.”

If all goes well, the building will have studio spaces for artists to rent and classes for neighborhood kids.

While work on the Udell Street corridor continues, Storm and Boyd have created and completed other projects, including a mural at a former concrete factory on Burdsal Parkway painted in conjunction with the IMA and a curriculum they designed with the staff of IPS Riverside School 44, in which students wrote poems and explored what home means to them.

Storm and Boyd don’t know what the neighborhood will look like down the road, but that, Storm says, is okay.

“The more you invite people to the table, you have to be adaptive and allow it to change and grow organically.

You can’t be attached to the outcome.

You have to be attached to: Is there progress?”

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AFTER YEARS OF WORKING IN RENTED

ABOVE Alicia Zanoni works on a painting just

north of the intersection of 38th and Illinois streets. LEFT Fashion show hosted at Indy Convergence during the 2017 Flow Fest.

debris. Another was to work with Sharon Clark, the owner of the vacant Udell Street Firehouse, which had become a graffiti-covered dumping ground. Now, a mural painted by Marian University students covers the graffiti and a large wooden fence in the shape of multiple As surrounds the yard. The “A” stands for “aspire,” which is what Clark calls the building: The Aspire House.

She and her husband, Tim, bought the property in 2012 as a place to work

space, Robert and Caitlin Negron wanted a place of their own in a neighborhood that needed them. In February 2016, they found their spot at 2611 W. Michigan St., halfway between a block of vacant storefronts and a chainlink fence with large, brightly colored lettering that spells out “This is a great place.” They’ve turned the building into an art gallery/performing arts venue/community meeting space/arts company that supports the Haughville, Hawthorne, Stringtown, and We Care neighborhoods.

“You won’t see us jumping all over town doing different placemaking stuff,” Robert says. “We’re definitely sticking with where we live.”

The sign out front says The Indy Convergence, the name of their annual residency that connects artists from Indianapolis and elsewhere for two weeks of collaboration on interdisciplinary projects. The long-term idea was to get a place and expand that model year-round. It’s ended up being much more than that.

The Negrons describe themselves as relative newcomers to creative placemaking, so they spent a year listening

to what the community wants and needs. The answer: a singular voice.

“The community wasn’t getting a place to talk to each other and galvanize around concepts,” Robert says.

The Indy Convergence is providing that, as well as community activities, like art walks and a block party that, this August, was combined with another neighborhood celebration, Flow Fest.

That was created by Phoenix Theatre producing director Bryan Fonseca as part of a two-year Arts Council grant.

Fonseca, who has brought roving theater productions to the area, as well as arts classes—some in Spanish—praises the Negrons’s efforts.

“They spend a lot of time working arm in arm with their neighbors, and they make their space available for neighborhood events,” he says. “They are the embodiment of what this grant is supposed to do.”

Fonseca, who opened the Phoenix Theatre 34 years ago, beginning the transformation of Chatham Arch, says he knows that creative placemaking on the near west side is a success because the area has a new name: River West.

And every time an area is branded— think Mass Ave Arts District—developers find their way in.

“There’s property available in River West,” Fonseca says with a laugh. “Hey, doesn’t that sound exciting?”

He’s convinced that in the next few years properties will be bought up and development will start to happen. And that’s the potential downside to creative placemaking: When neighborhoods become cool, property values go up, businesses buy in, and artists and longtime residents tend to get squeezed out.

“How do we create a process that works—and not at the expense of the original inhabitants of the community?” Fonseca wonders. “I don’t have the answer to that.”

That’s why the Arts Council’s Julia Moore says creative placemaking should never been seen as the magic bullet for revitalizing neighborhoods.

“Bringing artists to the table is great,” she says. “Giving them the support and the resources they need is great. But it should be in combination with things such as job creation, support for local businesses—all the other things that make a community sustainable. But as one of a series of potential tools for community development, it’s great.

And I’m all for it.”

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MUST-SEE PERFORMANCES 18

FINDING NEVERLAND BY CAROL ROSEGG; NUTCRACKER FROM THINKSTOCK.COM

Not one, but four renditions of The Nutcracker dance into various venues this season, p. 23–24.

JORDAN DONICA 18

BEST TRESSED 20

STOREFRONT THEATRE 23

THEATER and DANCE

You’ll Be Hooked Sure, you’re familiar with Peter Pan, but do you know the tale behind the boy who refused to grow up? Learn the backstory when Finding Neverland comes to Clowes Memorial Hall (p. 20).

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Quick Q&A

The Ticket

THEATER & DANCE CALENDAR Broadway, Shakespeare, a quartet of Nutcrackers, debut shows from two newcomers, and more appearing on stages this season.

Jordan Donica

The 23-year-old Roncalli grad, who stars as Thomas Jefferson and Marquis de Lafayette in the national tour of Hamilton, talks differentiating himself from Daveed Diggs’s iconic turn in the satin cape.

DIGGS, WHO PLAYED THE ROLE BEFORE YOU,

ends 10/1

West Side Story You know the Romeo and Juliet–esque tale: A New York City turf war between the Sharks and the Jets escalates when Tony, on the side of the Jets, and Maria, a sister of a Shark, fall in love.

Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein’s famous score will ring out at Beef & Boards. beefand boards.com

SEPTEMBER

9/15–10/1

La Cage aux Folles Actors Theatre of Indiana presents a farcical adventure featuring drag club manager Georges; his boyfriend Albin, the star performer; and Jean-Michel, Georges’s son who wants his father to meet his fiancée’s ultra-conservative parents. Watch the craziness unfold at the Studio Theater. thecenterpresents.org

West Side Story

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IS REGARDED AS THE FASTEST RAPPER ON

9/19–10/14

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Accused of killing a neighbor’s pet, 15-yearold math savant Christopher attempts to find the right culprit and embarks on a lifechanging journey that challenges and affects him in ways he never imagined. See how at the Indiana Repertory Theatre. irtlive.com

9/21–10/22

Fun Home The Phoenix Theatre presents the story of Alison, whose father is a director of a funeral home (or “fun home,” as Alison and her siblings call it), a high school English teacher, and a closeted gay man involved with the family’s babysitter. Fivetime Tony-winner Fun Home shows Alison’s path to self-discovery and her determination to connect with her

BROADWAY. HOW DO YOU LIVE UP TO THAT?

Well, the first thing I do is separate myself from him, because I’m not him.

He grew up rapping, and I was trained more classically. I just kind of tried to block out everything that he did.

WHAT’S THE DEFINING TRAIT OF YOUR JEFFERSON?

I probably push the comedy a little bit more [than Diggs]—I try to keep the character as light as possible.

WHAT’S SOMETHING SPECIFIC THAT YOU DO THAT HE DIDN’T?

There’s a moment at the beginning of Act Two when Jefferson comes out wearing this big, long, satin purple coat. When I got the coat, I noticed that it had these flaps in the back that look like bat wings, and I was like, “Oh my God, you could fly away in this coat.”

So I decided that I was going to do a cape flare. My inspiration comes from when Jim Carrey’s Grinch puts on the tablecloth, and then he rips it off and flares it behind him, almost unnecessarily, just because it looks cool.

WELL, THAT SEEMS LIKE IT WOULD LOOK COOL!

I’m assuming it does because I’ve been able to keep it. —Sarah Bahr

DONICA BY MARLON CORVERA; WEST SIDE STORY COURTESY BEEF & BOARDS

ONGOING

aloof and unpredictable dad. phoenixtheatre.org

Don’t Miss!

at the top—or else get fired. The IndyFringe Basile Theatre hosts the David Mamet– penned examination of greed and desperation put on by local newbie Fat Turtle Theatre Company. indyfringe.org

9/22–23

Celebration!

Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre begins its 20th anniversary season with performance highlights from the past two decades, plus a new work. Take memory lane to the Tarkington. gregory hancockdancetheatre .org

10/6–8

Optical Popsicle Zero SEPTEMBER 29–30

Good news for fans of wacky troupe Know No Stranger: Optical Popsicle returns this year, bringing back the puppetry, film, music, dancing, shadow play, jokes, and frozen sweets you’ve missed. Fountain Square’s Grove Haus hosts what the group calls a “DIY variety of visual treats.” knownostranger.com

ROSARY FROM THINKSTOCK.COM; POPSICLE BY CHAZ MOTTINGER; DIAVOLO BY GEORGE SIMIAN

9/22–24, 28–30 & 10/1, 5–8

Sister Act You’ve seen the film starring Whoopi Goldberg, whose character, disco diva Deloris Van Cartier, witnesses a murder and ends up in a convent to protect her identity and whereabouts. Now catch the stage version, put on by Footlite Musicals. footlite.org

learn that love and time are connected in ways they never could have imagined. This inaugural production by Storefront Theatre of Indianapolis takes place at the Indy Eleven Theatre. storefrontindy .com

9/26 & 28

OCTOBER

Diavolo The IU Auditorium welcomes Diavolo, a troupe that explores how people are affected by the spaces they inhabit. Two days later, they bring their act to Purdue’s Loeb Playhouse. iuaudi torium.com, purdue .edu/convocations

9/29–10/15

Infinity A musician, a mathematician, and a theoretical physicist

Hall welcomes Flip FabriQue, a group of professional circus artists, for an evening of gravity-defying acrobatics that features the curiosity-piquing “trampowall.” butler artscenter.org

10/6–8 & 13–15

Glengarry Glen Ross In this Pulitzer Prize– winner, real estate salesmen literally lie, cheat, and steal to be

Indianapolis City Ballet Dance Competition Dancers ages 11–22 from around the world come to Anderson University for three days of solo and ensemble performances in the classical and contemporary repertoire. They’re competing for scholarships to some of the best ballet schools in the world. indianapoliscityballet .org

10/13–28

Annie Determined to find the parents who abandoned her years ago, Annie escapes her hard-knock life at the orphanage and hits the streets of New York City. Civic Theatre stages the show at the Tarkington. civic theatre.org

Diavolo

10/5–11/18

Ghost the Musical Beef & Boards presents the story of Sam, whose ghost is caught between the real and after worlds after he’s killed by a robber. Now, Sam’s ghost has to protect his girlfriend from the man who killed him. beefand boards.com

10/6

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Theater & Dance

10/13–29

Hide and Seek Richard and Jennifer Crawford move from the city to an old farmhouse, which they’re trying to renovate before their baby arrives.

That is, until a visit

by Richard’s brother and his fiancée, along with a series of uneasy events, have the couple rethinking their entire plan. Carmel Community Players offers this

Meet the Maker

disturbing show at the Carmel Community Playhouse. carmel players.org

10/13–11/11

Pinocchio In this kids’ version at Beef & Boards, the story of Jiminy Cricket, Gepetto, and his wooden puppet is distilled down to one hour—plenty of time for Pinocchio to prove that he’s brave, truthful,

and unselfish enough to become a real boy. beefandboards.com

10/17–22

Finding Neverland Broadway in Indianapolis presents the story of Peter Pan you may not know.

Struggling playwright J.M. Barrie finds the inspiration he needs in the form of a widowed mother and her four children, Jack, George,

Michael, and Peter.

Follow the pixie dust to Neverland, er, Clowes Memorial Hall. butlerartscenter.org

10/17–11/12

The Originalist Opinions fly when conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia hires a young, liberal female law intern. This Indiana Repertory Theatre production explores

how people on opposite sides of the political spectrum can start coming together—so maybe you’ll pick up some tips for your family’s holiday gathering. irtlive.com

10/19–22

Magic Mystery Tour In two parts titled Innocence and Decadence, Dance Kaleidoscope puts its unique spin on the music of the

Best Tressed

Local wig designer Daniel Klingler is the mane man for area theater groups.

WITH A BFA IN THEATER AND VOICE, experience on stage as a performer, and training with some of the industry’s

Dreamgirls at Footlite Musicals, May 2017 “I love time periods,” says Klingler. For this production, he fashioned more than 40 wigs, including these complementary styles.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch at Footlite Musicals, January 2014 Klinger wanted to reimagine Hedwig’s look by cutting and styling this pink and white ombre ’do to go with her fuchsia outfit.

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The Property Known as Garland at Buck Creek Players, January 2016 Klingler applied makeup and styled this wig to best capture the essence— and look—of Judy Garland.

Young Frankenstein at Footlite Musicals, July 2013 Though Klingler used spirit gum as an adhesive for this look, he later learned that Topstick toupee tape was a better solution. Who knew?

Yuletide Celebration at Hilbert Circle Theatre, December 2014 This is one of Klingler’s favorite designs. He added crimson dye to a white wig and wrapped Styrofoam rings in red and white hair to create the peppermints.

WIG PHOTOS COURTESY DANIEL KLINGLER; KLINGLER BY TONY VALAINIS

best under his belt, it’s no wonder Klingler has found success in his hair-raising career. He has acted as designer and master wig stylist for hundreds of local, national, and international tours of plays and Broadway and Disney musicals. Check out five of his memorable designs that have graced Indy stages. —REBECCA BERFANGER

Theater & Dance Don’t Miss!

complement 30-some songs made famous by the legendary duo. atistage.org

10/20–11/5

11/4

Bard Fest A trio of local companies comes together to present three fulllength Shakespeare works in the city’s only annual festival devoted to the playwright. Over three weekends, Catalyst Repertory, First Folio Productions, and the Garfield Shakespeare Company will stage The Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth, and Cymbeline at the IndyFringe Theatre. indybardfest.com

Giordano Dance Chicago Clowes Memorial Hall hosts this pioneering jazz dance company, which aims to redefine and expand the definition of the genre through its highenergy performances. butlerartscenter.org

11/7–9

Aspen Santa Fe Ballet NOVEMBER 3

You’ll see a little bit of everything from this respected group: a blend of classical ballet and contemporary dance, and works from both emerging choreographers and masters such as William Forsythe and Twyla Tharp.

The Tarkington plays host. thecenterpresents.org

10/24–25

Kinky Boots If you missed this show when it was at Clowes in May, the IU Auditorium gives you another opportunity to watch struggling shoe factory owner Charlie Price turn the business around with help from the fabulous Lola.

Tap your toes to songs

by Cyndi Lauper. iuauditorium.com

10/26–11/19

Barbecue This satirical Robert O’Hara comedy centers on the O’Mallery family, who meets in a park for a barbecue and, oh yeah, an intervention.

Watch as addictions are revealed, accusations fly, and stereotypes are turned upside down at the Phoenix Theatre. phoenixtheatre.org 22

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10/27–29, 11/2–5 & 9–11

Frankenstein 200 years ago, Mary Shelley completed her tale of Victor Frankenstein living with the horrible ramifications of literally creating a monster. To mark that anniversary, the UIndy Department of Theatre presents a fully staged adaptation at the Ransburg Auditorium. arts.uindy.edu

10/29

National Acrobats and Martial Artists of China More than 100 performers dazzle at the Palladium with their feats of acrobatics,

magic, and martial arts. thecenterpresents.org

10/31–11/2

Motown The Musical You might have to resist the urge to dance in the aisles of the IU Auditorium during this musical that tells the story of Motown founder Berry Gordy. We can thank him for launching the careers of Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and others. iuauditorium.com

ana pays tribute to the work of Rodgers & Hammerstein in this fun-filled musical revue at the Studio Theater.

Dancing and humor

NOVEMBER

11/3–19

A Grand Night For Singing Actors Theatre of Indi-

Menopause the Musical

Menopause the Musical Make it a girls’ night out when this offBroadway hit that parodies “the change” visits the Old National Centre. oldnational centre.com

11/9–12 & 16–19

Bill W. and Dr. Bob The struggle with addiction is spotlighted in this educational and inspirational docudrama at the IndyFringe Theatre about the two men who founded Alcoholics Anonymous in 1935. indyfringe.org

SHAKESPEARE FROM THINKSTOCK.COM; ASPEN COURTESY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS; MENOPAUSE BY G FOUR PRODUCTIONS

Beatles. Get groovy at the Indiana Repertory Theatre. dancekal.org

11/10–11

CURTAIN CALLING THE CITY’S NEWEST nonprofi t professional theater How company is Storefront To Theatre of Indianapolis, founded by Ronan Marra.

Its inaugural play, Infinity, will be performed this fall at the Indy Eleven Theatre. Here, Marra sets the stage on what it takes to get up and running.

MARRA BY TONY VALAINIS; CHRISTMAS CAROL COURTESY INDIANA REPERTORY THEATRE

OBTAIN FINANCING This is a constant. Ninety percent of running a theater company is fundraising and writing grant applications. First, you want to become a nonprofit, so apply for a 501(c)(3). Then, put together a board of directors to help with fundraising.

FIND THE APPROPRIATE VENUE We’re hunting for our own space right now; a small, 40- to 50-seat theater in an actual storefront would be ideal. You’ve got to think about parking and a space that can support 12 performances per production.

SECURE WORKS Plays that have been published are the easiest to get a hold of. Sometimes you get an agent who is so glad you want their client’s play, and other times you’ll get no call. It really depends on the play—what its history is and the barriers you have to go through to get it.

BOOK ACTORS Infinity is only a three-person cast, so it was easy. Usually we’d post auditions at least two weeks in advance. It takes about a month from start to finish of putting a cast together.

GET THE WORD OUT A lot of marketing is targeting your audience while also trying to market to a broader audience. Every time I go to a coffeehouse, I leave a postcard there. —as told to Jennifer Uhl

Cultivate Cultivate, a popular offering on the Motus Dance calendar, showcases new choreography by emerging local dance-makers. Watch a wide variety of styles from the area’s best at the Basile Opera Center. motusdance .com

11/18–12/24

A Christmas Carol The Indiana Repertory Theatre’s rendition of the Dickens classic is back, featuring Tiny Tim, Ebenezer Scrooge, and the ghosts that help Scrooge come around to the spirit of the holidays. irtlive .com

11/14

Elf: The Musical Buddy the elf travels to New York City to find his father and help the city rediscover the true meaning of Christmas. See this musical adaptation of the Will Ferrell flick at Ball State’s Emens Auditorium. bsu.edu/ emens

11/17–19

Fiddler on the Roof In early 1900s Russia, Jewish milkman Tevye turns to pride and faith to protect his family from growing antiSemitism and changing social mores. Marian University Theatre stages this tale that features the popular songs “Matchmaker, Matchmaker,” “If I Were a Rich Man,” and “Sunrise, Sunset.” marian.edu/theatre

11/17–18 & 24–26

The Gift The Indy Eleven Theatre hosts this psychological thriller written by an Indianabased cardiologist. It features Eleanor, who receives the gift of foresight and must decipher truth from imagination—with potentially mortal consequences. indy fringe.org

11/24–26, 30 & 12/1–3, 7–10

The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas Cowboy boots are optional at Footlite Musicals’s staging of this musical comedy based on a true story.

At the center of the fun is the Chicken Ranch, a brothel that operated for more than 100 years in the Lone Star State, and the battle to shut it down. footlite.org

11/25

11/24– 12/23

A Beef & Boards Christmas This lively variety show celebrates its silver anniversary this year, so you know Beef & Boards will load up on the merry song-and-dance numbers audiences have loved for 25 years. beefandboards.com

11/24– 12/23

A Very Phoenix Xmas 12 In the final Xmas in the Phoenix Theatre’s current Park Avenue home, expect new music, a visit from the ghost of Xmas past, and the usual naughty and nice shenanigans you’ve come to expect.

Audience members can also vote on (and donate in favor of) their favorite sketches from previous Xmas shows. phoenixtheatre.org

Swan Lake Princess Odette falls under the spell of an evil sorcerer, and only Prince Siegfried’s devotion can save her in this full-length classical production by Russian Grand Ballet. Tragedy, love, and deception come to the Tarkington. thecenterpresents.org

11/25–26

A Year With Frog and Toad Follow the adventures of perky Frog, worrywart Toad, and their critter companions as their friendship endures ups and downs throughout winter, spring, summer, and fall. Actors Theatre of Indiana brings this musical for kids to the Studio Theater. thecenterpresents.org

11/26

The Nutcracker It’s not the holidays without a showing of The Nutcracker, right?

Tchaikovsky’s story of Clara and a bevy of toys that come to life on Christmas Eve fill the Tarkington, courtesy Russian Grand Ballet. thecenterpresents.org THE TICKET 2017 | IM

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Theater & Dance

The Nutcracker All of the glitz and glam of this popular show by Moscow Ballet returns to the Old National Centre. oldnationalcentre.com

from tradition and folklore, as well as edible treats. president benjaminharrison.org

A World of Christmas

12/15–1/7

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Civic Theatre brings to the Tarkington the story of Joseph, who uses his intelligence, wit, and ability to interpret dreams to persevere after his jealous brothers sell him into slavery. Catchy songs from the famous score are here, too. civic theatre.org

11/30–12/10

A World of Christmas As a festive alternative to the usual holiday show, Dance Kaleidoscope presents A World of Christmas at the Indiana Repertory Theatre. One act uses the music of Benjamin Britten, while the other includes music and dance styles from around the world. dancekal.org

DECEMBER

12/1–3

The Nutcracker Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre brings to life the story of Klara, an orphan who discovers the meaning of the season through the spirit of a homeless man. A modern version of this standard comes

to the Pike Performing Arts Center. gregory hancockdancetheatre.org

12/2–22

A Christmas Carol Have a to-do list a mile long? Beef & Boards offers a one-hour version of this Dickens classic, leaving you plenty of time to finish—or start—your holiday shopping. beefandboards.com

12/7–10

Completely Christmas Don Farrell and

Don’t Miss!

A Christmas Story – The Musical NOVEMBER 28–DECEMBER 3

The story of Ralphie and his mission of owning a Red Ryder CarbineAction 200-shot Range Model Air Rifle comes to the Old National Centre not in movie form, but as a musical. This rendition is part of the Broadway in Indianapolis season. oldnationalcentre.com 24

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MaryJayne Waddell of Actors Theatre of Indiana perform a Christmas cabaret at the Studio Theater, complete with original and classic songs, stories, and audience interaction—which will be easier if you opt for one of the stageside-table seats. thecenterpresents.org

12/10

A Charlie Brown Christmas Your favorite animated holiday special springs to life at Clowes Mem-

orial Hall, where you’ll see a faithful adaptation of Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang realizing the true meaning of Christmas and hear Vince Guaraldi’s jazzy soundtrack. butlerartscenter.org

12/15–17

Twas the Night Before…

Move among rooms of the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site for Candlelight Theatre’s festive interactive experience that features holiday figures

12/16–17

Holiday Special As a new offering, Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre presents a cabaret-style performance with popular holiday music, dancing, and guest vocalists at the Academy of Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre. gregoryhan cockdancetheatre.org

12/21–23

The Nutcracker See the Sugar Plum Fairy, gingerbread soldiers, and a growing Christmas tree at the Old National Centre when the Indianapolis School of Ballet takes on this beloved mainstay accompanied by live music. indyballet.org

CHRISTMAS STORY BY JESSE SCHEVE; KALEIDOSCOPE BY DREW ENDICOTT PHOTOGRAPHY

11/26

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MUST-SEE PERFORMANCES 28

LILY & MADELEINE 28

HOT TICKETS 30

RÉSUMÉ: JANE LYNCH 33

POP, ROCK and MORE

JUKEBOX COURTESY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS; TRUMPET FROM THINKSTOCK.COM

The Indy Jazz Fest shows off its top brass, p. 28.

A Total Mix-Up If you’ve ever wanted pop songs to sound less like pop and more like something you’d hear at a swanky 1920s jazz club, Postmodern Jukebox has you—and current hits— covered (p. 30).

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Quick Q&A

The Ticket

POP, ROCK & MORE CALENDAR Mega stars in concert, intimate cabaret offerings, Broadway hits, festive holiday shows, and more.

Lily & Madeleine

After touring with John Mellencamp, the duo looks back on the experience and shares what’s on the horizon.

WHAT WAS THE BEST PART OF TOURING WITH JOHN MELLENCAMP?

at Clowes Memorial Hall while performing his tribute to Bowie. butlerarts center.org

9/3

John Mayer In support of his most recent album, Mayer swings into Klipsch Music Center on his ambitiously named tour, The Search for Everything. live nation.com

9/9

Chris Stapleton A shot of “Tennessee Whiskey” comes to Klipsch Music Center when singer-songwriter Stapleton struts through on his AllAmerican Road Show tour. live nation.com

9/10

U2 Thirty years ago, this Irish group debuted a little album called The Joshua Tree, which would eventually sell more than 25 million copies worldwide. Their 28

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9/14–23

concert at Lucas Oil Stadium is sure to be one of the hottest tickets this fall. live nation.com

9/14

The Life Aquatic: A Tribute to David Bowie You may recognize Brazilian musician Seu Jorge from his role as Pele dos Santos, a sailor who sang Portuguese versions of David Bowie songs in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Now, Jorge re-creates the movie’s set on stage

Indy Jazz Fest This year, the event honors the Hammond B-3 organ, and begins appropriately with a concert by organist Tony Monaco at The Jazz Kitchen on September 15. That same night, vocalist Jane Monheit pays tribute to Ella Fitzgerald at the Schrott Center for the Arts. On September 16, Dr. Lonnie Smith, an acclaimed musician, composer, and performer, shows off his skills at The Jazz Kitchen, and the Buselli-Wallarab Jazz Orchestra performs selections by Richmond-based Gennett Records September 22 at the Indiana Landmarks Center. See the full schedule online. indyjazzfest.net

WHAT DO YOU ADMIRE ABOUT MELLENCAMP AND HIS CAREER?

M: It’s really cool that he started out as a Midwestern kid, the way that Lily and I are. He created this name for himself and he just never stopped writing.

L: I like that his fanbase is very Middle America, but John still stands by his beliefs, like Black Lives Matter and human rights. I think it would be easy to pander to the fans and brush over those issues, but he doesn’t do that.

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM EACH OTHER WHILE BEING ON THE ROAD?

M: I think we’ve learned how important it is to stick together and to know that we’re able to support each other— especially when other people aren’t very helpful or very kind or are even kind of scary. It’s nice that Lily and I always have each other’s backs.

NOW THAT THE TOUR HAS WRAPPED UP, WHAT’S NEXT?

L: We’re hopefully going to record an album in the fall. We’re still writing songs, but I feel very inspired to get back to our own stuff. —Heather Cox

LILY & MADELEINE BY STACY NEWGENT; LIFE AQUATIC AND OSBORNE COURTESY BUTLER UNIVERSITY; SWENSON COURTESY THE CABARET; CHENOWETH COURTESY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

SEPTEMBER

L: The crowds, because they get so into it. They go absolutely crazy. It’s a bunch of old white people dancing— it’s amazing. And also the hotels we stay in are fantastic.

9/15

Will Swenson and Seth Rudetsky Starring opposite Sara Bareilles in Broadway’s Waitress, Swenson shares stories of his career and performs fan-favorite songs in this Cabaret event at the Indiana Landmarks Center. Rudetsky, creator and star of Broadway’s Disaster!, serves as host and pianist for the evening. thecabaret .org

Will Swenson

progressive dinner.

Now, take part in a progressive concert during this event, when soloists and ensembles representing a wide range of genres perform on front stoops throughout Carmel’s Arts & Design District. carmelporchfest.org

the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s when The Avalons visit the Theater at the Fort in Lawrence. Two nights include music, comedy, and hijinks suitable for the whole family. artsforlawrence .org

9/21

An Evening with Jon McLaughlin As part of UIndy’s Family Weekend, singer-songwriter Jon McLaughlin, an Anderson native, performs on the mall in front of the Schwitzer Student Center. uindy.edu/ parents-and-family/ mclaughlin-concert

ZZ Top Calling all sharpdressed men and women: The famous bearded duo—along with one non-bearded member—visits Clowes Memorial Hall for a night of bluesy rock. butlerartscenter.org

9/22

9/15

Luke Bryan Follow the dirt road to Klipsch Music Center as Bryan entertains with a slew of No. 1 bro-country hits on his Huntin’, Fishin’ and Lovin’ Every Day tour. livenation.com

9/15–16

The Golden Age of Broadway: Rodgers & Hammerstein If the soundtracks to Oklahoma, The Sound of Music, South Pacific, and The King and I are in heavy rotation at your house, you’ll want to hear the ISO, the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir, and guest vocalist Kelli O’Hara perform these popular works at the Hilbert Circle Theatre. indianapolissymphony .org

9/17

Carmel PorchFest You’ve heard of a

Joan Osborne Sings of the Songs of Bob Dylan Osborne, best known for 1995’s “One of Us,” puts her soulful twist on the repertoire of Bob Dylan at the Schrott Center for the Arts. The show complements her newest album, Songs of Bob Dylan, which was recently released. butlerartscenter.org

10/7

Joan Osborne

9/24

Matchbox Twenty and Counting Crows With hit-packed set lists, these alt and pop rockers close out the season at Klipsch Music Center. livenation.com

9/29

Santino Fontana He was the voice of Frozen’s Hans and played the singing barman Greg on Crazy

Ex-Girlfriend. You might also recognize him as Prince Topher from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Now, Fontana stops by the Indiana Landmarks Center for an intimate cabaret evening. thecabaret .org

OCTOBER

10/6–7

The Avalons Take a journey through

10/7

The Simon & Garfunkel Story After a sold-out tour in the UK, this ode to the duo behind “Mrs. Robinson,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” and more comes to Clowes Memorial Hall for a multimedia event that features a full band, projection photos, and original film footage. butlerartscenter.org

Don’t Miss!

Kristin Chenoweth

Songbook Celebration SEPTEMBER 30

The Center for the Performing Arts honors Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Gilbert, and Mitzi Gaynor in this year’s Songbook Celebration gala, which benefits the center’s artistic and educational programs.

Don your best Mad Men–inspired attire and swing into the Palladium for cocktails, dinner, a performance by Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth, and an after-party. thecenterpresents.org THE TICKET 2017 | IM

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Hot Tickets

Pop, Rock, & More

With millions of records sold and billions of streams, some of music’s most prolific artists swing into Indy this season. Here’s how they stack up.

10/12

MOST POPULAR SONG ON SPOTIFY

Streams for Ed Sheeran, “Shape of You”

1,104,093,036 U2: “With or Without You,” 153,373,294 / Billy Joel: “Piano Man,” 121,343,875 / Lady Gaga: “Bad Romance,” 162,651,152 / Janet Jackson: “That’s The Way Love Goes,” 23,411,035 / Katy Perry: “Dark Horse,” 459,702,754

Marc Cohn

TWITTER FOLLOWERS U2 1.2 Million

SONGS ON THE CHARTS

Janet Jackson 3.4 Million

Billy Joel 218,000

BILLBOARD TOP 10 SONGS BILLBOARD HOT 100 SONGS

42

Ed Sheeran 19.2 Million

32

31 24

22 Katy Perry 101 Million

10/19

Chris Botti Acclaimed trumpeter Botti fills the Palladium with his blend of jazz, classical, and pop. thecenterpresents.org

Ed Sheeran

30

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Billy Joel

13

Lady Gaga

Janet Jackson

Katy Perry

COMING TO INDY! Ed Sheeran: Divide World Tour, September 8, Bankers Life Fieldhouse (BLF), sold out! / U2: The Joshua Tree Tour, September 10, Lucas Oil Stadium / Billy Joel: November 3, BLF / Lady Gaga: Joanne World Tour, November 5, BLF / Janet Jackson: State of the World Tour, November 26, BLF / Katy Perry: Witness Tour, December 9, BLF

U2

BILLY JOEL LADY GAGA JANET JACKSON KATY PERRY

NUMBER OF ALBUMS SOLD

22 Million Ed Sheeran

Postmodern Jukebox Pianist Scott Bradlee helms this YouTubefamous group that reimagines pop songs into totally different genres—think Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” as an Irish folk tune and Ke$ha’s “Die Young” as a country ditty. The Palladium hosts this

U2

ED SHEERAN

10/26

14

24

6

GRAMMY AWARDS

40 Million Katy Perry

Frankie Moreno: Under the Influence Moreno, a two-time Las Vegas Headliner of the Year, takes to the Hilbert Circle Theatre stage to perform hits from a strangely varied mix of artists: Elvis, Ray Charles, Mozart, and more. indianapolis symphony.org

13 5

30 Million Lady Gaga

10/20–21

Lady Gaga 67.2 Million

24

150 Million Billy Joel

160 Million Janet Jackson

170 Million U2 *Info current as of July 2017

COHN COURTESY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

Michael McDonald and Marc Cohn McDonald, former member of the Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan, and Cohn, perhaps best known for “Walking in Memphis,” join forces at the Palladium for a night of pop and classic rock hits. the centerpresents.org

Pop, Rock, & More Don’t Miss!

mash-up marvel. the centerpresents.org

for their roles in Side Show, perform some of musical theater’s most beloved songs at the Indiana Landmarks Center. thecabaret.org

10/27

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue Trombone Shorty launched his music career at age 6. Now leader of Orleans Avenue, he brings the band’s funk, rock, jazz, and hip-hop sounds to the Old National Centre. oldnationalcentre.com

11/10

Lady Gaga

Music of the Night The Indianapolis Children’s Choir hosts a family-friendly concert of traditional folksy Halloween songs at Broadway United Methodist Church. icchoir.org

NOVEMBER 5

Even if you’re not a Little Monster (the endearing term Gaga calls her fans), you’ll want to be at Bankers Life Fieldhouse for the hit songs and eye-popping costumes and theatrics you just know are part of the Joanne World Tour. bankerslifefieldhouse.com

10/28–29

Imagination Marian University’s show choir, the Knight Fusion Singers, mixes various styles in its contemporary choral performances. It presents its fall offering, Imagination, at Marian University Theatre. marian.edu/theatre

NOVEMBER

11/3

Billy Joel The Piano Man makes

11/8

his first solo appearance in Indy in nearly 20 years, filling Bankers Life Fieldhouse with hits from his decades-long career. bankerslifefieldhouse .com

11/4

Ben Folds Folds, who has performed in Indy with the Indianapolis Sym-

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue

phony Orchestra, now visits as a solo artist on his Paper Airplane Request Tour. Which means exactly what it says: If you want Folds to play a certain song, write it down, fold it up, and launch it on stage at the Old National Centre. oldnational centre.com

11/5

Rick Springfield Hear “Jessie’s Girl,” “I’ve Done Everything for You,” and other Springfield hits when he visits the Palladium for a solo acoustic show. thecenter presents.org 32

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The King’s Singers Created 50 years ago, this globe-trotting British sextet comes to Clowes Memorial Hall to share its a cappella versions of current pop hits, religious works, folk tunes, and more. butlerartscenter.org

11/10

Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner The Cabaret’s annual fundraiser features a double dose of Broadway divas. Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner, co-Tony nominees

11/15

U.S. Army Field Band Just four days after Veterans Day, an homage to the Army comes to the Palladium. This group’s Concert Band and Soldiers’ Chorus perform a wide mix of marches, overtures, and patriotic selections. thecenterpresents.org

11/17

Tonic Ball This 16th annual event at various Fountain Square venues celebrates the music of Wilco, Dolly Parton, James Brown, The Cure, and Simon & Garfunkel. tonicindy .com

11/18

Gregory Porter NPR Music declared two-time Grammywinner Porter to be “America’s next great jazz singer.” Decide for

GAGA AND TROMBONE COURTESY LIVE NATION; PIANO FROM THINKSTOCK.COM; KING’S SINGERS COURTESY BUTLER UNIVERSITY

10/27

Country Unplugged Tour There will be no shortage of material when Mark Chesnutt, Lorrie Morgan, and Joe Diffie take the stage at the Palladium—combined, they have nearly 60 Top 10 songs. thecenter presents.org

Résumé

Jane Lynch

She may be best known for playing Sue Sylvester on Glee, but the multifaceted Lynch has done some of everything— theater, comedy, movies, even a book. Brush up on her career before she visits The Cabaret (p. 34). —SAMANTHA STEVENSON PERSONAL

57 years old, grew up in Dolton, Illinois LIKES: Well-made coffee (she’s often spotted at Kings Road Cafe in LA);

her adopted dogs Millie, a mixed breed, and Bernice, a Cocker Spaniel; the Chicago Cubs; Carol Burnett

DISLIKES: Thoughtless questions (see References below), disorganization

and clutter, elevators

PROFESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS “I loved it. I hadn’t been back on stage in a play in probably decades at that point,” Lynch says.

Lynch says she’s not at all like her dog-trainer character when it comes to canines. “She was a rule enforcer. I just love animals and have kind of gotten into the habit of rescuing seniors from this one rescue organization.”

Lynch first met Best in Show director Christopher Guest when they worked on a Frosted Flakes commercial together.

EDUCATION

THEATER See Jane Sing!, a 14-city cabaret show (2016)

Miss Hannigan in Annie on Broadway (2013) Carol in The Real Live Brady Bunch, The Annoyance Theatre in Chicago (1991) FILM Voice of Calhoun in Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

Dorothy McWilliams in Julie & Julia (2009) Lucy Bobby in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006) Paula in The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005) Christy Cummings in Best in Show (2000) TELEVISION Host of Hollywood Game Night (2013–present)

“[The celebrities] show up ready to play. My job is just to herd them like cattle. They know they may do physical things, they know they may look stupid, but they do them anyway.”

Sue Sylvester on Glee (2009–2015) Dr. Linda Freeman on Two and a Half Men (2004–2014) BOOK Happy Accidents, a memoir (2011)

Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois (graduated 1982) Cornell University, Ithaca, New York (graduated 1984 with a Master of Fine Arts)

HONORS

“This was really a lovefest between us and the audience, just going back and forth with love,” Lynch says.

Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television for Glee (2011)

“When an actor is playing a character, that character lives somewhere in them. To say, ‘Oh I’m not [like Sue Sylvester] at all’ would just be ingenuous because you can’t play if it doesn’t live in you,” Lynch says. In an interview with Elle magazine, Glee co-star Matthew Morrison called Lynch an “insane genius.”

Primetime Emmys: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (2010); Outstanding Host for a Reality or RealityCompetition Program, Hollywood Game Night (2014 and 2015) LYNCH COURTESY THE CABARET

Honorary Doctoral Degree: Illinois State University (2017)

REFERENCES

“Lynch delivers a riotous and “She is so totally Sue Sylvester.” wildly eclectic evening of hilar- —Rolling Stone, when Lynch walked out of an interview iously droll musical mayhem.”

—The Hollywood Reporter on Lynch’s cabaret debut

after fielding too many “stupid questions”

“I honestly think there’s nothing she can’t do.”

—Nora Ephron, in The New York Times

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Pop, Rock, & More marks Center. thecabaret.org

12/9

11/19

Meeting of the Spirits With the backing of their respective bands, guitarists John McLaughlin and Jimmy Herring perform individual sets before coming together for a jam session to end all jam sessions. Or, at least to close out this show at Clowes Memorial Hall. butlerarts center.org

11/25

Jim Brickman: A Joyful Christmas Kick off the holiday season with this bestselling pianist, who comes to the Palladium to perform carols, classics, and original songs. thecenterpresents.org

11/26

Janet Jackson Sorry, that’s Miss Jackson. After a string of cancellations, this R&B/pop icon takes over Bankers Life Fieldhouse for a night of hits from her

Katy Perry Don’t let this show be “The One That Got Away.” Pop queen Perry brings her Witness tour to Bankers Life Fieldhouse in support of her newest album, also called Witness. bankerslife fieldhouse.com Canadian Brass Christmas

30-plus-year career. bankerslifefieldhouse .com

DECEMBER

12/1

Damien Escobar Violinist Escobar plays a unique form of string music that mixes classical, jazz, pop, R&B, and hiphop. He’s on stage at the Palladium. the centerpresents.org

12/8

Nat King Cole Tribute Pianist Ramsey Lewis

and his trio team up with guitarist and vocalist John Pizzarelli for a tribute to Cole at the Palladium. thecenterpresents .org

12/8–9

A Swingin’ Little Christmas Glee’s Jane Lynch (see p. 33), The Office’s Kate Flannery, and Glee vocal arranger Tim Davis bring to life World War II USO canteen and 1960’s Christmas specials in A Swingin’ Little Christmas at the Indiana Land-

12/10

Dave Koz 20th Anniversary Christmas Tour Get into the spirit of the season when saxophonist Koz and a supporting cast of David Benoit, Rick Braun, and Peter White stop by the Palladium for their take on holiday favorites and other selections. thecenter presents.org

Don’t Miss!

Yuletide Celebration DECEMBER 1–23

Now in its 32nd year, Yuletide welcomes back Sandi Patty as host of this beloved variety show.

Principal Pops conductor Jack Everly leads the ISO in a mix of holiday songs accompanied by actors, singers, and those tapdancing Santas. Direct your sleigh to the Hilbert Circle Theatre. indianapolissymphony.org 34

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12/12

The Ten Tenors: Home for the Holidays This Australian group stops by Clowes Memorial Hall with its varied repertoire that includes both classical and contemporary selections. butlerarts center.org

12/14

Mannheim Steamroller Christmas Who knew that this group’s New Age twists on classic holiday songs would be so popular?

Catch the tunes and the accompanying multimedia effects at Clowes Memorial Hall. butlerartscenter.org

12/15–16

Believe Show-stopping favorites and beloved sacred songs fill the Marian University Theatre when the Indianapolis Men’s Chorus puts on its annual holiday spectacle. indianapolis menschorus.org

12/16–17

Straight No Chaser Stemming from IU, this group brings its a cappella spin on current pop songs, hits of yesteryear, and holiday standards to the Old National Centre for four shows. old nationalcentre.com

12/23

Canadian Brass Christmas This chamber quintet, composed solely of brass instruments, jazzes up the Palladium with classical, traditional, and pop holiday tunes. the centerpresents.org

CANADIAN BRASS COURTESY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS; PERRY COURTESY LIVE NATION; YULETIDE COURTESY ISO

yourself when he visits the Palladium. thecenter presents.org

MUST-SEE PERFORMANCES 38

MEET THE CSO â&#x20AC;&#x2122;S JANNA HYMES 38

MESSIAH 42

CLASSICAL MUSIC

CHEN PHOTO COURTESY AMERICAN PIANISTS ASSOCIATION; MASK FROM THINKSTOCK.COM

Indianapolis Opera hosts its 15th annual grand ball! p. 42.

Key Player Though Sean Chen has performed all over the world, we imagine he has a soft spot for Indy, where he won the American Pianists Awards in 2013.

Hear him again this fall (p. 42).

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Quick Q&A

The Ticket

CLASSICAL MUSIC CALENDAR Beethoven and Brahms, Prokofiev’s piano masterpieces, local stars on stage, and favorite holiday shows.

9/10

From Cleveland With Love Nikita Mndoyants, who won the 2016 Cleveland International Piano Competition, holds a solo show at Butler’s Eidson-Duckwall Recital Hall. american pianists.org

9/18

Raymond Leppard 90th Birthday Celebration Leppard, UIndy’s artist-

in-residence and conductor laureate of the ISO, is the guest of honor at the school’s Opening Night Gala.

He’ll be joined by guest vocalists and musicians and university ensembles at the Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center. arts.uindy.edu

9/20

Happy Hour at the Symphony Conductor Jayce Ogren leads Time for Three, the ISO’s artists-inresidence, in their first

Raymond Leppard

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The Carmel Symphony Orchestra’s new maestra may look effortless, but don’t be fooled—she’s dealt with missing players to runaway sons.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE STORY FROM A CONCERT YOU’VE CONDUCTED?

performance of the season. Before the show, enjoy food and drinks in the Hilbert Circle Theatre lobby. indianapolis symphony.org

9/23

Opening Night Gala Soprano Renee Fleming makes her debut with the ISO as Krzysztof Urbanski helms the orchestra during its Opening Night Gala at the Hilbert Circle Theatre. indianapolissymphony .org

9/25

Drew Peterson Pianist Peterson, the Christel DeHaan Classical Fellow of the American Pianists Association and the UIndy artist-in-residence now through 2019, showcases his skills at the Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center. arts.uindy .edu

I was conducting at Conner Prairie when my younger son was 3 or 4, and from the corner of my eye I saw something moving across the lawn, but I wasn’t really concentrating on it. Well, he wanted to come be with me, so he crossed the lawn, walked up the stairs, and marched right across the stage.

I heard the audience clapping, and I thought, “Wow, they’re really loving this, and we’re just 10 minutes into the piece—this is amazing!” I had no idea.

And then the executive director came out and whisked him away, and the audience just went crazy.

WHAT’S THE WORST THING THAT’S EVER HAPPENED TO YOU DURING A PERFORMANCE?

I’ve conducted sick; I did The Nutcracker with a 104 fever. I’ve conducted where I forgot the music, and I just conducted by memory. I’ve conducted in snowstorms in Maine when players couldn’t get there, and so a player had to move over and just sight-read the concert. But those were exciting moments, and they turned out really beautifully, so I’m grateful for that.

WHAT DIFFERENTIATES YOU FROM OTHER CONDUCTORS?

I really connect with the audience. I’m very studious—I study a lot, for hours a day. And I always give 150 percent. But I can’t imagine a conductor not doing that. —Sarah Bahr

HYMES BY KIM KIELY PHOTOGRAPHY; LEPPARD COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF INDIANAPOLIS

SEPTEMBER

Janna Hymes

Classical Music

The Ticket

10/15

9/29–30

From Piano to Pen The renowned Orpheus Chamber Orchestra joins equally revered pianist Andre Watts at Purdue’s Loeb Playhouse for a concert that highlights Beethoven, Mozart, and others. purdue.edu/convocations

ISO Opening Weekend The ISO kicks off its season at the Hilbert Circle Theatre with Krzysztof Urbanski leading Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony and Gershwin’s Concerto in F. indianapolis symphony.org

10/27–28

OCTOBER The Wondrous World of John Williams The Indiana Wind Symphony tackles the repertoire of Williams, playing music from Harry Potter, E.T., Star Wars, and more at the Palladium. indianawind symphony.org

10/12

Danish String Quartet The Ensemble Music Society of Indianapolis welcomes this acclaimed chamber group, which will perform an all-Beethoven set at the Basile Theater at the Indiana History Center. ensemblemusic .org

Danish String Quartet

10/13

Moments in Time The Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra invites you to step back to a simpler time at the Schrott Center for the Arts. Soprano—and Indy native—Angela Brown joins the ICO on the idyllic and nostalgia-tinged “Knoxville: Summer of 1915,” a prose-poem

by James Agee that Samuel Barber later set to orchestral music.

The evening’s three other selections also hearken back to yesteryear. icomusic.org

10/13 & 15

American Masters Michael Francis, music director of the Florida Orchestra, leads the ISO, and pianist Orli Shaham accompanies on compositions from Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein at the Hilbert Circle Theatre (October 13) and the Palladium (October 15). indiana polissymphony.org, thecenterpresents.org

10/14

Orchestral Showcase Works by Brahms,

Barber, Grieg, and Beethoven are on the docket when the Carmel Symphony Orchestra performs its orchestral showcase at the Palladium. carmelsymphony.org

10/15

Two to Tango The Jazz Kitchen hosts composer/pianist Pablo Ziegler and pianist Christopher O’Riley, host of NPR’s From the Top, in this concert of Argentine New Tango, a mix of classic tango and American jazz. americanpianists.org

Don’t Miss!

Joshua Bell OCTOBER 6–7

Bloomington native and esteemed violinist Bell joins the ISO and conductor Jun Märkl in pieces by Liszt, Bruch, and Schumann at the Hilbert Circle Theatre. indianapolissymphony.org 40

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10/28

Sweet Melodies The Indianapolis Children’s Choir takes on Karl Jenkins’s Adiemus, a piece that combines classical elements with percussion, ethnic vocal sounds, and an invented language. Intrigued?

Hear it at Broadway United Methodist Church. icchoir.org

NOVEMBER

11/1

Happy Hour at the Symphony After sampling food and drink from local vendors, settle in as Time for Three holds another genre-bending show at the Hilbert Circle Theatre. indianapolissymphony .org

DANISH QUARTET BY CAROLINE BITTENCOURT; BONGOS FROM THINKSTOCK.COM; BELL COURTESY ISO

10/7

Augustin Hadelich Returns Hadelich, a gold medalist at the 2006 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, performs Benjamin Britten’s Violin Concerto in this show at the Hilbert Circle Theatre that also includes arrangements

by Mahler and Shostakovich. indianapolis symphony.org

Classical Music

Un Ballo in Maschera Indianapolis Opera hosts its 15th annual Grand Ball at the IMA’s Deer Zink Pavilion, an elegant evening that includes a silent auction, live music, and dinner. indyopera.org

An Afternoon with Sean Chen Sean Chen, a 2013 American Pianists Awards winner, tickles the ivories at the Indiana Landmarks Center during a solo performance. american pianists.org

11/29

11/10–11

Brahms’s Double Concerto ISO Concertmaster Zach DePue and Principal Cellist Austin Huntington are the star soloists for Brahms’s Double Concerto in this Hilbert Circle Theatre performance that also includes another selection from Brahms and one by Haydn. indianapolis symphony.org

11/11

Drew Peterson Peterson and the Carmel Symphony Orchestra fill the Palladium with music by Beethoven, Chopin, and others. carmel symphony.org

Jinjoo Cho

11/12

Echoes Over Five Centuries To celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, the Indiana Wind Symphony performs works from the era at the Palladium. indianawind symphony.org

11/17–19

La Traviata Indianapolis Opera opens its season with Giuseppe Verdi’s classic—and tragic— story of love between

Violetta Valery and Alfredo Germont.

This widely performed work is on stage at the Tarkington. indyopera .org

11/18

Beethoven’s Seventh Guest conductor Bradley Thachuk leads violinist Jinjoo Cho and the ICO in a concert of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony and other picks at the Schrott Center for the Arts. icomusic .org

Escher String Quartet Declared by The Guardian as “one of the finest string quartets of their generation,” this group performs pieces by Beethoven, Haydn, and Thomas Ades in the Basile Theater at the Indiana History Center. ensemble music.org

DECEMBER

12/3

Joy of the Season The Indiana Wind Symphony and special guests present a show of holiday favorites at the Palladium. indiana windsymphony.org

Don’t Miss!

Prokofiev Piano Concertos NOVEMBER 17–19

Three piano soloists tackle these Prokofiev creations. Hear concertos 1, 3, and 4 the first night, and 2 and 5 (which Krzysztof Urbanski called “probably the craziest piece of music ever written”) the following evening at the Hilbert Circle Theatre. On November 19, the ISO heads to the Palladium to perform concertos 2, 3, and 4. indianapolissymphony.org, thecenterpresents.org 42

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Krzysztof Urbanski

12/3 & 15–17

Festival of Carols With five performances (one at the Schrott Center for the Arts, four at the Palladium), you have no excuse for missing the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir and the ICO’s annual show of seasonal standards. indychoir.org

12/10–11

Handel’s Messiah Two grand settings provide appropriate backdrops for the ICO’s production of Messiah, accompanied by a quartet of guest vocalists. On December 10, hear it at Tabernacle Presbyterian Church, and on December 11, head to the Indiana Landmarks Center— and warm up your vocal chords beforehand so you’re ready for the sing-along. icomusic.org

12/15–16

Angels Sing The Indianapolis Children’s Choir’s top ensembles spread cheer with two shows of Christmas-time classics at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church. icchoir.org

12/21–22

Handel’s Messiah The Indianapolis Symphonic Choir joins the ISO at the Palladium for a powerful presentation of Handel’s Messiah. thecenter presents.org

CHO COURTESY ICO; URBANSKI BY MARCO BORGGREVE; ORNAMENT FROM THINKSTOCK.COM

11/19

11/4

MUST-SEE EXHIBITS 46

EITELJORGâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S FELLOWSHIP 46

Browse pottery and more at the Monument Circle Art Fair, p. 52.

THE MONSTER PROJECT 49

GRAFFITI ART 50

VISUAL ARTS

Sew Pretty

QUILT COURTESY IMA; VASE BY CHRISTINE DAVIS

The IMA hosts one wacky block party in Crazy Quilts: Stitching Memories, which highlights creations that eschewed quilting standards in favor of bright colors and striking patterns (p. 46).

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Quick Q&A

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VISUAL ARTS CALENDAR Fairs and festivals, holiday happenings, and solo and group exhibits featuring paintings, glass, sculpture, and more.

Jennifer Complo McNutt

The Eiteljorg’s curator of contemporary art offers a sneak peek of Native Art Now!, its Contemporary Art Fellowship program, which has supported Native artists since 1999.

HOW HAS NATIVE ART NOW! GROWN

ends 9/23

Twin Peaks Who killed Laura Palmer? A group of artists guides you back through The Great Northern Hotel, OneEyed Jack’s, and The Double R Diner in this ode to David Lynch’s cult classic at the Tube Factory artspace. tubefactory.org

ends 9/29

Strata Local artists Quincy Owens and Luke Crawley team up to explore permanence, juxtaposition, and other ideas using sound, light, and materials at the Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center. arts.uindy.edu

ends 10/8

Hoosier Salon The best of original Indiana art returns to the Indiana State Museum for the 93rd 46

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annual Hoosier Salon. indianamuseum.org

ends 10/21

The/a mind the b mind Painter Larissa Hammond and poet Ariana Reines join together for a show at the Tube Factory artspace that examines concepts surrounding communication. tubefactory.org

ends 10/22

Elegance from the East It must be a special

occasion because the IMA is pulling out the good china in this exhibition of 17th and 18th century porcelains on display in the Lilly House. imamuseum.org

ends 12/31

Connecting the Lines Korean artist Heeseop Yoon specializes in large-scale line-drawing installations. See her latest site-specific work made with just black masking tape and mylar at the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art’s CityWay gallery. indymoca.org

ends 1/7/18

Crazy Quilts: Stitching Memories Feeling a little scrappy?

Get wrapped up in these asymmetric and boldly colored 19th century quilts at the IMA and learn about the women who pieced them together. ima museum.org

SINCE ITS DEBUT?

I don’t know that it’s grown, but it’s morphed into different events taking place during [opening] weekend. It’s really given the artists a big boost and has helped bring people together to have dialogue and support each other.

It has impacted the field of contemporary Native art internationally and has had a big impact on what the artists have been able to create. They’ve been able to purchase materials and equipment for their work.

HOW DOES CONTEMPORARY NATIVE ART DIFFER FROM OTHER CONTEMPORARY ART?

The difference between a contemporary artist and a contemporary Native artist is about 15,000 years. When you know that much about your ancestors and history, it creates a different perspective.

WHAT DO YOU HOPE PEOPLE TAKE AWAY FROM THIS EXHIBIT?

I hope they have a pleasurable visual experience. I want them to really enjoy the artwork. It’d be great if they understand the challenges Natives face today. Some works can reference racism, genocide, or any number of dramatic topics. I hope that they walk away with a deeper understanding of Native people.

VASE COURTESY IMA; COMPLO MCNUTT COURTESY AIRSTREAM INC.

ONGOING

Visual Arts

9/13–11/11

Cat Head Press Three alums from Herron School of Art and Design teamed up to open a print shop/community center combo on East Washington Street, and they, as well as other Herron grads, bring some of their work back to their alma mater for this show. herron.iupui .edu

Hiroshige: Famous Views of the 60Odd Provinces Tour Japan at the IMA in paintings by renowned 19th century artist Utagawa Hiroshige that showcase the variety and beauty of landscapes found in the country’s many regions. imamuseum.org

SEPTEMBER

9/1–16

Gathering: Contemporary Glass from the Heartland Be blown away as Gallery 924 gathers together the sleekest work from modern Midwest glass artists. indyarts.org/gallery -924

SEPTEMBER 9

More than 300 artists’ booths take over the IMA’s campus, along with six entertainment stages and a special space for artistic kiddos at one of the nation’s largest single-day art fairs. penrod.org

From Picasso with Love If you’ve ever wondered what kind of woman could charm a Cubist’s heart, come meet Eva Gouel, the lover and muse of Picasso. The IMA will have two new masterworks featuring her on loan in this new exhibition. imamuseum .org

ton and working with Indiana limestone, Dale Enochs creates sculptures that come with some weight. One of the state’s top artists, his works can be found from the Bicentennial Plaza at the Statehouse to the private collection of Sir Paul McCartney and, for this month, collected at the LongSharp Gallery. long sharpgallery.com

9/8–30

9/9

9/1–4/29/18

9/1–29

Undercurrent Up-and-coming painter Alicia Zanoni’s hazy cityscapes hang in the Harrison Center for the Arts’s Harrison Gallery. harrisoncenter .org

9/13–11/11

Penrod Arts Fair

Dale Enochs: On the Rocks Living in Blooming-

Public Art Bike Tour If a walking tour isn’t your speed, hop on a

bike and join an expert from the Arts Council of Indianapolis to explore art along the Canal, White River State Park, and around IUPUI. activeindytours.com

9/10–10/8

Quest for the West Fulfill your manifest destiny—in your art collection at least— as the Eiteljorg hosts the largest show and sale of Western art this side of the Mississippi. eiteljorg.org

Light Atlas

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A Shade Away Denver-based artist Derrick Velasquez says his work aims to question our physical and psychological interactions with industrially manufactured materials. Yes, you are probably going to need to read the little placards with this show in the galleries at Herron School of Art and Design. herron.iupui.edu

9/13–11/11

Light Atlas Cynthia Daignault took a year-long road trip across the U.S. and stopped every 25 miles to paint a picture.

The galleries at Herron School of Art and Design will be the first to display this mass portraiture of America in its entirety—360 works. herron.iupui .edu

GLASS IMAGE BY MARTINEZ; PENROD BY TONY VALAINIS; A SHADE AWAY BY DERRICK VELASQUEZ; LIGHT ATLAS BY CYNTHIA DAIGNAULT

ends 4/15/18

Don’t Miss!

The Sevenophore

by Mab Graves Jackson by Brett Manning

The Seven Monster

by Ransom Graves (age 6)

Jackson by Conrad Gehlhausen (age 10) Joey Sprinkles by Tristan Thompson Joey Sprinkles by Evie Gillespie (age 8)

Monster Mash(up) A scary-good way of letting kids explore creativity comes to Indy this fall.

INSPIRED BY THE WORK BY YEONDOO JUNG,

in which he re-created kids’ drawings as Child’s photos, Katie Johnson got to thinking: Play Why not do so using illustrations instead? She recruited pupils in her mom’s music class to draw monsters—chosen because there are no rules as to what such a being should look like—and reimagined their work in her unique style.

“I wanted to give kids a different artistic perspective and to show that there are various types of art,” Johnson says.

In 2010, The Monster Project was officially born.

Each year, the team brings the initiative to one city and typically picks a public elementary school whose arts program has been diminished or cut altogether. This fall, two second-grade classes at IPS Christian Park School 82 are the lucky recipients.

After students sketch their masterpieces, creative types choose which one they want to interpret. In November, the artists will present students with their versions, which the kids can keep. Check themonster project.org to see the final results.

As a warm-up exercise, we held our own rendition of The Monster Project. Talk about a graveyard smash.

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Visual Arts

Art Squared Rome wasn’t built in a day, but how about great art? Take on the challenge yourself in the Masterpiece in a Day competition, one of many engaging activities at Fountain Square’s annual fest that also includes a fair and a parade. fsartcouncil.org

Meridian-Kessler, the building at 3959 N. Central Ave. is now renovated with an apartment for them and a painting/printmaking studio for local artist Dorothy Stites Alig. artmix indiana.org

9/29

Director’s Choice: Gifts of Art 2017 See what’s new at the IMA—literally—when this exhibit opens. It’s curated by director Charles Venable himself and highlights the year’s acquisitions and donations. imamuseum.org

9/30 9/16

Katarzyna Kociomyk Poland native and Southern Indiana resident Kociomyk displays a new batch of oil paintings centered on music and dance during this reception at Gallery Forty-Two. A portion of the evening’s sales benefits Riley Hospital for Children’s art therapy program. galleryfortytwo.com

9/21

Art & Home Tour Get a rare peek into the home of two local art collectors during this ArtMix event.

Originally a telephone switching station in

Navajo Rug Auction Don’t let the rug get pulled out from under you at the Eiteljorg. Be fast with your bidding to pick up something lovely from the R.B. Burnham & Co. Trading Post. eiteljorg.org

OCTOBER

10/6

City as Canvas Opening Night In case you’ve been waiting for the day you’d dress up and head to a swanky party at an art museum for graffiti, here it is. Sip champagne and be among the first to see the IMA’s latest exhibit examining the New York City back-alley art scene of the ’70s and ’80s. imamuseum.org

Wall Talk

The IMA paints outside the lines in its latest exhibit.

ART SNOBS MAY CRINKLE THEIR NOSES at the

thought of graffiti, vandals’ decor of choice for interstate underpasses and abandoned buildings, being the subject of a museum exhibit. But it’s that knee-jerk reaction that the IMA says it’s challenging in its newest offering, City as Canvas, which spotlights New York City graffiti from the ’70s and ’80s.

“It’s definitely a different sort of exhibit,” says Elisabeth Smith, curatorial assistant for modern and contemporary arts. “We’re trying to dismantle these preconceptions about what might be classified as art in a museum context. We’re pushing those boundaries a little bit more.”

City as Canvas is also different in that it offers more hands-on activities than usual. There’s a digital graffiti wall, a drawing station where you can practice your tag, and a pop-up park that evokes old-school NYC—think games of chess and checkers, music, and even break-dancing lessons.

Sneak Peek

ART EXAM: Tag these local murals with their locations.

1

VANDAL

2

20 PAST 4 & MORE

3

CUE TRIBUTE WALL

10/6–27

Automaticae: New Work by Keith J. Hampton If it looks like Hampton had his eyes closed when he worked on pieces for this show at Gallery 924, it’s because he did. He uses a pro-

4 20TH ANNIVERSARY INFAMOUS WITH STYLE

A. 205 E. Palmer St. D. 1039 S. East St.

5

GRAFFITI CLASS OF 2016 MURAL

B. 2415 E. 56th St. E. 810 E. 67th St.

AMERICAN TENT & AWNING WALL

6

C. CityWay parking garage F. 1112 Prospect St. ANSWERS: 1. C, 2. B, 3. D, 4. F, 5. E, 6. A

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ART SQUARED BY MICHAEL CROOK; FRAME FROM THINKSTOCK.COM; CITY AS CANVAS GRAFFITI IMAGE COURTESY IMA; VANDAL PHOTO BY TONY VALAINIS; OTHER GRAFFITI IMAGES COURTESY ARTS COUNCIL OF INDIANAPOLIS

9/16

Visual Arts cess called automatic drawing, whose goal is to bring subconscious movements to the conscious world. indyarts .org/gallery-924

for your perusal on this semi-annual walking art tour. broadripple artwalk.org

10/6–27

Indianapolis Art Center Faculty Show Taking a break from teaching you how to be creative, the faculty get a chance to show off their own work at the Indianapolis Art Center. indplsartcenter .org

10/6–31

Places in the Heartland The images of Rad Drew, a professional iPhoneographer (yes, that is something you can be), are shot and edited entirely on his iPhone. His latest collection featuring the landscapes of the Hoosier State hangs in the Nancy Lee Designs Studio at the Circle City Industrial Complex. circlecityind.com

10/6–11/4

Andy Warhol: Early Works on Paper Glimpse the art of Warhol created before

Andy Warhol: Early Works on Paper

the portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, and soup cans made him the Pop Art icon we know today. The collection—primarily of drawings—from the Warhol estate will be on display at the Long-Sharp Gallery. longsharpgallery.com

10/7

Monument Circle Art Fair Regional artists will gather ’round Monument Circle for a free downtown art fair. monumentcircleart .com

10/7–1/28/18

City as Canvas Street art gets off the street. More than 100 pieces at the IMA will showcase the early, gritty days of New York graffiti and its rise from public nuisance by ne’er-do-wells to respected aerosol art. imamuseum.org

10/13

Broad Ripple Art Walk Broad Ripple boutiques and shops will be bedecked with local artwork and open doors

11/3–24

Ivy Tech Fine Arts & Design Faculty Exhibition Gallery 924 hosts a showing of the best work in a variety of mediums from the Ivy Tech Fine Arts faculty. indyarts.org/ gallery-924

11/3–24

Kyle Ragsdale Bright and impressionistic, the enchanting paintings of prolific local artist Kyle Ragsdale will grace the walls of the Harrison Center for the Arts in his annual solo show. harrisoncenter.org

11/3–1/20/18

10/28

Day of the Dead Performances, an altar exhibition, and a parade are just a few of the activities that make up Dia de los Muertos, held at the Eiteljorg in partnership with Nopal Cultural. eiteljorg.org

Don’t Miss!

Be/Coming Rooted in African masquerade traditions, this installation piece at the Tube Factory artspace is a collaboration between artist LaShawnda Crowe Storm and poet Eliza Hamilton Abegunde, and focuses on the messages of ancestral healing and AfricanAmerican female empowerment. You go, girls. tubefactory.org

Portraits of our City OCTOBER 27– JULY 29, 2018

A Humans of New Yorkesque exhibition at the IMA will feature hundreds of photographic portraits of Indy residents in an effort to discover human connections through people and place. imamuseum.org 52

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11/4

Almighty Pollock Paint Launch Affair Get messy while exploring your artistic side in this Spirit & Place Festival event at the Garfield Park Arts Center, during which you can hurl paint

SPRITE FIGURE WITH GLASSES © ANDY WARHOL; DAY OF THE DEAD COURTESY EITELJORG; PORTRAITS COURTESY IMA; PAINT FROM THINKSTOCK.COM

Tyler Meunick Contemporary paintings, minimalist and industrial, from Tyler Meunick will be on exhibit in the Harrison Gallery at the Harrison Center for the Arts. harrisoncenter.org

10/13–11/27

NOVEMBER

Visual Arts balloons onto a giant canvas via catapult, slingshot, and other methods. spiritand place.org

Don’t Miss!

with more than 30 artists’ studios open for your perusal. stutzartists.com

12/1–29

11/4–12

Emerald City Follow the yellow brick road to the Harrison Center for the Arts, which will be filled with green art for their annual color-themed group show. harrisoncenter .org

Stitched Up Power What exactly does “power” mean to engineers? Fiber artists take a stab at interpreting their definitions during this Spirit & Place Festival event at the Athenaeum. spiritandplace.org

11/10–1/13/18

Athena Shrugged Remix A culmination of a five-part series launched at their New York location, the Long-Sharp Gallery will showcase the work of seven female artists making waves in the art world, including three based in Central Indiana. longsharp gallery.com

Native Art Now! NOVEMBER 11–JANUARY 28, 2018

The Eiteljorg celebrates 20 years of its Contemporary Art Fellowship encouraging modern Native artists with a retrospective of nearly 40 works. Opening weekend happenings include a panel discussion, a book unveiling, and a documentary sneak preview, all of which are open to the public. Catch the exhibit in town before it rides off into the sunset for a national tour. eiteljorg.org

12/1–1/5/18

Tiny VI Feel like a giant at Gallery 924’s showcase of itsy-bitsy art. With the theme Celebrating the Year of Vonnegut, works will relate to the native Indianapolis author or reference one of his works in some way. indyarts.org/ gallery-924

11/18–1/15/18

Jingle Rails All aboard for a jolly ride across the West and through the Circle City in miniature at the Eiteljorg, where model trains chug along 1,200 feet of track past landmarks that have been handcrafted from natural materials. eiteljorg.org

11/19–1/7/18

Winterlights The IMA gets sprinkled with a little holiday 54

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magic this year and it looks a lot like a choreographed light show on the Lilly House lawn, light displays, campfires over which to roast s’mores, seasonal food and drink, and Karl Unnasch’s 50-foot tree made of toys, Playtime in Indy. imamuseum .org

11/20–12/16

Petit Mort Robert Horvath, an associate professor of painting at Herron, has long been interested in examining the excesses and impact of popular culture in his artwork.

A collection of his

paintings hangs in a solo show in the galleries at Herron School of Art and Design. herron .iupui.edu

DECEMBER

12/1

CCIC Holiday Showcase The many long halls of the Circle City Industrial Complex will be decked for the season, and various studios will be full of holiday-themed artwork. Browse paintings, furniture, mixedmedia pieces, and more. circlecityind.com

12/1

Stutz Artists Holiday Open House The Stutz will be trimmed and tinseled

IAC Student Show Only the best pupil works from the Indianapolis Art Center will be displayed in this juried exhibition. indplsartcenter.org

NATIVE ART NOW! IMAGE BY MERYL MCMASTER; JINGLE RAILS COURTESY EITELJORG; BRUSH FROM THINKSTOCK.COM; TINY VI COURTESY ARTS COUNCIL OF INDIANAPOLIS

12/15– 1/27/18

Season 2017-2018

INDIANAPOLIS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

Challenge your senses.

Live.

Moments In Time

October 13, 2017 | 7:30 PM Angela Brown, soprano

Beethoven’s Seventh

November 18, 2017 | 7:30 PM Bradley Thachuk, guest conductor Jinjoo Cho, violin

Handel’s Messiah

December 10, 2017 | 3:00 PM

Messiah Sing-Along

December 11, 2017 | 7:30 PM

Happy Birthday Mozart

January 27, 2018 | 7:30 PM Sean Chen, piano

Harold Lloyd And The Reel West

Conducted by Music Director Matthew Kraemer.

Through creative programming and the inspiring artistry of Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra and Maestro Matthew Kraemer, the beauty and thrills of live music will challenge your senses.

For tickets, please visit icomusic.org

March 10, 2018 | 7:30 PM March 11, 2018 | 3:00 PM

Double Feature: Silent Film with Live Orchestra An Eastern Westerner (1920) Safety Last (1923)

Ballet Pantomime

April 21, 2018 | 7:30 PM Csaba Erdélyi, viola

Kiss Me Kate, 70th Anniversary May 19, 2018 | 7:30 PM May 20, 2018 | 3:00 PM

Cole Porter’s Kiss Me Kate

icomusic.org | 317.940.9607

Intimate Classic Original

MUST-ATTEND FILMS & MORE 58

GEEKY PRESS 58

HOW TO: HEARTLAND 60

PHOTO COURTESY SWANK MOTION PICTURES AND WARNER BROS.

MOVIES, BOOKS, etc.

EXPERIENCE VONNEGUT 64

The ISO provides the soundtrack for E.T. the ExtraTerrestrial, p. 62.

Piano Man What better role for prolific composer and musician Hoagy Carmichael than bandleader Chick Morgan in Night Song? The flick shows at IU Cinema during a weekend dedicated solely to the Bloomington native (p. 66).

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Quick Q&A

The Ticket

Film screenings galore, comedians, author chats, the Year of Vonnegut, and more.

SEPTEMBER

acts. Catch the laughs at Clowes Memorial Hall. butlerartscenter .org

9/7

Ross Gay The Butler Visiting Writers Series kicks off at the Schrott Center for the Arts with Ross Gay, a poet and IU professor whose book Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude won the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award and the 2016 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. butler .edu/vws

9/8–9

North by Northwest (1959) Cary Grant plays Roger Thornhill, an advertising exec who goes on the run after thugs trying to smuggle out microfilm containing government secrets mistake him for a man trying to thwart their plan. The Historic Artcraft Theatre screens this Hitchcock thriller. historicartcraft theatre.org 58

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9/15

9/13 & 17

La La Land in Concert Multiple Academy Award–winning La La Land plays overhead at the Hilbert Circle Theatre while the ISO performs its soundtrack, which earned Best Original Score honors. indianapolis symphony.org

9/15

Mike Birbiglia Yes, he’s also an actor, filmmaker, and writer, but Birbiglia is best known for his comedy

Columbus (2017) IU Cinema hosts a special screening of this movie, filmed in the south-central Indiana city, that earned high praise after its Sundance debut.

Director Kogonada is scheduled to appear. cinema.indiana.edu

9/15–16

Mary Poppins (1955) You have two chances to see this supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Disney classic on the big screen of the Historic Artcraft Theatre— we think missing out would be something quite atrocious. historic artcrafttheatre.org

9/17

Strong Island (2017) Actor Danny Glover stops by IU Cinema to

Brad King The founder of writers’ collective The Geeky Press chats about the group’s latest venture, HoosierLit, whose newest edition is out this fall.

WHY LAUNCH A LITERARY JOURNAL?

We started HoosierLit because we wanted to create a space that celebrated all different kinds of writing from Indiana authors. It was to broaden the scope with the way we think about writing and what we think is literary.

DID THE INAUGURAL SPRING ISSUE LIVE UP TO YOUR EXPECTATIONS?

We had an acceptance rate of 17 percent, which, if you look at other literary magazines that are established, that’s a high number, but for us, we were pretty happy. We had about 160–170 submissions.

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR IN CONTENT FOR HOOSIERLIT?

What we look for are interesting voices and interesting stories that are well written. We want people to tell us the stories they want to tell.

WHAT WAS THE REASON BEHIND STARTING THE GEEKY PRESS?

What I felt like wasn’t around was this community of writers, people who were doing this because they had something to say. If you were a writer in Indianapolis and you wanted to meet other writers, you could do that.

ANY BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS?

There’s this book by Bell Hooks called Belonging: A Culture of Place, about class and race and Appalachia and their relationship to the world. Bell Hooks is the woman everybody should be reading. —Heather Cox

KING BY REBECCA KING; LA LA LAND POSTER COURTESY ISO

MOVIES, BOOKS, ETC. CALENDAR

Movies, Books, Etc. introduce Strong Island, which follows the Ford family and the aftermath of their son’s 1992 murder. cinema .indiana.edu

9/19

To Be Takei (2014) George Takei, a vocal champion of civil rights and marriage equality, is slated to appear at IU Cinema for a screening of To Be Takei, a documentary about his life. cinema.indiana.edu

9/21

Colson Whitehead The 2017 Pulitzer Prize–winner, Whitehead visits the Schrott Center for the Arts as part of Butler’s Visiting

9/23

Internet Cat Video Festival Gather with other feline fanatics for kitty clips shown on the big screen on the IMA’s East Mall. This popular event also includes a pre-show chat with Will Braden, the man behind the “Henri, Le Chat Noir” series, which has racked up more than 10 million views on YouTube. imamuseum.org

OCTOBER

10/1 Internet Cat Video Festival

9/27

Deb Olin Unferth Short-story author Unferth, who dropped out of college to join the Nicaraguan revolution and currently runs a creative-writing program at a Texas penitentiary, will have plenty of tales to share when she visits UIndy’s Schwitzer Student Center as part of the school’s Kellogg Writers Series. arts .uindy.edu

9/29–30

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) Potter and the gang return to Hogwarts for their second year, only to face the terrors summoned when the Chamber of Secrets is opened. Relive what happens when Potter takes matters into his wizardly hands at the Historic Artcraft Theatre. historic artcrafttheatre.org

10/2

Ocean Vuong Acclaimed poet and essayist Vuong, whose work has been featured in The Atlantic, The New Yorker, and the American Poetry

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Experiences you’ll find only at the Heartland Film Festival, October 12–22.

OPENING NIGHT SCREENING & PARTY Miss this event OCTOBER 12 at the IMA? Inconceivable. Rob Reiner— the award-winning director of such cult classics as Stand by Me and The Princess Bride— will receive the Pioneering Spirit Lifetime Award and show his latest film, LBJ (pictured), starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Bill Pullman.

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John Cleese After watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail on the big screen at the IU Auditorium, hear from one of the movie’s stars, John Cleese, as he shares stories and fields questions from the audience—only absurd inquiries are allowed, so ask accordingly. iuauditorium.com

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CATCH FILMS BEFORE THEY MAKE IT BIG Heartland has a knack for RECOGNIZING CINEMATIC GREATNESS before Hollywood comes calling.

Three short films from last year’s festival earned Oscar nominations, plus a win for Sing (pictured) in the Live Action Short Subject category. 2015 Oscar-winning Room had its second screening at Heartland, long before it ever hit theaters.

GLOW This neon-tinged bash on OCTOBER 21 takes over Fountain Square and awards more than $100,000 in cash and prizes to festival winners, who field some stiff competition with more than 3,500 films submitted worldwide. Rub elbows with industry pros—and play pinball and check out the GIF photo booth—at various venues throughout the district.

FILMMAKERS’ BRUNCH Up-and-coming filmmakers and fans won’t want to skip our favorite meal of the day on OCTOBER 22 or the opportunity to hear the inspiration behind films and various perspectives on the filmmaking process. The mingle-with-your-mimosa atmosphere means you can chat one-on-one with the storyteller behind your favorite film. A tip? Buy tickets early.

—JENNIFER UHL

HIGH SCHOOL FILM COMPETITION Heartland received 375 SUBMISSIONS from high schools around the world this year. That’s a lot of view time, but there’s no excuse to miss seeing these first-rate shorts: Each is only 12 minutes, tops, and they’re bundled together in one feature-length program.

Which means you won’t be late for your dinner reservation.

LBJ BY ELECTRIC ENTERTAINMENT; BRUNCH, GLOW, HIGH SCHOOL FILM BY BANAYOTE PHOTOGRAPHY; CAT VIDEO FEST COURTESY IMA

How To

Writers Series. His most recent book, The Underground Railroad, was a New York Times bestseller and a top title of 2016 according to many publications. butler .edu/vws

Don’t Miss!

Review, makes a stop at the Schrott Center for the Arts for the Visiting Writers Series. butler.edu/vws

Leonard Award for best first book for Homegoing, which follows the lives of two half-sisters, one sold into slavery, the other married to a British slaver. She’ll swing by the Schrott Center for the Arts as part of Butler’s Visiting Writers Series. butler .edu/vws

10/6–7

AMERICAN IN PARIS COURTESY AN AMERICAN IN PARIS; CROWN HILL BY TONY VALAINIS

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) Cary Grant and Priscilla Lane star in this Frank Capra dark comedy about a family of murderers with good intentions. (Is there such a thing?) Decide for yourself when the film plays at the Historic Artcraft Theatre. historicartcrafttheatre .org

10/20–21

Music of the Night OCTOBER 19–21 & 26–28

10/7

Comic Book in a Day Let’s hope no villains interfere as artists try to create an entire comic book in a handful of hours at Nickel Plate Arts in Noblesville. While they’re toiling away, guests can check out work by nationally recognized comic-book artists, go through the paces to earn their official Superhero University certification, and create comic-inspired crafts.

Don’t leave without seeing whose newly crafted book the judges deem best! nickelplate arts.org

Within Crown Hill Cemetery’s Gothic Chapel, organist Charles Manning and vocalists Eric Wickens and Leah Crane perform a medley from The Phantom of the Opera and other TV and movie themes. Also included is the Skeletons in the Closet walking tour, during which you’ll learn interesting tidbits about some of the cemetery’s residents. crownhillhf.org

10/7

Cereal Cinema: Hocus Pocus (1993) Chow down on the cereal buffet before settling in to watch a group of teens battle a trio of witches in Salem. Indy Film Fest presents the showing

An American in Paris

at the IMA’s Toby Theater. indyfilmfest.org

10/9

An American in Paris (1951) Gene Kelly shows off his fancy footwork in this winner of six Academy Awards screening at IU Cinema. Harriet Newman Leve, producer of the Broadway version and an IU alumna, joins in the fun. cinema.indiana.edu

10/13–14

Halloween (1978) Kick off the season of spooks at the Historic Artcraft Theatre, which screens this popular flick featuring Michael Myers as he returns to his hometown to exact murderous revenge. historicartcrafttheatre .org

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) The comedic duo encounters Frankenstein’s monster, Count Dracula, and the Wolf Man in one of the American Film Institute’s 100 Funniest American Movies, playing at the Historic Artcraft Theatre. historicartcraft theatre.org

10/14

Ghost Stories What better setting for listening to hair-raising accounts than Crown Hill Cemetery? Pack a picnic dinner and sit back as Storytelling Arts of Indiana shares unnerving tales. crownhillhf.org

10/14

Indiana Authors Fair Writers and bibliophiles of all ages are invited to Central Library for a day of book-related activities and fun. indiana authorsaward.org

10/16

Yaa Gyasi At just 26, Gyasi earned the National Book Critics Circle’s John

10/21

Theaster Gates Gates, director of the Arts and Public Life initiative at the University of Chicago, visits the Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center to chat about his Rebuild Foundation, which spurs urban redevelopment through culturebased, artist-led initiatives. arts.uindy.edu

10/21

Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine (2013) In 1998, Matthew THE TICKET 2017 | IM

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Movies, Books, Etc.

10/25

Lori Rader-Day and Christopher Coake These two Indiana natives come together at UIndy’s Schwitzer Student Center as part of the Kellogg Writers Series. Both have won awards for their first novels—Rader-Day for her thriller, The Black Hour, and Coake for We’re In Trouble, a

Lori Rader-Day

collection of short stories. arts.uindy.edu

10/25

Ann Katz Festival of Books & Arts Kickoff This annual event, running through November 13, commences with a visit from Chuck Todd of NBC News’s Meet the Press at the Arthur M. Glick JCC. jccindy.org

10/26

Jerry Seinfeld Surely this won’t be a “show about nothing,” right? Find out while Seinfeld quips on the minutiae of everyday life during his stand-up act at the Old National Centre. oldnational centre.com

10/27–28

The Addams Family (1991) They’re creepy and they’re kooky, and you can watch them band together to prevent a conniving trio from getting their hands on the family’s wealth.

This altogether-ooky movie shows at the Historic Artcraft Theatre. historicartcraft theatre.org

The Scar of Shame

NOVEMBER

11/1

Jonathan Eig He wrote the book on the world’s greatest boxer, Ali: A Life, out October 3. Now, author Eig, currently working with Ken Burns on an Ali documentary, visits the Arthur M. Glick JCC as part of the Ann Katz Festival of Books & Arts. jccindy.org

11/2

Monica Youn Princeton University creative writing lecturer Youn continues Butler’s Visiting Writers Series with a stop at Robertson Hall. Her collection of poetry, Ignatz, was a finalist for the 2010 National Book Award. butler.edu/vws

11/3

Spirit & Place Festival Opening Night Kickoff The slate of 35-plus events that make up this year’s Spirit & Place—the “Year of Power,” running through November 12—begins with a family-friendly Superhero’s Bash at the Harrison Center for the Arts. Dress as your favorite superhero for a night of games, art, music, and exploring the superpowers you never knew you had. spiritandplace.org

11/3

Sense & Sensibility (2004) Your ticket to this film at the Historic Artcraft Theatre includes a glass

Dennis James Hosts Halloween OCTOBER 28

IU alum and cinematic organist Dennis James plays the soundtrack to 1925 silent film The Monster at the IU Auditorium.

Come dressed up and take part in the pre-show costume contest. iuauditorium.com IM | THE TICKET 2017

11/3

Adam Trent You won’t believe your eyes! No, really.

Straight from Broadway’s The Illusionists, Trent brings his mindbending act of magic, comedy, stunts, dance, and music to Purdue’s Elliott Hall of Music. purdue.edu/convocations

11/3–5

Don’t Miss!

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of wine, which you can sip while watching Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet search for husbands to deal with their sudden destitution. historic artcrafttheatre.org

E.T. the ExtraTerrestrial: Film + Orchestra Under the direction of conductor Jack Everly, the ISO performs the Oscar-winning score to this ’80s classic while it plays overhead at the Hilbert Circle Theatre. indianapolissymphony .org

11/4

The Scar of Shame (1927) IU Cinema presents this movie about prejudices of class within

RADER-DAY BY IDEN FORD; DENNIS JAMES COURTESY IU AUDITORIUM; SCAR COURTESY LIBRARY OF CONGRESS; RABBIT FROM THINKSTOCK.COM

Shepard was brutally murdered in Wyoming for being gay. For this film, producer Michele Josue traveled to locations in Shepard’s life and interviewed his family and friends.

After it screens at the Eiteljorg, Josue and others host a panel discussion. eiteljorg.org

11/9–11

African-American society in the 1920s, accompanied by a live orchestral performance of a new score by composer Renee Baker. cinema.indiana.edu

11/4

Cartoons for Cans Admission is just one canned-food item, which is donated to local food pantries.

In return, you can pretend you’re back in elementary school while watching classic Warner Bros. cartoons on the screen at the Historic Artcraft Theatre. historic artcrafttheatre.org

11/4

Animal House (1978) If Bugs Bunny and pals aren’t your thing, maybe the antics of Bluto Blutarsky and the rest of the Delta Tau Chi bros are. We’re sure this showing at the Historic Artcraft Theatre will make you wanna shout. historic artcrafttheatre.org

11/4–11

Homeless Voices As part of the Spirit & Place Festival, Tube Factory artspace hosts

Homeless Voices, an interactive exhibit that spotlights the city’s homeless through educational vignettes and audio/video stories. spiritandplace.org

11/7

Belly Laughs Einat Admony, New York City restaurant owner and Chopped champion, and Joel Chasnoff, a comedian and author, team up at the Arthur M. Glick JCC. jccindy.org

11/9

They Played for Their Lives (2017) For some European Jews living in concentration camps, their ability to play an instrument literally saved their lives. This film about the power of music screens at the Arthur M. Glick JCC. jccindy.org

VonnegutFest 2017 marks the Year of Vonnegut, and what better way to take part than VonnegutFest?

This year’s ode to the author includes the Timequake Clambake dinner/fundraiser at The Willows on Westfield, a Veterans Reclaim Armistice Day panel discussion featuring veteran and author Brian Turner at the Herron School of Art and Design, and the launch of the 2017 edition of the So It Goes literary journal at the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library. vonnegutlibrary.org

11/10–12

Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival Movies and discussions related to the LGBT experience come to the IMA. Centerpiece documentaries include The Fabulous Allan Carr, about the legendary Hollywood producer, manager, and marketing extraordinaire. indylgbtfilmfest .com

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As the Year of Vonnegut continues, we’ve bookmarked five ways to experience this celebration of Indiana’s famous author. —REBECCA BERFANGER READ Author Barb Shoup, whose novel Wish You Were Here was on the American Library Association’s 100 most banned books list in 1995, has led discussions on challenged titles all year. Sessions through December will examine Wish You Were Here, John Green’s Looking for Alaska, Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.

WATCH Craig Brandhorst from the University of South Carolina will spend September 25–29 imprisoned behind a wall of banned books at the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library.

He’ll portray a time-traveler from Tralfamadore, typing 140-character phrases on Vonnegut’s typewriter to be tweeted by others and working on a Vonnegut-inspired essay or short story. This is also one of the museum’s busiest weeks because people want to see why in the world someone would voluntarily do this.

FEAST Wear your best boat shoes and seersucker to the Timequake Clambake, a Hamptons-themed fundraiser November 11 at the Willows on Westfield.

11/12

Embodied Power: Breath, Voice & Yoga This Spirit & Place event invites you to summon your internal power via yoga. Work on your sun salutation while the Indianapolis Women’s Chorus provides live choral music at the Athenaeum. spiritandplace.org

11/14

The Fabulous Allan Carr, showing at the Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival

Get Lit!

T.C. Boyle The author of nearly 30 works, Boyle visits the Schrott Center for the Arts for the final conversation in the Butler Visiting Writers Series. butler.edu/vws

LISTEN NPR host and Carmel native Steve Inskeep moderates a panel discussion November 11 at the Herron School of Art and Design. It features former soldier Brian Turner, author of the acclaimed My Life as a Foreign Country.

BROWSE The annual TINY VI art show will live up (down?) to its name—each piece will be 6 inches by 6 inches or smaller.

Expect Vonnegut portraits, but also works with more subtle connections to his books. The exhibit runs December 1–January 5 at Gallery 924.

FABULOUS ALLAN CARR BY PETER BORSARI

Movies, Books, Etc.

Movies, Books, Etc. Don’t Miss!

11/16–17

12/5

Dee Rees Writer-director Rees isn’t afraid of telling tough stories. IU Cinema hosts three of her works—Mudbound (2017), Pariah (2011), and Bessie (2015), as well as the filmmaker herself. cinema.indiana.edu

It’s a Wonderful Life The New Mercury Theatre Players present this holiday story in a live radio-style variety-show format at the Historic Artcraft Theatre. historic artcrafttheatre.org

12/8–10

DECEMBER 8

11/17–19

Miracle on 34th Street (1947) The Historic Artcraft Theatre kicks off its holiday movies with this film in which a department store Santa must prove that he’s the real Kriss Kringle. historicartcrafttheatre .org

11/18–19

Celebrating Hoagy Carmichael Film Series As part of a five-year celebration of Carmichael, IU Cinema shows two films that feature the actor/ composer/pianist/ singer: Night Song (1948) and Timberjack (1955). cinema.indiana .edu

11/24–26

Home Alone (1991) Kevin defends his turf against two inept thieves on the big screen of the Historic Artcraft Theatre. historicartcraft theatre.org 66

IM | THE TICKET 2017

As part of his Full Bush tour, Parks & Rec’s Ron Swanson brings his manly-man stand-up act, complete with singing and musings on facial and body hair, to the Old National Centre. oldnationalcentre.com

DECEMBER

12/1–3

A Christmas Story (1983) No word on whether there will be a “major award” for attendees at the Historic Artcraft Theatre, but maybe seeing Ralphie on his earnest quest for a Red Ryder BB gun will be enough of a treat. historicartcraft theatre.org

12/2

Cereal Cinema: The Polar Express (2004) At the IMA’s Toby Theater, families can get their fill from the cereal bar and watch a magical train journey to the North Pole. indyfilmfest.org

12/3

Swamp Thing (1982) A secret bioengineering project in the Louisiana swamps goes way, way wrong

in this flick, produced

by IU alum Michael Uslan. He’ll make an appearance at this 35th anniversary screening at IU Cinema. cinema .indiana.edu

The Sound of Music

12/9

The Sound of Music Quote-Along The hills are alive!

And so is the love for this musical, whose film version returns to IU Cinema for another year. Don’t be shy—belt out the lyrics and wear your best Maria or Captain von Trapp costume with pride. cinema .indiana.edu

12/15–17

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) Anyone who has dreaded hosting holiday guests—especially those akin to Cousin Eddie—can relate to Clark Griswold. Get in the spirit of a good old-fashioned family Christmas with five showings of this mustsee at the Historic Artcraft Theatre. historicartcraft theatre.org

OFFERMAN COURTESY OLD NATIONAL CENTRE; REES COURTESY DEE REES; SOUND OF MUSIC COURTESY 20TH CENTURY FOX

Nick Offerman

Dee Rees

White Christmas (1954) The Historic Artcraft Theatre shows this classic in which two Army pals form a song-and-dance act and fall in love with two singing-anddancing sisters while trying to save their former general’s failing Vermont inn. historicartcraft theatre.org

RESTAURANT LISTINGS 70

More than 100 rums from around the world reign at Black Market Market, p. 71.

ART + FOOD EVENTS 70

VENUE GUIDE 72

VENUES and MENUS

Music to Our Ears A swanky setting and innovative menu make Union 50 a solid choice for a pre-event cocktail or meal (these steamed mussels, perhaps?). Bonus: With live entertainment several nights per week, you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even need to leave your chair to see a show.

Photographs by TONY VALAINIS

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Food for Thought IMA’s Cheers! Art and Brew Tour

The Ticket

MENU GUIDE LISTINGS Restaurants and late-night cocktail spots in some of the city’s artsiest areas, pulled from Indianapolis Monthly’s dining directory.

In Good Taste A smorgasboard of events that combine food and drink with arts and culture.

IMA’S CHEERS! ART AND BREW TOUR Second Thursday of every month Imbibe on Sun King, then stroll through the IMA to see libations featured in art. Next, hop on the Indy Brew Bus to sample beers from a couple of other downtown breweries.

Ale aboard! imamuseum.org

IUPUI & CANAL DISTRICT ART BIKE TOUR

The Eagle’s Nest CONTEMPORARY At this spruced-up revolvingrooftop restaurant, the meltingly gamey flavor of the elk served medium-rare pairs perfectly with its Cabernet reduction and root vegetable mash. 1 S. Capitol Ave., 317-616-6170, india napolis.regency.hyatt .com/en/hotel/dining/ the-eagles-nest $$$$ Harry & Izzy’s STEAKHOUSE This casual little brother to St. Elmo holds its own

KEY TO THE SYMBOLS $$$$ $$$ $$ $

$30 and up $20–$30 $10–$20 Under $10 Reservations accepted Open until 11 p.m. or later on Fridays and Saturdays (kitchen may close earlier)

70

IM | THE TICKET 2017

as a hangout worthy of destination-steakhouse status itself.

The marbled bone-in ribeye sizzles in its juices, a smart umamirich pick among the high-quality Midwestsourced prime cuts.

153 S. Illinois St., 317635-9594, harryand $$$ izzys.com Nada

MEXICAN FUSION At this bustling spot, soft flour tortillas are stuffed with nontraditional fillings, such as fried avocado and pot roast.

Though it’s popular at lunch, Nada gets even livelier at night, when the dining room fills with patrons sipping fruity cocktails and diving into Koreaninspired fried chicken.

11 W. Maryland St., 317-638-6232, eatdrink $$ nada.com

The Oceanaire Seafood Room SEAFOOD Luxury dining takes the form of stuffed trout in tomato-

chive butter and whole fried fish rising off of the white plate at this high-end chain. The Baked Alaska dessert makes for a spectacular finish. 30 S. Meridian St., 317-955-2277, theoceanaire.com

September 9 Take note of murals, sculptures, and civic art throughout the IUPUI campus, Indy’s downtown waterway, and White River State Park on this ride hosted by Active Indy Tours.

It comes to a head over a tour and tasting session at TwoDEEP Brewing. activeindy tours.com

$$$$

PRAIRIE PLATES

Ruth’s Chris Steak House STEAKHOUSE Most everything skews toward over-the-top extravagance at this luxury steakhouse, from the 40-ounce porterhouse to the iPad-style cocktail menu. A la carte sides excel in the starchy, au gratin food groups. 45 S. Illinois St., 317-633-1313, ruthschrisindy.com $$$$

Spoke & Steele CONTEMPORARY Inside Le Méridien, Spoke & Steele features sleek flourishes and a creatively ambitious menu with sweet chili– glazed meatloaf nugs, the sophisticated Baller

October 1 & November 4 Corn is king on October 1, when guests will visit Conner Prairie’s Lenape Indian Camp before sitting down to dinner by Delicia. On November 4, Ivy Tech hospitality administration students whip up brunch using main ingredients from within a 100-mile radius of Conner Prairie. connerprairie.org

NEXT INDIANA CAMPFIRE October 12 Indiana Humanities invites explorers to hit the trails at the Tom and Jane Dustin Nature Preserve in Huntertown. Afterward, sit around the campfire with Upland Brewing beer and talk about the connection between nature and literature. indianahumanities.org

CIVIL WAR DINNER AT BENJAMIN HARRISON PRESIDENTIAL SITE November 15 Break bread inside the 23rd president’s 1870s-era home while receiving a history lesson on Harrison’s role during the Civil War. The residence’s grand library hosts the multicourse feast and chat. pbhh.org

CHEERS! COURTESY IMA; NADA BY TONY VALAINIS

DOWNTOWN

burger, and playful Mormon funeral potatoes. 123 S. Illinois St., 317-737-1616, spokeandsteele.com $$$

St. Elmo Steak House STEAKHOUSE This century-old spot serves as the unofficial ambassador of downtown.

The drill: a generous martini, a shrimp cocktail, the bean soup or tomato juice, the wedge, and one of the large steaks. 127 S. Illinois St., 317-6350636, stelmos .com $$$$

MASS AVE/ OLD NORTHSIDE Black Market CONTEMPORARY In a long, spartan dining room, servers present handcrafted dishes like cornmeal-crusted cat fish and an alwaysjuicy pork chop. 922 Massachusetts Ave., 317-822-6757, blackmar ketindy.net $$$ Bru Burger Bar GOURMET BURGERS The gilded-burger trend is revived to great effect in this stylish spot, evidenced by the Bru Burger with sweet tomato jam and porter-braised onions.

The Peach White Chocolate Bread Pudding is worth saving room for. 410 Massachusetts Ave., 317-635-4278, bru burgerbar.com $$ Salt on Mass SEAFOOD Fresh fish arrives daily at this gleaming restaurant that boasts of not even owning a freezer. That means the menu is written around the latest catch. 505 Massachusetts Ave.,

317-638-6565, salton $$$ mass.com Stella SOUTHERN EUROPEAN

Mushrooms cooked in embers and roasted veggies serve as preludes to larger plates of complex pastas and meats. 608 Massachusetts Ave., 317-6852550, stellaindy.com $$

Tinker Street CONTEMPORARY This snug spot puts equal focus on experimentation and execution of precisely flavored creations, from rich braised-lamb cottage pie to a full selection of vegan options. 402 E. 16th St., 317-9255000, tinkerstreetindy .com $$ Union 50 GASTROPUB This subtly retro addition just off Mass Ave’s restaurant row showcases sesamesoy sticky chicken wings, kimchi meatloaf with apple-yuzu jam, and steamed mussels in a broth chunky with chorizo and fingerling potatoes.

620 N. East St., 317610-0234, union-50 $$$ .com

about its cocktails, shaken and stirred with fresh juices and other trendy back-bar mixes. 630 Virginia Ave., 317-672-7514, repealrestaurant.com $$ Rook

ASIAN FUSION Chef

Carlos Salazar gives us a refresher course on Asian cuisine with colorful plates of pig-face hash and shrimp-topped curry ramen. 501 Virginia Ave., 317-737-2293, $$$ rookindy.com

Thunderbird NEW SOUTHERN The concoctions here are solid, generally brown, and unapologetically boozy. Food includes cheddar-grit fries with maple-bourbon aioli.

1127 Shelby St., 317974-9580, thunder birdindy.com $$

BROAD RIPPLE & SOBRO Delicia

NEW LATIN Don’t expect

the typical tacos and

nachos. The moreupscale fare here melds all the styles of Latin culture. We love the juicy scallops wrapped with Serrano ham, as well as the tres leches sponge cake.

5215 N. College Ave., 317-925-0677, delicia $$ indy.com Eat + Drink

COCKTAIL LOUNGE The

classic craft cocktails at this two-level spot pair well with a brief and casual menu favoring items that don’t require a knife or fork. 5168 College Ave., 317-925-2233, eatplusdrink.net $$

Mama Carolla’s Old Italian Restaurant ITALIAN Come here for charm galore, most notably the 1920s villa that houses this longtime favorite.

The accessible menu includes medallions of veal smothered in Gorgonzola sauce and pesto-covered ravioli.

1031 E. 54th St., 317259-9412, mama carollas.com $$

Meridian Restaurant & Bar RUSTIC GOURMET This luxe lodge is known for dishes as hearty as they are elaborate, from duck-confit cassoulet and vegetable roulade to boar Bolognese. 5694 N. Meridian St., 317466-1111, meridian onmeridian.com $$$ The Northside Social CONTEMPORARY Swanky Northside Social offers cocktails and comfort cuisine with equal panache. Sip a colorful martini while perched at the bar, or sink into an upholstered bench to nosh on beef–and–blue cheese fondue and creamy mac and cheese with pancetta, prosciutto, and peppered bacon.

6525 N. College Ave., 317-253-0111, northside social.com $$

CARMEL Divvy

SMALL PLATES With at

least 80 sharable dishes, this lively City

FLETCHER PLACE/ FOUNTAIN SQUARE Bluebeard MODERN COMFORT

Adventurous diners nibble on grilled octopus, gourmet pork cracklings, and strip loin plated with root vegetable hash, carried out just about flawlessly. 653 Virginia Ave., 317-686-1580, blue beardindy.com $$

Repeal

SPEAKEASY This Fletcher

Guacamole at Nada

Place locale is serious

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Menu Guide Center favorite is no place for the indecisive.

But do try the sweet corn creme brulee and bacon-wrapped dried apricots. 71 W. City Center Dr., Carmel, 317-706-0000, divvy $$ carmel.com The Local Eatery & Pub GOURMET COMFORT An ever-evolving menu at this spot features playful takes on the classics. Past favorites have included a chicken roulade dunked in waffle batter and covered in rich maple gravy, and ravioli stuffed with pork heart and topped with a thick mushroom ragout. 14655 N. Gray Rd., Westfield, 317-2183786, localeateryand $$ pub.com The Pint Room FAMILY PUB This Ohiobased eatery validates its name with 124 craft-beer titles scribbled on mini chalkboards affixed to the wall. The straightforward menu of playful sandwiches and burgers is just as diverse and includes a saltysweet PB&J with strawberry preserves and candied bacon. 110 W. Main St., Carmel, 317-571-8400, pint roomcarmel.com $$ Woodys Library Restaurant CONTEMPORARY Old-town Carmel has grown up around Kevin Riderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s restaurant housed in a Carnegie library (circa 1913). Though pork chops and steaks headline the entrees, the menu continues to evolve in delicious ways. Most intriguing is the chapter on comfort food. 40 E. Main St., Carmel, 317-573-4444, woodys carmel.com $$$ 72

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VENUE GUIDE

How to reach the theaters and galleries listed in this issue.

The Academy of Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre 329 Gradle Dr., Carmel, gregoryhancock dancetheatre.org Anderson University 1100 E. Fifth St., Anderson, anderson.edu Arthur M. Glick JCC 6701 Hoover Rd., jccindy.org The Athenaeum 401 E. Michigan St., athenaeum foundation.org Bankers Life Fieldhouse 125 S. Pennsylvania St., bankerslife fieldhouse.com Basile Opera Center 4011 N. Pennsylvania St., indyopera.org Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre 9301 Michigan Rd., beefandboards.com Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site 1230 N. Delaware St., presidentbenjamin harrison.org Broadway United Methodist Church 609 E. 29th St., broadwayumc.com Butler University 4600 Sunset Ave., butler.edu

Clowes Memorial Hall 4602 Sunset Ave., butler artscenter.org

Indiana History Center 450 W. Ohio St., indianahistory.org

Marian University 3200 Cold Spring Rd., marian.edu

Conner Prairie 13400 Allisonville Rd., Fishers, conner prairie.org

Indiana Landmarks Center 1201 Central Ave., indianalandmarks.org

Nickel Plate Arts 107 S. Eighth St., Noblesville, nickel platearts.org

Crown Hill Cemetery 3400 Boulevard Pl., crownhillhf.org

Indiana Repertory Theatre 140 W. Washington St., irtlive.com

Old National Centre 502 N. New Jersey St., oldnational centre.com

Indiana State Museum 650 W. Washington St., indianamuseum.org

The Palladium (See The Center for the Performing Arts)

Indianapolis Art Center 820 E. 67th St., indplsartcenter.org

The Phoenix Theatre 749 N. Park Ave., phoenixtheatre.org

Indianapolis Museum of Art 4000 Michigan Rd., imamuseum.org

Pike Performing Arts Center 6701 Zionsville Rd., pike.k12.in.us/ performingarts center/home

Eidson-Duckwall Recital Hall (See Butler University) The Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art 500 W. Washington St., eiteljorg.org Elliott Hall of Music 712 Third St., West Lafayette, purdue.edu/ convocations Emens Auditorium 1800 W. Riverside Ave., Muncie, bsu.edu/emens Footlite Musicals 1847 N. Alabama St., footlite.org Gallery Forty-Two 42 E. Washington St., galleryfortytwo.com Gallery 924 924 N. Pennsylvania St., indyarts.org/gallery-924 Garfield Park Arts Center 2432 Conservatory Dr., gpacarts.org

The Cabaret 1201 Central Ave., thecabaret.org

Grove Haus 1001 Hosbrook St., grovehaus.com

Carmel Community Playhouse 14299 Clay Terrace Blvd., Carmel, carmelplayers.org

Harrison Center for the Arts 1505 N. Delaware St., harrisoncenter.org

The Center for the Performing Arts 355 City Center Dr., Carmel, thecenter presents.org Central Library 40 E. St. Clair St., indypl.org Circle City Industrial Complex 1125 Brookside Ave., circlecityind.com

Herron School of Art and Design 735 W. New York St., herron.iupui.edu Hilbert Circle Theatre 45 Monument Circle, indianapolis symphony.org The Historic Artcraft Theatre 57 N. Main St., Franklin, historic artcrafttheatre.org

Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art CityWay, 216 E. South St., indymoca.org IndyFringe Theatre 719 E. St. Clair St., indyfringe.org IU Auditorium 1211 E. Seventh St., Bloomington, iuauditorium.com IU Cinema 1213 E. Seventh St., Bloomington, cinema .indiana.edu

Schrott Center for the Arts 610 W. 46th St., butler artscenter.org St. Lukeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s United Methodist Church 100 W. 86th St., stlukesumc.com The Studio Theater (See The Center for the Performing Arts) Stutz Business Center 212 W. 10th St., stutzartists.com

The Jazz Kitchen 5377 N. College Ave., thejazzkitchen.com

Tabernacle Presbyterian Church 418 E. 34th St., tabpres.org

Klipsch Music Center 12880 E. 146th St., Noblesville, livenation.com

The Tarkington (See The Center for the Performing Arts)

Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library 340 N. Senate Ave., vonnegutlibrary.org Loeb Playhouse 128 Memorial Mall, West Lafayette, purdue.edu/ convocations Long-Sharp Gallery 50 W. Washington St., longsharpgallery.com Lucas Oil Stadium 500 S. Capitol Ave., icclos.com

Theater at the Fort 8920 Otis Ave., partnershipsfor lawrence.org Tube Factory Artspace 1125 Cruft St., bigcar.org University of Indianapolis 1400 E. Hanna Ave., uindy.edu/arts Willows on Westfield 6729 Westfield Blvd., willowsonwestfield .com

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