A&E

Only the costumes disappoint in Opera Theater's 'Giovanni' production

By Alyson Brodsy and Paige Ingram · Sunday, Sept. 24,2006 10:42 p.m.

As is the style of many operas, IU Opera Theater's production of Mozart's "Don Giovanni" explores the ins and outs of love and relationships through the lens of melodrama. From men as lotharios to identities hidden by makeshift disguises and love portrayed as a casual emotion, the stereotypes abound.

Buskirk-Chumley rolls out red carpet

By Paige Ingram · Friday, Sept. 22,2006 8:26 p.m.

Alison Zook felt like a Barbie doll as she waited backstage at the Buskirk-Chumley Thursday night. "And it smells like an old Barbie doll," she said as she held the black vintage dress to her nose.

Film, book resurrect flamboyant politician

By Alyson Brodsy · Thursday, Sept. 21,2006 11:22 p.m.

BATON ROUGE, La. -- For his first meeting with presidential candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932, Huey P. Long dressed in his flamboyant Kingfish mode: plaid suit, purple shirt and pink necktie. During lunch, Roosevelt's mother gazed down the table at the United States senator in the garish outfit. She whispered: "Who is that awful man?"

Russia marks 100th birthday of Shostakovich

By Alyson Brodsy and Jim Heintz · Thursday, Sept. 21,2006 11:17 p.m.

MOSCOW -- It's a rare talent that would make internationally acclaimed cellist Mstislav Rostropovich feel second-rate. Dmitri Shostakovich had it. Rostropovich is among the renowned musicians who will put the wide and contradictory breadth of Shostakovich's vision on full display this month as Russians observe the 100th anniversary of his birth. The celebration will include a concert by Moscow Conservatory's orchestra, which will perform Shostakovich's Eighth Symphony conducted by Rostropovich.

IU Opera Theater presents 'Don Giovanni' this weekend

By Molly Peters · Thursday, Sept. 21,2006 10:55 p.m.

This weekend, IU Opera Theater will present "Don Giovanni," a Mozart masterwork said to be one of the greatest operas ever written, according to the Jacobs School of Music Web site. This drama giocoso, meaning "playful drama" or "tragic comedy" in Italian, is based on the legendary Spanish tale of Don Juan. Don Giovanni is a lustful man who engages in episodic conquests of seducing women for nothing more than his own gratification. Giovanni is as easily loathed as is he is adored, as his malicious intentions are contrary to his irresistible charm.

Art by students is a hot commodity for patrons

By Joann Loviglio · Thursday, Sept. 21,2006 12:02 a.m.

PHILADELPHIA -- If there's an art to collecting art, Susan Guill just might be considered an old master.

James Brown storms auditorium, performs energetically for hundreds

By Zack Teibloom · Wednesday, Sept. 20,2006 11:59 p.m.

James Brown, decked out in a bright red sequined suit, got down on his knees during a nearly 15-minute rendition of "A Man's Man's Man's World" and told the audience members he loved all 2,500 of them Tuesday night during his performance at the IU Auditorium.

'Urinetown' actor finds humor in his roles

By Lindsey Landis · Wednesday, Sept. 20,2006 11:58 p.m.

Senior Kevin Anderson is not a bad guy. He just plays one in most of his productions. The theatre and drama major tackled the role of Batboy's evil mother in the fall 2004 production of "Batboy -- The Musical," which he described as "ridiculous," because he had to dress up in women's clothing.

Iranian and Turkish film series offer hits from Muslim world

By Christina Stigliani · Wednesday, Sept. 20,2006 11:57 p.m.

This week the Department of Central Eurasian Studies kicks off an international film series.

Art from all Angles

By Colleen Carroll · Wednesday, Sept. 20,2006 11:57 p.m.

ulpture on the lawn of the IU Art Museum is nothing more than a meaningless shape. "It looks like a circle to me," he said. But that big circle is Charles Perry's "Indiana Arc," one of several pieces of abstract art that exists on IU's campus.

7 Decades of Funk

By Zack Teibloom · Wednesday, Sept. 20,2006 12:49 a.m.

James Brown, decked out in a bright red sequined suit, got down on his knees during a nearly 15-minute rendition of "A Man's Man's Man's World" and told the audience members he loved all 2,500 of them Tuesday night during his performance at the IU Auditorium. Erupting in applause that bounced off the balcony, the people in the crowd yelled back their adoration for the "hardest working man in show business," who begged for 10 more minutes of performance time.

Steven Irwin memorial at Australia Zoo Wednesday

By Alyson Brodsy · Tuesday, Sept. 19,2006 10:51 p.m.

BEERWAH, Australia -- More than 5,000 people, including the Australian prime minister, are expected to cram the "Crocoseum" at the Australia Zoo Wednesday to say farewell to "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin at a memorial service.

City-owned art collections in California: vast, varied and sometimes forgotten

By Alyson Brodsy · Tuesday, Sept. 19,2006 10:50 p.m.

SAN FRANCISCO -- For a city boasting Rodins and Munchs in its public collection, the basement of Building 30 at San Francisco General Hospital is no place for art. Steam pipes lattice the ceiling, the dust on rusting file cabinets thickened by the years.

Fashion, art collide at Buskirk

By Rorye O'Connor and Rorye O'Conner · Tuesday, Sept. 19,2006 10:49 p.m.

More than 40 local businesses will celebrate the history and future of the Buskirk-Chumley Theater in style with Fashion + Function + Art.

Enterprising senior sees film company off the ground

By Ab Schwimmer · Tuesday, Sept. 19,2006 10:46 p.m.

Senior Ryan Newman, founder and director of Bearded Man Films LLC, does not have a beard -- at least not at the moment.

IT'S ALL GREEK

By Alyson Brodsy and Georgia Perry · Monday, Sept. 18,2006 10:59 p.m.

IT'S ALL GREEK -- Actors entertain Friday at the Third Street Park outdoor stage during the Monroe County Civic Theater's production of "Pericles, Prince of Tyre" by William Shakespeare. The Monroe County Civic Theater has outdoor shows in the park during July and August; "Pericles" will be performed again September 22nd and 23rd.

Living in the year of Cézanne

By Adrienne Dye and Alyson Brodsy · Monday, Sept. 18,2006 10:57 p.m.

AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France -- Most museums take the anniversary of an artist's death as a chance to pull out a handful of his or her work stuck in the vaults and air them out for a few weeks. Aix-en-Provence artist Paul Cézanne's ville maternelle, or birthplace, and the setting of his most famous paintings, is doing more than just a bit of airing out for the 100th anniversary of his death.

Thin models walk London's catwalks amid controversy

By Alyson Brodsy · Monday, Sept. 18,2006 10:56 p.m.

LONDON -- Ultrathin models walked the runways at London's Fashion Week on Monday, opening the weeklong event with a clear rejection of arguments that waiflike young women should not be permitted to showcase designs. Despite a ban on superskinny models imposed by Spanish organizers at their fashion week in Madrid, slinky women in London were ready to flaunt the spring and summer collections of designers such as Julien Macdonald, John Rocha and Zandra Rhodes.

Shakespearean production on outdoor stage

By Kelsey Nash · Sunday, Sept. 17,2006 10:44 p.m.

As Elizabethan music played softly from stage speakers, students and Bloomington residents gathered their lawn chairs in Third Street Park Friday evening for the second installment of the Monroe County Civic Theater's "Shakespeare in the Park" series.

'Recycled art' on display at Mathers

By Paige Ingram · Sunday, Sept. 17,2006 10:41 p.m.

The latest exhibit at the Mathers Museum, "Lost and Found: Art through Recycled Objects," turns an old tradition into a new and economical way of having fun.