A&E

Brown County Playhouse produces Neil Simon classic

By Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, Sept. 29,2004 12:36 a.m.

The Brown County Playhouse is currently running a production of Neil Simon's "The Odd Couple," which opened last weekend. The playhouse is located 20 minutes from Bloomington in Nashville, Ind. The classic play, which was the inspiration for a movie and a television series, centers around an issue with which many college students can identify: hellacious roommates. In this case, two roommates are polar opposites -- one is messy and apathetic, and the other is extremely tidy and nearly neurotic.

Downloads help fight cancer

By Lyndsay Gilman · Wednesday, Sept. 29,2004 12:30 a.m.

Downloading music, whether legal or illegal, is a popular pastime for many college students. As the music industry phases into a new era of reaching fans over the Internet, the Asher Kahn Band, of Philadelphia, is working to make a difference in society in its attempts to gain new listeners.

Touring African choir performs at IU

By Melissa Harrold · Tuesday, Sept. 28,2004 1:37 a.m.

The University of Namibia Choir presented a musical play integrating African and Western musical traditions and languages to promote cultural understanding Monday night at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center.

1-woman play explores harsh reality

By Rose Mary Forte · Tuesday, Sept. 28,2004 12:33 a.m.

On Sunday night, the John Waldron Arts Center showcased a one-woman act based on the play and book by Claudia Shear titled "Blown Sideways Through Life," performed by Julie Dixon, head of acting and an assistant professor in the theater department at Indiana State University.

Broadway hit comes to IU

By Brandon Morley and Brandon S Morley · Tuesday, Sept. 28,2004 12:31 a.m.

The IU Auditorium will bring an audience through its limestone edifice at 8 p.m. tonight and Wednesday with Troika Entertainment's national tour of "Crazy for You." Ken Ludwig, a playwright known for several Broadway farces including "Moon Over Buffalo" and "Lend me a Tenor," took his inspiration for tonight's billing from the 1930 Broadway hit by George and Ira Gershwin called "Girl Crazy." The similarities between the two shows are apparent, but Ludwig's flavor shines in "Crazy for You."

No windmills or wooden shoes

By Stephanie Fedor · Tuesday, Sept. 28,2004 12:30 a.m.

This weekend I decided to reward myself with a little trip to Amsterdam. I traveled by plane, train and metro bus to experience a different sort of European culture. I took my trip with four friends and caught a plane to Brussels, Belgium, Thursday. Friday we took a train to Holland -- Amsterdam to be exact -- and then back to Brussels for Saturday night. Let's just say it was a lesson learned while at the same time being an unforgettable experience.

Namibian choir to visit IU on first American tour

By Melissa Harrold · Monday, Sept. 27,2004 12:21 a.m.

The University of Namibia Choir will visit IU classes and give a performance this week as part of their first-ever American tour. The performance will take place from 7:30 p.m to 8:30 p.m., in the Grand Hall of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center. The choir, with conductor Bonnie Pereko, will visit Yale University, Rutgers University and IU as part of a tour sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, said Shawn Reynolds of the IU International Resource Center.

Amethyst House raises thousands at benefit

By Benjames Derrick and Benjamin Derrick · Monday, Sept. 27,2004 12:19 a.m.

A full crowd packed into the studio of the John Waldron Arts Center Saturday for an evening of dancing, food and dessert, with not a drop of alcohol served. The Amethyst House, a non-profit organization for recovering addicts, held its fifth annual benefit titled Hope Café; Dance Performance & Celebrity Art Auction. In honor of September being National Recovery Month, Amethyst House decided to make the focus of the benefit hope for recovery from addictions.

Authors increasingly publishing online blogs

By Alyson Brodsy and Hillel Italie · Friday, Sept. 24,2004 1:20 a.m.

NEW YORK -- Jennifer Weiner, author of the best-selling novels "Good in Bed" and "In Her Shoes," likes to spend three to four hours a day working on fiction. When she's done, time and family permitting, she updates her online journal. "When I went on my first book tour (in 2001), I began keeping a Web diary, and every day I would write about the latest indignity I suffered," she says. "And I found I really enjoyed doing it. It's a way for me to keep in touch with my readers."

Woman damages Nazi art

By Alyson Brodsy and David Rising · Friday, Sept. 24,2004 1:19 a.m.

BERLIN -- A woman doing handsprings hurled herself into two art installations at the controversial exhibition of a collection belonging to the billionaire heir of a Nazi-era arms supplier, damaging both pieces, organizers said Thursday. The bizarre attack came late Wednesday on the top floor of the Hamburger Bahnhof museum, where Friedrich Christian Flick's collection was opened to the public earlier in the day.

MIME program teaches students new media

By Lyndsay Gilman · Friday, Sept. 24,2004 1:18 a.m.

In a culture where computer animated films like "Shrek" and "Finding Nemo" earn top spots at the box office, the demand for an education in new media has grown tremendously. Eight years ago, Professor Thom Gillespie decided to meet students' needs and created the master's in immersive mediated environments program, or MIME, through IU's Department of Telecommunications as a way for students to apply their innate creative talents to computer animation.

Event to benefit recovering addicts

By Benjames Derrick and Benjamin Derrick · Friday, Sept. 24,2004 1:16 a.m.

The local Amethyst House, 645 N. Walnut St., will host a benefit for substance abuse programs at 8 p.m. Saturday in the John Waldron Arts Center, with doors opening at 7 p.m. The evening will provide a beam of hope for those struggling with substance abuse through dance, public speaking and fund-raising.

Around The Arts

By Alyson Brodsy · Thursday, Sept. 23,2004 1:06 a.m.

Labor play comes to the Waldron Claudia Shear's Obie-award winning play "Blown Sideways through Life" is coming to Bloomington for one performance only 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the John Waldron Arts Center, 122 S. Walnut St. The bawdy play is a tribute to working women and men rooted in real life. Shear wrote the play after spending years working odd jobs to make ends meet.

National American Indian museum opens

By Alyson Brodsy · Thursday, Sept. 23,2004 1:02 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- As a child, William Walker was sent off to boarding school and forbidden to speak his native Mono Indian tribe language. So it was with a sense of vindication that Walker watched colorful pageantry of Indian culture mark Tuesday's opening of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian, located at the foot of the Capitol.

Exhibition questions function of fashion

By Jaime Cohen and Jamie Cohen · Thursday, Sept. 23,2004 12:56 a.m.

For most, clothing serves as fashion and function. But can fashion be purely sexual? "The Allure of Clothing: Function, Fashion, Fantasy and Fetish," a new exhibit at the Mathers Museum, takes the question of fashion, clothing and function one step further.

Open air theater gives graduate student professional experience

By Kathlyn Von Rohr · Thursday, Sept. 23,2004 12:52 a.m.

It was 8:30 on a summer evening, and once more James Neff stood ready on the stage. The late sun illuminated the crowd, making it impossible for the young lead to ignore his audience. Nearly 1,500 faces waited in expectation for the opening number.

Creating A Diva

By Adam Sedia · Thursday, Sept. 23,2004 12:51 a.m.

The coming of an opera's opening night evokes all the wonders of another world manufactured for the stage. When most of us go to the opera, we are so busy appreciating the final product that the efforts made to bring it from the score to the stage are often overlooked. The fact is, an enormous amount of time, money and labor are put into transforming an idea into an impressive reality.

Emmy winner to film documentary on BPP

By Jennifer Griffin · Wednesday, Sept. 22,2004 12:08 a.m.

Although it is celebrating its 25th year of theater magic, the Bloomington Playwrights Project isn't throwing itself a party or buying itself presents. It isn't wearing a pointed birthday hat or eating cake and ice cream. Instead, the BPP will be the subject of a documentary created by two-time Emmy winner Bob Risher.

Baseball fund-raiser to benefit play group

By Jennifer Griffin · Wednesday, Sept. 22,2004 12:01 a.m.

While Major League Baseball players have months to prepare for the playoff series, Bloomington Playwrights Project teams get only 24 hours. This weekend the BPP proudly presents its Playoff Series, a baseball-themed fund-raiser. "We needed an idea for a profitable fund-raiser," said Sonja Johnson, BPP development director. "(Our artistic director) had done something similar to this with another group, and it was very successful, so we decided to try it."

Students finding flair for personal decorating, style at local stores

By Jaime Cohen and Jaimie Cohen · Tuesday, Sept. 21,2004 11:59 p.m.

From contemporary clean to classic country, students arrive at their new residences ready to fill the space with personality. For many students, decorating their living space is an opportunity to settle into their surroundings while finding their own personal living style. Empty apartments, houses and dorms become an eclectic mix of flair and comfort.