A&E

Former Straight No Chaser singer goes solo

Local singer-songwriter Ryan Ahlwardt has been creating quite the buzz around Bloomington. He is working on finishing his first album featuring his track "I Can See Forever." Ahlwardt hopes the album will be released later this year, but for now, he's still working on trying to "get the fun I have on stage onto a CD.

Getty's ex-curator to appear at art theft trial

ROME -- The former antiquities curator of the J. Paul Getty Museum was dealt a series of setbacks as her trial on illegal trafficking charges resumed Wednesday in a court case widely seen as a warning to the art world. The case, which stemmed from a 10-year smuggling investigation, has cast doubt over the provenance of artifacts in several museums other than the Getty, including Boston's Museum of Fine Arts and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Music student wins major competition in Paris

"Congratulations, Frederieke!" shouts a passerby carrying a cello case.

Loyal fan base packs Alumni Hall for Hanson rock concert

Hanson still has the ability to shake its mostly female audience to the core. Case in point: Some girls got sick in the bathroom before the show even began.

Hanson bridges gap between musicians and fans

Screams of anticipation could be heard from Whittenberger Auditorium Monday afternoon. Newly independent band Hanson visited campus for a screening of its documentary, "Strong Enough to Break," and later held a concert in Alumni Hall.

Italy invites Metropolitan Museum of Art director

ROME -- Italy's culture minister has invited the director of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art to Rome for talks as Italy steps up efforts to recover allegedly looted antiquities from top U.S. museums, the minister said Friday.

Festival celebrates traditional, modern Asian art

The Asian American Association pulled together Saturday a night of fashion, dance, comedy and talent. The program was devoted to showing the cultural contributions Asian Americans have made to the United States. "The U.S. is not a melting pot but one big stirfry," said the emcee, student Dan Vergara.

Audience: 'Macbeth' is 'powerful'

The lobby of the Ruth N. Halls Theatre was buzzing Friday night after the opening performance of Shakespeare's classic tragedy "Macbeth." The play, the third in the IU Department of Theatre and Drama's season, started its run with enthusiasm despite the dark mood of the show. "It was spectacular," said senior Erin Aakhus after the show. "It's a visual feast."

Straight out of a 'dream'

The next production of the IU Opera Theatre will involve a rare collaboration between the opera and ballet departments - odd bedfellows, for the two departments hardly ever collaborate in productions. Benjamin Britten's operatic rendition of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," opening at 8 p.m. Friday at the Musical Aarts Center, is one of this season's operas in English that is actually a part of the English operatic tradition, rather than a translation from Italian, French or German.

POWER DECEPTION MURDER

Halloween might be over, but the Department of Theatre and Drama is keeping the devilish spirit alive with its presentation of Shakespeare's "Macbeth," opening at 7:30 p.m. tonight in the Ruth N. Halls Theatre.

Hanson live and electric '05

After reaching the height of fame in their early teens, it's taken years to shake a teenybopper image. Now, 13 years and a handful of albums later, Hanson has severed ties with the record industry that made them international stars, having become industry vets who are older and wiser.

Chicago lawyer writes war novel

CHICAGO -- Author Scott Turow's father served as a field surgeon in a medical unit during World War II, but his stories about that experience stopped flowing before his son reached his teen years. Now Turow -- whose work as an attorney has often inspired his best-selling legal thrillers like "Presumed Innocent" -- has used his father's conflicted views about war and courage as the jumping off point for his latest novel, a foray into historical fiction called "Ordinary Heroes."

They dressed that way so we wouldn't have to

Uptown almost perfect, except for service

Rumor has it that the Uptown Café is one of the hot spots in Bloomington. Located just off the square in the heart of downtown, the café, better know as Uptown, is recognized for its great food and personable atmosphere. Taking advantage of the beautiful weather, we sat in the restaurant's outside seating.

Mitchell Street Band boasts originality

Not many bands can claim to be started on a cruise ship -- and many bands in Bloomington can't even claim to prefer original pieces to covers.

IU String Academy boasts world-class experiences

IU's School of Music is hiding something right under students' noses -- literally.

Ripley's empire of the bizarre to expand

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The first thing you'll probably notice is the shark. At 17 feet long, it's the biggest ever caught on rod and reel. What's left of its two terrifying tons now hangs preserved above a dull warehouse floor.

Etch-A-Sketch used as art form

Drawing crowds to look at well-done manipulations of magnetic dust on magic screens might be simpler than drawing diagonal lines on an Etch-A-Sketch. Senior Dan Gratz has been tweaking the knobs of Ohio Art's most prized invention since he was in high school, killing time in a peer tutoring program. Now Gratz is a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts student at IU whose preferred medium is painting, but he never gave up on what many would consider to be only a children's toy.

Yale makes graduate music school free

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- In most of America's top conservatories, the world's most promising musicians are often deep in debt and giving music lessons just to cover the rent and close the gap between their scholarships and graduate school tuition. But a $100 million donation is about to change that scenario at the Yale School of Music.

Annual event celebrates diversity of art forms

The Buskirk-Chumley Theater was home to a packed audience Saturday night as the African American Dance Company, African American Choral Ensemble and IU Soul Revue came together for their annual event, "A Potpourri of Arts." The African American Arts Institute created the collaborative event in 1993 and has performed it each year since then. The AAAI created the showcase to show the wide range of African American performance produced by the Institute.