A&E

Big Ben and the Tower of London

By Britany Ausmus and Brittany Ausmus · Wednesday, June 23,2004 9:26 p.m.

After I collected my bags at London Heathrow, a predicament emerged. I had with me the luggage from four months in Denmark, which is way too much to manage by myself in one trip. So I settled on leaving half of my belongings behind at the luggage desk, dropped the rest of my bags at my hostel and set out to find my flat.

Students catch up on leisure reading

By Erika Biga Lee · Sunday, June 20,2004 9:17 p.m.

Many students see summer as a chance to catch up on reading without the worry of pending school assignments hanging over their heads. But finding the right summer book to read proves to be a challenge in itself. Everyone has his or her own opinion about what others should read.

'Ivan the Terrible' takes Dark Alley

By Sara Darbro · Sunday, June 20,2004 9:16 p.m.

Last weekend, Bloomington Playwrights Project premiered "Ivan the Terrible," the last of this season's Dark Alley Series plays, on its Lori Shiner Studio stage. Written by local resident Marta Jasicki, "Ivan the Terrible" is a short, hopeful and comedic drama. Located only a few blocks from Kirkwood Avenue, on Washington Street, BPP's Dark Alley Late Night shows have been the home of some of Bloomington's more cutting-edge risqué plays.

Local group tours many area gardens

By Jacquelyn Janowski · Wednesday, June 16,2004 9:29 p.m.

The Bloomington Garden Club will tour diverse and private gardens this weekend in its 15th annual Summer Garden Walk from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, which includes Hilltop Garden and Nature Center and Oliver Winery. "The summer garden walk is great because you are able to view so many different types of gardens, from very big to small and personal," said Pat Bartlett, a member of the Bloomington Garden Club.

Truly Remarkable Loon comes to Bloomington

By Sheeba Madan · Wednesday, June 16,2004 9:26 p.m.

With a quarter century's experience in juggling giant bean bag chairs, spinning plates and tossing flaming torches, Truly Remarkable Loon will perform Friday as part of Buskirk-Chumley Theater's Family Series. Loon, who goes by his stage name in real life, said he is excited about his second performance in Bloomington. "I really like this town," he said. "It reminds me of Madison, (Wis.) where I live.

FROZEN delights

By Maurina Paradise · Wednesday, June 16,2004 9:19 p.m.

With summer in Bloomington heating up, it is the perfect time of year to enjoy ice cream or, for the lactose intolerant, some cool dessert. Bloomington is full of ice cream parlors and their chilled delights. Each place has its own story and its own uniqueness that pulls people to them. A free standing brown stand, The Chocolate Moose, 401 S. Walnut St., has been open and operated by the same family for more than 70 years. Two of its employees have been there for more than 50 years.

Leaders say arts aren't dumbed down

By Alyson Brodsy · Sunday, June 13,2004 9:12 p.m.

PITTSBURGH -- Pearl Jam and The Boss at the ballet? Jerry Springer and Palm Pilots at the opera? Participants at the National Performing Arts Convention, the first of its kind, acknowledge that the high arts are changing, but they say barbs from some traditionalists that works are being dumbed down simply don't ring true.

Downtown galleries display local work

By Jenica Schultz · Wednesday, June 9,2004 10:15 p.m.

Art enthusiasts do not need to wait until Bloomington's July 9 Downtown Gallery Walk to enjoy the work of local artists at locations throughout the city. Instead, patrons of the arts can create their own personal "gallery walk" each month to see what new exhibitions are featured throughout the downtown area.

BPP presents final play of season

By Liv Cole · Wednesday, June 9,2004 9:52 p.m.

The Bloomington Playwrights Project will begin running its final mainstage play of the season this weekend. "The Button," a comedy by Jon Brooks' about life in 21st-century America, was runner-up in the 2004 Reva Shiner Full-Length Play Contest at the BPP. A New York City native, Brooks recently had another of his plays, "Better Than Hitler," performed at the 2004 Bay Area One Acts Festival in San Francisco.

'Steel Magnolias' comes to Brown County Playhouse

By Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, June 9,2004 9:47 p.m.

A staple of southern Indiana cultural life for more than half a century, professional summer theater returns to Nashville, Ind., tonight as the Brown County Playhouse opens its doors for its 56th season with a production of Robert Harling's comic tragedy "Steel Magnolias." The Playhouse opened in 1949 as a collaborative effort of former drama professor Lee Norvell and Nashville businessman A. Jack Rogers.

Grammy winner Rickie Lee Jones takes Buskirk-Chumley stage

By Shauna Steele · Wednesday, June 9,2004 9:45 p.m.

Grammy award-winning musician Rickie Lee Jones will perform at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater at 8 p.m. tonight. Best known for her 1979 hit "Chuck E's in Love," Jones currently focuses on songs with strong political statements. "She was really big at one time. I think she took time off for a while," Bloomington resident Kay Olges said. "People would probably recognize her music if they heard it."

BAAC needs gallery submissions for exhibits

By Sheeba Madan · Sunday, June 6,2004 9:14 p.m.

As one gallery season nears its end, the Bloomington Area Arts Council begins planning for future exhibits. The BAAC is calling for proposals of exhibition from area artists for its 2005 gallery season at the Rosemary P. Miller and Flashlight Galleries in the John Waldron Arts Center.

Market offers produce, culture for all

By Maurina Paradise · Sunday, June 6,2004 9:10 p.m.

Just before 8 a.m. Saturday, the Bloomington Farmer's Market was already busy. There were families with small children in strollers, gray-haired couples, single college girls and middle-aged couples. The market had opened at 7 a.m., and the early birds were leaving as the next batch of people arrived. The wares for sale varied from hardy rose bushes to organic meat, painted tin chimes to oriental lilies, honey, potatoes, lettuce and cheese.

BAAC expands season to summer

By Jenica Schultz · Wednesday, June 2,2004 10:28 p.m.

Next year's season at the Bloomington Area Arts Council will not stop at the end of IU's spring semester. At a press conference Wednesday, the BAAC announced plans to continue productions at the John Waldron Arts Center, 122 S. Walnut St., through July. "People keep asking why our house is dark in the summer, and now we will be answering their request by expanding our season," said Kaira Hogle, BAAC performance director. The upcoming season offers a wide variety of performances from interpretative movement theater in "Waves: A Theatrical Adaptation of the Novel by Virginia Woolf" to traditional musical theater in Berold Brecht and Kurt Weil's "The Threepenny Opera" to the classical guitar stylings of Ana Vidovic, Antanas Tzetkov and the Bloomington Classical Guitar Society.

'Taming of the Shrew' comes to 3rd Street Park

By Sheeba Madan · Wednesday, June 2,2004 9:22 p.m.

The Monroe County Civic Theater continues its Shakespeare in the Park series Thursday and Friday with its production of "The Taming of the Shrew" at Third Street Park's Outdoor Stage.

BPP announces upcoming season

By Erika Biga Lee · Wednesday, June 2,2004 9:20 p.m.

For theater lovers and playwrights alike, the 2004-05 season of the Bloomington Playwrights Project will be full of drama, as well as a few thrillers and comedies. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the organization what likely will be a pivotal year for the organization's education programs and production teams.

Runcible Spoon hosts local artists in poetry reading

By Kacie Leblong · Wednesday, May 26,2004 10:06 p.m.

The Runcible Spoon Café has always possessed a level of uniqueness, from its whimsical name to its bathroom featuring a bathtub full of fish. The cafe, 412 E. Sixth St., will hold a free poetry reading that goes beyond the ordinary, 7 p.m. Friday. The event, part of a series hosted and produced by poet Patricia Coleman, combines poetry, music and visual artwork of local artists Julia Dadds, Mark Beebe and Ransom Haile. "Coleman always picks good people to read -- local and non-local," said Runcible Spoon co-owner Regan Ton, who has attended other poetry series events.

BLEMF to present 'Solomon' Sunday

By Andrea Opperman · Wednesday, May 26,2004 9:15 p.m.

The Bloomington Early Music Festival produces an opera each year. This year, they were given the opportunity to do something similar, but with a twist. While the performances are usually theatrical, this year the featured choir, vocalists and orchestra will perform without the on-stage action. The BLEMF will present composer Georg Frideric Handel's oratorio about the life of King Solomon, as featured in the Old Testament. The production will also hold concerts in Lafayette and Indianapolis, as well as Bloomington.

Fry up those cicadas

By Alyson Brodsy and David Kanter · Sunday, May 23,2004 10:30 p.m.

After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America and cooking in the restaurant industry, last week I started a new endeavor at IU where I've transferred to major in business. As a native East-Coaster, I was clueless that the cicada epidemic was coming.

Early Music Festival performances continue

By Jenica Schultz · Sunday, May 23,2004 10:27 p.m.

Performing songs from the Italian Renaissance, the Camerino Band will perform at 8 p.m. tonight at the Unitarian Universalist Church, featuring sopranos Elizabeth Ronan and Sonja Rasmussen, mezzo-soprano Angela Mariani, and lute-player Adam Wead. The band is just one of the groups performing at the Bloomington Early Music Festival, which continues through May 31 at venues throughout the city.