NUVO: Arts + Entertainment

Review: ISO with all strings attached

Tom Aldridge — Sat, 18 May 2013 16:00:00 -0400

ISO concertmaster Zach de Pue led the orchestra in its 18th classical concert with an all-string program containing a variety of works, periods and styles. by Tom Aldridge A symphony program featuring eight works instead of three or four is unusual enough. But when the selections are (mostly) for all strings and are led by the concertmaster instead of a podium conductor, we have the makings of an unusual concert.…

Live blog: The Hunt

Beverly Braden — Sat, 18 May 2013 10:25:16 -0400

We are embarking on an adventure of epic proportions. A 24 hour scavenger hunt organized by art collective Know No Stranger.…

Review: Ute Lemper at the Cabaret

Scott Shoger — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:30:00 -0400

Berlin-raised cabaret singer Ute Lemper can knock out a songspiel with the best of em - putting across Brecht and Weill's brusque modernity with all due respect - but her style owes as much to jazz, as evidenced by growling blue notes and brilliant scat solos (I sincerely hope I'm quoted in saying that nobody plays the mouth trumpet like Lemper).

Lemper's Thursday night performance at the Cabaret ranged across Europe (with one overseas trip), starting from "Falling in Love Again (Can't Help It)," and working in songs by Edith Piaf, Jacques Brel and Astor Piazzolla as the night went on.…

Review: 4000 Miles at Phoenix Theatre

Katelyn Coyne — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:30:00 -0400

Andrew Martin and Martha Jacobs give nuanced, refreshingly honest performances in this character-driven dramedy. by Katelyn Coyne Amy Herzog's character driven dramedy, 4000 Miles, unfolds as a social mystery where fragments of tragedy and dysfunction are revealed like pieces of a puzzles - not fully formed until the last moments. When Leo turns up by at his grandmother's Manhattan apartment after a 4000 mile trek by bike, he finds an unexpected guide to maturity in the aging, yet animated Vera.…

Life Stories Project hands mic to everyday Hoosiers

Scott Shoger — Thu, 16 May 2013 08:05:00 -0400

Storytelling Arts, in concert with the Indiana Historical Society and WFYI, is launching a project dedicated to recording, sharing and preserving the memories and stories of ordinary people. by Scott Shoger This week, Storytelling Arts, in partnership with WFYI and the Indiana Historical Society, launches its Life Stories Project, dedicated to recording, sharing and preserving the memories and stories of ordinary Hoosiers. The project runs from May 22 to Nov. 30 in various locations, beginning May 22 at Madame Walker Theatre Center (four spots remain open for those interested in signing up via lifestoriesproject.net).…

Woman's Press Club of Indiana turns 100

Rita Kohn — Thu, 16 May 2013 08:00:00 -0400

On a blustery February day in 1913, 13 women met up at the Ayres Tea Room to talk about a hot topic: their right to write bylined stories for front pages of Indiana newspapers. by Rita Kohn February 18, 1913 was a cold day in Indianapolis. But that didn't keep thirteen women from gathering at The Ayres Tea Room to discuss a hot topic - their right to write bylined (or signed) stories for the front pages of newspapers across Indiana.…

Movie review: The Great Gatsby

Ed Johnson-Ott — Wed, 15 May 2013 17:15:00 -0400

Baz Luhrmann's Gatsby is faithful but phony, filmed in Annoy-o-Vision with all the spatial sophistication of your average View-Master reel. by Ed Johnson-Ott When the Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge) version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby opened Friday, the movie didn't simply appear on the cineplex screens - it exploded through the theater walls like the Kool-Aid mascot - that giant, destructive glass pitcher lummox with a smile permanently affixed to its icy face. Luhrmann's take on the novel is filmed in Annoy-a-Vision, an everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach where the filmmaker ladles excess on glitz on clutter on razzmatazz, covers the whole thing in jimmies and glitter and then uses his camera to whoosh from here to there because God forbid anyone has to wait even a whole instant for their visual gratification.…

Dance Kaleidoscope on same-sex marriage

Rita Kohn — Wed, 15 May 2013 17:00:00 -0400

David Hochoy's new NEA-funded choreography for Stravinsky's Las Noces, premiering May 16 at the IRT, depicts the marriage rites of five same-sex couples. by Rita Kohn Igor Stravinsky's searing dance cantata Les Noces (The Wedding) caused quite a stir when it premiered in Paris on June 13, 1923 - due to both its proto-feminist choreography by Bronislava Nijinska and Stravinsky's typically intense score. This week will perhaps see some more pot-stirring when Dance Kaleidoscope premieres a same-sex intepretation of the cantata choreographed by its artistic director, David Hochoy, with the aid of a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.…

IMA news: Freiman out, $1 mill Lilly grant

Scott Shoger — Wed, 15 May 2013 15:58:00 -0400

A couple press releases pertaining to the Indianapolis Museum of Art hit our Inbox in the last couple days. The latest:

1) Lisa Freiman, presently the senior curator and chair of the IMA's contemporary art department, is leaving Indy to become the inaugural director of Virginia Commonwealth University's Institute for Contemporary Art.

Under Freiman, the IMA opened 100 Acres, its art and nature park; hosted the U.S. Pavilion at the 2011 Venice Biennale (with Freiman as commissioner); and helped to organize a series of remarkable contemporary art exhibitions, including the current show at the IMA by multi-media artist and activist Ai Weiwei.…

The cycling boys do it again

Paige Southerland — Tue, 14 May 2013 14:20:00 -0400

After learning news that Bissell-ABG-NUVO cycling team was at it again via BISSELL-ABG-NUVO director Declan Doyle, we also learned of recent updates about the squad. Here's the latest:

"The team has been on quite a tear the last three weekends.…

Review: IO presents The Flying Dutchman

Tom Aldridge — Mon, 13 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Using video generated sets, Indianapolis Opera mounted the biggest handiwork of its season with its second production of Wagner's Der fliegende Höllander (The Flying Dutchman). by Tom Aldridge It was in 1998 that Indianapolis Opera gave its first-ever production of a Wagner opera, The Flying Dutchman, which also happens to be his shortest. And that is precisely why IO's second Wagner production on Friday remained The Flying Dutchman.…

Ensemble Music presents the St. Lawrence Quartet

Tom Aldridge — Thu, 09 May 2013 23:00:00 -0400

The Stanford U. based string quartet captivated with contemporary klezmer music by Osvaldo Golijov. Too bad this didn't apply to their entire program. by Tom Aldridge Two chamber standards followed by a piece few are likely to have previously heard -- and the latter wins, hands down. The Canadian founded, 20-year-old St. Lawrence String Quartet premiered a piece for clarinet and string quartet in 1994 titled "The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind" by Osvaldo Golijov (b. 1960).…

Book review: Mike Tyson Slept Here

Joseph Fitzpatrick — Thu, 09 May 2013 13:20:00 -0400

Chris Huntington's realistic, heartbreaking novel - set in Indianapolis amidst familiar landmarks - is based in part on his ten years teaching at Plainfield Correctional Facility. by Joseph Fitzpatrick When Brant Gilmour is turned down by the Peace Corps, he's forced to answer a question: How can an English major from Indiana make the world a better place? On the surface, Mike Tyson Slept Here would seem to anecdotally pull from author Chris Huntington's almost ten years working in the Indiana Correctional Facility in Plainfield.…

Review: The Gila Wars by Larry Sweazy

Rita Kohn — Thu, 09 May 2013 13:20:00 -0400

The sixth and final installment in multi-award-winning Sweazy's Josiah Wolfe series is typically exciting and vivid. by Rita Kohn The Gila Wars - the sixth and final book in award-winning Noblesville author Larry D. Sweazy's Josiah Wolfe series - takes us into the heart of Texas cattle county circa 1875. Rustlers are stealing herds for shipment by steamboat to Cuba "to feed the starving families," as explained by one of the rustlers taken as prisoner.…

Review: An American Tune

Charlie Sutphin — Thu, 09 May 2013 13:15:00 -0400

Barbara Shoup, executive director of Indiana Writers Center, tells the story of an anti-war radical in hiding in An American Tune, which vividly recollects 1960s Bloomington. by Charlie Sutphin An American Tune by Indiana author Barb Shoup is a work of art by a veteran author filled with linguistic ingenuity. The book spans five decades as the protagonist develops from a teenage girl, experiencing the visceral thrills of college life, into an anti-war radical hiding from authorities for an act of violence.…

Scenes from Free Comic Book Day 2013

David Cerola — Thu, 09 May 2013 12:51:00 -0400

By 9:30 a.m., the line was wrapped around Meridian Market Place, the strip mall on just north of County Line Road on Meridian Street where the locally-owned comic store Comic Book University makes it home. They were waiting for the start of Free Comic Book Day, an annual event designed to encourage readers both new and veteran to visit their local comic emporiums.…

Where the Water Runs is Onyx Fest must-see

Rita Kohn — Thu, 09 May 2013 11:48:00 -0400

OnyxFest 2013, IndyFringe's festival of new plays by African-American playwrights, heads into its second weekend today.

Each of the festival's three featured play will be performed once more - Kambui Abdullah's The Layover (May 10, 8 p.m.); TaMara E'Lan G.'s Reflections (May 9, 6:30 p.m.) and Shaun Sutton's Where the Water Runs (May 9, 8 p.m.).…

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Cultural Trail Grand Opening: interview with Brian Payne

David Hoppe — Wed, 08 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400
Years in the making, the Indianapolis Cultural Trail: A Legacy of Gene & Marilyn Glick, is the brainchild of Brian Payne. by David Hoppe Years in the making, the Indianapolis Cultural Trail: A Legacy of Gene & Marilyn Glick, a visionary, eight-mile path through Indianapolis, highlights various icons and landmarks, while giving users a good reason to explore the city. It's an urban bike and pedestrian path that connects Fountain Square, Indiana Avenue, Mass Ave, the Canal and White River State Park and the Wholesale District, while providing links to the entire Central Indiana greenway system.…
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First Friday roundup for May 2013

Dan Grossman — Tue, 07 May 2013 16:30:00 -0400
Our First Friday digest includes stops at Monster Gallery (to see Tripper Dungan's 3-D art), Harrison Center (for group show Homage), Gallery 924 and Litmus Gallery. by Dan Grossman Candice Hartsough McDonald and Emily Gable Harrison Center for the Arts through May 31 ★★★1/2 Candice Hartsough McDonald's paintings contain visual riddles. Looking at "Carefully Placed," you might ask why a bird is making a nest that contains a miniature two story colonial house?…
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Review: VACANT at Old City Hall

Charles Fox — Tue, 07 May 2013 16:05:00 -0400
Current and former Herron students joined together for a one-night only exhibition at the Old City Hall, setting up in galleries first constructed for the installation art pavilion TURF. by Charles Fox May's First Friday festivities were highlighted by a one-night exhibition in the Old Indianapolis City Hall bringing together the work of 47 artists current, graduating or former students of Herron School of Art and Design. The exhibition, VACANT, was the first event organized by [space], a new collective consisting of graduating Herron seniors Taryn Cassella, Anna Martinez and Andrea Townsend.…
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U.S.S. Indianapolis remembered through artwork

Dan Grossman — Tue, 07 May 2013 16:00:00 -0400
Simona Frillici's installation at SpaceCamp MicroGallery commemorates the sailors on the U.S.S. Indianapolis via Xeroxed photos and blue paint. by Dan Grossman On July 30, 1945 the U.S.S. Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine and sank. The sinking is the subject of Italian artist Simona Frillici's site-specific installation, July 30, 1945, at SpaceCamp Microgallery, which opened for May's First Friday and can be viewed by appointment through the month.…
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Movie review: Mud

Ed Johnson-Ott — Tue, 07 May 2013 15:55:00 -0400
Despite a couple of glitches, 'Mud' is a memorable, coming-of-age film with a strong cast, including Matthew McConaughey in the lead role. by Ed Johnson-Ott 14-year-old Ellis lives on the Mississippi River in Arkansas and hangs out with his best pal, Neckbone. While exploring the waters one day they find a boat suspended in a tree on an island, the result of a flood.…
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Map man: Indy is Kris Komakech's gallery

Katherine Coplen — Sat, 04 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400
Maps, glorious Indy city maps by local artist Kris Komakech. See his work at a show this Friday at the Indy Indie Artist Gallery. by Katherine Coplen I'm obsessed with maps. Prints of classic illustrations of European capital cities are tacked all over my walls.…
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We Are City: Finding the soul of Indy

Stacey Mickelbart — Wed, 01 May 2013 08:35:00 -0400
Representatives of the New Orleans creative studio Civic Center wrap up We Are City residencies this Friday with a showcase for their Bureau of Manufactured History. by Stacey Mickelbart If someone asked you to briefly describe the personality or soul of Indianapolis, what would you say? Even natives might find this exercise difficult, but it's exactly the task that artists James A. Reeves and Oliver Blank took on in residencies hosted by We Are City, a loose collective exploring the creative ways that people engage with cities.…
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Interview: Comedian Lewis Black

Scott Shoger — Wed, 01 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400
Black (in town May 9) talks about the gun control debate ('really appalling'), CNN's John King ('beyond belief') and his generation ('even dumber' than his parents'). by Scott Shoger For a guy who makes his living by working up a head of steam on stage (next Thursday at Old National Centre) and screen (The Daily Show, other Comedy Central shows and specials, some pretty bad movies), Lewis Black is quite easy to talk to: friendly, gracious and trying his best to be funny, even when the circumstances aren't quite right. Things were certainly a little gloomy when we spoke by phone on Friday, April 19, against the backdrop of a manhunt in Boston and search and rescue mission in West, Texas.…
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