Ben Rose

‘Absolute pleasure’ in Westfield

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By John Lyle Belden

“The Rocky Horror Show” is the kind of stage performance that defies conventional theatre reviews.

Its cheesy-bad plot and pretensions as an allegedly cautionary tale are taken seriously by absolutely no one in the cast or audience, not even its satirical aspects as a spoof/homage to mid-20th century schlock horror or “this could happen to you” films directed at teens. This is by design. Created by Richard O’Brien and – with the help of producer-director Jim Sharman and the star charisma of Tim Curry – a hit in London (then elsewhere) since 1973, this is not just a tribute to all its movie and music influences, but a completely immersive bizarre entertainment experience.

Main Street Productions of Westfield brings “Rocky Horror” to glorious life to open the spooky season, evenings of Oct. 1-4. Note this means those involved in or attending other local shows can see it on Wednesday. The Saturday, Oct. 4, performance is scheduled for midnight, ending the run in a perfectly demented atmosphere. Also note that this is indeed the stage musical, not the film “Picture Show,” and this is an actual cast – no shadowcast – however, any and all call-backs are welcome and encouraged. Authorized audience props are available for sale – no waterguns – and the show program is on newsprint for use as the newspaper. Finally, because things a bit obscene are portrayed and a lot obscene are shouted, it is recommended for ages 18 and up; viewer discretion advised.

You likely already know what’s happening. If not, just accept the lipstick “V” (for “virgin”) on your face, try to relax and be ready for anything – you’ll survive.

Bradley Allen Lowe is outstanding as the ambisextrous* Dr. Frank N. Furter. This is his world; we’re just dancing in it. DaSean McLucas bravely embodies his creation, Rocky. Kelby Herwehe-Schounce and Dezaray Dagey give incredible performances as Brad and Janet, the two squares caught in the middle of the madness (kudos to them for putting up with shouts of “a**hole/slut” every performance). Logan Laflin throws himself totally into “handyman” Riff Raff. Talje Wiersma compliments perfectly as his twisted sister Magenta, and Alyna Hope Whitis shines as energetic assistant Columbia. The Phantoms are phantastic: Gwen Burke (also Trixie, who sings the theme), Jake Carrico (who doubles as Eddie), Jonathan Ramey (also Dr. Everett V. Scott), Kiara Hollaway, Samantha Kelly, Abby Morris, and Diego Rafael Samaniego. The Narrator, Broden Irwin, apparently does have a neck – but feel free to mock him for not having one, just to see how he reacts.

Bringing this all together are directors James H. Williams and Brandon Schultz, with musical director Ben Rose. Choreography is by Bryttnei Whitehurst (though instructions for the “Time Warp” were already provided – it’s just a jump to the left…).

For those who only know the movie, some scenes are different. Brad gets a song, and while some stage versions don’t have the lines “everybody’s lucky” and “a toast;” both have been worked back in (O’Brien has tinkered with the script over the years due to the film’s popularity). We do recommend buying the props (money supports the theatre) as the “toast” you get is a nice souvenir.  Becky the Bakester has also made appropriately decorated cookies for the concessions stand.  

If this is your kind of show at all, its worth the trip up to Westfield (note the downtown construction detours), at 220 N. Union St. See westfieldplayhouse.org for tickets.

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(*This was an apt description of the character [played by Curry] in a Guardian review of the original production; I couldn’t resist using it here.)

Footlite gets ‘Kinky’ in the best way

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By John Lyle Belden

With among its many lessons that you should be willing to pull together to try something wild with great potential, the all-volunteer cast and crew of Footlite Musicals present the fun and funny hit, “Kinky Boots.”

With book by Broadway legend Harvey Fierstein and songs by equally iconic Cyndi Lauper (making her the first woman to win a Tony for solo songwriting), the 2013 Broadway musical is adapted from the 2005 British film of the same name, in turn inspired by a true story from the 1990s. Set in that 20-ish year ago era in Northampton, England, a man who has inherited a failing shoe factory seeks to save it by filling an unmet need – sturdy but sexy boots for drag queens.

Charlie Price (Alexander Bast) had planned to move to London and take a lucrative marketing job alongside his fiancé Nicola (Nicole Sherlock) but is called back home when his father (Ted Jacobs) passes away. The shoes are well-made, but in a highly competitive market, nobody seems to want them. While seeking to strike a deal with a family friend (Derek Savick-Hesser) Charlie encounters Lola (Kevin Bell), the drag queen star of her own show. He notices her stilettos won’t hold up a man’s body and, after Price & Sons employee Lauren (Mara Fowler) – who secretly has a crush on him – suggests he find “an underserved niche market” to stay in business, gets the idea to make what will be known as Kinky Boots.

Reactions are mixed at the factory, though most buy in as the alternative is unemployment. Factory manager George (Ryan Bridges) is eager and creates a steel-reinforced heel. Foreman Don (Drew Kempin) considers himself a “man’s man” and openly mocks Lola, who is brought on board as designer. In three weeks, there will be a major fashion show in Milan that will make or break the enterprise, as well as the people involved.

We also meet, in the opening number, Charlie and Simon (who will become Lola) as boys, played by Sam Houghland and Ryan Thomas, respectively, as well as Simon’s disapproving father (Jerry Davis).  The cast includes Shari Jacobs, Awbrey Brosseit, Jessica Hackenberg, Logan Laflin, Louis Soria, Ruby Waliser, Jennifer Zotz, and Tom Zotz, who also cameos as Richard, Nicola’s boss.

Lola is backed by her cloud of fabulous Angels, performed by drag artists Conner Becker-Chamberlin, a/k/a Darcy Sparks; Leon Benbow-Blomberg / Miss Dominixxx; Caleb Francis / Penny Loafers; Cameron Grant / Anita Richard; Shawn Hunt / Artemis Da Goddess; Dalen Jordan / Donleigh Delights; Paige Penry / Bella DeBall; and Kenan Tinnin / Body Miss Morphia.

Joyfully directed by Jerry Beasley, we get a (much-needed these days) uplifting story of grit and acceptance. The characters are fairly complex – not just the obvious multitudes in Lola, brought out in glorious voice and expression by Bell. Bast gives us a Charlie who is well-meaning, sometimes off-base, yet easy to root for. Kempin’s Don is mostly bluster, a bloke who literally gets sense knocked into him. Sherlock plays Nicola as one who feels certain of her direction, coming to learn that Charlie doesn’t see success her way. Fowler makes her regular young woman Lauren, who goes from slinging shoes on a factory floor to being “executized” to help make the new line,   appropriately adorable.

Among the volunteers putting this spectacle together are set designers Ted Jacobs and Mary Lich, choreographer Thomas Mason, vocal director Ben Rose, and stage manager Melissa Yurechko. Costumer for the queens is Angel Olivera, assisted by Katie Van Den Heuvel and Michael Morrow. Jeremy Kaylor leads the orchestra.

EDITED TO ADD: Beasley messaged me this – “I would like to add that Claire Olvey Slaven also costumed The Angels as well as assistant directed, and Ben Jones created their hair and makeup look! The Price & Son workers costumes were designed by Edith Burton-Bandy.”

As a counter to current controversies, we get a reminder that for its community Drag is not just a lifestyle, but an essential part of life. Let the spirit of “Kinky Boots” raise you up, and remember: “You can change the world, when you change your mind.”

Performances are Thursdays through Sundays through May 18 at Footlite Musicals, 1847 N. Alabama St., Indianapolis. Get tickets (which have been selling fast) at footlite.org.

SSS Eclipse ‘Lizzie’ a riotous spectacle

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By John Lyle Belden

The Summer Stock Stage Eclipse program (professional, with collegiate performers) presents “Lizzie,” the new musical by Alan Stevens Hewitt and Steven Cheslik-deMeyer, book by Tim Maner, based on the Lizzie Borden legend, presented internationally since its introduction in 2010.

To clarify “musical,” this show is a Riot Grrl-style Punk Rock Opera – modify expectations accordingly and hold on for the ride.* To ask why it’s in this mode is to miss the cultural mystique of Miss Borden. She was already an outsider – unmarried at 30, still living with her controlling father and detested stepmother – when the gruesome events of August 1892 occurred in Fall River, Mass.

“Lizzie Borden took an ax, gave her mother forty whacks; when she saw what she had done, gave her father forty-one!”

Being rich from their penny-pinching parents, Lizzie and sister Emma hired the best possible representation, and with an all-male jury actually working in their favor, got her acquitted at trial. However, historians and even her fandom are fairly certain she did the deed. Still, this is not just a play about getting away with murder.

The story is presented nearly all in song by four women: Lizzie (Erin Lambertson), older sister Emma Borden (Cora Kendall), neighbor and close friend Alice Russell (Mai Caslowitz), and the Bordens’ maid Bridget “Maggie” Sullivan (Samantha Ringor). Backing them – literally, seen through the slats of the set by Abigail Wagner that suggests both a simple home and cozy barn – are the band of Ginger Stoltz (keyboard and conductor), Ainsley Paton Stoltz (bass), Kirstin Cutler (drums), Joy Caroline Mills (guitar), Sally McSpadden (guitar and keyboard), and Taylor White (cello and percussion). Direction is by local actor and teaching artist Devan Mathias with musical direction by Ben Rose (who coincidentally has worked at the actual Lizzie Borden House, now a B&B).

Act 1 brings into focus the conditions the Borden sisters were likely living in, and potential motives for what is to come. The tensions weigh on Lizzie and Emma, while a longing grows in Alice; meanwhile, with a dollar from the girls in hand, Maggie is quick to go downtown for the afternoon so she can say she didn’t see a thing someone might be doing.

In Act 2, there is quite a mess – one song is titled, “What the F*** Now, Lizzie?!” – and loosely period costumes give way for something more turn of the Millenium (all designed by Allison Jones) as events take a more modern procedural, crime-of-the-century feel. The number in which Lizzie and Emma make their Kardashian-esque public plea is priceless.

Throughout it all, these ladies rock their hearts out. There are also touching, tender moments, including a song between Lizzie and Alice that recurs in each act, giving two meanings to “Will you lie?” Overall, a bravura performance.

This show brings more of a different perspective to the Borden case and legend than giving any new facts. Events portrayed in any medium are always conjecture and subject to artistic license. Perhaps a good friend “coming to call” could mean more in 1890s New England. Still, the major points follow the story as told elsewhere. This version is very feminist-focused, so one can forgive the downplaying of other problematic aspects such as suspicions cast on local immigrants. On this stage, it’s the grrls’ turn to tell the story – the closest you get to a male presence is Daddy’s body under a sheet.

Four performances remain for “Lizzie,” Thursday through Sunday, Aug. 8-11, at the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre, 705 N. Illinois St., Indianapolis. See phoenixtheatre.org for tickets or get info at summerstockstage.com.

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(*“Lizzie” could be compared stylistically to the musical “Six,” but the latter was developed in the U.K. more recently.)

NAATC mounts top quality ‘Black Bottom’

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By John Lyle Belden

Decades after its local premiere at the old Phoenix Theatre, August Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” returns on the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Center main stage, presented by Naptown African American Theatre Collective, directed by Edan Evans.

The one play of Wilson’s “Century Cycle” not taking place in Pittsburgh, the setting is a Chicago recording studio in 1927, where the “Mother of the Blues” is set to record some hits before heading back South. Note that while the events are the playwright’s conjecture, inspired by an old recording, Gertrude “Ma” Rainey (1886-1939) was very real and larger than life.

First to arrive to check the set-up are the studio manager Sturtevant (Patrick Vaughn) and Rainey’s manager Irvin (Scot Greenwell). Soon the musicians arrive: pianist Toledo (Bryan Ball), Cutler (Ben Rose) with his trombone, Slow Drag (John Singleton) with his stand-up bass, and young trumpet player Levee (Xavier Jones), who has ambitions of starting his own band eventually. While they wait for Ma, we get to know them as they rehearse. They’re no-nonsense and used to doing it “Ma’s way,” except for Levee, who even has his own arrangement of the title song.

Finally, Rainey (Alicia Sims) does arrive, accompanied by her nervous nephew Sylvester (Jy’ierre Jones), companion Dussie Mae (Selena Jackson), and a policeman (Doug Powers) whom Irvin has to pacify to ensure the recording session continues. Little else will go smoothly this day, while it is made plain that while this is Sturtevant’s studio, Ma Rainey is in charge.

Much of this play focuses on the men in the band, which was wise of Wilson as keeping such a force of nature as Ma at center stage throughout would have essentially made this a one-woman show. If there is a fiercer adjective than “fierce,” that’s what describes Sims’s performance. By this point a veteran performer and recording artist, Ma knows her worth, is hair-trigger aware of disrespect (especially by white folks), and thus absolutely no one to trifle with. Her sense of Roaring Twenties sexual liberation is unabashed, from her fondling of Dussie Mae to turning the Black Bottom (a dance that at the time rivaled the Charleston in popularity) into a double entendre.

Those playing the band smoothly embody individual quirks. Ball has Toledo wax philosophical in a conversational manner that still gives him the last word. Rose, in his cool Cab Calloway haircut as Cutler, plays it loose, going along to get along, but draws the line when you mock his faith. Singleton also takes it easy as fun-loving Slow Drag (the name gets explained). Xavier Jones plays Levee in all his complexity: brash and bold, yet naive; quick to smile or to anger; boyish looks on a man who has, we discover, dealt with unspeakable pain.

Also notable is Jy’ierre Jones’s portrayal of Sylvester, pushing through nerves and a stutter to give Ma what she needs in one of her most celebrated recordings.

Vaughn’s Sturtevant comes across as a subtle villain, all business and white privilege without overt bad intentions. Though no doubt dealing with “colored” clientele harshly or indifferently has a racial element, his successors throughout recording history will shortchange musicians of all backgrounds. As for our beleaguered white manager Irvin, Greenwell plays him not spineless, but flexible, constantly working the thin line that sets the talent and the money men worlds apart.

Splendid split stage design is by Fei with scenic design by Cole Wilgus and Ky Brooke. Kayla Hill is stage manager.

Witness this speculative look at a great moment in American music history. “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” runs through March 24 at the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Center, 705 N. Illinois St., downtown Indianapolis. Tickets at phoenixtheatre.org, or naatcinc.org.

Quiet play has a lot to say

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By John Lyle Belden

The stage is so serene, as the actors silently enter one by one, you don’t want to make a noise in the audience, either.

To the delight of American Lives Theatre director Chris Saunders, the rule of silence in this retreat setting of “Small Mouth Sounds” by Bess Wohl, seems to permeate the room, as he presents, in his words, “What if you met a stranger and didn’t have the words to immediately assume everything about them?”

Jan (Kevin Caraher), a nicely dressed older man, calmly takes his seat. Ned (Zacharia Stonerock), wide eyes under his stocking cap, comes in looking unsure of himself. When Rodney (Lukas Felix Schooler), whose manner can’t help but project the fact he is a Yoga master, comes in and takes off his sandals, Ned immediately sheds his shoes and from then on, we have an assumed rule in this meeting space. The no-talking rule is also taken for granted, so it is jarring to hear married(?) couple Joan (Nathalie Cruz) and Judy (Jenni White) enter, bickering. But they get the hint, and soon the voice of the Teacher (Ben Rose) fills the space, exotically sounding like an English-speaking African man.

Teacher opens with a cryptic story of talking frogs; warns that the participants will not necessarily encounter him, or even Enlightenment, but “yourselves;” and gives the rules, which include that aside from a structured Q&A with him once a day, no one is to speak. During this, our last camper, Alicia (Morgan Morton) enters; the fact that she missed an important rule will come back on them later in the play.

Through our mind’s eye and the laying out of mats, the stage also becomes their cabin floor, as we get further impressions of these men and women, and the first lack-of-language barrier issue as Jan and Alicia were, it seems, assigned the same space.

Early on in this journey, the campers are instructed to each write their “intention” on a slip of paper, a source of friction when one accidentally reads another’s. As the drama builds, so does the humor, both drawing interesting and startling exchanges and moments from their self-enforced mime-hood.

Note that this play does include brief nudity, forbidden incense, and illicit use of Fritos. We also get Ned’s “life story,” as he accidentally asks the character’s most profound question. We also get a sense of deep loss – past, present, and future – each participant is working through. Even Rodney, acting blithely like a sort of yogic tourist, comes into some hard lessons.

At some point, practically every rule of the retreat is broken, which even brings Teacher – dealing with off-campus issues and finding Enlightenment via cold medicine – to his own self-reckoning.

Performances are sublime. Schooler uses his real-world yoga knowledge to good effect. Stonerock ably gives us a man struggling with his own identity, in more than the philosophical sense. Morton gives us someone about whom we learn so little yet feel for so much. We read volumes between the lines with White and Cruz – the former as a cancer survivor, and the latter recovering in her own way. And I don’t want to say too much about Caraher, but the revelation of his character sticks with you pleasantly.

Now that I’m outside that space, I feel free to speak up: See “Small Mouth Sounds,” in remaining performances Friday through Sunday, Dec. 10-12, at the District Theatre, 627 Massachusetts Ave., downtown Indianapolis. Info and tickets at americanlivestheatre.org.

Hard lessons continue at Fonseca Theatre

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By John Lyle Belden

The setting of the play “Hooded, or Being Black for Dummies,” by acclaimed playwright Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm, is “Today.” Says so right there in the program. So this examination of our understanding of race in early 21st Century America is taking place in 2020. Just add masks on all the characters – sadly, no need to change any of the story.

Fonseca Theatre Company brings back this drama from its first season (I wrote about it then, too), again directed by Ben Rose, in the wake of the real-world drama of this tumultuous summer. Rose noted that actor preparation took on a more serious tone this time, and he was grateful to also have Chinyelu Mwaafrika and Joshua Short return to star.

Marquis (Mwaafrika), a suburban teen from posh (mythical) Achievement Heights, outside Baltimore, has gotten caught up in the latest online challenge and is in a police holding cell for trespassing. His cellmate, Tru (Short), fits the conventional African-American stereotype, and is amazed that Marquis doesn’t. Eventually, Marquis’ adoptive limousine-liberal mom Deb (Megan Ann Jacobs) arrives to spring them from the clutches of Officer Borzoi (Keegan Jones). Tru then gets to experience Marquis’s world, with his nice home and all-white classmates at Achievement Preparatory Academy: jocks Hunter (Joseph Mervis) and Fielder (Maverick Schmidt), and top girls’ clique led by Meadow (Vicki Turner) with Prairie (Jacobs) and Clementine (Sarah Ault).

Seeing Marquis as “too White,” Tru fills a notebook with “Being Black for Dummies” in the hope of connecting him with his racial heritage. But the book falls into the wrong hands, with tragic results.

Meanwhile, Marquis dreams of visits by ancient gods – fair-skinned Dionysus (Schmidt), who wants him to take the easy life; and dark-skinned Apollo (Jones), who whispers to him a dark secret.

This show is spiced with a surprising amount of humor, and the production does include a “laugh light” to let you know when it’s safe to react without being racist. However, there are a lot of hard questions and uncomfortable discussions. Also, the characters make an embarrassing number of assumptions, including the fateful conclusions drawn by school Headmaster Burns (Mervis) that sound a lot like your “I’m not a racist, but…” friend when telling you the “truth” about a Black victim of a shooting. Thus does this fictional story connect solidly with our real world; Chisholm’s characters are each simultaneously flesh-and-blood and living metaphor. You know this person; you’ve met this person; you’ve seen this person on the news; you are this person.

The cast do a great job of communicating all this to us through their cloth masks, and with the intimate (yet with seating properly distanced) stage in the backyard of the FTC building, we even hear clearly when the mic-packs sputter. This was an important and enlightening drama already, and today it feels more vital to make the effort to experience. Fonseca staff even have nice masks available for a donation.

All performances are 8 p.m., continuing Saturday, Sunday (Aug. 22-23), and Thursday through Sunday, Aug. 27-30, at 2508 W. Michigan, Indianapolis. Details and tickets at fonsecatheatre.org.

We have a lot to learn

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By John Lyle Belden

Understanding being black in America is not something that one “history month” a year can cover. But at least now, we have the textbook. Fonseca Theatre Company presents “Hooded, or Being Black for Dummies” by Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm, directed by Ben Rose.

Marquis seems to be a typical 14-year-old: doing well in school, hanging out with friends, noticing girls. But when his attempt at the latest internet fad lands him in a police station holding cell for trespassing, he finds himself with someone who sees him as anything but normal. Tru, the cellmate,  appears to be what most would picture a black youth to be, and he wonders why Marquis isn’t. Let the lessons begin.

Chinyelu Mwaafrika plays Marquis, bright-faced and naive, and despite his dark skin, a boy so “white” he needs the guidance of a “magical Negro” — the role Joshua Short as Tru takes on with gusto, complete with penning the titular guide. Yet, his character is more human than film trope, always toying with our and the other characters’ expectations. 

The only other African American in the cast is Warren Jackson as police Officer Borzoi; it is left to the audience to decide if he is an Uncle Tom collaborator with the establishment or a committed law officer with a realistic view of misbehaving young men (which you believe, or to what extent a mix of the two, no doubt says more about your own beliefs and biases).

We soon meet Marquis’s adoptive mother, Debra (Mara Lefler), embodying the well-meaning liberal who is blind to her own racial insensitivity. The next day, at private high school Achievement Prep, we meet Marquis’s classmates and best friends, Hunter and Fielder (Patrick Mullen and James Banta), as well as the girls clique of Meadow (Ivy Moody) and her disciples Prairie (Lefler) and Clementine (Dani Morey), who has a crush on Marquis.

All this — plus plenty of jibes at our meme-driven, eyes-on-phones, culture — lead to a lot of hilarious situations. But, as Rose says: It’s all funny, until it’s not. For instance, the opening scenes deal with the hot online trend of “Trayvonning” — a joke frequently repeated until its uncomfortable aspects are smoothed over. But it also has you primed for the gut-punch of the very final scene.

There are lessons for us throughout this production, starting with a slide show that runs while we take our seats in the intimate confines of Indy Convergence. Tru is a fount of wisdom, both in what he says and what he writes. In addition, we get a funny take on the young white man who takes on hip-hop culture too wholeheartedly.

Jackson and Banta also play mythical characters Apollo and Dionysus. The latter calls on Marquis to enjoy the trappings of white privilege, but hooded and African-garbed Apollo whispers a more vital truth to him.

Hearing of the violent death of an unarmed black person makes us wonder how such tragic circumstances could come about. No one should die for a handful of Skittles, yet they do. One of the lessons of “Being Black for Dummies” is that sometimes just putting up your hands is not enough.

What lesson will you take from this powerful play?

Performances run through Dec. 2 at Indy Convergence, 2611 W. Michigan. Get information and tickets at fonsecatheatre.org.

TOTS dramas the hell out of this ‘MF’

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By John Lyle Belden

If you’re like me, you don’t know much about the play “The Motherf**ker With the Hat” by Stephen Adly Guirgis, aside from the provocative title and perhaps that it was Chris Rock’s dramatic stage debut in its Broadway run.

Now,  know that it is a gritty solid drama with comic elements, playing through May 13 at Theatre on the Square.

Granted, the language is not clean; it reflects the everyday talk of the working-class New Yorkers we are presented with, trying to live day to day with the struggles of addiction and recovery, and the consequences of bad choices, including incarceration. The laughs are mainly situational from the dark humor of living with your demons. Still, it’s not preachy to the audience, though upbeat AA sponsor Ralph D (Ben Rose) does dish out life-lessons to any who will hear.

We open with a deceptively happy scene. Jackie (Eric Reiberg) comes home to Veronica (Carrie Schlatter), his sweetheart since eighth grade, to announce he has found a job. They mention the fact that he is on parole, but that only makes the victory sound sweeter.

But then, he sees The Hat.

It’s a nice fedora-style hat, sitting on the coffee table (next to Veronica’s cocaine mirror), which he doesn’t recognize and she claims to know nothing about. With this, Jackie’s unraveling begins. His pursuit of the titular character and increasing realization that his addict girlfriend has not been faithful triggers his desire to use drugs and alcohol, and make other unwise decisions including acquiring a gun.

We then meet Ralph and his wife, Victoria (Chelsea Anderson), both in recovery as well as a very rocky relationship. There is also Jackie’s Cousin Julio (Ian Cruz), who has his own quirks, but compared to the others is the voice of reason.

In this production, a talented cast sharply execute a complex drama about the tangled feelings and impulses that come with taking that next step: whether it’s the numbered one in the program’s “big book;” to walk out the door; or to – against all your frantic brain’s desires – just not-do what comes next. And in the process, we learn the importance of the Commodores, Van Damme and the theory that dinosaurs invented waterfalls.

As the show is just opening, I’ll avoid further spoilers, deliver a tip of my MF’ing hat to director Gari L. Williams, and just encourage you to see this great MF’ing show. TOTS is at 627 Massachusetts Ave., downtown Indianapolis; call 317-685-8687 or visit www.tots.org.