coming up

“Stoops” and suds this weekend

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Gettin' Stoop-id: The cast of Casey Ross Productions'
Gettin’ Stoop-id: The cast of Casey Ross Productions’ “She Stoops to Conquer” — CRP photo

John just got finished updating the Stage Calendar to add the very full season just announced at Theatre on the Square, as well as a few shows presented by Wisdom Tooth. The TOTS season includes “Batboy: The Musical,” Sondheim’s “Passion,” Tony nominee “Skylight,” the return of “Miss Gulch Returns” and “8 Reindeer Monologues” – the latter of which runs at the same time as the stage version of “A Christmas Story” – the intriguing “Porn Stars at Home,” and wraps up next summer with a production of the musical “Rent.”

As for fresh theatre this week, local playwright Casey Ross adapts and stars in the 1700s comedy “She Stoops to Conquer,” opening Friday at Grove Haus, 1001 Hosbrook St., near Fountain Square. Since it’s too hot for powdered wigs, the play is reset in 1980s Florida. Given the level of insanity the state is known for, this should be good.

The city’s oldest beer fest, Brew-Ha-Ha, returns Saturday to the street in front of the Phoenix Theatre (700 block of N. Park Ave.), for which the event is a fundraiser. The price is $30 in advance, $35 on site, but you get as many samples as you can handle from 29 local and area breweries. Hours are 3 to 7 p.m., but if you get the advance VIP ticket for 50 bucks, you can start at 2 p.m. Rather than drink and drive, you could consider sobering up at the Phoenix’s “American Idiot” at 8 (costs its own ticket, get a reservation in case it sells out again).

Thursday night we are checking out the 10@10 Comedy Open Mic at ComedySportz, 721 Mass Ave. Looks like it’s a weekly event until CSz gets tired of it. Aside from its regular all-ages improv comedy “games,” ComedySportz also has mature-audiences long-form improv late on Friday nights – lately they have been skewering the “Wizard of Oz.”

– See you in the audience!

Have the time of your life

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From memecrunch.com
From memecrunch.com

No big openings in local theatre companies this weekend – feel free to see continuing productions at Phoenix, TOTS, Beef & Boards and IndyFringe, as well as what Bobdirex and Eclectic Pond are up to.

Actually, there is one “new” show in town. The touring production of the stage musical version of “Dirty Dancing” is under way through Sunday at Clowes Memorial Hall. Sounds like fun, if you loved the movie, and who doesn’t love that movie?!

For us, this is one of our favorite weekends of the year. Aside from the bigger-than-ever Pride festival, there is the Independent Music and Arts Festival at the Harrison Center for the Arts at the corner of 16th and Delaware streets downtown. The IMAF is all free, and you get to see some great local art, shop among area artisans and crafters, and see and hear several great musical acts.

Meanwhile, just a block away from IMAF is the Talbot Street Art Fair, celebrating its 60th year Saturday and Sunday. Entry is free, with dozens and dozens of booths to check out. Many people complement Wendy on her tie-dye dresses; she gets them at the Talbot Street fair, from Kiss of Color. Please check them out.

Away from downtown, there is also the Indianapolis mayor’s office-hosted Veterans picnic from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Garfield Park (free food for those who served and their families), and Holy Rosary’s annual Italian Fest Friday and Saturday with lots of generously-portioned food. On Sunday, the 4th Annual Irvington Folk Festival (through June 20) gets started just a few miles east of downtown.

So there you are: Go have some fun!

June is bustin’ out all over

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…but, ironically, not with a production of “Carousel.”

Among the many stage shows opening this weekend, “American Idiot,” the rock opera by punk-pop band Green Day, opens Thursday at the Phoenix Theatre. We saw the band on the “Idiot” tour a few years ago, and have the hit album as well as its similarly-themed follow-up, so are very interested in seeing this. The Broadway and touring productions had mixed reviews, but punk has always been a not-for-everyone genre.

Wisdom Tooth, a thought-provoking new company in residence at IndyFringe, opens “Jason and (Medea).” Note this is not “Madea” and has no relation to Tyler Perry. So, it should be very good.

“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” opens at Buck Creek Players. I won’t be able to make it, but I do encourage everyone to go see this. (And not just because I like the folks at BCP.) This show is a LOT of fun, and a couple of brave souls from the audience get to take part as spellers (but not against your will, relax!).

“The Cherry Orchard” by Eclectic Pond opens at the Opera Center. One of the great Chekhov plays presented by an excellent Shakespeare company, here’s another one I can recommend without seeing.

Director Bob Harbin, a/k/a Bobdirex, has his big summer production, “Jesus Christ Superstar,” opening this weekend on the former Civic Theatre stage at Marian University.

The world premiere of “The Perfect 10” opens at Theatre on the Square. Hopefully we’ll be there Sunday. And we’ll be staying for “Going Going Gone” (the auction-based improv show in which audience members bid on and get to keep the props) and the free Tony Award watch party.

There is also a cabaret of the hits of the 70s and 80s this weekend only at Carmel Community Players.

Meanwhile, “Peter Pan” continues at Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre. While this is not a new show for B&B, it does feature the wonderful antics of Jeff Stockberger as Cpt. Hook, and, making her B&B debut, the incredibly talented Phebe Taylor (a frequent flier at the Phoenix) as Pan. And the food there is good, so it’s a good deal.

So, here we are, starting out the bloggy part of this site. This time it’s a list (maybe I should have titled this “Nine shows you should see this weekend even though seeing them all in the next few days would be physically impossible” or “Start a theatre blog with this one weird trick” to be more Internetty) but we reserve the right to make future posts even more interesting.

– See you in the audience!