Entertainment

Editor’s Note, Feb. 15, 2013: Hugh Hefner’s personal secretary, Mary O’Connor, was James Dean’s fellow Fairmount, Indiana, native. She died on Jan. 27. Mark Roesler, CEO of CMG Worldwide (headquartered in Indianapolis) manages the intellectual property rights of Dean and other celebrities, and he gave closing remarks at O’Connor’s memorial service on Feb. 8 at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles, noting also that the service was taking place on Dean’s birthday. Here, our June 2005 feature story about another Hoosier who went to Hollywood, about Dean’s craft and legacy.

Circle City IN Pride Festival has announced by way of its new mobile app that the organization will welcome multi-hyphenate artist Mýa to its stage on Saturday, June 8, 2013, as the main event’s headliner. The singer-actress-dancer has released such hit tracks as “Case of the Ex,” “My Love Is Like Wo,” and—with Christina Aguilera, Pink, and others—a cover of “Lady Marmalade” for the Moulin Rouge soundtrack, among other songs. She has also starred in the movie musical Chicago and appeared on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars program. “Lady Marmalade” won her a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration in 2001.

The show’s transparent theme is timeless: Comically bad people engage in alternately rosy and fatalistic relationships at all levels of society.

REVIEW STARTS HERE

February 2, 1959. Clear Lake, Iowa. The Surf Ballroom.

Indiana Repertory Theatre’s newest play, Jackie & Me is the stage adaptation of Dan Gutman’s novel centered around the great Jackie Robinson, the first African American in Major League Baseball, and the racism and adversity he had to overcome to play the game he loved. The novel, geared toward a younger audience, teaches important life lessons about temper control, acceptance, and cultural diversity through the eyes of Joey Stoshack, a hot-headed Polish little-leaguer living in the present day.

The critically lauded sitcom Parks and Recreation—set in Pawnee, Indiana—strikes again. In this episode, airing on January 17, characters played by actors Rob Lowe, Aziz Ansari, Adam Scott, Nick Offerman, and Jim O’Heir go out for steaks at one of Indianapolis’ dining treasures. St. Elmo Steak House, as part of a bachelor party. “Tonight we […]

1. Indy snagged the show’s world premiere.  Why? It just so happens that Jack Everly, principal pops conductor of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, fills that same role for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Baltimore, as any hair hopper knows, is the hometown of John Waters, creator of the original 1988 movie Hairspray, and the setting for that and all of his other films. Everly is known for taking Broadway shows, which increasingly rely on synthesized music to save money, and creating concert versions that place a full-scale orchestra right on stage with the actors. The result: lush, symphonic sound for numbers like “You Can’t Stop the Beat” and “Good Morning Baltimore,” with just enough scenery, choreography, costumes, and dialogue to lend a theatrical atmosphere. Given the experience of Everly, an Indy native, the show (based on the Tony Award–winning 2002 Broadway rendition and subsequent movie remake) ended up debuting here today at an 11 a.m. Coffee Concert; it heads to Baltimore in two weeks.

The feeling of anticipation at The Bachelor premiere party in Indianapolis last night was contagious, as enthusiastic young women sought out seats with perfect views of the man of the night: former Bachelorette contestant and racecar driver Arie Luyendyk Jr. An electrified crowd of mostly females in their 20s and 30s filled the first floor and balcony of the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s Tobias Theater.

Upbeat and perfectly choreographed, the enthusiastic performers and phenomenal orchestra really fill up the small space.

Letterman shook up the late-night airwaves in 1993, when—after losing the chance to host The Tonight Show to Jay Leno—he moved to CBS.

The Kinks, Stevie Wonder, and U2 may seem like unlikely concert mates. But pair that trio of acts with three Fountain Square venues, 47 local bands, and one great cause, and the 11th annual Tonic Ball event turned out to be one great party. Tonic Ball, which benefits Second Helpings, a local food rescue and distribution organization, rocked Fountain Square this past Friday, Nov. 16.

Never trust a wordsmith—that seems a moral of the story in Seminar. A writer, especially of fiction, works to persuade and to engross, and what’s most dangerous is when that scribe himself starts believing the words coming from his own pen or mouth. Or from the heart.

A healthy mix of teens, twentysomethings, and middle-aged folks craving an alternative sound all came together last Saturday night to support the eclectic modern rock music of Born Again Floozies. Old National Centre’s promising new venue, Deluxe, hosted the band’s album release party for their fourth record, The Voluptuous Panic or Earthquake Revolution—produced by Floozies frontman Joey Welch and Grammy–winning producer Ben Fowler.

Indiana Repertory Theatre playwright-in-residence James Still talked to IM moments before the recent world premiere of his newest play, The House That Jack Built. Here, Still divulges his inspiration for the play and how it became the platform to tell a story he couldn’t find the words to say himself.