Top 10 Performing Arts in Indianapolis 2011

Gotta Go Top 10 List for Performing Arts

Indianapolis 2011

The annual compilation of the Gotta Go Top 10 Best Performing Arts performances in Indianapolis is always difficult to select due to the quantity of great talent and shows in the Indy metro area. As the 12th largest city in the nation, the Circle City offers something for just about everyone.

With so many shows, and only one of me, let me say as always that this is not an all-inclusive list and represents only the performances personally attended and reviewed by this critic.
Some of the reviews were in print, some online, and some were on WIBC.

Whether you agree, disagree, or have comments or questions, I would enjoy hearing your thoughts.

1.  Opening Night Gala: Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra with Maestro Krzysztof Urbanski-Urbanski brings in a whole new era for Indy. The energy that evening was palpable. Click here for review.

2.  Puccini People: Dance Kaleidoscope-Quite simply, this is the best, in my opinion, of David Hochoy's work in the five years I have been a performing arts critic in Indianapolis. I reviewed it on WIBC to give listeners the time to catch it.**

3.  Stephanie J. Block: The Cabaret at The Columbia Club-Fun, flirty and feisty. Click here for review.

4.  Idina Menzel: ISO-Delightful, charming and utterly impish. Click here for review.

5.  39 Steps: IRT-Proving it doesn’t have to be dramatic to be worth noting. Click here for review.

6.  Singin' in the Rain: Beef and Boards-Wet with a movie-set ambiance. The acting, the set, the dancing…all fabulous. Click here for review.

7.  Evening with the Stars: Indianapolis City Ballet-This is consistently in the Top Ten List for an excellent reason. I reviewed it on WIBC to give listeners the time to catch it.*

8.  Dracula: IRT-The not-so-light version by Stephen Dietz packed the house. Click here for review.

9.  Tierney Sutton:The Cabaret at The Columbia Club-Ethereal and earthy at same time. Click here for review.

10. Madama Butterfly: Indianapolis Opera-A classic story told well. Click here for review.

*2011 Lesson learned: Write and post all reviews -- even on those performances I cover on air in order to have something to share with you at the end of the year.

Bottom Line: I have enjoyed 2011 and look forward to Indy's offerings for 2012. So many more could have, should have been mentioned. Each year it becomes more and more difficult to choose the best of the performances and that is a great problem to have.

Image by: T. Wenger

Elizabeth J. Musgrave is a syndicated columnist, travel writer, performing arts and restaurant critic. Catch her as Indy’s Arts & Entertainment Adviser on 93 WIBC, and follow her on Twitter @GottaGo and Facebook. Gotta Go is published in the following newspapers: South Sider Voice, Indiana Weekender, New Palestine Reporter, Pendleton Times Reporter and Fortville-McCordsville Reporter.

Theater Review: IRT: Dracula

IRT flew into its 2011-12 season with a bite...a huge bite. The highly anticipated "Dracula" opened to a full house of vampire enthusiasts, IRT devotees and fans of the playwright. The play is penned by Steven Dietz who raced into our consciousness last season with his delightful "Becky's New Car," which brought its own rave reviews.

Not a light-hearted version of Bram Stoker's novel, this performance includes the necessary, raw sexual undertones woven throughout, while bringing forth the strong Gothic vibes.

To keep the darkest core of Dracula, portrayed intensely by Wade McCollum, just one shade lighter, enter the supporting role of Reinfeld, played by Dieterich Gray.

Reinfeld's role as insane asylum inmate brings forth the darkest of fears and mood-lightening barbs in pingpong fashion, keeping the audience from slipping too far into the depths of Stoker's world of vampires. Gray's ability to balance precariously on the cliff overlooking complete mental fracture is emphasized by his rapier wit and vulnerable undercurrent.

Tom McElroy portrays Van Helsing bringing scientific theories to the circle, keeping logic at forefront, while acknowledging the need to address superstitions.

Dietz stays true to Victorian beliefs, medical abilities and societal allowances of the time period while introducing the blackest underbelly in stark contrast to the "don't ask, don't tell" attitude of the day.

Jennifer Joan Thompson brings to the stage, Lucy, the opposition: a lighthearted, fully alive personality which proves the ultimate temptation to the wicked immortal.

With the minimalist stage, scenic designer Robert Mark Morgan allows no one to escape the dark realities or the scientific mood.
Director Peter Amster permits the overtly sensual mood to permeate the theater, emotionally saturating theatergoers with the pulsating need of the Count of Transylvania: blood.

Bottom Line: IRT's "Dracula" sets the standard for all Indianapolis area theaters to reach this season.

Photo Credit: JulieCurryPhotography.com
For Dracula tickets, performance times and details, visit IRTLive.com.
Elizabeth J. Musgrave is a syndicated columnist, travel writer, performing arts and restaurant critic. Catch her as Indy’s Arts & Entertainment Adviser on 93 WIBC, and follow her on Twitter @GottaGo and Facebook. Gotta Go is published in M magazine and the following newspapers: South Sider Voice, Indiana Weekender, New Palestine Reporter, Pendleton Times Reporter and Fortville-McCordsville Reporter.

IRT Announces 2011-12 Season Includes DRACULA!

IRT Announces 2011-12 Season

SEPT 7-OCT 1
OneAmerica Stage

Wicked and seductive, the original bloodsucker is back in a fresh, faithful adaptation of Bram Stoker‘s horrific tale. The Count has taken residence in London, and only Professor Van Helsing understands the extent of the terror that is about to be unleashed. Transported back to a time where legend and science contend for supremacy, Steven Deitz's script keeps your heart beating 

and blood pumping… we hope.

SEPT 22-OCT 23

Upperstage

IRT’s Going Solo festival of three intimate one-actor plays returns for its third year of audience acclaim. A highlight this season will be an original work by IRT playwright-in-residence James Still. An added advantage for IRT subscribers: you can enjoy your assigned performance and then choose a weeknight performance of either of the other two plays in the series.

JAN 10-JAN 29

        OneAmerica Stage

August Wilson’s final work, completed only months before his death, Radio Golf is the culmination of his play cycle examining the Black experience in each decade of the twentieth century. The voice of modern African American ambition speaks of political growth and urban renewal, but cannot be entirely free of the past. Wilson uses the complexity of his former work to bring us back to the struggle of all Americans as we try to grow beyond our shared history, while still remembering its lessons.

FEB 28-MAR 24
OneAmerica Stage

A playground incident between two boys devolves into a comedy of bad manners as the parents meet to work things out. It’s hard to tell the children from the adults in this edgy satire from Yasmina Reza that catapults the IRT audience into the middle of a war-of-words zone where things are never what they seem. Winner for Best Play at the 2009 Tony Awards.

MAR 13-APR 22
Upperstage

Witty dialogue, glamour and madcap humor bubble out of control in Nöel Coward’s 1925 farce. We follow the story of Julia and Jane, two upper-class friends waiting for a shared secret to arrive at the front door. Can the virtues of married life stand firm against the lure of lost romance? This comedy of manners consists of three acts and a never-ending supply of champagne.

APRIL 17- MAY 20 OneAmerica Stage

In what Time Magazine called “…unforgettable theater,” The Miracle Worker recreates the life and education of Helen Keller. Tragically deaf, blind and ultimately mute due to a childhood illness, the wild child meets her match when Annie Sullivan, a teacher with passion, resilience and cunning wit, arrives to teach Helen her greatest lesson: the gift of communication. Extraordinarily woven by the playwright, this century old story of

fortitude and friendship still stirs audiences today.

OCT 18-NOV 5OneAmerica Stage

One of Shakespeare’s most well known tragedies, Julius Caesar grapples with the universal themes of honor, patriotism and the ultimate betrayal of ruler and friend. Tension reaches a boiling point after Caesar’s brutal assassination, while political scheming spurs power hungry Romans into civil war. A classic piece of theater that echoes current political issues, making this a relevant, not-to-be-missed experience.

NOV 25-DEC 24
OneAmerica Stage

Winter can be a cold, hard place, especially when one man’s heart resists every effort to warm it. Can the spirits of the season prevail in time to save Scrooge from an eternity of miserly misery? Find out when Charles Dickens’ beloved holiday favorite returns. Unwrap the perfect family outing and experience the joy of the IRT’s timeless Christmas classic.