Stage Write

The Beef & Boards Christmas show is back with a kid-friendly theme this year. Alvin and the Chipmunks, the Grinch, Santa and tap dancing reindeer all make appearances. The young Anna Lasbury, one of the mop-topped orphans from "Annie" earlier this year, brings a sassy spunk to the holiday numbers. This year's cast includes many B&B regulars, such as hosts Deb Wims and Kenny Shepard, but also introduces some new faces. Doug Stark revises his role as a cheeky Santa Claus. Chris Dickerson performs as one of the featured singers. His deep baritone voice lends an operatic feel to a few of the classic Christmas numbers. Though Dickerson does a wonderful job with "O Holy Night," previous year's performer Gerald Atkins is sorely missed. Up next at Beef & Boards is their 2010 season opener "The Foreigner." The comedy begins January 6th. VIP tickets are also available if you think you'll be able to see a few shows this season. For more inform

One of Giacomo Puccini's famous operas, "La Bohème," is on stage at Clowes Memorial Hall. The opera, set in Paris around 1830, follows a poor group of friends who are all true starving artists, musicians and poets. The show is sung in Italian, but the English translation is projected on a screen above the stage. It's split up into four acts, with two 15 minute intermissions and a brief break between the first and second act. The sets are masterpieces. Incredible scenes are laid out for each act, seducing the audience into the illusion of the Parisian world. The performers' sumptuous voices resonate with each delicious sentence they sing. There's something beautiful about the rolling Italian syllables. They can turn the most mundane chatter into a work of art. Each character's voice has a unique lyrical cadence and they all melt together to create a glorious sound. I wasn't expecting the show to be so hilarious. The friends have an easy camaraderie and

The true story of Leopold and Loeb is one that has fascinated people for decades. Two wealthy young men decided to commit the perfect murder in 1924. The cocky college students take down a young boy and assume they've proved their genius with his demise. Quickly their plans begin to unravel as the evidence mounts against them and they find themselves on trial for their lives. "Never the Sinner" is a play based on the murderous tale and it was recently on stage at The Theater Within, located in Fountain Square. The stage is small and unassuming, mere feet from the audience. The set is simple, the cast is limited and yet the director, Rod Isaac, manages to pull off just the right ominous tone. His use of eerie imagery projected on a blank screen to transition between scenes was chilling. Zach Stonerock is excellent as the fidgety and condescending Leopold. He is both incredibly intelligent and socially stunted. He finds the attention he longs for in his relationship with Lo

"The Giver" is one of the first dystopian books I ever read. I was in junior high at the time and I remember being completely awed by this strange society, where everything seemed perfect at first, but the dark secrets of the community were quickly revealed. The book fascinated me and challenged my thinking, which is why I was filled with both excitement and apprehension when I found out "The Giver" was part of the Indiana Repertory Theatre's season this year. Anytime a book resonates with you it can be difficult to see that story brought to life on stage or film. There's always the fear that it won't be recreated quite like you imagined it and it will somehow mar the integrity of the story. The IRT's version of "The Giver" did nothing but enhance my original feelings. It's an amazing production, condensed to an 80 minute show with no intermission. The set, costumes and acting all played their unique parts in capturing the menace of th