Stage Write

The IRT Announces its 2010-11 Season With two world premieres, an award-winning book and hit movie, a Tony Award-winning play, a traditional holiday favorite and the return of the critically acclaimed Going Solo Festival, the Indiana Repertory Theatre (IRT) unveils its 39th Season – a season filled with drama, comedy, mystery and history. 
Holes , by Louis Sachar Sept. 25 – Nov. 6 A lost treasure. A multi-generational curse. Racial injustice. And a bizarre correctional facility where kids serve time digging holes in the desert. Found guilty of a crime he didn’t commit, Stanley discovers more than dirt as he digs – in this quirky comedy, he also finds new friends, the power of perseverance and the truth about his family’s past. What will he find at the bottom of the next hole? Mary’s Wedding , by Stephen Massicotte Nov. 3 – Dec. 4 The night before her wedding, Mary wakes from a recurring dream about a childhood love – and takes the audience through a dreamscape of love, heartache, passi...

"A Chorus Line," presented by Broadway Across America, is on stage now at Clowes Memorial Hall. The show goes behind the scenes of a Broadway chorus line audition in 1975. Over the course of two hours, with no intermission, the audience gets to know what brought each dancer to this point. With a huge cast and a simple set, the show defies many musical norms. There's no major plot, instead it's a compilation of individual stories. The blank stage has a wall of mirrors and little else to distract from the dancers. You quickly realize that the dancers themselves have become the set. Their flawless bodies pose and stand frozen as the spotlight singles out one individual to perform. The other 16 actors stand, all graceful angles, creating the perfect backdrop. The cast is equal parts hilarious, heart breaking and incredibly talented. They sing, they dance and they sass, all while trying to manage their nervousness and anticipation. From the deliciously cold diva Shelia ...

In conjunction with the Indiana Repertory Theatre, the Phoenix Theatre currently has a show by playwright Steven Dietz on stage. The Phoenix's show, "Yankee Tavern," is a conspiracy-fueled drama set in a New York City bar. It was fascinating to compare the two shows. The plots were diametrically opposite, but the rapid flow of dialogue was the same. Dietz's writing style was hard to miss. Both plays dealt with serious issues, while maintaining a sense of humor. "Yankee Tavern" centers on a grad student, Adam, who runs his deceased father's bar. Shane Chuvalas walks the line between cynic and believer as Adam. He's struggling not only to finish his thesis, but also to find closure from his father's death. His fiancée, Janet, (Carrie Schlatter), has grown impatient with his indecision and is beginning to question his true goals in life. Adam's dad's best friend, Ray, is a regular at the tavern and spews out an endless...

(Macy and Hormann in Becky's new car) "When someone says they want a new car, what they really want is a new life," the title character in The Indiana Repertory Theatre's "Becky' New Car" says at the beginning of the show. Becky is a married, middle-aged woman with an adult son who lives at home and a job that has her working late hours doing paperwork at a car dealership. A chance encounter forces her outside of her comfort zone and she tries out a different life, but soon her two worlds collide. The IRT coordinated the premier of this play with Indianapolis' Phoenix Theatre's premier of "Yankee Tavern." Both plays are written by Steven Dietz, providing Indianapolis residents with the unique opportunity to compare two live shows of a playwright's work in the same month. (Lisa Ermel and Adriano Gatto in "Becky's New Car") The set is a versatile, yet intimate living room. You feel as though you've stumbled into ...