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|  Thursday, September 27, 2007 |
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|  Indianapolis Opera presents
"The Magic Flute" at Clowes Hall.
The art of Mozart.
Waddie Mitchell at the Eiteljorg Museum's WestFest.
Cowboy poetry at its free-range best.
Galway Kennell at Butler University.
The Putlizer-Prize winner shares his work.
Dallas Black Dance Theatre at the Madame Walker.
Balanchine meets Ailey.
Witold Rybczynski at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
Just because you can't pronounce his name, doesn't mean you shouldn't check him out.
Frank Caliendo at the Murat.
Is he a madman or just a Madden man?
Regina Spektor at the Murat Egyptian Room.
What could be better better better better?
This week's contest:
Not just four tickets to the Hoosier Storytelling Festival,
but also a book and CD. | |  | |  | | | |
|  | "The Magic Flute," Sept. 28 and 30 at Clowes Memorial Hall
These days, a new opera is likely to get a premiere performance and then languish, lucky to be heard one or two more times. But in just over a year, Mozart's "The Magic Flute" had over 100 performances—a testament not only to the popularity of opera in the late 18th century but also to the near instantaneous impact of the work itself.
 The enduring piece gets two performances this weekend from the Indianapolis Opera, with the musical support of The Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra (Opera increases its pleasures dramatically when there's a live orchestra). Coloratura soprano Julia Kogan, who has one of the goofiest opera star Web site intros around (visit it here ), plays The Queen of the Night. A previous performance she gave in the role was described in the press as "...Eine brillante Konigin der Nacht ist Julia Kogan..." I'm guessing part of that translates as "brilliant," but I could be wrong. For more information, click here.
Waddie Mitchell at WestFest, Sept. 29 at the Eiteljorg Museum
Galway Kennell, Oct. 1 at Butler University
Two of the countries best-known poets (yes, I know, "best-known" and "poets" are a bit of a contradiction) will be in town this week. Both illuminate the world through words, although their histories and experiences are very different.
Cowboy poet Waddie Mitchell dropped out of high school, worked as a wrangler and chuck wagon driver, and was drafted into the Army where he trained horses for the U.S. Cavalry. He's also recorded for Warner Bros. Records, appeared on "The Tonight Show," and performed on stage at Carnegie Hall.
Galway Kinnell, on the other hand, is a Princeton graduate who studied in Paris on a Fulbright Scholarship, was awarded both a National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize, and served as chancellor of the American Academy of Poets. He was also arrested in the '60s while working on voter registration drives in the South and was active in the anti-Vietnam War movement.
Mitchell will be in town as part of the Eiteljorg Museum's WestFest. For a preliminary sample of his work, click here. For more information on his appearance, click here.
Galway Kinnell comes to town for the Butler University Visiting Writers Series. For a sample of his work, visit here. For more information on his appearance, click here.
And for a pretty good idea of the range of what poetry can do, try catching both.
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| Dallas Black Dance Theatre,
Oct. 3 at the Madame Walker
Last season's Madame Walker Theatre Center's lineup ended with a knockout performance by tapper Savion Glover. Its new season kicks off with another dance performance, this one more heavily populated.
 The Dallas Black Dance Theatre—still under the direction of founder and artistic director Ann Williams 30 years after its founding—has deep roots in Texas. But its style—described by one critic as "Balanchine-meets-Ailey"—has earned it a reputation far beyond state lines. For more details, click here.
Witold Rybczynski, Sept. 27
at the Indianapolis Museum of Art
Just about all of what little I know about architecture I learned from Witold Rybczynski. His difficult-to-miss (although easy to mispronounce) name has guided me to stories in The New York Times and The Atlantic. For full preview, click here: 
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| Frank Caliendo, Sept. 29 at the Murat
Unlike "Saturday Night Live," its after-hours neighbor, "Mad TV" has yet to produce a star (No, Orlando Jones doesn't quite count). Oh, there's been talent to burn in some of the long-running show's casts—Stephnie Weir, Nicole Sullivan, Aries Spear—but none has broken out even to the level of, say, Jon Lovitz or Rob Schneider.
The closest so far may be Frank Caliendo. For full preview, click here:
Regina Spektor, Oct. 2 at the Murat Egyptian Room
Regina Spektor's signature song "Fidelity," with its repeated "...It breaks my har-ar-ar-ar-ar-ar-art," and "better, better, better, better" will either drive you crazy (in the way that Billy Joel's "Heart attack-ack-ack-ack-ack-ack" from "Movin' Out" did), or lure you into the distinct charms of this Russian-born singer/pianist. For full preview, click here:
This week's contest:
Okay, this one might feel a bit like an as-seen-on-TV infomercial: How would you like to win four tickets to the Hoosier Storytelling Festival?
Great, huh?
Well, that's not all.
We'll also throw in a "Stories from the Heartland" CD.
Ready to enter now?
Wait, there's more. You'll also get one of the first copies of the IHS Press release "The Scenic Route: Stories from the Heartland."
All you have to do is tell us the first line of a story. Any story. We'll pick one winner randomly for the prize but also feature our favorite 10 entries to post online. Enter here.
Speaking of which, congratulations to last week's winner, Jennifer Anderson-Henry, who won VIP treatment at the Indianapolis Opera's production of "The Magic Flute."
For that contest, we asked entrants to give us the name of an as-yet-unwritten opera. You can find the most interesting responses—and those responsible for them—here.
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