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Theater 24 results
Abby Lee, who plays Sarah Whitmore, during rehearsal for Jewish Theatre of Bloomington's "Church and State." | Photo by Chaz Mottinger

Behind the Curtain: Jewish Theatre of Bloomington’s ‘Church & State’
Jennifer Pacenza, Chaz Mottinger
Politics, like theater, relies on the relationship between the stage and the audience, writes LP columnist Jennifer Pacenza in her Behind the Curtain preview of Church & State. The latest production of Jewish Theatre of Bloomington puts this relationship center stage in a “funny and heartrending play with a powerful message about God, guns, and politics.” Click here to read the full story.
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Director Jonathan Michaelson, second from left, chats with (l-r) Nina Donville (Jasmine), Talia Santia (multiple characters), and Longfei Zhao (Maurice) during a rehearsal of "Nice Nails." | Photo by Chaz Mottinger

Behind the Curtain: ‘Nice Nails,’ A Play That Cuts to the Quick
Jennifer Pacenza, Chaz Mottinger
Social issues are rarely black and white, as revealed in Nice Nails, a play by Aaron Ricciardi, presented by IU’s theatre department. LP columnist Jennifer Pacenza looks Behind the Curtain at the circumstances in which a Korean family, a South African immigrant, and a trans man are entangled in labor-law violations in Long Island nail salons. Click here to read the full story.
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New-York-based Equity actor Remy Germinario as Alex in Cardinal Stage’s 2015 production of "Buyer and Cellar." Rachel Glago, marketing manager at Cardinal Stage Company, says Equity houses lead “to overall economic growth.” | Photo by Blueline, courtesy of Cardinal Stage Company

Guest Column: When Is a Theater an ‘Equity House,’ and Does It Matter?
Rachel Glago
In its rich and diverse theater community, Bloomington has only one “Equity House.” What does that mean? And is “professionalizing theater” important to a town this size? As Cardinal Stage Company’s Rachel Glago explains in this guest column, yes, because among other benefits it leads to “to overall economic growth.” Click here to read the full story.
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Friends Emily Bedwell, left, and Sarah Ruggles play Florence and Olive in the Monroe County Civic Theater production of "The Odd Couple (Female Version)" this weekend at The Waldron. | Limestone Post

Behind the Curtain: Friends Play Female ‘Odd Couple’ in New MCCT Production
Jennifer Pacenza
Longtime friends Sarah Mae Ruggles and Emily Bedwell have acted in the Monroe County Civic Theater for years, and now they play opposites in Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple (Female Version). Jen Pacenza looks Behind the Curtain at Olive and Florence in this hilarious performance playing at The Waldron this weekend. Click here to read the full story.
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The graceful and mesmerizing aerial acrobats of AsaBela WINGS Aerial Academy will perform in both the matinée and evening Va-Va-Va-Vaudeville shows. | Photo by Chris Rall

Behind the Curtain: Va-Va-Va-Vaudeville
Jennifer Pacenza
It’s a juggernaut! It’s a celebration of Bloomington’s amazing talent! It’s an extravagant array of performers — jugglers, dancers, comedians, aerial acrobats, burlesque performers, musicians, and even clever canines! It’s Va-Va-Va-Vaudeville! Jennifer Pacenza takes you Behind the Curtain of this variety show playing this weekend at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. Click here to read the full story.
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Bella Bravo's 100-percent-local theater production of their play "As Bad As They," about opioid addiction, will be showing Friday, June 30, at The Blockhouse. | Photo by eric molina from New York City, United States [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Behind the Curtain: ‘As Bad As They’ [a play]
Jennifer Pacenza
Bella Bravo’s play As Bad As They explores the darkness of opioid addiction and the impulse of nonaddicts, especially loved ones, to exert a new form of control over the addict. And it’s a comedy. In her column, Behind the Curtain, Jennifer Pacenza calls this timely play “local theater as a form of activism.” Click here to read the full story.
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Kenneth L. Roberson (right), director and choreographer of this summer's "Dames at Sea" production by Indiana University Summer Theatre, instructs during a rehearsal. | Courtesy photo

Behind the Curtain: The Joy of Summer Theater
Jennifer Pacenza
Attending summer theater allows us to truly enjoy the moment, says Jennifer Pacenza in her Limestone Post column, Behind the Curtain. And local theater lovers have many shows to choose from in the next few months. In this preview of the IU Summer Theatre season, Jennifer says the lineup promises some “lasting summer memories.” Click here to read the full story.
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The cast of Art of Africa's production of "My Children! My Africa!" by Athol Fugard: (l-r) Yusef Agunbiade as Thami, Ansley Valentine as Mr. M., and Tara Chiusano as Isabel. | Courtesy photo

Behind the Curtain: ‘My Children! My Africa!’
Jennifer Pacenza
New York Newsday describes Athol Fugard’s play My Children! My Africa! as “One of the theatre’s most affecting dissections of social upheaval.” Art of Africa, a new Bloomington theater company, brings the powerful play, directed by Murray McGibbon, to the John Waldron Arts Center. Jen Pacenza gives her preview in Behind the Curtain. Click here to read the full story.
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A Reimagining Opera for Kids (ROK) performance of "Rufus and Rita," featuring (l-r) Dexter Griffin as the Sloth, Alejandra Martinez as Rita, and Marquese Carter as Rufus. | Courtesy photo

Behind the Curtain: Making Opera ‘Not a Dirty Word’
Jennifer Pacenza
An opera coach at IU has been working to lessen the damage of dismantling arts education in public schools. Kim Carballo’s Reimagining Opera for Kids performs for school children, introducing them to opera and helping to “make opera not a dirty word.” LP columnist Jennifer Pacenza takes a look at ROK in Behind the Curtain. Click here to read the full story.
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Armand Fields, who plays drag queen Rexy in Cardinal Stage Company's production of "The Legend of Georgia McBride," wearing what writer Jennifer Pacenza describes as "the sexiest thigh-high boots I’ve ever seen." | Courtesy photo

Behind the Curtain: A Drag Legend Is Born in ‘Georgia McBride’
Jennifer Pacenza
Jennifer Pacenza opens her theater column in Limestone Post with a preview of “fierce, funny” The Legend of Georgia McBride. Pacenza, author of Bravo, Bloomington!, a blog dedicated to local performance, says this Cardinal Stage Company production about the drag community challenges its audience “to consider the permeability of gender and sexuality.” Click here to read the full story.
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Theater, Art — ‘Our Mirror to Who We Are’ [video]
TJ Jaeger
David Anspaugh and the cast and crew of Row After Row, a production by Bloomington Playwrights Project, give filmmaker TJ Jaeger a behind-the-scenes look at what their craft means to them, what theater means to the broader world, and why art is important to everybody. Click here to watch the video.
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Members of Sitcom Theatre include (back row, l-r) Bethy Squires, Colin Jenkins, Chris Clements, Janelle Beasley, Courtney Foster, William McHenry, (middle row, l-r) Jenna Beasley, Kim Naeseth, Nicci B, (front row, l-r) Erin Tobey, and Michael Barton. | Photo by Natasha Komoda

Sitcom Theatre: Situational Comedy Local experimental theater troupe explores themes both alien and familiar in their genre-spanning productions.
McKee Woods, Natasha Komoda
McKee Woods and Natasha Komoda attend rehearsals of Trading Faces, the latest play from Sitcom Theatre, a local theater troupe that creates experimental plays “with a tight lens on the absurd and cleverly bizarre.” Co-founders Bethy Squires and William McHenry reveal how their creative inspirations (from ’50s sci-fi movies to Friends sitcom episodes to the local punk-rock scene) help to inform their themes — whether wacky, campy, straight, or queer. They will perform Trading Faces Friday, September 25, at The Back Door. Show at 8 p.m., doors open at 7. Click here to read the full story.
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