Entertainment

Here, director Tim Ocel speaks to IM about the parallels to draw and complexities to consider among race, war, and religion in Indiana Repertory Theatre’s newest play, The Whipping Man. Ocel’s adaptation of Matthew Lopez’s Civil War–era play deals with these hot-button issues head-on, but, as Ocel explains, it’s important to take an active role in breaking down barriers by having controversial conversations. The Whipping Man, opening tonight, is sure to have audiences talking, but before that, we spoke with its director:

This just in: Stage and screen actress and singer Ana Gasteyer will star in a cabaret-style event on the evening of Friday, June 7, at The Columbia Club on Indianapolis's Monument Circle. The Saturday Night Live alumnae will headline Pride Night at The Cabaret. Ticket information will be released soon.

LOS ANGELES — On Friday, Feb. 8, at the Playboy Mansion, a memorial service honoring the late Mary O’Connor had this underlying theme: Once a Hoosier, always a Hoosier. O’Connor, a 1946 Marion (Ind.) High School graduate, worked as Hugh Hefner’s secretary for 40 years. She was born Mary Eugenia Feuchtinger. When she passed away on Jan. 27, Hefner tweeted “We loved her more than words can say.”

The laws of nature dictate that the fainter the light source, the longer the shadow. Given his brief career and long-ago death, Dean’s light should have been all but extinguished by now. But in Fairmount his shadow looms large, his name and image a currency to be traded. The Rebel Rebel gift shop and the Giant Bar & Grill and the Boulevard of Broken Dreams scene painted on the side of the antiques mall distinguish Fairmount from other Grant County map dots like Jonesboro and Gas City and Swayzee.

Editor's Note, Feb. 15, 2013: Hugh Hefner's personal secretary, Mary O'Connor, was James Dean's fellow Fairmount, Indiana, native. She died on Jan. 27. Mark Roesler, CEO of CMG Worldwide (headquartered in Indianapolis) manages the intellectual property rights of Dean and other celebrities, and he gave closing remarks at O'Connor's memorial service on Feb. 8 at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles, noting also that the service was taking place on Dean's birthday. Here, our June 2005 feature story about another Hoosier who went to Hollywood, about Dean's craft and legacy.

Circle City IN Pride Festival has announced by way of its new mobile app that the organization will welcome multi-hyphenate artist Mýa to its stage on Saturday, June 8, 2013, as the main event's headliner. The singer-actress-dancer has released such hit tracks as "Case of the Ex," "My Love Is Like Wo," and—with Christina Aguilera, Pink, and others—a cover of "Lady Marmalade" for the Moulin Rouge soundtrack, among other songs. She has also starred in the movie musical Chicago and appeared on ABC's Dancing with the Stars program. "Lady Marmalade" won her a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration in 2001.

The show's transparent theme is timeless: Comically bad people engage in alternately rosy and fatalistic relationships at all levels of society.

REVIEW STARTS HERE

February 2, 1959. Clear Lake, Iowa. The Surf Ballroom.

Indiana Repertory Theatre’s newest play, Jackie & Me is the stage adaptation of Dan Gutman’s novel centered around the great Jackie Robinson, the first African American in Major League Baseball, and the racism and adversity he had to overcome to play the game he loved. The novel, geared toward a younger audience, teaches important life lessons about temper control, acceptance, and cultural diversity through the eyes of Joey Stoshack, a hot-headed Polish little-leaguer living in the present day.