Entertainment

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.

The critically lauded sitcom Parks and Recreation—set in Pawnee, Indiana—strikes again. In this episode, airing on January 17, characters played by actors Rob Lowe,...

1. Indy snagged the show’s world premiere.  Why? It just so happens that Jack Everly, principal pops conductor of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, fills that same role for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Baltimore, as any hair hopper knows, is the hometown of John Waters, creator of the original 1988 movie Hairspray, and the setting for that and all of his other films. Everly is known for taking Broadway shows, which increasingly rely on synthesized music to save money, and creating concert versions that place a full-scale orchestra right on stage with the actors. The result: lush, symphonic sound for numbers like “You Can’t Stop the Beat” and “Good Morning Baltimore,” with just enough scenery, choreography, costumes, and dialogue to lend a theatrical atmosphere. Given the experience of Everly, an Indy native, the show (based on the Tony Award–winning 2002 Broadway rendition and subsequent movie remake) ended up debuting here today at an 11 a.m. Coffee Concert; it heads to Baltimore in two weeks.

Letterman shook up the late-night airwaves in 1993, when—after losing the chance to host The Tonight Show to Jay Leno—he moved to CBS.

The Kinks, Stevie Wonder, and U2 may seem like unlikely concert mates. But pair that trio of acts with three Fountain Square venues, 47 local bands, and one great cause, and the 11th annual Tonic Ball event turned out to be one great party. Tonic Ball, which benefits Second Helpings, a local food rescue and distribution organization, rocked Fountain Square this past Friday, Nov. 16.