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The Acoustic Roots Festival is an annual live music event presented by Bloomington's community radio station, WFHB. It's held outdoors on the grounds of Upland Brewing Company and features some of the area's very best musicians in the Americana, Roots and Folk genres. This year's event will be held on Saturday, May 11 from 3-11 pm. 

This family-friendly, laid-back musical celebration is a great way to experience live music in Bloomington and sample some great food and drink from one of our local brew pubs. 

The schedule for this year's event is is below:

Tickets will be available at the gate; admission is $15 per person at the gate. Advance sale tickets are available for $10 per person at WFHB, all Bloomingfoods locations, Landlocked Music, the Buskirk-Chumley Box Office and Upland Brewing Company, beginning April 22. 

I am no theater expert by any means.  I barely know the difference between Paul Simon and Neil Simon.  I catch maybe two or three productions a year, simply because there are so many shows, festivals and events offered in this fine city, and also because I have two young children who limit my interactions with the social world.  But I am excited about the theater productions that round out this year's season. There are so many great options!  Here's a quick recap.

At the Bloomington Playwrights Project (BPP), they're getting ready to open Ampersand, by Vincent Delaney, April 5-20.  This play, the winner of the Reva Shiner Comedy Award, is about a couple and their clones.  Well it's more than that-it's about marriage and relationships and change, but it's got clones too, so it's insightful and comical.  Next on the BPP schedule is Spun: A Comedic Rock Musical with music and lyrics by Jeremy Schonfeld and book by Emily Goodson, May 17-June 1.  This rocking musical is about mending the relationship between two band members (who are also brother and sister-doubly difficult), and doing it with wit, humor and rock.  As with all BPP productions, these are world premieres, brand new plays that have never been seen before but will surely be seen across the country soon enough.

Cardinal Stage Company next show is Next to Normal with music by Tom Kitt and book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, March 22-April 7.  This is also a rock musical (is this town rocking or what?) about a family (more family drama too!) fighting through mental illness to get back to "normal".  Then Cardinal presents Underneath the Lintel by Glen Berger, May 3-19.  This story follows a librarian turned detective after a book is returned 113 years overdue.  Rounding out the season is the family friendly classic Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, June 8-23.  This sweet story about a friendship between a pig and spider, and their barnyard friends, is a great chance for kids to experience professional theater.

IU Theater has two dramatic presentations to round out the season.  First up is their new series At First Sight, which features plays written by IU students, March 22-30.  This year they feature two plays: (a love story) by Kelly P. Lusk, and Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea by Nathan Alan Davis.  The last play of the season is Sunday in the Park with George with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine, April 12-20.  This story is inspired a painting and the authors interpretation of what is happening in that painting and with the painter when he created it.  It's a sophisticated and challenging piece for the student performers and crew, and a great chance for us to support their educational experience.

So many great shows, so little time!  It will be difficult to choose which show to see, but we'll make it easy on some of you.  We've got tickets to giveaway to each of these productions, along with some restaurant gift certificates so you can make an evening of it.  To enter the drawing, leave a comment on this post describing a great theater performance you saw in Bloomington.  We will pick several winners next Thursday the 21st and contact you via Facebook message (so keep an eye on your inbox).  Good luck, and enjoy the show!

   

Our modern culture is obsessed with gossip and gleefully feeds on scandalous behavior...

...and 200 years hasn't changed a thing! Such is the way of the world. Richard Sheridan's comedy, The School for Scandal, has been delighting audiences since its first performance in 1777, sending up a fashionable society whose wheels are greased by gossip and scandal. 

Indiana University Theatre & Drama presents this scandalous comedy beginning this weekend. The show runs through March 2. Believe us, The School for Scandal is one class you won't want to skip! 

 
Here at Visit Bloomington, we love it when we hear people talking about B-town and all it has to offer! So, we're giving away two free tickets to see The School for Scandal later this week. Simply leave us a comment and tell us what's so great about Bloomington! Be sure to share your comment on your Facebook page and you'll be entered to win! 

Winner will be chosen at random from all comments received and notified on Wed., Feb. 20. Good luck!  

The Bloomington Playwrights Project just opened a new musical based on a movie about a character who lives his life on a reality television show.  It sounds like I'm describing an infinity puzzle, but it works!  The Truman Show is a new musical production by Alexander Gemignani (music) and Brad Bauner (lyrics), based on the popular movie from 1998 by Andrew Niccol.  If you remember the movie, you know that Truman has lived his whole life in the made-up town of Seahaven, so that he can be viewed around the clock as the subject of a reality TV show.  This production follows the same plot as the movie, adding some catchy songs and a little dance.  Truman starts to suspect things are amiss when a woman he falls in love with (but wasn't supposed to, according to the producer of the show) clues him in.  The story is probably more relevant today that it was 15 years ago, with more and more reality shows produced each year.  As with the movie, this musical makes you wonder what "reality" is being televised.

But let's not get too serious.  Like Truman, it's a pretty upbeat show and the musical numbers are fun.  The opening song, Seahaven , is especially catchy, and Let's Book It and It's Like a Movie are both memorable.  The actors did a fine job, especially Truman and his two love interests, Maddie/Sylvia and Meryl/Hannah.   And all the actors were IU students, as this production was done in partnership with IU Theatre.  It was fantastic, as was the set which was simple but versatile enough to represent various buildings in town as well as the show's production office, with its Omni-present position overhead. 

This was a great show, and as with all BPP shows, this is the only place in the world where you can see it!  They're producing shows that have never been seen before, new plays by famous and almost-famous writers.  So go see this show before it moves on to a bigger stage, because the intimate and warm setting at the BPP, right in downtown Bloomington, provides a welcoming experience for theater fans of all levels (including a novice like me).  It's just as entertaining as reality TV, or a movie, or a movie about reality TV.  (wink wink)

Don't miss your chance to enjoy the winner of the New York Drama Desk Award, Drama Critics' Circle Award, and the John Gassner Award. Presented by the IU Department of Theatre and Drama, the production Intimate Apparel tells the story of a young black seamstress in early 20th-century New York who is working her way through the social confines of her time - restrictions that continue to haunt us today. A winner of the Pulitzer Prize (Ruined, 2009), Lynn Nottage's imaginative ability to craft meaningful words in unexpected moments has made her a powerful voice in the theatre.

So, to help make sure you can enjoy more meaningful and unexpected moments in Bloomington, we're giving away a voucher good for two tickets to see Intimate Apparel, Feb. 1-9. All you have to to do to enter? Why, just leave us a comment below about a meaningful and/or unexpected moment you've experienced here in B-town! We'll choose a winner on Friday afternoon. 

Best of luck, and don't forget to share with your friends! (Maybe they'll take you to see the show if they win.) 

When the staff at Options (the organization now called LIFEDesigns) set out to create an unforgettable fundraiser, they only dreamed it would be as epic as the Week of Chocolate has now become.  In 2000, the Week of Chocolate was born when executive staff at Options (LIFEDesigns) decided to host an entire week of fundraising activities in the community.  Each agency involved hosted its own fundraiser, keeping the profits made from its event.  By coming together, seven local nonprofit organizations saved money on advertising and publicity by sharing both and promoting one another's events.  Picking a theme to tie the week's events together was the tricky part.  "Why not have something everyone loves be the theme?" one staff member asked.  "What does everyone love?" asked another.  The answer came quickly... "Chocolate!" And it's been the Week of Chocolate ever since.

The goal of the week was to showcase many different types of agencies and host events that appealed to everyone in town.  LIFEDesigns' mantra is to build inclusive communities, which is something the Week of Chocolate does well, providing events for people of all ages, abilities and incomes. This year the Week of Chocolate tradition continues.  LIFEDesigns continues to host the community-wide chocolate-themed festival, and many of the organizations involved have been part of the week since the beginning.  This year's events feature something for everyone!

LIFEDesigns signature event is the Art of Chocolate held on Sunday, January 27^th from 6:30pm to 8:30pm at the IU Art Museum. For $50 a person you can attend this decadent event featuring appetizers and desserts from some of the finest local chefs in town. There will also be chocolate martinis, wine and live music! A Juried Art Show and silent auction highlight the evening.  Tickets can be purchased at BCT Box Office, at LIFEDesigns or at the door. However, the event is limited to 300 people, so get your tickets in advance!

An entire list of Week of Chocolate events is as follows:

• Sat., Jan. 26^th - 1 to 4pm - Sundaes on Saturday, Benefiting Monroe County History Center
• Sat., Jan. 26^th - 11am to 2pm - Chocolate Challenge, Benefiting Pinnacle School
• Sun., Jan. 27^th - 6:30 to 8:30pm - Art of Chocolate, Benefiting LIFEDesigns (see above)
• Mon., Jan. 28^th - 6 to 10pm - Chocolate Bingo, Benefiting the Bloomington Moose Lodge #1081
• Tuesday, January 29^th- 6 to 8pm - Making Truffles, Benefiting Martha's House
• Thursday, January 31^st - 7pm - Death by Chocolate Interactive Murder Mystery: Til' Death Do Us Part, Benefiting Citizen Advocacy of South-Central Indiana

• Friday, February 1^st - 8 to 11pm - Chocolate Prom: A Prom for Everyone, Benefiting Rhino's
• Saturday, February 2^nd - 3 to 6pm - Wonka's Chocolate Carnival, Benefiting Amethyst House
• Saturday, February 2^nd - 10am to 4pm - An Art Sale, Benefiting LIFEDesigns

We hope you will join us this year to celebrate the value of these human service agencies and the work they do in our communities. Support these local agencies by attending their Week of Chocolate fundraising events. Help a good cause while having fun and eating chocolate, too! It doesn't get much better than that!

To learn more go to www.weekofchocolate.com.

Special thanks to our guest blogger, Leslie Abshear, Community Development Officer at LIFEDesigns, Inc.  

"It's like there's this whole group of us - people you'd think would be doing better but for whatever reasons aren't - and we're all kind of invisible. We have jobs. We're educated. We talk intelligently. We know the right things to want, to aspire to. We just can't get there ourselves." - Elyse

Ever hear the one about the struggling comedian and his garbage-sculpting wife? They strive for the American Dream while struggling to pay their bills, escape eviction and cope with friends who increasingly seem like strangers. Life, they tell their kids, is sort of like Dad's monologues: no matter how fearlessly you struggle, you're only as good as your punch line. "I'm trying to teach my kids how to be funny so they know how to joke when things don't work out," Gus says.

LEMONADE will make you laugh. Gus is a seasoned stand-up comedian who tells great jokes. But he's also honest; he talks about the things most people don't like to talk about: money, bills, debt, eviction. Good things should happen to good people who work hard, but no matter how hard Gus and Elyse work, the American Dream still eludes them. While the jokes are funny, reality is sometime sobering.

This is one of my favorite BPP shows. The heavy material is tempered with some really funny moments. Daniel J. Petrie delivers jokes like a pro and Riley Paulin has a line about poop that made me almost fall out of my seat. Who doesn't love a good poop joke?

LEMONADE by Mark Krause is showing at the Bloomington Playwrights Project through December 15th. Visit newplays.org for dates, times and tickets.

Special thanks to our guest blogger for today, Jessica Reed. Jessica is the managing director at the Bloomington Playwrights Project, Indiana's only professional theatre company dedicated to producing new, never-berfore-seen plays. 

We know, it sounds like the last thing you want to do during the holiday season and what could something like "The God of Carnage" possibly have to do with being a parent - but trust us, this new production from IU Theatre & Drama will make you howl with laughter (and may make you feel pretty good about your own parenting skills). 

Yes, I said parenting skills...
Here's why: This production tells the story of what happens when two eleven-year-old boys have a scuffle on the playground at school, and their parents face resolving the matter on their own. Despite the best attempts at courtesy and respect, hard truths and insecurities surface along the way, pitting couple against couple, men against women, and even husband against wife. A Broadway hit and winner of the 2009 Tony® Award for Best Play, The God of Carnage takes a painfully funny look at parents behaving worse than their kids. The show will be on stage at the Lee Norvelle IU Theatre & Drama Center from Nov. 30 - Dec. 9.

Parenting sure can be stressful at times and I'm betting all you parents out there could use a break, so share your best and/or funniest parenting story with us for a chance to leave the kids at home and enjoy a night at the theatre along with a gift card to one of B-town's amazing restaurants! Simply leave a comment below, share it on your Facebook page so your friends can have a laugh as well and we'll choose a winner on Monday afternoon. Yes, grandparents and/or those without children can enter, too! 

We're at it again - over the next few weeks you'll have a chance to win tickets to IU Theatre productions, plus restaurant gift certificates! Enjoy a night out on Bloomington, courtesy of the B-town Blog! 

This week's giveaway features two tickets to Shakespeare's Richard III at the Wells-Metz Theatre and a gift certificate to BuffaLouie's at The Gables. This production of the well-known classic features a motorcycle gang motif as a doorway into the world of Shakespeare's play. Director Gavin Cameron-Webb explains, "I am not modernizing the story or attempting to paint a realistic portrait of a motorbike gangland war. The idea is strictly metaphorical - it is a way to illustrate the chaotic times of the 1480's." The production is part of the IU Themester: Good Behavior, Bad Behavior: Molecules to Morality and runs Oct. 19-27.  

So, if you'd like to be our winner, leave us a comment on this blog post telling us why you love Bloomington in the fall and share it on your Facebook page. (Yep, it's that easy!) We'll notify our winner on Monday, Oct. 15.  Good luck! 

It's another B-town Blog giveaway! The IU Auditorium is kicking off their 2012-13 season with the smash-hit musical American Idiot, which tells the story of three lifelong friends, forced to choose between their dreams and the safety of their hometowns. Johnny battles the tensions of loneliness and love when he moves to the big city, Will deals with a rollercoaster of emotions as a result of his girlfriend's pregnancy, and Tunny faces the bodily horrors of a faraway war when he enlists in the army. Their quest for true meaning in a post September 11 world leads them on an exhilarating theatrical journey. More info on the show and other related events is available on the IU Auditorium website. 

This is a preview our larger IU Auditorium Ticket Giveaway, where you can win two tickets to every show on the IU Auditorium 2012-13 Season. This week, just for our B-town Blog readers, we've got two tickets to the musical American Idiot, featuring the music of Green Day, plus a great dining gift certificate. The show is next Wednesday, September 5.

This week is the unofficial last week of summer, so tell us what you're most looking forward to about fall in Bloomington - siimply leave us a comment below for a chance to win! Don't forget to share your comment on Facebook so your friends can enter too!