What’s better than a whole night that showcases local musicians? One that features those same artists and bands performing the music of legends.
And better than that? Songs that made up the soundtracks of our lives in the 1990s.
Better still? Those performances taking place on the stage at Fort Wayne’s historic Embassy Theatre.
That’s exactly what happens on Saturday, Feb. 23, at Down the Line 13. Down the Line is a concert series that began more than a dozen years ago as a way to raise money for the Embassy and to highlight local talent.
“The idea is to take legendary performers an... Read more

In 2013, local playwright Nancy Carlson Dodd won the Northeast Indiana Playwright Festival with a music-free version of The Wedding Gift, a theatrical property she began working on in 1980.
But it has long been her dream to have the show produced with a full score.
The Civic Theatre has helped her bring that dream to fruition.
A full musical production of The Wedding Gift can be seen this weekend at Arts United Center.
Dodd transformed the play into a musical extravaganza with the help of her niece, Dori Erwin Collin, arranger Ryan Shirar, the Civic’s music director Eunice Wadewitz, and cho... Read more

The Fort Wayne Museum of Art’s annual ARTrageous fundraising event is considered the fundraising event of the year, and this year’s festivity looks to be the best yet. With live and silent auctions throughout the night, this is your chance to take home some great prizes while helping the art community.
Silent auction items up for grabs include tickets to the sold-out Paul McCartney show on June 9 with an accompanying Casa Restaurants gift card, four Indianapolis Colts home game tickets that come with a cooler stocked with a variety of beer, a gold and diamond necklace, and getaways to Sie... Read more

Indie-pop band And The Kids have a new album, When This Life Is Over, slated for release Feb. 22, and they are coming to The Brass Rail to celebrate.
Described by Boston’s NPR radio station WBUR as “accessible, with a penchant for sprightly hooks and a taste for crystalline tones of the glockenspiel,” And The Kids are anything but conventional, seemingly avoiding the “rules” of pop music on purpose in favor of creating less predictable yet memorable tunes.
Lead singer and guitarist Hannah Mohan and drummer Rebecca Lasaponaro met in a music class at John F. Kennedy Middle School in... Read more

The year was 1982. Steve Berlin was saxophonist for the storied rockabilly revival band, The Blasters. One night at the Whiskey A Go Go in Los Angeles, the Blasters were preceded by a new opening act that called itself Los Lobos (Spanish for The Wolves).
The band blew everyone away, including Berlin.
Berlin didn’t vow to join Los Lobos that night, but he did contrive to spend as much time with the band as possible.
In a phone interview, Berlin said he sensed at the time that “the Blasters were going south and Los Lobos was going north,” referring to career trajectories.
“To be honest... Read more

Lacking many of the familiar tropes of fairy tales that can make them somewhat frightful, The Princess and the Pea tells the story of a young princess who arrives on the doorstep of a royal family with a marriage-aged young prince.
The protective queen, not believing in the princess’s rank, sets off to prove she is not a suitable mate for her son. The test she chooses is to place a small pea under an enormous pile of mattresses, a way to see how delicate the young girl really is because, after all, a princess is a delicate thing.
The musical version of the tale, Once Upon a Mattress, takes ... Read more

The legendary 1939 film The Wizard of Oz is almost a universal language, filled with oft-quoted lines and well-known characters. But experiencing the story on stage is something altogether different.
In bringing both the expected and familiar to that experience while bringing the electricity of live performance to the mix, it’s necessary for cast and crew to tap into creativity, energy, and technology.
The result of that collective effort will arrive at the historic Embassy Theatre next week when The Wizard of Oz visits as part of the Broadway at the Embassy series.
Long Island native Nick... Read more

Leslie Odom Jr. is not an overnight success.
For many years, he was featured on a variety of television series, most notably on procedurals like CSI: Miami and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He also starred in Person of Interest, Smash, and Big Day, and he scored one-time guest appearances in everything from Supernatural to Grey’s Anatomy.
But it wasn’t until he stepped into the role of Aaron Burr in the Broadway sensation Hamilton that Odom was suddenly a star.
For stardom to be achieved via Broadway in the 21st century is itself a bit unusual given the limited number of people who... Read more

Fort Wayne resident Damon Mitchell will release his debut EP Elise on March 2. To celebrate, the singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist is putting on a show at C2G Music Hall the same night.
Described as “a well-crafted cross between The Beatles and Death Cab for Cutie,” Elise was produced by Dave Martin, an accomplished musician and producer who once owned and operated Java Jive Studios in Nashville and is now a part of Sweetwater’s esteemed roster of producers and musicians.
The EP features hook-laden musical wares cleverly combining influences from the past, harkening the cra... Read more

If you think every series ends up running stale before the writers put down their pens, you’ll find a refreshing exception in Wabash next weekend.
The Church Basement Ladies, based on the book Growing Up Lutheran by Janet Letnes Martin and Suzann Nelson, follows the lives of four Lutheran women in the rural Midwest as they care for their beloved church and its members.
While each of the six installments covers different aspects of the women’s daily life, the lovable characters, entertaining antics, and fun music are a staple in every performance. Currently, Troupe America is on national t... Read more

Furniture is typically functional and usually comfortable, but it doesn’t always stand out or make a statement.
That is, unless you’re describing the chairs, benches, and dressers made by members of the Indiana Artisan Furniture Guild. They’re practical, yet fanciful and as unique as the men themselves.
“It’s Hoosier craftsmanship at its best,” said Indiana Artisan Interim Director Rosalyn Demaree. “The pieces are simply stunning. It is like going to a gallery show of incredible art, but it’s all very functional furniture.”
The designs of four furniture makers will be on dis... Read more

Beth McLeish grew up a student by day and a professionally trained ballet dancer by night.
“I never had time to be with family or have any sort of normal life as a kid,” McLeish said.
Today, she is the founder and artistic director of a hidden gem: a Fort Wayne educational institute that allows young dancers the opportunity to have the best of both worlds.
The Project Ballet Academic Conservatory is designed for young elite performers to spend mornings learning reading, writing and arithmetic until 12:45 p.m., when they can begin training.
“So our concept was that by creating an all-... Read more

Andy Planck had been living in New York for five years, touring the country with musical productions and taking his shot at a career in theater. But his life in New York was interrupted when his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Coming back to his native Fort Wayne to be with her, Planck began to look around the city in which he’d grown up and where he found his love of performing. He saw potential and change that inspired him.
“Fort Wayne wasn’t producing a great deal of important and contemporary musical theatre for a variety of reasons,” he said. “But it had grown and evol... Read more

At the end of the month, a semi will dump 20 tons of sand inside the Memorial Coliseum. That’s 40,000 pounds of sand, right in the middle of the building. Within a matter of days, sand sculptor Ted Siebert will transform that massive pile into a work of art.
“It’s going to be called the Gnome and Garden Show,” Siebert explained. “I haven’t put it on paper yet, but I think I’m going to do a gnome directing a chorus of sunflowers singing or something along those lines.”
Siebert will build the sculpture while the audience watches, explaining his techniques and sharing some tips fo... Read more

Dreamworks closes out an impressively consistent trilogy with How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, another stunningly animated adventure that serves as a fitting conclusion for fans of the series.
While the story is a bit more conventional than those of the previous two films, this entry still has all of the elements that made its predecessors successful and adds notes of finality that distinguish it from the rest. Dean DeBlois has returned as the sole writer and director and his commitment to spearheading these projects has resulted in a trio of films that has bypassed the dips in qua... Read more

The Academy Awards are a mess this year. The show doesn’t have a host, the producers tried to cut the Editing and Cinematography categories from the live telecast, some stars are refusing to attend, and the ratings are expected to be lower than they’ve been in decades.
Even the categories are a mess, with no true frontrunners in the Best Picture category (though Green Book, Roma, Bohemian Rhapsody, and even Black Panther all seem capable of winning).
So, along with attempting to predict what will win at this year’s Feb. 24 telecast, I figured I’d give out my own awards, and here the... Read more

The Sweetwater Performance Pavilion is adding the power ballad perennials of hair metal and hard rock, Night Ranger, to their summer calendar on Friday, July 19.
With more than 17 million albums sold worldwide, Night Ranger has both epitomized and transcended the arena rock sound and style for nearly 40 years. Their rocktastic hook-filled hits have earned them widespread acclaim that includes multi-platinum and gold album status. One thing is for certain, you better bring your singing voice as it will be an evening chock-full of sing-alongs.
Tickets for Night Ranger will go on sale Friday, F... Read more

Most of us in the theater community know of Nancy Carlson Dodd. If you’ve met Nancy through her longtime connection with Fort Wayne theater — as an award winning actress, playwright — or as a teacher and mentor, newspaper writer, mortgage closer, or through church, then you have experienced the Nancy Carlson Dodd wit and humor.
It’s this distinguishing quality she has instilled into her original musical The Wedding Gift. I am honored to showcase the incredible talents of Nancy, Dori Erwin Collins, and Ryan Shirar who are the collaborative creators of this new musical. It’s a delight... Read more

Say that not all works of beauty are willed.
For centuries freemasons tried to build
A spire 500 feet into the sky,
Which collapsed three times and was abandoned.
They settled for the real, but had to try —
Just one of the lessons it taught Rodin.
The Tule tree has the same architecture —
Chthonian, with buttresses, gargoyles,
All the result of a wild conjecture
And intent and the fruit of endless toils.
In truth, there’s nothing that’s not beautiful,
Nothing not made; even nothing is willed.
Everything is essence, blind, dutiful,
Perfect if at times imperfectly skilled.... Read more