Budget crunch brings down the curtain

The company that stages musicals at the outdoor Iroquois Amphitheater will move this summer to the Kentucky Center. The relocation of shows produced by Broadway at Iroquois -- formerly Music Theatre Louisville -- is not due to weather concerns. (12/1/08) More

Art

Into the light

The address is not a planned joke, but it is true that when people get out of jail, they exit onto Liberty Street near Sixth Street. The lobby interior, until now, has been pretty plain, even a bit grim. Some local artists have teamed up with art students to make a difference in this space. (11/30/08) More

Walden troupers make comedy from scratch

A tumbling cop, a wisenheimer servant and a miserly womanizer are a sampling of the comic characters who appear in a new show created by Walden Theatre students. In "Feast of Fools," the young actors put a 21st-century spin on the seven deadly sins in an original production. (11/30/08) More

Andrew Adler | Critic's Commentary

3 chances to enrich were missed

Beware the sins of omission. Some introduction: Over the past month or so, the Louisville Ballet, Kentucky Opera and the Louisville Orchestra have offered programs that featured intriguing thematic links.... (11/30/08) More

Viewpoints

Indianapolis museum gets Modernist landmark

The Indianapolis Museum of Art has announced it will acquire and restore the Modernist landmark Miller House and Garden in Columbus, Ind. The house was designed by Eero Saarinen with interiors by Alexander Girard and landscape design by Daniel Urban Kiley. (11/30/08) More

Lincoln logs: Photos document president's life

Every child in this country can name him by first grade, and so can countless millions who will never set foot in the United States. His face adorns the indivisible penny. A big part of the reason is photography. (11/30/08) More

Arts events

Arts Calendar: The week in arts

"The Brown-Forman Nutcracker" will be presented by the Louisville Ballet at Whitney Hall in the Kentucky Center. Our critics also recommend: Bunbury Theatre's "Christmas Belles" and Walden Theatre's "Feast of Fools." (11/30/08) More

Auditions

Louisville Entertainment Theatre will hold auditions for a new work to be performed in conjunction with the bicentennial celebration of Abraham Lincoln's birthday. Shelby County Community Theatre will hold auditions for "Working." (11/30/08) More

Kenny & the Kids

'The Firebird' ignites

Madcap Productions Puppet Theatre in Cincinnati returns to the Speed Art Museum this weekend with a presentation that combines the grace and beauty of shadow puppetry, classical music by Igor Stravinsky and one of the oldest known stories in the annals of fables and folklore. (11/28/08) More

• Kids & Kids at Heart | More family fun

Economy

Should Arts groups worry?

What do you do — indeed, what can you do — when you're running an arts group and every day the economy around you seems to be imploding? Is it a matter of keep on keeping on and hunkering down? Should you retrench and pull back, or perhaps invest in your enterprise? (11/23/08) More

Andrew Adler | Critic's Commentary

Holiday arts traditions can get tired

When it comes to culture, the holiday season presents a bevy of challenges. It used to be that what we call the holiday season began at Thanksgiving and lasted through New Year's. Now it pretty much starts at Halloween — and at the rate we're going, Labor Day won't be far behind. (11/23/08) More

Theater

Performing-arts groups are nervous about the future

As they face an uncertain future, local theater producers are trying to remain optimistic during a time when foundations are losing money in investment portfolios and the number of unemployed Americans exceeds 10 million, the highest level in 25 years. (11/23/08) More

Classical music & dance

Big and small: Orchestra, Clifton Center stay upbeat

Where most people regard the current economic downturn as a reason for retrenchment, Cynthia Adelberg sees an opportunity to pull in more business. As director of the Clifton Center, Adelberg runs a venue that caters mostly to small, not-for-profit groups. (11/23/08) More

Visual Arts

City's art world navigates tough times with creativity

Museum Plaza is on hold in Louisville, true, and the Saint Louis Art Museum just announced a delay for its expansion. But creative coping is going on in Louisville's art world. (11/23/08) More

Viewpoints

Speed receives gift steeped in history

Louisville's Speed Art Museum has announced one of the most important gifts to the museum in its 81 years. This is the promised donation of more than 100 masterpieces of Kentucky furniture, decorative arts and art from Garrard County natives Robert and Norma Noe. (11/23/08) More

Critic's pick

'At the Cross Roads'

The only riverside skyline of Louisville I've seen that I can say I really like a lot is part of "At the Cross Roads," landscapes and cityscapes by Rebecca Smith at Rayluma Gallery, 2214 Frankfort Ave. It opens Friday with a 6 to 10 p.m. reception and ends Jan. 5. (11/23/08) More

What's going on?

Arts Calendar: The week in arts

The combination of composer Harry Pickens and poet Wendell Berry will emerge this afternoon when Voces Novae opens its season with "Musings." Also this week: FAT Friday Trolley Hop, "A Christmas Carol" at ATL and concerts by Mannheim Steamroller, Susan Tedeschi and Dar Williams. (11/23/08) More

Auditions

Hayswood Theatre will hold auditions for "Death by Chocolate," and The Drama Studio will hold auditions for "The Heidi Chronicles." (11/23/08) More

Entertainment

At close range

For four seasons, Carlos Mencia shared his manic, race-related humor on Comedy Central's "Mind of Mencia." Now, the politically provocative punch-liner is busing across America on the "At Close Range" tour. He'll bring his unpredictable act to the Louisville Palace on Sunday. (11/21/08) More

Kenny & the Kids

YPAS heads 'Into the Woods'

Classic fairy tales take all sorts of twists and turns in the clever musical "Into the Woods," written by James Lapine with music composed by Stephen Sondheim. The Youth Performing Arts School, known for its marvelous productions with a professional edge, is presenting the show. (11/21/08) More

• Kids & Kids at Heart | More family fun

Review | Louisville Orchestra

Mester's 'Eroica' not quite heroic

There is a certain defining logic to the Louisville Orchestra's current subscription program at the Kentucky Center's Whitney Hall. (11/21/08) More