Christopher Brown News

Prolific actor, playwright and screenwriter Charles Busch is set to star in The Peccadillo Theater Company's upcoming staged reading of Sidney Howard's 1926 play THE SILVER CORD Monday, January 14 at 7 PM at Theatre at St. Clement's, 423 West 46 Street (between Ninth & Tenth Ave.) under the direction of OBIE Award winner Dan Wackerman. The entire cast will be announced early next week.

Drug trafficking, poverty, gang violence, corruption and ethnic warfare have created some of the most dangerous hot spots on Earth. WITNESS follows our current generation of photojournalists into these conflict zones in Mexico, Libya, Brazil and South Sudan. In the four-part series, war photographers carry usinto the heart of the human drama of the people in the action on the ground. We see what compels the photojournalist and experience why, when everyone elseseeks cover, the photojournalist stands and moves closer.

Two Columbus jazz legends will take their place on the Lincoln Theatre Walk of Fame in an induction ceremony tonight, July 28, sponsored by the State Auto Insurance Companies. The ceremony is free and open to the public. Doors will open at 6:45pm, and the program will begin at 7pm.

Two Columbus jazz legends will take their place on the Lincoln Theatre Walk of Fame in an induction ceremony on Saturday, July 28, sponsored by the State Auto Insurance Companies. The ceremony is free and open to the public. Doors will open at 6:45pm, and the program will begin at 7pm.

In a return to its studio productions, Circle Theatre presents ALMOST AN EVENING by Ethan Coen, one of the Academy Award winning Coen Brothers.

Circle Theatre are adding additional Thursday performances on June 14, 21 & 28 at 8pm, Friday July 6 and Saturday July 7 at 8pm, and Sunday July 8 at 3pm to their run of ALMOST AN EVENING by Ethan Coen, one of the Academy Award winning Coen Brothers.

Tanya Saracho's JEFF-Recommended ENFRASCADA (A Hoodoo Comedy of Jarring Proportions) was extended one week at 16th Street Theater, 6420 16th Street in Berwyn, and closes tonight, May 19.

Tanya Saracho's JEFF-Recommended ENFRASCADA (A Hoodoo Comedy of Jarring Proportions) has been extended one week at 16th Street Theater, 6420 16th Street in Berwyn, playing now thru May 19.

In a return to its studio productions, Circle Theatre presents ALMOST AN EVENING by Ethan Coen, one of the Academy Award winning Coen Brothers.

The Buck Creek Players continues their 38th season with the upbeat off-beat comedy, Harold and Maude, by Colin Higgins. The show runs on weekends through to Sunday, April 1.

The Buck Creek Players will continue their 38th season with the upbeat off-beat comedy, Harold and Maude, by Colin Higgins. The show will open on Friday, March 23, and run on weekends through to Sunday, April 1.

The Buck Creek Players will continue their 38th season with the upbeat off-beat comedy, Harold and Maude, by Colin Higgins. The show will open on Friday, March 23, and run on weekends through to Sunday, April 1.

Rundgren, IU's ninth Wells Professor, will teach the middle two weeks of a four-week, one-credit hour honors course designed for a maximum of 25 Wells Scholars and Hutton Honors Scholars. The class commences in late October and finishes in mid-November. Co-teaching the class will be IU Professor of Music Glenn Gass -- whose relationship with Rundgren helped make the professorship possible -- and IU Distinguished Professor of Sociology Bernice Pescosolido, who was instrumental in helping to plan the course. Gass, a professor at IU's world-class Jacobs School of Music, said he sees Rundgren's engagement at IU as the start of a trend in which legendary rock stars share their knowledge with a new generation. Rundgren, who performs frequently, gave a concert at Clowes Memorial Hall at Butler University in Indianapolis on Sept. 11. 'Todd is a treasure trove of memories, knowledge, stories . . .,' Gass said. 'This class is a way for him to celebrate what he's done and allows him to share his experiences with students who really want to hear what he has to say.' In addition to learning about the culture, politics and economics of the music business, from the 1970s through today, students will visit Professor of Anthropology Nicholas Toth at IU's Stone Age Institute to view some of the earliest tools used for making music. 'I think the students will love it. For us, the appeal of the class is really both Todd and Glenn,' said Professor of Physics Tim Londergan, director of the Wells Scholars Program. Londergan is a self-professed rock 'n' roll fan who has audited three of Gass' courses. The Rundgren course is currently full with a waiting list, and course auditors/visitors, including IU students not registered for the class, cannot be accommodated. During his stay in Bloomington, Rundgren will give a public lecture titled 'LONGHAIR: Todd Rundgren on the Beatles Effect' at 7 p.m. Oct. 28 in Ballantine Hall 013. He will also present a Halloween-night recital titled 'CLUSTER: The Birth of the T Chord' at 8 p.m. Oct. 31 in Auer Hall. Both are free and open to the public. Gass said he asked Rundgren to talk about the Beatles both because of Rundgren's collaborations with various members of the band and because of the window it will provide into his own music. 'If it was going to be 'Todd talks about Todd,' he may have felt awkward,' Gass said. 'By asking him to talk about the Beatles, we can get more insight into his music, too.' Rundgren's unique associations with the Beatles include a number of covers, participation in the Ringo All-Star Band and co-producing the power pop band Badfinger with George Harrison. When Harrison died, Rundgren did a highly acclaimed version of 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' for a tribute album. In 1980, Rundgren and his then-band Utopia, did a loving sendup of the Beatles (Deface the Music) that Gass calls 'just genius.' Rundgren is also a longtime Beatles fan who credits Harrison with inventing the 'lead guitar' player, Gass said. 'When Todd was in the band Nazz, he wasn't the lead singer -- he was the lead guitar player -- which in the 50s meant one of the backup musicians. Because of George, lead guitar now means you're one of the band's leaders.' Glenn Gass Print-Quality Photo Gass initially met Rundgren in Hawaii, when Gass and his wife were on sabbatical for a year (and where they spent the past two summers). 'The kids start taking the bus together and the next thing you know, you're going to cookouts at Todd's,' Gass said. 'I quickly learned that everything they said about him was true. He's brilliant, articulate, really interesting -- and interested in things far beyond his own work and even his music. He's just a really engaged human being.' Rundgren is also known for staying true to his artistic muse. 'He refused to take the easy way out,' Gass said. 'The easy way would have been to do five more songs like 'Hello, It's Me.' He paid a price for that, but in the long run, in 50 years, I think that's why he'll matter more than starts who may have had more hits.' Rundgren was the highest paid producer of the 1970s, producing bands that ranged from the New York Dolls, The Band and Patti Smith to Meat Loaf, Hall & Oates and Cheap Trick. On Aug. 1, 1981 -- the evening MTV debuted with 'Video Kills the Radio Star' by the Buggles -- Rundgren was ready with his music video for 'Time Heals,' which premiered on MTV the same evening. Always a fan of technology, Rundgren made his music available through online downloads about 10 years before iTunes ('Everyone had dial-up connections then,' Gass commented. 'His fate is always to be just a few years ahead of his time.'). Gass said after the Beatles broke up, he was personally attracted to singer-songwriters like James Taylor, Neil Young, Carole King, Joni Mitchell -- and Todd Rundgren. 'Todd was always one of the best and most interesting performers. Even in those early albums, it was clear he wasn't just a singer-songwriter,' Gass said. At turns, Rundgren played with electric guitar or classical riffs, producing his own double album in 1972, on which he also played all of the instruments. From the time he met Rundgren in Hawaii, Gass starting thinking of ways to bring the performer to IU. A confluence of events sparked by a Rundgren speaking engagement at DePauw University led to the IU professorship. DePauw's executive director of media relations, Ken Owen, is 'a huge Todd scholar -- Todd to him is like the Beatles to me,' Gass said. 'All of a sudden it went from being a day dream to being a real possibility, and now it's actually happening,' Gass said. 'He really can call himself Professor Rundgren. This is not a gimmick: He is the Wells Professor.' About the Wells Professorships The Wells professorships are made possible by gifts from the IU classes of 1941, 1942 and 1963. Previous Wells professors have included the Honorable Helen Suzman, a South African political leader (Class of 1941 Wells Professor in 1993), Sir Malcolm Bradbury, a novelist-screenwriter-critic (Class of 1942 Wells Professor in 1997), and Holocaust scholar Christopher Browning (Class of 1943 Wells Professor in 2003). The most recently appointed Wells Professors were Sir (now Lord) Timothy Garden (Class of 1941 Wells Professor) and artist Robert Colescott (Class of 1943 Wells Professor), both of whom taught at IU in 2004.

In 'SWEET, SWEET MOTHERHOOD' Shelley McCann (Caroline Cooney) is a bitingly intelligent undergraduate student at a top university. Although Shelley covets a spot in a top graduate program, she would rather party than build up a respectable GPA.

The world premiere production of 'SWEET, SWEET MOTHERHOOD,' by Jeremy Kareken, in collaboration with Professor Lee M. Silver, a comedy with scientific issues and moral dilemmas, will begin previews on Thursday, July 8, at HERE (www.here.org ), 145 Sixth Avenue (enter on Dominick Street, one block south of Spring Street).

The world premiere production of 'SWEET, SWEET MOTHERHOOD,' by Jeremy Kareken, in collaboration with Professor Lee M. Silver, a comedy with scientific issues and moral dilemmas, will begin previews on Thursday, July 8, at HERE (www.here.org ), 145 Sixth Avenue (enter on Dominick Street, one block south of Spring Street).

In 'SWEET, SWEET MOTHERHOOD' Shelley McCann (Caroline Cooney) is a bitingly intelligent undergraduate student at a top university. Although Shelley covets a spot in a top graduate program, she would rather party than build up a respectable GPA.

The world premiere production of 'SWEET, SWEET MOTHERHOOD,' by Jeremy Kareken, in collaboration with Professor Lee M. Silver, a comedy with scientific issues and moral dilemmas, will begin previews on Thursday, July 8, at HERE (www.here.org ), 145 Sixth Avenue (enter on Dominick Street, one block south of Spring Street).

Four performances only! The Buddha My Body - A Palimpsest This is the Australian premiere of a collaboration between performer Tony Yap and Nottle Theatre Company, South Korea.

The Buck Creek Players will wrap up their 35th Anniversary 'Award-Winning Season' with their third biannual Play-A-Part Fundraiser of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein's The Sound of Music, sponsored in part by The Friends of Jack Peek.