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The 25th annual Lotus World Music & Arts Festival will fill the streets of downtown Bloomington, Indiana with sights and sounds from around the globe (September 27-30, 2018).  Thirty international artists, free large-scale art installations, and events for all ages will fill 14 downtown Bloomington venues with palpable energy and an eclectic blend of global sound and spectacle. Venues range in style from the historic Buskirk-Chumley Theater, to contemplative church settings, to pavement-quaking outdoor dance tents and even a pop-up 360° video-immersion space. Music genres span continents and cultures, including Colombian marimba, Hawaiian hula, Malian desert groove, high-energy Congolese soukous, Swedish folk rock, contemporary American string music, and more.  A complete list of artists is available below or at lotusfest.org.  All-inclusive, weekend, and single-day passes are available for online, phone, and walk-up purchase via the BCT Box Office.  

Performing at The BARn off Brodie Lane in South Austin, BLACK DOG presented by the Bottle Alley Theatre Company is an immersive theatrical experience, not designed for the faint of heart. Reflecting on the anger and frustration abuse survivors experience, this piece ventures deep into the female characters psyche, providing a taste of what they desire. No doubt inspired by the ME TOO movement, BLACK DOG is a performance piece written by Chris Fontane - a familiar writer and contributor to Bottle Alley. This tragedy is performed creatively by three actors, mostly communicating directly to the audience about the hardships of Ophelia (played by Rachel Holderbach) and Rainey (played by Sara Cormier). The third character is Sam (played by William F. Reed) who represents the abusers of a variety of women, including our protagonists. Overcome by revenge and pain, Ophelia and Rainey capture, torture and kill men who have abused women. However their will for revenge does not stop there, the desire for blood and retribution propels the ladies to cannibalize their victims, or atleast openly fantasize about it. Needless to say, given the premise and rhetoric of this performance piece, it is not appropriate for everyone. Like a pickle shot, there is no middle ground.

Connecting the Dots es el Primer Foro Internacional sobre Creatividad, Arte y Cultura Digital que se realizará en tres sedes: Laboratorio Arte Alameda (LAA) del Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes (INBA), el Centro de Cultura Digital y el Centro Cultural de España en México.

This fall, cello soloist Maya Beiser and composer/conductor Evan Ziporyn embark on a U.S. tour with Ziporyn's Ambient Orchestra, bringing Bowie Symphonic: Blackstar to the Moss Arts Center at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA (Friday, October 12); the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts in Burlington, VT (Saturday, October 13), Bass Concert Hall presented by Texas Performing Arts in Austin, TX (Thursday, November 1), and Bing Concert Hall presented by Stanford Live in Stanford, CA (Wednesday, November 7). Bowie Symphonic: Blackstar is a startling and soaring new version of David Bowie's entire last album Blackstar for solo cello and orchestra. Arranged for Beiser by Ziporyn, who will also conduct Ambient Orchestra, Bowie Symphonic: Blackstar has been performed to capacity audiences in Boston, Barcelona, and New York City's Central Park SummerStage. For the fall tour, Ambient Orchestra is joined by musicians from Boston Conservatory at Berklee. 

From October 7, 2018, to January 6, 2019, The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) presents John Waters: Indecent Exposure, the first major retrospective of the artist's visual art in his hometown of Baltimore. Through more than 160 photographs, sculptures, soundworks, and video made since the early 1990s, Waters' renegade humor subverts mainstream expectations of representation and reveals the ways that mass media and celebrity embody cultural attitudes, moral codes, and shared tragedy. Waters freely manipulates images of less-than sacred, low-brow references-Elizabeth Taylor's hairstyles, Justin Bieber's preening poses, his own self-portraits, and pictures of individuals brought into the limelight through his films-to entice viewers to connect to his astute and provocative observations about society.

Wildlife expert Casey Anderson is not afraid to get dangerously close to the largest and fiercest creatures on the planet. In Travel Channel's new series “Monster Encounters,” premiering on Tuesday, October 30 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT, his mission is to track down and document evidence of animals so large, or unusual, that they defy belief. Employing the latest technologies and his lifetime of wildlife experience, Anderson travels to remote corners of the earth in search of elusive creatures. Throughout the eight hour-long episodes, he leaves no stone unturned, collecting clues and connecting the dots until he gets up-close and personal with the beasts he seeks.

The national tour of Friends! The Musical Parody hits the mainstage - orange couch and all - at the Capitol Center for the Arts (CCA) in Downtown Concord, NH on Sunday, October 21, 2018 at 7PM. The show is an unauthorized musical parody based on the wildly popular television series. This loving lampoon follows the wacky misadventures of six 20-something pals as they navigate the pitfalls of work, life and love in 1990s Manhattan. The CCA performance is made possible in part by Lakes Media LLC / The Hawk.

University of Illinois Springfield presents the national touring production of FRIENDS! The Musical Parody

When Foster Lawrence was eighteen years old he fell form a fifth floor window in Manhattan; and does not know how. This incident served as his coming out as gay/queer. Ten years later, he attempts to "connect the dots" in finding out what happened that night.

America's leading flash frozen beaded ice cream company, Dippin' Dots, wants to celebrate inspiring schools and people making a difference in their communities. The brand recently launched its Change Your World contest, which invites students, teachers and community members to nominate a school they think is making a positive impact.

City Winery Chicago, 1200 W. Randolph Street, announces Canadian rocker Randy Bachman ('You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet”), a live recording of the hilarious Girls Gotta Eat podcast and more. The following shows go on sale to the public on Thursday, September 13 at noon. All tickets will be available at citywinery.com/chicago.

Here we go! It's the first week of school and things are about to get hectic.

Producers for The Office! A Musical Parody (www.theofficemusicalparody.com) today announced actress Sarah Mackenzie Baron will play the lead role of Michael Scott starting September 20 at The Jerry Orbach Theater. Baron, accomplished singer, actor, and dancer hailing from Los Angeles, beat out several other contenders for the coveted role.

Vidalia Unwin has been a playwright and an actor for several years in Louisville and the surrounding area. The Alley Theater, The Bard's Town, and Finnigan Productions have produced her plays. Most recently, Broken Iris made its debut as part of the inaugural Louisville Fringe Festival. It happens also to be the first play produced since the playwright, a transgender individual, has been in transition.

In Nick Payne's award winning* play Constellations the infinite multiverse is distilled into a tender lover story between astrophysicist Marianne and beekeeper Roland. Directed by Victor Kalka and playing at the Chippen Street Theatre, the production stars Alice Birbara and Henry Hulme.

In Nick Payne's award winning* play Constellations the infinite multiverse is distilled into a tender lover story between astrophysicist Marianne and beekeeper Roland. Directed by Victor Kalka and playing at the Chippen Street Theatre, the production stars Alice Birbara and Henry Hulme.

Students from the Harlem Educational Activities Fund (HEAF) created unique pointillism mosaic portraits of President Barack Obama at an arts workshop taught by artist Lennox Commissiong.