Set in Joseph Stalin’s Russia, this engrossing new American play was inspired both by Stalin’s real-life efforts to remove any hint of “aberrant” sexual behavior by Russia’s most famous composer from the history books and the idea that government intrusion in the private lives of citizens threatens everybody’s most basic freedoms. The Letters has received rave reviews from Time Magazine, the Chicago Tribune, and the the LA Theatre Review.

Show times
May 2: 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm
May 3: 7:00 pm
May 4: 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm
May 7-9: 7:30 pm
May 10: 3:00 pm and 8:00 pm
May 11: 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm
May 14-16: 7:30 pm
May 17: 3:00 pm and 8:00 pm
May 18: 2:00 pm

The show is 75 minutes. Tickets can be purchased at cardinalstage.org.

Hours: Tuesday – Saturday: 10:00 – 5:00 p.m. Sunday: Noon – 5:00 p.m.

Focalpoint: Personal Objects: Art from Eastern and Southern Africa
January 14–May 11, 2014 Raymond and Laura Wielgus Gallery of the Arts of Africa, the South Pacific, and the Americas, Focalpoint, third floor From jewelry and headdresses to household objects such as containers, headrests, and spoons, the art of eastern and southern Africa for the most part is intimately connected with the individual. Though these regions of Africa do not have the large numbers of masks and figural sculpture for which western and central Africa are known, the personal objects found there frequently reflect the deep cultural significances and attention to form and detail seen elsewhere on the continent. This installation has been organized to coincide with the A352/A552, Art of Eastern and Southern Africa, a course being taught during the spring 2014 semester in the Department of the History of Art.

New in the Galleries: ‘Max Beckmann’s Woodcuts’
Gallery of the Art of the Western World, Doris Steinmetz Kellett Endowed Gallery of Twentieth-Century Art, first floor
February 4–June 22, 2014
Although the German Expressionist artist Max Beckmann was a prolific graphic artist (producing 374 prints during his lifetime), he created fewer than 20 woodcuts. Most were produced during the 1920s, when Germany was experiencing a revival of interest in the medium. Seven prints from this period will be featured in this installation.

Special Exhibition: Matisse’s Jazz and Other Works from Indiana University Collections
April 2–June 29, 2014
Special Exhibitions Gallery, first floor
In addition to highlighting the IU Art Museum’s rare complete suite of twenty color stencil prints from Jazz—Matisse’s last and greatest book project—this exhibition will include more than thirty other works by this modern master from the holdings of the Art Museum and Lilly Library. Special attention will be paid to the artist’s works on paper and book illustrations from the 1920s through the end of his career.

Special Exhibition: Francesco Solimena: Picturing the World for an Eighteenth-Century Royal Wedding
April 2–June 29, 2014
Judi and Milt Stewart Hexagon Gallery, first floor
Through a selection of pieces coming from the Getty Research Institute, the IU Fine Arts Library, the Lilly Library, and the IU Art Museum collection, this exhibition focuses on one of the IU Art Museum’s masterpieces, Francesco Solimena’s Allegory of the Four Parts of the World, highlighting the painting’s history, patronage, and iconography. This exhibition features a thirteen-minute documentary, The World around Solimena.

New in the Galleries: Doris Steinmetz Kellett: Memorial Installation
April 22‒May 4, 2014
Gallery of the Art of the Western World, Doris Steinmetz Kellett Endowed Gallery of Twentieth-Century Art, first floor
This installation honors Doris Steinmetz Kellett (1922–2013), a collector, artist, and Indiana University Art Museum benefactor. Born in Evansville, Indiana, Kellett received her BA in Education from Indiana University and studied painting at the Kansas City Art Institute and the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C. During the 1960s, she lived in Madrid, Spain, and Santiago, Chile, where she exhibited and collected work by contemporary Spanish and Latin American artists. This installation includes an example of Kellett’s own painting, along with selected works from her collection.
Special Exhibition: Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibitions

April 2–May 11, 2014
Special Exhibitions Gallery, first floor
At 6:30 p.m. during the opening receptions, each exhibitor will give a brief talk about his or her work in the Thomas T. Solley Atrium, first floor.

April 30–May 11
Jared Gelormino, Sculpture¬
Maria Korol, Painting
Zachary Norman, Photography
Opening Reception: Friday, May 2, 6:00‒8:00 p.m.

“Featherspholio”
A photographic exhibition by Bloomington artist and avid birdwatcher Scott Evans featuring birds of North America. Runs through May 31.

Hours: Mon-Sat 9:30 am-5 pm, Sun 1-5 pm

The Bloomington Battle Games Club, a chapter of the national foam-fighting organization Belegarth, meets every Sunday at Bryan Park (weather permitting) to fight. Medieval and fantasy – inspired combat is re-enacted using foam weapons of several varieties. Multiple styles of gameplay are practiced, including team-based and free-for-all. Visit the Facebook page for further information.

The March of Dimes is the leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health. With chapters nationwide and its premier event, March for Babies, the March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies. Join us at Bloomington South High School at 1:00pm on Sunday, May 4. The walk will start at 2:00pm. This is going to be a fun event for the whole family. Sign up your team at Marchforbabies.org to get started on fundraising and have materials shipped to you. This year we are offering vendors the ability to set up booths and tables. For details please email [email protected] or call 812-234-2736.

Our 12th season, Stronger Together, continues with a spring concert entitled “Now & Forever.” Follow the journey of a relationship from the first moment you meet someone special, that period of giddy love, the point of commitment, and living a lifetime together. Musical selections include “When I Fall in Love,” “Standing on the Corner,” “Happy Together,” “Marry You,” and many more. Perhaps you’ve found a life partner or spouse and will see yourself in this musical journey.

A mysterious nanny, who secretly took over 100,000 photographs that were hidden in storage lockers and discovered decades later, is now considered among the 20th century’s greatest photographers. Vivian Maier’s strange and riveting life and art are revealed through never before seen photographs, films, and interviews with dozens who thought they knew her. We all choose what we do not want the world to know about us, yet in the end we can’t help but reveal ourselves. Vivian Maier chose to conceal herself and hid her art during her lifetime. But hiding one’s art is, of course, the opposite of destroying it. Maier preserved her work and left its fate to others. (2K DCP presentation)

Sunday, May 4, 3:00–4:00 p.m.
Special Exhibitions Gallery, first floor
Join a discussion about artistic creativity and aging with Julie Hill, Life Enrichment Director, Bell Trace Senior Living Community; Robert Soto, Professor of Social and Behavioral Science, Ivy Tech; Rudy Pozzatti, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Fine Arts; and Nan Brewer, Lucienne M.Glaubinger Curator of Works on Paper. Presented in conjunction with the Creative Aging Festival.

First Sunday Prose Reading & Open Mic presented by the Writers Guild at Bloomington
With guest readers Patsy Rahn and Wendy Teller
Sunday, May 4
3:00 to 5:00 pm
Boxcar Books 408 E. 6th Street

Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel recounts the adventures of Gustave H, a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars, and Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend. The ensemble cast includes Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, Edward Norton, Mathieu Amalric, Saoirse Ronan, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Léa Seydoux, Jeff Goldblum, Jason Schwartzman, Jude Law, Tilda Swinton, Harvey Keitel, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, and Tony Revolori. The Hotel becomes the arena for the battle for a family fortune and the disappearance of an irreplaceable piece of art. (2K DCP presentation)