Tapestries to celebrate neighborhoods

by Leo Adam Biga

The play's still the thing with the Great Plains Theatre Conference but organizers are making a concerted effort to expand theater's definition in order to connect more people to it.

The May 26-29 PlayFest is the Metropolitan Community College conference's answer to making theater more accessible. That means staging works at nontraditional sites, including one along the riverfront, and, new this year, holding...

Cut Out + Keep:

by Cheril Lee

Cut Out + Keep is an online community where members make and share step-by-step craft and cooking tutorials.

Creator Cat Morley said the site began as her craft blog while she was attending the University of Scotland. It was at a time in her life when Morley was learning all sorts of new skills from cooking to creating decorative items for her flat.

She decided to start sharing the tutorials online.

“The...

Pick: Rockfest

by Chris Aponick

May 11th
Rockfest w/ Blue October, Sick Puppies and more
Westfair Amphitheater, 22984 Highway 6 in Council Bluffs
1 p.m., $15, etix.com

You'll drag your feet and bitch at significant other and tell them how much you don't want to go to Rockfest, put on by the fine folks at 89.7 the River radio station. Man, I hate 10 Years, you'll say. I used to like Blue October, but that was years ago. I only know one...

Pick: Stornoway

by Chris Aponick

May 14
Stornoway w/ Horse Thief
The Waiting Room Lounge, 6212 Maple St.
9 p.m., $10, onepercentproductions.com

British indie folk act Stornoway's sound make sense in a post-Midlake and post-Mumford and Sons world. Their songs can vacillate between the low-key and the utterly triumphant. This group of Oxford University students seems to have brought a schoolboy's precociousness to these acoustic-led pop songs....

Pick: VietNam

by Chris Aponick

May 10
VietNam w/ Black Pus and Plack Blague
The Slowdown, 729 North 14th St.
9 p.m., $10 in advance/$12 day-of-show, theslowdown.com

The resurrection of New York's VietNam is a welcome one, as the band's street poet psych-blues made a considerable impression on their 2007 self-titled debut. But as soon as that album seemed to spark up a following, the band flamed out. Singer Michael Gerner retreated to the...

Stage Managers Make the Theatrical World Go ‘Round

by William Grennan

When you witness a well put together production, everything you see go right on the stage (and more importantly everything that doesn’t go wrong) is more often than not the responsibility of the stage manager. Having just wrapped up a 2-day tech marathon, I know how important the role of a stage manager can be.

Forgot a line? Sprained an ankle? Need huge amounts of glowtape backstage? Can’t remember where to...

See Art Better with 20/20

by Mary Day

May 8, 2013
See Art Better with 20/20
Free Preview: Wed May 8, 5-7 pm
Evening of Art: Sat May 11, 5:30 pm
Tickets $20
Gallery 72
1806 Vinton Street
402.496-4797, http://gallery72.com/

20 Art Tickets/20 Works of Art will be available for $100, $200 or $300. The 20 individuals who purchase those tickets will get to select a work of art to own. The $300 ticket holders will pick first, $200 next and the $100...