(Nels Israelson photo) Richard Marx, Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and producer, has released his first new CD in five years, “Emotional Remains.” One of the tracks, “Through My Veins,” is an homage to his father, a jingle writer who was “a huge influence” on his songwriting career. “My dad was more discerning than the average person,” Marx says. “He understood the craft of songwriting. He was great at pointing out early on that I tended to write the same song over and over. ... He was right.”

One star reached out and another one was born.

A fortuitous phone call nearly 30 years ago helped point Richard Marx down his golden career path.

It wasn’t just any caller on the line. It was Lionel Richie in Los Angeles, offering the 17-year-old songwriter some advice.

“I remember how kind he was to me and how encouraging he was,” Marx, now 46, says by phone from a recent concert stop in Nashville. “He heard the first four or five songs I’d ever written and picked up the phone.

“What does it say about Lionel Richie that he’d take the time to call some kid in Chicago. He talked to me for 45 minutes, about how he got started and how songwriting is important,” Marx says. “It’s very odd. Still to this day, I can’t believe it.

“He said he lived in Chicago when he was younger, and that ‘You are not going to get your career started in Chicago, you have to come out here.’”

So after Marx graduated from high school, he moved to L.A. He also met legendary producer, performer and songwriter David Foster there, and forged a working relationship and a little star-struck admiration that continues today.

“A couple of weeks ago I sat in with David Foster,” says Marx, who moved back to Chicago in the mid-’90s to raise his sons with his wife, actress Cynthia Rhodes. “I’ve known him since I was 19; he’s a sort of hero of mine. He played a show in Chicago. I was singing ‘Right Here Waiting’ with David Foster playing the piano. It makes total sense — we’re like brothers — but part of me steps back and says, ‘That’s David (expletive) Foster!’”

Looking back to those early years, the young Marx had a lot to learn and Richie and Foster had a lot to give.

“They let me into their world as a sponge. I was welcome in that room any time they were in that room. What a gift that was,” he says. “I learned about making records, relationships between artists and musicians and artists and producers. It was like going to the greatest college of music you could imagine.”

They taught him well. The student has racked up his own impressive list of accomplishments. Singing backup on recordings for Gordon Lightfoot, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Luther Vandross and Kenny Rogers helped pay the rent in the early days.

Before long, he was recording his own string of hits in the ’80s and ’90s, including “Hold on to the Nights,” “Now and Forever,” “Endless Summer Nights,” “Should’ve Known Better” and “Satisfied.” He was the first male solo artist to have his first seven singles hit Billboard’s Top Five; has sold 30 million records; and has recorded 13 number one hits.

That doesn’t count the songs he’s written and produced for a who’s who in the industry, from Barbra Streisand, ‘N Sync, Josh Groban, Natalie Cole, Keith Urban, and Vince Gill to Sarah Brightman, Sister Hazel, The Tubes, SHeDAISY, Daughtry, LeAnn Rimes, Kenny Loggins, Michael Bolton and actor Hugh Jackman.

And even though Marx considers himself more of a writer and producer these days, he has released his first new CD in five years, “Emotional Remains.” He says the disc came together “really quick,” sort of.

“It adds up about three months of work stretched out over five years,” he says. “Being a writer and producer for other artists is my main role. Recording for myself is a fun hobby job. … I go out and play because I love to play.”

He’ll bring a few of those new tunes to the Riverside Casino Event Center on Nov. 28, but realizes his fans really want to hear his hits.

“I just get it,” he says. “I go to concerts, I love going to concerts, but I don’t ever get fully lost in them. I just know too much. I know what the man behind the curtain looks like. I love hearing someone whip out a couple of new songs, but I want to hear the hits. I totally get that.

“I love singing the old songs. I love my catalog of songs; I love reinventing them. That keeps it fresh.”

Just don’t call his time on the road a tour.

“I stopped touring years ago,” he says. “I can’t imagine ever really touring again like I did the first 10 years. It’s not conducive to the lifestyle I love. I have a gorgeous wife and three kids (16, 17 and 19). Two are at home in high school and I don’t want to miss stuff. It’s fine for me to leave on Friday and come back on Monday. I love playing live — touring is not something I’m interested in doing.”

FAST TAKE

What: Richard Marx in concert

When: 8 p.m. Nov. 28

Where: Riverside Casino Event Center, 3184 Highway 22, Riverside

Tickets: $39 and $50 in the Casino Gift Shop and www.riversidecasinoandresort.com; must be 21 or older to attend

Artist information: http://richardmarx.com

(Hancher) Herb Alpert and Lani Hall

RIVERSIDE — Herb Alpert and Lani Hall make beautiful music together.

The legendary trumpeter and his lovely wife of nearly 36 years, the one-time voice of Brasil 66, were perfectly in sync Friday night in a Hancher concert presented at the Riverside Casino Event Center.

An estimated audience of 700 to 750 people were treated to a casual chic evening of Great American Songbook standards wrapped around Latin beats from a top-notch trio of piano, bass and percussion. The amalgam was chemistry at its finest.

The fascinating twists were evident from the opening strains of George and Ira Gershwin’s “Fascinating Rhythm.” Alpert joined Hall at the microphone to croon the lyrics over a steamy bossa nova beat, before breaking out the trumpet. The man has terrific chops, sounding as crystalline fine at 74 as in his Tijuana Brass days.

Alpert chatted easily and often with the audience as well as with his musicians and his wife, giving the evening a very intimate appeal.

He answered questions ranging from who painted the huge, vibrant abstract painting adorning the stage (he did) to whether he still has his first horn. “I do,” he replied. “It was built in 1950 and it’s going to go to the Smithsonian.” After the cheers and applause died down, he added, “I just gave myself goosebumps.”

While you can’t deny the stellar musicianship emanating from every corner of the stage, the best part of the concert was the sweet, loving feel between Alpert and Hall. Their affection and pride in each other was so refreshing, especially at a time when too many show biz pairings are little more than flash-in-the-pan fodder for headlines.

They danced with each other, shot little glances at each other and even smooched a little in passing. Their warmth radiated through their music.

Hall is an amazing song stylist, full of sizzle and quiet, breathy shimmers colored by bursts of dramatic vocal intensity. With her cascade of curls, expressive hands and emotional phrasing, she at times reminded me of my favorite song stylist, Barbra Streisand.

The 90-minute concert drew bravos, at least three standing ovations and two encores, so it’s hard to narrow the field of highlights. Here are a few: “It’s Only a Paper Moon,” which Alpert played on his custom-made double trumpet, featuring one open bell and one muted bell; The Beatles’ “Blackbird,” starting with a New Age spin and wind chimes before Hall’s energy burst the quiet bubble; the joy on Hall’s face during the Brazilian numbers; Alpert’s trumpet swing flourishes on “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face”; Hall’s sexy cabaret stylings on “Let’s Face the Music and Dance”; funky percussion, dynamic piano and jazz syncopation on “Besame Mucho”; the hypnotic spell cast by slowing down “That Old Black Magic”; and the salsa beat adding spice to “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.”

No wonder they titled their new CD “Anything Goes.”

There’s nothing wrong with mixing a little education with entertainment.

The audience at Thursday night’s Orchestra Iowa Masterworks concert at Coe College’s Sinclair Auditorium was entertained by the music of Respighi, Stravinsky and Beethoven. Maestro Timothy Hankewich provided the evening’s educational component.

The concert opened with Respighi’s “Gli Uccelli (The Birds),” a sparkling five-movement piece where the composer uses musical instruments to imitate birdsong.

Hankewich noted that the third movement, “The Hen,” was the favorite of “4,000 school children” who heard Orchestra Iowa perform it last week. After listening to the graphic musical sounds of hens quarreling in a barnyard, Thursday’s audience agreed with their young counterparts.

Hankewich introduced Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella Suite” with the history of the composer artfully protecting the copyrights on his music, while lifting whole compositions from obscure 18th century composers to create the Pulcinella ballet.

“As William Shatner says in one of my favorite movies, Airplane II, ‘Irony can be pretty ironic sometimes,’” Hankewich concluded, eliciting knowing laughter from the audience.

Hankewich opened the second half of Thursday’s concert with an explanation of how applause etiquette has changed over the centuries. Whereas today’s audiences are accustomed to waiting until the end of all movements in a composition to applaud, the opposite was true in the past.

Many of Beethoven’s and Mozart’s movements end with a flourish, and the composers expected audiences to respond with applause. Hankewich noted that lack of applause between movements often was considered an indication of a flop.

“As long as I’m on this podium, applause will always be welcome,” Hankewich said with deadpan solemnity, adding the same was true for “throwing money.”

The orchestra’s performance of Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 1 in C Major,” with its opening movement homage to the wit of Haydn and delightful lilting second movement, brought a thrilling conclusion to an enjoyable evening.

(Dean Hendler photo) Everything's coming up sunflowers for the boys from Broken Lizard. The funny five who brought you "Super Troopers" and "Beerfest" are back on the road with their standup routine, coming to the Englert Theatre in Iowa City on Saturday. They are (clockwise from top left) Jay Chandrasekhar, Erik Stolhanske, Paul Soter, Steve Lemme and Kevin Heffernan.

Broken Lizard just keeps regenerating.

The brains and brawns behind the movies “Super Troopers,” “Beerfest” and “The Dukes of Hazzard” remake are digging back to their standup comedy roots. They’ll plant their feet on the Englert Theatre stage in downtown Iowa City on Saturday night, for a mix of group sketches, individual shtick, songs, storytelling and film clips.

“It’s like a good, old-fashioned cavalcade of humor show, with audience participation and characters from our previous movies doing bits with the audience,” says trouper Paul Soter, 40, of Los Angeles. Kevin Heffernan, also 40 and living in Los Angeles, shared his wit and wisdom in the recent phone interview, too.

The remaining Lizards are Jay Chandrasekhar, Steve Lemme and Erik Stolhanske. All are about the same age, relocated one by one from New York to L.A. and are part of the comedy tour.

They began as a sketch comedy group for a student show at Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y. After graduating in the early ’90s, they moved to New York City to start working the clubs. Unlike those early days, where their Web site says they “performed live shows in exchange for sexual favors,” the guys now work for money.

“Cash pays the bills better,” Heffernan says.

“It’s getting harder and harder to tell our wives we’re going on the road to perform for sexual favors,” Soter adds.

Their shenanigans are still cheeky and fun.

“Our shenanigans are very wholesome in spirit, if a little bit raunchy in their delivery,” Soter says.

“More fun than cheeky these days,” Heffernan adds.

It’s the fab five’s fans who get cheeky, shouting out buzzwords and lines from the movies that have earned the Lizards cult-hero status.

“In Houston, some guy yelled out ‘Farva’s number one’ repeatedly,” Soter says. (Farva is Heffernan’s character in “Super Troopers.”)

“It’s cool about people having such devotion to the lines, but I can’t put myself in the head of a person who pays $25 and yells ‘Farva’s number one.’”

When asked if the name Farva was a play off Favre, a running gag in the Farrelly Brothers’ comedy, “There’s Something About Mary,” Heffernan concedes. “It’s a little bit Favre. We were trying to think of a name that sounds disgusting, like ‘larva’ is a disgusting word. It’s a hybrid of Favre and larva.”

And even though “Super Troopers” doesn’t paint the prettiest picture of the state troopers the Lizards portray, they’ve felt no repercussions from the law enforcement community.

“We’ve had no backlash — only forward lash,” Soter says. “The completely unexpected fringe benefit of making that movie — and I’m probably jinxing that — is that the five of us are untouchable from the law. We can get away with anything. The stuff we get away with is shameful.”

“Not murder or anything,” Heffernan quickly adds. “It’s been great. Every stop of the tour, the (officers) backstage in the wings will come back and hang out with us. We gotten out of speeding tickets, too.”

On the downside: “It kind of screws you up,” Soter admits. “Your expectations become very strange. If I’m pulled over, I’m furious if the guy doesn’t let me off. I left a softball game a couple months ago and didn’t have my lights on. I got pulled over and got a ticket. I couldn’t have been more livid.”

The Lizards have a new film coming out Dec. 11, with a typically intriguing title, “The Slammin’ Salmon.” It’s not about fish abuse, verbal or physical.

It deals with mobsters, waiters, money-raising schemes and a former heavyweight boxing champ played by heavyweight actor Michael Clarke Duncan (“The Green Mile”). Other heavy-hitters in the cast include Will Forte and Vivica A. Fox.

“It was shot on a soundstage (in Los Angeles) during the writers’ strike, in 25 days,” Heffernan says. “We had friends and fun actors come up and do a day here and there. It was fun — like putting on a stage play.”

Not ones to sit still for long, the Lizards, who write their material by committee, have another screenplay brewing.

“In addition to the tour, we’re writing a film for Universal for us to star in,” Heffernan says. “It’s called ‘Rogue Scholars,’ about a group of professors at a college who get into a little war with the students. It’s kind of like ‘Animal House,’ but this time the good guys are the professors.”

No doubt with more than a few shenanigans up their robed sleeves.

FAST TAKE

What: Broken Lizard Live

When: 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7  

Where: Englert Theatre, 221 E. Washington St., Iowa City

Tickets: $30 adults; $25 children and students; at the Englert Box Office, (319) 688-2653 and www.iowatix.com

Information: www.englert.org and www.brokenlizard.com

 

So you think you can dance? You may think again after seeing the ballroom pros in action.

Champions of the Dance will be spinning onto the Englert Theatre stage in downtown Iowa City at 8 p.m. Friday.

You’ll see the fancy footwork of dancers featured in ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars,” the BBC’s “Strictly Come Dancing” and “The American Ballroom Challenge.”

Among those luminaries are Andrey Motyl and Inna Brayer from “Dancing with the Stars”; national champions Hugo Villanueva and Jessica McMorrow; German youth champions Thanh Tran and Zoya Altmark; and theater arts champions David and Natalie Wakefield.

They’ll be whirling, twirling, dipping and flipping to the waltz, fox trot, Charleston, quickstep and jive, as well as the passionate Latin rhythms of the cha-cha, rumba, mambo and more.

Audience members will no doubt be as breathless as the stars afterward.

Tickets are $35 and $30 at the Englert Box Office, 221 E. Washington St., (319) 688-2653 and www.iowatix.com

For more information, go to www.englert.org

For a video preview, go to www.championsofthedance.com Your head will be spinning as fast as their feet.

Nora James hooked me up with “A Good Man,” for which I’m ever so grateful.

She is the first character who intrigued me in Larry Baker’s third novel, released Sept. 17 through Ice Cube Press in North Liberty. James is that mysterious woman everybody knows, nobody sees and anybody can hear by tuning into her cooking show on the little radio station in St. Augustine, Fla. She’s a complete mystery you want to solve right away, but Baker wisely lets you know her bit by bit.

She is the best of what Baker does so well. He draws rich, complex characters who draw readers into their rich, complex lives.

Unfortunately, you don’t meet James right away. She isn’t the only character shrouded in mystery. Baker does introduce them from the very beginning. They just aren’t as likable as Nora James.

I found the first couple of pages a tad off-putting. I wasn’t sure where all the religious point-counterpoint quotes were headed, but the negative attitudes bothered me right up to the final quote, from II Timothy about “fighting the good fight.” That gave me a sense of redemption. And that’s the whole point of the book — I just didn’t realize that at the time.

All of the characters are seeking redemption, from the main character — liquor-sodden late-night radio host Harry Ducharme — to the people he meets in passing. Each one adds a piece to the puzzle that is puzzling by nature. Is the man who shows up during the times of greatest trial a prophet or a charlatan? Politics, war, nostalgia and American milestones good and bad provide framework for the tale. Newspaper clippings and photographs provide context, as well.

Baker is a smart writer. That’s obvious, especially in the last half of the book that just steamrolls right through to the end, dragging you willingly through twists and turns that leave you pretty much breathless.

But Baker needs a better editor. The use of the “R” word on the first page of narrative was jarring, along with a few typos and grammatical errors along the way. This is a good enough book that it should have a second printing and find its way to a national audience, so there’s still time to polish the rough edges.

ARTS EXTRA

What: “A Good Man” author events featuring Larry Baker of Iowa City

Book signing: 11 a.m. Nov. 19, Wild Rose Bookstore at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City

Reading: 7 p.m. Nov. 19, Prairie Lights Books, 15 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City

“Tom and me found the money that the robbers hid in the cave, and it made us rich. We got six thousand dollars apiece — all gold. It was an awful sight of money when it was piled up.” — “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Friends of the Cedar Rapids Public Library are hoping to see at least that much money pile up from the sale of a rare, limited centennial edition of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”

The numbered copy of Mark Twain’s enduring tale is the centerpiece of a silent auction Friday, Nov. 6 benefiting the library, whose main branch and much of its inventory were destroyed in the 2008 flood.

The silent auction of rare, signed and collectible books will be held from 3 to 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6 in the former Econofoods East building, 1800 51st St. NE. Admission is $20 beginning at 3 p.m. and $10 after 5 p.m.

The auction is being held in conjunction with the Friends’ 38th annual book sale, which offers more than 100,000 books, CDs, DVDs, tapes and videos. Hours and admission are 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, $5; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, $3; and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 8, free. Children ages 12 and under are admitted free all three days. Sunday, Nov. 8, is “bring a box day,” priced at $8 to fill your own standard moving box size. Payment is by cash and checks only; no credit or debit cards will be accepted.

Only 350 copies of the Twain book were printed in 1984 to mark the 100th anniversary of its first publishing. Former Cedar Rapidian Doug Halliday of Minneapolis donated two copies of the book for the Friends sale, each featuring a portfolio of 49 drawings in the book signed by the artist, Barry Moser. One already has been sold.

Beginning bid for the remaining book and signed drawings is $6,000, says Todd Meyer of Cedar Rapids, one of the sale organizers and owner of Mystery Cat Books, 112 32nd St. Dr. SE.

 “We have something there are only two of,” Meyer says. “None of the prints were signed on the limited edition that came out 25 years ago, so we can offer a one-of-a-kind item. We think that’s kind of neat. We talked to some auction houses on both coasts, asking what do you price something like that.”

 “Huck Finn” isn’t the only rarity on the silent auction block.

Meyer enlisted the help of noted author Ed Gorman of Cedar Rapids to obtain the silent auction items.

“Ed sent a letter to the Mystery Writers of America, and that’s how it started,” Meyer says. “It just mushroomed from there. We’ve had an incredible amount of help from Once Upon a Crime in Minneapolis. They put out a distress call to customers on their e-mail list of over 2,000. We brought back 15 SUV loads of books from the Twin Cities.

 “People here in town have donated collections. It’s just been a phenomenal thing,” Meyer says. Other donations have come from residents of a New York City building and an author in Bangkok.

 “The Friends have been absolutely incredible in putting this (sale) together,” Meyer says. “People in this area are going to see some things they’ve never ever seen before and have the opportunity to purchase things a fabulous prices to not only help the library, but get things they never thought they’d get.”

Among those items are signed books; signed first editions; an 81-volume Agatha Christie mystery collection; signed books from Kinky Friedman, who ran for Texas governor; a stereographic library; and scarce volumes by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Dennis Wheatley, published in 1936, and Helen Reilly, published in 1937.

All proceeds will benefit the library’s rebuilding fund.

The show is open to all ages and seating is general admission.

Tickets are $29.50 in advance and $32 day of show, through the U.S. Cellular Center Box Office, 1-(800) 745-3000,  www.ticketmaster.com or  www.jadepresents.com

Semi-charmed life

The stars are still rising for alt-rockers Third Eye Blind, with the August release of their latest CD, “Ursa Major.”

Stephan Jenkins, Brad Hargreaves and Tony Fredanelli emerged from the San Francisco scene with their self-titled debut album in 1997 and quickly shot to the top with the self-fulfilling prophesy, “Semi-Charmed Life.”

After getting the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids jumping in 2000, they’re back to light a bonfire Monday in the Iowa Memorial Union in Iowa City. The concert, presented by SCOPE Productions, begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Main Lounge.

No doubt they’ll perform a constellation of music off the latest CD, which features “Don’t Believe a Word,” “Bonfire,” the playful “Can You Take Me,” the emotional “About to Break” and “One in Ten,” the trippy all-instrumental “Carnival Barker” and the intriguingly titled “Dao of St. Paul” and “Monotov’s Private Opera.”

They have plenty of 3EB hits to, um, hit upon, as well, from “How’s it Going to Be,” “Never Let You Go” and “Jumper” to “Graduate,” “Deep Inside of You,” “Losing a Whole Year” and “Blinded (When I See You).”

Tickets are $29, general admission, through the University of Iowa Box Office in the Iowa Memorial Union and all Ticketmaster locations, including www.ticketmaster.com People with disabilities who need assistance can call (319) 335-3041.

Maria Muldaur and her Garden of Joy jug band played two hours of music from the 1920s and ’30s on Wednesday night with lyrics that resonate today.

The CSPS stage that also hearkens back to an earlier age was the perfect venue to showcase the talents of Muldaur and her band, four young men accomplished on everything from banjo, mandolin, guitar and bass to kazoos, tomato cans, silverware, a suitcase, washboard and moonshine jug.

At first glance, you know nothing conventional will come out of this band. The instrumentalists are dressed for either a carnival sideshow or hoedown and sport everything from long, pointy beards and curly facial hair embellishments to a nose ring, stovepipe hat and fedoras. Muldaur kicked up her heels in a long print dress, black blazer and black granny boots.

Nothing slick about a jug band, she says, but she’s wrong. Their musicianship was as slick as the occasional whistle that punctuated their traditional tunes.

The concert drew largely from the group’s new CD, billed as “good-time music for hard times.” It wasn’t hard to make the leap in lyrics from Depression-era financial worries to today’s economic woes. And men were apparently as rascally then as they are now when it comes to doin’ their women wrong.

Muldaur also spoken often and freely to the 92 people gathered in the intimate venue. We learned about the early days of her career, singing this time of music, as well as historical glimpses into the birth of the blues.

About the only time she stepped out of the traditional music spotlight was at the beginning and end of her show, when she offered up some of her early hits in a “jugification” style. “I’m a Woman (W-O-M-A-N)” and “Don’t You Feel My Leg” did just fine given a ’30s style tweak and let her strut her droll, lightly salty sense of humor.

Her biggest hit, however, didn’t make the concert cut, because she says “Midnight at the Oasis” can’t be jugified.

It’s hard to be disappointed when the rest of the concert was so fun, drawing hoots, hollers and foot stomps from her enthusiastic listeners. She also graciously met with her fans at intermission and after the show, to sign her new CDs and chat. That added to the homey, comfortable feel of the whole evening.

“The Rocky Horror Show,” the R-rated play that spawned a cult classic film and penchant for tall men in torn fishnets, has been produced by Theatre Cedar Rapids three times in recent years.

This time, the show is taking a jump to the left to step right onstage at CSPS, 1103 Third St. SE.

Lots of faces familiar to TCR audiences will be looking less familiar under garish makeup, but this show isn’t affiliated with Theatre Cedar Rapids. This year, Legion Arts is your host.

The production is helmed by veteran actress and Marion native Alisabeth Caraway, 22, who played Magenta in TCR’s 2007 and 2008 stagings. A talented singer, dancer, actress and photographer who’s relocated to New York, it’s a sure bet she’ll bring home some of the sex from that city.

Offbeat sex and sex appeal are part of the charm of this show. So if you don’t want to be dirty, don’t touch it.

But if you want to be part of an over-the-top spoof of sci-fi films that puts the vamp in camp, cast off your inhibitions, grab a ticket and head on over to the Frankenstein place.

You know you want to go. I see you shiver with antici.

Pation.

Show times are 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, and 8 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. Oct. 30 and 31. Tickets are $15 in advance at www.iowatix.com or $18 at the door.

In the spirit of Halloween, wear a costume and enter the nightly contests.

And bring your own props to display at appropriate moments. Here’s what’s allowed: flashlights, sunglasses, newspapers. Here’s what won’t make it past the ushers: food products and items that spray liquid or explode (like confetti). Anything that makes a big mess — that could get all over other audience members, damage equipment, the space or other actors — is banned. The point is fun and frivolity, not rack and ruin.

Great Scott! Isn’t that enough detail? If you need to know more, there’s a light over at www.legionarts.org

Embodying the spirit of Anne Frank has been an emotional journey for student actress Natalie Kropf.

(Bob Goodfellow) Otto Frank (Andrew Dawson of New York City) comforts his daughter Anne (Cornell College student Natalie Kropf) in “The Diary of Anne Frank.” The drama, staged last weekend at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, moves to Riverside Theatre in Iowa City from Oct. 22 through Nov. 8.

“Both of my grandparents were in the Holocaust,” says Kropf, 21, a junior majoring in theater at Cornell College in Mount Vernon. “My grandmother lived in Holland — in The Hague — and was about the same age as Anne.

“It’s really brought me closer to my own personal history and made me curious to learn more about it,” Kropf says.

“It’s such an important part of history. Our generation has grown up hearing about it from generations past. But the people who lived through it might not be here for the next generation. How are they going to hear about it, except from textbooks? They need to learn how it happened so it can never, ever, ever happen again.”

Kropf, of Wilton, Conn., is joining other Cornell students and professional actors from Riverside Theatre in Iowa City to stage “The Diary of Anne Frank.” They’re using Wendy Kesselman’s adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play about a group of Jews hiding from the Nazis in a secret upstairs annex in Amsterdam. The new version, produced on Broadway in 1997, restores some passages edited out of the diary by Anne’s father, Otto Frank, who survived the Holocaust.

This production was staged at Cornell’s Kimmel Theatre through Oct. 18, then moves to Riverside Theatre from Oct. 22 to Nov. 8.

“Anne in the original version was pretty much reduced to the universal notion of a peppy teenager,” says Mark Hunter of Iowa City, an associate professor of theater at Cornell and director of the show.

“The historical Anne Frank and the Anne Frank of this adaptation is an extraordinary young girl, a very careful observant and a brilliant prodigy as a writer,” he says.

Mark Hunter, director

“Not until the mid-90s were portions of the historical Anne Frank diaries restored, (including) comments about her own family — especially her mother — and attitudes about her own emerging sexuality and curiosity.

 “The Anne Frank depicted in this version is a much more fully dimensional, complex person closer to the historical figure.”

He says the new version also places more emphasis on the religious and historical context of this chapter of Anne’s life.

“In the original production, done in the mid-1950s America, a real effort was made to universalize the story. It essentially scrubbed the characters of their Jewishness, people who were discriminated against,” Hunter says. “Wendy attempted to restore the Jewishness of these characters who were in hiding for one reason only — Jews were being slaughtered.

 “Last, in an attempt to create a theater piece palatable for the times, a tremendous emphasis was made to create a cheerful, upbeat dimension to the play. That does a tremendous disservice to the seriousness of the Holocaust. There’s lots of humor and playfulness in the play, but in the end, seven of the eight people in hiding would perish. (This version) shows some of Anne’s own consciousness, awareness and feelings about the larger political world in which she lived and died.”

And even though the story reflects the time and horrors of World War II, its themes are still relevant, Hunter says.

 “It speaks to today’s audiences in a variety of ways,” he says. “It does speak to particular kinds of human events everyone can identify with, whether or not they’ve been a Jew in hiding in the 1940s. They can identify with fear, they can identify with living in close quarters and they can identify with the experience of trying to create a semblance of normal in extraordinary circumstances. “The characters are rich and complicated and involved in all kinds of dramas people can identify with. It’s not only about the ultimate drama (of the Holocaust) but also about petty jealousies and a budding love affair. A lot of human experience is packed into the play. It’s very powerful and intentionally entertaining in the broadest sense of the word.”

Cornell and Riverside theaters join forces every two years to stage a show at both facilities, blending casts, crews and costs in a mutually beneficial endeavor.

Jody Hovland, Riverside Theatre

 “It provides (the students) with the opportunity to work side by side and be mentored by professional actors and to have a professional credit for their resumes,” Hunter says. “… It provides students with the opportunity to experience the same production mounted in two wildly different spaces in front of two wildly different audiences.”

Riverside Theatre founders Jody Hovland and Ron Clark of Iowa City have been artists in residence at Cornell for 25 years and are appearing in the show, as well.

Hovland says the joint stage productions, which began in 1996, “open up a whole range of plays that would be difficult for us to produce in terms of cast size and support needed for design and technical matters.

“The collaboration allows us to combine resources in a very exciting way. It’s also truly thrilling to be able to mentor so closely a group of young artists, both technical as well as acting. To partner with these young artists is just really exciting for the seasoned players.”

Kropf also performed in the Riverside collaboration her freshman year, in “The Long Christmas Ride Home.”

 “It’s really fun,” she says. “It’s intimidating to walk in and be acting next to these professional actors. They’re all so good. It’s been great. I’ve learned a lot from them. They’re all very friendly and very nice. I feel like we’re all really friends as well as colleagues.”

ARTS EXTRA

What: “The Diary of Anne Frank”

When: Through Nov. 8; show times: 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday

Where: Riverside Theatre, 213 N. Gilbert St., Iowa City

Tickets: $12 to $26 at Riverside’s box office, (319) 338-7672, or www.riversidetheatre.org $12 student rush tickets available 20 minutes before show

Freelance writer

CEDAR RAPIDS — Tom Stoppard is a playwright well known for the complexities of both his language and his ideas. Nevertheless, the Theatre Cedar Rapids production of Stoppard’s 2006 drama “Rock ‘N’ Roll,” performed at TCR Lindale for a moderately sized but appreciative crowd on Saturday night, can be summed up simply: This is strong work.

(Steve Eckert/Spotlight Images) Esme (Marty Norton of Cedar Rapids, left) and Jan (Kehry Lane of Iowa City) celebrate in a scene from Theatre Cedar Rapids’ production of “Rock ‘N’ Roll,” the epic drama by Tom Stoppard that performs through Oct. 25 at TCR Lindale.

Under the direction of Leslie Charipar, the committed cast conquers an intricate script in which Stoppard explores the interior spaces where political, scientific and artistic theories intersect with the realities of friendship, love and family. The result is a performance that is both intellectually stimulating and emotionally resonant.

“Rock ‘N’ Roll,” which follows the sociopolitical arc of life in Czechoslovakia from 1968 to 1990, centers on Jan (Kehry Anson Lane), a man who believes the Beach Boys, the Velvet Underground and the homegrown Plastic People of the Universe are more likely to inspire change in his country than more traditional political protests. Lane is convincing throughout, bringing to life a man whose heartfelt love of rock music is undergirded by his devotion to his country.

Steve Arnold is also quite good at Max, an English communist who clings desperately to the ideals of his philosophy even as he watches them fail. Arnold’s enunciation isn’t always as crisp as Stoppard’s heightened language requires, but he brings Max’s many passions — for communism, for women, for respect — to the fore. Max, whose fiery personality belies his steadfast devotion to materialism, is perhaps the play’s most nuanced character and Arnold skillfully exploits those nuances.

Marty Norton is excellent in the first act as Max’s disease-ravaged wife, Eleanor, and equally good in the second act as Max and Eleanor’s daughter, Esme. Similarly, Ashley Boots is delightful as young Esme in the first act and as Esme’s daughter, Alice, in the second.

Matthew James also does double duty, bringing a quiet menace to his role as an interrogator, and a good-natured combativeness to his portrayal of Stephen, a young man who riles up Max late in the play.

Sarah Jarmon is outstanding as the love-struck Lenka and is at the center of one of the production’s finest scenes with Norton and Arnold in the first act. Jim Kropa is oily and ominous as Milan, an official seeking to keep dissidents in line, and Bryant Duffy is quite affecting as “The Piper,” a disturbed fellow who may well be a legendary rock figure.

(Steve Eckert/Spotlight Images) Jan (Kehry Lane of Iowa City) argues with Cambridge professor Max (Steve Arnold of Vinton) in Tom Stoppard's epic drama, “Rock ‘N’ Roll.”

Bret Gothe has designed an excellent set that allows the action to move easily from Cambridge to Prague and back. The stage is flanked by two walls on which key information is chalked throughout the performance. It’s an excellent device and it certainly helps the audience follow the various threads of the story, though it could be argued that a brief historical essay in the program would also be of benefit.

Still, “Rock ‘N’ Roll” is about more than history; it’s about the heart. The play and this excellent production map that territory and all its varied terrain.

FAST TAKE

What: “Rock ’N’ Roll”

Where: TCR Lindale, 4444 First Ave. NE, Cedar Rapids

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22, through Saturday, Oct. 23; and at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 25

Tickets: $20 and $25 for adults; $15 for students; $12 rush tickets at the door available 30 minutes before each performance; advance tickets through www.theatrecr.org, (319) 366-8591, or the box office in the Grant Wood House, 800 Second Ave. SE.

Information: www.theatrecr.org

AMANA — There’s this play, see, and it’s got all dese shady peoples in it, see. But I didn’t see nothin’ or hear nothin’ Friday night except for a whole lotta laughin’.

(Old Creamery photo) Ready for some "Shady Business" at the Old Creamery Theatre in Amana are (from left) Andy Brown of McKenzie, Tenn.; Leah Raulerson of Washington, D.C.; Sean McCall of Marengo; LR Hults of Columbia, Mo.; Jason Grubbe of Iowa City; Lisa Margolin of New York; and Joe Lehman of Chicago.

Other than that, my lips are sealed, I promise Big Mack. Cross my heart and hope to, um, well, NOT to die.

See, to say too much about “Shady Business” at the Old Creamery Theatre would be bad, very bad for me and my digits, which I would like to keep. Harry the Hammer is just waiting in the wings to lower the boom on me. Dozer is just itchin’ to measure me for some size 8 1/2 cement shoes if I do too much talkin’.

So I’ll just say there’s some guys and dolls on stage through Nov. 15 conducting some of the funniest business I’ve seen in a long time. It’s equal parts shady business and monkey business from a crew that’s perfectly cast. Not a weak link in the bunch, nosiree.

Ya gots Leah Raulerson, a Decorah native now livin’ in D.C., playin’ Mandy. A less than fine girl, she’s a statuesque redhead who’s happy to let Big Mac pay her upkeep while gettin’ a little something on the side.

That side car is Gerry, or is he Terry or Larry? It’s hard to keep up when these stooges start spoutin’ their lies. Anyways, he’s played to wimpy perfection by Andy Brown of McKenzie, Tenn. He’s got somethin’ up his sleeve, but that’s all I’m sayin’.

Then there’s Terry, or is he Larry or Gerry? Joe Lehman of Chicago is tons of fun as Terry the Twit, another side of a love quadrangle that gets more tangled as the action unfolds.

Ringin’ that love bell is Lisa Margolin, an Iowa City native now working her skills in the Big Apple. She’s the quintessential oh. my. gawd. Joisey goil moll who cleans up quite beautifully for the hilarious Act II dinner party.

While Raulerson deserves some kind of award for her feats of memorization and comic timing as she covers her high-heeled tracks, Margolin wins hands-down for her game of charades as all the lies begin to unravel.

These are the good guys.

On the other side are the bad guys, who are very, very good.

LR Hults of Columbia, Mo., is poifect as mob boss Big Mack, poised to attack when he discovers he’s been shorted a grand from his under-the-table earnings. Watching him try to keep up with his much younger filly, Mandy, is a hoot and had Friday’s near-capacity crowd howling.

Equal nods go to his goons, Dozer (Jason Grubbe of Iowa City) and Harry the Hammer (Sean McCall of Marengo). I wouldn’t want to make either one mad, ever. Dozer’s actions speak louder than his words, while Hammer lets his hands do the talking, if you get my drift.

This is the kind of show the Old Creamery does best: over-the-top camp with a heart that will grab yours.

So just do it. Get a ticket and go. Or you’ll be sorry. Very, very sorry.

 FAST TAKE

What: “Shady Business”

Where: Old Creamery Theatre,

When: Through Nov. 15. Show times: 3 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays; 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

Rated: PG-13

Tickets: $26.50 adults, $17.50 under age 30, through the Old Creamery Box Office, 1-(800) 35-AMANA, (319)  622-6194 or www.oldcreamery.com

(Joan Marcus photo) Teens gather to gossip about a new couple in school during "The Telephone Hour," one of the musical highlights of "Bye Bye Birdie." The Broadway revival opens Oct. 15, and includes Cedar Rapids natives Catherine Blades and Timothy Shew. Shown here are (from left) Brynn Williams, Jillian Mueller, Daniel Quadrino, Emma Rowley, Allison Strong, Jess Le Protto, Cathering Blades, Paul Pilcz, Kevin Shotwell, Deanne Cipolla, Julia Knitel and Riley Costello.

Catherine Blades doesn’t really know what it’s like to live in New York City.

“I know the theater,” she says. “I get on the train and go to the theater, then come home. I don’t really have much time at all, but I don’t mind. Once the show starts running, I’ll have time in the day. It’ll be nice.”

That day has come.

It’s a day she’s been dreaming of through all the shows she’s seen in New York, all the roles she’s played at Theatre Cedar Rapids and Washington High School, and her stint in the national touring production of “The Music Man.”

Oct. 15 she makes her Broadway debut.

Catherine Blades

Blades, 17, daughter of Chuck and Amy Blades of Cedar Rapids, is in the first Broadway revival of the hit musical comedy “Bye Bye Birdie.” She plays teenager Deborah Sue Miller and is the understudy for the lead swooning teen role, Kim MacAfee.

The play originally opened April 14, 1960, starring Dick Van Dyke, Chita Rivera, Paul Lynde and Charles Nelson Reilly. Dick Gautier played Conrad Birdie, an Elvis Presley-type heartthrob heading off to the Army. But before he leaves, he is going to bestow a goodbye kiss on contest winner Kim MacAfee of Sweet Apple, Ohio, setting the whole town in an uproar.

Nearly 50 years later, John Stamos, Gina Gershon and Nolan Gerard Funk (as Birdie) headline the cast that stars not one, but two Cedar Rapids natives.

Timothy Shew is playing Mayor Garfein some 35 years after appearing in his first show: a Cedar Rapids summer musical production of “Bye Bye Birdie.”

(Joan Marcus photo) Timothy Shew (left) is a member of the adult ensemble in "Bye Bye Birdie." Joining him onstage are Patty Goble, Suzanne Grodner, JC Montgomery, Paula Leggett Chase, John Treacy Egan, Bill Irwin, Dee Hoty, Natalie Hill, Todd Gearhart, Colleeen Fitzpatrick and David McDonald.

“I was a teenager — one of the ‘Telephone Hour’ kids,” says Shew, 50, a 1976 Cedar Rapids Kennedy graduate who now lives in New York City with his wife and son. “I could do that 35 years ago. I can’t pull that off now. I’m the old man now,” he says with a laugh. “I’ve come full circle.”

He started at the top for his Broadway debut, too, joining the cast of the venerable musical “Les Miserables” in 1987. He soon stepped into the lead role of Jean Valjean, which he played more than 1,600 times between Broadway and touring productions, including a stop at Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City.

“That’s one (role) that’s near and dear to my heart,” he says.

“Bye Bye Birdie” has been playing to preview audiences since Sept. 10 in the recently renovated Henry Miller’s Theatre. The highly anticipated revival already has teens screaming during the preview performances, Blades and Shew report. And afterward, the stage door becomes “a mob scene,” Shew says, “with barricades and people lining up six or seven deep waiting for the stars to come out.”

Timothy Shew

After all the years and shows Shew has experienced in his career, he says opening nights are still “a rush,” attracting “theater patrons, bigwigs and producers.” Blades is hoping to meet Chita Rivera tonight. Blades’ parents also will be there.

“They allow us to have a couple tickets for the significant people in our lives,” Shew says, “so it’s a really supportive audience. That’s really, really helpful.”

Blades is living with a cousin in the city and is being tutored through next week. Then she’ll take high school classes online through Kirkwood Community College, which will transfer to Cedar Rapids Washington, where she is a senior. After graduation, she hopes to go to college in New York City and continue auditioning for shows.

Juggling her schedule of school, rehearsals and performances has been the most challenging aspect of realizing her dream, Blades says.

“It’s exhausting, getting up and going to school, rehearsing and doing the show. Eight shows (a week) is a lot, but it’s fun,” she says. “I miss home a lot. I knew I was going to miss Iowa, but I’m ready to be in New York.

“I didn’t realize how much I’d miss Cedar Rapids. I talk to my folks every day and text my friends all the time.”

Despite that little twinge of homesickness, she quickly puts on her happy face and says the whole Broadway experience has been “really amazing.”

FAST TAKE

What: “Bye Bye Birdie” Broadway revival

Starring: John Stamos, Gina Gershon and Cedar Rapids natives Timothy Shew and Catherine Blades

Where: Henry Miller’s Theatre, 124 W. 43rd St., New York City

When: Oct. 15 through Jan. 10

Show times: 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; 2 p.m. Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday; some exceptions during the holidays

Tickets: Lowest price weekdays $86.50 to highest price holidays $141.50 at www.byebyebirdieonbroadway.com

- Curious George joins forces with (from left) Professor Wiseman, The Man with the Yellow Hat, Chef Pisghetti and Netti Pisghetti to save the chef's restaurant by winning a world-famous meatball competition in Rome. The smiling monkey, known around the world from page and screen, is making his first leap to the stage in "Curious George Live!" which played this past weekend at the U.S. Cellular Center in downtown Cedar Rapids.

My nearly-6-year-old daughter was contemplative at intermission of the world premiere performance of “Curious of George Live!” On our way to the water fountain at the U.S. Cellular Center, she looked up at me and said, “I wonder if they’re lip-syncing.”

My first thought was that it’s a sad state of affairs when a nearly-6-year-old is quick to consider the possibility that the performers she is watching aren’t actually performing. My second thought was that she’d just identified, albeit in a somewhat oblique manner, one of the reasons “Curious George Live!” is so good: The actors are definitely not lip-syncing. Rather, they are singing — and also dancing — with gusto and skill.

A quite sparse crowd took in the Thursday night performance, but those who were there seemed to enjoy the story of the mischievous but well-meaning monkey and his extravagant effort to cheer up his friend Chef Pisghetti. The chef finds himself down in the dumps when Phinneas T. Lightspeed — who might call to mind Prof. Harold Hill from The Music Man — opens a new restaurant that features a machine that delivers oddly-shaped meatballs instantaneously. Chef Pisghetti, who painstakingly crafts his famous meatballs, is devastated.

George decides to take a trip to Rome to enter the chef’s specialty in The Golden Meatball contest. When they realize he has disappeared, George’s friends, including, of course, the Man with the Yellow Hat, puzzle out his destination and give chase. In the show’s climatic scene, George finds himself in an Iron Chef-style competition, racing against time and believing he lacks a key ingredient.

The show succeeds on every level. The set and costumes are flawless, bringing PBS’s animated version of “Curious George” to life. The story itself is cute and clicks along at a good pace.

Most importantly, the show sports a simply fantastic cast. The Man with the Yellow Hat is perfectly cast, as is Chef Pisghetti, and each man is an engaging singer. The Doorman is as charming as can be and can even be forgiven for faking his tap dance number (yep, he was tap syncing).

Netti Pisghetti and Professor Wiseman are strong as well, while Phinneas T. Lightspeed may be misguided, but he’s awfully lovable for a quasi-villain. From stars to supporting cast, almost everyone is an excellent dancer.

Appropriately enough, however, George is the show’s shining star. This is particularly true in Act I, during which he (or possibly she) is called upon to dance, execute a flag routine and perform a variety of acrobatic stunts that would be challenging even without the costume. From the moment the monkey hits the stage, it’s clear he’s talented, as well as curious.

“Lido Shuffle,” “It’s Over,” “Miss Sun,” “Look What You’ve Done To Me,” “You Make It So Hard (To Say No),” “We’re All Alone,” “Heart of Mine” and “Lowdown.”

All are part of his musical legacy stretching back to the ’60s.

It’s a pretty sure bet he’ll play at least some of those hits at the Riverside Casino Events Center on Friday. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 8. You must be at least 21 to attend.

Here’s something I’ll bet you didn’t know, unless you’re a really, really die-hard fan: The session musicians who played on Scaggs’ biggest hit album, “Silk Degrees” (1976) banded together to create Toto, too. And here’s another: Scaggs has teamed up more than once with classmate Steve Miller.

He won an R&B Grammy in 1976 for “Lowdown,” but in more recent years, has been exploring blues and jazz, dipping into the standards in 2003 with “But Beautiful,” which hit the top of Billboard’s jazz charts.

His follow-up effort, “Speak Low,” continues that Great American Songbook feel in a mellow groove, supported by sultry saxophone and other woodwinds, piano, strings and gentle percussion.

Whatever his mood, this pop chameleon continues to surprise us with what’s new in his lengthy career.

Tickets for Friday’s concert are $55 and $70 in the Riverside Gift Shop and at www.riversidecasinoandresort.com

– Diana Nollen, The Gazette

REVIEW

Billed on its Web site as “a love story with singin’ and stuff,” this comedy set in the dead of winter in the northwoods of Ely, Minn., had Thursday’s opening crowd howling with laughter.

All five cast members speak with a Norwegian singsong accent that adds to the merriment during a two-hour romp through the meaning of “it’s so cold …”

The action takes place in The Bunyan, a little bar sporting one of the best sets I’ve seen at the Creamery in recent memory. Nearly every square inch is used at some point, as well as all the rustic set decorations, from the antler coat rack to the deer rifle. The costumes are fun, as well, reflecting a northwoods/backwoods chic.

Marquetta Senters and James Fleming provide the bickering backbone as long-married couple and bar owners Clara and Gunner. He wants to sell the place and move to Florida. She wants to stay put.

The younger generation features shy Bunyan cook Bernice (Amber Snyder) and her lovable lunk of a fiance, Kanute (Jeff Haffner). Both play their parts with aplomb and provide the musical highlights of the show, with her “I Wanna Go to the Mall of America” and his “You’re My Woman.”

Trouble’s a brewing long before karaoke salesman Aarvid arrives, but he taps into their inner turmoils, bringing them all to a head. T.J. Besler is delightful at every turn as a master manipulator wrapped in nerd’s clothing.

The action is punctuated by songs in a variety of pop culture styles, as written by local folk hero Sven Jorgensen. “I’m a Walleye Woman in a Crappie Town” gets my vote for best song title ever. What makes these songs work is that the cast members sing them in all seriousness. A special nod goes to Fleming for his lovely ballad, “Last Night I Dreamed.”

Beneath it all runs an undercurrent of truth that everyone who’s ever been in a relationship can relate to.

This is one show that’s seriously funny.

For tickets and information, call 1-(800) 35-AMANA, (319) 622-6194 or go to www.oldcreamery.com

Los Angeles singer/songwriter Michelle Shocked will headline the Iowa Women’s Music Festival’s free outdoor concert Saturday in Iowa City’s Upper City Park. The music gets under way at noon with Lynne Rothrock of Cedar Rapids and runs through 5:30 p.m., with different performers on the hour.

Now that we have your attention, indie recording artist Michelle Shocked will bring her Texas roots and Americana folk ways to the Iowa Women’s Music Festival this weekend.

The Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter will hit the outdoor stage in Upper City Park at 4:15 p.m. Saturday. But music trembles all around, before and after Shocked. Jazz, folk, pop, rock, country, Americana, roots, comedy, hip-hop, blues, honky-tonk, soul and gospel will all find a spotlight, as well as comedy and performance art.

Festivities get under way Friday night, with music and comedy from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Old Brick, 26 E. Market St. Admission is a sliding scale of $8 to $20 at the door. Davenport singer/songwriter Lojo Russo kicks off the evening, followed by comedian Poppy Champlin from West Hollywood. After party animals can then head to Studio 13, 13 S. Linn St., for more laughs from Champlin.

Saturday’s main event is a family-friendly free-for-all from noon to 5:30 p.m. in Upper City Park. Admission’s free, the music’s free and attendees are free to bring blankets, lawn chairs and pets on leashes. If the skies decide to rain on the parade of music and kids’ games, the fun moves indoor to The Mill, 120 E. Burlington St.

Regardless, the festival moves to The Mill at 8 p.m. Saturday for the Pop, Hip-Hop & 80s Dance Party. Retro rock continues at 10 p.m. with the Jodie Foster Connection. The festival wraps up at midnight with an all-women’s jam. Admission for the indoor night events is a sliding scale of $5 to $15 at the door.

All events will feature American Sign Language interpreters, except for the Friday night after-party.

Want to know more? Go to www.prairievoices.net

We’ll find out when Benatar and her husband/collaborator Neil Giraldo celebrate 30 years of hard-rockin’ bliss Saturday night at the Veterans Convention Center inside the Meskwaki Casino, just off Highway 30 west of Tama.

This tour promises “All the Hits … All the Memories.”

Hmmm, let’s see. Maybe she’ll hit us with her best shot. Or make some promises in the dark. Whether growling her way through “Heartbreaker” or purring through “We Live for Love,” she’s invincible.

Her husband isn’t just along for the ride, either. This songwriter and lead guitarist also has produced all of Benatar’s albums.

We’re guessing she’s the fire and he’s the ice, although he certainly can blaze through any guitar line and her crystal-clear high notes send shivers down the spine.

Benatar’s fan site, www.

benatarfanclub.com, says she’s heading back into the recording studio after the tour.

So move over Fergie and Pink. Sounds like your fairy godmother isn’t done waving her magic wand.

The concert begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are $35 and $45, through www.meskwaki.com, Club Meskwaki or 1-(800) 728-4263, Ext. 2230. Sorry, no one under 21 allowed.

Former University of Iowa football coach Hayden Fry waves to the crowd at Kinnick Stadium during a halftime ceremony honoring him at the homecoming game against Michigan in October 2003 in Iowa City. (The Gazette)

What better way to celebrate everything Hawkeye than hosting a festival honoring one of Iowa’s most beloved coaches?

FRY Fest, named after legendary Hawkeye football coach Hayden Fry, will be held Friday in Coralville.

“It’s to celebrate Hawkeye spirit,” says Alyssa Dahmer, communications intern for the Iowa City-Coralville Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The festival also will celebrate Fry’s 20-year coaching career at Iowa and his humanitarian effort supporting local farmers, Dahmer says.

RELATED: Jake Owen brings his rising star to FRY Fest

This year marks several milestones for Fry. He celebrated his 80th birthday in February, and 2009 is the 30th anniversary of his hiring and the 10th anniversary of his retirement as the University of Iowa’s winningest football coach. At 10 a.m. Friday, Hayden Fry Way will be unveiled at a ceremony at the intersection of First Avenue and East Ninth Street in Coralville. The stretch between Interstate 80 and Highway 6 is the most traveled in Johnson County and is the stretch of road Fry drove for 20 years to his office. Fry plans to attend the ceremony.

“The World’s Largest Hawkeye Tradeshow & Tailgate Party,” featuring more than 60 exhibitors, will be held from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Coralville Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, 300 E Ninth St. Current athletes and coaches, as well as former Hawkeyes, including Dan Gable and Tim Dwight, will make appearances.

At 1:30 p.m. Fry will be on a panel with Hawkeye broadcasters Bump Elliot, Jon Miller, Ed Podolak, Bob Brooks, Ron Gonder, Gary Dolphin, George Wine, Frosty Mitchell and John Campbell.

Iowa coach Hayden Fry is hoisted by his players above the Sun Bowl field Friday after beating Washington in 1995.

Campbell, who started at KCRG-TV9 in 1979, the same year Fry started as UI’s coach, says Fry was an interesting person to cover as a reporter.

“You never knew what you would get,” Campbell says. “He could be funny, he could be serious, he could chop your head off.”

But Fry was always respected and was always thinking, Campbell says.

“When you went to games when Fry was the coach, there was a good chance Iowa was going to win,” he says. Other tradeshow activities Friday include exhibits, a car show, Hayden Fry look- and sound-a-like contests, a Hayden Fry namesake photo and a Hawkeye pep rally at the Iowa River Landing on corner of Ninth Street and Quarry Road. In recognition of Fry’s 143 victories, 143 Harley-Davidsons will ride down East Ninth Street to kick off the pep rally.

After the pep rally several concerts will be held at the Iowa River Landing. Country artist Jake Owen will perform at 6:30 p.m., followed by the Outlaws at 8 p.m. and the Charlie Daniels Band at 9:30 p.m.

Organizers hope Fry Fest will become an annual event.

While this year particularly celebrates Fry’s accomplishments, Dahmer says future events will focus more on the Hawkeyes.

Details

What: FRY Fest
When: Friday
Where: Various locations in Coralville
More information: (319) 337-6592 or http://fryfest.com/

Schedule

10 a.m.: Dedication of Hayden Fry Way, intersection of First Avenue and East Ninth Street
11 a.m. to 7 p.m.: Tradeshow and tailgate party, Coralville Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, 300 E. Ninth St.
1:30 p.m.: Hawkeye broadcasters panel, Coralville Marriott Hotel and Conference Center.
3:30 p.m.: Hayden Fry contests, Coralville Marriott Hotel and Conference Center.
5 p.m.: Hayden Fry namesake photo opportunity, Coralville Marriott Hotel and Conference Center.
5:30 to 6:15 p.m.: Hawkeye pep rally, Iowa River Landing, corner of Ninth Street and Quarry Road.
6:30 p.m.: Concerts begin at Iowa River Landing. Features Jake Owen, The Outlaws and The Charlie Daniels Band.

Cracker, on tour with the new “Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey” CD, will rock The Mill in Iowa City on Sunday night. Band members are (from left) bass player Sal Maida; singer, songwriter and founder David Lowery; co-writer, co-founder and lead guitarist Johnny Hickman; and drummer Frank Funaro. (Jason Thrasher)

While other bands riding the ’80s new wave scene have come and gone, Cracker is still flowing toward its land of milk and honey.

“It makes us happy that 19 years into our career, we’re seeing young faces at our shows,” says co-founder and lead guitarist Johnny Hickman, 52, who lives in the Fort Collins area of northern Colorado.

He credits Facebook and YouTube with bringing new fans into the realm, as well as old fans bringing their kids to shows.

“It makes us all very happy when kids come with parents who … have turned them onto Cracker. That’s fantastic,” Hickman says in a phone call from a recent Milwaukee tour stop.

“When people call us the godfathers of alt-rock it sounds a little bit funny to us, but after 19 years, we’ll take it. It’s quite an honor actually.”

The band is touring in support of its latest CD, “Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey,” and will headline a 9 p.m. show Sunday at The Mill in downtown Iowa City.

It’s anyone’s guess what songs the foursome will play.

“We have a different show every night,” Hickman says. “We just get up there and play. Occasionally a fan will yell out a song.”

Fast take

What: Cracker with opening act The High Strung
When: 9 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 30; doors open at 8 p.m.
Where: The Mill, 120 E. Burlington St., Iowa City
Tickets: $15 in advance at www.iowatix.com
Information: www.crackersoul.com and www.icmill.com

Staying spontaneous is “more satisfying to the band and audience. It doesn’t become a grind,” he says. “I understand that bands with big productions with lots of sound and lighting” technicians requires a set routine. “The great thing about being a band at our level is that we can come back and do a few encores, work at our own pace and our own way and have our own artistic control.”

They also break with tradition when writing and recording new material.

“Lots of bands write (songs) then road test them later. We like to play live, especially with this (grouping) stripped down to four pieces,” he says. “On this record we decided to make it a little more streamlined, with two guitars, bass and drums. Playing songs live teaches us something about them every time. We get an idea of what’s working. It makes them stronger.”

The new CD showcases a variety of styles — with a little retro-punk, a little blues-funk — but stays in a hard-rocking mode, he says. The biggest departure is the alt-country-flavored “Friends,” which Hickman wrote.

“It’s a song about what we do and lifelong friendships. Everybody’s got one of those friends who sticks with you through thick and thin and can laugh about your foibles.”

The long-standing friendship between Hickman and the band’s founder, singer-songwriter David Lowery, is part of the secret of Cracker’s success.

Hickman connects with the fans daily through social media. Lowery is more business-oriented.

“You have to be your own communicator,” he says. “Every day I’m on Facebook and MySpace. … I enjoy maintaining friendships with these people. David calls me ‘the goodwill ambassador.’ I’m a people-guy. I really enjoy that aspect of what we do. David is ‘the ambassador of administration.’ He’s very astute.

“Another reason we’ve been going 19 years is that David has a math degree and knows how to keep an eye on things to keep people from ripping us off.

“Whether you like it or not, this is a business and you have to sustain it on all levels. We’re lucky we’ve got a singer and guitar player who write songs together. We’re good at different aspects of keeping a small business together.”

The tension mounts for Darby (Mandy Musgrave, left) and birthday girl Kate (Hallee Hirsh), who’s mortified to be sweet 16 and never been kissed. The film, “16 to Life,” will have its Iowa premiere during the Landlocked Film Festival in Iowa City, then will move to Elkader for Sept. 3 showings at 4 p.m. in the Elkader Cinema and 7:30 p.m. in the Elkader Opera House.

The Landlocked Film Festival offers many pieces in many places, but the centerpiece of the four-day event is the Iowa premiere of “16 to Life” at the Englert Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 29.

Known as “Duck Farm No. 13” to the folks around McGregor, where most of the footage was shot in October 2007, it’s flying under a new name and generating industry buzz, winning awards at Method Fest in California last spring.

But during the final phases of the nearly $1 million film, teenagers invited to test screenings just didn’t like the “Duck Farm” name, says director Becky Smith, 53, an Okoboji native now living and working in Los Angeles.

“It wasn’t hip to them,” she says. “They thought it was about farm life. As much as the adults liked the title, we needed to change it to make it accessible to teenagers, because a large part of the film is about teenagers.”

It’s a coming-of-age romantic comedy starring Hallee Hirsh, now 21. She’s been acting all her life, instantly recognizable as Tom Hanks’ much-younger aunt in “You’ve Got Mail” and Rachel Greene on “ER.”

She says this role eclipses all the others on her lengthy resume.

“It’s my absolute, most favorite thing I’ve ever done,” she says. “I can’t tell you how much I love the role, how much I love the script and how much I loved the actual event of shooting it.”

She took her character’s focus on China and its Cultural Revolution to heart. She traveled to China with Smith to present the film to university students in Beijing in May, and is now studying cultural anthropology at UCLA, including an intensive Chinese language immersion. She says she’ll probably live in China one day.

“This movie sparked that completely,” Hirsh says.

Both Smith and Hirsh are looking forward to the Iowa festival, seeing people with whom they worked, seeing audience reaction to the film and seeing the landscape again.

“My mother’s very favorite spot is McGregor,” Smith says. “With the rolling hills and big cliffs by the river, it’s really a stunning-looking place where Grant Wood painted. The people locally were as nice as you could possibly imagine.”

The festival, which runs Aug. 27 to 30 in several downtown Iowa City sites, also features topical workshops, panel discussions and screenings for more than 80 films, ranging in length from two minutes to two hours.

The festival’s creative director, Mary Blackwood, 52, of Iowa City, is especially proud of the new international component, offering more than three hours of Danish films.

“A lot of European countries have more support for their artists than the U.S. It’s great to get a sense of what’s happening in Denmark in the film industry, great to hear their point of view,” Blackwood says. “I’d love to do this yearly.”

Fast take

What: Landlocked Film Festival
When: Program start times: 7 to 10:15 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27; 1:15 to 10:30 p.m. Aug. 28; 11:45 a.m. to 10:10 p.m. Aug. 29; and noon to 7 p.m. Aug. 30
Where: Downtown Iowa City sites, including the Englert Theatre, Iowa City Public Library, Sheraton Iowa City and hotelVetro
Features: Film screenings, workshops, panel discussions
Admission: Free, except for $5 admission for Friday and Saturday evening films at the Englert, payable at the door
Information: www.landlockedfilmfestival.org
Iowa premiere: “16 to Life,” shot in Iowa in 2007, 7:30 p.m. Aug. 29, Englert; “green” carpet welcome festivities at 7 p.m.; for a sneak peek, go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjQYsoMADqs
For more on the movie, go to www.16tolifethemovie.org
To read more from Gazette interviews with “16 to Life” star Hallee Hirsh and director Becky Smith, Landlocked’s creative director Mary Blackwood and “Shattercane” director Mike Tringe, go to Diana Nollen’s Art Scene blog, http://gazetteonline.com/blogs/art-scene

Iowa City native Fred Woodard, grooving at a previous Iowa City Jazz Festival, is bringing his Boston-based trio to Cedar Rapids tonight to launch KCCK’s annual “Jazz Under the Stars” series in Noelridge Park. He’s hoping “a lot of people come out, even if they’re not jazz fans, to experience live music. I try to put elements in my music (anyone) can understand.” (The Gazette)

Jazz guitarist Fred Woodard uses one urban garden to nurture his soul and another to grow his music.

The Iowa City native, 48, lives with his wife and three children in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood, where he says he has just enough space to plant some vegetables.

While he says he doesn’t have many interests outside of family, teaching and music, in gardening he found “an escape from everything. It gave me a chance to relax and think about other things,” he says. “It’s how I got the title of my latest CD. … I have an outlet to maintain peace of mind. It’s something, like music, that’s therapeutic.”

He’ll give local audiences a taste of his “Urban Garden” Thursday night when the Fred Woodard Trio kicks off KCCK’s “Jazz Under the Stars” series at 7 p.m. in Noelridge Park in northeast Cedar Rapids.

What: KCCK presents “Jazz Under The Stars”
When: 7 p.m. Thursdays in August; rain date for all concerts, Sept. 3
Where: Noelridge Park, 4900 Council St. NE, Cedar Rapids
Artists: Fred Woodard Trio, Aug. 6; Al Naylor Quartet, Aug. 13; Funk-Stop, Aug. 20; Lake Street Dive, Aug. 27
Extras: Bring lawn chairs, blankets and picnics; food, refreshments available for purchase
Information: www.kcck.org or (319) 398-5446; tune to KCCK-FM 88.3 on concert days

Performing with him on the new CD and in the concert are Cedar Falls native Hill Greene on bass and Chicago native Yoron Israel on drums. Both have esteemed careers apart from the trio. Greene plays in the New York City scene and in major cities around the world. Israel has performed with such heavy-hitters as Sonny Rollins, Grover Washington and Tony Bennett.

They all teach, as well. Israel is a faculty member at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, where Woodard and Greene met as students in 1979. Greene teaches privately and at the Bass Collective in New York City and Woodard teaches at the Roland Hayes School of Music in Roxbury, Mass.

Their fathers were teachers, too. Greene’s father, the late Mitchell Greene, taught social work at the University of Northern Iowa and Woodard’s father, also named Fred, recently retired from the English faculty at the University of Iowa.

Thursday night’s concert is “like a homecoming,” Woodard says. “Iowa can see what their native sons have been able to produce in the jazz world.”

As a composer, Woodard laces his straight-ahead jazz with other styles from his eclectic career.

“When I first graduated from Berklee, I was fortunate to be hired to play in a blues band with a regular gig in downtown Boston,” he says. “That forced me to really study the blues idiom. Albert King and B.B. King were the two main influences that really led me to really try to see a connection between blues and jazz. In my opinion, blues and jazz idioms are closely related. Blues is the foundation of a lot of styles — and also the foundation of jazz music.”

His early days with R&B bands and more pop-oriented music shines through “Urban Garden.”

The disc’s second track, “Grant Like,” pays tribute to jazz guitarist Grant Green. “It explores a theme based off a lick transcribed from a solo of his, borrowed from him,” Woodard says. “‘Island Birdie’ is calypso-flavored. ‘Jingles’ is a Wes Montgomery tune where the tempo is really fast. It’s the most energetic tune on the CD. Mixed in is my composition ‘Deniece,’ dedicated to my daughter.”

The title track honors students from the inner city, who have a lot of potential. “If the garden that is the students is tended to, they can do great things,” he says.

And he traces the root of jazz through “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child.” His interpretation “shows where jazz came from on the musical continuum, from spirituals, then blues, then jazz — another derivative of blues.” He melds the more modern styles on “Mean Street, No Bridges,” over what he call “a funky foundation.”

“I’m taking my experience of performing music in general and mixing it with blues, bebop and free jazz, following the African-American continuum of music through jazz,” he says.

But don’t expect his live concert to sound exactly like his new CD.

“My way of composing is a vehicle for improvisation,” he says. “We’re really talking about material that is based on whatever concept I’m trying to work on. I consider my compositions to be outlines for improvisation. Once the theme is stated, the group improvises. The life that it takes on depends on the group playing it.

“That keeps it fresh and challenging.”

The pineapples will be on sale at nearly 30 Hy-Vee stores in Bettendorf, Cedar Rapids, Cedar Falls, Clinton, Coralville, Davenport, Dubuque, Iowa City, Marion and Waterloo.

Sales are Friday and Saturday. Some locations will have the ability to core and place the pineapple in a container for the customer.

The 31st Annual Pineapple Gala will be August 15 at the Crowne Plaza Five Seasons Hotel, 350 First Ave. NE, Cedar Rapids, beginning at 6 p.m.

The gala is one of Iowa’s largest charity silent and live auctions with nearly 400 items ranging from $5 to a condo and more. The event includes a Hawaiian dinner, entertainment and door prizes, including a trip for two to Hawaii. Tickets are $50 each or a table of 10 for $450.

Auction items can be donated or tickets can be obtained through the camp by calling Charlie Becker at (319) 465-5916, Ext. 2100.

Many auction items can be viewed at www.campcourageous.org

Special Camp Courageous overnight rates are available by calling the Crowne Plaza at (319) 363-8161 or 1-(888) 363-3550.

"Out in the Silence" (documentary)

Indie filmmakers from around the world have turned their eyes toward Iowa, narrowing their focus to Tipton.

The Cedar County town of about 3,200 residents is home to the state’s longest running film festival, the 12th annual Hardacre Film and Cinema Festival.

And it’s “the perfect place” for married filmmakers Joe Wilson, 45, and Dean Hamer, 58, of Washington, D.C., to screen their film, “Out in the Silence,” which provides a voice for homosexuals living by a code of silence in rural communities.

“Coming to Tipton is thrilling to us,” Wilson says. “For an Eastern Iowa town to have the courage to air this in their film festival is an credible display.”

It’s among 30 films of varying lengths to be showcased Aug. 7 and 8 in the Hardacre Theatre, a 300-seat, air-conditioned art deco movie house in operation since 1917. The films, selected from 140 submissions, range from animated and live action shorts to narratives and feature-length documentaries. Some run two hours, others run five minutes.

What: Hardacre Film and Cinema Festival
When: 6 p.m. to midnight Aug. 7 and 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Aug. 8
Where: Hardacre Theater, 112 E. Fifth St., Tipton; after-hours coffee and conversation, A Place to Land, 523 Cedar St., Tipton
Admission: $15 all-festival pass or $6 each for opening night, Saturday day or closing night
Information and schedule: www.hardacrefilmfestival.com

The event, which began in 1996, gives audiences “the chance to see films you just can’t see in Eastern Iowa,” says festival director Will Valet, 34, of Tipton. “Most are not even on DVD or are extremely hard to find.

“Most of the films are Iowa premieres or Midwest premieres, and some are world premieres. We’re always looking for films with good entertainment value, but also topical and thought-provoking.”

The filmmakers “get a chance to see their films with an intimate audience, to see how they react, and get their questions afterward,” Valet says. “Some films are finished, but others can still be tweaked. They get to interact with people serious about film in a setting where people will most appreciate them.”

The festival generates “a lot of buzz in the independent film world,” he says. “When we started, there was very little in the way of that type of event. Now they’re popping up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and West Liberty, yet we still have quite a bit of name recognition. It’s where (indie filmmakers) want their films to premiere and this is where they want to show them.”

This year’s festival features a lot of animation and documentaries, he says, and choosing them was tough.

“We had a lot of really solid documentaries (submitted) this year,” he says.

Two documentaries of note are “Out in the Silence,” showing at 5:15 p.m. Aug. 8 and “Pride of Lions,” winner of the festival’s Best Documentary award, showing at 8:45 p.m. Aug. 8.

“These two films couldn’t be any more different in topic and both are very entertaining and thought-provoking,” he says.

‘Out in the Silence’

This film was born when co-producers and directors Wilson and Hamer put their wedding announcement in Wilson’s hometown newspaper, igniting “a firestorm” of controversy.

Married April 10, 2004, in Vancouver, Canada, Hamer first placed the announcement is his hometown paper, the Yew York Times, and the couple received “a lot of congratulations,” Wilson says. Then Wilson sent it to The Derrick in his hometown, Oil City, Pa.

“I didn’t put a whole lot of forethought into it,” he says. “Why shouldn’t I have the freedom to do that — many, many other people do that. Surely there were people living in Oil City, who, like me, as young people, were confused or afraid. And seeing somebody from our hometown who had a decent life would be a nice thing to see in the paper.”

It appeared May 10, 2004, and the backlash began “the moment it hit doorsteps,” Wilson says. “People started sending letters to the editor,” which continued to play out for six to eight months, he says.

“They were writing the most outrageous things imaginable, usually based in some kind of religious framework,” Wilson says. “It also didn’t take long for people with a different point of view — more welcoming — to share their perspectives. It became this kind of amazing dialogue between people in the pages of the paper.”

Then came a letter from the mother of a high school boy being bullied for being gay. With nowhere else to turn, she wrote to Wilson and Hamer.

“With this particular family, if we didn’t try to help them in some way, it was clear there wasn’t going to much help at all,” Wilson says. “We knew it was important to document this kind of story. It’s not unique to Oil City,” an old industrial town nestled in the “stunningly beautiful” foothills of the Allegheny Mountains, between Erie and Pittsburgh.

“We thought the courage this family showed would inspire others,” Wilson says.

“We traveled there several times a month over three years and became immersed in the community in many other ways. We met others interested in creating the kind of change others need to live freely and openly.

“It became quite a magical experience for us. It reintroduced me and my partner to my hometown in new and exciting ways.”

The project cost about $100,000 in “real money,” Hamer says, with support from the Sundance Institute and the local PBS station. It will air on PBS in Pennsylvania in September and across the country most likely in 2010, Hamer says.

Bringing the film to Tipton, in a state that has marriage equality, is “a perfect pairing for us,” Hamer says.

‘Pride of Lions’

A trip to Sierra Leone to capture one life experience grew into a full-length documentary on the resilience of people rebuilding after 11 years of civil war.

Louise Woehrle of suburban Minneapolis, a documentary filmmaker for 10 years, followed her heart to Sierra Leone after seeing how a trip there changed her brother John. He traveled to the West African nation in 2004 to document a meeting between his student, Sarah, and her birth father.

Watching the footage was as much “a transformational experience” for Woehrle as the trip had been for her brother. Thus began their five-year odyssey to bring the story of the Sierra Leone people to film.

“Our heart told us this isn’t a documentary following around three people and getting a glimpse of their lives,” she says. “It’s a much larger story to tell of the people, the country, who they were before the war, what’s happening after the war. The survivors of the war have a unique perspective of their country and their life and what they’re doing to move their country forward.

“It was challenging to tell all these stories and weave them in layers — and still make it a story, without going off on tangents.”
Her brother spent $200,000 out of pocket, and with in-kind services, they spent about $270,000. Without so many cost-breaks, it would have cost up to $500,000 to produce.

With so many smiles and so much determination despite horrendous injuries and strife, the people of the tiny nation that had only known peace before war have much to teach the world, Woehrle says.

“As others are recovering from war (they can teach) about hope — about the true meaning of hope, the true meaning of forgiveness. … It is their nature to live like we all wish we could live, in peace and harmony and without judgment.”