ART TAP

On tap this week is a holiday roundtable of friends Cindy Gerlach Managing Director of Lafayette Master Chorale, and Brittany Rees , of the Frank Muffin band and engineer at Rec Room Recording Studio. We talk over a wide range of topics from the local cultural landscape, from both the current year and the next!

On tap this week is a husband and wife team, and members of the band Frank Muffin, the wonderful Brittany and Hans Rees , who are also part of the staff at Rec Room Recording. Joining us is Tiffany Palacio , Director of Family Promise of Greater Lafayette. Frank Muffin is presenting its annual tribute show on November 4th and 5th, a cover-to-cover performance, this time celebrating Electric Light...

On tap this week is a pair of directors preparing to bring a thought-provoking program to the area stage. Marking 25 years since the tragic death of Matthew Shepard, Lafayette Master Chorale is joining with Purdue University Choir to present a contemporary oratorio on October 29th. Joining us are the Artistic Director of Lafayette Master Chorale, Michael Bennett , and Assistant Director of Purdue...

On tap this week is a trio of performers preparing to bring what is now a modern classic to the area stage. We have three singer/performers, the female leads of "9 to 5: the Musical," coming to Civic Theatre of Greater Lafayette… Caitlin Cotten , who is a previous guest on ART TAP, Kate Martin , also a previous guest and, by chance, my daughter, and Esther Kirgiss , a newcomer to the area. The thr...

On tap this week is Dave Bangert , of Based in Lafayette reporting project, an online news subscription he's established for local news. Dave has transitioned from daily newspaper coverage to daily online substack coverage, all with an eye to highlighting local happenings without judgement or political stance. Dave talks about his growth as a reporter who moved throughout the building to different...

On tap this week is Chris McCauley , Executive Director the Art Museum of Greater Lafayette. Chris has been with the Art Museum coming up on one year now – and he is wholly committed to making the museum's programs a vital part of the community. Chris talks about his experiences, progressing from an upbringing in the upper peninsula of Michigan, through art school and the Boy Scouts of America. Hi...

On tap this week are Annalyse Ewing and Emily Nolan , co-hosts of another local podcast, called "We Can Do Pod Things." Here at ART TAP, we are all about the arts, but more accurately culture , and we want to encourage talking about the talk of life and culture. Annalyse's and Emily's "work" is a genuine and honest and funny effort to talk about yet another podcast, but more importantly (I think)...

On tap this week is Sean Lutes , president of the Lafayette Historic Preservation Commission. Sean's work is preserving and protecting noteworthy buildings and sites that represent our history in this town. And his posts on Facebook, under the group "Preserve Historic Lafayette," are very revealing of the nature of the growth and history of Lafayette – buildings, people, families, and stories – th...

On tap this week is Bai Rosa , professional lighting director, product of Lafayette, Indiana, and now technical director for Civic Theatre of Greater Lafayette. Bai talks about the role of a lighting designer in theatre and the challenges of getting started as a freelance creative person, traveling many miles each week to contribute to various projects in various locations. What's it like living a...

On tap this week is Monica Shaeffer , a private piano and voice instructor, occasional music director for shows at Civic Theatre of Greater Lafayette, and now Music and Artistic Outreach Director at Trinity United Methodist Church. We spoke about her background as a performer, youth instructor/music director, and now artistic consultant for Trinity United Methodist Church. Discussions of her "meet...

On tap this week is a Pre-Show look at "Flanagan's Wake," coming to Civic Theatre of Greater Lafayette on March 16th, 17th, and 18th. I'm talking with Sarah Mishler , who plays Fiona Finn, the grieving fiancé of the deceased Flanagan, and Helen Coats , who plays town eccentric and mystic, Kathleen Mooney. Interestingly, Sarah played the part of Kathleen last year, so we have a, if you'll excuse me...

On tap this week we're kicking off a new series of the ART TAP podcast called "Pre-Show." Pre-Show will offer early looks at upcoming MainStage productions at Civic Theatre of Greater Lafayette. We'll talk with directors, performers, planners, and designers and get a preview of what's about to take the stage at the historic Monon Depot Theatre. The Play That Goes Wrong  is a 2012 play by Henry Lew...

On tap this week are the artists known collectively as Frank Muffin Band . Joining me are Brittany and Hans Rees, and Jerome Hemersbach. The Muffin group have gotten active again, in light of eased restrictions on gatherings, and recently enjoyed a DC-area trip to visit other musicians they met online during the pandemic. Their schedule is picking up this fall, and there are a number of things to...

On tap this week is a local artist who is a steady presence on the gallery and art festival scene. Rena Brouwer is a watercolorist, instructor, gallery director, and arts collaborator who is about as "Hoosier" an artist as one can get.

On tap this week are a pair of local singers/songwriters who are enlivening the area music scene. Justice Fuller , is a singer/songwriter who has performed throughout the Lafayette region and the Washington DC area, and who is previous Mike Lane Horizon songwriting award winner – and Lauren Grace is an 17-year-old Lafayette-area songwriter who won the Shirley Martin Scholarship in 2018 and has sin...

On tap this week is director, set designer, painter, performer, and also Assistant Director of Economic Development for the City of Lafayette, Indiana, John David Collier . We talk about the thrills and challenges of participating in community theatre. John's experience with Civic Theatre has run for 35 years and 93 productions now.

On tap this week … is one of my most fun friends, singer and performer Caitlin Cotten Benner . Caitlin is perhaps the closest living embodiment of an actual Disney princess I know, keeping that spirit of discovery and joy alive in the air around her. We talk about the challenges of social distancing when working with students as a representative of Purdue Bands, and as a creative individual and pe...

On tap this week… is one of my most valued creative friends, playwright Kelly McBurnette-Andronicos . She was, oddly enough, on the last episode of ART TAP in April of 2020 – the one that convinced me it was too hard to conduct a podcast that way. It wasn't her fault – it was the logistics that proved too interruptive to me. We talk about the challenges of trying to be creative in a pandemic, and...

On tap this week are two of my most valued arts friends, ceramist and sculptor Siggy Zahner and playwright Kelly McBurnette-Andronicos . Both are deeply insightful and inventive artists, both bring unique and confrontational imagery to their work, and both are outspoken feminists. We talk about the experiences and challenges of women in the arts, the role of the artist in social quarantine, and wo...

On tap this week is an assessment of what we're going to be missing, in light of Coronavirus concerns that are forcing cancellations of arts and culture events, as well as all other public gatherings and activities, throughout our region and across the country. Notifications from Lafayette-West Lafayette cultural groups are shared.

On tap this week are my friends, artists and retired teachers Stephanie Funcheon and LuAnn Lamie . These longtime friends and colleagues reminisce on teaching in the arts, former notable students, the state of education then and now, and the decisions in our young lives that led us to become artists.

On tap this week is my friend, Richard Stockton Rand , actor, director, choreographer, writer, and Professor and Coordinator of Undergraduate Theatre Studies in the Department of Theatre at Purdue University, where he specializes in acting and movement. We discuss the upcoming production of "Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches" by Tony Kushner he's directing for Purdue Theatre. And...

On tap this week are director Laurie Russell , choreographer Brian Kocher , and actor Kate Walker , all working to bring to the Civic Theatre stage a magnificent production of Mamma Mia! We have some laughs while recounting the experience of rehearsing and planning the show, which is nearly completely sold out at this point and will be quite the spectacle.

On tap this week , local journalists and artists Cindy Gerlach ,  Amy Long , and Jeff Smith . We share some cocktails, some discussion of recent and coming arts events and movies, "old things in a new way," favorite artists and visual experiences, "who understands art better than a six-year-old?," a coming 30-Day Arts Challenge, jumping the shark, etc.

On tap this week is the author of more than a dozen novels and numerous short stories, who happens to make his home right here in Lafayette-West Lafayette – Jonathan Janz . We talk about the appeal of scary stories, outlets of fear, allowing yourself to suck, being a "psychic vampire" in a historic place, and a life of creative writing.