Corridor Buzz

Country hitmaker Ty Herndon to headline first Tiffin Fest

2008-07-24

What started as a plan to host a parade and ice cream social in Tiffin this summer has grown to a full scale festival featuring a country music singer with three number one hits under his belt.

Ty Herndon, whose concerts typically draw upwards of 5,000 people, will take the stage at 8:30 p.m. Saturday to headline the first-ever Tiffin Fest.

Fans will likely have the chance to meet the 46-year-old singer and get his autograph after his performance, says Wanda Baird of Coralville, a country talent agent and booker since the 1970s.

“He’s the type who sticks around. He’s not in a hurry,” says Baird, who used her Nashville connections to bring Herndon to Tiffin. “He likes to be right there, he...

Read More [...]

Cultural Affairs Department seeks flood information

2008-07-24

The Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs is asking Iowans involved with flood-damaged cultural, history and arts resources to fill out a short online survey to help determine how much additional assistance is needed in Iowa.

The survey is available on DCA's web site here.

The deadline for responses is July 29. Results will be compiled and forwarded to the Rebuild Iowa Commission the following day.

"We have been receiving reports about the physical damage done to Iowa's cultural assets and properties," DCA Director Cyndi Pederson says in a news release.

"This online survey is the next step we're taking to assess the financial damage and to track filings with FEMA and the Small Business Administration, and to ask Iowans what other kinds of...

Read More [...]

REVIEW: �The Dark Knight� might be this year�s best

2008-07-23

“The Dark Knight” defies every conventional assumption about a “comic book” movie, wringing freshness into the genre like a garish tie-dyed T-shirt scrubbed immaculate white. It’s an epic masterpiece, a remarkable achievement in visual kineticism, gloomy atmosphere and propulsive narrative—in essence it is the perfectly realized Batman film, the one that true fans of the original series and subsequent graphic novels have been praying for on scraped, bloody knees for years.

The Brothers Nolan (screenwriter Jonathan and director/co-writer Christopher) rebooted the tale of the tormented millionaire Bruce Wayne in 2005’s killer origin tale “Batman Begins,” restoring the respectability and serious aura to a classic story that had descended into trashy parody, hammy acting and burlesque overstylization. If you haven’t seen any...

Read More [...]

Chubby Carrier to headline North Liberty RAGBRAI party

2008-07-23

Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band will play their brand of Louisiana zydeco for arena-sized audiences in North Liberty Thursday as some 10,000 bicyclists on the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, or RAGBRAI, roll into town for an overnight stay.

Another 25,000 spectators are expected, meaning North Liberty will almost quadruple in size on Thursday.

“We’ve never been touched by RAGBRAI,” says Tracey Mulcahey, assistant city administrator, city clerk and co-chair of the North Liberty RAGBRAI Committee. “We’ve never been a pass-through community, we’ve never been an overnight town. It’s our first shot at it all the way around.”

About 10,000 registered riders are expected to travel east on Penn Street to Jones Boulevard, turn south on Jones and cross...

Read More [...]

Yacht Club to host Euforquestra�s farewell gig

2008-07-23

Iowa City’s seven-member world beat ensemble Euforquestra is moving to Colorado next week but is having one final blowout at the Yacht Club Saturday night before they leave.

“Be prepared for surprises,” says Eric Quiner, the band’s keyboard player. Though tight-lipped as to what those surprises might be, he promises the audience will have a good time.

Percussionist Matt Grundstad was only a little more forthcoming about the show. “We are going to try and do things we haven’t done before, and we are going to bring back old songs we haven’t done in a while,” he says. “That’s all I am going to say.”

Both men clearly want their fans to be treated to something unexpected and do not want to...

Read More [...]

The Wailin� Jennys: good-hearted women

2008-07-23

Despite the band’s country sounding name, the Wailin’ Jennys are a folk roots trio of Canadian origin. The three women specialize in rich vocal harmonies that frequently earn them comparisons to Crosby, Stills & Nash, or because of their distaff status, the Dixie Chicks.

“We like being compared to those musicians,” founding member Nicky Mehta says over the phone from Maine, where the band is chilling out between tour dates. “It’s a high compliment to be equated to such great artists. We love the CSN and the Chicks.”

But Mehta notes important difference between the Jennys and the other bands. “They have much more polished, radio-friendly sounds,” she says. “We, uh, are more raw.”

The Wailin’ Jennys, featured regularly on Garrison Keillor’s show...

Read More [...]

Downtown farmers market returns to CR Aug. 2

2008-07-22

On hiatus since last month's flooding, the Downtown Farmers Market is returning to Cedar Rapids.

The farmers market will be open Saturday, Aug. 2, from 7:30 a.m. to noon at Green Square Park and surrounding areas.

"We have received confirmation from police, fire, health inspectors, and city officials that this location has been declared a safe and appropriate space," Downtown District spokeswoman Quinn Pettifer says in a news release.

Remaining downtown markets will take place at the same location on Aug. 16, Sept. 6 and Oct. 4. Parking ramps are clean, available and will be free to market patrons.

Markets will include main stage entertainment, interactive family activities and cooking demonstrations in addition to the 148 local Iowa vendors. (Read a CorridorBUZZ.com...

Read More [...]

Play along with �Clue: The Musical� at Old Creamery

2008-07-22

Six weapons, six rooms, six murder suspects—and 216 possible endings.

Those are the basics of “Clue,” a popular board game that spawned a 1995 movie, a series of 18 humorous children’s books and even a version of the game based on “The Simpsons.”

On Wednesday, a musical based on the game opens at the Old Creamery Theatre in Amana—and performances will end in one of 216 scenarios determined by the audience.

“At the very beginning of the play some audience members come up on the stage and help pick the cards just like you do in the real game,” says Old Creamery producing artistic director David Kilpatrick, who will direct “Clue: The Musical” at the theatre through Aug. 24.

“We stick those cards in...

Read More [...]

Young actors to perform �A Midsummer Night�s Dream�

2008-07-22

A special "youth only" preview of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by the Riverside Theatre’s Young People’s Company is set for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Riverside Theatre, 213 N. Gilbert St.

All youths under the age of 18 will be admitted for $5.

Public performances will be held July 24-26 at 7:30 p.m. and July 27 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $13 for adults and $10 for youth, available at the Riverside Theatre box office online or at (319) 338-7672.

One of Shakespeare’s most popular works, A Midsummer Night’s Dream follows young love into an enchanted forest. While Oberon tries to help love along, his not so able assistant Puck manages to confound the whole affair.

While the classic plot remains...

Read More [...]

Pentacrest movies series to feature 'Ghostbusters'

2008-07-21

The free Saturday Night Free Movie Series continues on the University of Iowa Pentacrest Saturday with music by Nate Jenkins at 7:30 p.m. followed by the 1984 supernatural comedy "Ghostbusters."

Bill Murray, Dan Akyroyd, Ernie Hudson and Harold Ramis star as "ghost exterminators" who investigate the strange happenings in a New York apartment and end up taking on an army of ghosts, demons and a menacing 112-foot Marshmallow Man.

Here is the schedule of movies and music for the remained of the summer:

Aug. 2: “Back to the Future” and music by Drew Morton

Aug. 9: “Cool Runnings” and music by Annie Savage and friends

Aug. 16: “Labyrinth” and music by Kevin “B.F.” Burt

Read More [...]