Imagine the hustle and bustle going on behind the curtain during a play — the stage manager barking orders, actors rapidly changing costumes, stagehands shuttling on and off the set, and all of the other...

In the style of his favorite authors, Mason Jennings likes to keep his music simple. Like Cormac McCarthy and Nicole Krauss (who penned his favorite book, A History of Love), Jennings subscribes to a “less...

Getting a degree in music is often seen as a the pathway to becoming a music teacher. But for Afro-beat/rock band Rubblebucket Orchestra, getting a musical education was key to success as a rock band. With...

In the basement of a house on Lucas Street, three longtime friends rehearse for an upcoming show at venue they are quite familiar with. After a couple hours of playing their newest tunes, the three seem...

Gabriel Houck and Xu Xi don’t have much in common. Born in different hemispheres (Houck in the United States and Xu in Hong Kong) and interested in different aspects of humanity, it’s difficult to...

In 1974, Joe Price was painting the flagpole at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Iowa City. He was nearly one-third of the way done when the height made him sick. Fed up with his day job, he climbed...

They didn’t have to travel far to find what they were looking for. The members of She Swings, She Sways didn’t even have to leave Iowa. The Ottumwa-based band will perform at noon on Friday at Java...

Though the name Foxy Shazam would be a perfect title for a blaxploitation film, five guys from Ohio think it’s also fitting for their own special brand of piano-driven punk. “[Foxy Shazam] was formed...

A camera focuses on one tiny metal and concrete shack. It pulls away to reveal more huts, seemingly stacked on top of each other. One more zoom out and the audience is presented with the vast underworld...

“Shagging,” “boinking,” “boffing,” and “fuckery” may not be words one conjures up when thinking about Shakespeare’s tragedy King Lear, but they have their places in comic novelist Christopher...

** out of ***** Hi, my name is Rachael, and I’m a shopaholic. What? Now they have shopaholics-anonymous meetings? Well, I don’t know about the existence of said groups in reality, but they are oddly...

** out of ***** Friday the 13th is a collection of ridiculousness. This movie seems to demand snark. During several moments, assorted whispers and giggles could be heard throughout the theater. Let’s...