What’s up for Purdue Convos this season
Spider-Man, Mean Girls, Kronos Quartet’s final tour, Emmet Cohen, Grandmaster Flash … Purdue Convos lineup of Broadway, concerts, big events set for 2023-24. Plus, its Mosey and Wabash Riverfest day
Thanks to sponsor Stuart & Branigin for ongoing support of the Based in Lafayette reporting project.
WHAT’S UP FOR PURDUE CONVOS THIS SEASON
Purdue Convocations released its 2023-24 season performances Thursday, during an event at MatchBOX, a co-working studio in downtown Lafayette.
“Here we go, again,” Todd Wetzel, Purdue Convos executive director, said, as he worked the crowd ahead of rolling out an array of concerts, touring Broadway shows, lectures, plays and more coming to Purdue.
No better, straightforward introduction than that. Here goes with Convos’ 121st season:
West Lafayette Global Fest, Sept. 16, downtown West Lafayette. The festival, now in its 28th year, features food and entertainment from the cultures of those who live in West Lafayette. Headliners include Arabic flamenco jazz artist Farah Siraj and Cuban hip-hop act Telmary. Free.
Grandmaster Flash, Sept. 28, Loeb Playhouse. One of the innovators of beats and breaks, Grandmaster Flash ( “The Message,” “White Lines”) will give an audiovisual lecture about techniques and turntable styles that became the earliest moments of rap and hip hop. Free, with limited seating.
Briscoe, Oct. 12, Loeb Playhouse. Briscoe opened a sold-out show last season for Noah Kahan at Elliott Hall of Music. The folk rock duo gets a headlining gig this season at Loeb Playhouse. Here’s “The Well,” the band’s first single off its debut album, “West of It All.”
StairWELL: Art + Tech + Wellness, dates TBA in October, Third Street Student Success Corridor, Purdue’s campus. An interactive installation via a collection of Purdue experts and special guest musicians/composers/technologists known as Chromic Duo, it’s described by Convos this way: “Using a novel combination of art, technology, and clinical psychology, the StairWELL project will produce an interactive sculptural installation to create a sense of beauty, respite and play via an inventive user interface. Viewers become participants in an expressive journey that creates community while also delivering powerful supportive connections where they may be needed.”
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Live in Concert, Oct. 22, Elliott Hall of Music. A live orchestra, band and turntable accompany a screening of the Academy Award-winning animated film.
Mean Girls, Oct. 26, Elliott Hall of Music. Get in loser, we’re going to Elliott. It’s the Broadway version of the movie. You can’t sit with us … unless you get a ticket.
Humans 2.0 by Circa, Oct. 28, Loeb Playhouse. The Australian circus company brings its latest show.
Las Cafeteras present “Hasta la Muerte: A Day of the Dead Show,” Nov. 3, Loeb Playhouse. The Los Angeles based ensemble Las Cafeteras brings a show of dance, music and elaborate costumes.
Kronos Quartet: Five Decades Project, Nov. 9, Loeb Playhouse. The Grammy Award winning chamber group will pull pieces from its 50-year career as part of its farewell tour.
Johnny Cash: The Official Concert Experience, Nov. 10, Loeb Playhouse. Archival footage of the country music legend is put with a live band for this show.
Emmet Cohen Trio & Friends, Nov. 18, Loeb Playhouse. Cohen has been making stops at Purdue and Greater Lafayette since 2019. The jazz pianist returns on the strength of his “Live from Emmet’s Place” Monday night livestreams.
Call of the Wild, Nov. 19, Loeb Playhouse. A new take on the Jack London classic, told by actor Noel Gaulin and set against multimedia displays on three large screens.
Dance Theatre of Harlem, Jan. 16, Elliott Hall of Music. The performance is timed for Martin Luther King Day. Tickets are free.
Lakecia Benjamin and Phoenix, Jan. 19, Loeb Playhouse. The alto sax player and her band will open the Purdue Jazz Festival.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Actors From the London Stage, Feb. 2-3, Fowler Hall. Five actors, playing multiple roles with minimal props and costumes, produce the Shakespeare play.
Counterpoint, Conrad Tao and Caleb Teicher, Feb. 8, Loeb Playhouse. The duo of classical pianist Conrad Tao and tap dancer/choreographer Caleb Teicher take on works of Bach, Mozart, Brahms and Gershwin.
Hairspray, Feb. 10, Elliott Hall of Music. This is the Broadway version of the hit movie. Maybe not Divine, but you get the drift.
TEDxPurdueU: Recurrence, Feb. 17, Loeb Playhouse. The annual TEDxPurdueU collection of 18-minute talks this year riffs on the theme of recurrence.
Melissa White and Pallavi Mahidhara, Feb. 23, Loeb Playhouse. Violinist Melissa White, concertmaster of Recollective Orchestra, the first all-Black orchestra to perform at the Hollywood Bowl, leads a chamber concert featuring pianist Pallavi Mahidhara.
The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System, Feb. 25, Loeb Playhouse. Mrs. Frizzle gets behind the wheel in a stage production of the classic animated show.
Come From Away, April 3, Elliott Hall of Music. The musical covers the true story of a small town in Newfoundland that opened their homes to 7,000 stranded travelers after the 9/11 attacks.
Shrek The Musical, April 11, Elliott Hall of Music. A Tony Award winning musical based on the popular movie.
For tickets: Tickets for all shows went on sale Thursday, July 6. They’re available at convocations.org/tickets, by phone at (765) 494-3933, or at the Stewart Center Box Office on campus, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays during Purdue’s summer schedule.
IT’S A MOSEY SATURDAY
Happy Mosey Down Main Street day to all who celebrate. The monthly downtown Lafayette festival runs from 6-11 p.m. Saturday on Main Street, between Sixth and 11th streets. Here’s a handy online map the Mosey folks have going this year (very helpful):
Here’s the Mosey entertainment schedule:
Grand Opening: 6 p.m. Tippecanoe Shrine Club Model T Parade
First Farmers Bank Stage, Sixth and Main
6 p.m.: Dopplepopolis
7:20 p.m.: Brian Hanrahan
8:40 p.m.: Christopher Gipson Band
10 p.m.: Frank Muffin
Q106.7 Stage, Eighth and Main
6 p.m.: Ben Shapell
7:20 p.m.: Blackheart Gypsy
8:40 p.m.: Scratch Thing
10 p.m.: The Unusual Suspects
9th and Main
7-9 p.m.: Oasis Belly Dancing Troupe
East End Stage, 11th and Main
6 p.m.: WyldSyde
7:20 p.m.: Wrath or Mercy
8:40 p.m.: The Infringements
10 p.m.: Blues Berry Bones
WABASH RIVERFEST, TOO
It’s also Wabash Riverfest day. Here’s a look, in case you missed it, via correspondent Tim Brouk in this week’s Tim’s Picks feature in Based in Lafayette:
Wabash Riverfest, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, July 8, Tapawingo Park, West Lafayette — The annual celebration of all things Wabash River will flow with canoe racing, live music, art and food. Our beloved body of water is well worth celebrating. If you don’t believe me or the Riverfest faithful, just listen to Johnny Cash. Riverfest 2023 will also feature conservation exhibits and education, and you don’t have to be a canoe race participant to navigate the mighty Wabash. Float trips for the public will be made available in provided rafts, canoes or BYOFD (bring your own floatation device). These trips will start at Davis Ferry Park and will drop you off at the Tapawingo Park festivities. More adventure awaits on the shore with a 32-foot climbing wall. Like Cash crooned, “If It Wasn’t for the Wabash River,” Lafayette-West Lafayette would not be what is today.
OTHER READS …
Associated Press reporter Larry Neumeister had the story about federal prosecutors recommending that Steve Buyer, a former Republican congressman from Monticello now living in Noblesville, should pay nearly $1.4 million to cover the legal bills of companies forced to incur expenses when he was prosecuted on insider trading charges. Buyer’s attorney said this week it’s an exorbitant amount to demand from a man already suffering financially, according to Neumeister’s report. Buyer is scheduled to be sentenced on July 31. Here’s more from Neumeister on Buyer’s situation: “Prosecutors seek $1.4M in restitution from former congressman.”
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita went after Target this week, saying the retailer’s recent Pride Month displays of merchandise were potential violations of state laws protecting children and safeguarding parental rights. In his letter to Target, signed by a handful of attorneys general from other states, Rokita wrote: “Our concerns entail the company’s promotion and sale of potentially harmful products to minors, related potential interference with parental authority in matters of sex and gender identity, and possible violation of fiduciary duties by the company’s directors and officers.” He wrote that state child-protection laws “penalize the ‘sale or distribution . . . of obscene matter.’” It’s the latest broadside on LGBTQ matters from Rokita. Reporter Marissa Meador had this in the Indiana Capital Chronicle, looking at Rokita’s move, Target’s wait-what reaction and what (if any) authority the attorney general has in the matter: “Rokita criticizes Target for Pride merchandise, alleges breach of duty to shareholders.”
Thanks, again, to Stuart & Branigin for sponsorship help with today’s edition.
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING BASED IN LAFAYETTE, AN INDEPENDENT, LOCAL REPORTING PROJECT. FREE AND FULL-RIDE SUBSCRIPTION OPTIONS ARE READY FOR YOU HERE.
Tips, story ideas? I’m at davebangert1@gmail.com. Like and follow Based in Lafayette on Facebook: Based in Lafayette
I don’t really understand where Rokita is going with his reasons in the letter to Target. If there is no obscenities on the clothing, then what’s the issue. Sure he (and many others) disagree with them targeting clothing for pride month, but just having clothes supporting pride isn’t obscene.
He also says they are hurting their stock price by ignoring shareholders, so it’s their company they can do that if they want. It’s not the government’s responsibility to make sure companies follow best practices to make profits.