Friday flashback

Published June 23, 2006

Way down upon the Ohio River in the 1960s, crowds came to theater performances on the Showboat Majestic.

In 1966, Bill Kinzer directed Pat Pell, Alice Rosengard, Kevin Kline, Candy Tolles and Lolly Harrisin in the production of <i>The Barker</i>. Popular film actor Kevin Kline studied acting at IU Bloomington in the 1960s. That's him in the arms of his fellow actors.
IU Home Pages/IU News Bureau archive
In 1966, Bill Kinzer directed Pat Pell, Alice Rosengard, Kevin Kline, Candy Tolles and Lolly Harrisin in the production of The Barker. Popular film actor Kevin Kline studied acting at IU Bloomington in the 1960s. That's him in the arms of his fellow actors.

Information on Kline's career is available at:http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000177/

The <i>Showboat Majestic</i> was a venue for performances along the Ohio River for six years.
IU Home Pages/IU News Bureau archive
The Showboat Majestic was a venue for performances along the Ohio River for six years.

Lee Norvell, who joined the IU faculty in 1925, expanded theater curriculum and produced plays. During his career, he became active in theater on the national level and built the theater program at IU Bloomington into one of the best in the nation. He augmented the program by founding the Brown County Playhouse in 1949 and the Showboat Majestic in 1959. The riverboat playhouse operated on the Ohio River for six years. The Brown County Playhouse flourishes today.

Norvelle was chairman of IU’s Department of Speech and Theater, now the Department of Theatre and Drama. In the 1930s and 1940s, Norvelle was instrumental in introducing classes in broadcasting. The Department of Telecommunications is a direct descendent of these courses.

The Department of Telecommunications awards Lee Norvelle scholarships in his honor. The recipients are chosen on the basis of scholarship, creative ability, financial need, and potential for a successful career in telecommunications. http://www.indiana.edu/~telecom/scholarships.html

Summer entertainment opportunities in 2006:

If you are looking for theatre opportunities in the Bloomington area this summer, consider the Brown County Playhouse. The playhouse calendar is available at:http://www.theatre.indiana.edu/bcplay.html

The Jacobs School of Music summer music festival runs through Aug. 12, and the chamber music series plays through July 13. For the Jacobs School of Music summer events calendar, go to: http://music.indiana.edu/events/

For IUPUI and Indianapolis events, go to events@IUPUI: http://events.iupui.edu/arts/theatre.html

For the rest of the IU campuses, click on the specific campus and search for events: http://www.indiana.edu/