It was 52 years ago this month that a scrappy, upstart little sci-fi program premiered on NBC. In the captain’s chair of the NCC-1701, also known as the USS Enterprise, sat a Canadian, classically trained Shakespearean actor with only a few films, a couple of Broadway credits and a handful of one-off television spots to his name stateside. He was well-reviewed but hardly a household name.
A-List
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Elizabeth Moen’s moment
While in France trying to make friends, a 15-year-old Elizabeth Moen buried a language barrier beneath guitar chords and a rising voice. She returned to the United States with budding spirit and, after five more years, played her first show — an open mic at The Mill. At 21, she wrote her first original song. Moen has since become a staple of Iowa City’s music scene, cementing a place in the hearts of local music lovers that, at 24, is still surreal for her to hold.
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Jane Elliott, the teacher behind the Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes exercise, is still fighting
Jane Elliott, 85, has spoken out against racism since April 5, 1968, the day after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in Memphis, Tennessee. Elliott worked as a third grade teacher in an all-white classroom in Riceville, Iowa. She had considered performing the experiment before, but decided she needed to enact it that Tuesday. She divided her class into two groups, treating them differently based on the color of their eyes — the birth of her famous Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes exercise.
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A-list: Girls Rock! camp bolsters confidence, showcases top local bands
Local bands take the stage at Trumpet Blossom on Feb. 25 at 6:45 p.m. to raise money for Girls Rock! Iowa City, a 501(c)(3) non-profit that teaches female, gender non-conforming and trans kids ages 8-16 how to rock and roll. In addition to the benefit’s seven-band lineup, representatives of Girls Rock! Iowa City will provide […]
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A:List – Reading: Ayana Mathis Englert Theatre Feb. 25.
New York Times best selling author Ayana Mathis will be reading from her debut novel, The Twelve Tribes of Hattie (Knopf, 2012), at the Englert Theater on Feb. 25. The reading will be presented by Prairie Lights Books. Mathis is currently a visiting professor at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she graduated with an MFA in Fiction. Her novel has received wide recognition, first as the winner of the 2012 Michener Copernicus Fellowship and then as the second book selection by Oprah’s Book Club 2.0. Critic Michiko Kakutani of the New York Times called the novel “astonishingly powerful,” and echoed Oprah’s comparison of Mathis’s work to that of Toni Morrison.
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A-List: Mardi Gras at Augusta – Feb. 12
Mardi Gras Celebration Feb. 12 I 5 p.m. $40 Augusta Restaurant (101 S. Augusta Ave Oxford, IA) After being displaced by Hurricane Katrina, Ben and Jeri Halperin moved to Iowa and opened Augusta Restaurant in Oxford Iowa. Receiving culinary training as staff for celebrity chefs Susan Spicer (Bayona, HBO’s Treme, Bravo’s Top Chef) and Gerard Meras (Brennans), they serve up a variety […]
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A-List: The Seagull Society: SAVED! Open-Mic Storytelling Event Jan. 25
The Seagull Society: SAVED! Open-Mic Storytelling Event Jan. 25 | 8 p.m. Public Space One (129 E. Washington) Iowa City’s iconic Seagull Society presents another night of open mic, pull-no-punches storytelling based around the theme SAVED! “What saved you?” the group asks on its Facebook event page, “The light? The bell? The goalie?” Join this […]
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A-List: The Work of Art: Business Skills for Artists – CSPS Hall, Cedar Rapids
The Work of Art: Business Skills for Artists January 18 – 19 (cont. in Feb & Mar.) CSPS Hall, Cedar Rapids Think you can draw? Want to go pro? This month, Legion Arts in Cedar Rapids will begin hosting a series of workshops for aspiring artists of all disciplines. Whether you are a writer, performer or […]
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A-List: The Mill’s 50th Anniversary
The Mill 50th Anniversary Dec. 14-16 Friday: David Zollo & the Body Electric w. Brooks Strause, Alexis Stevens, Doug Nye 8:00 p.m. | $10/12 Saturday: Greg Brown w. Dave Moore 8:00 p.m. | $30/35 Sunday: Brunch show with The Awful Purdies and Milk & Eggs 12:00 p.m. | $15 In 1962 Keith Dempster opened […]
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A-List: God-Des & She – Gabes Dec. 4
God-Des & She w/ I.C. Kings | Gabe’s | Dec. 4 8 p.m. | $8/$12 God-Des & She (“God-Des” as in “goddess”) combines the spirited rap lyrics of God-Des with the soulful vibrato of She to create a proud-to-be-me vibe of love and happiness. She’s astounding vocals can reach the emotional heights of those of […]
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A – List: Culinary Ride – Sunday, Sept. 16
Culinary Ride – Sunday, Sept. 16, 8 a.m. If RAGBRAI is the established mid-summer bicycle event of Iowa–the mature elder–the Culinary Ride is the baby brother trailing along at summer’s end. The Culinary Ride pairs long-distance cycling with locavore ethics for a pleasant way to enjoy a Sunday. For those who register, Sunday, Sept. 16 […]
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A-List: Insects: A Collection in Multiple Dimensions
Insects: A Collection in Multiple Dimensions By Kevin Chamberlain Old Capitol Museum Open May through July | FREE We’ve all been to museums featuring bug collections, but the current exhibit in the Old Capital Museum takes the idea a step further. University of Iowa graduate student, Kevin Chamberlain is a third-year MFA candidate with a […]
