I first met Perry standing in front of the bar at The Mill (R.I.P.). He was memorable for his manner: he pays attention, asks probing questions, looks you in the eye and seems to actually care about what you say. At the time he had a band, The LonelyHearts, and was working on an MFA in […]
Hancher
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With ‘Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat,’ chef Samin Nosrat boiled cooking down to its elements. At Hancher — and with her new book — she reflects on why we set a table in the first place
If there’s anything we all could use at the end of 2025, it’s comforting food with good company. Helping patrons get into the holiday feasting mindset, Hancher Auditorium hosted a conversation with acclaimed chef and author Samin Nosrat and Iowa City’s own Carmen Maria Machado on Nov. 13. The auditorium, buzzing with food enthusiasts of […]
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Review: Sharon Van Etten confirms she’s a witch leaning towards the light at Iowa City’s Infinite Dream fest
Sharon Van Etten wants to look into your eyes.
I know because she looked in mine when she came to Iowa City to play the first show of her US tour earlier this month. Before she took the stage at the Infinite Dream Festival with her band The Attachment Theory, she joined Nightbitch author Rachel Yoder in conversation at the Old Capitol.
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Review: The Acting Company stages August Wilson’s ‘Two Trains Running’ — set in a 1969 diner — with cinematic precision
The Acting Company’s recent production of August Wilson’s Two Trains Running, presented by Hancher Auditorium in collaboration with Riverside and the Englert Theatre and performed on the latter’s stage March 28 and 29, is a solid and heartfelt rendition of one of Wilson’s most meditative plays.
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Review: The road to Hell runs through Hancher for ‘Hadestown,’ a grim but crackling musical tragedy
A haunting hymn to love, sacrifice and the inescapable grip of fate, Anaïs Mitchell’s Hadestown arrived at Hancher Auditorium with all the mythic grandness one would expect from a Tony Award-winning musical — though the production occasionally wrestled with the very myth it sought to reimagine. From the moment the orchestra’s brooding, blues-infused tones seeped into the […]
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Caleb Rainey and Lisa Roberts on getting ‘the leader of this generation’s spoken word’ for Mic Check Poetry Fest
The 2024 Mic Check Poetry Fest, billed as a two-day celebration of spoken word and its power to bear witness, create community and inspire change, kicks off Friday night with a showcase featuring some of the biggest names in the spoken word landscape. Little Village talked with festival organizers Caleb Rainey (recent Iowa Authors Award […]
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‘It feels like we are one hive’: 100 percussionists fill City Park with sound in performance of ‘Inuksuit’
The sky overhead City Park in Iowa City was clear, a dome of deep blue. Under that sky, more than 100 musicians arranged in concentric circles around conductor Steven Schick, their legs folded in lotus positions. Schick stood up and brought a sea shell to his mouth. The sound was almost imperceptible, only the friction […]
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Photo Gallery: Y La Bamba at Hancher
Y La Bamba, an electric indie folk pop band from Portland, performed for Club Hancher on Friday, March 22. Led by Luz Elena Mendoza, a singer-songwriter, guitarist, and first generation Mexican American, the group’s sound has been described as “psychedelia-dappled dream pop” that incorporates “south-of-the-border rhythms and intricate guitar work,” according to The Boston Globe. […]
Posted inEastern Iowa Arts & Entertainment
Hancher to debut Infinite Dream Festival this fall — two weeks of music, conversation and a spaced-out art installation
Infinite Dream Festival, a new two-week, multidisciplinary festival will debut in Iowa City this October, organizers announced Wednesday. The festival is a collaborative effort between the University of Iowa’s Hancher Auditorium and the Office of Performing Arts and Engagement. Infinite Dream will include orchestral, jazz and alternative music; a conversation with Iowa Writers’ Workshop alums […]
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With a call for ‘fresh eyes,’ Chuck Swanson announces retirement from Hancher
In a heart-festooned shirt, with red paper hearts adorning the wall behind him, Hancher Auditorium executive director Chuck Swanson announced his retirement to members of the Hancher Partners program via a Valentine’s-themed video emailed out early Tuesday morning. “I really want the best for Hancher; I really love this place,” he said, discussing the hardships […]
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The Actors’ Gang brings the huddled masses to Hancher, Tim Robbins talks mythic courage and national identity
“… cries she / With silent lips. ‘Give me your tired, your poor, / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free …’” — “The New Colossus,” Emma Lazarus The New Colossus, directed and co-written by Academy Award-winning actor, Tim Robbins, was created in collaboration with the Actors’ Gang, the 39-year-old, Los Angeles-based company where he […]
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‘Kids, let’s face it — they can be a tough audience’: Hancher to kick-off youth programming with Gina Chavez
Musician Gina Chavez is a study in synthesis. In a story familiar to many multi-ethnic Americans, she didn’t always have meaning or identity convenient to her. But she has made a life and a career of creating meaning, of pulling disparate elements in her life into communion with each other. “I didn’t grow up speaking Spanish,” Chavez said
