Taylor Bergen has been named executive director of CSPS, the Cedar Rapids arts organization formerly known as Legion Arts. Bergen had been serving as the interim director since October 2019 after co-founder F. John Herbert stepped down in late September 2019 after 28 years with the organization. Co-founder Mel Andringa retired a few months later […]
Legion Arts
Posted inCommunity/News
Taylor Bergen returns to Legion Arts as its interim director
After Taylor Bergen saw a show put on by Legion Arts at CSPS Hall in 2011, he decided he wanted to work for the Cedar Rapids arts organization. He called the next day to see if they were hiring. They weren’t. But a little over three months later, Bergen was hired as a program associate, and worked for Legion Arts for almost four years. Now, Bergen is back at CSPS. He was named interim director of Legion Arts on Wednesday.
Posted inCommunity/News
F. John Herbert, who helped transform the NewBo area and Iowa’s arts scene, steps down after leading Legion Arts for decades
Legion Arts co-founder F. John Herbert announced on Saturday he is stepping down as executive director of the Cedar Rapids nonprofit after 28 years. His resignation took effect on Sunday, Sept. 29.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Writers’ Workshop alumnus Kevin Gordon brings his poetry-fueled country blues to CSPS
Most reviews and interviews with Gordon mention that he spent time attending the Writer’s Workshop at the University of Iowa in the late ’80s getting his Masters in Poetry. But during this time he was also performing his music around eastern Iowa.
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Nellie McKay and her dog Bessie are coming to Cedar Rapids
When delightful East Coast songstress Nellie McKay makes a tour stop in Cedar Rapids this weekend, she won’t be alone. “She will be coming to Iowa, her first time in Iowa,” McKay said in a phone call of her travel partner, her beloved rescue dog Bessie. “She’s looking forward to lots of skips and rolls.”
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Five questions with: Cavan Hallman of Mirrorbox Theatre
The newest addition to the Eastern Iowa theater scene, Mirrorbox Theatre, opens its inaugural production this weekend. The play, Ike Holter’s “Exit Strategy,” runs Thursday, April 5 through Saturday, April 7 in the C Space at CSPS Hall in Cedar Rapids’ NewBo District.
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Desdemona redux: Emily Martin explores animation at CSPS
Book artist Emily Martin, whose work has been displayed across the country and the world, has turned her attention to a new medium for her exploration of William Shakespeare’s Othello through the words of the tragic Desdemona: animation.
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Interview: Folksinger Richard Shindell on his influences and his love of Cedar Rapids’ CSPS Hall
Songwriter, guitarist and folksinger Shindell returns to CSPS Hall on Wednesday night for a concert presented by Legion Arts. Tickets are still available — $18 in advance and $22 at the door — for the concert, which begins at 7 p.m. Shindell will be joined by Marc Shulman on electric guitar.
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CSPS Legion Arts-commissioned ‘Pang!’ premieres in Cedar Rapids, exploring poverty on stage
Pang! CSPS Hall — Friday, Oct. 20 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 21 at 4 and 8 p.m. Pang!, a production made up of three live radio plays about families struggling with hunger, will have its world premiere performances this weekend at CSPS Hall in the New Bohemia district of Cedar Rapids. Legion Arts, […]
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SPT Theatre celebrates 10 years of Tales from the Writers’ Room
The 10th season of Tales from the Writers’ Room kicks off, as it were, with 1st and 10, this Friday and Saturday, Sept. 22 and 23, at CSPS Hall. Performances, featuring sketch comedy, music and more, start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door.
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SHEL satisfies with strong sets at CSPS
No one needs to encourage the members of SHEL to come out of their shells. Legion Arts presented the band at CSPS in Cedar Rapids’ New Bo District on Saturday night (May 13), and SHEL pleased the crowd with two sets of music and funny, if sometimes awkward, banter.
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Mount Vernon’s Dan Bern to play two nights at CSPS Hall
Dan Bern CSPS Hall — Friday and Saturday, Dec. 9 and 10 at 8 p.m. Mount Vernon’s own Dan Bern settles in to CSPS Hall in Cedar Rapids this Friday and Saturday, Dec. 9 and 10, for a two-night stint of lyrical folk delight. Earlier this year, the extremely prolific Bern released Adderal Holiday, his […]
