Around the arts

Blast tickets now on sale\nBlast!, a musical experience with a novel twist, will be performed Sept. 15 and 16 at the IU Auditorium; tickets are now on sale.\nThe performance is billed as "ranging from classical to the blues, jazz, rock and roll and techno-pop," and hails from Bloomington's own Star of Indiana.\nThe performances are at 8 p.m. Sept. 15, and at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Sept. 16. Tickets are $20, $25, $30, $40 and $50. Students receive a $10 discount on the $20 to $40 tickets. Purchases can be made at the IU Auditorium box office or Ticketmaster.\nRemaining IU Auditorium tickets now on sale\nRemaining tickets for the IU Auditorium 2000-2001 season will go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday. The season features well-known musicals such as "Show Boat," "Jekyll & Hyde" and "Les Miserables," as well as performances by Ray Charles and Debbie Reynolds. \nTickets are available at the IU Auditorium box office or Ticketmaster.\nPhoenix Theatre opens with \'Snakebit\'\nThe Phoenix Theatre in Indianapolis will open its season with "Snakebit," a play by David Marshall Grant. \nThe play was listed as one of the top ten plays of 1999 by Time and is billed as a "comic-drama about a trio of smart and smart-alecky friends trying to shift the course of their lives," according to a press release.\nTickets are available by calling the box office at (317) 635-PLAY.\nIndy Symphony gala opening Sunday\nThe Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra will open its season at 6 p.m. Sunday at the Hilbert Circle Theater in Indianapolis.\nMusic director Raymond Leppard is celebrating his 14th and final season with the ISO. He welcomes the appearance of internationally renowned mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, according to a press release.\nTickets are $12.50 for students, $30, $45 and $55. They are available by calling (317) 639-4300, or 800 366-8457, or online at www.indyorch.org.