IU Auditorium debuts new season lineup

The 2005-2006 IU Auditorium season will feature comedy for the college crowd, steamy musicals for adults, and family-oriented shows for the kids. Big bands and one-man shows highlight the eclectic upcoming season, which will run from September to April.\n"You can tell that students are back in town," IU Auditorium Director Doug Booher said. "It's not just the cars on the street; ticket sales are reflecting that (too)."\nThe season opens Sept. 17 with David Spade, the standup comedian revered by fans as "the master of put-down." Spade gained fame from his years on sitcoms and Saturday Night Live, where his "Hollywood Minute" set the tone for his \ncareer as a smart-aleck.\nRenowned Broadway shows highlight the season with "Thoroughly Modern Millie," winner of six Tony Awards, coming Feb. 8 and 9, and "Chicago," which boasts Tony Awards and an Academy Award-winning film adaptation, runs Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.\n"The Producers," originally slated for this season, was taken out of the lineup so director Mel Brooks could oversee the production of a film version.\nThe show with the longest stay at IU this season will be "Mamma Mia!," which tells the story of a woman's search for her real father through the music of 1970s supergroup ABBA. The production, which will run for a full week in New York, Las Vegas and Bloomington, shows that IU's artistic atmosphere has a worldwide appeal, Booher said.\n"It shows that Bloomington students have a chance to see things other students don't get to see," Booher said.\nKeeping in line with an eclectic lineup, the Auditorium presents The Count Basie Orchestra Sept. 30. Founded more than 60 years ago, the group has won the most Grammy Awards of any big band.\nFollowing in the footsteps of such unique theatrical events as "Stomp!," the Auditorium will present "Blast!," a combination of drum and bugle rhythms. Started locally by the Star of Indiana drum and bugle corps, the show won the Tony Award for best theatrical event in 2001.\nThe programs come after the Auditorium received feedback from newsletter subscribers, who chose programs that appealed to their tastes from a list last November. More than 70 percent of recipients answered the questionnaire, Booher said\n"For the new season, we wanted to target programs students are interested in," Booher said. "We want to present a wide selection of shows -- cultural programming, classical programming (and) Broadway shows."\nTickets are still available for all shows, but acts that resound with college crowds, including Spade, National Public Radio's Ira Glass, "Blast!" and "Chicago," could sell out quickly. Also, shows featuring Glass, who has developed a cult following, and Urban Bush Women, which tells the story of the African-American experience through modern dance, could also become bigger sellers than anticipated, Booher said.\nAs in previous years, IU students can receive discounts for up to 50 percent on all shows. The Auditorium also offers students the opportunity to exchange tickets for any two shows with at least 48 hours notice.\n"I was planning on going to 'Chicago' anyway," first-year graduate student Mandy Carmichael said. "I'm glad they're giving us good discounts"