Don McLean in concert
The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra will welcome iconic and award-winning singer/songwriter Don McLean for the Marsh Symphony on the Prairie at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the amphitheater at Conner Prairie Interactive History Park at 13400 Allisonville Road on the northeast side of Indianapolis.
The concerts, titled “40 Years of American Pie: An Evening with Don McLean,” will feature many of McLean's hit songs, such as “American Pie,” “Crying,” “And I Love You So,” “Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)” and “Castles in the Air,” a news release said.
Adult tickets are $22 in advance and $27 at the gate. Children's tickets (ages 2-12) are $11 and $13, respectively. Tickets may be purchased at any Marsh, MainStreet or O'Malia's supermarket location. Tickets also can be purchased by calling toll-free 1-800-366-8457 or at www.IndianapolisSymphony.org.
You can bring your own food and beverages (including alcohol), blankets and lawn chairs, or you can reserve a table for up to 10 people for $59, plus the ticket prices.
Indy’s Pepsi Coliseum gets makeover
The Indiana State Fair Commission announced it is preparing to start a $63 million renovation of the Pepsi Coliseum complex at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis. The project will be paid for through bonds payable with commission revenues, a news release said.
Built in 1939 as part of the New Deal's Works Progress Administration, the Coliseum needs extensive renovation to meet current event needs; improve operational efficiency; and become compliant with current building codes and the Americans with Disabilities Act, the news release said. Work will begin Oct. 29 and is scheduled to be completed in July 2014 — in time for that year's Indiana State Fair.
Plans call for the exterior of the Coliseum to be rejuvenated, but not changed, the news release said. The interior will be gutted and rebuilt with improvements including double-tiered seating, a new video scoreboard and a modern sound system. A video of the new-look Coliseum can be viewed at http://youtu.be/U2s-3A_bAs8.
The remodeled building will have about 9,000 seats, depending on seating configuration — about 1,000 more than currently, the news release said.
Pepsi Coliseum has been the site of some of Indianapolis' most memorable entertainment events, the news release said. The Beatles played their only Indiana show there in 1964. The building also is home to most of the city's hockey history and was the original home of the Indiana Pacers professional basketball team, who won three American Basketball Association championships while playing there.
