RELATED POSTS

• Q&A: Norbert Krapf, poet

A free screening of the greatest cycling movie ever, "Breaking Away," will be showing at Major Taylor Velodrome on July 26th. (Handout photo)

Watch performance vignettes at Harrison Center for the Arts on July 25th as part of FringeFriday. (Charlie Nye / The Indianapolis Star).

Norbert Krapf (pictured) will be joined by jazz pianist Monika Herzig, as well as local friends of lyrical verse at the Poet Laureate Party. (Danese Kenon / The Star)

The British baroque group Red Priest will perform July 26 and 27 at the Frank & Katrina Basile Theater at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center. (Photo provided by Festival Music Society)

A free screening of the greatest cycling movie ever, "Breaking Away," will be showing at Major Taylor Velodrome on July 26th. (Handout photo)

1. Hot Summer Nights Racing -- "Breaking Away"

5 to 9:30 p.m. July 26, free, Major Taylor Velodrome, Skate & BMX Park, 3649 Cold Spring Road, (317) 327-VELO.

Who needs the Tour de France when you have the Major Taylor Velodrome, one of the cycling world's great venues? Cheer as some of the Midwest's best cyclists compete. Then stay for a free screening of the greatest cycling movie ever, "Breaking Away." Everyone involved in making the film has been invited to the celebration, so be sure to tell the various extras that they look even better today than they did 30 years ago.

2. Red Priest

7:30 p.m. July 26 and 27, $22, Frank & Katrina Basile Theater at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center, 450 W. Ohio St. www.emindy.org

The rumor is false that the Rolling Stones opened for Handel 250 years ago. On the other hand, the contemporary group Red Priest has been called "the Rolling Stones of Baroque music." With its name taken from red-headed Antonio Vivaldi's nickname, Red Priest brings its exquisite musicianship and flamboyance to the History Center for two different shows. Saturday's "Pirates of the Baroque: The Second Voyage" highlights early composers, borrowing from one another in ways we would consider plagiarism or piracy today. Sunday, the group explores Bach's use of dance rhythms in "Johann, I'm Only Dancing" (shout-out to David Bowie).

3. Poet Laureate Party

5:30 p.m. July 27, free, American Cabaret Theatre, 401 E. Michigan St., www.actindy.org

How often do you get invited to a Poet Laureate Party? Norbert Krapf had a distinguished 34-year career as an English professor in New York. But it was only after he retired from academia and returned to his native Indiana that Krapf blossomed as a poet. He now is Indiana's poet laureate, charged with increasing Hoosiers' awareness of the power of poetry. At his party, Krapf will be joined by his frequent collaborator, jazz pianist Monika Herzig, as well as local friends of lyrical verse -- and free food.

4. "Murderers"

7 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, through Aug. 16, $15 to $25, Phoenix Theatre; 749 N. Park Ave., www.phoenixtheatre.org

Who's behind that series of mysterious, unnatural deaths at a ritzy Florida retirement center? See "Murderers," the Jeffrey Hatcher play at the Phoenix, to learn whether it's Lucy, whose husband has a wandering eye; Minka, the overly curious receptionist; or Gerald, who wants to protect his family fortune. The cast features Gayle Steigerwald, Dawn Glover and Shane Chuvalas. "Murderers" replaces "Love Person," now slated for next season.

5. FringeFriday

5:30 p.m. July 25, free, Harrison Center for the Arts, 1505 N. Delaware St. www.indyfringe.org/freeevents.php

The Fringe Festival is just a month away, so it's time to start getting your sense of whimsy in shape. Stretch your imagination. Pump some irony! The place to start your cathartic calisthenics is FringeFriday. You're invited to a free barbecue to honor IndyFringe volunteers and backers. Bring a lawn chair and watch performance vignettes.