http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/ Cincinnati Ballet celebrates 45 years with its audience-picked Greatest Hits From the glut of reality shows and the Peoples’ Choice Awards to blogging and Twittering, now more than ever audience members feel entitled to voice their opinions. ]]> Cincinnati Ballet presents a faithful re-creation of Twyla Tharp's 'Sinatra Suite' Following last season's 'Baker's Dozen,' Cincinnati Ballet again presents a piece choreographed by Twyla Tharp and restaged by veteran Tharp company member Shelley Washington. This time it's 'Sinatra Suite' from 1984, a series of four duets and a solo set to well-known Sinatra standards. The program also features new works from the Ballet's Associate Artistic Director Devon Carney and New York City-based choreographer Jessica Lang alongside Balanchine's 'Tarantella.']]> Eight visions with a local connection merge on stage Small Streams-2, the newest offering from Cincinnati Choreographers’ Collective this weekend at Contemporary Dance Theater’s College Hill Dance Hall, features the diverse work of eight highly regarded choreographers in two full-length evening performances.]]> Maureen Fleming explores archetypes and universal questions through movement Transcendent, spellbinding and dreamlike could all describe Maureen Fleming’s solo performances. But none would precisely capture one’s response to experiencing her work. Though presented as part of Contemporary Dance Theater’s Guest Artist series, Fleming’s mesmerizing choreography offers a world apart from general expectations of dance.]]> Divine Performing Arts tour offers a fascinating home away from home As the world grows smaller in the wake of global media, China is hot. The recent Olympic Games in Beijing underscored the country's emerging presence on the world stage. Locally, the Cincinnati Art Museum's current exhibition, 'China Design Now,' showcases contemporary design work, from architecture and fashion to pop (sub)culture, graphic design and more. And now the world tour of Divine Performing Arts brings some of the country's ancient artistic forms (dance, music and elaborate set visuals) to Music Hall on Dec. 23.]]> Cincinnati Ballet celebrates 45 years with its audience-picked Greatest Hits From the glut of reality shows and the Peoples’ Choice Awards to blogging and Twittering, now more than ever audience members feel entitled to voice their opinions. ]]> The Quentin Tarantino of letters discusses his first novel The guy can talk. Words fly from his mouth at an anxious, wildly accelerated rate, which is ironic given that his writing is distinct for its clear, razor-sharp voice. Chuck Klosterman's hilarious and oddly touching Heavy Metal memoir 'Fargo Rock City' catapulted him from unknown newspaper journalist to Spin magazine staff writer seemingly overnight.]]> Packer seeks to understand the world through his writing The subtitle of the Mercantile Library's lecture series is "Writing to Change the World." Few people embody that sentiment better than George Packer. Currently a staff writer for The New Yorker, he's been doing exactly that in various books, essays and articles over the last two decades.]]> David Kamp discusses his obsession with food culture David Kamp is obsessed with food. His popular 2006 book, 'The United States of Arugula,' is the culmination of this obsession, investigating "how food in America got better and how it hopped the fence from the ghettos of home economics and snobby gourmandism to the expansive realm of popular culture."]]> A look into the imaginative world of authorguy Christopher Moore It's typically part of my evening routine to post up in my apartment and totally unplug from reality by delving into a world of drugs, sex, ninjas, vampires and man-eating demons. No, I'm not suggesting that eating psychedelic mushrooms is one of my nightly endeavors, but rather indulging in the imaginative world that authorguy Christopher Moore creates in his bizarre, hilarious and consistently original novels. ]]> Author Steve Lopez puts a human face on mental illness Steve Lopez, a busy human-interest columnist for The Los Angeles Times, was walking back to his downtown office some years ago when he spotted a homeless man on a street corner who was dressed in rags and playing Beethoven on a battered violin. Lopez slowly got to know him and wrote a series of popular columns that turned into a book last year, 'The Soloist,' as well as a movie starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx that will be released in April. ]]> The Quentin Tarantino of letters discusses his first novel The guy can talk. Words fly from his mouth at an anxious, wildly accelerated rate, which is ironic given that his writing is distinct for its clear, razor-sharp voice. Chuck Klosterman's hilarious and oddly touching Heavy Metal memoir 'Fargo Rock City' catapulted him from unknown newspaper journalist to Spin magazine staff writer seemingly overnight.]]> Jacques Attali - Arcade Publishing The good news about Jacques Attali’s latest literary work is that in painting a startling and timely picture of humanity’s downward spiral, the author does not mince words or cop to his own smarts — that’s no small feat for a world-renowned economist, one that is especially impressive considering his counterparts’ failure to deliver even the broadest short-term fiscal projections without confounding CNN viewers on a nightly basis. ]]> Patrick Dewitt The book jacket states Ablutions is Patrick deWitt’s first novel but it’s really, as the subtitle suggests, notes for a novel — notes made by a nameless fictional bartender working at a down-and-out Hollywood dive. Throughout, we’re introduced to a variety of characters who are patrons of the bar, such as Curtis — a disconsolate man with a law-enforcement fetish.]]> Mark Harris (Penguin) The most historic Academy Awards ceremony might well be the one in 1968. The Oscars that year — for the best picture of 1967 — were, in their way, as revealing about the changes sweeping America as the Chicago Democratic Convention. The nominees were two radical takes on American culture, Bonnie and Clyde and The Graduate, as well as Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night and Doctor Dolittle.]]> Charlie Huston (Ballantine Books) Charlie Huston’s latest work of fiction is sort of like Hardcore music and movies that feature martial artists: It reeks of “dude.” Like other would-be noir writers, Huston can’t negotiate the fine line between the genre’s trademark kitsch and overt, meathead drama. The book follows Web Goodhue — a snarky former schoolteacher haunted by a past that’s rendered him traumatized and unemployed.]]> Craig Yoe, Editor (Running Press) Founded in 1933 by Hugo Gernsback, 'Sexology' is said to be the first sex-related magazine to achieve widespread (relatively speaking) circulation in the United States. Not familiar? You're not alone.]]> Cynthia Saltzman (Viking) We go to our American art museums and dutifully pass the Old Masters' paintings, nonchalant about them being on display here rather than Italy, Spain, Germany, England, France, Netherlands or the other European countries where those great painters lived centuries ago. ]]> Curtis Sittenfeld (Random House) Earlier this year, I went to my cousin's wedding. It was a seriously Republican crowd. The only Democrat I met all weekend used to babysit the Bush twins. At a bridal luncheon given by a friend of the family well into her sixties, I was surprised to find a copy of Cincinnati native Curtis Sittenfeld's Prep. I was even more surprised to hear the hostess had read and enjoyed it. ]]> Pioneer succeeded as a 19th-century 'sculptor of women' At the turn of the 20th Century, when a woman's most acceptable occupation was motherhood, Bessie Potter Vonnoh succeeded professionally as a sculptor, flouting convention by focusing on a career instead of raising children. Her success as an independent working artist rested on subject matter that supported traditional notions of women, which makes the Cincinnati Art Museum's current exhibition of her work all the more fascinating. ]]> Prairie Gallery offers magic and manipulations without a lens The ancient device known as a camera obscura (from the Latin for "veiled chamber") was an indispensable art-making tool for centuries. A new exhibition at Northside's Prairie Gallery tries to continue its relevance for contemporary artists.]]> Chasing Anri Sala's echoes at the CAC Anri Sala's solo exhibition fills two floors of the Contemporary Arts Center with sound, light and tactile objects. One work in particular confuses and simultaneously conflates the others. It's a small kinetic sculpture: a pair of hands sheathed in purple latex gloves, index fingers pointing toward each other, revolving slowly around an axis.]]> Carl Solway Gallery displays a likable tribute to Merce Cunningham's modern artistic vision There's much to say about legendary modern dancer/choreographer Merce Cunningham, but above all he's a well-rounded, thoroughly modern guy. Carl Solway Gallery is hosting 'A Tribute to Merce Cunningham in His 90th Year,' a smallish but worthy assembly of Cunningham's drawings, photos of the artist and in-depth documentaries shown on flat screens. ]]> Cincinnati Art Museum highlights Winogrand's photography ‘Garry Winogrand would move fast through the streets, see things happening, maybe across an intersection, would move to that area, firing off his Leica, the wide-angle lens essentially pre-focused, moving with the camera, the energy, the kineticism of the street coming through.”]]> Art lovers have a whole world at their fingertips For art-museum lovers, one of the best things about hot summers in Cincinnati is the proximity to nearby cities whose museums and public galleries have exhibitions. This makes shows in Dayton, Columbus, Louisville, Lexington and Indianapolis easily reachable. But before we set off on a two-hour drive to see another city’s work, let’s look at the shows local institutions have planned for the summer. Then we’ll hit the road. ]]> Semantics’ latest exhibition abstracts everyday life The body of work on display in Semantics Gallery is, at first sight, as inexplicable as the show’s title suggests: She Keeps It In Play/They Don’t Know What To Call It. As abstract paintings, drawings and sculptures, the works leave much to the imagination but they don’t entirely defy explanation. ]]> Chasing Anri Sala's echoes at the CAC Anri Sala's solo exhibition fills two floors of the Contemporary Arts Center with sound, light and tactile objects. One work in particular confuses and simultaneously conflates the others. It's a small kinetic sculpture: a pair of hands sheathed in purple latex gloves, index fingers pointing toward each other, revolving slowly around an axis.]]> After a long time renting space in Hyde Park, Sylvia Rombis has invested $1 million in building and owning the new Malton Gallery, an airy and modernist building on Edwards Road across from the Rookwood Commons shopping/office complex. It opened this month, brightening a busy street to immediately become one of the most impressive-looking stand-alone galleries in the city, with its glass-and-metal exterior promising a new experience to passersby.]]> Because opening a new art gallery is timely and costly, especially if few people come in to buy or even visit, entrepreneurs have been looking for alternatives on the Internet. This, too, has problems. "In the great ocean of the Internet, any one Web site gets lost unless you can do a lot of advertising," says Clay Wainscott, a 65-year-old artist/gallerist with an unusual solution for the problem: a new art gallery in Brighton with an online component.]]> It’s been a slow start with an unexpected delay, but James Crump, the new curator of photography at the Cincinnati Art Museum (CAM), has his first show, Garry Winogrand: Women Are Beautiful, opening soon. The exhibition is an attempt to champion the reputation of a post-World War II American “street-life” photographer whose legacy has slipped somewhat while other museums have had recent big shows devoted to such contemporaries as Lee Friedlander, Robert Frank, William Eggleston and Diane Arbus.]]> It isn't yet as big as Opening Day, but the Fountain Square Floral Carpet is becoming a local Rite of Spring. The carpet consisting of some 24,000 potted pansies, with lettuce plants providing verdancy, was installed April 7. But that doesn't mean it won't change over the course of the next several weeks.]]> After a long time renting space in Hyde Park, Sylvia Rombis has invested $1 million in building and owning the new Malton Gallery, an airy and modernist building on Edwards Road across from the Rookwood Commons shopping/office complex. It opened this month, brightening a busy street to immediately become one of the most impressive-looking stand-alone galleries in the city, with its glass-and-metal exterior promising a new experience to passersby.]]> Local playwright wins nationwide search to pen play about Abraham Lincoln “They wanted (those of) us who got to the finals to pitch how we would combine the Lincoln years in Indiana with his presidency, so those two would weave together.” Jones decided to start with Lincoln’s assassination and work backwards.]]> Local playwright wins nationwide search to pen play about Abraham Lincoln “They wanted (those of) us who got to the finals to pitch how we would combine the Lincoln years in Indiana with his presidency, so those two would weave together.” Jones decided to start with Lincoln’s assassination and work backwards.]]> Fractured story overshadows solid music This collection of songs by Stephen Sondheim, skimming numbers from shows he'd created during the previous 20 years, will certainly see more productions in the present economic climate because it can be done with a small cast and a minimal set. For his Commonwealth Theatre Company production at NKU, director Mark Hardy has used three women and one man plus a single piano for accompaniment. While several songs are delivered with style and talent, the construct feels forced and inconsistent.]]> Cincinnati Opera’s Spanish-themed season offers creative, classic selections Cincinnati Opera’s summer season isn’t quite virtual travel, but you can experience Spain at four pivotal moments in its long history. Three operas are standard repertoire and one contemporary work has its regional premiere. And all were written by foreigners. “There’s a rich Spanish tradition of literature but it just didn’t make (it) into opera,” says Cincinnati Opera’s artistic director Evans Mirageas. ]]> Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and Madcap Puppet Theatre join forces to take on Don Quixote Master Peter’s Puppet Theatre has its regional premiere in a co-production by Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Madcap Puppet Theatre (both recent Corbett Awards for the Arts winners) and Bowling Green State University (BGSU). Master Peter is part of the CCO’s first Spanish Legends series, which begins June 7.]]> The Carnegie's new show looks good, but the sound needs work At The Carnegie, director Greg Procaccino, producer Joshua Steele and music director Alan Patrick Kenny have devised a 'Secret Garden' that's good looking and difficult listening. Leading performances are fetching, especially Ty Yadzinski as a dour, bedeviled widower and Charity Farrell as the cheeky then cheerful orphan who discovers the locked garden and transforms it into a colorful, healing retreat.]]> Classic musical explores the psyche of performers If you've ever been drawn to perform, 'A Chorus Line' will hit you right in the gut. The show distills the essence of what drives people who dance, make music and act.]]> Get ready for a treasure hunt You need to strap on a backpack with some snacks and a water bottle and head to Over-the-Rhine for the sixth annual Cincinnati Fringe Festival. Fringe veterans know that the best way to enjoy this 12-day celebration of things theatrical and artistic is to come back again and again and see as much as possible.]]> The 2009 Cincinnati Fringe Festival wrapped up on June 6 with approximately 200 people jammed into Know Theatre's bar space, the Underground. It was a festive finale to the sixth annual event's successful 12-day run. Two days before the Fringe was over, the festival’s ticket goal was met; final attendance was approximately 6,600, spurred by a 140 percent increase in pass sales over 2008. ]]> Jay Kalagayan’s departure from Know Theatre, the company he founded in 1997, surprised a lot of people. He evolved from founder to actor, writer, artistic director, executive director and development director. I wondered if perhaps he simply ran out of roles to play. In reality, he’s evolved: He married Jan in 2006 and they now have a daughter. Kalagayan, who came to Cincinnati from Virginia to attend Xavier University, launched what was first called the “Know Theatre Tribe” to create a kind of family locally.]]> Sometimes it's good to go away to get a little perspective. Two weeks ago, I attended the annual conference of the American Theatre Critics Association in Sarasota, Fla., a city that was new to me. I'll go back another time for theater in particular and arts and culture in general. A dark thread ran through this conference, since many ATCA members are victims of a sea change in journalism that's diminishing arts coverage by newspapers.]]> Earlier in April the 2009 Pulitzer Prizes were announced, including recognition "for a distinguished play by an American author, preferably original in its source and dealing with American life." This year's winner is Lynn Nottage's 'Ruined' — her 2007 play 'Intimate Apparel' had its local premiere at Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati last season.]]> The 2009 Cincinnati Fringe Festival wrapped up on June 6 with approximately 200 people jammed into Know Theatre's bar space, the Underground. It was a festive finale to the sixth annual event's successful 12-day run. Two days before the Fringe was over, the festival’s ticket goal was met; final attendance was approximately 6,600, spurred by a 140 percent increase in pass sales over 2008. ]]> Prairie Gallery offers magic and manipulations without a lens The ancient device known as a camera obscura (from the Latin for "veiled chamber") was an indispensable art-making tool for centuries. A new exhibition at Northside's Prairie Gallery tries to continue its relevance for contemporary artists.]]> Pioneer succeeded as a 19th-century 'sculptor of women' At the turn of the 20th Century, when a woman's most acceptable occupation was motherhood, Bessie Potter Vonnoh succeeded professionally as a sculptor, flouting convention by focusing on a career instead of raising children. Her success as an independent working artist rested on subject matter that supported traditional notions of women, which makes the Cincinnati Art Museum's current exhibition of her work all the more fascinating. ]]> Know Theatre offers poignant, funny memory play about death Is Know Theatre obsessed with death? Following a production of Sarah Ruhl's 'Eurydice,' about a songwriter who tries to retrieve his beloved bride from the Underworld, the Over-the- Rhine theater is now presenting Noah Haidle's 'Vigils,' about a widow who keeps the soul of her dead husband, a firefighter, imprisoned in a trunk. ]]> A distillation of Sondheim themes for all musical theater lovers The Cincinnati Playhouse has offered a steady diet of musicals by Stephen Sondheim over the past decade. If you've seen them, you might think you're familiar with music by the legendary composer/lyricist. I have news for you: The current Shelterhouse production, 'Marry Me a Little,' will feel like a new show, full of songs that are clearly Sondheim's but seldom heard. It's a show for Sondheim fans and musical theater lovers.]]> Playhouse offers a sweet, believable love story While Arlene Hutton's play is new to Cincinnati, it's been around for almost a decade. The two-actor, 90-minute script charmed audiences at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and its simplicity appeals to theaters today because it's inexpensive to produce, requiring minimal scenery. But it's rich in the emotion and storytelling that audiences respond to.]]> New Stage Collective goes out with a stylish bang So it's "hail and farewell" to Alan Patrick Kenny and New Stage Collective. With eight performances of Stephen Sondheim's and Hugh Wheeler's 'A Little Night Music' (presented at Know Theater), NSC completes its seventh and final season of always ambitious, often audacious playmaking.]]> A creepy, well-told tale with twists and turns Even if you know the story of 'Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde,' Robert Louis Stevenson's classic 1886 horror story, you'll likely be surprised by the Cincinnati Playhouse's version, since it twists and turns the tale in unanticipated directions. Jeffrey Hatcher adapted the story, and this version provides unexpected textures and narrative elements.]]> NKU Y.E.S. Festival production about autism needs focus Watching new scripts in their initial productions can be a double-edged sword: While it's exciting to be among the first audiences to see a brand-new play, there are often rough edges. Within 'Love and Communication' is a heartfelt, painful story about two parents dealing with the difficulties of raising an autistic child. But the new script, one of three plays produced during the biennial Y.E.S. Festival at Northern Kentucky University, tries to do too many things and dilutes its impact. ]]> Jacques Attali - Arcade Publishing The good news about Jacques Attali’s latest literary work is that in painting a startling and timely picture of humanity’s downward spiral, the author does not mince words or cop to his own smarts — that’s no small feat for a world-renowned economist, one that is especially impressive considering his counterparts’ failure to deliver even the broadest short-term fiscal projections without confounding CNN viewers on a nightly basis. ]]> Little amiss in Cincinnati Shakespeare's comedy This might be early, youthful Shakespeare, but it's still Shakespeare, which means it's about splendid language as much as farce. And here's the true marvel of this Cincinnati Shakepeare offering: For all its spaceships, flying nuns and gorillas (yes, there's a gorilla), the language smiles through, intact, respected and as sweet and thrilling as it should be.]]> Classic Shaw comedy contrasts romance and pragmatism When George Bernard Shaw's witty comedy 'Arms and the Man' debuted in 1894 in Dublin, it was a hit. Shaw described it as "one joke after another ... a firecracker." That's pretty much what you'll experience onstage at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, making its first foray into Shaw's prolific output. I hope we'll see more Shaw on Race Street, based on the success of this production.]]> Fractured story overshadows solid music This collection of songs by Stephen Sondheim, skimming numbers from shows he'd created during the previous 20 years, will certainly see more productions in the present economic climate because it can be done with a small cast and a minimal set. For his Commonwealth Theatre Company production at NKU, director Mark Hardy has used three women and one man plus a single piano for accompaniment. While several songs are delivered with style and talent, the construct feels forced and inconsistent.]]> NKU Y.E.S. Festival student cast takes flight in new work about activism Despite a few structural fumbles in the second act of Mark Rigney's 'Nightjars' and the occasional tendency to get knotted up in its own vehemence, the play is an engrossing, in-your-face theater piece. It's the third of three world premiere scripts on view at Northern Kentucky University's biennial Year End Series (Y.E.S.) new play festival.]]> Classic musical explores the psyche of performers If you've ever been drawn to perform, 'A Chorus Line' will hit you right in the gut. The show distills the essence of what drives people who dance, make music and act.]]> A swift and zippy musical on parenting and being parented It's back ... that musical with the mouthful name that kicked up so much excitement last summer at the 2008 Cincinnati Fringe Festival. Ensemble Theater of Cincinnati bills Richard Oberacker's and Robert Taylor's no-plot, no-dialogue, five-person fantasia on parenting production as a premiere, and considering the changes that's close to true.]]> Patrick Dewitt The book jacket states Ablutions is Patrick deWitt’s first novel but it’s really, as the subtitle suggests, notes for a novel — notes made by a nameless fictional bartender working at a down-and-out Hollywood dive. Throughout, we’re introduced to a variety of characters who are patrons of the bar, such as Curtis — a disconsolate man with a law-enforcement fetish.]]> Off-color humor based on coping with today's world 'Avenue Q,' which won the 2004 Tony Award for best musical, is more about the real world than almost any musical I can think of. If you don't believe me, check it out for yourself at the Aronoff Center. The hilarious, raunchy show is 'Sesame Street' through a dirty lens.]]> Jay Kalagayan’s departure from Know Theatre, the company he founded in 1997, surprised a lot of people. He evolved from founder to actor, writer, artistic director, executive director and development director. I wondered if perhaps he simply ran out of roles to play. In reality, he’s evolved: He married Jan in 2006 and they now have a daughter. Kalagayan, who came to Cincinnati from Virginia to attend Xavier University, launched what was first called the “Know Theatre Tribe” to create a kind of family locally.]]> The Carnegie's new show looks good, but the sound needs work At The Carnegie, director Greg Procaccino, producer Joshua Steele and music director Alan Patrick Kenny have devised a 'Secret Garden' that's good looking and difficult listening. Leading performances are fetching, especially Ty Yadzinski as a dour, bedeviled widower and Charity Farrell as the cheeky then cheerful orphan who discovers the locked garden and transforms it into a colorful, healing retreat.]]> NKU Y.E.S. Festival play about soldiers marred by too many laughs At a guess, neither playwright Damon DiMarco nor director Michael King meant for 'Shock & Awe: Soldiers' Voices from Iraq' to take stage as a laugh riot when, on Thursday night, it opened Northern Kentucky University's biennial Year End Series (Y.E.S.) new play festival. But it did.]]>