There’s a lot to be celebrated about
Cincinnati’s varied theater scene, but one of the coolest aspects might
not be immediately obvious: Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s stock in
trade is shows that were written four centuries ago. So how is that
cool? Well, let me count the ways. Let’s consider actors, plays and
outreach.
Cincy Shakes It Up
Classic theater company has a cool approach to its work — onstage and off
0 Comments · Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Hooked On Comics
The Cincinnati Comic Expo returns for a bigger, better second year of fun and fantasy
0 Comments · Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Comic book culture is embedded in our collective imaginations like never before, inspiring a slew of Hollywood blockbusters like Batman and Superman (for starters), as well as a number of gritty independent films, such as American Splendor, Ghost World and Road to Perdition.
The genre also attracts all manner of craftsmen to explore it as a new
medium, from Michael Chabon to Kevin Smith to Stephen King.
Scarred But Not Scared
Photographer turns lens on young breast cancer survivors
0 Comments · Wednesday, September 14, 2011
“It’s beauty in a whole different way,
shocking at first, but so meaningful,” says Litsa Spanos, whose gallery,
Art Design Consultants Inc., will show the traveling photography
exhibition The SCAR Project from Sept. 29-Oct. 2. The show presents photographer David
Jay’s life-size prints of young women whose struggles with breast cancer
have left them scarred but valiant.
A Current Affair
Cincinnati Ballet’s modern New Works takes risks and reaps rewards
0 Comments · Wednesday, September 14, 2011
No guts, no glory. No risk, no reward.
These clichés generally hold true for Cincinnati Ballet’s annual season
opener — its modern-leaning, mixed-bag New Works showcase — but they seem more apt than usual. This year’s Kaplan New Works Series,
which opened on Thursday night at the Ballet’s own intimate Mickey
Jarson Kaplan Studio, delivers on its titular promise — four of the five
new works were world premier.
A Winning Season
Cincinnati theater is off and running
0 Comments · Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Cincinnati’s Riverfest fireworks once fired the starting gun for local theater, but already several theaters have shows onstage. This week Cincinnati’s major theaters open their first productions of 2011-2012, launching a fall offering an unusual number of award-winning shows.
'Open to the New'
Cincinnati's “Classical” music scene moving in exciting new directions
0 Comments · Wednesday, August 31, 2011
What is “new music” within the classical music genre? Philip Glass’ Cello Concerto, which receives its world premiere at the Cincinnati Symphony next year? CCM composer Michael Fiday’s “9 Haiku” for flute and piano performed last year by concert: nova? Leonard Bernstein’s 1937 Trio Sonata that gets its first local performance by the Morgenstern Trio in March? And is there even an audience for contemporary music?
From Far-Flung Realms to Greatest Hits
Local visual arts venues prepare for another intriguing season
0 Comments · Wednesday, August 31, 2011
The fall season’s museum show that has attracted the most advance interest — because of its ambitiousness and its timeliness — is the Contemporary Art Center’s Realms of Intimacy: Miniaturist Practice from Pakistan, which opens Sept. 23 and continues until an as-yet-not-finalized January date.
Farewells and Final Fantasies
A writer and artist reflects on the Cincinnati arts scene
3 Comments · Wednesday, August 31, 2011
I moved to Cincinnati a little over eight years ago. Now I’m moving to Chicago to return to academia and to give myself a much-needed span of time to turn inward and concentrate on improving my art and my writing.
Expansion Plans in a Recession
Arts organizations and events are adapting to the tough economic climate
0 Comments · Wednesday, August 31, 2011
“I've had the opportunity to learn patience,” says Tod Swormstedt, founder of the American Sign Museum. He’s talking about a problem that other Cincinnati arts organizations and supporters of planned festivals, theater renovations and other projects have to share — how to raise money as the Great Recession grinds on.
And the Award Goes to …
2 Comments · Wednesday, August 31, 2011
In my Sept. 1, 2010, column I recalled a plea I had made earlier in the year to create “a stronger, singular program,” and I described how this combined effort would lead to “a program with a promising future while combining the best features of each program under the Acclaim banner.” Well, as they say, not so fast.
