One of the most heartwarming and vindicating moments of the 2006 Cincinnati Entertainment Awards ceremony came when local Soul/Funk legend Kenny Smith took the Taft Theater stage to accept his long overdue Lifetime Achievement Award. He joked about not accepting it. "Can I turn it down?" Smith said before the CEAs with a hearty, self-deprecating laugh. "No, I wouldn't turn it down. I think it's great that we have something like this in Cincinnati."  

One of the most heartwarming and vindicating moments of this year's Cincinnati Entertainment Awards ceremony will come when local Soul/Funk legend Kenny Smith takes the Taft Theater stage to accept his long overdue Lifetime Achievement Award. If he accepts, that is. "Can I turn it down?" Smith says with a hearty, self-deprecating laugh from his independent insurance sales office.   

During the 10 years that D. Lynn Meyers has served as producing artistic director at Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, she's staged 46 regional premieres, helped establish the League of Cincinnati Theatres and served in a leadership role during the league's early years. It seems fitting that, for the 10th anniversary of the CEAs, Meyers received LCT's Award for Continuing Excellence and was inducted into the CEA Hall of Fame.  

Jack Louiso's joyful sense of fun has, for many years, enabled him to get inside the heads of kids he's mentored and entertained. He's taught kids to sing, dance and act at the School for Creative and Performing Arts for two decades and has served as artistic director for the Children's Theatre of Cincinnati since 1992. Those are the obvious reasons why the League of Cincinnati Theatres named him the 2007 recipient of its Lifetime Achievement Award and why he was recognized at the 2007 Cincinnati Entertainment Awards event and was inducted into the CEA Hall of Fame.   

Bill Hartnett and Ellie Shepherd, partners in life and frequently onstage, first acted in a play together 30 years ago with Mariemont Players, and they've enjoyed doing theater in one another's company ever since. They were married in 1982. For their body of work on local stages, Hartnett and Shepherd were honored with the League of Cincinnati Theatres' 2008 "Continuing Achievement Award." They were inducted into the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards Hall of Fame at the 2008 CEA event at Below Zero Lounge.  

Jack Louiso knows kids. Maybe that's because he's kind of a big kid himself. He's taught kids to sing, dance and act at the School for Creative and Performing Arts for two decades and has served as artistic director for the Children's Theatre of Cincinnati since 1992. Those are the obvious reasons why the League of Cincinnati Theatres has named him the 2007 recipient of its Lifetime Achievement Award and why he'll be recognized Monday at the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards when he's inducted into the CEA Hall of Fame.   

For creating and sustaining Cincinnati Young People's Theatre Festival for nearly 30 years, for keeping the Showboat Majestic afloat (literally and artistically) and for turning a deteriorating West Side movie theater into a popular performing arts venue, the Covedale Center for the Performing Arts, Jennifer and Tim Perrino and Denny Reed were honored by the League of Cincinnati Theatres with the 2009 "Continuing Achievement Award." They were inducted into the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards Hall of Fame at the Below Zero Lounge event on Aug. 30.  

Bill Hartnett likes to tell stories. Ellie Shepherd, his partner (in life and frequently onstage) listens to him patiently. Sometimes she prompts him or fills in a detail. They almost always end up in hearty laughter.  

Perhaps the only show you can attend Saturday and not be encouraged to wear a costume, the annual BRINK New Music Showcase returns to the Southgate House Halloween night with three floors' worth of local band freshness. An attempt to spotlight the next crop of local music wavemakers, the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards-sponsored event has hosted scores of eventual big-shots in past years. This year features acts nominated for the 2009 CEA "New Artist of the Year."  

If you've never seen Chris Kittrell (aka "baby alpaca"), he's like this 7-foot-tall autoharp-wielding Ginsbergesque satyr who's on a personal mission to provide others with an auditory escape from the everyday as well as an outlet for creative collaboration and/or a skinny-dipping partner, all under the umbrella of his cuddly moniker.