I Just Can’t Get Enough
HBO’s True Detective came to an end Sunday with an intense finale to the anthology series’ premiere season. Over the course of eighth action-packed and thought provoking episodes, fans watched detectives Marty Hart and Rust Cohle work a case for nearly two decades. Like American Horror Story, next season will take on a new set…
Fast, Casual, Customized
More than 1,000 locations strong, Chipotle has transformed the assembly line mentality of the fast-casual restaurant (a hybrid of fast food and casual dining), allowing its customers to view, pick and choose the toppings they want on their Mexican meal as it moves along the counter — a customization we’ll refer to as the “Chipotle…
I Left My Heart, A Salute to the Music of Tony Bennett (Review)
Cincinnati Landmark Productions’ I Left My Heart, A Salute to the Music of Tony Bennett at the Covedale Center for the Performing Arts presents a musical tribute to Bennett, with more than 30 songs made famous by or famously sung by the legendary crooner. Bennett has won 16 Grammy awards and, at 87, shows no…
Crafting a Bourbon and Cheese Tasting at Home
Skepticism was the common feeling among the crowd during “The Bottle and the Board: How Bourbon Pairs with Cheese,” one of the Bourbon Classic University events held during last month’s Bourbon Classic in Louisville, Ky. Many, if not all of the people in the session, had attended wine and cheese tastings before, but never one…
Onstage: Wicked
Back in 2003 Wicked launched the careers of power singer Idina Menzel and the effervescent Kristin Chenoweth as the opposing witches in this prequel to The Wizard of Oz; both were nominated for Tony Awards; Menzel won. It marked its tenth anniversary on Broadway in October, and it has surpassed 4,300 performances. A national touring production began in…
Event: Kegs and Eggs
Ol, ceol, bia agus craic! Nothing says “Good morning, St. Pat” like a college-style kegs and eggs breakfast to keep you drinking green beer from sunup to sundown. Head to any of the Cock & Bull Public House locations at 6 a.m. for free T-shirts (while supplies last), green eggs and ham breakfast sandwiches, Guinness…
Onstage: Twain’s Twisted Tales
Clara’s ordinary day takes an unexpected twist when Mark Twain’s most beloved characters escape from her book. Madcap Puppets is proud to introduce the life and stories of one of America’s greatest literary figures and humorists with giant puppetry and audience participation. Stories include The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, Legend of Sagenfeld and…
Art: Macy’s Art Sampler
The popular Macy’s Arts Sampler returns Saturday with a smorgasbord of art across the Cincinnati region. Experience a little taste of everything that makes our city amazing with free theater, music, dance, crafts, museum tours and more from arts organizations all the way from Oxford and Lebanon to Northern Kentucky. Enjoy a collaborative performance, Catch the…
Music: Jesse Dee with Honey & Houston
Boston-based singer/songwriter/guitarist Jesse Dee is one of the foremost on-the-rise vintage Soul/R&B artists on the scene, pimping a sound and live show that comes straight from a steady diet of Motown, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Jackie Wilson and James Brown. It’s one thing to find inspiration in such Soul legends, but Dee’s honest, genuine songwriting…
Event: St. Patrick’s Day on the Square
Fountain Square will begin its St. Paddy’s Day festivities early this year. For 12 hours on Saturday, the square will be transformed into everything Irish. Try a Cheeky Meat Pie and wash it down with a Guinness or Murphy’s Irish Stout. There will be live music with performances by Roger Drawdy & the Firestarters, 9…
Event: Cincinnati St. Patrick’s Day Parade
The Cincinnati St. Patrick’s Day parade is one of the largest in the nation, and it is celebrating its 48th anniversary Saturday. The parade has never been canceled — regardless of weather — and features floats, pipers, step dancers, Irish families, marching bands and more. Kick-off parade day with the Ancient Order of Hibernians St.…
Event: Celtic Lands Culture Fest
Even though Oktoberfest and Cincinnati’s German heritage tend to take up most of the cultural spotlight, the Queen City has deep Irish ancestry. The Celtic Lands Culture Fest has celebrated that heritage for 15 years, and this St. Patrick’s season is no different. With an array of folklore and art straight from Ireland, Scotland and…
Event: Millennicon
Attention all sci-fi, space and fantasy enthusiasts: Millennicon is launching toward Cincinnati for its 28th annual literacy-based science fiction convention. Prepare for a weekend of regional fan clubs, costumes, fine programming and activities including an art show, masquerade contest, anime room, gaming tournaments, demonstrations, door prizes and much more. Look for 3-D makeup demos, Doctor…
Art: Hal Lasko: The Pixel Painter
The almost-100-year-old Hal Lasko, a retired typographer from American Greetings (where he worked as a lettering consultant for nearly 50 years), painted oil and watercolors throughout his professional career and up until the late ’90s, when his grandson gave him a computer. Diagnosed with wet macular degeneration, a disease that affects his sight, Lasko’s use…
Comedy: Sam Morril
“I’m not sure I’m funny now,” comedian Sam Morril says when asked if he was always funny. “I know people who kill when they’re with their friends because they a have all these inside jokes. But strangers don’t care about your inside jokes, you have to engage with them.” Regardless of his feelings on the…
Onstage: Pride and Prejudice
Two centuries after Jane Austen penned her novels of manners, propriety and gentle satire, they still have a worldwide following. Movies and TV adaptations abound, and now her greatest work, the story of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy’s up-and-down affair, comes to the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. According to director Blake Robison, “Austen fans…
Event: Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey’s Built to Amaze! is an extraordinarily engineered circus experience where children of all ages can find out what it takes to build the greatest show on earth. Anticipate high-energy high-jinx from performers and animals alike — including new additions like the Tower Tumblers aerial athletes and Alex and Irina Emelin,…
Event: McGing Irish Dancers
For 28 years, the McGing School of Irish Dance has been entertaining the Tristate and beyond with traditional Irish dance — including dancing for the late great Gene Kelly, in the Soviet Union and touring with the Cincinnati Pops. Free. 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Deer Park Branch Library, 3970 E. Galbraith Road, Deer Park; 6:30 p.m.…
Buckle Up Country Fest Announces Lineup
The weekend after the big Bunbury Music Festival at the Sawyer Point/Yeatman’s Cove parks along the riverfront, another festival by the same fest organizers, Buckle Up, is set to make its debut. This morning, the full lineup and schedule for the Country/Americana fest was announced. Friday, July 18: Alabama, Eli Young Band, Jamey Johnson, Marty…
CincyMusic Launches Another Local Music Radio Show
CincyMusic.com, a website dedicated to all things related to Greater Cincinnati music, launched in early 2012 (or, rather, relaunched, after purchasing the domain name from the previous owner, who’d let the site go dormant). Since then, the site — which has features, interviews, show listings, downloads and more — has continually expanded its brand by…
Wicked (Review)
The word I use to describe the Broadway musical hit Wicked is “juggernaut,” defined as “an overwhelming advancing force or event.” Back in 2003 the show launched the careers of power singer Idina Menzel (who John Travolta introduced as “Adele Dazeem” at the Oscars) and the effervescent Kristin Chenoweth as the opposing witches in this…
Trending Topics
Each week our intern Amber will be exploring what Cincinnatians are interested in by scouring the local Twitter trends and reporting on what she’s found. From serious tweets to goofy hashtags, she’ll highlight what Cincy’s been buzzing about. So get to tweeting, folks. #RAW This is a wrestling reference hashtag. I’m sorry, but how was…
Morning News and Stuff
Mayor John Cranley is trying to find a compromise over whether early voting will move out of downtown after the 2016 general election, as some Republicans in the county government have suggested. Cranley called for a meeting with Hamilton County Board of Elections Chairman and Hamilton County Democratic Party Chairman Tim Burke, Hamilton County Republican…
Stage Door: Options for All Ages
Can you imagine Les Misérables without a turntable or the immense barricades lumbering down from the wings? Aubrey Berg, head of the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music’s renowned musical theater program, has dramatically re-imagined the legendary show for a run at UC, using a largely bare stage backed by a wall of ladders, staircases, shelves…
Bockfest is Back
Bockfest signals the coming of spring, celebrates Over-the-Rhine and serves up beer from tons of local breweries. The 22nd annual fest runs Friday through Sunday. Here’s just as handful of special events to check out. Bockfest Parade Each year, the Bock-festivities commence with a parade of goats, music, people dressed as monks and a sausage…
WATCH: Tweens’ Debut Music Video, “Be Mean”
The release of the self-titled debut album from Cincinnati trio Tweens is just about a month away now. The music site Stereogum recently premiered the trio’s first music video for new album single, “Be Mean,” a great introduction to the band’s classic-Pop-meets-classic-Punk style (or “Trash Pop,” as they like to call it). The buzz around…
Morning News and Stuff
Flaherty & Collins, the developer that wants to tear down a garage as part of its downtown grocery and apartment tower project, offered to pay for a tenant’s move to keep the deal moving forward. The tenant, Paragon Salon, recently announced its intent to sue the city after Mayor John Cranley’s refusal to pay for…
Determination
A few weeks ago when I was heading to the CityBeat office I encountered a woman who changed my perspective on many things. It was one of those "Everything happens for a reason, even if you don't know the reason yet" moments. I parked in the Elm Street lot, paid the machine my $3.50 and walked towards…
Henry Heimlich’s New Book Deserves Informed Reviews
Every reporter has undertaken some assignment without a chance for adequate preparation. It comes with daily journalism. If the gods are good, people we interview lead us through the topics with good will and honesty. Sometimes, even that doesn’t work. I was sent to Xavier University to interview Fritjof Capra, author of the then-hot book, Tao of…
Goodbye, Cincinnati
This is my last article as a staff writer at CityBeat. At the end of the week, I will be leaving Cincinnati for Washington, D.C., to join a new journalistic venture started by Ezra Klein and other bloggers and reporters from The Washington Post and Slate. Although I’m excited for the new position, it’s admittedly…
Mobile Mission
On the first day, no one came. The second day, an addict in the throes of withdrawal showed up looking for advice. The third day, five people came in search of options for drug treatment programs and testing. Slowly but surely, those in need are beginning to seek out one of the few safe havens…
Morning News and Stuff
A group of Greenpeace protesters face burglary and vandalism charges after a stunt yesterday on the Procter & Gamble buildings. Protesters apparently teamed up with a helicopter to climb outside the P&G buildings to hang up a large sign criticizing the company for allegedly enabling the destruction of rainforests in Indonesia by working with an…
Cincinnati International Wine Festival
Get ready to raise a glass all around the Cincinnati area as the Cincinnati International Wine Festival celebrates 23 years of uncorking bottles for a good cause. The wine festival was founded in 1991 to promote the wine industry and raise funds for local charities. Each year, it’s gotten bigger and better, and so has…
Mr. Peabody & Sherman
I don’t know about you, but while I’m tired of Hollywood’s constant anthropomorphizing of animals and inanimate objects in animated features, I’m a sucker for the story about a dog smart enough to adopt a boy and travel through time, mucking around with history. This is Back to the Future with voice work from Ty…
300: Rise of an Empire
With King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) dead and beheaded and Zack Snyder hard at work on his follow-up to Man of Steel, the task of shepherding the latest slo-mo Greek battle fest falls to Noam Murro, a relative newcomer to the game (his only other feature credit is Smart People, a 2008 indie dramedy starring Dennis…
Got Insurance? (Me, Neither. Yet.)
At a little before 9:20 a.m. I started, for the third time, to create an account on the government’s national Affordable Health Care insurance website, The Marketplace. The first two times late last year I got stuck in an ether “waiting room” like tens of thousands of other Americans confused by the threats of penalties…
‘True Detective’ Closes with Another Stunning Performance by Matthew McConaughey
Matthew McConaughey’s star power has exploded over the past couple years, capped off with Sunday’s Academy Award win for Best Actor in Dallas Buyers Club. Gone are the days we associate McConaughey with the stoned, naked bongo player or rom-com eye candy. This shift began with 2011’s The Lincoln Lawyer, continuing with indie films like…
‘Prime Ministers’ Studies Israel From the Inside
It is our stories that define our humanity, our connections with one another, our places in history. Stories, as they are passed among storytellers in intimate exchanges and then codified for exchanges across generations, become the foundation of myth and legend. But, at best, stories matter when they remain rooted in the voices of those…
Coming to a Theater Near You
Blake Robison wants the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park to be at the forefront of Cincinnati’s cultural conversation. “It’s our responsibility to bring the best theatrical material, both old and new, to our community,” he told me in a recent conversation prior to announcing his 2014-15 season earlier this week. I’d say he’s done just…
German Lopez Heads East
German Lopez recently walked up to my desk on a busy Tuesday morning and said he had some bad news — he was offered a really great professional opportunity in Washington, D.C., and had decided to leave CityBeat after almost two years as our lead reporter. He apologized within the next two or three sentences,…
Full Circle
W hen Todd Pavlisko speaks about Crown, his solo exhibition at the Cincinnati Art Museum, it is clear that this project is about the plasticity of time. The locally raised, New York-based artist’s forthcoming show centers on the installation of the titular “Crown,” a brass cube Pavlisko enlisted one of the world’s foremost sharpshooters to…
The Powers That Beard
I f you’ve ever wondered what life in Cincinnati looked like in the early 1900s, just ride your self-repaired bicycle to the Mariemont Barber Shop for a quick grooming with a straight razor. Inhale the aroma of oiled baseball gloves and aftershave, as talk of streetcars and mustache wax dissipate above independently owned, micro-brewed gastropubs.…
