FRIDAY 27
ONSTAGE: LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS
This campy musical from 1982 tells the story of a dweeby floral assistant who unleashes a monstrous bloodthirsty plant on an unsuspecting populace — while making a Faustian bargain for fame and the heart of the girl he loves. Director Bill Fennelly calls it “a morality play for a modern audience,” but it’s told with an infectious score that blends Motown and Broadway with a lot of humor, horror and satire. Playhouse Artistic Director Blake Robison calls Little Shop of Horrors a perfect distraction for audiences “in the middle of the winter doldrums” and adds, “I just love this show!”Through Feb. 19. $40 (prices subject to change). Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, 962 Mount Adams Circle, Mount Adams, cincyplay.com.
COMEDY: BENGT WASHBURN
“I’m talking about what I’m noticing and how I’m feeling about the world — except for the election,” says comedian Bengt Washburn. “People are so tired of hearing about it.” The election did get him more interested in human behavior, though. “One of my new bits is about how easily we humans believe stuff,” he says. “Like how we believe anything we hear three times. … People will hear or read something and if it lines up with what they’re already thinking, watch out. A lie you want to believe is so powerful. We have such an incredible instinct for confirmation bias. It gets us through the day.” Thursday-Sunday. $8-$14. Go Bananas, 8410 Market Place Lane, Montgomery, gobananascomedy.com.
MUSIC: THE YUGOS
A Google search of the phrase “weighing the heart” reveals a myth from Egypt’s Book of the Dead. After a pharaoh’s death, the monarch’s heart was measured against a feather in the underworld. If his heart was lighter than the feather, signifying his purity of being, he was elevated to the next level to meet god Osiris. If the scales betrayed a heavy heart, he was devoured by a demon, which is kind of a bitch after you’ve already died. Cincinnati Indie Rock group The Yugos didn’t name its brilliant third album, Weighing the Heart, after that ancient Egyptian rite by mere happenstance. After coming across the story on television — “Probably (TV show) Ancient Aliens,” notes vocalist/guitarist Christian Gough — the quartet found enough parallels to justify dubbing its new album after a dead pharaoh’s judgment. Read a full feature on the band here. The Yugo’s album release show is Friday at Woodward Theater. Tickets/more info: woodwardtheater.com. Listen to Weighing the Heart track “Steve French” here. Hear more Yugos music here.
EVENT: ART AFTER DARK: QUEEN CITY ROYALS
Act like a king or queen for the night at the Cincinnati Art Museum’s Art After Dark: Queen City Royals event. The after-hours party offers guests guided tours, live music from local band Wilder, food and many activities, including floral-crown making and a Shakespeare selfie stand in honor of the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s current production, Henry VI: The Wars of the Roses, Part 2. Costumes from the play will also be on display, and a wine and cheese sampler from Corkopolis will be available for purchase. 5-9 p.m. Friday. Free admission. Cincinnati Art Museum, 953 Eden Park Drive, Eden Park, cincinnatiartmuseum.org.
ART: A GLOBAL GATHERING AT 21C MUSEUM HOTEL
Contemporary art exhibit A Global Gathering opens Friday at 21c Museum Hotel and “reflect(s) how we live and die, work, play and dream in the 21st century.” Eighty works on display — ranging from paintings and sculptures to photographs, videos and installations — have been culled from the artworks owned by 21c founders Laura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson. The exhibition will explore the major themes of the art the two collect, including identity, politics and the environment, through works by such artists as Elena Dorfman, Zanele Muholi, Carlos Aires and more. Chief Curator Alice Gray Stites will give a tour of the exhibition at 6 p.m. followed by a reception in the museum. Opening reception 6 p.m.-midnight Friday. Through October. Free. 21c Museum Hotel, 609 Walnut St., Downtown, 21cmuseumhotels.com/cincinnati.
SATURDAY 28
MUSIC: SOUTHERN AVENUE
This weekend’s Cincy Winter Blues Fest (Friday and Saturday at The Phoenix downtown; seeSpill It more info) doesn’t only offer a hefty dose of winter Blues; it also offers an appearance on Saturday by potential next-big-thing Southern Avenue, that is dripping with deep, fiery Soul. The quintet, a sensation in its hometown of Memphis, Tenn., is well on its way to taking its deft blend of R&B and Southern-fried Blues to the rest of the world. Southern Avenue guitarist Ori Naftaly came to Memphis from Tel Aviv, Israel to compete in the International Blues Challenge in 2013 with an eponymous band, featuring fellow Israeli musicians. Naftaly’s group made it to the IBC semifinals and ultimately relocated to Memphis permanently. While feeling the need for change and a more collaborative band project, Naftaly met Memphis singer Tierinii Jackson, and the seeds of Southern Avenue were planted. After seeing Jackson sing for the first time, the guitarist says he thought, “This is why I came to America.” Read more about the band in this week’s Sound Advice. Southern Avenue plays the Cincy Winter Blues Fest Saturday. Click here for tickets/more show info.
EVENT: GARAGE BREWED MOTO SHOW
Both motorcycle nuts and non-motorcycle enthusiasts are encouraged to attend this event for bikes and beer. Now in its third year, the Garage Brewed Moto Show is a free, curated motorcycle show that features more than 50 custom, rare, oddball, antique and collectible bikes from both the surrounding Midwest and the entirety of North America. Bikes are nominated by their owners to be in the show and then invited to participate in four categories: Pro Custom, Garage Custom, Classic Bikes and Race Bike, each with their own expert panel of judges. Hosted by the Cincinnati Café Racer Club, Garage Brewed takes place at Rhinegeist, which will be releasing Apex red lager, brewed for the show. Noon-midnight Saturday. Free. Rhinegeist, 1910 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, garagebrewed.com.
EVENT: THE BEEFSTEAK CLUB DINNER
This year’s Bockfest marks the 25th anniversary of Cincinnatians coming together to celebrate the city’s brewing heritage, bock beer and the coming of spring. And the annual free fest — the largest Bockfest in the United States — relies on events like the Beefsteak Club Dinner to raise funds. The Beefsteak Club Dinner, with a name coined by members of Cincinnati’s political and social elite, who first came together in the spring of 1896 at the Windisch-Mulhauser Brewery to dine and drink their fill, ironically features no beefsteak, but will include roast goat and pig, greens, mac and cheese and plenty of Christian Moerlein beers. Held in the historic Kauffman Brewery malt house, now the Christian Moerlein Malt House Taproom, the night will feature Bockfest-themed artwork by artist Jim Effler, live music, tours, special giveaways and food prepared by Ronda Breeden and Arnold’s Bar & Grill. All proceeds go to support Bockfest and the Bockfest Parade. 6:30 p.m. Saturday. $55. Christian Moerlein Malt House Taproom, 1621 Moore St., Over-The-Rhine, bockfest.com.
MUSIC: NAHKO AND MEDICINE FOR THE PEOPLE
Taking his unique heritage and cultural experiences and mixing them with his musical gifts, singer/frontman Nahko Bear and his band Medicine for the People create a literal hodge-podge sound, borrowing elements of everything from Hip Hop to Reggae to numerous strains of World music, built around sturdily constructed AltRock songs. Organic and soulful, Nahko and Medicine for the People has fostered an ever-expanding following since its formation in 2008, particularly in the past few years, with albums like 2013’s Dark As Night and last year’s HOKA (issued on Indie/Post Punk label SideOneDummy) making a big splash. It’s easy to hear in Medicine for the People’s music how the band is likely headed toward even greater success — Bear’s lyrics have that rare and valuable ability to connect with the listeners’ own personal experiences, and the group’s style would make it an ideal addition to a festival tour featuring Dave Matthews Band and Mumford & Sons. 8 p.m. Saturday. $22 advance; $25 door. Madison Theater, 730 Madison Ave., Covington, madisontheateronline.com.
EVENT: LUNAR NEW YEAR PARTY
Let out a cock-a-doodle-doo and head to the Transept on Saturday to nibble on tasty Asian cuisine at the annual Daspo Lunar New Year Party, which celebrates the Year of the Rooster. A street food night market featuring food from across Asia will be available to peruse, with food stalls serving kebabs, tofu soup and more. There will also be live DJs, multiple bars and VIP access. Proceeds from the event will support future Asian cultural events in Cincinnati. 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Saturday. Free admission; $30 street food night market. The Transept, 1205 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, godaspo.com.
EVENT: POLAR BEAR PLUNGE PARTY
Fans of frigid activities and ice-cold vodka should head to the Polar Bear Plunge Party at Hotel Covington on Saturday, when the hotel’s courtyard will transform into a wintertime pool party featuring an ice luge by Reyka vodka, hot drinks by Carabello Coffee, warm wraps from Donna Salyers’ Fabulous (faux) Furs in the heating station and prizes for most creative “swimsuit” — plus a body of water in which to take a polar bear plunge. The event benefits the Cedarhill Animal Sanctuary. 5-9 p.m. Saturday; plunge at 8 p.m. $10 jump fee. Hotel Covington, 638 Madison Ave., Covington, Ky., hotelcovington.com.
SUNDAY 29
FILM: BEST WORST THING THAT EVER COULD HAVE HAPPENED
A new documentary, Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened, that screens at the Esquire Theatre at 1 p.m. Sunday, is the bittersweet story of the young cast of Merrily We Roll Along, Stephen Sondheim’s 1981 musical, a show initially deemed a flop that closed abruptly after just 16 Broadway performances. That was a shock to all involved after Sondheim and producer-director Hal Prince’s success with five innovative, admired Broadway musicals during the 1970s, including Company, Follies and Sweeney Todd. Merrily told a show-business story of idealism and disillusion in reverse chronological order, beginning with three central characters at angry, distracted middle age, and then rewinding to their earlier days of ambitious, idealistic dreams to be musical theater hit-makers. Despite a glorious score, the show’s first audiences had a hard time following the story. Read more about the documentary and screening here. Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened screens 1 p.m. Sunday at Esquire Theatre. More info: esquiretheatre.com.
EVENT: CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP COOK OFF
Healthy competition — like a cook-off involving chicken noodle soup — is good for the soul. On Sunday, the Isaac M. Wise Center hosts the 13th-annual Chicken Noodle Soup Cook Off, a competition that will feature savory soups from Jewish Hospital, Izzy’s, Brown Dog Café and more. Attendees will have the opportunity to sample each entry (while supplies last) ensuring no one leaves feeling the least bit peckish, and a panel of more than 20 local expert judges (including CityBeat dining writer Ilene Ross) will be voting for their favorite. Each competition entrant makes extra soup, which will be donated to the Over-the-Rhine Soup Kitchen. 12:15-2:30 p.m. Sunday. $6 adults $3 children; $16 maximum per family. Isaac M. Wise Center, 8329 Ridge Road, Amberley Village, chickensoupcookoff.org.
This article appears in Jan 25 – Feb 1, 2017.