FRIDAY ONSTAGE: AVENUE Q Watching Sesame Street as a kid, you learned you could do anything. Well, Avenue Q, up next at Price Hill’s Incline Theatre, is the R-rated answer to that mantra, a musical coming-of-age tale that revels in the anxieties of growing up — using puppets who say and sing stuff you never heard on PBS, operated by visible puppeteers. With a lot of very sardonic wit and off-kilter tunes — “It Sucks to Be Me,” “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist” and “The Internet Is for Porn” — the sassy show was the 2004 Tony winner for best musical. Leave the kids at home. Through March 6. $23-$26. Warsaw Federal Incline Theatre, 801 Matson Place, E. Price Hill, 513-241-6550, cincinnatilandmarkproductions.com.
EVENT: ENTOMOLOGY DIY WORKSHOP
For those who lose sleep wondering how an insect collection is best displayed, this workshop is an answer to a prayer. Jeremy Johnson, founder of Meddling with Nature, a local taxidermy, art and education organization, will teach the basics of preserving, mounting and displaying an insect collection at home. The DIY demonstration includes a large exotic specimen for everyone to position, pin, install and take with them. The workshop also acts as a precursor to an upcoming collaborative exhibit between Meddling With Nature and the Lloyd Library, which will bring the works of Maria Sibylla Merian, one of the world’s great natural illustrators and entomologists, to life. 7-9 p.m. Friday. $46 adult; $22 child. Lloyd Library and Museum, 917 Plum St., Downtown, facebook.com/meddlingwithnature.
MUSIC: TYLER BRYANT & THE SHAKEDOWN
With a well-constructed, Classic Rock sound and songs that would easily slide onto the playlists of every major FM Rock station in the country, Tyler Bryant & the Shakedown seem well on their way to following fellow Nashville-area crew Kings of Leon into the mainstream spotlight. The group is signed to Republic Records and has a pair of releases under its belt so far, including the excellent EP The Wayside, which came out last year and shows the band in peak form. Given Bryant and Co.’s tight, fluid guitar riffing, impressively soulful melodies and a Blues streak, it’s no surprise that the band has landed coveted opening slots on tours with Jeff Beck, ZZ Top and AC/DC. The band’s visit to Cincinnati this week could prove to be a “see them in a small club for free before you have to pay big bucks to see them in an arena” kind of concert. 10 p.m. Friday. Free. MOTR Pub, 1345 Main St., Over-the-Rhine, motrpub.com.
CLASSICAL MUSIC: AMERICAN MASTER WITH APPALACHIAN SPRING
Join the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra this weekend as Louis Langrée conducts a performance featuring work by four of America’s most iconic composers. The concert opens with Ives’ “The Unanswered Question,” followed by Barber’s “Violin Concerto” performed by Timothy Lees, CSO Concertmaster. Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” is the centerpiece of the night and captures the openness of the American landscape. The evening will come to a close with Bernstein’s “On the Waterfront” symphonic suite. As a bonus, members of The Comet Bluegrass All-Stars will play in the lobby before the concert. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. $10-$112. Music Hall, 1241 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, cincinnatisymphony.org.
ONSTAGE: THE REVOLUTIONISTS
A world premiere at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park (simultaneously with another, Native Gardens). In The Revolutionists, up-and-coming playwright Lauren Gunderson assembles a crowd of badass historical women, including Marie Antoinette and assassin Charlotte Corday, imprisoned during the French Revolution. She imagines how they might encourage, inspire and support one another during the horrific “Reign of Terror” as they await the guillotine. Their short-term future certainly distills their conversations about what’s important, but Gunderson leavens her irreverent fantasia with a lot of sassy humor. “The beating heart of the play,” she says, “is that stories matter, that art matters.” Through March 6. $30-$85. Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, 962 Mount Adams Circle, Mount Adams, 513-421-3888, cincyplay.com.
EATS: MARY QUEEN OF HEAVEN FISH FRY
Home of the Codfather, aka the alter ego of John Geisen of Izzy's dressed in mafia-wear and carrying a stuffed cod (photo ops welcome). Offers dine-in, carry-out and drive-thru options so you can get a Holy Haddock sandwich on a hoagie bun, Icelandic beer-battered cod cooked in vegetable shortening, mac and cheese, green beans and more. Menu also features homemade desserts, pizza, grilled cheese and BEER, which you can imbibe waiting in line to get in. 4-8 p.m. Fridays through March 18. 1150 Donaldson Highway, Erlanger, Ky., 859-371-2622, mqhparish.com/#!fish-fry/rhwto.
SATURDAY
EVENT: 20TH CENTURY CINCINNATI
Cincinnati’s annual retrospective of Vintage Modern design — now in its third decade — returns this weekend with more than 70 dealers. Participants will showcase classic Modernist forms, specifically those that emerged in the time period between World War I and the Information Age. Although the show is best known for its selection of lighting and furniture, guests can also purchase pop culture memorabilia, decorative objects and distinctly funky pieces. Get a head start 9 a.m. Saturday during the Java Preview, an exclusive shopping period that includes a complimentary juice bar, coffee and tea. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. $8 two-day pass. Sharonville Convention Center, 11355 Chester Road, Sharonville, 20thcenturycincinnati.com.
ART: DAUBIGNY, MONET, VAN GOGH: IMPRESSIONS OF LANDSCAPE
The Taft Museum of Art’s chief curator, Lynne Ambrosini, has spent 14 years organizing the Daubigny, Monet, Van Gogh: Impressions of Landscape show that opens Saturday and believes it will be one of the museum’s most important presentations. Inspired by the fact that the Taft owns three Charles-François Daubigny oil paintings, Ambrosini’s exhibition aims to prove that this 19th-century French landscape painter served as a major, unheralded harbinger of Impressionism. The exhibition, for which you must buy a timed ticket, has 40 Daubigny paintings and also 15 Impressionist and Post-Impressionist ones by Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh and Camille Pissarro. Through May 29. $15 adult; $10 child. 316 Pike St., Downtown, taftmuseum.org.
ART: PASSAGE AT THE CAC
Only a few of us can travel in space like Neil Armstrong or Yuri Gagarin, but we all travel through myriad spaces in everyday life. It’s so common, we rarely even think about it. But the South Korea-born, London-based artist Do Ho Suh thinks about it very much. He approaches public and private spaces with the same sense of exploration that an astronaut devotes to the moon. You’ll be able to see what he’s discovered when the exhibition Passage opens at the Contemporary Arts Center on Friday. It continues through Sept. 11. Using colorful fabric, he has constructed soft, allusive versions of spaces he has known in his 53 years of living and traveling throughout the world. The show features four major fabric sculptural installations, including a stand-out (and stand-up) three-story staircase called “348 W. 22nd St.” Read more about the exhibit here.
EVENT: COMPREHENSIVE FERMENTING SEMINAR
A comprehensive fermenting seminar and workshop. Attendees will practice measuring and mixing brine, filling and
will take home a bubbling jar of probiotics. Includes seven hours of instructions, tasting samples, hands-on practice, printed resources, access to live phone support and a healthy lunch. 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. $299. Kingsgate Marriott Conference Center, University of Cincinnati, 151 Goodman Drive, Clifton, 907-694-2284, store.probioticjar.com.
SUNDAY
ONSTAGE: NATIVE GARDENS
When longtime, waspy residents are proud of their formal garden and the young Hispanic couple moving in next door prefer a more natural “native garden,” the temperature goes up. And when there’s a dispute about the property line, well, then there’s outright warfare. This world premiere by Karen Zacarías will entertain audiences (her Book Club Play did the same in 2013), but they’ll also think about how we get along with people who aren’t just like us. Kudos to the Playhouse for commissioning a new play by this skilled playwright. Through Feb. 21. $30-$85. Playhouse in the Park, 962 Mount Adams Circle, Mount Adams, 513-421-3888, cincyplay.com.
COMEDY: KEVIN BOZEMAN
Kevin Bozeman knew it was time to leave his day job to pursue standup comedy when he kept coming up with the same answer to his clients’ questions. “I sold insurance,” he says. “People used to ask me, ‘Why should I buy life insurance?’ And I used to tell them, ‘Because I need a commission check.’ ” He started doing standup in Madison, Wis., where he went to college. “I got ripped off,” he tells audiences about that experience. “All I got out of it was bad credit. College loans. I didn’t know they wanted you to pay those back; I thought that was only if you graduated.” The people trying to collect that debt don’t seem to be all that smart, either. “They call me at 11 o’clock in the morning, and I answer the phone. They have to know that’s a problem.” Showtimes Thursday-Sunday. $8-$14. Go Bananas, 8410 Market Place Lane, Montgomery, gobananascomedy.com.
ART: TINY TOMES AT THE LIBRARY
Tiny Tomes features 71 of the library’s smallest books, on display in six cases through March 13. It’s a quirky and thoroughly charming exhibit. Who knew so many miniature books of all types existed, or that their subject matter could be so unusual and their graphic design so beautiful? Read more about the exhibit here. Tiny Tomes is on display through March 13 at the main branch of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. More info: cincinnatilibrary.org.
EVENT: CHINESE NEW YEAR PARTY AT ORIENTAL WOK
Celebrate the Year of the Monkey at Oriental Wok. Party includes a nine course authentic Lucky Dinner, Chinese lion dance, firecrackers and fun information about the symbolism of the monkey. 6-9 p.m. $75; $25 children. 317 Buttermilk Pike, Fort Mitchell, 859-331-3000, orientalwok.com.
