Onstage: Fall Preview: Start Your Theater Engines
Tony Arrasmith/Arrasmith & Associates Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park presents Altar Boyz, a musical about a Christian boy band, in October. The 2007-08 theater season moves into high gear right after Labor Day, so now is the time to map out what you'll see onstage this fall. Theaters and other performing arts organizations are…
Film: Review: The 11th Hour
Warner Independent Leonardo DiCaprio is the narrator/producer and co-writer of The 11th Hour. Is it all a hoax? A plot by those kooky liberals in the media and the pseudo-enlightened movie stars driving around in their hybrid cars? Conservatives scare us with terrorism and liberals use the environment and a dying planet scenario to…
News: The People’s Choice
Sean Hughes Rev. Charlie Winburn Odd-numbered years bring what are often called "off-year" elections, with no federal offices on the ballot. But ironically it's these elections that have the most direct effect on our daily lives — deciding who runs the city, who runs the public schools and how much we'll pay in taxes…
Locals Only: : Joe Hedges
Antonia Ciaravino Joe Hedges A scant five years ago, July for Kings was the great local hope for major label success. Signed to MCA and making inroads at radio around the country with their debut album Swim, the Middletown quintet seemed as though it was on the precipice of next-level success then came…
CEA winners demonstrate theater scene’s depth and diversity
The Aug. 27 presentation of the 2007 CINCINNATI ENTERTAINMENT AWARDS made some interesting points about the past theater season. A year ago Cincinnati Playhouse earned a wheelbarrow of recognition for Company, which went on to Broadway and won multiple Tony Awards. But what fun would it be if the Playhouse, which does consistently excellent work,…
Sound Advice: : Rush and The Dirty Projectors
Dead Oceans The Dirty Projectors The Dirty Projectors with YACHT and Vampire Weekend Wednesday · Publico (publicoart.com) Jaded music lovers often have this odd perception that nothing is new everything has already been done. While I can see their point if you listen to only mainstream music or most other forms of standard…
Cover Story: State of the Arts: How the Arts Saved Cincinnati
Sean Hughes State of the Arts EDITOR'S NOTE: A few weeks ago I came across a strange locked box in the basement of our building downtown where we keep back issues and old files. It was labeled "CityBeat 25th Anniversary Time Capsule," and inside, believe it or not, was a CityBeat published on Nov.…
News: Too Tough for The Enquirer?
Dick Swaim Jim McNair say he doesn't know why The Enquirer fired him. He was told complaints were behind thedismissal, but wasn't told what the complaints were — or who made them. Jim McNair, an award-winning business reporter at The Cincinnati Enquirer, was summoned to the human resources office at the paper Aug. 16…
Cover Story: State of the Arts: The Influentials
Sean Hughes Bill Donabedian and Sean Rhiney Lists are frustratingly subjective endeavors that yield as many guffaws as nods of recognition. It's even worse when compiling a list of people responsible for the state of Cincinnati's arts scene, a small but vital group that tends to remain "influential" from year to year. This shallow…
Ways to Renew Yourself
All around us there are ways to expand your mind, tone your body and open your spirit. If you're looking for some personal renewal, there's no better way than connecting with other local folks who are serious about wellness. Here are a few of our favorite ways to find a new groove: Divorce Support Group:…
You Do the Meth
"Strawberry Quick" uses powdered drink mix to give (methamphetamine) a pink coloring. The sweetness of the powder can make meth more palatable and partially masks its harsh chemical taste. "It's a different spin, like a marketing thing," said William Bryant, assistant special agent in charge of the DEA's office in Little Rock. — The Associated…
Diner: Review: Sabor Peruano
Joe Lamb Sabor Peruano A visit to Sabor Peruano in Fairfield provides something that is becoming increasingly rare in Cincinnati: an authentic, no-frills ethnic menu offering strange and unfamiliar dishes unadulterated by their intercontinental journey to the United States. This is hearty and satisfying Peruvian food. There are no embarrassing attempts to emulate the…
Cover Story: State of the Arts: New Directors New Direction
Scott Beseler Aaron Betsky Eric Lee Raphaela Platow During the past year, the three major Cincinnati arts institutions have appointed new directors: Eric Lee at the Taft Museum of Art, Aaron Betsky at the Cincinnati Art Museum and Raphaela Platow at the Contemporary Arts Center. Each comes from a different place and brings distinct…
Let’s Get Moving
I recently attended the Senior Olympics in Louisville to watch the cycling competition. While there, I was amazed to see 80- and 90-year-olds racing and competing with 50-year-olds! Their energy was admirable. During the week I had a chance to speak with many of them. When asked how they kept in such great shape, the…
Ballet Tech Cincinnati
Peter Mueller Cincinnati Ballet's Dmitri Trubchanov and Kristi Capps look forward to Chaconne Throughout this fall season, the local onstage dance scene brings forth an ever-expanding range of options, from revamped (and possibly vampy) classics and world premier works by rising star choreographers to daring contemporary fare. Following its popular annual Gala of International…
Country Reggae
Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and John Denver passing a Red Stripe beer, and nodding "jah, mon?" As weird as it sounds, the sound of Jamaica has always had a soft spot for American Country music, which often topped the charts in the island nation in '60s and '70s. Next week, the mighty Trojan label is…
Living Out Loud: : Cubicles and Co-Workers
If you're employed as an office worker, I'm sure you have experienced the pleasures of working with many different personalities. I've spent nearly 10 years of my life stuck in a cubicle. As with anything else in life, it has its good days as well as its bad days, but I can't complain. After all,…
Vick Hasn’t Fallen As Far As Rose and Simpson
Jerry Dowling The Michael Vick dog fighting story, a tale of man's inhumanity, has incited the public like few other entries in the athletic story line, and it's a very snappily edited piece, too. We went all the way from the cops busting Vick's cousin for drugs to Vick pleading guilty of dog fighting…
Lookwhos: Look Who’s Eating: Reine and Emile Salti
Graham Lienhart Reine Salti Emile Salti is a scientist — a food technologist who has traveled the world. He buys only the best local meat and produce for the homey Mediterranean restaurant he and his wife opened 18 years ago. For other ingredients, he gets the best from faraway lands like Italy, Greece and…
Film: Revisiting a Cinematic Corpse
The Weinstein Company He's back: Michael Myers returns to the screen in Rob Zombie's quasi-remake of John Carpenter's 1978horror classic, Halloween. "It was like coming into a room like this and you don't even know what the meeting is about, and then he brings it up," musician-turned-director Rob Zombie says, explaining how notorious mega-producer…
No Family Values
I must tell you I didn't know if I should laugh or cry when I finished the Living Out Loud column "Pretty in Pink" (issue of Aug. 22). I'm afraid Ms. Pretty in Pink is going to have a very hard life. Can I take comfort that her mother is going to be right there…
News: Dope Dealing
In an attempt to deal a winning hand to people who suffer from debilitating diseases and who are being targeted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) recently sent a deck of playing cards to every member of Congress. The deck lists 52 reasons to support the legalization of medical…
Art: Fall Preview: New Visions
Weston Art Gallery Jane Burch Cochran's "Moonlight" will be part of her solo exhbition at the Weston Art Gallery Let's forget about the strangling swelter that has been the month of August and instead look forward to September, the art world's New Year. The time when some of the best spaces launch some of…
Music: Ditty Women
Gary Stamler Management Down on the Farm: The Ditty Bops' current tour of our nation's farms is an effort to encourage consumers to buy locally grown produce. It probably isn't much of a surprise that the Ditty Bops are plying their trade during their current tour — which finds the duo visiting and playing…
Onstage: Fall Preview: Symphonic Sounds
Based on recent numbers showing reduced attendance at CINCINNATI SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA productions, it seems our city's rich Classical heritage is being taken for granted. We are possessed of world-class orchestras and gifted conductors, as well as a broad range of equally talented players and programmers in a variety of additional Classical organizations, and it's vitally…
Troublemaker’s Journal
In his recent speech before the Veterans of Foreign Wars, President Bush compared the situation in Iraq to that in Vietnam, arguing that the United States must continue the war in Iraq because a withdrawal of U.S. troops would lead to regional wars and bloodbaths, as happened after the withdrawal from Vietnam. There were regional…
Confronting the Real Crime Problem
Graham Lienhart Days before a raid, immigrants and allies rally. Greg Harris is saying something you won't hear from many, if any, other candidates for Cincinnati City Council: The Cincinnati Police Department needs reform. Harris' critique goes beyond the changes established in the past five years by the Collaborative Agreement and the city's memorandum…
News to Use
What's God Got to Do with It? Hundreds of Tri-state residents are expected to participate in a lively, interactive event called "One Nation Under God? A Day of Dialogue on Religion, Government, and Public Policy." Sponsored by the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center (IJPC), the program is from 2-5 p.m. Sept. 9 at the Church…
Testing Free Agency
It is always with mixed emotion that Cincinnatians relinquish our own to the greater good. We're happy to share with the world the homegrown music that we've adored long before outsiders took notice. But, like heartbroken parents, we part ways on the condition that our babies remember us fondly and visit often. They mostly do…
Film: Review: The Ten
Thinkfilm Match made in acting heaven: Winona Ryder and a ventriloquist's dummy share a tender moment in The Ten. First, it was the Bible. Then, in 1956, Cecile B. De Mille gave the world The Ten Commandments, an earnest, bombastic epic (and a remake of his own 1923 silent film), still fondly if ironically…
You Better, You Bet
Local singer/songwriter Eric Diedrichs practically willed himself to become the masterful craftsman he has become, throwing himself into music full-bore without a "safety school" to fall back on. When I first did a proper interview with Diedrichs in the mid-'90s, when his band The Simpletons were the hottest Power Pop band in town, I vividly…
My Lunch with Lenin
Some dreams seem quixotic. Imagine leaving your native country to build a better life for your family in a new, strange land. My immigrant grandparents did it; millions of others have, too. Tsiala Yusupov is one of them. Just 10 years after arriving in America, she has already succeeded beyond any reasonable expectation with the…
