Eats: Year in Reviews
Piccolo Wine Room 23 Village Square, Glendale, 513-771-6612, piazzadiscepoli.com/piccolo Manager Julia Piazza Porter welcomed and seated us at Piccolo Wine Room in Glendale, and we spent the next couple of hours sampling wine and chef Aimee Saling’s six-item food menu. Both the setting and the bonhomie made for a splendid experience — and we enjoyed…
On Second Thought…
I spend a lot of time reading and listening to commentators whose views I disagree with: print, online, AM radio and TV. It’s an old habit that grew to fruition writing about churches for decades. Many , if not most , preached a faith that damned me for stiff-necked faithfulness to my even more ancient…
Four Takeaways From the Third Democratic Debate
The Grown-up Debate Regardless of where you fall on the partisan spectrum, you have to acknowledge this debate was a stark contrast against the last Republican debate. The last time we saw the GOP duke it out it was overflowing with silly rhetoric about “bombing the shit” out of ISIS, despite the current air campaign…
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
There’s a confounding disturbance in the holiday release schedule this year. While the critical industry machine does its level best to invest meaning and portent into every seasonal nominating group’s pronouncements, J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan (longtime series screenwriter) have surreptitiously snuck the latest contribution to one of the greatest sci-fi epics of all-time into…
Sisters
Apparently women can suffer from insufferable cases of arrested development just like guys, which Amy Poehler and Tina Fey seem intent on proving in Jason Moore’s Sisters, about two adult sisters who come together to throw a huge blowout party in the house they grew up in before their parents sell it. Poehler and Fey…
Hitchcock/Truffaut
For this documentary, Kent Jones, former film critic and programming director with the New York Film Festival, gathered filmmakers to discuss the impact of François Truffaut’s seminal book, Cinema According to Hitchcock. When François Truffaut conducted the interviews with Alfred Hitchcock that would form the basis for the book in the early 1960s, he was…
Morning News and Stuff
Good morning, Cincinnati! Here are your morning headlines. • So maybe many of us are getting ready to sit back, relax and take a few days off for the holidays, but not Cincinnati's newest police chief, Eliot Isaac. Isaac was sworn in as Cincinnati's first black police chief last night at the National Underground Railroad…
Morning News and Stuff
Good morning all. Let’s talk about news. The announcement last week that a number of cycling advocacy groups and bike trail initiatives are going all-in on a 42-mile loop around the city was exciting for the city’s cyclists, to be sure. But how feasible is that plan, and what’s the time frame for it? As…
Cincinnati Entertainment Award Nominees Announced (Updated)
On Jan. 31, 2016, the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards winners will be announced at the 19th-annual ceremony/show/party at Covington’s Madison Theater. Today we are happy to announce the nominees for the CEAs, which are presented by CityBeat and honor Greater Cincinnati’s rich and eclectic music scene. Again this year, the public was invited to submit nominee suggestions via…
Morning News and Stuff
Hello Cincy! Here are your morning headlines. • Controversial Sharonville conservative organization Citizens for Community Values is figuring out ways around council member Chris Seelbach's recently passed ordinance that bans conversion therapy in Cincinnati. The group has teamed up with the Washington D.C. area-based group Equality and Justice for all to figure out ways for…
Stage Door: Last Chances — and Some Big Laughs
This weekend is your final chance to see several December productions, including Low Down Dirty Blues (Cincinnati Playhouse), All Childish Things (Know Theatre) and Rent (Incline Theater). A few shows stick around after Dec. 25 — A Christmas Carol (Playhouse) continues through Dec. 30 and Ensemble Theatre’s staging of its jaunty rendition of Cinderella remains onstage…
Morning News and Stuff
Hey all! Time for your news run down. A lot of stuff happened in Cincinnati City Council yesterday, so we’ll focus on that. First, let’s go to one of the bigger topics around town lately, a proposal Council passed yesterday that will split Over-the-Rhine’s current entertainment district into two separate districts and extend them north.…
Cincinnati women hold mixed-faith prayer vigil in response to Islamaphobia
At least 200 people gathered downtown on Fountain Square during their lunch hour today to take part in a multi-faith, women-led prayer service for peace in response to recent outbursts of Islamaphobia. The event, co-sponsored by the American Jewish Committee, the Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati and Christ Church Cathedral, is a response by faith…
Judge’s Radio Show Comments Prompt New Hearing
A Hamilton County Appeals Court has ordered a new hearing for a man convicted in the death of his girlfriend’s 1-year-old child. That order comes after Hamilton County Court Common Pleas Judge Leslie Ghiz made critical statements on a radio station the day after she sentenced the defendant last year. Hamilton County Court Judge Peter…
Planned Parenthood Pushes Back Against Ohio AG’s Fetal Tissue Disposal Claims
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine says a state investigation into Planned Parenthood clinics found that three that provide abortions have been disposing of fetal remains in landfills. But the organization denies that claim and has filed a federal lawsuit against the state over DeWine’s statements. Initially, Ohio’s investigation was undertaken to find out if Planned…
Event: Lighting the Serpent
Celebrate the Winter Solstice at the Serpent Mound in Adams County, an ancient effigy-mound earthwork in the shape of a snake with a curled tail, most likely used for ceremonial purposes. Each year since 2004, Friends of the Serpent Mound have hosted a solstice event to light luminaries around the serpent in correlation with the…
Music: Over the Rhine
While 2015 saw no new studio releases from Cincinnati music greats Over the Rhine, the band was by no means idle. Memorial Day weekend, the band’s core — Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist — hosted 25th-anniversary concerts at their “Nowhere Else” facilities, a beautifully refurbished barn (located about 10 miles west of Hillsboro, Ohio) that…
Holiday: North Pole Express
Surprise! Santa and Mrs. Claus are riding a historic locomotive around Lebanon. Climb aboard the LM&M Railroad’s North Pole Express to visit with the man in red, grab a cookie and cup of hot chocolate and watch people in elf costumes sing and dance. Each child will receive a small gift. This event frequently sells…
Holiday: ‘Frisch’s Presets The Nutcracker’
Cincinnati Ballet’s lavish 42nd-annual production of The Nutcracker opens Friday with 11 shows this season. The huge, full-scale production, colorfully re-envisioned in a 2011 world premiere with new sets, costumes and lighting, once again tells the adventures of Clara, a small girl who journeys with her Nutcracker Prince through the Land of Sweets. Choreography is…
Art: Pendleton Art Center Holiday Market
Group shows and larger-scale convention-style craft fairs often pop up this time of year, encouraging shoppers to buy locally produced, one-of-a-kind goodies for their holiday purchases (like Jason Bohrer’s “Bell Event Center” photo, pictured). And one of the best local buy-direct-from-the-maker opportunities around is Pendleton Art Center’s Holiday Market. Since 1991, PAC has served as…
Onstage: The Little Prince: The Opera
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s classic novella, which tells the story of a stranded pilot who meets a little boy from another planet, is brought to life by the Cincinnati Chamber Opera in its first production of the season. The family-friendly show is composed by Rachel Portman and features a chorus from the Cincinnati Children’s Choir, a 20-player…
Comedy: Ms. Pat
By the time Ms. Pat was 15, she had two kids, dropped out of school and began dealing drugs. A caring social worker and a responsible man that became her husband helped her turn her life around. “The cycle in my family is alcohol, drugs and drop out,” she says. But her case worker saw…
Event: Marvel Universe Live
You know they can fly, smash things, wear patriotic spandex suits and brings in millions of dollars at the box office, but did you know they can also perform live-action theatrical renditions of popular Marvel storylines? Marvel Universe Live features more than 25 of your favorite costumed comic characters — Iron Man, Captain America, Thor,…
Holiday: Holiday Junction
Cincinnati’s classic holiday train display is back at the Cincinnati Museum Center — itself a former train terminal. This year’s Holiday Junction featuring the Duke Energy Holiday Trains elaborate miniature train display features more lights, new trains and more family-friendly activities. This quaint holiday tradition started in the 1940s and today features more than 300…
Holiday: Just in Time for the Holidays: Kenner Toys
The Force awakens at the main branch of the public library with a special Kenner Toys holiday exhibit. Kenner, founded in Cincinnati in 1947, designed and developed all the totally awesome ’80s and early-’90s figurines and toys for brands like Star Wars, Strawberry Shortcake, Batman, Jurassic Park and Ghostbusters, plus Play-Doh, Spirograph and Easy-Bake Oven.…
Holiday: A Christmas Carol
In 1991, the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park first offered Howard Dallin’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic tale of the reclamation of the “wicked old screw” Ebenezer Scrooge, scared into loving happiness by a series of Christmas Eve ghosts. After a quarter-century, A Christmas Carol is a Cincinnati holiday tradition, a polished production beloved by…
Holiday: Holiday in Lights
It’s finally getting cold outside, which begs the question: Do you want to enjoy the aesthetics of the season without the risk of frostbite? If so, head over to Sharon Woods, where an abundance of lighted holiday displays can be viewed from the comfort of your car. Falling snowflakes, menorahs, nutcrackers and many other scenes…
Art: Modern Living: Objects and Context
At The Carnegie’s Modern Living: Objects and Context, curators Matt Distel and BLDG present two types of environments for considering artists’ household-inspired sculptures and design firms’ tables, lamps and more. The exhibition explores where the definitions of design and art merge and diverge. Can something functional also have aesthetic value? Should an object intended as sculpture be…
DIY Spaces: Paul Coors
Paul Coors started art gallery Publico while he was attending the Art Academy in 2002. After it closed up shop in 2008, he moved to Brighton, where he eventually opened DIY space Ice Cream Factory, which continues to host art and music events. We talked with him about what it’s like to run a space…
DIY Spaces: Andy Marko
Andy Marko has helped run semantics gallery in Brighton for nearly two decades. He joined artists like David Dillon, Sandy Eichert, Julia Rantz and others heavily involved in running the space over the years. He also sat on the board of Mockbee, Inc. and on the city’s Arts Allocations Board for a number of years.…
A Taste of Nepal in OTR
If you walk by the newish Findlay Market food stand Bridges a bit too quickly, relying only on your eyes to be your guide, it’s easy to confuse the fare — including golden-brown samosas — as being from India. But owner/operator Ashak Chipalu and his mother Rose Chipalu, who does all of the cooking, invite…
For Your Holiday Viewing Pleasure
Most series wrap up or go on hiatus over the next couple weeks, making plenty of room for seasonal specials. Christmas Through the Decades (Finale, 10 p.m. Wednesday, History) – This series ends in the 1990s with a look at Mikhail Gorbachev’s resignation on Christmas Day 1991, Beanie Baby mania and then-First Family the Clintons’…
The Muse and the Modern Bard
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth gets a fascinating visual reinterpretation thanks to Justin Kurzel, an Australian neophyte with only one previous feature credit to his name (2011’s The Snowtown Murders). But his association with his Macbeth lead, Michael Fassbender, now extends to his next feature, the big-screen adaptation of the popular videogame Assassin’s Creed. Working from a…
‘Modern Living’ Finds Fun Amid Function
At The Carnegie’s Modern Living: Objects and Context, curators Matt Distel and BLDG present two types of environments for considering artists’ household-inspired sculptures and design firms’ tables, lamps and more. The exhibition explores where the definitions of design and art merge and diverge. Can something functional also have aesthetic value? Should an object intended as…
Celebrate the Holidays with a Night at the Theater
The holiday song has it that this is “the most wonderful time of the year.” That’s certainly true if you love holiday-themed theater. Some of what’s available in Cincinnati is family-friendly, while some of it takes some liberties with the holidays. Ensemble Theatre offers the best bet for kids, with Cinderella. It’s a contemporary take…
See ‘Ten Treasures’ From a New Museum in Town
Art and artifacts from the B’nai B’rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum are now making their debut in Cincinnati, which will be the Klutznick collection’s permanent home. But don’t look for “The Klutznick” — which had existed in Washington, D.C. — to have its own brick-and-mortar building here. Rather, its holdings this year have become part…
Holiday Road
T here’s no place like home for the holidays, but sometimes you’re overcome with a sense of wanderlust — even this time of year. Sure, there are plenty of holiday-themed events and attractions locally, but two towns in the Midwest make a cottage industry out of Christmas: Santa Claus, Ind., is about three hours to…
Disappearing DIY
D uring an 18-year run that ended in September, a small, dusty storefront tucked away in the West End’s Brighton District hosted a parade of befuddling, transcendent art and music. In another life, the building it occupied on Central Avenue just off the swooping Brighton Approach overpass served as a delicatessen, and white, fading…
The Long Fight
Cincinnati has fought a pitched battle over the past year to address gun violence in neighborhoods around the city. City officials have waged that struggle in a number of ways, from 90-day plans to increased spending on police. Now, a coalition convened by Democrat City Council member Yvette Simpson is looking at trying new, longer-term…
Buzz Me In
There was a time here in Cincinnati when 1230 AM WDBZ The Buzz — the de facto “black talk” station — was relevant, necessary even. It was black Cincinnati’s bully pulpit, going-off space and platform for spelling out conspiracy theories; a place where unabashed anger was aimed squarely at the white powers that be, the…
Worst Week Ever! Dec. 16-22
Ohio GOP Leaders: “Of Course We’ll Support Trump!” Donald Trump has been cracking up American audiences for decades with his crazy hair and straight-to-the-point reality show catchphrases. But, unfortunately for the Republican Party, there is no other candidate with as much combined experience in international business and farcical popularity contests to overtake him in the…
Music: The Academy Is…
For eight years after its 2003 formation, The Academy Is… was one of the leading lights of the Emo movement, championed by Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz, signed to Fueled by Ramen (with later distribution through Wentz’s Decaydance label) and a consistent highlight of several Warped/package tours with the likes of FOB, Armor for Sleep,…
Sound Advice: The Academy Is…
For eight years after its 2003 formation, The Academy Is… was one of the leading lights of the Emo movement, championed by Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz, signed to Fueled by Ramen (with later distribution through Wentz’s Decaydance label) and a consistent highlight of several Warped/package tours with the likes of FOB, Armor for Sleep,…
Music: Margo and the Pricetags
The past few years have seen a lot of buzz about Nashville, Tenn.’s fertile Rock scene, which is often presented as a counterpart to the city’s vital role as the Modern Country music business’ nerve center. Following that “cool Indie/Garage Rock vs. shiny, vapid Country Pop” scenario, one might think that all of the Country…
Sound Advice: Margo and the Pricetags with Pokey LaFarge
The past few years have seen a lot of buzz about Nashville, Tenn.’s fertile Rock scene, which is often presented as a counterpart to the city’s vital role as the Modern Country music business’ nerve center. Following that “cool Indie/Garage Rock vs. shiny, vapid Country Pop” scenario, one might think that all of the Country…
Music: Dustin Lynch
A dozen years ago, Dustin Lynch lit out from his tiny hometown of Tullahoma, Tenn., for the brighter lights and bigger city of Nashville, Tenn., with the express purpose of hitting Music City’s fame lottery. Lynch’s odds were fairly long; he was only 18 with no particular musical cred, headed into the belly of the…
Sound Advice: Dustin Lynch with Chris Lane and Tyler Rich
A dozen years ago, Dustin Lynch lit out from his tiny hometown of Tullahoma, Tenn., for the brighter lights and bigger city of Nashville, Tenn., with the express purpose of hitting Music City’s fame lottery. Lynch’s odds were fairly long; he was only 18 with no particular musical cred, headed into the belly of the…
Music: Wolf Alice
With its 2015 debut full-length, My Love is Cool, London’s Wolf Alice accomplished a fairly nifty trick by exhibiting the distinctive traits of any number of genres while somehow managing to transcend them all in the creation of a unique sonic identity. The quartet easily blends the scorchingly fuzzy Shoegaze of Ride, the beautifully nuanced British…
Sound Advice: Wolf Alice with Radkey
With its 2015 debut full-length, My Love is Cool, London’s Wolf Alice accomplished a fairly nifty trick by exhibiting the distinctive traits of any number of genres while somehow managing to transcend them all in the creation of a unique sonic identity. The quartet easily blends the scorchingly fuzzy Shoegaze of Ride, the beautifully nuanced…
Umin, The Z.G.s Celebrate Latest Releases
This Saturday, Northern Kentucky sonic sculptor Kevin Poole is throwing a party in honor of his latest project under the umin moniker, a full-length titled line. Artist Jason Erler (who created line’s artwork) will present an installation at the event, and further exploratory music will be provided by Louisville, Ky.’s Cher Von and Unexpected Vibe,…
Morning News and Stuff
Hello all! Let’s talk about news today. There’s a lot of it, so I’ll refrain from my normal verbosity (you probably got enough long-windedness from the GOP presidential debate last night anyway) and just give you the facts. • As a bike commuter, I’m intrigued. As a reporter who follows the trials and travails of…
Sincerity Now!
Mike Tittel doesn’t really fit the bill of a blossoming Pop/Rock icon. He’s soft spoken, self-effacing and unassuming, but, like the soft-spoken, self-effacing, unassuming and wildly talented singer/songwriters before him, Tittel saves his “Big Statements” for the studio and stage. And the statements on the first two albums with his relatively new band, New Sincerity…
FLOTUS/POTUS Make Music Headlines
HOT: FLOTUS/POTUS Music News Barack and Michelle Obama each made music-news headlines recently. The first lady debuted her Rap skills in a joke-y video with Saturday Night Live’s Jay Pharoah to promote her Reach Higher campaign, which encourages young people to pursue higher education. “Old people” rapping to kids to send a message is never…
DIY Spaces: Robert Inhuman
Robert Inhuman is a long-time participant in Cincinnati's DIY scene, as well as a key operator of Realicide Youth Records, a punk/noise/electronic label. CityBeat chatted with Robert about the DIY community in Cincinnati and the loss of his most recent space, Cide Central. This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. CityBeat: I…
Kitchen Sound Off
There have been many studies done to show how music in the workplace can affect workers’ mood and performance. In her 2005 paper titled “The effect of music listening on work performance,” Dr. Teresa Lesiuk, assistant professor in the music therapy program at the University of Miami, found that people who listened to music completed…
DIY Spaces: Calcagno Cullen
Calcagno Cullen moved back to Cincinnati last year from San Francisco with her husband Geoffrey to start Wave Pool Gallery in Camp Washington. She chatted with CityBeat recently about alternative spaces, art's role in the community, and whether running a space like Wave Pool in Cincinnati is becoming more challenging. This interview has been lightly…
