Onstage: Timon of Athens
Timon of Athens, from around 1605, has a weird, modern resonance and a special appeal — like Shakespeare could read the future. Theory has it that Shakespeare wrote it to satirize British nobility who were living lavishly, throwing parties and taking on extraordinary amounts of debt. Sound familiar? It’s always startling when a play from…
Events: 20th Century Cincinnati
20th Century Cincinnati will be bringing the self-conscious and forward-thinking modernist movement of the period between the First World War and the computer age back to the Sharonville Convention Center Saturday and Sunday. Fifty modernist dealers will be in attendance for those who want to take some modernism home. And Harper Art Studio is this…
Onstage: Two Gentleman of Verona
Don’t let this title throw you off: It’s a musical at UC’s College-Conservatory of Music, not another production at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company. In fact, Two Gents, as it’s affectionately called, is based on Shakespeare’s early comedy, but it has credentials all its own. It’s a 1971 work by the same composer, Galt MacDermot, who created…
Music: Thursday
Thursday is a band that has always had an appetite for the ambitious. The 12-year-old New Brunswick, N.J., Post-Hardcore sextet has gracefully ascended from packing basements and bars to headlining Bogart’s this week as part of the formidable Taste of Chaos Tour. While the sextet's music oeuvre relies on intense shouting and a volatile clamor…
Music: Cincinnati Blues Festival
Singer/songwriter/guitarist Clarence Carter has overcome a good many obstacles in his 73 years, most of them by way of his natural musical gift. Born blind and raised in rural Alabama, Carter attended a school for the blind at age 6 and learned guitar at age 11 when his grandmother bought him one (and told him…
Sports: UC Basketball vs West Virginia
Three years after being told by the UC administration, “You ain’t gotta go home, but you can’t stay here,” Bob Huggins will visit the Shoemaker Center with his West Virginia Mountaineers Thursday for a basketball contest with postseason implications for both teams. UC will honor Huggs before the game in a ceremony that’s sure to…
Xavier’s Swoon in League Play Might Help Its NCAA Tournament Chances
Boredom might be a suitable attitude for sports fans after the Super Bowl, but one hates seeing a college basketball team assume that malaise, especially when that team was in the thick of the national picture. Thus we encounter the present Xavier basketball season as one of the most dumbfounding to pass this way in…
Lit: David Kamp
David Kamp is obsessed with food. His popular 2006 book, The United States of Arugula, is the culmination of this obsession, investigating “how food in America got better, and how it hopped the fence from the ghettos of home economics and snobby gourmandism to the expansive realm of popular culture.” Kamp’s impressively researched, surprisingly irreverent…
Onstage: Working
The curtain opens on a bare stage at Northern Kentucky University with a few gray geometrical objects scattered about. There is a striking lack of intimacy and human scale in this environment. When you see 39 cast members stream on (there were only 26 in the 2000 ATC production in Chicago), you realize director Ken…
Art: Inspiring Collectors at the Weston-Bolling Gallery
Works on paper and mixed-media pieces by familiar and lesser-known artists are on view at Phyllis Weston-Annie Bolling Gallery in Inspiring Collectors. All six of the artists shown have Cincinnati ties. This likeable, easy-to-live-with art includes sketches of historical Cincinnati by local Frank McElwain; etchings by Harry Shokler, the last of the “Duveneck school of…
Events: Swizzle Soiree
There are few things in life worse than walking into a bar with the expectation of satiating your thirst, hunger or desire only to discover that you don’t jive with the scene. Maybe it’s the music, maybe it’s the crowd or maybe it’s just the vibe in general that’s keeping you from achieving that ideal…
Music: Lee Konitz
Usually when a musician gets older, he or she will stick with what they are best known for and what gets them the best gigs. (B.B. King, for example, has been playing the same guitar solo for 30 years now.) Legendary Jazz saxophonist Lee Konitz has taken the opposite approach, choosing to continually explore Jazz…
Music: Tokyo Police Club
Tokyo Police Club has emerged out of a crowded Canadian music scene due in no small part to their catchy song structures and flair for independence. The band released two critically acclaimed EPs, one in 2006 and one in 2007, and the major labels sought them out, hoping to land what many deemed as the…
Events: Leapin Lizard Gallery Re-Opening
When Leapin Lizard in Covington closed earlier this year, the community lost a reference point for fine art, craft and fun events. What has been a two-story gallery that enlivened a former church with funky, eclectic sensibilities is back, retaining its wild streak to fuel a new function as an alternative events space. Its grand…
Comedy: Jimmy Dore
While many comics avoid current events, Jimmy Dore revels in them. Now more than ever. “These days there’s a lot of stuff happening,” he says. “There’s the gay marriage, the medical marijuana, there’s the stimulus bill, the depression, banking criminals.” He scoffs at the notion that some people had that the election was the end-all,…
Art: We Still Use Film at the Base Gallery
This is a time when, because of digitalization and computer graphics, we're not always sure what constitutes a photographic print anymore. The old-fashioned notion that it is something shot with film and painstakingly developed in a darkroom from a negative is, well, old-fashioned. With that in mind, BASE Co-op Gallery honors that notion and tries…
Tecmo Update, and Peter King Has It Easy
I'm short on time and ideas. Prevailing circumstances have kept me and my homey from finishing Week 3 of the Greatest Season Ever before due time came. Merrill Hoge busted off 179 rushing yards in a game, Vinny T and the Bucs got loose. My homey's Chiefs lost to the Oilers. Both our teams are…
Does the Death Penalty Mean Death?
The Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center (IJPC) along with many other abolitionist groups say it does. Over time the public in Ohio has voted to eliminate one round of death penalty case appeals and the inadequate funding of defense in these cases has been eating away at the “super” due-process required by the U.S. Supreme…
CCM Does Transmigration
Some people yearn for sunshine this time of year and find their way to a beach to recharge their batteries. Theater fans who are impatient for the annual Cincinnati Fringe Festival, which doesn’t roll around until June, were reminded this past weekend of the kind of creativity that makes those two weeks in early summer…
Free Buttermilk Pancakes
We get a lot of weird press releases at CityBeat. Many are from businesses looking for free publicity when all they have to offer is made-up news. But this one was just too good to ignore, even if it were just for the recognition of National Pancake Day.—- Tomorrow, Feb. 24, IHOP will host a…
Oscar Predictions
I'm through bitching about how clueless the Academy is for overlooking my favorite films in favor of "geriatric coffeetable dogshit" (aka The Reader), as Christian Slater put it in True Romance. (To be fair, The Reader is slightly better than dogshit, mostly due to the presence of Kate Winslet.) Yes, I've finally accepted the Oscars…
Enquirer Reorganizes Staff
Some might call it a savvy reinvention to compete in the digital age, and others would say it just amounts to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. In a continuing effort to refocus its dwindling resources on the Internet and away from the print edition, The Cincinnati Enquirer is restructuring its news-gathering operation and…
Air Hockey Blog — The Injury
Well, this is it. The aspiring Air Hockey World Champion's blog. Seriously. Air hockey. Why air hockey? As Jason points out in the Air Hockey Blog intro, he kicked my ass at Pop-A-Shot on a regular basis and I got tired of it. I challenged him to a game of air hockey … and let…
Your Liver Hates Me (and I’m OK With That)
Gaaaaaaah! Hung. Over. Ugh. Is it the weekend already? I’m still recovering from this week and the weekend is lookin’ to be pretty high up on the tomfoolery totem pole. Fun hurts. —— Saint Anthony, Saint Anthony, please look around, pain killers are lost and must be found! (I’m a recovering Catholic). Hopefully everyone out…
An Alternate Plan for Council
A local blogger is suggesting an alternative to Cincinnati City Council for handling appointments to the group that he says is simpler and cheaper than a plan proposed by a councilwoman.—- This week’s issue of CityBeat features a cover story about City Councilwoman Leslie Ghiz’ proposal for a charter amendment that would change how council…
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Review)
The musical comedy A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum has been around long enough to qualify as a classic. The 1962 show (based on Roman comedies by Plautus from 2,000 years earlier) is a well-oiled script (by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart) with memorable music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim; in…
Stage Door: Gems, Blackbirds and Dead Cities
I've been away for two weeks — including seeing some great theater in Denver — but it's good to be back in Cincinnati. There's lots of great theater going on for you to see. This is the final weekend for Ensemble Theatre's well-received production of August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean. (Read my review here.)…
Charlie’s Corner: Best Job in the World
As my employment search continues for any job I can get my hands on, I sometimes say to myself, "Why settle for those average everyday jobs of folding clothes, answering calls or giving hand jobs?" —- I want to do something adventurous and amazing that I can tell my friends to make them jealous of…
Concert Review: Eagles of Death Metal at 20th Century Theatre
I am a firm believer that music finds you when you are mentally ready for it. I just recently discovered the whole Hip Hop genre. I never realized that Flavor Flav had a legitimate career before resident weirdo on VH1. Eagles of Death Metal would fit nicely into this category. All my friends went ape…
Events: Mardi Gras at Findlay Market
Celebrate Mardi Gras in a family-friendly fashion at Findlay Market. The market gets festive with music, food, costumes and merchant stand decorations, a traditional parade, samples of a lowland crawfish boil and beer sampling. Free beads will be given away by the Friends of Findlay Market. At 11:45 a.m. the King and Queen of Mardi…
Friday the 13th (Review)
The pillaging of horror movie vaults continues with this loose, surprisingly decent reboot of the 1980 original, which is best known now for the presence of a fresh-faced Kevin Bacon and for spawning an unstoppable series of mostly lame sequels. Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes Productions, the team behind the recent remakes of Texas Chainsaw Massacre…
Clean Coal Myth
No matter what a politician says, coal has never been and can’t be “clean” or serve as an “alternative” fuel that’s good for the environment. On position held by many groups is that limiting the use of coal is necessary to create the incentive to come up with energy alternatives that truly don’t harm the…
Another Seven Days of Avoiding Peanuts and Banning Adoption
WEDNESDAY FEB. 11Stewart Parnell might have been dumb enough to ship salmonella-infected peanut products all over the country, but he wasn’t dumb enough to eat any of his company’s peanut butter in front of Congress today. In response to allegations that Parnell knowingly shipped the infected products that got mass people sick, Rep. Greg Walden…
Gravy (Review)
Ah, gravy. When I think of gravy, I’m reminded of the smell of my grandma’s house from my childhood. Not that she cooked much. It was actually the musty smell of the old house saturated with years of cigarette smoke. But it always reminded me of gravy. Needless to say, my life has been somewhat…
Free Doritos, Instant Fame
If you gave me $1 million, I’d eat a lot of Doritos. Joe and Dave Herbert didn’t have to, but I bet they’d eat a million bags. They’re that happy. Joe Herbert was grinning ear-to-ear Feb. 12 inside the Southeastern Indiana YMCA gymnasium in Batesville. He had about 50 people in a never-shortening line of…
New Music from Mark Utley and Cash Flagg, Plus Other Notable News
Mountain Songs Though known for a wide-range of musical styles, Greater Cincinnati has always had an especially strong Americana/ Roots music scene, as evidenced each year by the stacked lineup at the annual Rivertown Breakdown showcase. With the release of Nothing As It Was, Mark Utley and his band Magnolia Mountain (pictured) should instantly jump…
Dance: Maureen Fleming at Contemporary Dance Theater
Presented as part of Contemporary Dance Theater’s Guest Artist series, Maureen Fleming’s mesmerizing choreography in Waters of Immortality offers a world apart from general expectations of dance: living, breathing, even contorted sculptural forms emerge from her slow-motion movements. Time and space decelerate, drawing the audience into an entrancing atmosphere in a kind of group meditation.…
The Stuff Nature’s Made of
Even from the sidewalk, it's excessively clear that a new, sprawling, elegant exhibition has moved into downtown’s Contemporary Arts Center (CAC). Kaplan Hall has been hung with a looming nimbus form made from thousands of white Styrofoam cups and backlit with a soft glow. This and two other floors have been turned over to Tara…
Renting Vs. Owning
Renting Vs. Owning Kevin Osborne’s interview with Greg Harris, newly appointed to Cincinnati City Council (“At Home on City Council,” issue of Feb. 11), included a few incorrect or misleading statements. The article quotes an increase in Section 8 Housing between 1994 and 2004, but methodology and dispersal, not quantity, changed. In 1994, the majority…
Jumpin’ for Kids
"He who loves music loves life.” This is the quote that changed Jerry Beck’s life when he was 10 years old and deciding between practicing his trumpet or joining his friends for a game of baseball. Now Beck is 72 and founder of the Cincinnati Music Foundation, better known by its stage name, Jump N’…
Temple of Love
What, if anything, does Valentine’s Day mean to you? Is it a time to share a tender moment and Hallmark greeting card with the one you adore, or is it a time to scoff at said lovebirds, drowning your cynicism in large, red martinis? If you’re in the former category, searching for a publicly sanctioned…
Body of Work
Transcendent, spellbinding and dreamlike could all describe Maureen Fleming’s solo performances. But none would precisely capture one’s response to experiencing her work. Though presented as part of Contemporary Dance Theater’s Guest Artist series, Fleming’s mesmerizing choreography offers a world apart from general expectations of dance: living, breathing, even contorted sculptural forms emerge from her slow-motion…
Everything Old Is New Again
Movie theaters are filled with films based on TV shows and classic novels, remakes, sequels and prequels to past hits. The world of beverages also frequently looks to the past for “new” ideas. Locally, Greg Hardman has successfully resurrected classic Cincinnati beer brands like Christian Moerlein. Cocktails are regularly rescued from obscurity by bartenders digging…
Curious Case of Benjamin … Bush?
I’ve been perplexed by The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which leads all movies with 13 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. Yes, it’s beautifully crafted, with transformative makeup and digital effects to support its central concept — a man ages in reverse while those he knows get older. And the acting, too, is involving. Brad…
Sheriff Learns the Limits of His Power
Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis Jr. is a man who’s used to getting whatever he wants, usually through badgering and bullying other elected officials. Lately, though, the blustery Leis has gotten a cold, hard dose of reality. First, a federal judge recently rejected Leis’ claim that he had qualified immunity and couldn’t be forced to…
Events: Swizzle Soiree
Do you like booze? Sure. We all do. Especially when bad things are going on in the world. Why, just look at Japan's former finance minister. Nothing eases the pain of an economic crisis quite like a stiff drink and a xanax. So join CityBeat and friends in a happy hour toast to celebrate Swizzle,…
M. Ward: Hold Time
Portland-based Folk artist M. Ward conjures 14 new, beautifully composed tracks of whispered spells and drowsy lullabies with his sixth studio album. Following Post-War, released in 2006, Hold Time is an emotionally-charged blend of Folk ballads sweetened by Ward’s honeysoaked vocals and master finger-picking which provides some catchy, easy listening. The album is unique, dynamic…
Music: Magnolia Mountain
Though known for a wide-range of musical styles, Greater Cincinnati has always had an especially strong Americana/Roots music scene, as evidenced by the stacked lineup at the annual Rivertown Breakdown showcase. With the release of Nothing As It Was, Mark Utley and his band Magnolia Mountain should instantly jump to the top of any list…
Fuxter Schittly (Profile)
It’s all about the new ‘Theory of Modern Isolation.’ With the onset of all this break-neck advancement of technology, anybody can do just about anything, including music, with the touch of a button in even the most darkest of bedrooms, basements or converted living rooms. I’m in one of those converted rooms now, shuffling through…
My Ear Is Gasping for Breath
I have hearing loss. My right ear serves only for purposes of ornamentation. In 2005 I went into the Atlantic Ocean and came out with only my left ear working. I’m not alone in this condition. A colleague, a very able reporter in town, likewise went into the Atlantic off the coast of Florida and…
The Question Man
Over the past month my wife and I have spent a lot of time analyzing our household budget. We’ve started collecting every receipt and allotting certain amounts for groceries, restaurants and entertainment. We’ve always lived frugally, but we’ve never counted pennies the way we are now. Like most of you, we have little to “fall…
Darkane: Demonic Art
If a bottomless crevice were to split in the Earth’s surface and serve as the gateway for Satan’s army to emerge in an apocalyptic, Book of Revelations scenario, Darkane’s latest album would be the ideal soundtrack to fuel the human race as it storms into battle. The 14-track album carries Death Metal to dizzying heights…
Feeling No Pain, Limping Back and Downloading Forever
Music = Anesthetic? Put down the morphine: A recent study from Glasgow's Caledonian University says that music can make you feel less pain and stand pain for longer periods of time. Researchers say there is no particular genre that is most soothing; the music is generally that which the subjects claim as their favorite. The…
Music: Cash Flagg
Indie Rock quartet Cash Flagg unveils its new CD, a self-titled five-track EP, with a release show Saturday at Northside Tavern. The free show also features D-Dub and The Jellyhearts. Featuring Shawn Bracken, former singer/guitarist for Roots Rock faves The Stapletons, as well as former members of The Whoos, Cash Flagg dives into the Indie…
Miranda Lee Richards: Light of X
Eight years ago, Miranda Lee Richards released her astonishing debut, The Herethereafter, to a cynical, just barely post-9/11 world that somehow didn’t understand her contemporary spin on ’60s Psychedelia and Folk, taking her cues from The Stones, The Doors, Nick Drake and the Mamas and the Papas. I fell hard for the album and her…
No Kidding
The topic of children’s theater might conjure images of cardboard scenery and childish actors. That’s definitely not what you’ll find at The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati (CTC), which this weekend debuts High School Musical 2 at downtown’s Taft Theatre. David Centers, company scenic designer, exemplifies CTC’s professionalism. Centers inherited his job from the late Jay…
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
With their latest self-titled release, sometime Drive By Trucker Jason Isbell and his new group, the 400 Unit, present a disc full of literate, faux-soulful, countrified Folk Blues Rock. While it isn’t without its moments — the pretty lushnoise bit in “Sunstroke” shows at least some penchant for experimentation — the album is overall a…
Kross-Bearer
So much of the intellectual discourse about The Reader has focused on considerations about the film’s Holocaust angle. Is it a Holocaust film at all or simply a movie about the intimate relationship between a young boy and an older woman and the implications for each as they move beyond their brief affair? Also, could…
Darfur and the Southern Sudan
"Darfur and the Southern Sudan are among the most devastated areas on the planet," according to a press release from Xavier University. "Join us for a conversation with Simon Deng, a former Sudanese slave, and Omer Ismail, a native of Darfur, to discuss what we can and should be doing to address this inhuman situation."—-…
Air Hockey Blog — Time to Turn Pro
Seven long months ago, I was what many in the office would consider an urban legend. I was the self-proclaimed Dave and Busters “Pop-A-Shot” king. Unbeaten in more than 20 straight head-to-head matches, I managed to frustrate my fellow co-workers with my Larry Bird-like skills. This, of course, led to a lot of bragging and…
