Kehinde Wiley Revisits Race and the Renaissance
The narrowing eyes glance sideways across the room and seem to ask, “What are you looking at?” At the same time, they draw you into the small Sinton Gallery at the Taft Museum of Art. Inside, other young black males meet your gaze from every direction. Do you feel uncomfortable? What would you do if…
Attend the Tale of Sweeney Todd
It was 35 years ago when I first heard about a new Broadway musical, the story of a Victorian serial murderer whose victims were ground up for meat pies. My first reaction to Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street was disbelief. Who would want to see a show like that? Who would create…
Literary: Ian Stansel
According to a description on local resident Ian Stansel’s website, his new collection of short stories, Everybody’s Irish, is about “family, love, struggle, booze, drugs, art, football, horses, bicycles, death, sex, pain and protest in the great state of Illinois.” Hey, nobody said Stansel wasn’t ambitious, including the people who determine the works shortlisted for…
Art: The Traveling Show
The Near*By Curatorial Collective presents The Traveling Show, a touring, purchasable selection of multi-media art objects by more than 30 different artists on the subject of travel. Fifty hand-built boxes filled with creative output will be driven around the city on opening night and exhibited at several different venues, including the University of Cincinnati (Clifton…
Event: Party in Plaid and Polka Dot
Bust out the plaid and polka dots and get ready to party. HIV/AIDS nonprofit Caracole hosts the second annual Party in Plaid & Polka Dot event to help raise funds for their organization. Cocktails and a catered dinner will be followed by an impromptu fashion show (to showcase the timeless aesthetic of plaid and polka…
Event: Supermoon Viewing
When a full/new moon makes its appearance during the time when it’s closest to the earth in its elliptical orbit, the result is a moon that looks 14-percent bigger and about 30-percent brighter, aka a Supermoon. Watch it rise at the Cincinnati Observatory, followed by viewings of Saturn and Mars through their historic telescope. Rain…
Sports: Western & Southern Open
The oldest tennis tournament played in its original city, the Western & Southern open (aka the must-attend sporting event of the summer) is back for the 115th time. Tennis fans and non-fans alike will enjoy what has become more than a mere sporting experience thanks to added events like daily local chef cooking demonstrations. Eat,…
Art: Vanished: Photographs by Jesse Fox
On March 26, 1967, Jim Thompson — a silk industry businessman and the most famous American living in Asia — mysteriously vanished while visiting friends in Malaysia. He was never found. In her series Vanished, CityBeat’s award-winning photographer Jesse Fox uses Thompson’s story as inspiration to explore the mystery and intrigue of disappearing without a…
Onstage: Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at The Carnegie
Many people think musicals are about sweetness and happy endings. Well, not Stephen Sondheim, the composer and lyricist of this Victorian story of vicious serial killing and cannibalism in London. Nevertheless, it’s one of the all-time great musicals, usually ranked among the 10 best ever — the winner of eight Tony awards. Dark humor, vengeance…
Film: The Case of the Three Sided Dream
Rahsaan Roland Kirk, who died in 1977, was a blind Columbus, Ohio-born Jazz multi-instrumentalist who often played his fiery and cutting-edge music in Cincinnati Jazz clubs before and after achieving worldwide fame. A new documentary about him, The Case of the Three Sided Dream, will be screened Thursday at Greenwich Tavern. It’s part of a…
Event: Glier’s Goettafest
This festival emphasizes the family origins of Cincinnati’s favorite sausage-like creation and features unique recipes from all over the region, including goetta gyros, goetta coneys, goetta fish tacos and much more. None of the five senses will be left unstimulated as the fest provides live music every night, plus rides, cornhole, putt putt and a…
Comedy: Dan Soder
After a successful appearance on Conan and the debut of his Comedy Central Presents half-hour, Dan Soder has been busy appearing at clubs across the country. The former journalist took the stand-up plunge before leaving college. At the time, Soder was working at a radio station and a colleague, who also did stand-up, gave him…
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Director Jonathan Liebesman (Battle: Los Angeles), working with the support of executive producer Michael Bay, places a huge target on himself here with this attempt to revive the 1980s cartoon heroes, yet again, as a potential live-action franchise. Inexplicably, Bay has transformed The Transformers into a global ATM despite the narrative and visual incoherence of…
Step Up All In
We are led to believe that an all-star lineup from the previous Step Up movies comes together for this one-time battle royale-style event in Las Vegas, which will end up crowning the kings and queens of street dancing kingdom. However, director Trish Sie (the video short “OK Go: Oh No Special Edition”), writer John Swetnam…
Event: World’s Longest Yard Sale
More than 100 vendors will tempt many more shoppers during what can only be called a shopper’s end-of-summer dream this week as the World’s Longest Yard Sale returns to MainStrasse. From collectable antiques and kitchen sinks, be prepared to bargain, buy and come back for more the next day. The four-day yard sale stretches from…
Into the Storm
Tornadoes wreck havoc on the small town of Silverton and a collection of storm trackers, adventure-hungry types and regular folks do everything they can to stay alive and one step ahead of the onslaught. Director Steven Quale (the Final Destination 5 helmer has also gained experience with James Cameron, directing the documentary Aliens of the…
Event: Hamilton County Fair
The Hamilton County Fair is back again with its 159th annual celebration. Organizers promise the fair gets “bigger and better each year.” The fair boasts everything from demolition derbies and motocross to cook-offs and contests to belly dancing, a big cat circus and professional wrestling. There’s even a cow milking demonstration. For kids, magic shows,…
The Hundred-Foot Journey
Writer-director Steven Knight takes a bit of vacation with The Hundred-Foot Journey, only penning the script for director Lasse Hallström, based on Richard C. Morais’ book. A clash of cultures and cuisines arises when a South Asian family and Madame Mallory (Helen Mirren), the head of a successful French restaurant, find themselves operating across the…
Art: Creative Expression: Artists Works at the Cincinnati Library
If there is a Hall of Fame somewhere for librarians — and there should be — then Alice S. Plaut, former head of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County’s Art & Music Department, belongs in it. In 1958, entrusted by the Library with some of the $50,000 bequest by Eda Kuhn Loeb, she…
Boyhood
On paper, and in far lesser hands, the premise of Boyhood would come across as a gimmick that would never make it past the idea stage. Leave it to Richard Linklater — the self-taught writer-director from Texas who ambled onto the independent film scene in the 1990s, sharing his insider’s vision of the alternative milieu…
Music: Swear and Shake
Brooklyn, N.Y.-based quartet Swear and Shake makes sublime Indie Folk Pop that has won the ears and hearts of music lovers and critics thanks to relentless touring, an engaging live show and the excellent, diverse 2012 debut full-length, Maple Ridge. Driven by the great harmonies and melodies of co-frontpeople Kari Spieler and Adam McHeffey, Swear…
Maverick Chocolate Does Bean-to-Bar
Findlay Market is now home to only the second bean-to-bar chocolatier in Ohio: Maverick Chocolate. Maverick co-owner/president Paul Picton grew up in Canada and moved to Northern Kentucky 14 years ago to work for Comair. His job frequently took him to Europe, where he discovered interesting chocolates. Feeling burned-out from his job, he and his…
The Presidents Room (Review)
The Phoenix, the late 19th century building formerly known as The Phoenix Club, is one of the grand Cincinnati landmarks designed by architect Samuel Hannaford. Along with City Hall and Music Hall, the Phoenix and its Italian Renaissance style are testament to Hannaford’s classical disposition. And The President’s Room restaurant inside The Phoenix has that same…
Morning News and Stuff
Sometimes, all the forces of the universe conspire to make every important thing possible happen on the same day, at the same time. That day is tomorrow, when City Council will meet for the first time since its summer recess, Hamilton County Commissioners will vote on the icon tax and the 6th Circuit Court of…
Q&A with Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson is one of America’s great guitar players. A natural guitarists of sorts, he has been touring since his late teen years in the ’70s and has worked with many great acts from a variety of genres — including Rock, Folk, Alt Country and Jazz — over that time. His Grammy Award-winning pedigree makes…
Look Who’s Eating: Ryan Santos
CityBeat is resurrecting our popular "Look Who's Eating" column, where we ask local chefs and food industry insiders where they've been dining and what is exciting them about Cincinnati's current culinary culture. This month, we talk to Ryan Santos. Chef Ryan Santos has already built a reputation as the man behind Please, a mobile dining pop-up.…
New Cold-Press Juice Bar Coming to OTR
Big news for local juice fans. Cold-press juice bars are a new staple in most big cities — follow any model, actress or fashion blogger on instagram and you'll see oodles of the stuff from places like Venice Beach's juice bar Moon Juice. Now, locals Annie McKinney, Cydney Rabe and Steve Vickers are bringing the…
Cold-Press Juice Bar Coming to OTR
Big news for local juice fans. Cold-press juice bars are a new staple in most big cities — follow any model, actress or fashion blogger on instagram and you'll see oodles of the stuff from places like Venice Beach's juice bar Moon Juice. Now, locals Annie McKinney, Cydney Rabe and Steve Vickers are bringing the…
Morning News and Stuff
Hey all. As we all collectively recover from sitting in Washington Park for hours camped out for LumenoCity, let’s talk about what’s going on in the wide world, shall we? The Cincinnati Police Department has released a report (scroll down to page four in that agenda) about the effectiveness of the anti-prostitution barriers on McMicken,…
Kindness in Covington
Usually when I walk down to the corner of happy and healthy here in Covington, Kentucky — the Walgreens at 1220 Madison Avenue — I walk with a walker that has wheels. Once you get past the intersection at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Madison Avenue, there’s a slope that my diabetic legs and…
Stage Door: Free Shakespeare!
The big show this weekend will be Lumenocity in Washington Park. If you were lucky enough to get a ticket, you'll be seeing some great images on Music Hall's facade with accompaniment by the Cincinnati Symphony. If you weren't so lucky, you can still enjoy the show via radio (WGUC), television, big screens (at Fountain…
Morning News and Stuff
Hey all. Did you miss me? I ditched the morning news yesterday to see if anyone noticed I was gone go find out more about Harry Black, Mayor John Cranley’s pick to be city manager. You can read all about what he’ll do if he gets the job here, but I’ll offer a brief recap.…
Look Who’s Eating: Ryan Santos
CityBeat is resurrecting our popular "Look Who's Eating" column, where we ask local chefs and food industry insiders where they've been dining and what is exciting them about Cincinnati's current culinary culture. This month, we talk to Ryan Santos. Chef Ryan Santos has already built a reputation as the man behind Please, a mobile dining…
Free Food on During Lumenocity Saturday
Chef Daniel Wright, founder/chef of the Senate and Abigail Street, hosts a Cincinnati Food + Wine Classic Pop-Up at 1218 Race St. — at the edge of Washington Park — during Lumenocity on Saturday. From 3-4p.m. Saturday, Aug. 2, or until the food runs out, the pop-up will provide free samplings of Wright’s creations to commemorate the inaugural…
Cranley’s Pick for City Manager Lays Out Vision for Cincinnati
Harry Black, Mayor John Cranley’s pick for the next city manager, spoke today about his ideas for keeping Cincinnati’s momentum moving forward. At a news conference outside City Hall this morning, Black pledged that should he be selected to be city manager, his office would be transparent and accountable as it seeks to boost economic…
MPMF Announces Christian Moerlein Brewery as Newest Venue
Old and new traditions will coalesce at this year's MidPoint Music Festival as Christian Moerlein Brewing Company will host acts all weekend long, including headliners Panda Bear, Tycho and The Raveonettes. The 13th annual MPMF runs Sept. 25 -27 and continues to expand throughout downtown Cincinnati and the Over-the-Rhine area. Not only will Moerlein be…
From The Copy Desk
It would seem like we’ve made it, folks. The short-lived tenure of this little vocab blog has reached its end; let’s not get all sentimental about all the words we’ve learned. I’m going back to the land of Muncie, Indiana, where we don’t have cool stuff like altweeklies or rideshare competition, which you can read…
Morning News and Stuff
The Senate (America’s most powerful deliberative body, not the hotdog place on Vine Street) voted yesterday to approve former P&G CEO Bob McDonald as head of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The vote was 97-0, and while such approvals are usually kind of a mundane procedural affair, they’ve been pretty difficult with many Obama nominees…
Cincinnati Art Museum Announces New Director
The Cincinnati Art Museum on Tuesday announced in this press release its new director, who is replacing Aaron Betsky. The latter announced his resignation late last year and left his post in May. CINCINNATI – JULY 29, 2014 – The Board of Trustees of the Cincinnati Art Museum today unanimously voted to name Cameron Kitchin…
