Jun 1-8, 2016
Summer Guide 2016: Live Like Ferris Bueller All Summer Long
Event: Schwabenfest
The Cincinnati Donauschwaben Society hosts its sixth-annual Schwabenfest. The name may be a mouthful, but so is its main event: Cincinnati’s only 750-pound ox roast. New to the fest this year is a special keg-tapping ceremony featuring Christian Moerlein beer. Schawbenfest promises to be similar to the society’s authentic Oktoberfest, with homemade sausage dinners, pretzel…
Morning News and Stuff
Good morning all. Here’s the news today. The University of Cincinnati has big changes to make to its police department, an independent report commissioned by the university says. UC yesterday unveiled the final report by outside consulting firm Exiger, which highlighted 14 main findings and 25 main recommendations in the wake of former UC officer…
Twiggy Fartdust and Her Nemesis from Mars
After the final bows, I left Twiggy Fartdust and Her Nemesis from Mars right behind a small group of friends. They walked out into the pleasant summer night in sort of an unintentional silence. No one knew quite what to say, likely still processing what they had just experienced.“Well,” one of the nice young men…
The Fainting Room
Becca Bernard, the creative force behind The Fainting Room, is infinitely likeable. There’s a sly innocence about her, which allows her to command a room full of people so nonchalantly while performing in a show about female anatomy. Trust me, you’ll never see balloon animals the same way again.However, no matter how much we were…
Music: Stu Hamm
Stu Hamm is the only bass player to be voted Guitar Player magazine’s Rock Bassist of the Year and Jazz Bassist of the Year in the same year. Guitar virtuoso fans know Hamm’s work with greats Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, but he is also known for his innovative solo shows. As one might expect…
Music: Dwarves
It’s kind of amazing that Dwarves still exist. The band formed in Chicago in the mid-1980s, anchored by lead singer Blag Dahlia (aka Blag the Ripper) and guitarist HeWhoCannotBeNamed, and were disciples of GG Allin’s brand of Punk Rock mayhem — part performance art and almost wholly anarchic. Marked by nudity, self-mutilation, drinking and drugging,…
Music: Diane Coffee
Everyone knows that some of the best Indie Rock tuneage these days has been created by a guy with the manly, testosterone-dipped name of Diane Coffee. Adhering to the long Rock tradition of men adopting a woman’s moniker — from the 16th-century-witch-inspired Alice Cooper to actual transgender pioneer Jayne County, who began her career as…
Music: Ray LaMontagne
New Hampshire-native-turned-roving-troubadour Ray LaMontagne has to be at least intermittently entertained by the ironies that punctuate his biography. For instance, the odds have to be fairly long that LaMontagne’s singer/songwriter path would begin with hearing Stephen Stills’ “Treetop Flyer” in 1999 and lead to working with Stills’ daughter Jennifer on his 2004 debut full-length, Trouble.…
Axl Wants ‘Fat Axl’ Axed
HOT: Axl Wants “Fat Axl” Axed Axl Rose is pretty busy these days with massive tours fronting both Guns N’ Roses and AC/DC. But his lawyers appear to have some spare time and are now seeking to have an unflattering photo of Rose removed from the internet. In the photo, Rose looks overweight, which led…
MidPoint Announces First Wave of 2016 Fest Bookings
This past spring it was announced that CityBeat was partnering with Music and Event Management Inc. to produce the MidPoint Music Festival going forward. Today, MEMI (a subsidiary of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra which books events at Riverbend Music Center, Taft Theater and other venues) has announced several details about the 2016 MidPoint fest, including…
Music: Jason Isbell
Jason Isbell has become one of the biggest names in Americana, but fans of all sorts have flocked to Isbell’s music, thanks to songwriting talents. After a stint in popular Roots Rock crew Drive-By Truckers, Isbell began his remarkable solo career in 2007. Since then, the Alabama native’s popularity has grown immensely. Isbell has reached…
Sports: Queen City Vintage Base Ball Festival
See baseball like it was played in 1869 — without gloves. The Queen City Vintage Base Ball Festival pits regional vintage-style teams the Indianapolis Hoosiers, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, Wyandotte Ghostriders and Cincinnati Buckeyes against each other in a day of play. The event takes place at the Heritage Village Museum, a recreated 1800s Ohio…
Event: Banana Split Festival
It’s an age-old question that gave rise to an unyielding figurative battle: Which state is the birthplace of the classic banana split? Since the early 1900s, Ohio and Pennsylvania have relentlessly claimed the title, and Wilmington, Ohio refuses to back down. (They’ve gone so far as to produce photographic evidence of resident Ernest Hazard serving…
Event: Ault Park Concours d’Elegance
Founded in 1978, the 39th-annual Ault Park Concours d’Elegance car show and exhibition features more than 200 collector-quality vintage, rare and restored automobiles. This year’s exhibit celebrates Ferrari, an Italian icon, as well as 100 years of BMW, the cars of Donald Healey and the 50th anniversary of the Ford GT40. Cars will be displayed…
Event: Midsummer Harvest
Join some of the area’s top sustainably focused chefs for a locally grown, organic feast. Their goal is to showcase the link between food and children’s health, with proceeds from the event benefitting the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Jean Robert de Cavel, Jose Salazar and Molly Wellmann are among dozens of participating chefs and…
Event: Sayler Park Sustains
Described by organizers as a “community-driven labor of love,” Sayler Park Sustains brings neighbors of all ages together to learn about Earth-first practices. In addition to vendors, live music, food trucks and activities for kids, the event includes a diverse lineup of workshops, like “Backyard Biodiversity” with Melinda Voss of the Cincinnati Zoo and gut-health-focused…
Lit: Shari Goldhagen
Cincinnati native Shari Goldhagen took a curious path for an aspiring novelist — despite possessing a master’s degree in literature, she starting writing gossipy pieces for The National Enquirer, which in turn led to her byline appearing in everything from Cosmopolitan to Penthouse. Goldhagen’s first novel, Family and Other Accidents, finally surfaced in 2006, followed…
Event: Queen City Bike + Dine
A progressive lunch on two wheels, Queen City Bike + Dine celebrates the end of Bike Month with a pedal party. The event kicks off at Park + Vine with a quick air-brakes-chain check and an appetizer before the tour departs for stops at Taglio in Columbia-Tusculum, Meatball Kitchen in Corryville and Northside Yacht Club…
Event: Harry Dean Stanton Fest
Now in its sixth year, Lexington, Ky.’s Harry Dean Stanton Fest has become a model film festival for the way it honors a native son (Stanton was born in nearby Irvine) and the resourcefulness that its creator, Lucy Jones, puts into programming. The three-day fest features screenings of some of the eternally hip character actor’s…
Art: Our City at C-LINK Gallery
Brazee Street Studios in Oakley worked with hundreds of pre-K through 12th grade students from 15 schools around Cincinnati to create one-of-a-kind fused-glass tiles for C-LINK Gallery’s sixth-annual kids exhibition. Exploring the notion of neighborhoods, students made one tile on the subject of home and worked collaboratively on a larger fused-glass panel to represent a…
Event: Hearth & Home Lecture
The Mercantile Library hosts a Hearth & Home lecture with Luke Barr, author of Provence, 1970, a book about the winter that iconic culinary figures James Beard, M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, Richard Olney and more found themselves together in the South of France. The Hearth & Home series features evenings with local chefs discussing books…
Comedy: Dan Davidson
“I continue to include my wife, marriage and our experiences in my act,” says comedian Dan Davidson, “with her permission.” Indeed, his spouse has taken an active role in the writing process. “She’s been on a trend of giving me permission to use the jokes that I come up with,” he says. “I’ll say something off-the-cuff…
Event: Newport Italianfest
In 1991, Newport Mayor Jerry Peluso and Commissioner Thomas Guidugli decided to create a family-oriented event that would honor the community’s rich cultural heritage and reflect Newport pride: Newport Italianfest. Twenty-five years later, Italianfest is going strong with an expected 120,000 visitors, eats from nine of the area’s most popular Italian restaurants and a packed…
Onstage: Bad Dates
Ever had a day when you couldn’t find the right thing to wear, but the right pair of shoes pulled everything together? That’s part of Haley Walker’s story in Bad Dates, in which she discusses her new life candidly as she dives back into the dating pool after the dissolution of her marriage. Cincinnati native…
Please Call Me Cupcake
How best to describe the experience of seeing Kevin Thornton’s Please Call Me Cupcake? It’s the theatrical equivalent of a juice cleanse. Follow me here. Shortly after you get started, you begin to wonder (then eventually worry), is this it? Is this all I get to tide me over?But time passes and then something happens.…
Fruit Flies Like a Banana (Critic’s Pick)
Gabriel’s Corner (located at Sycamore at Liberty Street in Over-the-Rhine) has been host to some Cincy Fringe-tastic physical theater, including David Gaines’ 7(x1) Samurai, a solo master class in movement and story. The Fourth Wall’s Fruit Flies Like a Banana presents the ensemble version of a family-fun master class in the hybrid arts. Remember that…
Morning News and Stuff
Hello all. Let’s talk news for a minute. Does the city need to revamp, or even completely overhaul, the way it gives tax incentives for economic development? Probably, a new independent report says. The study from HR&A Advisors found that while the city has doled out millions in incentives for 218 deals to boost economic…
Morning News and Stuff
Happy Monday all. Let’s talk news. It’s almost time for one of the most special of special elections in recent memory. Tomorrow, voters in Ohio’s 8th Congressional District will decide on a temporary replacement for former representative John Boehner, who was serving as ultra-powerful house speaker when he bolted from office due to strife within…
The Secrets of Avondale Falls
Victoria Davenport. Rex Harrington. Magical Talking Horse. Guard. Priest. The Dark Beast of Teeth and Sadness. From the moment you peruse the character names in The Secrets of Avondale Falls program book, you can tell you’re in for something unusual. On its face, The Secrets of Avondale Falls is a 1980s soap opera staged as…
My Left Teeth (Critic’s Pick)
There is much ado about stories these days. Commercial brands, hipster startups, politicians and Snapchatters alike work to find a relatable, timeless human story to reel us in. You would think that theater, even the Fringe-y sort, would be a place to study Story 101 — strange lands, desire, conflict, connection… the basics. Not necessarily.…
A Night with the Dream Keeper
According to the Dream Keeper in this show, “92 percent of the time, nothing interesting happens in dreams.” The remaining 8 percent is the subject of this FringeNext piece written by Austin Lamewona and performed by him and other students from Walnut Hills High School. The play opens with DK, the Dream Keeper (Maddie Eaton),…
Ice Candle: An Un-Documentary (Critic’s Pick)
What I’ve always enjoyed about the Cincinnati Fringe is the sudden turn of themes from show to show, from loud, raucous shows like Furlesque to steamy and hot (I mean really hot venue) noir show, Cessna to the one-woman, un-documentary show called the Ice Candle. Erika Kate MacDonald, who’s recently relocated to Greater Cincinnati, was a performer in Tales Too Tall…
We Did It, Girl
Racism, sexism and blind dates are the subjects at hand in We Did It, Girl, a grim lineup for a funny play that exposes society’s easy coverups and failed acceptances. You might leave with new ideas on any or all of those subjects. Meanwhile, you will have been exposed to the differing takes of the couple…
Velour
Velour is a cheap, cheesy, hilarious hoot. Presented by Schedule C Productions from Anderson, Ind., this two-hander follows the rise of a terrible entertainer who turns out to be terribly entertaining. Kevin Holladay plays Vinnie Velour, a Jersey-accented showbiz wannabe who has spent his adult career as a “driver to the stars.” When one of his…
The Unrepentant Necrophile (Critic’s Pick)
"Well, you don’t see something like that every day." That was my reaction immediately after watching The Unrepentant Necrophile, the latest offering from The Coldharts, a Brooklyn-based theatre company whose previous Cincy Fringe entries (The Legend of White Woman Creek and Edgar Allen) were among the most memorable productions of the 2014 and 2015 festivals. This show, perhaps…
Punk’s Not Dead and Neither is Sam (Yet) (Critic’s Pick)
Prepare yourself for a smart, frenetic, fun, wanna-be-punk fest involving a group of damn-good actors who can also sing. This production has a big heart, and you are won over by the intense, capable performance. This is a well-rehearsed show, as the actors smoothly perform in the very tight space restrictions of MOTR Pub’s basement…
William Shakespeare’s Most Brutal Tragedy: Measure for Measure
Pittsburgh-based production company Viral Content Generator (VCG) joins this year’s Cincy Fringe with its own loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure. VCG’s version, in brief: Claudio is set to be executed for the crime of fornication (read: impregnating Julietta outside of wedlock). Claudio’s sister Isabella pleads with the law, Angelo, who makes an indecent proposal:…
Black-n-White Café
This year’s presidential election will include first-time voters who might not remember Sept. 11, 2001. Before them, Generation X acquiesced to the end of history and a cultural milieu of slackers — but then came millennials. Ages 18 to 34, give or take, their world is social media and smartphones providing options without action. Black-N-White Café,…
Cosmic Nomad
Josh Richards is a scientist and a comedian, an Aussie and a “ginger” (in American English: He has red hair). He is one of 100 worldwide astronaut candidates short-listed to leave Earth forever and become the first to colonize Mars in 2025. He loves statistics and space. He loves bucket lists and challenges. He served…
Here’s Hoping There’s a Radioactive Spider in Your Future (Critic’s Pick)
Growing up is hard. That’s something any high school senior could tell you — and it’s something a host of maudlin high school movies, plays, books and TV shows will try to tell you. But where those monotonic messes fail, Ellie Conniff’s witty, poignant and hysterical Here’s Hoping There’s a Radioactive Spider in Your Future…
You Are Here
The peril of living in the teenage wasteland, forced to peer into “the great void of the unknown,” is the subject of You Are Here, a FringeNext presentation by the Village Idiots, students from The Seven Hills School. You Are Here was written by Sawyer Pardo and co-directed by Pardo and Kate Coley. The play…
Daddy Issues (Critic’s Pick)
Dealing with a father who is “eight-feet tall, 800 pounds, the biggest man in the world” is the struggle that Peter Aguero takes on his solo fringe show at the Art Academy Studio. Aguero, a regular host for PRX’s The Moth Radio Hour, knows how to spin a good story.He comes onstage in street clothes,…
Weird is Subjective
Adult babies, or those with the condition known as paraphilic infantilism, could be considered an easy comedic target. It’s not difficult to imagine the ways a playwright might ridicule a physically capable adult who unironically wears diapers and drinks from a sippy cup. Ben Dudley is the writer and co-star of Boo-boo, a play featured…
Stage Door: Fringe, Fringe and More Fringe
I’m busy this week managing and editing reviews of all the 2016 Cincinnati Fringe Festival shows, so I thought a quick rundown of shows that have earned praise early on (nearly 30 shows have been presented on two evenings so far) might be in order. The first Fringe production to have a sold-out performance was…
Baby Mama: Take 2
There might never be a more unlikely or ironic pairing of venue and artist than this year’s Fringe entry from Caps Lock Theatre, Baby Mama: One Woman’s Quest to Give Her Child to Gay People. Staged at the OTR Community Church and performed bravely by playwright and performance artist Mariah MacCarthy, this 70-minute show unapologetically…
Through the Mickle Woods
A good frame story, or a story-within-a-story, feels like bonus content: two for one. In the case of Through the Mickle Woods (based on the book of the same name), the viewer actually gets four stories for one — all of them sweet and imbued with childlike narrative qualities, but mostly centered around adult themes…
Tesla Ex Machina
This one-man biopic of visionary inventor Nikola Tesla by Seattle performer Ricky Coates is remarkably ambitious. Tesla is a nearly mythic figure of tremendous historic importance, but has never been in the center of the public consciousness. That, together with the need to present his story in a 45-minute format, created a daunting challenge. Yet…
Naked Strangers
This play, conceived and directed by Richard Hess, head of the University of Cincinnati's College Conservatory of Music Drama, kind of sneaks up on you. It starts with eight actors (all CCM students) in various stages of undress, asking a simple question: If we all come into the world naked, why are we eventually compelled…
Boo-boo
Who would have thought that a story about a grown man pretending to be a two-year-old would have so much heart? Ben Dudley’s play Boo-boo, the tale of 30-year-old Brandon who refuses to speak let alone grow up, is on Know Theatre’s mainstage, offering mixed media, comedy and a good dose of drama.Nathan Neorr stars…
Your Weekend To Do List
FRIDAY MUSIC: BUNBURY MUSIC FESTIVAL The three-day Bunbury Music Festival returns to the riverfront for a weekend of live music. Modeled after fests like Lollapalooza, the outdoor extravaganza features music on multiple stages from established and up-and-coming acts in all genres, including Alternative, Indie, Electronic, Hip Hop, Rock and Pop. Featured bands include The Killers,…
I Hate It Here
It’s pretty awesome that Cincinnati has SHEatre. The company’s tagline is “theater by and about women, for everyone.” Despite recent national efforts, gender parity remains 4:1 male vs. female playwrights getting shows produced. SHEatre’s mission is admirable: “To showcase the intelligence, passion, beauty, heart, humor and power of women to help solve theater’s parity problem…
Morning News and Stuff
Good morning all, it’s Friday! And it’s National Donut Day. I hope you’re enjoying both to the fullest, because I’m about to hit you with some serious news. We wouldn’t be Cincinnati (or, well, a city at all, probably) if we didn’t have some drama around city government, money and political optics. Today’s kerfuffle has…
Ryan and Alice?
Before the performance even begins, Ryan and Alice? pays attention to detail. Its stage is set with a painfully accurate bathroom plucked out of any college off-campus housing. There are lotions, tampons, a curling iron. Tom’s brand deodorant and cheap toilet paper. ”Be like Gaga!” reads a cheery note taped to the mirror. This restroom…
You Are the Hero (Critic’s Pick)
Nostalgia can sometimes mean yearning for a past that never actually existed. Part of that rolling-over of fond remembrances is for video games, especially those 8-bit, pixilated side-scrollers. Back in that simpler, halcyon Nintendo age of the late ’80s and early ’90s, games were not just simple in graphics, but also in message and gameplay.…
Furlesque
Grown men and women, in animal suits, dancing burlesque to an original, highly saucy version of “Oops, I Did It Again.” Do you need further convincing? Honestly, there’s really very little reason not to see Furlesque. It leaves you feeling light and bubbly and with a stitch (or is that an itch?) in your side…
Squeeze It from the Middle
Several folks commented afterward that Alison Bishop's show was “cute.” Bishop, the self-described “cougar” who wrote and performed the show’s nine original songs, was accompanied by a very fine upright bass player, Adam Sanreget, who helped move the simple tunes along. Bishop appears to struggle playing a guitar. But that didn’t stop her infectious banter…
Post Traumatic Super Delightful
There is no easy way to address or present the subject of rape. But The Pair of Animals from Brooklyn does an amazingly deft job of approaching this difficult issue from a wide range of angles in this show.Although billed as a company (or at least a duo), this one-woman show makes full use of…
Baby Mama: Take 1 (Critic’s Pick)
One of the best things about the Fringe is discovering new artists. Mariah MacCarthy makes her Cincinnati debut with this one-woman show about giving her baby up for adoption. And what a discovery she is. MacCarthy has a breezy, conversational style. It’s almost like you’re a guest at her party, where she holds court telling compelling, honest…
Graphic
“Neither rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these Fringe performers from the swift completion of their appointed performances.” This motto, adapted from the Postal Service, could easily be applied to Pones Inc.’s latest Fringe outing. Inspired by Artworks murals in Over-the-Rhine (OTR), Graphic is a dance and storytelling piece that interfaces with several…
Duryodhana, The Unconquerable
This one-hour show is a true example of the need to show — not tell. There is virtually no action to move this story of a dying prince as he struggles with the love of the gorgeous foreign princess Bhanumati (Katie Eichler). It’s too bad she has nothing to do but talk, talk, talk. (Her…
SHEnatra!
The premise of this show is simple. Well, at least by Fringe standards. Follow along: Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin are stuck in purgatory after living debauched, misogynist lives. God — a female with a wicked sense of humor — sentences them to afterlives as women, to fully comprehend the damage they caused during their…
The Gospel of Fat Kathy (Critic’s Pick)
Two young men sit on a bench, one upbeat and one distracted. Not even an impromptu A Cappella jam can cheer him up. A young woman walks in. The conversation is stilted, awkward. There’s history between them. She looks up at the tall building in front of her. “Hey, is that a girl up there?”The…
Seen, But Not Touched
This FringeNext offering is one of several shows produced by high school students. Performed at the Art Academy Commons, it’s an intriguing vignette following a teenager’s struggles with depression. Written by Lili Prophater, the show stars Brian Otten as the depressed Hale and Ryan Smith as Kenric, Hale’s depression manifest. Prophater’s script both struggles and…
Stage Door: Cappies Critiques Offer Young Reviewers’ Insights
On May 27, I attended the annual CAPPIE AWARDS at the Aronoff Center’s Procter & Gamble Hall in downtown Cincinnati to participate in the celebration of productions and performers from area high schools. I annually help recognize students who serve as critics. Part of the Cappies program has teens from high schools visit other schools…
Woody vs. Mia vs. Gwyneth vs. Coldplay
There’s a moment in this show when Daniel Glenn, as Woody Allen, tries some “new jokes” by using a box-cutter as an imaginary microphone. If only the entire show was as sharp as that prop.It’s not a bad show, but I’m not sure it’s a relevant one. Focusing on the relationships between Woody Allen and…
Shit Men Have Said, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Patriarchy
It should be noted that this show is a fairly interactive performance. If you plan to attend, you might want to go in without reading the details in this review so you can experience the show the way I did — with twists intact. This review might spoil some of the show’s surprises. The premise…
Clara (Critic’s Pick)
I wish I could put into words the magic Clara makes without them. Apparently all this dance troupe needs to visually describe the lifespan of a remarkable woman is a table, a few chairs and aerial silks hanging from the ceiling. With only these props to embellish the story, the audience can look forward to…
Charlie’s Girls
There’s a new(ish) tradition in our culture — and a good one — to pull out a famous story our society thinks it knows so well and flip it on its head by telling it from a new perspective. Often, the new perspective is a woman’s. It’s a perspective that’s historically been silenced or skewed…
Cessna: A Drama Noir
Most Cincinnatians don’t know that in 1982 a plane crashed into a bookstore in Montgomery, killing six men. One of the men was Carl Johnson, a former banker who had stolen more than $600,000 seven years before and hidden $50,000 somewhere in Cincinnati. To this day, that money is still missing: Its location went to…
The Biscuiteater
The title of Jim Loucks’s one-man show, The Biscuiteater, comes from a distinction made in the American South between hounds that hunt and dogs that don’t. The former are seen as animals that aggressively pursue their prey, while the latter are loving pets that mostly beg for biscuits. Loucks’ 60-minute session of storytelling centers on…
Morning News and Stuff
Hello all. Here’s a quick shot of news as we speed toward this short week’s end. You’ve probably heard all about Cincinnati’s Metropolitan Sewer District and the questions around the millions of dollars in contracts it reportedly paid out without a proper bidding process. Those revelations have triggered an independent city audit of MSD. But…
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows
How can you pack in so many curiously questionable pop culture figures into a franchise based on nothing more than beloved (?) 1980’s nostalgia? Megan Fox rebounds from “The Transformers” to more of the same here, while Tyler Perry leaves Madea trapped in the closet long enough to make an appearance that teases more ongoing…
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
In his best moments, Andy Samberg wields his boyish charm deftly, sometimes bludgeoning us with goofiness, while at other times nicking us with a thousand little smart and biting cuts. Generally, though, he wanders through broad scenarios wide-eyed, like a lost pet, eagerly needing to get our attention. It is this vibe that seems to…
Me Before You
Jojo Moyes finds herself in the enviable position of being able to pen the screenplay of her own novel with Thea Sharrock, a newbie feature filmmaker, at the helm. Me Before You dips its toes into Nicholas Sparks waters, charting the budding relationship between Lou Clark (Emilia Clarke), an aimless young woman who takes a…
Other Bother
Both the title of Performance Gallery’s Other Bother and the show itself is split into two halves. The first half is filled with some rather murky stage material that is just other, while the second provides some inventive scene-making definitely worth bothering about.The architecture of the show is a series of scripted but improv-based vignettes,…
Midnight Express
The heart of drama is action and conflict. We go to movies, to the theater and to the hastily revamped spaces that provide Fringe productions with workable settings to see something happen. The problem with Trey Tatum’s The Midnight Express is that, although it reflects serious action that has resulted in the two somewhat damaged…
Golconda
Social media has changed the world, especially here in the United States. You can go on the internet in total anonymity and say anything you want, get anything you want and find anything you want. It’s the ultimate tool for niche cultures to meet like-minded individuals. This is the starting point for Golconda, a play…
Darlings (Critic’s Pick)
So what happened to the parents of the Darling children after they flew off to Neverland with Peter Pan? That’s the question poignantly explored in Darlings, presented by NYC-based Animal Engine Theatre Company through the beautifully realized performances of its founders, Karim Muasher and Carrie Brown. The tone is set immediately as the audience enters…
Event: BugFest
Many of us spend our warm-weather days and nights dousing ourselves with DEET to avoid encounters with bugs, but for those interested in doing the exact opposite, the Cincinnati Museum Center’s BugFest lets you get up close and personal with a bunch of creepy crawlies. Immerse yourself in the world of arthropods and learn about…
Event: Summerfair
Summerfair began in 1968 as a small-scale fest saluting the opening of the then-brand-new Cincinnati Playhouse. Today, it is one of the oldest continuously operating art fairs in the country. The festivities head to Coney Island this weekend with 300 fine artists and craftspeople. Their work — for show and for sale — will be exhibited…
Event: Art on Vine
The creators of Art on Vine, photographer James Jenkins and graphic designer Page Lansley, began the monthly art fair — which now features the work of more than 60-plus vendors — as part of a college project in 2012. They’ve hosted regular monthly art-buying events around downtown and Over-the-Rhine since July 2013. Art on Vine…
Event: Taste of Newport
Make room in your belly, hone your taste buds and set out to try something new during this one-day-only, all-you-can-eat extravaganza. Some of Newport’s best eateries will be serving up small plates, bites and drinks, including 27 Bar + Kitchen, Newport Pizza, the Pepper Pod, Dick’s Last Resort, Sis’s on Monmouth, Smooth Nitro Coffee and…
Art: Still Life: Regional Folk Art Show & Sale
The still life is the good life in Kentucky, whether making whiskey or making art. New Riff Distillery hosts both traditions this weekend. Painter/sculptor Tony Dotson has rounded up more than 20 regional artists in genres like Folk, Outsider, Pop and Contemporary art for the inaugural Still Life show — and all works are offered…
Music: MUSE’s Spring Concert
MUSE, Cincinnati’s Women’s Choir, presents its 33rd-annual spring concert, Phenomenally Woven, featuring two world premieres — “Phenomenally,” a commission by acclaimed composer/conductor/performer Dr. Rosephanye Powell based on a poem by Maya Angelou, and “Power Lines” by Kala Pierson, the first recipient of a commission prize named for MUSE’s founder Dr. Catherine Roma. Artistic director Rhonda…
Event: Valley Vineyards Wine & Beer Festival
Valley Vineyards and on-site Cellar Dweller brewery kick off a weekend of drinking, dining and hot-air-balloon-riding. This annual fest — celebrating its 46th anniversary this year — features live music, cellar tours, wine and beer tastings by the bottle and glass, food from local Warren County eateries and tethered hot air balloon rides. 5-11 p.m. Friday;…
Film: Summer Cinema at Washington Park
Washington Park’s popular Summer Cinema series returns every Wednesday through Aug. 31. Bring a blanket, grab a local craft beer from the concession stand and cozy up on the civic lawn to watch classic and campy movies on the big screen — like a drive-in without the car. The series kicks off with 1990’s Teenage…
Comedy: John Caparulo
“I always liked telling funny stories, but it was mainly because of the way people reacted to them that spurred me on,” says comedian John Caparulo. “Obviously, funny stories aren’t as funny if nobody’s laughing at them. I’ve always felt like there’s a fine line between a stand-up comedian and a raving lunatic at a…
Music: Bunbury Music Festival
The three-day Bunbury Music Festival returns to the riverfront for a weekend of live music. Modeled after fests like Lollapalooza, the outdoor extravaganza features music on multiple stages from established and up-and-coming acts in all genres, including Alternative, Indie, Electronic, Hip Hop, Rock and Pop. Featured bands include The Killers, Florence + the Machine, Deadmau5,…
Music: Indie Vol. 2016 with The Werks
This week, the full lineup of free weekly concert series at Fountain Square and Washington Park begin, all part of the PNC Summer Series. Among the changes this year? The every-Friday MidPoint Indie Summer series is now called Indie Vol. 2016. While still mixing established national acts with local and regional artists, the concerts will…
Event: A Taste of Duveneck
A Taste of Duveneck is the Cincinnati Art Museum’s tastiest fundraiser. The 26th-annual event fills the museum and Alice Bimel Courtyard with local eats from vendors like the BonBonerie, BrewRiver GastroPub, Django and Red Feather, lots of local wine and beer and live music from Soul Pocket. Funds raised from the party benefit Family First…
Onstage: Anything Goes
Last summer the Incline Theater in East Price Hill sold out three musicals during its inaugural season. Now it’s time for Round 2, and they’re setting sail with Cole Porter’s frothy adventure on an ocean cruise ship with a crew of American showgirls (including an evangelist who’s now a nightclub singer), an incompetent gangster and…
100 Hot Days of Summer
Welcome to the infantry of Summer 2016, when only 100 blissful, sunny days stand between now and the first days of fall. Factor in the hundreds of beer and food fests, art openings and exhibits, movies, concerts, farmers markets and special events happening between now and then and you’ll come to the conclusion that those…
Cincinnati’s Shiny New Toy
C rowds have been showing up at Nippert Stadium this spring wearing the blue and orange of their team. They sing. They chant. They let loose colorful smoke bombs that add to the atmosphere of FC Cincinnati games — the newest game in town, courtesy of the world’s most popular sport (sorry, NFL). FC Cincinnati’s…
Live Your Fest Life
If you love the opportunity to see a lot of live acts over the span of a few days, this summer’s music festival offerings won’t disappoint. From huge artists to quality local bands and giant outdoor stages to smaller clubs, 2016’s summer fest scene features several anticipated returning events as well as a few compelling…
The Abe Froman Tour of Cincinnati Sausages
One of Ferris Bueller’s more creative stunts revolves around the tricky teen pretending to have a reservation at one of the Windy City’s finest restaurants, posing as Abe Froman, “the Sausage King of Chicago.” With some telephone theatrics and solid bluffing, Ferris and friends end up eating lunch like royalty. Luckily, Cincinnatians don’t have to…
Save Ferris
Replicating Ferris Bueller’s epic ’80s-era day off today would cost more than a million dollars, according to a slightly hyperbolic chicagomag.com article, which took into account the cost of securing a parade permit in downtown Chicago and making repairs to your friend’s dad’s Ferrari. But you can actually play hooky for much, much cheaper in…
Summer Guide 2016
This summer marks the 30th anniversary of the John Hughes classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and we encourage you to tap into a little ’80s-era nostalgia and grab life by the pleated pants — think outside the box and maximize your fun potential like a fourth-wall-breaking high school student. How can you possibly be expected…
I See a Darkness
Robert Kirkman was already successful in his own right before AMC adapted for TV his popular comic book series The Walking Dead. Now that Dead is such an undeniable hit on screen and page, another Kirkman work gets the TV treatment. And while both works are designed to scare the bejesus out of audiences, Outcast…
What’s ‘New’ This Summer at the Multiplex
With all the reboots, remakes and sequels, is there an original movie idea left? I know what you’re thinking. Isn’t it a bit late for a summer movie preview? At this point you’ve already missed out on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (March 25), Captain America: Civil War (May 6), the wacky twin bills…
Cinema and Spirits
A good way to break up the morning commute is with the weekly podcast Filmmakers Drinking Bourbon, which is produced by two area filmmakers, Cincinnati-based cinematographer Alexander Elkins and Midwest director Brandon Faris. The show, which launched last May, has two titular focuses: reviewing bourbon, usually donated from a regional distiller, and talking film. Episodes…
The Other Macaroon
If you have a sweet tooth, you’re probably familiar with how quickly dessert items tend to trend. In fact, in 2014, online magazine Slate completed a study in which writers searched the Nexis information database to find how many times different foods had been named “the next cupcake.” The most popular items claiming the title…
A True Farm-to-Table Experience
W hat began in 2012 as a one-off, on-farm event at Carriage House Farm in Miami Township with Please chef Ryan Santos has quickly blossomed into a three-season-long series of farm-to-table dining experiences featuring the region’s best-known chefs. These intimate multi-course meals — only 13 guests are “invited” to each dinner — are the culmination…
Coming Out Atheist
HOT: Coming Out Atheist An atheist probably shouldn’t be the singer of a Christian Metalcore band, but singer Shannon Low of The Order of Elijah says he lost his faith gradually as he struggled through a divorce and alcohol abuse. Low recently “came out” to fans (some already suspicious after the group released some skeptical-sounding…
A plan to route a major gas pipeline through Blue Ash has sparked pushback from residents
Back in late February, Glenn Rosen received an unassuming letter from Duke Energy. The Blue Ash resident gets mail from the electricity company all the time, usually about mundane things like slight rate adjustments. But this letter was about something bigger. The notice informed residents like Rosen that a 30-inch natural gas pipeline has been…
Morning News and Stuff
Good morning all. Here’s the news today. The controversy continues over the death of a 17-year-old gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo last weekend. The gorilla, known as Harambe, was shot after a 3-year-old boy fell into his pen. Harambe interacted with the boy, sometimes gently, sometimes dragging him. Zoo officials decided there was no other…
Worst Week Ever! May 25-31
TSA Head Fired; Search for Equally Incompetent Replacement Begins America is full of useless governmental agencies that funnel tax money into things that serve no purpose, but the Transportation Security Administration really outshines its brethren in this regard. While most people would prefer to not die while flying, the feds’ ill-conceived and even more poorly…
Music: M83
M83 founder and frontman Anthony Gonzalez is obsessed with the 1980s. Over the course of 15 years and four albums — including his last and most commercially successful release, 2011’s Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming — Gonzalez has indulged his love of the decade by building his gauzy music on keyboard sounds that run the gamut from…
Sound Advice: M83 with Bob Moses
M83 founder and frontman Anthony Gonzalez is obsessed with the 1980s. Over the course of 15 years and four albums — including his last and most commercially successful release, 2011’s Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming — Gonzalez has indulged his love of the decade by building his gauzy music on keyboard sounds that run the gamut from…
Music: John Doe
John Doe has had a long and curious career. Born John Nommensen Duchac, he came to prominence in the late 1970s L.A. Punk scene via his iconic Rockabilly-infused outfit X. In the late 1980s he starting acting in movies like Salvador, Road House and Great Balls of Fire; according to IMDb, he’s appeared in some…
Sound Advice: John Doe Rock N’ Roll Band with Jesse Dayton
John Doe has had a long and curious career. Born John Nommensen Duchac, he came to prominence in the late 1970s L.A. Punk scene via his iconic Rockabilly-infused outfit X. In the late 1980s he starting acting in movies like Salvador, Road House and Great Balls of Fire; according to IMDb, he’s appeared in some…
Music: Lord Huron
There are relatively simple circumstances surrounding the origins and subsequent journey of Ben Schneider, the frontman/spark plug of atmospheric Americana outfit Lord Huron. Schneider, a native of Okemos, Mich., spent childhood summers on Lake Huron’s beaches, and those evocative reveries eventually seeped into his musical consciousness as he explored that side of his creative identity…
Sound Advice: Lord Huron with Caroline Rose
There are relatively simple circumstances surrounding the origins and subsequent journey of Ben Schneider, the frontman/spark plug of atmospheric Americana outfit Lord Huron. Schneider, a native of Okemos, Mich., spent childhood summers on Lake Huron’s beaches, and those evocative reveries eventually seeped into his musical consciousness as he explored that side of his creative identity…
Music: Dixie Chicks
If the Dixie Chicks were ashamed of George W. Bush, what will happen if Donald Trump wins in November? Their heads could evaporate in a trio of Scanners-like explosions, but more likely they’ll just relocate to Canada and change their name to Saskatchewan Chicks. That potential future is months away, a minute-hand tick compared to…
Sound Advice: Dixie Chicks with Augustana and Josh Herbert
If the Dixie Chicks were ashamed of George W. Bush, what will happen if Donald Trump wins in November? Their heads could evaporate in a trio of Scanners-like explosions, but more likely they’ll just relocate to Canada and change their name to Saskatchewan Chicks. That potential future is months away, a minute-hand tick compared to…
Catch Great Local Music at Hot Weekend Events
Even though the season doesn’t officially begin until June 20, Memorial Day Weekend is said to unofficially usher in summertime. This weekend hammers the point home with several big outdoor events featuring some great homegrown music. • The annual DCCH Music Fest returns Friday and Saturday to the DCCH Center for Children and Families (75…
Squirting Out Sparks
I t’s conceivable that Diarrhea Planet’s name inspires the same offbeat justification as Smucker’s jams and preserves — “With a name like Diarrhea Planet, it has to be good.” More to the point, guitarist Evan Bird offers the perspective that his band’s sobriquet — which began humorously but ended up, shall we say, sticking to…
The Invasion Begins
This year will be a big one for Buggs Tha Rocka — but you could plug any of the last three years into this sentence and it would still ring true. Since returning as a solo act after flirting with band membership in Gold Shoes, the Hip Hop artist has won two Cincinnati Entertainment Awards…
