Visual Art: FotoFocus Lecture
This spring’s FotoFocus Lecture occurs Wednesday, March 25 at the Cincinnati Art Museum and features Roe Ethridge, a Brooklyn-based Postmodernist photographer whose work mixes commercial and fine art elements as he often seeks to insert his own work and sensibilities into mass media photographic imagery. His work was featured in the 2008 Whitney Biennial and…
Event: Falling Water Gardens: A Modern Work of Nature End of Show Sale
Celebrate the start of spring at the Krohn Conservatory by picking amidst a multitude of colorful natural creations to bring home. Inspired by the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, the 2015 spring show, Falling Water Gardens: A Modern Work of Nature, harmonizes the all-encompassing beauty of nature with a captivating artistry. Now it’s coming to…
Event: Hate Crimes in the Heartland
Rachel Lyon’s 2004 documentary Hate Crimes in the Heartland explores current and past hate crimes that have been committed in America by studying two that occurred in Tulsa, Okla. — the 1921 Race Riots and the 2012 shootings that targeted African-Americans. Mayerson JCC will screen the film Tuesday. A panel discussion afterward will include Lyon;…
Event: Celtic Lands Culture Fest
March 17 might be the big day for the Irish, but don’t write off Celtic celebrations just yet because on Saturday the Cincinnati Museum Center is holding its annual Celtic Lands Culture Fest for the 16th year running. Step back in time and prepare to be dazzled and wooed by the fast and furious footwork…
Onstage: Classical Roots: Journey of Faith
Join the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Classical Roots Community Mass Choir and Take 6 as they bring a blend of Gospel, Jazz, R&B and Pop to the stage. This annual celebration of African-American musical traditions includes classic repertoire as well as traditional and contemporary Gospel music led by conductor and composer Charles Floyd. After getting…
Music: Helmet
While Nirvana was bringing attention to the sound of many bands on the independent label Sub Pop in the early ’90s, Helmet was the first band to break wide with the sound of another important underground label of that era — Amphetamine Reptile. Helmet’s tight, punctuating mix of Metal, Hardcore and Alternative music was showcased…
Event: Mozart’s Requiem
The Cincinnati Ballet has delivered stellar performances of big name shows this year like Peter Pan and Alice (in Wonderland). As the season moves forward into its last few months, the ballet continues to bring a diverse collection of work to the stage. This week, resident choreographer Adam Hougland brings Mozart’s Requiem to life in…
Event: Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python is blithely ridiculous, side-splittingly hilarious and arguably one of the best comedies of all time. It tells the silly tale of a group of knights who, along with King Arthur himself, embark on a hysterical low-budget search for the Grail. It is John Cleese at his best and the prime of British comedy.…
Art: Albano Afonso: Self Portrait as Light at 21C
Brazilian multimedia artist Albano Afonso’s first solo exhibition in the U.S. will also be the first exhibition co-curated by the Contemporary Arts Center (Steven Matijicio) and 21c Museum Hotel (Alice Gray Stites), two neighboring arts institutions with similar missions but different approaches. As part of Self Portrait as Light, both buildings have site-specific commissioned installations…
Comedy: Michael Malone
Craziness never stops for comedian Michael Malone. Back in October his girlfriend’s sister — and her baby — moved in. Now it’s gotten even more crowded. “We just added another sister,” he says, “so it’s crazy.” Fortunately, Malone is so busy he hardly has time to worry about his crowded living arrangements. He just finished…
Lit: M.O. Walsh
The opening chapter of M.O. Walsh’s debut novel, My Sunshine Away, deftly sets the scene of what’s to follow, a narrative that centers on a piercing event in the life a 15-year-old girl. It gets to the heart of matter quickly, opening with this stark phrase: “There were four suspects in the rape of Lindy…
Onstage: Detroit ’67
It was a hot time in Detroit nearly 50 years ago when race riots were destroying inner-city neighborhoods. Dominique Morisseau’s recent play will take audiences back to that era but in a very personal, down-to-earth way: A brother and sister are trying to hold onto their childhood home by having after-hours basement parties to spin…
Morning News and Stuff
Morning y’all! I’ve been out of the morning news loop working on long-term projects but I’m back and ready to nerd out on some news. So let’s do it. Twitter is all abuzz this morning with the news that the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority has approved plans to build a bike path on the…
Call Board: Theater Seasons
Every year, BROADWAY IN CINCINNATI brings to downtown Cincinnati’s Aronoff Center a series of touring shows that got started in New York City. This year marks the 20th year shows have been presented at the Aronoff. Today the presenters released details about what’s in store starting September and running through May 2016. There will be…
The Onion Mocks Cincinnati, The Economist Touts MusicNOW
Some interesting national/international coverage for Cincinnati. The Onion's Weekender edition for March 15 — the special travel issue — spotlights "Cincinnati in Just 300 Days" on its cover. However, it somehow overlooked publishing the itinerary. Check out the comical cover here. Meanwhile, the latest issue of The Economist — in its Prospero arts section —…
Leftovers: What We Ate This Weekend
Each week CityBeat staffers and dining writers tell you what they ate this weekend. We're not always proud — or trendy — but we definitely spend at least some money on food. Ilene Ross: As a food writer, I get to spend a lot of time with chefs. Sometimes it’s work-related, and sometimes it’s not. Chef Jimmy…
Cincy Blues Fest Announces 2015 Headliners
The Cincy Blues Society has announced the Main Stage headliners for this year’s Cincy Blues Fest, which returns to Sawyer Point Aug. 7-8. It is the Blues Fest’s 24th anniversary. Friday’s (Aug. 7) Main Stage performers will be Blind Pig recording artists Cash Box Kings, singer/guitarist Samantha Fish and Toronto Blues/R&B/Rock & Roll crew The…
Rondle West Piece Finds New Home
One of my favorite Cincinnati artists is Rondle West, whose "assemblage sculptures" round up all manner of strange found objects (often toys) and adheres them, sometimes like appendages, to the surfaces of "host" objects. They can look like something ready to start walking or like shelving that has been attacked by miniature aliens. The finished…
Media Happenings at The Enquirer, WXIX & More
Lots of good stuff happened during the past fortnight. Rick Green returned to the Cincinnati Enquirer. He’s the new publisher. That puts a solid, veteran journalist and news executive at the top of our Sole Surviving Daily. I’m partial. I liked working with and for Rick during most of his 16 years at the Enquirer.…
Peter and the Starcatcher (Review)
Critic's Pick Black Stache, the comical pirate who evolves into Captain Hook in Peter and the Starcatcher — currently onstage at the Playhouse — is full of bluster and malapropisms. The valueless sand in treasure trunk is not what has his “piratical BVDs in a twist,” he claims. Rather, “I am at the end of…
The Marvelous Wonderettes (Review)
Let’s do a simple math exercise: If you graduated from high school in 1958, you were probably born in 1940. And if you were born that year, you’d be 75 in 2015. When I attended the Covedale Center’s production of The Marvelous Wonderettes at a Sunday matinee, there were no young people in attendance. In…
Marijuana Legalization Effort Moves Forward
A controversial effort to legalize the growth and sale of marijuana is one step closer to the November ballot. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine today approved ResponsibleOhio's ballot summary language, or the description of its proposed constitutional amendment that would legalize pot but restrict growth to 10 sites owned by the group’s investors across Ohio.…
REVIEW: ‘Figurative Folklore’ at Covington Arts
Selena Reder, a former contributor to CityBeat's visual arts coverage, has curated the current Figurative Folklore exhibition at the City of Covington's gallery at 2 W. Pike St. It's devoted to six artists whose figural work tells a strong narrative. Particularly noteworthy at the show is the work of two artists who do three-dimensional work.…
CAC Unveils New Lobby This Weekend
The Contemporary Arts Center will open its renovated lobby to the public Saturday after a members preview Friday night. The $1.1 million upgrade includes a new lounge area, a much-needed cafe and overall artsy facelift. Local architecture and design firm firm FRCH Design Worldwide reimagined the interior space, which was under construction since Jan. 6.…
Morning News and Stuff
What’s up Cincy? Here’s your Friday morning news update. Here we go again. Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge Tracie Hunter has been indicted on another felony charge. The charge is a reprise of one of the eight felony counts a jury deadlocked on last year. Hunter is being charged again with misuse of a court…
Stage Door: Not Parrots — It’s Pirates!
I seldom laugh out loud when I'm watching a comedy, but I found myself doing just that more than once at last night's opening of Peter and the Starcatcher at the Cincinnati Playhouse. You can read about this show and the appeal of Peter Pan here, but let me simply say this is a deliriously…
I Just Can’t Get Enough
Seeing locals on reality TV combines two of my favorite things: Cincinnati and trashy television. So I was elated to hear that A&E’s Neighbors with Benefits – a new unscripted series following swingers — is set just north in Warren County. The show will document married couples in a suburban neighborhood that have open, extra-marital…
From the Copy Desk
Good morning readers! After a long dark haul, it's finally, finally spring. Well, actually, it's not. Spring technically doesn't start until March 20. But with the sun shining and the temps hitting 60 degrees, it certainly feels like it. And I'll take whatever I can get. Let's jump right into Words Nobody Uses or Knows…
Art: A Lot of Sorrow
Starting March 11 and continuing through March 20, one of his most acclaimed video creations, last year’s A Lot of Sorrow, will be screening during regular gallery hours in the CAC’s Black Box Theater. It is here in connection with the MusicNOW Festival, which starts Wednesday and runs through Sunday at Music Hall, Memorial Hall…
Reel Redux: ‘The Magnificent Seven’ Remake
In recent movie news, there has been an announcement that a certain classic film franchise will be given a remake with a whole new cast. No, I’m not talking about Ghostbusters; I’m talking about the remake of theThe Magnificent Seven. For those unaware: The Magnificent Seven was a 1960 western directed by the very underrated…
Onstage: Peter and the Starcatcher
The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park is about to present another work inspired by Peter Pan: Peter and the Starcatcher. This one is a reboot similar to Christopher Nolan’s exploration of Batman’s roots in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, going back to the beginning and building a new foundation for the familiar tales. Artistic…
Event: MusicNOW
Since its launch, MusicNOW has become a premiere event in and for Cincinnati, exploding the perception that the city wouldn’t understand or support the esoteric and eclectic festival programming. MusicNOW 2015 features several new wrinkles, including MusicNOW – 10 Years, a compilation album of select performances recorded over the event’s history, and the addition of…
Wrecking Crew
Thank goodness filmmakers have taken it upon themselves to celebrate the forgotten and unrecognized musical talents that have helped to create the soundtracks of our lives. The latest documentary to offer such illumination is The Wrecking Crew, director Denny Tedesco’s loving tribute to the session musicians known as “The Wrecking Crew” who laid down the…
Run All Night
Liam Neeson is back. Liam Neeson can’t be stopped. Liam Neeson must defend yet another family member in harm’s way due to the questionable choices he has made using his unique set of skills. This time, with Jaume Collet-Serra (Unknown and Non-Stop) at the helm, Neeson, as a mob enforcer and hit man, finds himself…
Eva
Apparently there’s an emerging trend, a sub-genre of movies set to sneak into the cultural consciousness dealing with the miracles of artificial intelligence and the creation of sentient robots. Eva, from Spanish director Kike Maíllo (Tú y yo), races out of the gate, beating the Alex Garland feature Ex Machina to theaters by a matter…
Cinderella
Fairy tales can be retold countless times, updated to modern times with contemporary sensibilities, or transformed into show stopping extravaganzas, but they never lose the simplicity at their core. Which, I can only assume, is the challenge that attracted Kenneth Branagh to this restaging of Cinderella, penned by Chris Weitz (About A Boy and The…
Spring TV Preview
With the start of Daylight Saving and the season’s final snowpocalypse behind us (fingers crossed), it’s finally starting to feel like spring. Here’s what to watch in the coming warmer weeks. Weird Loners (Series Premiere, 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, Fox) – The latest comedy to follow the misadventures of relationship-challenged adults navigating life in…
A View From the Couch: White Male Anxiety
I found myself tuning out a specious subset of the diversity debate regarding the most recent Academy Awards. We spent far too much time on the nominations themselves, which forced the argument into a rather obvious dead end. Yes, there were snubs — although, as I pointed out, not necessarily in the categories everyone else…
Sole Searching for Ethical Fashion
Deciphering the origin of your coffee or fruit and vegetables may be easier today than a decade ago, but accountable apparel companies are still hard to find. Not with Piola. The socially and environmentally friendly shoe line, created by University of Cincinnati graduates Antoine Burnier-Dechon and Josh Rudd, is sold in 130 stores in 12…
He’s Flying!
P eter Pan is a Johnny-come-lately in the world of fairytales. Early in the 20th century J.M. Barrie (1860-1937) made up stories about a boy who never aged for the sons of a friend. Acquaintances were taken with Peter, so Barrie included him in a passing way in his novel, The Little White Bird, published…
Strange Brew
In 2015, it seems that opening a craft brewery is the newest American dream. Learn to homebrew, start your own brewery and become successful. But it takes talent, time, knowledge and money to do it right. Which is where Jon Wells and Tony Harrell, the brewmasters behind new experimental nanobrewery Mash Cult, come in. Wells…
Tiger Dumpling Co. (Review)
T iger Dumpling Co. is the kind of place we all wish we’d had on our own college campuses. It’s inexpensive, serves belly-warming, great tasting food and is open until 3 a.m. — every single day. The tiny space adjacent to the University of Cincinnati campus is conducive to wandering in after a night at…
Morning News and Stuff
Morning Cincy! Here’s your news today. Former senator and potential Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum visited the Greater Cincinnati area yesterday to speak at a conference on religious freedom in West Chester Township. Santorum wasn’t shy about mixing in some campaigning, telling the crowd that big government is threatening their freedom to be Christian and…
Mother and Child Reunion
With my diabetic feet, throbbing always with neuropathy, on the cold hardwood floor I peer through the pre-dawn darkness toward a large oil painting at least 30 years old done by my then-stepfather hanging in a corner of our bedroom. “Happy birthday, mom,” I say in a sigh. She Mona Lisa smiles back. Gladine Rosetta…
Cincinnati vs. The World 3.11.15
East Walnut Hills and Northside will be getting new transit hubs, including new passenger shelters, lighting, sidewalk and waiting area improvements and route information for both neighborhoods, according to the Cincinnati Business Courier. SORTA’s Planning & Operations Committee on March 10 approved funds for two companies — Woolpert and Michael Schuster Associates Architects — to…
Worst Week Ever!: March 4-10
Debate Heats Up over Under-Representation of Women on America’s Currency Ah, money. America has a ton of it. Well, not you or me but lots of people have gotten obscenely rich and keep getting richer because they don’t have to pay a whole lot in taxes because they are solid bros with the folks who…
State Task Force on Policing Wraps Up in Cincinnati
John Crawford, Jr., the father of a 22-year-old killed by Beavercreek Police in a Walmart in August, told a statewide task force visiting Cincinnati March 8 that he is still struggling with his son’s death and that he believes some police officers “just want to shoot.” The Ohio Task Force on Community-Police Relations, an 18-member…
Supreme Court Sets Date to Hear Ohio Same-Sex Marriage Suit
The U.S. Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing that will decide the fate of same-sex marriage bans in Ohio and three other states. On April 28, the court will hear arguments over whether same-sex marriage bans in Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee violate the equal protection clause of the Constitution. Ohio’s ban passed as an…
Awaiting Change
When Caroline came out as transgender during high school, her mother asked that she leave her house and neighborhood in Northern Kentucky. That rejection started a long, harrowing journey through sex trafficking and addiction. Caroline (whose name CityBeat agreed to change for safety reasons) escaped that world, gaining education and self-reliance in the years since.…
Second In Line
C incinnati is quite familiar with the name of chef Jean-Robert de Cavel. He’s the brilliant Frenchman at the top of the local dining scene with three — soon to be four — restaurants under his belt: Le Bar a Boeuf in East Walnut Hills, French Crust Café and his namesake Jean-Robert’s Table downtown. (A…
MusicNOW (and Then)
W hen Bryce Dessner, guitarist for international Indie Rock stars The National, founded the MusicNOW Festival in 2006, he didn’t necessarily envision the three-day Indie Rock-meets-experimental/Classical music event’s growth potential. He simply invited some friends to his hometown with a thought toward entertaining himself and like-minded individuals. Aware that MusicNOW could occur annually, he recognized…
Swervedriver with Gateway Drugs
From the opening salvo of “Autodidact” on I Wasn’t Born to Lose You, Swervedriver’s first album of new material in 17 years, the listener is transported back to the mid-’90s, an almost mythical point in recent musical history, a time when sheets of guitar squall combined with an almost Power Pop sense of melodic resonance…
Lucero with Ryan Bingham and Twin Forks
Tom Waits doesn’t necessarily leap to mind when listening to Lucero’s raucous brand of Memphis-fueled Rock & Roll. But after reading frontman Ben Nichols’ ode to Waits last year in American Songwriter magazine, the connection begins to make sense — Nichols’ grizzled, expressive vocal delivery and penchant for piano and horns wouldn’t sound out of…
Chatham County Line with Sam Lewis
Chatham County Line has always played Bluegrass music its own way. The band can veer from straight ahead Bluegrass to Beatles-esque Folk and other genres at the drop of a hat while servicing its original songs at all times. But what sets Chatham County Line apart from other eclectic acoustic bands are its live shows,…
WATCH: Walk the Moon on ‘The Ellen Show’
Yesterday, Cincinnati Alt Pop foursome Walk the Moon continued its promotional blitz behind its sophomore major label album, Talking is Hard, with a performance on Ellen DeGeneres' popular daytime talk/variety show. After being introduced by DeGeneres as a "great Rock & Roll band from Cincinnati, Ohio," the group played its single "Shut Up and Dance"…
Perfume Genius with The Lone Bellow and Mina Tindle
The cover of Perfume Genius’ third album, 2014’s Too Bright, features frontman/creative ringleader Mike Hadreas clad in a shiny, sleeveless gold-and-silver top that hugs his slight frame. His hair is slicked back and he has a weirdly intent look on his face. There’s a surreal, androgynous vibe to it — like something artist Matthew Barney might…
Buffalo Killer Goes Truly Solo on New LP
Last year, fans of Cincinnati rockers Buffalo Killers were treated to two superb new releases — the critically acclaimed full-length Heavy Reverie and the excellent EP Fireball of Sulk. The Buffalo Killers action is revving up again for 2015, this time in the form of the solo debut album by the band’s singer/guitarist Andy Gabbard.…
Music: Swervedriver with Gateway Drugs
From the opening salvo of “Autodidact” on I Wasn’t Born to Lose You, Swervedriver’s first album of new material in 17 years, the listener is transported back to the mid-’90s, an almost mythical point in recent musical history, a time when sheets of guitar squall combined with an almost Power Pop sense of melodic resonance…
Music: Lucero with Ryan Bingham and Twin Forks
Tom Waits doesn’t necessarily leap to mind when listening to Lucero’s raucous brand of Memphis-fueled Rock & Roll. But after reading frontman Ben Nichols’ ode to Waits last year in American Songwriter magazine, the connection begins to make sense — Nichols’ grizzled, expressive vocal delivery and penchant for piano and horns wouldn’t sound out of…
Music: Chatham County Line with Sam Lewis
Chatham County Line has always played Bluegrass music its own way. The band can veer from straight ahead Bluegrass to Beatles-esque Folk and other genres at the drop of a hat while servicing its original songs at all times. But what sets Chatham County Line apart from other eclectic acoustic bands are its live shows,…
‘A Lot of Sorrow’ Is Headed CAC’s Way
As Steven Matijcio, curator of the Contemporary Arts Center, puts it about the Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson, “Boy, he’s really taking Ohio venue by venue these days!” That’s true — indeed, Kjartansson, not yet 40, has become one of the hottest contemporary artists, period. He’s a performance artist, a musician, a creator of fine-art videos…
