Playhouse announces new season, Ed Stern’s 17th chance to offer ‘something for everyone’
Cincinnati Playhouse Ed Stern So you go to a theater for a show. Ever wonder how that show came to that theater? Or how a whole season of shows is selected for a particular theater? It's a juggling act, especially for a large theater like the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, which announced its 2008-09…
Locals Only: : The Tillers
The Tillers Tonight The Tillers play for bar tips. But they've also been known to busk Clifton's street corners for burritos and dimes. For these three, it's not about scoring the prettiest stage. It's about conjuring up lost songs, keeping them alive. It's about tackling classics, putting a progressive spin on old-time music. Embracing the…
Why newspapers matter
The Sunday, March 16, edition of The Cincinnati Enquirer answers the question: Why should we read newspapers? It's because of articles such as "Story Behind the Lockdown in the 2004 Vote" on page A-1 and the "The Light to Know" in the Forum section. These articles exemplify what newspapers do best and TV news does…
Music: Trash Connector
Stephen Malkmus (far left) and the Jicks. The new Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks album, Real Emotional Trash, opens with an ominous guitar squall before throwing out this lyrical admission: "Of all my stoned digressions/Some have mutated into the truth." The truth has always been an elusive thing when it comes to Malkmus, a singularly…
Onstage: Review: Radio Golf
Sandy Underwood Alfred H. Wilson (left) and Terrence Riggins star in August Wilson's Radio Golf at ETC. August Wilson knew the people, their voices and the words they spoke. His 10-play cycle, reflecting the experiences of African Americans in 20th-century America, is a marvelous documentation of their joy and their plight. His final play
Five Years of Protest and the War
The other morning I heard a report on National Public Radio about the country's anti-war movement in the wake of the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. The gist was "What's the point?" Protesters didn't stop the war in 2003, and they haven't ended the war yet. Almost 4,000 U.S. soldiers have been killed…
Asking Questions, Causing Trouble
Thinking outside the blue box The first phase of Cincinnati's proposed streetcar line should be built between downtown and IKEA in West Chester. I offer that mostly in jest. But try asking a legitimate question about the streetcar plan to one of its staunch supporters, and you might as well duck and cover. I…
Cincinnati Cyclones, Geoff Tate, The Baker’s Wife, Einstein and much more
Tony Bailey Cyclones WEDNESDAY 3/19 ART: CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER and THE CINCINNATI ART MUSEUM combine forces for the Lewitt x 2 exhibition. See feature here. MUSIC: THE XYZ AFFAIR, a Prog Pop/Indie Rock/Glam-spiked Psychedelia band with a smart name, plays the Southgate House. See Sound Advice on here. ONSTAGE: RADIO GOLF offers fresh insight…
DR. Bronner’s Magic Soapbox (Self-Released)
Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox 2007, Not Rated In the 1960s, at food co-ops and hippie boutiques, there was this strange all-around soap on sale, "Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap." Wrapped around the squirt-bottle was a 3,000-word label that read like some weirded-out biblical prophesy, ranting about Moral ABC's, Einstein, Spaceship Earth, President Wilson and É…
I Found God in a Doughnut
As far as religion goes, some would say I'm a mess. Get this: Dad's Mom, Mimi, is a devout Catholic. At one time, she considered becoming a nun. At 91, armed with a wheelchair, she never misses Mass. Mom's Dad, Grampie, was a serene Presbyterian minister with a photographic memory. He'd take one glance at…
The Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm Show: The Complete Series (Warner Home Video)
The Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm Show: The Complete Series 1971, Not Rated Many TV shows spin characters off into their own shows as soon as possible. The Flintstones's studio Hanna-Barbera, however, waited 6 years before giving that program's progeny their own show. Perhaps it was the huge back catalog of Flintstones reruns that deadened the…
This Week in Wellness
Learn about managing diabetes through healthier eating and proper medication. Free. 1-3 p.m. Thursday at the Kenton County Health Center, 2002 Madison Ave., Covington, 859-363-2115. Join more than 10,000 Catholics this Good Friday as they climb the 356 steps leading to the Holy Cross-Immaculata Parish. Pray or meditate as you climb. The long climb begins…
Food for Thought
I missed the opening night of the Art of Food exhibit at the Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center in Covington (1028 Scott St.), but since the exhibit runs through March 28, I thought I'd have a look. I was curious: Would it be like the fly-infested food art of Rex the Runt or something…
Sound Advice: : The XYZ Affair and John Vanderslice
Meg Watcher XYZ Affair The XYZ Affair with The High Strung and Bad Veins Wednesday
Music: Yes He Can
C. Matthew Hamby Do you remember your first concert experience? Unfortunately, I do, though I've been able to get past it with therapy. Coming of age in the late '70s and early '80s, my buddies and I carpooled our way to Riverfront Coliseum downtown to see Boston, that year's new sensation. After the smoke…
Matthew Miller-Novak
Matthew Miller-Novak Matthew Miller-Novak Matthew Miller-Novak's latest project, The Life and Times of Lucifer von Satan, takes its cue from late medieval art and children's cartoons to tell the story of Satan as a misunderstood, angst-ridden teenager. See his work 6:30-11 p.m. March 28 at Krafthaus (1334 Main St. Over-the-Rhine) or by appointment (513-313-7928).…
Alone, Naturally
Given the scary "Who do you want answering the phone in the White House at 3 a.m." ads running in support of Hillary Clinton, Alone at 3AM would seem to have a perfectly timed band name, surpassed only by The Yes We Cans from Tuscaloosa for timeliness. The Cincinnati-based Rock quartet AA3AM unleashes its first…
It’s Time for Xavier to Go to the Final Four
Jerry Dowling CBS pays the NCAA $560 million every year to televise the NCAA men's basketball tournament, which is one of those few, real time, Tivo-proof events still out there for advertisers. The cost of bread and circuses keeps reaching past the stars. Every now and again, though, the chance for a meaningful tournament…
Cover Story: Under the Same Roof
Joan Marcus August Wilson, who died in 2005 after the premiere of his final play, Radio Golf, said of artists, actors and playwrights: "We can make a difference." Back in April 2003, Know Theatre of Cincinnati presented August Wilson's Two Trains Running in the Gabriel's Corner basement theater in Over-the-Rhine. The show's opening night…
Another seven days of planning casinos, abusing humans and building stuff in space
He said "Wang." WEDNESDAY MARCH 12 The U.S. State Department released its annual analysis of human rights practices throughout the world today, designating China as an "authoritarian human rights abuser," according to the AP. Chinese leaders were none too happy about the findings and countered that America has rampant violence and widespread discrimination of…
Dans Paris (IFC)
Dans Paris 2006, Unrated "Is it possible for a love story to make us jump off a bridge?" It's a meaningful query posed at the start of Christophe Honor/'s Dans Paris. Immediately striking is its suicidal notion, prejudicing the viewer into thinking the film a downer. The words "love story," however, are key. Though…
Calling Mom
Regarding Larry Gross´ column "Kids Having Kids" (issue of March 12), I wanted to share that poor parenting is definately not limited to the young. I have worked in retail for 22 years, and I can attest to the fact that poor parenting runs amuck in all generations of spawners. I see parents from all…
News: Regulating Chaos
Anyone who's driven along Auburn Avenue on a weekday has probably seen them: a veritable sea of large signs on the sidewalk and propped up against fences near the Margaret Sanger Planned Parenthood Center that contain anti-abortion slogans and, in some cases, graphic photographs of bloody, mangled fetuses. On most days beginning shortly after 8…
20 Mile House (Review)
Joe Lamb 20 Mile House The 20 Mile House has gone through a few transitions since its birth in 1822. In the old days it functioned as a stagecoach stop and tavern as well as a post office for Twenty Mile Stand, the post-town that was 20 miles north of Cincinnati. More recently it…
