Poll Position
Little more than a month after Ohio settled a lawsuit charging that it engaged in practices that suppressed voters’ rights, more battles around the state’s voting practices loom. As the hotly contested 2016 presidential race approaches, new fights have emerged over how easy it will be for Ohioans — especially low-income and minority residents of…
Lower Price Hill in Focus
The Community Learning Center concept is galvanizing the national consciousness and has catapulted Cincinnati to the forefront of the conversation. For the comprehensive and analytical approach to defining the Community Learning Center model, look no further than the website for the Cincinnati-based Community Learning Center Institute, which has branded the vision: “leveraging (of) public school…
Shilpa Ray
Having seen Shilpa Ray play in the early morning hours after a fierce, chilling rainstorm at the outdoor Nelsonville Music Festival in East Central Ohio, this writer can testify that her tough and exciting voice can surmount any distraction around her and kick-start listeners out of any weariness and make them pay attention. She can…
Butch Walker with Jonathan Tyler and The Dove and the Wolf
No one can accuse Butch Walker of not living up to his potential. For the past three decades, Walker has blazed a unique trail as a member of renowned bands, a critically acclaimed solo artist, a highly regarded producer and a prolific songwriter whose compositions for some of the industry’s biggest names have hit the…
Literary: Judith Fertig
It comes as no surprise that Judith Fertig’s debut novel, The Cake Therapist, revolves around food. The Kansas City resident has made her name through a flurry of cookbooks with titles like Bake Happy: 100 Playful Desserts with Rainbow Layers, Hidden Fillings, Billowy Frostings, and More, and her cooking credentials include schooling in London and…
Onstage: Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus Live!
The Aronoff Center presents a one-man fusion of theater and stand-up starring Peter Story, based off of material from John Gray's best-selling guide to understanding the opposite sex, Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. The show covers everything from dating to marriage to the bedroom, and will surely make couples feel like they're…
Onstage: Cincinnati King
Washington Park hosts a free staged reading of Cincinnati King, a new play that shares the history of King Records, Cincinnati music and racial equality by Playhouse in the Park Associate Artist KJ Sanchez. The play, meant to ignite dialogue and preserve unique local history, will be read at 7 p.m. A special performance from…
Event: Friends of the Public Library Used Book Sale
The Friends of the Public Library Main Library Book Sale returns Saturday for its 43rd annual event (through June 5), offering more than 50,000 used books from every category imaginable, with most prices between $1 and $4. Feel free to casually browse or go on a book-buying spree — there will most likely be something…
Film: America’s Pop Collector
The Cincinnati Art Museum’s ongoing “Moving Pictures” series of film screenings presents the highly regarded and prescient America’s Pop Collector: Robert C. Scull – Contemporary Art at Auction. The verity-style documentary by John Scott and E. J. Vaughn chronicles the 1973 auction of work collected by Scull, a taxi-company tycoon, which netted more than $2.2 million and forever established…
Event: Oakley Fancy Flea Market
Oakley Fancy Flea is a low-key, curated market with high-end locally made wares in the heart of Oakley. Featuring vendors like Alien Pets, which makes knitted felt animals in all manner of shapes and sizes, Loveworn, upcycled clothing made from recycled T-shirts and even treats from Brown Bear Bakery, the Fancy Flea has almost doubled…
Event: Furry Friends Festival
If dogs are man’s best friend, shouldn’t they be able to have as much fun as we do during the weekend? Washington Park thinks so. Your furry friends are invited to spend a day in the park with other pups of all shapes and sizes, surrounded by tasty grub from Eli’s BBQ and Mazunte, as…
Music: MidPoint Indie Summer Series with Surfer Blood
Fountain Square’s popular, free concert series kicks off this week — a true sign that summer is upon us. The first event in the MidPoint Indie Summer series (held Fridays through early September) is indicative of the strong roster of shows on the Square this year, showcasing a mix of quality touring headliners and some…
Event: Crafts and Crafts at Krohn Conservatory
Take a tropical vacation without leaving town by visiting Krohn Conservatory’s Crafts and Crafts event, bringing together their Butterflies of the Philippines exhibit, a handful of craft vendors and local craft beer. It’s a perfect evening to enjoy the colorful butterfly show while imbibing some adult beverages, including Filipino cocktails and food like roasted pork,…
Art: Oscillators at Harvest Art Gallery
Intermedio, an ongoing sound-light collaboration between multi-disciplinary designer Eric Blyth and composers/installation artists Sam Ferris-Morris and Justin West, will present a one-night-only exhibition Friday at Harvest Gallery. Together, the three create immersive environments, such as last year’s “Radiate” installation in ParProject’s MakersMobile traveling exhibition, by incorporating digitally processed sound and video to engage their audiences…
Event: Summerfair
Here in the Queen City, the reopening of Coney Island — the pool, the rides, the food — means one thing: the start of summer. And the annual Summerfair clinches the deal. A Cincinnati tradition since 1967, Summerfair consistently ranks among the top 100 art shows nationally and features more than 300 artists from all…
Onstage: Assassins
Stephen Sondheim’s dark musical about presidential assassins has become a classic since it was first staged in 1990. That was the same year that Falcon Theatre began producing shows in Greater Cincinnati. In 1998, Falcon’s staging of Assassins put the company on local theatergoers’ radar. You know the names: John Wilkes Booth, Squeaky Fromme, Lee…
Comedy: Chris Porter
Comedian Chris Porter recently made a foray into another type of stand-up activity: He took a gig on a cruise ship — his first and last, it turns out. “It was the most terrible thing I’ve ever done,” he says. “The audiences were great, but it’s weird when the stage is going up and down.”…
Event: NKY Pride 2015!
Let your pride flag fly with this year’s Northern Kentucky Pride festival, which starts on Thursday and goes through Sunday. The fest will kick off with an ally training and fairness reception for participants to learn about specific LGBTQ issues in the community. Throughout the weekend, you can show your pride with scheduled activities from…
Event: Summer Cinema
Summer Cinema is an outdoor movie screening held every Wednesday at Washington Park from May through August, giving you a chance to dust off the lawn chairs, bring a picnic and enjoy a relaxing evening out in the summer air on the civic lawn. The movie schedule includes a variety of contemporary classics like Jurassic…
Art: The Perfect Kiss (QQ)
American performance and installation artist James Lee Byars (1932-97) based his work around unique objects, shapes, drawings and ephemera, including flirtatious letters to curators, collectors and art world luminaries. In the Contemporary Arts Center’s current exhibit, The Perfect Kiss (QQ)* *questioning, queer, Chicago-based artist and curator Matt Morris has engaged with Byars’ works by presenting…
Ralph Stanley with Nathan Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys
A little over a year ago, 88-year-old Bluegrass Hall of Famer Ralph Stanley called me as he was mourning the loss of his long-time guitarist George Shuffler. Ralph and his brother Carter made American Roots music history in the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s as The Stanley Brothers. For more than two decades, Shuffler played guitar…
Literary: Brandon Harris and James Pogue
Two Cincinnatians — Brandon Harris and James Pogue — who contributed essays to the new book City by City: Dispatches from the American Metropolis will do readings and discussions in town this week. Harris’ essay is on “Bed-Stuy”; Pogue’s is on “Neighborhoods of Cincinnati.” The book is from Brooklyn-based Literary Journal n+1 via Faber and Faber. …
Marina and the Diamonds
It’s oddly wonderful how sometimes two songwriters will interpret the same concept in diametrically opposed fashions. For example, consider Pharrell Williams and Marina Diamandis, both of whom have very powerful songs called “Happy.” Of course, Williams’ composition is the musical manifestation of exuberance and joy, a bouncy sing-along that almost dares you to remain passive…
Leftovers: What We Ate This Weekend
Each week CityBeat staffers, dining writers and the occasional intern 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: So in my never-ending search for the perfect pie, the BF flew me to the Grimes Field Municipal Airport on Sunday. Apparently…
Morning News and Stuff
Good morning y’all. I’m back from vacation and ready to give you all the news and stuff you can handle. In case you’re wondering, my time off involved a jaunt to Chicago for a concert where audience members were encouraged to divide into two huge groups and run at each other high-fiving, trips to five…
Foreign Film Friday: The Joke (1969)
This weekly series discusses the cultural and artistic implications of a selected foreign film.A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a new Milan Kundera short story in The New Yorker. One of my favorite authors, I was intrigued to learn Kundera was releasing his tenth novel — the first in 15 years — later this…
CAC Announces the Death of Founding Member Peggy Crawford
The Contemporary Art Center today announced that founding member Peggy Crawford died on April 18 in Santa Fe, N.M., where she had been living. She was one of three women who founded the CAC's precursor, the Modern Art Society, in 1939. She was able to come to the CAC last September to celebrate its 75th anniversary…
Your Weekend To Do List (5/22-5/25)
The big party this weekend is Taste of Cincinnati, but there are plenty of other options if you don't want to spend your entire weekend gorging. Check out the May Festival, Memorial Day Weekend at Spring Grove cemetery, plenty of live music, live theater and more. FRIDAY Celebrate the power of the voice with THE MAY FESTIVAL…
Stage Door: Theater Critics of the Future?
There’s lots happening on Cincinnati stages this weekend — including excellent productions of Circle Mirror Transformation at the Cincinnati Playhouse and Outside Mullingar at Ensemble Theatre. The Cincinnati Fringe Festival is right around the corner. But I want to use this week’s Stage Door to highlight a glimpse of the future. Tonight the CAPPIE AWARDS…
Shaky Knees Festival: No Puns Necessary
I'm swirling a 24 oz. PBR tall-boy around 2 a.m. at a bar fashioned from an old church in a neighborhood I can't quite figure out. Is it up-and-coming like our own Over-the-Rhine? Or are we "on the wrong side of the tracks"? I don't really care at this point. I've already gotten drunk once…
Summer TV Preview
Check out these new seasons and series debuting this summer. Halt and Catch Fire (Season Premiere, 10 p.m. Sunday, May 31, AMC) – Season Two focuses on Cameron’s startup, Mutiny, where Donna is also now working. Back at Cardiff, Joe and Gordon try to mend things after the Giant’s major flop. Hannibal (Season Premiere, 10…
Music: Mandolin Orange
If Robert Earl Keen and Kathleen Edwards formed a Bluegrass/Americana duo and managed to retain their individual identities while combining their collective talents into a distinct third direction, they would sound a lot like Mandolin Orange. North Carolina natives Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz have honed their harmonic gifts into a pretty fair translation of…
Music: The Charles Walker Band
Identifying Charles Walker’s influences doesn’t require prolonged exposure or intense examination. The Milwaukee native grew up with a love of the Blues, Funk, Pop and Motown, as evidenced by his devotion to Luther Allison, Prince and Stevie Wonder, and the sound that he’s developed with his latest outfit, appropriately tagged the Charles Walker Band. The…
Music: The Infamous Stringdusters
The Infamous Stringdusters are one of the more high-powered acts that exist on the fringes of Bluegrass music. Ten years as a band, the Stringdusters have built up an impressive following with albums and live shows that are upbeat, fun and fueled by amazing musicianship. The members of the Stringdusters (Andy Falco on guitar, Travis…
Music: New Kids on the Block
Did you know that Tiffani-Amber Thiessen has dropped the “Amber” from her name and is now only Tiffani Thiessen? And she has her own show on Food Network? Well, she did, and she does, but that doesn’t mean you can’t pretend it isn’t still the era of Saved by the Bell and big hair, because…
Film: The Cincinnati Boxing Story
The world premiere of The Cincinnati Boxing Story screens at Taft Information Technology High School on Ezzard Charles Drive in the West End on Saturday. Mark Sweeney’s film explores how Cincinnati is a boxing town that has long produced great fighters — most notably Ezzard Charles himself — and examines our boxing history with past and…
Event: Taste of Cincinnati
It’s no secret the food scene in the Queen City rivals that of major U.S. metropolises — a few OpenTable award winners, some James Beard Award semifinalists and even a AAA Five-Diamond restaurant call Cincinnati home. And from Saturday to Monday, your favorite Cincy foodstuffs will be in one location at the Taste of Cincinnati,…
Event: Movies in the Vineyard
You can pop corks or corn at Vinoklet Winery’s vineyard, which is hosting three outdoor movie nights this summer. On Friday, get your Streep on when they show Mamma Mia! on the silver screen amid the sprawling acres of the award-winning vineyard. And hey, if ABBA isn’t your thing, you can catch later flicks in…
Onstage: The May Festival
The May Festival, one of the oldest and most prestigious choral festivals in the Western Hemisphere, kicks off its 2015 showcase at Music Hall with Haydn’s “The Creation” on Friday and works by Handel and Vaughn Williams on Saturday. A special May Festival Youth Chorus/May Festival Chorus performance takes place Sunday at Covington, Ky.’s Cathedral…
Event: #PintsforPaint
Thursday is your last chance to see Memorial Hall before its doors close for upcoming renovations, and it’s kicking off its face-lift with a celebration. #PintsforPaint features live performances from local bands, a history of Memorial Hall provided by The Enquirer’s archives and a panel discussion regarding what the future has in store for the…
Comedy: Ian Bagg
Ian Bagg had dreams of playing pro hockey, but switched to comedy because he grew tired of getting knocked around the ice by players he describes as decidedly more talented than him. Fortunately, he had a knack for humor. “It’s so much fun being on a [hockey] team and hanging out,” he says. “I think…
Event: Memorial Day Weekend at Spring Grove
Between kicking off Memorial Day weekend with the Ohio Military band performing in the Rose Garden Gazebo, a veterans tribute and a historical Patriots and Pioneers walking tour of the cemetery, Spring Grove has the entire weekend jam-packed with activities. On Monday, the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and the 6th Ohio…
Music: Jeff Daniels and The Ben Daniels Band
Although he has been performing music publicly and on a regular basis since 2000, most fans of film/TV/theater actor Jeff Daniels are probably not aware of his hobby-turned-side-career. Known best for his roles in films like The Purple Rose of Cairo, The Squid and the Whale and the Dumb and Dumber films, and for his…
Does Debating a ‘Good Kill’ Make for a Good Movie?
This isn’t real life, Good Kill, this new movie from writer-director Andrew Niccol (Gattaca, Lord of War), about Major Thomas Egan (Ethan Hawke), a long-serving and highly decorated pilot who now “flies” drone missions from a trailer in the Nevada desert and bombs targets in the Middle East. Egan, from time to time, reminds various…
Onstage: Acting Irish International Theatre Festival
Irish theater is top of mind locally, what with the warm-hearted Outside Mullingar continuing at Ensemble Theatre and this week an international festival of Irish acting. Catch daily performances of full-length Irish plays produced by companies from the U.S., Canada and Ireland — including our own Irish American Theater Company of Cincinnati, which is hosting…
Learning How to Act: Onstage and in Life
Annie Baker’s Circle Mirror Transformation is a deceptively simple play — on the surface, it’s a comedy about five people enrolled in a community center class about learning how to act. They work their way through six weeks of exercises intended to reduce their inhibitions and open them to being more expressive and comfortable onstage.…
Attractions: Unlocking the Gates of Auschwitz 70 Years Later
The Freedom Center’s current Unlocking the Gates of Auschwitz 70 Years Later exhibit weaves together rare artifacts, photographs and the personal stories of Holocaust survivors Werner Coppel and Bella Ouziel to explore their journey and how life and the power of the human spirit continued in the face of the horrors of Auschwitz. Also on…
Camp Washington’s Art Is Growing From Its Soil
When you think of ways to view Cincinnati’s Camp Washington neighborhood, you probably wouldn’t consider looking at it using the lens of soil as a starting point. After all, it’s very much a built environment. Yet soil is what Erin Colleen Johnson, the first Art Space Is Your Space artist-in-residence at the neighborhood’s nonprofit Wave…
Nourishing Community
Liz Wu is an instigator of goodness. Her nonprofit organization, Stone Soup Collective, works to bring the community together through outreach initiatives, including clothing and food drives, musical enrichment sessions and lifestyle and wellness education. In a monthly program called Random Acts of Kindness, Wu and others with Stone Soup Collective act as a kind…
Lessons Learned
While most students in Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati’s urban core are showing academic improvement in school, newly disaggregated data reveals low-income students lagging significantly behind their counterparts in achieving key educational goals. The Strive Partnership released its sixth-annual report card last month. The data shows 91 percent of indicators trending upward for students based on…
Morning News & Stuff
U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch visited Cincinnati yesterday on a tour of cities implementing innovative police practices. During a roundtable event at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Lynch said Cincinnati’s approach is a model for other cities to follow. Via The Enquirer: "This is a place that has been through difficult times," Lynch said,…
Auction Bloc
When Thom Shaw was alive, sometimes I would do a drive-by to see if his little black truck with the ARTWERK license plate was in the parking lot in Essex Studios. If it was and I had some time — because Thom Shaw could talk me under the table — I’d pull in and make…
Mandolin Orange
If Robert Earl Keen and Kathleen Edwards formed a Bluegrass/Americana duo and managed to retain their individual identities while combining their collective talents into a distinct third direction, they would sound a lot like Mandolin Orange. North Carolina natives Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz have honed their harmonic gifts into a pretty fair translation of…
The Charles Walker Band
Identifying Charles Walker’s influences doesn’t require prolonged exposure or intense examination. The Milwaukee native grew up with a love of the Blues, Funk, Pop and Motown, as evidenced by his devotion to Luther Allison, Prince and Stevie Wonder, and the sound that he’s developed with his latest outfit, appropriately tagged the Charles Walker Band. The…
Worst Week Ever! May 20-26
Clintons Made $30M in Past Year, Swear They Are in Touch with Needs of Average Americans Politics are a stupid sham because the people you get to choose from live lives nothing like yours, care little about how yours is going and spend all their time on the clock pandering and entertaining the rich so…
Steve Katz
According to Publishers Weekly, Steve Katz’s new memoir Blood, Sweat, and My Rock ’n’ Roll Years: Is Steve Katz a Rock Star? has maybe the most spectacular revelation yet of any Rock memoir. Katz was a guitarist with two successful Rock bands in the 1960s, The Blues Project and Blood, Sweat & Tears, and he…
The Physicist as Rock Star
HOT: The Physicist as Rock Star Besides all that important science-y stuff, theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking is a pop culture icon, having been the source of a major motion picture and, more importantly, a voice on The Simpsons. His computerized voice is also a part of the production of U2’s stage show on the band’s…
2015 Cincinnati Fringe: Shouts from the Vanguard of American Theater
As the Cincinnati Fringe Festival comes upon its 13th year — starting May 26 and running through June 6 — we thought it would be informative to hear from seven people who work behind the scenes to produce this annual two weeks of theater, creativity and fun. They’re each connected with Know Theatre of Cincinnati,…
Over the Rhine Raises Funds to Raise a Barn
Barns and farms have played an important role in the history of Over the Rhine, married couple Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist’s internationally acclaimed, 25-year-old Cincinnati band. The couple met in a restored barn while in college in Canton, Ohio. For the past decade, the twosome has lived in and worked out of a brick…
Making New ‘Memories’
I n January, the nation was introduced to Jess Lamb via her American Idol audition in Kansas City, Mo. Her performance of “Ain’t No Sunshine” quickly won over the judges and gained the Cincinnati singer/songwriter a great deal of fans. While her journey on American Idol was short, Lamb has been spending her post-Idol time…
Monster Tea
These days it’s pretty easy for foodies, wine-o’s and hop heads to delve into an appreciation of food, wine and craft beer. It becomes somewhat of a quest as we seek out better examples and interesting variations from the farthest reaches of the world. We discover really good stuff we never knew about before. And…
Onstage: Cincy Fringe Festival
The Cincinnati Fringe Festival — running through June 6 — is celebrating 13 years of theater, creativity and fun. A total of 40 shows (selected by 24 jurors) will be presented during the 12 days of the 2015 Fringe, split almost exactly between shows generated by local creators and productions from elsewhere in the U.S., plus four international…
Music: Steve Katz
According to Publishers Weekly, Steve Katz’s new memoir Blood, Sweat, and My Rock ’n’ Roll Years: Is Steve Katz a Rock Star? has maybe the most spectacular revelation yet of any Rock memoir. Katz was a guitarist with two successful Rock bands in the 1960s, The Blues Project and Blood, Sweat & Tears, and he went on in…
Onstage: Circle Mirror Transformation
Annie Baker’s Circle Mirror Transformation is a deceptively simple play — on the surface, it’s a comedy about five people enrolled in a community center class about learning how to act. They work their way through six weeks of exercises intended to reduce their inhibitions and open them to being more expressive and comfortable onstage. None seem…
Music: Xavier Rudd & The United Nations
Xavier Rudd's career didn't require a creative shakeup. The Australian native had nothing to prove, after releasing eight well-regarded Gold and Platinum albums over the past dozen-plus years, earning several ARIA (Australia’s Grammys) nominations and amassing a feverishly loyal fan base in every corner of the world. As is often the case with multi-faceted musicians…
Waterfields (Profile)
The Mercer eloquently tops its scallops with micro red-veined sorrel. Salazar places micro daikon radish on its oyster slider to give it a bit of a kick. And chances are if you’ve recently dined at Boca, Maribelle’s or Ruth’s Parkside Café, you were also presented with a meal topped with intricate-looking microgreens that came from…
