May 30 – Jun 6, 2018
The Ring’s the Thing: The athleticism, drama, camaraderie and pure entertainment are raw and real in Greater Cincinnati’s Northern Wrestling Foundation
Report Claims Shuttered Online Charter Received Millions in Local School Funding
Over the past six years, the state of Ohio paid now-defunct online charter school the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow more than $14 million from funds that could have otherwise gone to Cincinnati Public Schools, Ohio Department of Education data compiled by charter school critics shows. That money came from students in the CPS district —…
Judge who gave Ohio’s Brock Turner short sentence for sexual assault likely recalled
Voters in California’s Santa Clara County yesterday likely approved the recall of a judge who sentenced Ohio resident Brock Turner to a controversially short six months in prison for a 2016 sexual assault the campus of Stanford University. Turner, who lives in Greene County, near Dayton, was convicted of three felony counts in California in…
Cincinnati’s Dessner brothers, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon and others announce free DIY online music platform, PEOPLE
A new collective of musicians aiming “to create and share our work freely, with each other and everyone,” has launched an online music platform called PEOPLE. The group behind the project includes Cincinnati natives Bryce and Aaron Dessner (of The National) and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. PEOPLE was created out of a desire of the…
A Boy Possessed: Steve Kissing’s New Graphic Memoir Grapples with a Cincinnati Childhood Steeped in Catholic Imagery and Epileptic Seizures
Cincinnati is a Midwestern pillar of Catholicism, speckled in stained glass windows that depict saints and gospel tales, and cast murky shadows of Christian lore onto the laity. These images embed themselves into the community’s psyche — perhaps more so on the West Side than anywhere. So, it’s conceivable, in a place like this, that…
Cincinnati’s Coming Tax Abatement Debate
Next year, the city of Cincinnati could change up the way it does property tax abatements on development deals as a 20-year-old agreement between the city and Cincinnati Public Schools expires. But before that happens, the city, the CPS Board of Education and others will need to wrestle with a number of complicated questions. The…
University of Cincinnati Student Collects Books for Children of Cameroon
Still in town for a short time after her recent graduation from University of Cincinnati with degrees in Africana studies and International Affairs, Édith Nkenganyi is trying to make every moment count for the outreach project she started here. She wants to get needed books into the hands of children from her native country, the…
Still Time to See Excellent Cincy Fringe Productions
The 15th Cincy Fringe is winding down, but you can still catch a production or two at Over-the-Rhine venues through Saturday, plus some likely encores on Sunday. Here are a few recommendations from CityBeat’s eight-person reviewing team. (Read more detailed coverage of 35 shows at citybeat.com; for performance and ticket information, visit cincyfringe.com.) Vox Box…
Collaborative Art Exhibit ‘Companion Pieces’ Opens at Camp Washington’s Anytime Dept.
Companion Pieces is the first exhibition put on by the curatorial duo of Lydia Rosenberg and Rebecca Steele — known as Anytime Dept. — at their new location in Camp Washington. It’s also the first group show the two have curated as a team. It’s loosely themed, featuring 49 artists (10 of whom are local…
FILM REVIEW: ‘Hereditary’ Is a Hot Box of Horror
The slow burn leaves the harshest scars on a family. The so-called nuclear family — two opposite-sex parents and two children, usually one boy and one girl — is the textbook definition of what a “family” looks like (being white is, of course, a given as well). So when we think of what has the…
FRINGE 2018 REVIEW: ‘Delivery: A Triptych’
Functional Shoes from New York City returns to Cincy Fringe for a second year with an intriguing, if cryptic, show at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. Last year they earned a Producer’s Pick of the Fringe for the intriguing Romeo + Juliet + Anybody’s, a post-modern take on a very minor character from the musical…
FRINGE 2018 REVIEW: ‘Fadeaway Girl’
Rachel Petrie’s (mostly) one-woman show, Fadeaway Girl, opens at Gabriel's Corner with an audio of the actor recording her notes for what she wants the evening’s experience to be. The plan is to create a performance based on her history with clinical depression and bipolar disorder, and she lists the clichés that she intends to…
The Cincinnati Summer Guide 2018
While summer officially starts on June 21, warm, muggy weather has already descended upon the Tri-State. Neighborhood creamy whips have opened their windows to little leaguers and other soft-serve fiends, most pools kicked-off open swim during Memorial Day weekend and music fest season is here in all its fringey crop-topped, fanny-packed glory. So, yes, while…
Chef-Approved (and Provided) Recipes to Wow at Your Next Cookout
It’s summer cookout season, which means you will undoubtedly be invited to an outdoor shindig — or host one of your own — where you’ll have to prepare a people-pleasing potluck dish. Maybe it’s a side, salad or something sweet (or boozy)? Or one of each. To help you flex your creative culinary muscles we…
Eight Cincinnati public pools and spraygrounds to keep you cool this summer
Cincinnati has a wealth of public water features to keep people chill as the temperature rises: There’s a swimming pool or sprayground in nearly every neighborhood and they’re either free to frolic in or cost only a couple of bucks for admission. It ain’t no country club, but some have some pretty swanky features —…
First trailer released for Cincinnati-filmed ‘The Old Man and the Gun’
The first trailer from the eagerly awaited Cincinnati-filmed "The Old Man and the Gun" has been released, and with it comes the announcement that Fox Searchlight Pictures will release the film on Sept. 28, the start of awards season. The film was shot in the city, including Price Hill, and nearby areas, including Dayton. The…
Six Cincinnati Music Fests to Appeal to Listeners of All Genres, Attention Spans and Interests in Camping
A roundup of Cincinnati summer music festivals in 2018 looks a lot different than one from 10 years ago. A decade ago, outdoor music events were a sign that summertime was upon us, something you’d long for in the cold season — like Putz’s Creamy Whip ice cream cones. But they’re becoming less characteristic of…
Deep State behind Greater Cincinnati benefit concert?
This Saturday’s Dump Trump concert at the Southgate House Revival is being organized and promoted by local comedian Brad Thacker, who is bringing the event back for the third year. Numerous local bands and comedians have participated in the show the past two years, and many more will be on hand for this year’s event.…
State officials: Ohio’s Medicinal Marijuana Program Won’t Be Ready by Deadline
Officials with the Ohio Department of Commerce today admitted that the state will not be ready to roll out its medicinal marijuana program by a previously-stated Sept. 8 deadline. After lawmakers passed a law legalizing medicinal marijuana in 2016, Ohio officials last November licensed 25 growers across the state to cultivate marijuana for medicinal use.…
Pendleton Gets Its First Creamy Whip
No shape signifies summer quite like a soft-serve swirl, proudly perched on a sugar cone. It’s fun and frigid — like a vanilla ski resort that’s small enough to hold. The frozen fare is a timeless American tradition, and an integral part of Cincinnati food lore. The city’s sprinkled with neighborhood creamy whips: ice cream…
Air-Conditioned Attractions to Get you Through Cincinnati’s Sweltering Summer Days
Summer is coming. And — considering weather has already climbed to 90 degrees in Cincinnati — so is glistening, annoying sweat. Despite the activities often advertised for summer fun (i.e., water parks, public pools, Popsicles, sunbathing, traveling to somewhere even hotter), some of us just want to take advantage of the finest advancement in modern…
This Week in Questionable Decisions: May 30-June 5
This Week in Questionable Decisions… After Disney/ABC CEO Bob Iger apologized to Valerie Jarrett for Roseanne’s racist remarks (which resulted in the network pulling the plug on the Roseanne reboot), Donald Trump continually demanded an apology from Iger for negative news that followed his presidential campaign. Australian feminist writer Germaine Greer suggested the punishment for…
What a Week!: May 30-June 5
Parents Forced to Evict Millennial Son The media has long represented Millennials as entitled, underachievers who are killing the diamond industry and Applebee’s and would rather have artisanal toast and sparkling water than marriage and a mortgage. Well, if that generational stereotype is accurate (it’s not, dicks), then 30-year-old New York man Michael Rotondo is…
Sound Advice: Tyler Childers with John Prine at Taft Theatre (June 9)
My first exposure to Tyler Childers didn’t involve his rousing, gritty voice or the oh-so-familiar Country music that backs him. My introduction came from lyrics posted on Facebook — like the ones we used in melodramatic away messages in the days of AOL. Childers’ lyricism spoke to some old concert buddies, who shared his words…
Sound Advice: The Dickies with The Queers and The Raging Nathans (June 8)
At this point in the history of Rock, The Dickies are more of an institution than a band. As one of the true progenitors of Pop Punk, the Southern California quintet has become almost a finishing school for the genre, turning out 21 graduates over the past 41 years; only vocalist Leonard Graves Phillips and…
Sound Advice: Kuinka with The Matildas at Southgate House Revival (June 7)
Music has forever provided a blissful escape from our day-to-day worries. These days, with the anger, consternation and antipathy running rampant throughout some of our most dominant forms of media, live music has become one of the best escape hatches to jump through when the discordant noise grows too cumbersome (especially if you leave your…
UN tells Trump administration: stop separating immigrant families “immediately;” more news
Hello, all. Ready for a quick news rundown? Let’s do it. Cincinnati will get two medicinal marijuana dispensaries, including one partly owned by a well-known reverend. The Ohio Board of Pharmacy yesterday announced recipients of 56 provisional dispensary licenses across the state, including Green RX LLC, registered at 8420 Vine St. and partially owned by…
New York rocker Shilpa Ray’s music channels everything from Doo-Wop to Lou Reed
Shilpa Ray is a pessimist. Make that a nihilist — that’s the title of the new two-song EP she has released to accompany the tour that brings her to Cincinnati this week. Yet, truth be told, things are looking positive for Ray. This is the second tour she’s launched (and the second time she’s come…
Minimum Gauge: NOFX faces backlash after offensive comments about Vegas shooting
HOT: Peeving Las Vegas Punk band NOFX can kiss their Vegas retirement residency dreams goodbye after a recent appearance at the Punk Rock Bowling & Music Festival in Las Vegas. After frontperson Fat Mike jokingly celebrated playing “a song about a Muslim” and not getting shot, guitarist Eric Melvin bantered, “I guess you’re only getting…
Eli’s BBQ to Open Kitchen Incubator and Food Hall
When local cult barbecue establishment Eli’s BBQ was just starting out, they depended on existing restaurants to gain access to commercial kitchen space. Owner Elias Leisring would visit these businesses after they closed for the day to make his barbecue, lugging equipment and ingredients with him each time. This process led to several obstacles, including…
Try these hidden gem dishes at some of Cincinnati’s most popular restaurants
It all started with a chicken sandwich. My husband and I were sitting at the bar of a well-known local restaurant, peanut shells peppered about and the glint of a neon sign reflecting off the beer bottle in his hand. He had taken us to Terry’s Turf Club, utterly familiar with what the restaurant was…
Cincinnati to get two medicinal marijuana dispensaries
Patients qualified to receive medicinal marijuana will soon likely have some local dispensaries from which to choose. The Ohio Board of Pharmacy today announced the 56 businesses in 28 geographic areas around the state that will receive medicinal marijuana licenses, including two within Cincinnati city limits and another five in the Greater Cincinnati area. Residents…
SORTA unveils 2019 Cincinnati streetcar budget amid revenue struggles
Less assumptions about money from a voluntary tax contribution program and more advertising dollars will keep the streetcar going next year, according to officials with the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority, but at the expense of much of the transit project's surplus. SORTA’s Director of Rail Services Paul Grether and Chief Financial Officer David Riposo today outlined…
Frisch’s Downtown Cincinnati Location Opens Wednesday
Wake up and smell the pipin’ hot coffee and breakfast bar — tomorrow Cincinnati is declaring June 5 “Big Boy Day” to mark Frisch’s newest downtown installment. Located on first floor of Carew Tower (441 Vine St.), the spot marks the local-turned-national chain’s first new restaurant in Cincinnati’s core in 14 years — complete with…
Portions of iconic Mount Airy water towers could be removed; more news
Hello, Cincy! I hope you had a rad weekend. Let’s talk news for just a minute. New mapping technology is coming for Cincinnati police — but it’s not clear when. Cincinnati officers searching for Kyle Plush, the 16-year-old who suffocated in his van in April after calling 911 twice, could have had his location more…
Sound Advice: Slayer with Testament, Lamb of God, Behemoth and Anthrax at Riverbend (June 6)
To attempt to explain Slayer’s importance and impact on music today is a lesson in futility. Not because it can’t be done, but because there truly is no reason to do so. Slayer is one of a handful of Extreme Metal bands that have been able to transcend the limitations of the genre and enter…
Y’all Means All: Your Guide to Northern Kentucky Pride
June is Pride Month, y’all, and there's more than one celebration happening in the area. With events throughout the week, Northern Kentucky Pride is set for June 10, following an afternoon parade through Covington. Cincinnati Pride may be larger in attendance, but it’s important to our neighbors across the river to host an event in…
FRINGE 2018 CRITIC’S PICK: ‘Musical Chairs’
Sometimes an author gets a play’s title exactly right. Such is the case with Musical Chairs, a classic image of a game that starts out as simple fun, but where it’s inevitable that someone will lose. This is the framework of Gideon Productions’ latest offering at the Cincy Fringe (God of Obsidian was an award…
Before Bunbury, Jack White visits King Records site and gets the key to the city
On Sunday, Jack White closed out the Bunbury Music Festival along Cincinnati’s riverfront with a rousing, well-received set that included his solo material as well as songs by The White Stripes and The Raconteurs. But before closing out Bunbury, White made a stop at the former site of King Records, the historically crucial music institution…
FRINGE 2018 CRITIC’S PICK: ‘Eddie Poe’
The Coldharts have developed quite a following among the Cincy Fringe crowd. Eddie Poe is, in fact, their fourth offering here, following the much admired Legend of White Woman Creek, Edgar Allan and, most recently, the brilliant and crazed Unrepentant Necrophile. That meant a packed house for the Saturday opening performance at Know Theatre of…
Fringe 2018 Review: ‘She Buried the Pistol’
I’m hard-pressed to give a concise description of She Buried the Pistol, a one-woman performance piece that premiered at the Cincy Fringe on Saturday at First Lutheran Church. As presented by its author/creator, Lydia Blaisdell, the show takes many forms: It’s not exactly a play (no scenes or action as such). Its structure, in fact,…
FRINGE 2018 CRITIC’S PICK: ‘Doppelbanger’
Nick Jonczak’s Doppelbanger is an intimate, one-man Cincy Fringe show at MOTR Pub on Main Street in Over-the-Rhine. The standard dictionary definition of "doppelganger" is “an apparition or double of a living person”; the Urban Dictionary defines doppelbanger as “a person who has sexual intercourse with someone who looks identical to them but is not…
Storm damages ‘Immersive Igloo’ of Cincy Fringe performer
(Sunday morning editor's update: We've been told Montagliano was able to reinflate his storm-damaged igloo on Saturday and is now seeing if he can get the electronics working. If so, he might be able to resume Cincy Fringe performances. As a result, the urgency of the GoFundMe campaign has been reduced until people see if…
FRINGE 2018 REVIEW: ‘Bad Poetry Night’
The concept of a fringe festival dates back to Edinburgh, Scotland, in the 1940s. The idea was to give voice to independent artists whose no-holds-barred work wasn’t acceptable to mainstream theaters. This censorship-free attitude is at the heart of Bad Poetry Night, presented by A to Z Productions. A (Alexx Rouse) to Z (Zach Robinson)…
FRINGE 2018 REVIEW: ‘One More Bad Thing’
Is there an event in your life you’d like to relive and/or change the outcome? What would you sacrifice for a do-over? One More Bad Thing, presented at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, is the story of two sisters who “plan to start over and be good,” according to the Fringe guide description, adding “Eventually.”…
FRINGE 2018 CRITIC’S PICK: ‘The Amphibian’
The Amphibian depicts the aftermath of a military occupation, where the modern outsiders are put at odds with the old world religion that seems like witchcraft to the uninitiated. A brutal foreign commander uses any means necessary to quash the rebellions that spread like napalm among his “liberated” subjects, so he employs the morally malleable…
FRINGE 2018 CRITIC’S PICK: ‘The Blackface Project’
The Blackface Project (by Norman-Reaves Productions from Cincinnati) tells the true tale of the faustian covenant between Bert Williams (1874-1922) and the great white whale known as early 20th-century Broadway. Williams has the unique opportunity to be the first black man to perform on the coveted stage, but only if painted up in blackface, since…
FRINGE 2018 REVIEW: ‘The Mountains Did Quake’
Award-winning Cincy Fringe veterans Karim Muasher and Carrie Brown, together known as Animal Engine, have brought their newest work The Mountains Did Quake, the Hillsides Did Tremble to this year’s Fringe Festival. Animal Engine has a knack and a passion for reinvigorating much-loved stories: their take on Peter Pan, Darlings, and their Willa Cather-inspired Petunia…
FRINGE 2018 REVIEW: ‘The Bureau’
In The Bureau, presented by Sh*t Talkers Anonymous from Chicago at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, the tropical-fruit conglomerate Chiquita has taken over the world and instigated its own banana republic-style governance with a decidedly corporate flair. As part of the new world order, the company, now called “The Bureau,” has developed a mind control…
FRINGE 2018 REVIEW: ‘ExTrashVaganza!’
The wild ride of Mobile Productions’ two-person variety show, ExTrashVaganza!, starts as the audience trickles into the main stage space of the Know Theatre. The writers and stars, Paul Strickland and Erika Kate MacDonald, launch into a delightful bit about two performers rushing around stage in a panic as they try to make some much…
FRINGE 2018 CRITIC’S PICK: ‘The Whitest Baby in All of Africa’
Race. Diversity. Culture. These three factors all have one thing in common: They are unfortunate barriers that prevent the achievement of true equality. Although it might seem difficult to break down these stubborn walls, playwright and director Sam Kerns accomplished this feat when he penned The Whitest Baby in All of Africa, a play that…
FRINGE 2018 CRITIC’S PICK: ‘All We Have Borne’
The stage is already brightly lit when the audience enters the space for the Cincy Fringe Festival performance of All We Have Borne, a dramatic play written by Victoria Hawley, a Cincinnati-based theater artist. What makes this light so jarring isn’t the smallness of the space, nor the true basement setting beneath MOTR Pub. What…
FRINGE 2018 REVIEW: ‘The New Adventures of Calliope Jones & Captain Cool’
The New Adventures of Calliope Jones & Captain Cool brings a bit of kid-friendly fun to the Memorial Hall Studio for this year’s Cincy Fringe. Chance Kilgour plays the hip, fast-talking and overconfident superhero Captain Cool, whose powers seem to include a moderate increase in fighting strength and an occasional ability to shape-shift. His best…
FRINGE 2018 CRITIC’S PICK: ‘Show Up’
Filing into the “Lounge” at First Lutheran Church (a small room adjacent to the nursery) for Show Up, you’ll meet Peter Michael Marino, hawking campaign buttons to promote the show. After a few minutes of miscellaneous banter with the audience, he confesses that he has no idea what he’s doing. He talks about how solo…
FRINGE 2018 CRITIC’S PICK: ‘bloom’
Cincy Fringe newcomer allendance’s bloom is a breathtaking display of grace, strength and skill. Visiting from Philadelphia, allendance describes bloom as “inspired by kinetic-driven, ‘movement as plot’ writings of David Ohle’s 1972 cult classic, Motorman. bloom is a rapid unfolding of three dancers, colliding softly and recklessly with one another.” Audience members unfamiliar with Ohle…
FRINGE 2018 CRITIC’S PICK: ‘There Ain’t No More’
There Ain’t No More is a solo folk operetta written and performed by Willi Carlisle of Breaker/Fixer Productions from Arkansas. With an exploration of life and celebration of folklore, a dying folksinger reflects on his life during his final performance. He considers his first and last love, his time in the Vietnam War and subsequent…
FRINGE 2018 REVIEW: ‘Lost Generation’
I am a Millennial. It doesn’t always feel that way, because I’m 34 and it’s hard for me to relate to the trials and tribulations of an 18-year-old. But growing up, I felt like everywhere I looked there was a sense that history was over. We’d reached the zenith of human accomplishment, so the rest…
FRINGE 2018 REVIEW: ‘Aphrodite’s Refugees’
A speck of beauty floating in the Mediterranean Sea, the ancient Greeks believed the island of Cyprus to be the birthplace of the ravishing love goddess Aphrodite. First-time Cincy Fringer MonTra Performance (from Boulder, Colorado) has assembled a harrowing tale of young refugees struggling to survive on Aphrodite’s much-coveted island. Storyteller Monica Dionysiou combines talents…
FRINGE 2018 REVIEW: ‘Please Shuffle the Cards’
Watching a magic show is a strange experience. On the one hand, you want to suspend disbelief and just go with it. There’s even a part of you pervading into adulthood that wants to believe the magic is real. But as performer Erik Tait puts it in his award-winning show Please Shuffle the Cards, there’s…
FRINGE 2018 REVIEW: ‘Damage’
Pedamentum Dance Theatre’s 2018 Fringe offering is almost a remix of writer and artistic director Mandie Reiber’s entry last year, Anonymous. Relying on true stories provided by locals who have survived abuse, Reiber and company dramatize their tribulations into vignettes of suffering, colored with melancholy song and dance. The show’s thesis is a simplistic, rueful…
State set to announce medicinal marijuana dispensaries Monday; more news
Hello Cincy! I heard it’s National Donut Day. If that’s your jam, you can get some free fried dough treats on Fountain Square around noon. A bunch of other spots around Greater Cincinnati are also offering up sweet pastries throughout the day as well. Anyway, here’s some news not really related to baked goods. Cincinnati…
Preview some of the best Blues musicians in Greater Cincinnati and preview the Cincy Blues Fest at Sunday’s Cincy Blues Challenge
The long-running Cincy Blues Fest returns to Sawyer Point on Aug. 11, trimmed down to a one-day event headlined by Blues Rock favorite Delbert McClinton (tickets are available now at cincybluesfest.org). This Sunday you can get a preview of the rest of the Blues Fest lineup as the Cincy Blues Society presents the 20th annual…
No layoffs or pool closures, but big cuts: Acting Cincinnati City Manager unveils budget proposal
Acting City Manager Patrick Duhaney today unveiled his recommendations for the City of Cincinnati's $1.4 billion fiscal year 2019 budget, which looks to overcome a $32 million deficit. The good news: No layoffs or furloughs to city staff, and none of the city's health clinics, pools and recreation centers will close. The bad news: Steep…
Top Five Cincinnati Arts & Culture Events (June 1-3)
Theater dominates the cultural events in Cincinnati this weekend (and into next week) with the Fringe Festival underway (check out our reviews here) and with Ensemble Theatre's long-awaited revival of Hedwig and the Angry Inch set to open Wednesday. (See our advance here.) But don't overlook Ed Stern's hilarious production of Michael Frayn's Noises Off,…
FRINGE 2018 REVIEW: ‘The Gospel of Barabbas’
The Gospel of Barabbas, presented by Hugo West Theatricals at Memorial Hall, is a sketch-comedy-based farce that follows the unlikely birth and excessively ridiculous mishaps of the titular Barabbas, a secondary character in the Christ story. If you think this echoes the irreverent path of Monty Python’s Life of Brian, you would be close to…
FRINGE 2018 REVIEW: ‘Walt Fit’
I’ll give Jimmy Grzelak and his fringe-worthy production of Walt Fit credit for making the most of a skimpy workout costume and equally threadbare approach to originally promising material. The setup for this one-man — and mostly one-note — show is that the illustrious American poet, Walt Whitman, was not only a great bard, but…
Cincinnati’s Bunbury Music Festival offers a high-profile platform for several local artists
Though Blink-182 was a surprise dropout as opening night co-headliners of this weekend's Bunbury Music Festival, all three days of the festival (which begins Friday and continues through Sunday) have some hometown musical acts that are well worth arriving early. Each day of Bunbury is frontloaded with some very well known acts — including headliners…
Cincinnati Fringe Fest 2018 Reviews
Attending Cincinnati’s annual Fringe Festival can be an arduous task. It’s fun, to be sure, but it can be a big challenge to identify which shows to see and navigate your way through during the 13 days of performances at more than a dozen venues across downtown and Over-the-Rhine. Since the beginning, the planning team…
Run the Jewels release a new mix by Cincinnati Hip Hop legend Mr. Dibbs
The Hip Hop duo Run the Jewels have a high-profile spot in the current pop culture zeitgeist. Besides releasing highly acclaimed music, Killer Mike and EL-P have scored high-profile gigs, like touring as the opener for Pop star Lorde and appearing at multi-genre festivals across the globe, and they also ride for everyone from Stephen…
FRINGE 2018 REVIEW: ‘Take Flight’
Told with whimsy and eye-popping athleticism, first-time Cincinnati Fringe participant Imaginez’s Take Flight is a charming exploration of self, faith and taking a risk. This family-friendly production, onstage at Know Theatre, is a delicious nest of cotton candy woven around a warm and lively heart. Take Flight begins with the silent clown Bumbles, played by…
FRINGE 2018 REVIEW: ‘Forealism Tribe Origins’
This one’s for the Fringe: Cincinnati’s own Forealism Tribe has brought its unique brand of performance art to the Fringe stage in a new work, Forealism Tribe Origins, presented at Know Theatre. A stimulating mash-up of music, projection art and dance, Origins follows the Tribe as it first materializes, arrives on Earth, goes to the…
FRINGE 2018 REVIEW: ‘Thrive IRL’
Thrive IRL is a collection of sketches themed around technology’s omnipotent influence over every aspect of our lives. (IRL is a slang acronym for “in real life.) From unconventional gender reveals during pregnancy to the unbearable pressure of interacting with a grocery clerk face-to-face, comedy team Maari Suorsa and Henry Riggs (they call themselves Nameless…
FRINGE 2018 CRITIC’S PICK: ‘Re-Grooving’
In Re-Grooving, from Yarroway Productions in Cincinnati, dance, music and film coalesce to create a fabulous mix of art and performance that explores the concept of reality. It’s presented at Gabriel’s Corner (Sycamore and Liberty streets in Over-the-Rhine). Gorgeous and silly all at once, Re-Grooving begins with a long, pre-recorded film projection of a single…
FRINGE 2018 CRITIC’S PICK: ‘Of Monster Descent’
Put on by Queen City Flash and written and directed by Trey Tatum and Bridget Leak (Slut Shaming, winner of the 2014 Artist Pick of the Fringe, and The Disappearance of Nicole Jacobs), Of Monster Descent describes itself as a story about “a family on the brink of collapse and the woodland beast that stalks…
FRINGE 2018 REVIEW: ‘Last Drag’
Employing both physical and incorporeal conceits, Last Drag, the supernal solo show written and performed by Jen Spillane, takes viewers through the dark story of a woman who never quite found her place in the world and exhibits her attempts to find release. It’s being performed at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. Last Drag exists…
FRINGE 2018 REVIEW: ‘Curie Me Away!’
The physicist Marie Curie (1867-1934) might not be the first person you’d imagine as the subject for a musical. But the creative minds behind Matheatre, a Minneapolis-based theater company specializing in STEM-based programming, use that medium to tell the “radical” life story of the physicist who overcame sexism in the fields of science and education…
FRINGE 2018 REVIEW: ‘Billy: The Haunting of William Howard Taft’
Not everyone knows that William Howard Taft was born in Cincinnati. Yes, the 27th president of the United States served one term (1909-1913) just before the outbreak of World War I, and then went on to be the 10th chief justice of the United States Supreme Court, the only person to serve in both offices.…
FRINGE 2018 CRITIC’S PICK: ‘Vox Box’
Count on Performance Gallery to bring something completely unusual to the Fringe. They’ve been doing so for 15 years, the only group to have a show annually. This time around it’s Vox Box, “a sumptuous sound sensation, like Jabberwocky meeting a blender.” Six veteran Performance Gallery regulars — Jodie Linver, Willemien Patterson, Patrick Earl Phillips,…
Cincinnati singer/songwriter Mark Brasington celebrates the release of his exploratory, emotive project, ‘X’
Back in February, veteran Cincinnati musician Mark Brasington released his latest solo work, X, a meditative, ethereal collection that showcases a different, piano-based and uniquely emotive side of his highly melodic songcraft. You can purchase/stream the album now at markbrasington.bandcamp.com. In March, Brasington — who has worked in local bands like Clabbergirl and Odd Man…
FRINGE 2018 CRITIC’S PICK: ‘Annalise’
Soft light illuminated the face of a girl shaking with panic as a morose boy wrapped her in a tight hug during the Fringe Next production of Annalise, a heartbreaking and raw tale of mental illness, friendship and the power of hope, presented at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. This moving play tackled stigmatized issues…
Cincinnati stadium opponents attemp ballot referendum against city spending for stadium; more news
Hello, all. Here is a quick news update for you today. The coming FC Cincinnati stadium project could go forward with $17 million less in infrastructure help from the city if opponents get their way. Former Cincinnati City Council candidates Michelle Dillingham and Brian Garry, along with several West End residents, have filed a petition…
Pureval pledges no corporate PAC money in quest to unseat Chabot
Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Aftab Pureval says he won’t take corporate political action committee money in his quest to unseat U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot. At a news conference yesterday in Mount Airy, Pureval told reporters that such donations contribute to a “rigged economy” in the United States and that he can’t be bought by…
Top Cincinnati Summer Church Festivals for Drinking and Dining
Part of Cincinnati’s culture is its rich, deeply-rooted ties to the Catholic church. Take a walk through any block in any neighborhood and this is noticeable: parishes stand tall, most of them steeped in history. And, each summer, almost every parish seems to throw a heck of a party that doubles as a fundraiser. It’s…
OPINION: FC Cincinnati’s coming West End stadium isn’t a great deal — for residents or taxpayers
Last night, it seemed like the entire city was riding on the high of Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber’s announcement that FC Cincinnati will join MLS as an expansion franchise. It’s an incredible story: a 3-year-old team advances into one of the country’s biggest soccer leagues on the strength of its devoted fan base…
Where to Find Free Donuts in Cincinnati for National Donut Day
Their crust is flaky. Fresh out of the oven, they’re warm and coated in sweetness. Donuts: America’s true sweetheart. And on June 1, the breakfast-dessert will have its own day. Before we retreat into a list of places to snag some free, holed pastries to celebrate, here's a brief history lesson on National Donut Day: It…
Renowned Cincinnati Indie/Art Pop group WHY? celebrates 10th anniversary of seminal album ‘Alopecia’ with global tour dates and reissue
WHY?, the acclaimed band fronted by Cincinnati native Yoni Wolf, is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its career-defining album Alopecia with a reissue and worldwide tour dates this summer and fall. The U.S. leg of the tour kicks off with a hometown show at Over-the-Rhine's Woodward Theater on Aug. 31; tickets are on sale now…
Free Americana music series returns to Over-the-Rhine’s Washington Park with a new name
The free “Bandstand Bluegrass” series at Washington Park in Over-the-Rhine has done a great job of spotlighting artists from Greater Cincinnati’s rich Roots music scene for the past few years now. But, though indeed held at the park’s circular bandstand, the title of the series has always been a partial misnomer, as it has featured…
Summer Session Ales and New Cans from Cincinnati Breweries
The weather went from cold to hot, which is probably why so many breweries have released new seasonable beers — lower ABV brews for easy summer drinking. Brink released a lime-sherbet milkshake-style IPA and the hazy La Guatavita New England IPA. Urban Artifact’s Hypatia is a taproom-only brew made with pawpaws from Athens, Ohio. 13…
Sacred Beast, Over-the-Rhine’s new diner-meets-bistro, lives up to the hype
Sometimes a lot of advance hype doesn’t do a new restaurant much good. At least, not unless the place lives up to it. Sacred Beast qualifies as a case in point. Before I had the chance to eat there, I had heard so much buzz — about the concept, the owners and their impressive pedigree, the…
Hedwig’s Triumphant Return to Cincinnati
Seventeen years ago, Over-the-Rhine resembled a battle zone. There was a curfew in place because of riots that followed the April 2001 shooting death of unarmed Timothy Thomas in the neighborhood. Police vigilantly patrolled the streets. And Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati on Vine Street felt like it was teetering on the brink of existence. D. Lynn…
