Morning News: Streetcar hits milestone, but faces downturn in ridership; UC students call for two officers’ resignations over Tensing incident; local electors won’t ditch Trump
Good morning all. Here are some quick news bits for you. The Cincinnati Bell Connector has exceeded a quarter-million rides since it opened in September. But ridership is slowing, newly-released numbers show. Excluding the streetcar’s opening weekend, when thousands piled on for free rides, the transit project’s average daily ridership is hovering at about 3,163.…
Morning News: Tensing trial deadlocks; Trump names former Cincy mayor to transition team; Wasson Way gets federal grant
Good morning all. Here’s some news for you today. After days of waiting, the jury in the trial of former University of Cincinnati police officer Ray Tensing deadlocked on murder and manslaughter charges Saturday. Tensing shot and killed unarmed black motorist Samuel DuBose in Mount Auburn on July 19, 2015. The announcement that the jury…
Your Weekend To Do List (Nov. 11-13)
FRIDAY 11 COMEDY: HANNIBAL BURESS “It was a serious situation,” says Hannibal Buress of how he started doing stand-up comedy. “My parents were kidnapped and were told that I had to do stand up or they would take my family away forever, so I wrote a set and destroyed.” Well, maybe not exactly. “No one…
Stage Door: Second City delivers holiday laughs; Billy dances; the girls dress up; and a perfect murder falls apart
If you think A Christmas Carol is the singular holiday entertainment offered by the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, you need to dig a little deeper. Since the Mount Adams theater has two stages, there’s always an alternative for folks who’ve had enough Dickens and Scrooge. This year’s offering kicked off last evening (and continues through…
Morning News: Tensing verdict nears; what to expect from county commission shake-up; local activists, Ohio State troopers at Standing Rock
Good morning all. I hope you aren’t too hungover from whatever you did to mark the end of election season 2016. You can catch our full coverage of races from the presidency on down to county offices here. Give it a read if you can handle it. A verdict could come any day in the…
Banderas reunite for Ironfest VII
There’s value in being an infamous band. Not every group wins over fans at Fountain Square or during a mainstage performance at Midpoint Music Festival. Some groups thrive on hushed whispers, slack-jawed stares, and incredible acts of Rock & Roll debauchery that have to be seen and seen again to be believed. Banderas was one…
HBO’s New ‘Girls’
First, a disclaimer: It’s something of a sexist inclination to compare two very different series simply because they both deal with young contemporary women in gritty and humorous ways. There doesn’t need to be a competition or debate about which show and, thus, which woman creator comes out on top. There can and should be…
‘Moonlight’ flows like a great blues song
Barry Jenkins, working from a narrative blueprint laid down by playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney (In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue), finds a deep and melancholy groove in Moonlight. His film plays out over the course of three cinematic “verses,” each offering details of a life in crisis, lived on familiar margins. There is an unmistakable…
Aronoff Center warns of copycat ticketing sites
So you want to buy a ticket to see Phantom of the Opera at the Aronoff Center for the Arts, where a new touring production of the perennial favorite arrives Tuesday and stays through Nov. 27. Innocently enough, you do a Google search for “Aronoff Center” to see what’s available on opening night and for how…
‘Billy Elliot’ laudable but lacks polish
It is 1984 and Billy Elliot’s coal-mining community in northeastern England is on strike. His father is desperately trying to scrape together a life for him after Billy’s mother’s death; Billy’s brother is growing more violent as he works to keep scabs out and the town unified; and Billy himself, coming of age amid hardship…
Tried and true at the theater
While many theaters take pride in producing new works and avant-garde scripts that expand what can be done onstage, many simultaneously need to mix up such shows with tried-and-true pieces that audiences know and love. Often the title alone is enough to sell tickets. The Covedale Center for the Performing Arts, operated by Cincinnati Landmark…
Opera Fusion: New Works gives Lynn Nottage’s ‘Intimate Apparel’ an early tryout
Intimate Apparel is one of Pulitzer Prize- winner Lynn Nottage’s most popular plays. Reflecting the cultural salad bowl of New York City in 1905, it concerns Esther Mills, a 35-year-old African-American seamstress living in a boarding house who creates exquisite lingerie for clients ranging from a wealthy white woman to an African-American prostitute. She buys…
What a Week! Nov. 2-8
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 02 Eyeballs were glued to TV screens across the country late Wednesday night for the final game of the World Series. After fans waited out extra innings and a rain delay, the Chicago Cubs beat the unfortunately named Cleveland Indians, winning the Series for the first time since 1908. And in the great…
Civility Won’t Save Us
Even after a winner emerges from the garbage fire that has been the 2016 presidential election — this column was published on Election Day before final tallies were in — bigger questions remain. How will America resolve the heightened conflicts that have arisen during the race? The vitriolic climate throughout this election has been attributed…
Sound Advice: Gemma Ray with Spurs (Nov. 9)
British-born, Berlin-based singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Gemma Ray has enjoyed a consistently critically acclaimed career across seven releases since 2008. Ray’s sound is a smoldering blend of varied styles and approaches — classic soundtracks, dreamy Noir Pop, Retro Soul, Neo-Classical, torch balladry, ethereal Psychedelia — all reflected through mysterious, shimmering atmospherics that create something familiar yet distinctly original.…
Sound Advice: Portugal. The Man with Adam Tod Brown (Nov. 10)
It’s been three years since Portugal. The Man released Evil Friends, its avant Garage/Synth Pop/Indie Rock masterwork, and embarked on its standard grueling support tour. At the time, frontman John Baldwin Gourley noted the Danger Mouse-produced Evil Friends was, in his estimation, the closest Portugal. The Man had come to representing its live persona in the…
Sound Advice: GRiZ with Haywyre and Brasstracks (Nov. 15)
A lot of hardcore live music fans will offer the opinion that DJs are not musicians and, for straight spinners, it’s probably true — although there is a counter argument that there is clearly an art to engaging an audience simply by playing records. At the same time, there are DJs who are much more…
Filthy Beast’s first full-length unleashed
Saturday, Cincinnati Rock foursome Filthy Beast debuts its eponymous full-length at Northside Tavern (4163 Hamilton Ave., Northside, northsidetav.com) with help from Suck the Honey, the new project from former Pop Goes the Evil members Lucas Frazier and Jake Grove, and debauched favorite mr. phylzzz. The 10-track release, recorded by Brian Olive and mastered by Dave Davis, features a…
Ironfest returns for its seventh year with the same mission: to keep “Iron” Mike Davidson’s memory alive
Many Cincinnatians have probably seen John Gerhardt, even if they don’t necessarily know it. Whether he’s running the lights for a local band, helping set up and tear down gear at a local concert or just checking IDs at Japp’s, Gerhardt keeps himself busy in Cincinnati’s music and nightlife scene. He’s also a dedicated road…
Project Censored: Ten big stories global media ignored in 2016
Throughout its 40-year history, Project Censored has covered a lot of ground that the mainstream media have missed. Begun in 1976 by Carl Jensen, a sociology professor at California’s Sonoma State University, it has become an institution involving dozens of faculty members and entities working together. Each year, that collective effort results in a book-length…
Coppin’s creates magic with its mix of soulful fare and storied décor
Coppin’s is the restaurant inside the new Hotel Covington, a much anticipated development in the heart of the city’s center, close to the Madison Theater and Braxton Brewery. The boutique hotel is surprisingly sophisticated, but very friendly. On the night we dined at Coppin’s, we were greeted at the hotel door with a complimentary cocktail,…
