Oct 12-19, 2016
Crossing Borders, Facing Walls: Undocumented immigrants go through hell to get to Cincinnati, where criminalizing rhetoric and violent crime often await
What a Week! Oct. 12-18
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 12 It’s hard out here for a clown. The mass mysterious clown sightings/attacks and subsequent hoaxes are damaging to more than just their victims. Professional clowns across the country are reporting lost business because of the recent trend tarnishing their name. Why hire a colorful balloon animal artist when you can find a…
Critic’s Pick: ‘The Elephant Man’ at Cincy Shakes
Bernard Pomerance’s 1979 Tony Award-winning play The Elephant Man has been around long enough to be considered a classic. Cincinnati Shakespeare Company right now is proving the truth of that designation with a sterling production that portrays a severely disfigured Victorian man whose body made him an object of scorn and morbid fascination in 1880s…
Morning News: UC Board approves police reform plan; former local restaurant employees sue over wages; bus bench shuffle continues
Hey all. Here’s some news for ya today. The University of Cincinnati Board of Trustees has officially approved a plan to reform its law enforcement efforts in the wake of the shooting death of unarmed black motorist Sam DuBose at the hands of former UCPD officer Ray Tensing. Some of those reforms are already underway,…
Sound Advice: Ringworm with Exalt, Grim State, The Jig and Abraxas (Oct. 25)
There are varying timelines and accounts of when and how Ringworm erupted from Cleveland’s underground Metal scene, but the fact everyone can agree on is that the quintet has been finding the commonality between Hardcore, Thrash Metal and melodic Hard Rock for the better part of the past quarter century. Although Ringworm has been through…
Sound Advice: Huntertones (Oct. 22)
If you attended Cincinnati’s MidPoint Music Festival last month and your appetite for brilliantly conceived and executed horn music was whetted with the appearances of The Budos Band and Lucky Chops, create a phone reminder, put a Post-It on your computer, write yourself a note and stick it to the refrigerator with the Charlie Brown…
Sound Advice: Ubahn Fest with Nas, Atmosphere, Machine Gun Kelly, Girl Talk and more (Oct. 21-22)
The unique location of Cincinnati’s Ubahn Fest — an underground “tunnel” between Pete Rose Way and Third Street, near Paul Brown Stadium — instantly makes it one of the cooler musical events in Cincinnati. But previous year’s bookings — featuring a mix of established and up-and-coming Hip Hop and Electronic artists (including a hefty dose…
Michael Moore’s anti-Trump film debuts in New York as an October surprise
Less than two weeks after filmmaker/provocateur Michael Moore staged a two-night performance at Wilmington’s Murphy Theatre to produce what was then billed as an anti-Donald Trump television special, the result will debut tonight at New York’s IFC Center as a film titled Michael Moore in TrumpLand. The first-night free screening was announced on various film-business…
Minimum Gauge: Americana tops Country on latest Billboard charts
HOT: God Bless Americana Artists in the admittedly wide-net music genre “Americana” recently charted better than those on Billboard’s Country charts for the first time since Billboard renamed the Folk chart “Americana/Folk.” Thanks to albums by Drive-By Truckers, Van Morrison, Bob Weir and Bon Iver, the most recent Billboard charts indicate Americana releases outsold albums…
Morning News: Dennison drama to continue; no Big 12 for UC; Trump warns against voter fraud as Husted denies it’s a problem
Hey Cincy. Here’s your news today. We’ll have to wait a little longer for a decision on the fate of the Dennison Hotel. Yesterday, the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals heard an appeal from lawyers for Columbia, REI LLC, the company run by the influential Joseph family that owns and would like to demolish the…
Candidates’ freedom to be nasty is our freedom, too
Tasteless and corrosive as today’s presidential campaigns have become, speaking ill of political opponents or our government is nothing new. Still, the Oct. 9 debate was a reminder that we no longer are accustomed to personal vitriol, and we recoil when it comes at us on TV or it’s reported by the news media or shown…
Keeping it Real at FotoFocus
(Editor’s note – As part of CityBeat’s coverage of the many exhibitions and activities that comprise the October-long FotoFocus Biennial, art writers Kathy Schwartz and Maria Seda-Reeder are contributing online stories about their experiences attending events. Seda-Reeder wrote during the first two weeks of October; Schwartz will be filing during the last two. Here is…
Calls for Winkler investigation intensify
Facing a tenacious opponent in an election just three weeks away, Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Tracy Winkler came under increased fire today for her office's practice of prodding employees into helping her political campaign. State Sen. Cecil Thomas, D-North Avondale, has already asked the county Board of Commissioners to seek an investigation by Hamilton…
‘Brownsville Song’ Demands Attention
It’s a sad state of affairs, but all too real in today’s world: A guiltless youth is gunned down and then barely remembered. That’s the fundamental story of brownsville song (b-side for tray), Kimber Lee’s 90-minute, one-act play that recently opened at Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati. The tough Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn is the setting; the…
Morning News: Tensing’s past; Dennison hearing today; Trump cuts ties with Ohio GOP chair
Good morning all. Here’s a quick rundown of news today. As former UCPD officer Ray Tensing’s murder and manslaughter trial approaches, new revelations about his past are coming to light. Tensing, who was indicted last summer after shooting an unarmed black motorist to death in Mount Auburn, has been involved in a couple other legal…
A ‘Shining’ example of a good FotoFocus exhibit
Among the hubbub of all the other really great FotoFocus-related events going on, on Oct. 6 ArtWorks hosted the public opening of SHINE to visitors outside of downtown’s main branch of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. The video installation projected crowd-sourced images of the setting sun onto the rear wall of a…
State senator will file bill banning moonlighting by prosecutors in large counties
A month after CityBeat reported that Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters raked in at least $2 million since declaring himself a part-time public official in 2009, Ohio state Sen. Cecil Thomas says he's introducing a bill that would prohibit prosecutors from engaging in private practice in counties of 400,000 or more residents. Although elected to…
Noon News: Trump stumps in Cincy; Library to repurpose downtown building; Tensing appears in court
Good morning all. Here’s your news today. GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump came to Cincinnati last night, drawing thousands to his downtown rally as early voting continues in our vital little corner of Ohio. I watched it on live stream because my press credentials are still pending approval by Trump's campaign. I can’t imagine why.…
Stage Door: Stereotypes and Beyond — Onstage This Weekend
I found Know Theatre’s production of Joseph Zettelmaier’s Pulp, which opened last weekend, to be very entertaining. (It’s part of a “rolling world premiere,” so this is your chance to see a show that’s likely to show up eventually at a lot of other theaters.) It’s a very tongue-in-cheek noir tale about a down-on-his-luck private…
Facebooking for the Taxpayers
Emailing workers for election campaign help and posting political — and personal — messages and photos on Facebook during work hours are a well-established practice under Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Tracy Winkler. On Monday, CityBeat reported how Winkler and her chief deputy bailiff, Donald Robinson, sent emails to employees during office hours, asking them…
Your Weekend To Do List (Oct. 14-16)
FRIDAY 14 ART: NAVIGATION AT CINCINNATI ART UNDERGROUND Sculptor Leah Woods is fascinated by maps. In Navigation, her sculptures use line, curve and the shadow projected onto the wall in order to symbolize movement through an event or experience, she says, and she encourages viewers to “connect and empathize with the emotions experienced during each…
Morning News: Council spends surplus; frustrations aired at Tensing trial panel; Donald Trump, Bill Clinton coming to Cincy
Good morning all. Here’s a little news for ya today. Cincinnati City Council had a busy day yesterday, approving about $2 million in expenditures from the city’s budget surplus. That money will go to 15 measures like heroin overdose response ($76,000), a county-wide housing court proposed by Mayor John Cranley ($200,000), establishing a campus rape…
Focusing on FotoFocus
(Editor’s note – As part of CityBeat’s coverage of the many exhibitions and activities that comprise the October-long FotoFocus Biennial, art writers Maria Seda-Reeder and Kathy Schwartz will be contributing online stories about their experiences attending events. Seda-Reeder will be writing during the first two weeks of October; Schwartz the last two.) With so many…
In Theaters: Masterful ‘American Honey’ opens at Esquire Theatre
“American” is such a loaded word in contemporary society. It used to signify a collective consciousness, but now it seems the word’s meaning has shifted to something more individualistic. I still embrace the definition from Cornel West as “a romantic project” that is “fueled with a religion of vast possibility.” Sounds dreamy, right? Andrea Arnold,…
Cincinnati’s Shame
Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016 will officially go down in Cincinnati history as FC Cincinnati Day. The footnotes of the record will also mention that Oct. 5, 2016 was the day Cincinnati City Council rejected a resolution adopting Indigenous Peoples’ Day to replace Columbus Day. The resolution was authored by a coalition of indigenous peoples and…
What a Week! Oct. 5-11
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 05 Luke’s Diner pop-ups appeared in more than 200 locations across the country Wednesday in promotion of the Gilmore Girls rebooted Netflix miniseries Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life and in celebration of the show’s 16th anniversary. Locally, The 86 Coffee Bar in Corryville hosted a pop-up, offering free coffee to guests.…
Cincinnati Horror Story: Halloween
Mayhem Mansion The eerie drive down Decoursey Pike perfectly set the scene for the impending experience I had at Mayhem Mansion. Once arriving and jumping in line, a just-as-eerie video played for those of us waiting to enter the house, telling a sinister tale to set the scene. Here’s the short version: Robert Haverford, a…
Afternoon News: Go vote early; new partnership looks to extend home ownership in Price Hill; Matt Borges, Trump whisperer
Hello all. Here’s a quick afternoon news update. Today is the first day of early voting in Ohio. Are you headed out to cast a ballot? You should be. You can vote today through Oct. 21 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, and many other times after that leading up to the Nov.…
Smoke and the City
Anthological series are all the rage right now. Each season of shows like American Crime takes on a new storyline with returning actors playing different roles, whereas true miniseries anthologies like Fargo make a fresh start each season with different actors and plots. But episodic anthologies like the new High Maintenance (11 p.m. Fridays, HBO)…
New group devoted to performing the art song
While you might not know what an “art song” is, you’ve probably heard one. Cincinnati Song Initiative wants to make sure you hear many, many more. The newly formed arts organization kicks off its inaugural performance season at 3 p.m. this Sunday at the Weston Art Gallery, inside the Aronoff Center for the Arts, with…
African-American actors become advisers for a new play about race
Hardly a week goes by without another tragic news story about the violent death of a young African-American. In fact, it’s become so sadly commonplace that one identity hardly registers before another death happens, rather like the quickly forgotten tune on the “B-side” of a tape or a recording. Denying that sad melody is Kimber…
Fest lures National Book Award finalists
Books by the Banks, Cincinnati’s regional book festival, celebrates its 10th anniversary Saturday with a diverse array of authors — more than 100 who work in various genres and styles, from children’s and locally themed books to fiction and non-fiction offerings. A number of nationally and even internationally based writers will appear, as will such…
L-evating Local Fine Dining
The downtown restaurant simply known as “L,” the latest endeavor by two local creative geniuses, has elevated Cincinnati’s dining landscape almost immeasurably. What’s on the plate springs from the culinary virtuosity of chef/owner Jean-Robert de Cavel, while everything that surrounds it has been meticulously selected by de Cavel’s partner, hospitality and design expert Richard Brown.…
Sound Advice: And The Kids with Palm (Oct. 16)
A lot of bands talk about the strong relationships between friends within the group structure, but few have had the opportunity to put that connection to the test quite like And The Kids. The Northampton, Mass. band began with a seventh grade band class friendship between guitarist/vocalist Hannah Mohan and drummer Rebecca Lasaponaro, who eventually…
Sound Advice: Dweezil Zappa (Oct. 15)
It would take every page in this issue to attempt to explain the legal and family power outage that has darkened Dweezil Zappa’s nearly perfect tribute project, Zappa Plays Zappa, and forced him to reboot his show, first as “Dweezil Zappa Plays Frank Zappa” and now as the snarkily appropriate banner of “Dweezil Zappa Plays…
Sound Advice: Todd Snider with Rorey Carroll (Oct. 13)
From the beginning of his career, Todd Snider has combined his estimable songwriting skills with a knack for storytelling that showcases both a stand-up comic’s timing and a novelist’s eye for detail. Since his astonishing 1994 debut, Songs for the Daily Planet, Snider has dazzled fans and peers with his use of language and his…
Dawg Yawp releases debut full-length
Dawg Yawp, one of Cincinnati’s finest newer bands drawing national attention, is set to release its first full-length album Friday. The duo’s self-titled LP is being issued in conjunction with Old Flame Records (oldflamerecords.com), the now Cincinnati-based imprint that released recordings by critically acclaimed acts like Cloud Nothings and Potty Mouth, as well as local…
Death from Above 1979 returns with new music and a healthy perspective
Death from Above 1979 roared out of the Toronto scene at the turn of century, wielding a sound that was as exhilarating as it was novel — a punky, funky Rock & Roll two-piece made up of drummer/vocalist Sebastien Grainger and bassist Jesse Keeler. The duo’s full-length debut, You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine, was…
A new partnership is leveraging Cincinnati’s community learning center model to extend housing opportunities
Two years ago, an after-school tutor at Oyler School in Lower Price Hill told administrators that one of her students was living with his family under the viaducts that pass near the neighborhood. It was a heartbreaking, but not surprising, revelation in a community where many live in poverty. It also illustrated one of the…
Undocumented immigrants go through hell to get to Cincinnati, where criminalizing rhetoric and violent crime often await
Six young children sit with Mother Paula Jackson on the floor of Mount Auburn’s Church of Our Savior as rainbow light filters through stained glass, filling the cavernous sanctuary around them. “Can a pistol separate us from the love of God?” she asks them in Spanish and English. “¿Con odio? ¿Con racismo? Can hatred? Can…
