Onstage: The Understudy at Cincinnati Playhouse
Somewhere in playwright Theresa Rebeck’s past there must have been a 420-too-friendly techie who smoked up the booth, a big-name hack who got the plum job and a lover who walked out without a word. Or maybe these professional disasters and personal heartbreaks, captured so hilariously and affectingly in The Understudy, are simply the products…
Events: Books By the Banks
Writing saved Augusten Burroughs' life. Literally. As anyone who's read Burroughs' 2002 memoir, Running with Scissors, will attest, the guy has led a challenging life informed by a deeply dysfunctional childhood that included a broken family, drugs, alcohol and a sexual relationship with a man twice his age. Hilarious and haunting in equal measure, Scissors…
Music: The Ryan Montbleau Band
In Rock, there is truth to the old adage that you’re known by the company you keep. A good many artists’ careers have been fast-tracked merely by virtue of opening shows for bigger artists whose audiences helped vault them to the next level. The latest example of this musical largesse is the Ryan Montbleau Band,…
Cincinnati Celtic Festival
Go green with the Cincinnati Celtic Festival and celebrate the Saint Patty's Day halfway mark with authentic Celtic music, dancing and dining. The festival runs noon-11 p.m. Saturday and noon-9 p.m. Sunday at Fountain Square, Fifth and Vine streets, Downtown. Live musical performances highlight different Celtic sounds and instruments, from Irish bagpipes and traditional pipes…
Richard Thompson, JJ Grey & Mofro, Heart, Stornoway and Carl Broemel
Exactly how much more praise can we lavish upon Richard Thompson before his head explodes? How many more times can we hail his fluidity and invention as a guitarist in both acoustic and electric settings, his elegant brilliance as a songwriter, his honey-with-a-double-bourbon-chaser voice and his almost supernatural consistency before he turns into a pile…
Music: The Hold Steady
Irony is something The Hold Steady has worn for years — and really, the fact that multi-instrumentalist Franz Nicolay left the band in January seems like a stitch in that overcoat. The designer of such irony is Craig Finn, guitarist and storyteller of the Brooklyn foursome, a group charged on Indie Rock and, especially lately,…
Onstage: South Pacific at Aronoff Center
It might be premature to call the touring production of South Pacific at the Aronoff the best you’re going to see this season, but it’s safe to say audiences won’t be disappointed. The 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein classic is a reminder of why the show exemplifies the golden age of Broadway musicals. It’s got the…
Art: Stardust at SCPA
Since Esme Kenney’s death in 2009, a project was mobilized to create a memorial sculpture that commemorates her life. Jessie Henson, a New York-based artist originally from Cincinnati, was selected to create the memorial, and a great deal of fundraising and effort went into the completion of Stardust, a metal and blown glass phenomenon that…
Onstage: Performance and Time Arts
Sometimes aging is no laughing matter, but growing older requires a sense of humor. For this installment of the eclectic mixed-media Performance and Time Arts series (PTA), modern dance choreographer and CCM Dance Division faculty member Judith Mikita has created “Working in a Dead Woman’s Kitchen and Other Stories,” a new work revolving around a…
Art: 426 Raw Walls
On Friday, the Art Academy of Cincinnati Alumni Association is sponsoring with JBar Studios an art exhibit/sale and party called 426 Raw Walls. More than 25 contemporary artists will display work and be present — hopefully to make some sales and donate a portion to the school's Undergraduate Scholarship Fund — amid an adventurous, celebratory…
Music: Clifton Heights Music Festival
You might recognize him next to a shot of Jack Daniels, a Newcastle and a few friends in any bar around Clifton Heights, but when not out with friends Rome Ntukogu is busy planning the Clifton Heights Music Festival (CHMF) and keeping it focused on his passion: furthering unity in a community through music and…
Onstage: Evita at Covedale Center
Cincinnati Landmark Productions has converted a one-time West Side cinema into a fine theatrical venue, the Covedale Center for the Performing Arts, and the group’s ninth season has kicked off with an ambitious production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Evita, the tale of the charismatic, controversial Argentine first lady, Eva Perón. The Covedale…
Attractions: Kings Island Halloween Haunt and Howl-O-Fest
The city’s best overall value this Halloween is still Kings Island’s Haunt. The Haunt features more than a dozen spooky walk-throughs that range from mild (CarnEVIL) to scary (Massacre Manor). Howl-O-Fest is the kid’s Halloween event, which includes two mazes, trick-or-treat stations and a petting zoo. Admission is $21.99-$27.99. The park, including rides, is open…
Events: Hudepohl Anniversary Dinner
Consider yourself a foodie? More importantly, love a good lager? Hudepohl has just the event for you. From 7-10 p.m. Thursday at City Cellars (908 Race St., Downtown), Hudepohl-Schoenling Brewing Co. will feature the new 125th anniversary lager and food from chef Josh Campbell of Mayberry. Beer lovers and foodies alike can sample the ale…
Events: Cincinnati Celtic Festival
Go green with Cincinnati’s Celtic Festival, an event catered to the Irish in all of us. Celebrate the Saint Patty’s Day halfway mark with authentic Celtic music, dancing and dining. The festival starts Saturday at noon on Fountain Square. Live musical performances will highlight different Celtic sounds and instruments (Irish bagpipes anyone?). Dancing and crafts…
Events: Wee Fairy Folk Festival
Calling all woodland creatures, fairies, gnomes, goblins and those who just simply believe in magic: Full Spectrum’s second annual Wee Fairy Folk Fest will be lining MainStrasse Village’s Sixth Street Promenade with glitter this Saturday from noon-5 p.m. Gather your whimsical crew for a full day of prancing around Covington with aerial performers, a selection…
Comedy: Ryan Stout
Ryan Stout is a native of Ohio, but he doesn’t remember much about living in suburban Cleveland. When he was 4, his father was given a choice by his bosses at General Motors: Relocate to Buffalo, N.Y., or El Paso, Texas. He chose the latter, and the family headed for the Southwest. “It is a…
Art: Hyde Park Art Show
On Sunday the venerable Hyde Park Square Art Show celebrates its 44th year with well over 200 exhibiting artists. The event is credited with being Cincinnati’s largest one-day art show. Spanning categories of painting, sculpture, photography, ceramics, jewelry, fiber, crafts and multi-media, this year’s show will be most populated by painters and jewelry artists, though…
The Understudy (Review)
Critic's Pick Somewhere in playwright Theresa Rebeck’s past there must have been a 420-too-friendly techie who smoked up the booth, a big-name hack who got the plum job and a lover who walked out without a word. Or maybe these professional disasters and personal heartbreaks, captured so hilariously and affectingly in The Understudy, are simply…
Everyone Wins When a Newspaper Covers the News
Most Tristate households didn’t buy a Sept. 19 Enquirer. Too bad. Even 10 days later, it’s still a good buy. That Sunday’s Local Life and Sunday Forum made it one of the best in memory and confirm Editor Tom Callinan’s success at retaining a core of his best hard news reporters during brutal staff…
New Heights of Cincinnati Music
You might recognize him next to a shot of Jack Daniels, a Newcastle and a few friends in any bar around Clifton Heights, but when not out with friends Rome Ntukogu is busy planning the Clifton Heights Music Festival (CHMF) and keeping it focused on his passion: furthering unity in a community through music and…
The Ryan Montbleau Band
In Rock, there is truth to the old adage that you’re known by the company you keep. A good many artists’ careers have been fast-tracked merely by virtue of opening shows for bigger artists whose audiences helped vault them to the next level. The latest example of this musical largesse is the Ryan Montbleau Band,…
The Hold Steady
Irony is something The Hold Steady has worn for years — and really, the fact that multi-instrumentalist Franz Nicolay left the band in January seems like a stitch in that overcoat. The designer of such irony is Craig Finn, guitarist and storyteller of the Brooklyn foursome, a group charged on Indie Rock and, especially lately,…
MPMF10 Saturday: S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y Night!
OK, so which Babylonian weather deity did we collectively blow like a $5 crack whore to assure us of an entire weekend without getting firehosed by the kind of precipitation generally associated with tropical monsoons? Because I want to get his number in our rolodex for next year. Another absolutely gorgeous night for another spectacular…
MPMF10 Saturday: Heart of Rock & Roll Still Beatin’
I got a late start to the final night of MPMP 2010, and by the time I got to the Main Event, Natural Child only had a few songs left in their set. Having just turned old enough to get into bars a few weeks ago, it was the first time I’d stepped into the…
MPMF.10 – Saturday
The Tom Tom Club, Phantogram, Elf Power and A Place to Bury Stranger rode into to town and shared the MPMF spotlight with local favorites The Sundresses, Pomegranates, Shiny & the Spoon and Culture Queer. The last night of MPMF in Cincinnati was surely one to remember. Check out the photos here and enjoy the…
MPMF10 Friday: Friday on My MPMFin’ Mind
When I was 12 or 13, my dad told me a joke that has, over the years, become one of my all time favorites. A drunk is standing in a doorway to get out of the rain, and a guy and a woman are standing on the corner in front of him, waiting for the…
MPMF.10 – Friday
Caribou, Surfer Blood and Space Hogs headlined across the city with the help of dozens of other local, national and international acts. Check out photos from Friday night's MidPoint Music Festival and hear a tune by the band Death on Two Wheels, who played Friday at Jack Potts Tavern.
Stan Ridgway: Neon Mirage
Wall of Voodoo might well have been little more than a blip on the New Wave radar of the late ’70s and early ’80s if it hadn’t been for the hypnotic menace of frontman Stan Ridgway. With the Voodoos and in his early solo work, Ridgway’s delivered his darkly twisted and cinematically detailed word plays…
Ra Ra Riot: The Orchard
Any band’s sophomore album is a natural evolutionary talking point and generally regarded as proof of the old musical adage that a band takes its whole life to make its first album and nine months to make the second one. In the case of Ra Ra Riot, the evolution is more complex and tragically steered.…
Who’s Rewriting History?
It's gone now, but the buzz about it at City Hall and in political circles still is ongoing. An e-mail circulated this week — presumably among conservative Republicans — referenced the Wikipedia entry for Cincinnati City Hall, which had been changed to include a lie about Congressman Steve Driehaus, a Democrat, implying he was anti-Christian.—-…
Friday Movie Roundup: MPMF Edition
Not that we'd ever want to steer you away from the pleasures of the movie house, but this weekend we won't be upset if you forgo the new cinematic releases — which, for the second straight week is rather robust — to hit the MidPoint Music Festival, which is also offering a few documentary films to…
MPMF10 Thursday: First Life of the Rest of My Night
As the weather reports began to shape up for the end of this week, I was almost convinced that we would be breaking the current drought by doing the reliable MidPoint rain dance, which apparently consists of scheduling the weekend and saying the word "MidPoint." But, miracle of miracles, it did not piss down rain…
MPMF10 Thursday: Dance Party USA
It was an eerie evening leading into the MidPoint Music Festival 2010’s kick-off night Thursday. A gigantic, gorgeous sunset was soon followed by a huge, neon-lit moonrise, which guided my path down the highway to the festival. Once downtown, the streets resembled their usual non-weekend selves — nearly empty, save a couple of neighborhood locals…
MPMF.10 – Thursday
The 2010 MidPoint Music Festival started with a bang on Thursday. The crowds were strong and the musicians ready. Listen to MPMF performers The Pass, who played Thursday at Jack Potts Tavern, and see photos from dozens of shows.
MPMF10 Thursday: All the Ladies in the House
Four beers, a couple of brats and one regrettable weekend at Oktoberfest later, I’m ready to see what else Cincinnati has to offer in terms of merrymaking. Midpoint Music Festival is supposed to be the real deal, and my hopes are high. I’ve had my fill of jacked-up prices on warm keg beer and German…
Stage Door: Tons of Fun
If you're a CityBeat reader, you're probably consumed with the Midpoint Music Festival this weekend. But if you need a breather from the tsunami of tunes all over town, you have lots of good theater choices, several of which are just opening.—- Look for Loot at NKU, The Full Monty at Footlighers and the regional…
South Pacific (Review)
Critic's Pick It might be premature to call the touring production of South Pacific at the Aronoff Center the best you’re going to see this season, but it’s safe to say audiences won’t be disappointed. The 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein classic is a reminder of why the show exemplifies the golden age of Broadway musicals.…
Lebanon (Review)
Today’s war movies — like today’s wars — are a long way from The Longest Day. The Hurt Locker, Restrepo (a documentary) and now the Israeli Lebanon are claustrophobic and involved with the almost existential day-to-day survival of their soldiers, mired in tight quarters in Mideast wars where the impossibility of decisive victory seems a…
Ra Ra Riot, Stan Ridgway, Bobby Bare Jr. and BARB
Albert Einstein was partially right: Time isn’t just relative, it’s actually like a relative. Time sleeps on your couch and eats your food and doesn’t pay rent and borrows your car and hogs the TV and doesn’t make any worthwhile contribution to the family cause. It just sits there … passing. Time is a weird…
Here Are Pillich’s Military Honors
This week's Porkopolis column looks at the Internet critics questioning the military service of State Rep. Connie Pillich (D-Montgomery), a U.S. Air Force veteran. Some conservative bloggers have wondered whether Pillich earned the ribbons and medals that she wears at some campaign appearances.—- Pillich is running for her second Ohio House term. Her Republican opponent…
As MPMF Begins, Justin Townes Earle Cancels
Yesterday we received word that headlining MidPoint Music Festival artist Justin Townes Earle was canceling his tour, including his appearance tonight for MPMF at Know Theatre. Attempts were made to keep Earle’s tourmate Jessica Lea Mayfield on the bill, but she has returned home following the tour cancellation announcement. (Those artists will not be replaced,…
MidPoint Day 1: Odds & Ends
The 2010 MidPoint Music Festival is finally upon us. In fact, it actually kicks off at noon today on the outdoor plaza outside the Main Public Library at Ninth and Vine streets with local Americana/Roots favorites Magnolia Mountain. Should be a hot start to a long, action-packed weekend. Literally. If you're looking for last-minute updates…
Follow MidPoint Online
MidPoint Music Festival brings back its popular online application again this year, giving you the chance to post band reviews and check out others’ reactions in real time at live.mpmf.com. You can contribute reviews by texting 4632 from Cincinnati Bell Wireless phones, sending tweets using the #MPMF hash tag on Twitter or posting messages on…
Westwood Works and Mary Kuhl
[WINNER] WESTWOOD WORKS: When a group of Westwood residents decided to form Westwood Works (WW) last winter, they envisioned it as a more positive, productive counterpart to the Westwood Civic Association, which is known for its strident rhetoric. One of WW's first actions was to invite the nonprofit ArtWorks to paint a public mural in…
Caribou: Where the Dear and Caribou Play
On his first two full-length releases and a handful of CD singles and live recordings, Dan Snaith had established himself as a rather well-informed and astute purveyor of Psychedelic Pop as he transformed it into his own unique brand of one-man-laptop bravado. Snaith’s releases are located in record store bins and on that interweb thingie…
Fall Begins with Cool Local Dining Happenings
I will definitely see you at these events coming up as autumn kicks into high gear. Yum. First, how about a Hudepohl Amber/Josh Campbell cuisine pairing? Dude, this sounds amazing. It’s sponsored by Hoperatives, who are Cincinnati’s community beer group, and it’s from 7-10 p.m. on Thursday Sept. 30, at City Cellars, just catty-corner from…
Surfer Blood: Caught in a Wave
In existence for just over a year, Surfer Blood seems to have arrived on the scene fully formed. The West Palm Beach, Fla., quartet's debut full-length, Astro Coast, is an uncommonly cohesive set of songs informed (but never bound) by 25 years of Indie Rock touchstones and founder/frontdude John Paul Pitts’ own unique vision, which…
Fine Arts Fund’s Ta-Da Moment
The unexpected happens in Cincinnati when Fine Arts Fund (FAF) gets involved. Belly dancers shake in the Carew Tower’s arcade. Bus passengers break out into spontaneous storytelling. A giant flash-mob dances in the rain on Fountain Square. The FAF has been wowing us with these art happenings for the past few years, and now it’s…
Local Store Promotes Fair Trade Practices
Fair trade is not a new concept for Ten Thousand Villages. In 1946, when founder Edna Ruth Byler caught her first glimpse of the impoverished lives of artisans in Puerto Rico, Ten Thousand Villages was initiated as a grassroots effort to provide economic opportunities for artisans in developing nations. Today, Ten Thousand Villages is an…
The Classy Pig (Review)
Critic's Pick If hickory smoke were a sacrament, The Classy Pig would be a chapel. It’s a little small to be an actual church, but at Classy Pig, there’s true devotion to barbecue. This unpretentious new dining spot in a classic storefront in beautiful downtown Ludlow, Ky. (yes, all of Ludlow is downtown, but still!)…
Singing With the World
After Cincinnati nabbed the 2012 World Choir Games last June — the first time the event will be hosted in the U.S. — organization for the event went into overdrive. Committees formed and fundraising efforts began in earnest. Mayor Mark Mallory and the customary entourage planned to travel to the 2010 Games in Shaoxing, China,…
Where Do We Go From Here? (Review)
Critic's Pick Where Do We Go From Here? Selections from La Colección Jumex is the kind of wonderful group show that the Zaha Hadid-designed Contemporary Arts Center was built to exhibit. It helps tremendously, of course, that the downtown museum’s director/chief curator, Raphaela Platow, knows the strengths of her building so well and can supervise…
Pillich Defends Military Service Against Smear Tactic
A favorite political tactic of some Republicans is to try to paint Democrats as weak on national security issues. The ploy mostly has gained popularity since the national Democratic Party publicly tore itself apart in spectacular fashion over disagreements about the Vietnam War in 1968. Since then, the GOP routinely has appealed to voters' fear…
Tom Tom Club: Heads Above, Groove Below
It’s not been easy to see Tom Tom Club play live. The pioneering, avant-percussive Dance Rock band, formed in 1981 by Talking Heads bassist Tina Weymouth and drummer Chris Frantz (her husband), has taken a back seat in recent years to family life. Tom Tom Club — the duo augmented with other players and vocalists…
Farewell Old Friend
I must have been on some kind of list of people to notify when she died. I didn’t know the person who delivered the sad news. A few days later, on a Wednesday morning, I took a bus up to that funeral home on Glenway Avenue where she would be laid out. I wanted to…
Van Dyke Parks: Shifting Out of Park(s)
Van Dyke Parks is not a household name. His recorded catalog, revered by a cultish number of fans, has sold sparsely yet his influence is inescapably broad. Parks’ work as a producer/arranger and the amazing artists he’s worked with over the past four decades has cemented his iconic status. Randy Newman, Ry Cooder, Harry Nilsson,…
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (Review)
Oliver Stone makes a winning attempt at staying true to his original Wall Street ‘s streamlined storytelling about the warped mentality of the center of the economic universe. In keeping with the energized rhythms of his 1987 film, when greed was “good” (now it’s “legal”), Stone masterfully applies stylistic, narrative and character details that plunge…
Sept. 15-21: Worst Week Ever!
WEDNESDAY SEPT. 15 Most people understand that as soon as you drive a new car off the lot it's worth less than what you paid for it — you might get a 100,000-mile warranty, but there's no retrieving that down payment just because a teenager in the neighborhood said your Prius is gay. Hamilton County…
Alexis Gregory [Montgomery Inn Boathouse]
The Montgomery Inn dynasty is the stuff of great American success stories. The original began humbly in 1951, and now there are two other popular locations. Serving hungry fans from across the world for over 30 years, Montgomery Inn Boathouse (925 Riverside Dr., Downtown; 513-721-7427) helped to put Cincinnati dining on the map with its…
Wussy and Koala Fires: Local Music Rewired
Two local Indie Rock bands have had their music dismantled and pieced back together by a slew of area producers and electronic musicians. If you’re familiar with the Rock bands Wussy and The Koala Fires, imagining them as dance-floor-friendly Electro acts is a far-fetched concept. But both new remix projects are revelatory, retaining (and often…
Security Guards Start Union Push
They didn’t exactly come riding in on Segways, but the so-called “pretend cops” who guard downtown buildings are dead serious about wanting better pay and benefits That is why earlier this month many of those security officers, along with the help of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1, decided to band together to…
The ‘Gainsborough’ Portrait That Got Away
Cincinnati Art Museum has an important new exhibition on display through Jan. 2 called Thomas Gainsborough and the Modern Woman. Organized by Benedict Leca, curator of European paintings, sculpture and drawings on the occasion of the cleaning/restoration of the museum’s own Gainsborough portrait of “Ann Ford (Mrs. Thicknesse),” it brings together the 18th-century British artist’s…
