Earth

04.21-04.28.10
Earth

In this week’s issue:

It really was Cleveland that inspired the modern environmental movement in 1969 with a sensational fire on the Cuyahoga River. Within a year, the first Earth Day became one of the largest public demonstrations in history. This week, 40 years after that first Earth Day, we toast our Great Lakes where 75% of the fresh water in the US resides. We are also fascinated with the Adams Street Cemetery Project, a history assignment gone wild. We focus on Opera a la Carte with a video by Julie Cajigas, and the Cleveland Cirque at the state-of-the-art Breen Center. Roldo honors John Morrell and Mansfield celebrates politics as usual. We’ve got a slew of reviews and an offer too easy to refuse. Seems the earth keeps spinning, and Cleveland keeps inspiring. –Thomas Mulready

Toast The Great Lakes
On Earth Day!

A recent Great Lakes Brewing Company e-mail distribution calls on us to Toast the Great Lakes.

With good reason: without the Great Lakes, there would be no Great Lakes beer.

Check it out . The ad started me thinking… 75% of the fresh water in the United States and 20% of the entire world’s stock of water is in the Great Lakes.

We know it’s a great resource but do we really think about it enough?
Read more from Claudia Taller here

Cool Cleveland Endorsements- click here

Endorsements for selected races and issues on the Tuesday, May 4, 2010 ballot can be found on our Cool Cleveland Endorsement page for the following races:

• Statewide ballot Issue 1 to extend the Ohio Third Frontier Program
• Statewide ballot Issue 2 to move the Columbus casino location
• Cuyahoga County Issue 15 to renew the Health and Human or Social Services levy
• Selected Local School Issues
• Judgeships

To learn about Cool Cleveland’s endorsements and recommendations, please click here: here.

Please vote on Tuesday, May 4, 2010 or sooner by absentee ballot!

What Makes Patty a winner?
All She Did Was Click

Here’s Patty Quiñónez showing off the cash she pocketed a few weeks ago as a winner in our How To WIN contest.

Watch the video of Patty’s award, and then get busy because we are upping our next award to $300 smackeroos. You can enter our HowToWIN contest by clicking on the SPONSORED: links and Sponsored Video in this week’s issue of CoolCleveland.com below. Click as many times as you want. The more different links you click, the better your chances of winning. It’s real simple. Real people win real cash, but you can’t win if you don’t click. Just ask Patty. How To WIN

FusionFest Turns Five
Michael Bloom And The 4200-Second Man

Michael Bloom, now in his 5th year as Artistic Director of the Cleveland Play House, talks with CoolCleveland.com’s Thomas Mulready about the fifth installment of FusionFest, the innovative, collaborative, multi-disciplinary festival taking place 4/14- 4/25/10.

Watch the video as Michael talks about their cool FusionFest productions like A Soldier’s Tale, with music by Stravinsky and libretto by Kurt Vonnegut, or Bill W. and Dr. Bob about the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous, right here in NEO. And watch for a special guest appearance by Charles Ross, back by popular demand, performing the US Premiere of One-Man Lord of The Rings, a 12-hour epic squeezed into 70 minutes. http://www.ClevelandPlayHouse.com

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GREEN Re-imaging a more sustainable Cle The green movement is underway in Cle. Committees are currently working on the best ways to use vacant land. Build a giant urban farm? Plant sunflowers? Wind/solar farms? See what’s happening here. [Plan pictured at left.]

Karamu House gets ink in the New York Times for its play Eclipse: The War Between Pac and B.I.G. Read

Waste not? Apparently we need to work on the whole green thing. The “Nalgene Least Wasteful Cities Study” is out and of the 25 least wasteful cities, we rank #24. (Though we’re #1 in hanging clothes out to dry!) View

Need a NEO pick-me-up? Check out 10,000 Little (micro) Ideas for reasons, and ways, to Believe in Cle. http://www.10000LittleIdeas.com

HOT “It’s time to stop the pity party,” says Alonzo Mitchell, Bedford HS grad and Founder of the new “Ohio Homecoming” movement, which aims to get Ohio’s self-esteem back. Check out Ohio Homecoming, which is throwing a huge event here on Thu 7/22 to Sun 7/25. http://OhioHomecoming.com

Summer programs for minority students Looking for the perfect summer program? We got a whole list of ’em here.

The BODIES are coming back Need an excuse to go downtown? Soon you’ll have one: BODIES: The Exhibition will return, this time @ the old Woolworth store at the corner of E 4th St and Euclid Ave [pictured]. Expect a greater focus on Cle’s history, w/ Cle native John Zaller serving as the exhibit’s Vice President of Creative and Design. Opens on Sat 6/5. Check it out

HOT Immerse yourself in language Spend a weekend playing with words, creating poetry, exploring the elements of story, and participating in satisfying conversation with other writers during endless walks around gorgeous Lakeside, Ohio, at the Word Lover’s Retreat, organized by CoolCleveland.com’s Claudia Taller. Les Roberts is writer-in-residence. The retreat runs from Fri 4/30 – Sun 5/2 but you must register by Fri 4/23. Info

GREEN Shred it! Bring up to 5 boxes/trash bags to get shredded–and any electronics you wanna recycle–to Western Reserve Public Media’s Community Shred-It Day on Sat 4/24 from 9AM – 3PM @ 1750 Campus Center Dr in Kent. Info

Play House AA show extended- highest grossing The play Bill W. and Dr. Bob, about the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous in Akron in 1935, has become the highest grossing show to ever close a Cleveland Play House season, and is being extended thru Sun 5/9. Almost 100 people remain in the theatre each evening for a discussion lead by a member of the recovery community. More info here.

A comedic performing arts ctr? Why not? That’s the sentiment of John Chesney, who’s vying for a $50K grant from Pepsi to open an improv theater in Cle. Really?

SPONSORED: Summer Fun & Creativity! Let your family’s imagination blossom this summer! Beck Center for the Arts offers fun and creative day camps in dance, music, visual arts, and theater for kids 5 to 18. Try out all art forms at Arts Sampler Camp. Sign up for 2 or more camps & save 10%! Check out the catalog here or get more info: http://www.BeckCenter.org

Cool Cleveland Podcast Weekly roundup of cool events, in an easy-to-digest 3 minute audio format, for playback on your computer or iPod.

Click here to subscribe to the Cool Cleveland Podcast in iTunes.

GREEN Go Green w/ Garbagena Meet Garbagena, a life-size interactive puppet who’ll show you the importance of recycling. Help her clean up her act and, in the process, discovered the ins-and-outs of recycling. Learn what can be recycled and reused and make recycled paper to take home. Thu 4/22 from 11AM – 3:30PM @ The Children’s Museum of Cleveland. Click

North Coast Nature Festival Go pond-dipping, hike in search of amphibians and view animals up-close-and-personal at this 3-day nature festival at the Rocky River Nature Ctr in the RR Reservation. This isn’t just for the kiddies–there’s plenty to do for the whole fam (singles, too!)–on Fri 4/23 – Sun 4/25. Go natural

Sleeping Beauty @ Beck Ctr The Beck Dance Program @ the Beck Center for the Arts presents a special condensed version of the immortal classic choreographed just for kids. The show [pictured] opens on Sat 4/24 at 7PM and runs through Mon 5/3. Info

Sandra Philipson & her dogs are making a special appearance at The Learned Owl Book Shop on Sat 4/24. Her dogs–Annie, (a cancer survivor), Max, Tak, Trini and Ollie–are the stars of her illustrated kids books. In other words, they’re superstars! Allow them to lick your face when they visit from 1-3PM. Philipson’s latest book is Ollie’s Monsters. Woof

The Composer is Dead Bring your family to the most beautiful concert venue around to check out Lemony Snicket & Nathanial Stookey’s ”The Composer is Dead,” a kid-oriented musical featuring the fabulous Cleveland Orchestra. Be there Sun 4/25 at 2PM. Get the full scoop here.

SPONSORED: Field Notes From A Catastrophe Join author Elizabeth Kolbert on Thu 4/22 for a no-charge lecture based on her book Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature and Climate Change. And don’t wait to reserve your spot for the Wed 4/28 Curator’s Forum with Curator of Archaeology Brian Redmond, who will discuss the oldest archaeological specimen in Ohio. www.CMNH.org

BioInnovation bright spot on NEOtropolis
Plus, watch episode featuring Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

From Akron to Case to the Clinic, BioTech innovations are a bright spot in our region’s economy. Catch this exciting discussion on the upcoming episode of NEOtropolis, broadcast on Western Reserve PBS at 8:30PM this Fri 4/23, hosted by CoolCleveland’s Thomas Mulready. Click here for your cable channel. Comment on our blog at http://www.NEOtropolis.org. Remember, this is not business as usual.

Click here or on the image above to watch last week’s show on how critical West Virginia coal is to the NEOtropolis region’s energy future, featuring a panel discussion with filmmaker Mari-Lynn Evans, Executive Producer of Evening Star Productions; Stephanie Spear, Founder and Executive Director of EcoWatch; and Maraline Kubik, reporter at The Business Journal in Youngstown [pictured].

Do you know a businessperson or company that we should be featuring on NEOtropolis? Drop us a line at NEOtropolis@CoolCleveland.com. After all, it’s your region, too. Read, view & comment.

A hot selection of tech and business news & events from around the region. Got business news? Send it to: EVENTS@CoolCleveland.com

23 Ohio-based companies make new Fortune 500 list, w/ Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co leading the list of NEO companies. View

HOT Keep the kids in Cle We’ve all heard about the need to reverse “brain drain” and retain youth in Cle. But how? Five Beachwood HS students have an idea: Showcase all that NEO has to offer via a concert/career fair hybrid. The Cleveland 20/20 Music Festival, slated for Mon 5/31 from 12-3PM at the Rib Cook-off, is an event where high school and college students will be treated to live local and national bands, presentations by the city’s most dynamic leaders, sponsor giveaways, and career opps–all for free. http://www.Cle2020.com

Enhance Clifton It’s a plan and now a website. Stay up to date w/ the plans to change Clifton Blvd [pictured] at http://EnhanceClifton.com

Orion’s revival a plus for NEO Pres. Obama’s decision to revive the Orion space capsule is awesome news for the NASA Plum Brook Station. Read

A strong work ethic, a broad knowledge of design principles and refined communication skills are what makes a good designer. View good design created by up-and-coming designers @ the CIA 2010 Spring Design Show ending on Wed 4/21. Info

Mobile Marketing Mania “How to Make the Smart Phone Smarter” panel discussion on Wed 4/21 at 11:30AM @ Windows on the River. Register at http://www.AAFCleveland.com.

FTF Music Conference & Showcase Four days of music knowledge & fun on Thu 4/22 – Sun 4/25 in Kent. Details

GREEN 2010 Green Outlook: Examining NEO’s Environmental Economy Part of Crain’s Cle Business Breakfast Series: Ideas at Dawn on Thu 4/22 from 7:30-9:30AM @ Doubletree Downtown. Register

Startup Lessons Learned simulcast of this major day-long event on building a lean startup. Great for startups (obviously), software and IT folks. Hosted by LeanDog on Fri 4/23 from 11AM-9:30PM @ 1151 N Marginal Rd. RSVP

DNA Days Celebration @ Great Lakes Science Ctr on Sat 4/24 at 1:30PM. Commemorate the discovery of the double helix and hear about cutting-edge DNA research. Info

HOT Cleveland 2.0 Hear a panel of the city’s finest fashionistas and insiders–including Valerie Mayen, Fashion Designer from Yellow Cake Shop [pictured]–discuss Cle’s Fashion Industry at the City Club on Wed 4/28 at 11:30AM. Register

Adams Street Cemetery Project
History project turns into theatre piece

When Dr. Indira Gesink, chair of the history department at Baldwin-Wallace College was approached by the City of Berea and the Berea American Legion to help identify a few veterans’ graves after the keeper at the nearby Adams Street Cemetery suddenly died, she had no idea it would lead to this.

Watch this video and find out how identifying the 22 veterans and their grave sites was just the beginning. The students mapped the cemetery, found 116 graves, worked with the biology department to learn tree coring to identify age, created a walking tour, worked with the communications department to help train volunteers to interview veterans for an oral history project, and are now working on the history of the Polish in the region. When B-W theatre legend Jack Winget got wind of the project, he proposed a docu-drama, and now history students and theatre students are collaborating on a theatre piece to be presented at the Kleist Center for Art & Drama on Wed 4/28 & Thu 4/29. http://www.bw.edu

Send your cool events to: Events@CoolCleveland.com

Omar Sosa Afreecanos Quartet @ MOCA Pianist Omar Sosa and his Afreecanos Quartet combine modern jazz with pulsating electronic music–with amazing results. Sosa’s compositions specifically explore African and Latin music while charting brave new ground. Part of Tri-C’s Jazzfest. Wed 4/21 at 8PM @ MOCA Cle. [Photo by Ignacio Hernando.] Info

HOT FusionFest is a “celebration of new works in music, dance, and theatre at the Cleveland Play House.” In other words, it’s a really cool event w/ plenty of cutting-edge, fresh performances. Bill W. and Dr. Bob, set in Akron, tells the story of the Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous. Catch it on Wed 4/21 at 8PM and on other select dates. Premiering on Thu 4/22 at 8PM, A Soldier’s Tale is a “moving and powerful story of war, forgiveness, and morality in an absurdist world” complete w/ dance and beautiful music. Get the full schedule here.

Black Aspirations Week @ CSU Black Aspirations Week is back for its 37th year. This week-long event features, speakers, workshops, performances–all waiting to inspire you. Especially cool is Ask Your Mama: Twelve Moods for Jazz, a multi-media presentation based on a Langston Hughes poetic suite about the global fight for freedom, on Wed 4/21 at 7PM @ CSU’s Main Classroom Aud. Also: a homeless awareness sleep-out, community dinner and a black male “Leading By Example” awards ceremony. Details

SPONSORED: WCLV (104.9) is live tonight Wed 4/21 at 8PM with a CIM Live concert from The Clevland Institute of Music. Carl Topilow conducts the CIM Orchestra with student Stanislav Khristenko as the soloist in the Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1. Also on the program, Lutoslawski’s Concerto for Orchestra. Sun 4/25 at 4PM, it’s the Cleveland Orchestra’s Wagner orgy, with among other things, the Wesdendonck Lieder with Measha Brueggergosman as soloist. Full details on WCLV’s programming at http://www.wclv.com.

HOT GREEN Who’s Your Mama? Get back to your roots at the “Who’s Your Mama?” Earth Day and Environmental Film Fest in Kent. The theme this year is “Sustainable Transportation, Let’s Get Going.” Get the latest scoop on public transportation initiatives in the state, hear lectures on eco topics and… oh yeah, watch some amazing (and informative) films. Plus, poetry exhibits, green booths and a Saturday block party. From Thu 4/22 – Sat 4/24. [’09 event pictured.] Click

GREEN Earth Day + Fair Trade go hand-in-hand. Fair trade products are made w/ morals in mind, meaning that they’re probably also organic and made w/ environmentally-friendly materials. Spend money on products you’re proud of at the John Carroll Univ Earth Day Fair Trade Sale on Thu 4/22 from 11AM-3PM. Get the full scoop.

GREEN Field Notes from a Catastrophe Journalist Elizabeth Kolbert is author of Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change, a book that brings the environment into the consciousness of America and asks what, if anything, can be done to save our planet. She comes to CMNH on Thu 4/22 to discuss climate change and how we can all live more sustainably. 6PM. Details

Codename: EXILE @ CSU follows the worldwide phenomenon of forced exodus and examines how exile has become a large part of modern cultural identity across the globe. This play, which runs from Thu 4/22 to Sun 5/2, is an original work by guest artist Ozen Yula and the students of the CSU Dramatic Arts Program. Info

Market Under Glass Get your grub on at Markets Under Glass 2010. Over 50 of the finest restaurants and beverage purveyors in NEO will be there providing you w/ unlimited food and drink. Plus, celebrities and live entertainment. Get filled up on Thu 4/22 from 6-9PM. Proceeds benefit Harvest for Hunger. Read more

CLAW 9 Cleveland Leather Awareness Weekend (CLAW) is back, running on Thu 4/22 – Sun 4/25. The leather community’s annual convention @ the Wyndham celebrates all aspects of the leather lifestyle, featuring leather gear (obviously), a BD/SM erotic art show, educational workshops, an auction, cultural field trips and parties galore. Learn more

We Are Mountains @ WRG Dana Oldfather’s solo exhibition–We Are Mountains–opens at William Rupnik Gallery on Fri 4/23 from 7-10PM. Oldfather creates gorgeous abstract works inspired by nature, culture and resolution. In 2008, she was granted 2nd place in the 9th Annual National Young Painters Competition by renowned NY painter/art critic, Peter Plagens. [Feedings pictured.] Read more. View

HOT PechaKucha Cleveland #7 The concept of PechaKucha is simple: Local creatives present their work, passions, ideas and obsessions in a series of short presentations. To keep things concise and interesting, presenters must choose 20 images and each image is shown for only 20 seconds. Can their passions be summed up 20×20? Find out and meet some up-and-coming folks in your neighborhood at the next PechaKucha Cleveland event (Volume 7!) offered on Fri 4/23 at 8:20 – 10:20PM at Convivium 33 Gallery. Details

Two emerging sculptors showcase their work and chat about artsy topics at the Sculpture Ctr on Fri 4/23. From 5:30-7PM, explore the effects of subconscious memories of traumatic events via Andréa Key’s work in Un-Home-Like. Then, Stefan Chinov examines the intersection of sculpture and drawing in The Device Laid Bare [pictured]. View

A Day at the Art Park is a prime example of an event that’s proactive and forward-thinking. On Fri 4/23, head to Art Park (formerly an abandoned parking lot) to learn about social service agencies offering great–and necessary–services. Also: live music and food in one of Cle’s previously neglected areas, Buckeye. 3-6:30PM. Click

The Sirens @ KSU The African Community Theatre of KSU presents The Sirens, a penetrating study of character and the destructive cycles often found in poor urban areas. The play uses a series of vignettes made up of street encounters, dialogues and monologues and enticing women of the night in counterpointing the lives of two young prostitutes. See it Fri 4/23 at 8PM through Sun 4/25 @ KSU. More

Verb Ballets @ Chagrin Falls HS See Verb Ballets’ final performance of the 2009-2010 season on Fri 4/23 in Chagrin Falls. They’ll perform signature works by renowned choreographers plus the popular original piece Lady Be Good, a work rooted in the ballroom dance tradition. Read more

Festa Primavera is an Italian Spring Celebration complete w/ music and friends. It’s also a benefit for Apollo’s Fire {The Cleveland Baroque Orchestra}. Dine on an elegant 3-course meal and sip the finest of wine along to live music by Vivaldi and his contemporaries on Sat 4/24 at 6PM @ Shaker Hts Country Club. The scoop

Good Touch Bad Touch Album Release Party Legend has it that Good Touch Bad Touch formed when “two of their former collaborators quit and the remaining three members decided to drink themselves to death while gathering weekly to cover Pinkerton and The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society.” Things turned out surprisingly well, with the Lakewood band set to release their first album on Sat 4/24. Don’t think you’re not invited to celebrate the cause. Tell me more

Natural Areas Wine Tours 2010 Wine and nature go hand-in-hand. Enjoy them both w/ the Natural Areas Wine Tour. For one Saturday a month, go on a staff-guided tour of Museum natural areas from 10AM-noon. Following the tour, you’ll travel to one of the designated wineries to sip on fine vintage wines. The tour kicks off on Sat 4/24 w/ a tour of Wendtwood Preserve in Lorain Co and Jilbert Winery in Valley City. Register

HOT GREEN HELP Junk2Funk Green is the new black. Add some green to your wardrobe–-and help out the uninsured–-at Junk2Funk, an art auction event benefiting North Coast Health Ministry. For Junk2Funk, local artists were asked to design one-of-a-kind fashion and art made from recycled materials. Score your green goods on Sat 4/24 from 7-10PM @ Local Girl Gallery. [Flier pictured.] More

World Peace Through Inner Peace Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has a vision of a world that’s crime-free, stress-free and violence-free; one filled w/ compassion and love. Find out how to life in the present moment–which he says is the key to peace–when he speaks at Broadview Hts Middle School on Sat 4/24 at 6:30PM. Be prepared to experience deep meditation, gain insights into relationships and soak in wisdom. Peace

HOT S.O.S. Super 8 Oberlin Showcase The One Take Super 8 Event runs all over the country and on Sat 4/24 you can catch this cool event at Oberlin College. Filmmakers will create films without any editing–and without even seeing it first for themselves–and present their works to you, raw, at 8PM. Get the full scoop.

Bike at night The Towpath Trail is one of the reasons Cle is the #39 best bicycling city in the U.S.–now here’s your chance to bike it at night. The Century Cycles Night Rides on the Towpath Trail are back for their 15th season, kicking off on Sat 4/24 at 8PM. Whether you’re a novice or a hardcore biker, you’ll fit in on these moderately-paced 12-15 mile rides. Details

University Circle Home Tour Tour over ten homes encapsulating the diverse lifestyles and architecture found in one of Cle’s coolest neighborhoods, University Circle. The self-guided tour [pictured] is on Sun 4/25 from 1-5PM. There’s also a special preview event on Sat 4/24 from 6-9PM on the rooftop of Judson Manor. Click

G Dash D Staged Reading Laura Jacqmin, a ’00 Shaker Hts grad, is this year’s winner of The Mandel JCC’s 2010 Dorothy Silver Playwriting Competition for her piece G Dash D. Her play is described as a “contemporary tale of a secular Jewish couple who has just given birth to their first child and quickly discover that they have very different ideas about how big a role religion should play in their lives.” Hear her play on Sun 4/25 at 2PM in the Brooks Theatre @ Cleveland Play House, as part of FusionFest 2010. More

Horse Feathers @ Beachland They’re up-and-coming, from Portland, Ore., and their band members play a diverse range of instruments: They’re Horse Feathers [pictured] and they’re coming to the Beachland on Mon 4/26 at 8PM. Hear this folk/indie group play a slew of instruments, from the beloved banjo, to the cello, violin, saw and mandolin. More

GREEN Local Food: Realities, Visions and Next Steps Local food is hot right now, as it should be! From supermarkets to farmers markets, restaurant cuisine to home-cooked meals, local food issues are growing in importance and complexity. Hear a panel discuss the challenges of growing and buying local food on Tue 4/27 at 12PM @ the City Club. Tell me more

GREEN Everything You Never Suspected About Bicycle Commuting Did you know that the safest and most effective way to operate a bike [pictured] is to drive it as the vehicle it as? (As opposed to staying “out of the way” or riding on the sidewalk…) Learn the rules of the road–how to ride assertively, cooperatively and safely w/ a talk by certified bike safety instructor Fred Oswald on Wed 4/28. Info

Send your cool events to: Events@CoolCleveland.com

Opera a la Carte
Something for Everyone’s Taste

Here we go The Cleveland State University Music Department is getting ready for its annual “Opera a la Carte” performance, the culmination of its Opera Theatre Workshop program. Opera a la Carte is an evening of arias, recitatives, duets and more from more than 10 famous operas that span music history from Mozart to Bernstein, giving the audience a chance to experience a taste of many styles and types of Opera without high ticket prices or three hours of heavy opera tragedy.

The performers on stage in Opera a la Carte range from highly experienced graduate students with emerging careers to undergraduate students who are having their first stage experience, and come from many disciplines and backgrounds. The performance is this Fri 4/23 at 7:30PM in Cleveland State University’s Drinko Recital Hall, located in the Music and Communication Building on the corner of East 22nd and Euclid. There is no charge for admission.

Watch the video by Julie Cajigas to learn more about the show and get an inside look at one of their rehearsals! For more information, visit http://www.csuohio.edu/music.

Politics as Usual … and I Absolutely Love It

The Political Season kicked off early this year with a well-attended meeting of the 11th Congressional District Caucus at John Adams High School on Saturday (April 17) which featured four of the declared candidates for the county executive job.

Congresswoman Fudge has mastered the knack of turning out her base and the well-organized event was a prelude of things to come as this race heats up…
Read more from Mansfield Frazier here

Cleveland Cirque
Keeping Vaudeville Alive

We’ve seen a few dance concerts at Breen Center so we’ve been on the receiving end of this new state-of-the-art performance venue on the St. Ignatius campus. Trolling through the theater’s website, we came upon an upcoming performance called Cleveland Cirque and before we knew it we were visiting Art Thomas, the man behind the curtain at Breen. Officially, Thomas is Fine Arts Department Chairman and Facility Manager for the Breen Center.

Cool Cleveland: What was the germ of the idea for Cleveland Cirque?
Art Thomas: For our first series of performing arts events, our Home Grown series, we wanted to celebrate the great artistry of people who live in Cleveland, so we had the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, Verb Ballets, and the Singing Angels. But we also decided to put together some shows that had more than one artist, so we did a comedy presentation. Then I said there are so many other people with talents, let’s put them all together in a big cirque-type show. Cleveland Cirque is a way of getting a lot of performing arts in one program…
Read more from Elsa Johnson & Victor Lucas here

Remembering John Morrell

Returning to Cleveland after a week stay with my daughter Karin in New Rochelle, I came across the obituary for John Morrell. The Plain Dealer gave John a fitting obit, noting his “Park Bench” murals downtown.

I claim another piece of John’s work.

In 1968 when I decided to start a newsletter, one of Cleveland’s top advertising men and a friend, George Sapin, was good enough to hook me up with graphic artist John Morrell. John was small in stature but large in talent and heart.

Morrell, he said, would pro bono design a format for my newsletter. With a stipulation, however. Morrell wasn’t going to work for someone whose work he disapproved. He had to meet me, George said, and test my work against his ethics…
Read more of Roldo Bartimole here

Quick reviews of recent events
Submit your own review or commentary to Events@CoolCleveland.com

Bill W. & Dr. Bob @ Cleveland Play House 4/11/10
Read the review by Roy Berko here

August: Osage County @ Playhouse Square 4/13/10
Read the review by Laura Kennelly here

August: Osage County @ Playhouse Square 4/13/10
Read the review by Roy Berko here

CityMusic @ Fairmount Presbyterian 4/14/10
Read the review by Kelly Ferjutz here

Cleveland Orchestra @ Severance Hall 4/15/10
Read the review by Laura Kennelly here

Eat (It’s Not About Food) @ Fairmount Performing Arts Conservatory 4/15/10
Read the review by Roy Berko here

Great Scenes from Great Operas @ CIM 4/15/10
Read the review by Kelly Ferjutz here

Shooting Star (with Andrew May) @ Pittsburgh City Theatre 4/16/10
Read the review by Kelly Ferjutz here

Cool Cleveland readers write

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We heart cool Cleveland I appreciate what you do for Cleveland! I am always forwarding coolcleveland.com to my son and daughter-in-law, who sadly moved to Maryland : ( Keep promoting Cleveland!
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Most clicked
Here are the Top 5 most clicked links from last week’s issue, with one more chance for you to click.

1) RoldoLINK Does Cleveland really need a new $350 million road? Of all the serious, debilitating problems of Cleveland – why has a $350 million – less than three mile road – become a major MUST for our community? For the usual reasons. The private people in charge of our public agenda want it. Read what Roldo has to say… CoolCleveland.com

2) You never knew that balsasmic vinegar could be so interesting. Even more so when you invite chef Steve Shimoler from Crop Bistro to explain, then cook a 7-course meal, each with a complimentary wine pairing. The upcoming food adventure and culinary event, The Natural History of Balsamic Vinegar takes place on Sat 4/24 in the lovely galleries of the Museum of Natural History, starting at 6:30PM, with dinner at 8PM. Dick Heislman, manager of event marketing and sales at the Museum, explains how the “hero food” takes center stage at these delightful culinary events. CMNH.org

3) More press on our impressive foodie scene Esquire writer John Mariani profiles L’Albatros and the Bistro on Lincoln Park in his latest newsletter. View

4) I’m In! (a satire) Yep, after consulting with family, friends (and, as my dear departed mother used to laughingly say, “God, and three or four other white folks”) I’m throwing my hat into the ring for the Cuyahoga County Executive’s job … why not? I can sling bullshit, make empty promises, and not call people back once I’m elected with the very best (or worst) of ‘em. And the real upside is, I’ve already been to prison, so that’s not something the electorate has to be concerned with in my case. I mean, if I learned one thing from all my years on the other side of the law, it’s the proper way to take a bribe… Read more

5) Melt heads East Expect giant grilled cheese sammies in Cleveland Hts starting Fri 5/21. (The kitchen will be larger–can we dream of a shorter wait?) Learn more

Unearthed Good writing by our contributors: Roldo Bartimole, Roy Berko, Julie Cajigas, Kelly Ferjutz, Mansfield Frazier, Elsa Johnson & Victor Lucas, Claudia Taller, and Sarah Valek. And lastly, though certainly not least, thanks to our readers and everyone who partners with us. Want to volunteer and contribute your writing to Cool Cleveland? Send your reviews, articles, or story ideas to: Events@CoolCleveland.com.

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