4.30-5.07.08
u n c l o t h e d
In this week’s issue:We undress this town every week. At Cool Cleveland, we strip away the hype and noise, delivering to your Inbox just the hand-picked coolness that is Cleveland Plus. Whether it’s an introduction to Thinkers and Drinkers from Y-town, a preview of Cleveland Bicycle Week, a peek at the Rock Hall’s education maven, or 3 good books recommended by Mansfield, we keep peeling until we get to the heart of the matter. We know it’s sure to sell out, but until midnight Thu 5/1, we’ve still got some nicely priced tix SOLD OUT! for u n c l o t h e d, our collaboration with Fashion Week Cleveland on Sat 5/3 at Sammy’s. If you’re feeling a draft, it’s because we’re kicking down the door to let the good stuff in. So this week, dress up, go out on the town, and get u n c l o t h e d. You won’t regret a thing. Thomas Mulready
Krisztina Lazar
Fashion Week Cleveland
THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT!
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Krisztina Lazar is the creative genius behind everything from sculpture to painting to Cleveland’s hottest fashions. From elegant ball gowns to fun crochet patterns reflecting her NEO Hungarian background, Lazar has catapulted to the top of Cleveland’s fashion world, becoming a featured designer at this year’s Fashion Week Cleveland. Watch Thomas Mulready’s video interview with Krisztina at Settler’s Landing, outside Sammy’s where Cool Cleveland will be producing the u n c l o t h e d wearable art show on Sat 5/3, and listen as she talks about her background growing up outside Cleveland, her fashion, art and sculpture work (her Year of the Rat sculpture will be installed outside Cleveland City Hall) and what it’s like to live as an artist in the Tower Press Building and work down the hall at Artefino Gallery Cafe. Krisztina’s wedding dress creation will be the finale at the u n c l o t h e d event on Sat 5/3.
Your special invitation to… u n c l o t h e d
THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT!
Please accept our invitation to Cleveland’s wildest fashion event. You are invited to Cool Cleveland’s upcoming party, in collaboration with Fashion Week Cleveland: u n c l o t h e d: A Mixed Media Runway Event on Sat 5/3 from 8PM to midnight at Sammy’s in the Flats. Because of space limitations, this event is expected to sell out. THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT!Call it what you will: It’s been called “a couture carnivale… an avant-garde parade.” Twenty hand-picked models collaborate with visual artists to create a runway fashion show of wearable art, special effects and never-before-seen creations.
Have you been to Sammy’s lately? The view of the Cuyahoga River and Settler’s Landing, is stunning. You’ll be welcomed with your choice of a complimentary Fashion Passion vodka martini, and a dazzling selection of couture hors d’oeuvres: * Fresh Vegetable Rice Paper Spring Roll with Purple Cabbage and Julienne * Carrots brushed with Honey Soy Glaze * Steak Au Poivre En Purple Potato Croute * Salmon Mousse piped into Endive Cups, topped with Mandarin Oranges and sprinkled with Black Sesame Seeds * Forest Mushroom Beggars Purse. More info & map here.
After the fashion show, dance to DJ Santina, and hang out with Cleveland’s glitterati at the after-party until midnight. Get more info on Fashion Week Cleveland.
THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT!
Ballet Theatre of Ohio’s Cinderella
Marrying filthy rich. Family dysfunction. Sibling rivalry. Cruel shoes. Sounds like fun to us, so were making the drive to Akron Civic Theater for Ballet Theater of Ohios upcoming performance of Cinderella. Just like the real life story of Katie Holmes marrying Tom Cruise or the movie Pretty Woman with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, Cinderella is the politically incorrect story of a girl with nothing who hits the jackpot by snagging Mr. Right. Innumerable ballet companies big and small have worked and reworked this fairy tale classic. Nureyevs version for Paris Opera Ballet played with a Hollywood theme. Houston Ballet brought a witty version to Cleveland in 2004. BTOs artistic director / choreographer Christine Meneer has stuck close to the Charles Perrault / Walt Disney telling, casting a beautiful dancer with beautiful lines, Jessica Schroeder, as Cinderella and the youthful and handsome Eric Carvill as the Prince. The result is pure family fare…Read more from Elsa Johnson and Victor Lucas here
SPONSORED: Think Like a Star at Astronomy Day 2008 on Sat 5/10 from 10AM-4PM at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Discover the night sky in Shafran Planetarium, check out the kid-sized Starlab and take a tour of Mueller Observatory for safe solar observing (weather permitting). Play Martian Bingo, Survivor Mars and test your knowledge about the Solar System! There will also be plenty of Astro-giveaways including the latest news in astronomy, our astronomy quiz (answer all correctly, and win a prize!), a make-your-own sundial and/or star chart! And you could win your very own telescope, the Meade ETX 80 AT! Or the national grand prize, the fully automated Meade LX200R! Hands-on activities all day. Astronomy Day activities come with Museum admission. For more info go to: www.cmnh.org.
Sure, but is it Babysitter Worthy…?
A Ratings Scale For Those Rare, Child-Free Leisure Hours
Before I had kids, my faith in the wisdom of critics and reviewers was near-absolute. They were my own private Sherpas to my leisure hours, guiding me toward the best movies and events, the first-rate restaurants, and the latest cant-put-em-down books. This near-religious commitment to the opinions of perfect strangers has long baffled my husband, who finds consulting a critics opinion to be akin to asking for movie recommendations from any stranger off the street. Now that those glorious child-free leisure hours are in short supply, my thirst for critics opinions is even more acute. I scan movie listings and book reviews searching for those A ratings, hunt for the restaurants earning four stars and scour for events that earn two thumbs up, all on a mission to take my free time to its highest and best potential.
But these days, those ratings systems used by even my favorite critics arent quite cutting it anymore. Sure, I still want to know which movies fail to live up to the hype, which restaurants stand out from the homogenized pack, and which events are not to be missed. But what I really want to know is, is it worth getting a babysitter for…?
Read more from Jennifer Keirn here
HOT The Lake Front Ghost Tour Hear bone chilling ghost stories and local folklore that even keep true sailors awake at night throughout the fall including this Fri 5/2 and next Fri 5/9. Find out where many of the sailors superstitions originated. Hear true stories of mysterious shipwrecks that have happen in our very own backyard. Find out for yourself if Lake Erie really has a sea monster swimming off the shores of Cleveland. Haunted Cleveland Ghost Tours departs from the parking lot of the Powerhouse, on the west bank of the Flats. See site for details, their Torso Murders tour and their fall schedule. http://www.hauntedcleveland.net.
Science is Fun! The Center for Science and Mathematics Education at Case Western Reserve University hosts a Family Day Sat 5/3 from 10AM – 4PM at Nord Hall 310. Enjoy an Expedition to Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, view broadcasts from the largest California national marine sanctuary, check out hands-on science fun, friendly competitions, and cool science demonstrations throughout the day! Call 368-5075 or e-mail: kmk21@case.edu to make reservations. This event is no cost and open to the public of all ages. http://www.case.edu/artsci/csm.
The Chinese Spectacular is already a smash in NYC and LA; it hits Playhouse Square Sat 5/3 at 7PM. Enjoy a dazzling world-class Chinese Spectacular featuring acclaimed artists and a professional cast of dancers, musicians, and vocalists performing with a state-of-the-art background projection of dynamic scenery and multilingual lyrics. In 2007, over 200,000 international theatre-goers in 31 cities witnessed this celebration of traditional Chinese culture. http:/www.playhousesquare.com.
Walk, Rock & Run This fun, no-cost, family-friendly event coming up on Sat 5/3 starting at 7:30AM is put on by the Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio; it’s a great chance to have a great time downtown while supporting diversity in Cleveland. Music, entertainment, food, craft tables for kids, a Reinberger Foundation Health & Wellness Pavilion and give-aways will begin along with registration. The Run steps off at 8:30AM; the Walk at 9AM. A three mile route takes you around downtown; if you’re not up to walking, ride Lolly the Trolley. Once you’re through, gain free admission to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Great Lakes Science Center, and a family-friendly concert at House of Blues! Details at: http://www.diversitycenterneo.org.
Lake Metroparks Railroads in the Parks All aboard for family fun at this family-oriented, rail-related weekend Sat 5/3 and Sun 5/4 at Lake Metroparks Farmpark, Penitentiary Glen Reservation. Two large operating model train layouts will be displayed in the Farmpark Visitors Center from 9AM – 5PM; both HO and N-Scale layouts will be exhibited. Operating Lionel trains and an operating Lego train layout will also be featured along with a display of American flyer model trains. A G-Scale train will be running on the Garden Railroad layout in the Farmpark Courtyard. Check out a railroad photo exhibit by Ed Ribinskas and displays on agriculture and the railroad. Model trains are a lost art form. Get the kids interested and involved! Details.
Mother Earth Garden Party Ten Thousand Villages Cleveland at Trinity Commons hosts a party to celebrate plant and garden season and upcoming Mothers Day Holiday Sat 5/3 and Sun 5/4. People of all ages are invited to come and plant a no-cost flowering plant in a small, fairly-traded tea cup or garden pot (available for purchase at the store). Party goers will receive a free party favor and may enjoy a sampling of fair trade tea and coffee and international snacks. Call 575-1058 or visit http://www.cleveland.tenthousandvillages.com.
Cool Cleveland Kids Podcast Weekly roundup of cool events for kids & families from 11-year-old Cool Cleveland Kids correspondent Max.
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Jason Hanley
Rock Hall Education Manager
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Meeting Jason Hanley is a gas. His enthusiasm, more than contagious, is flammable. He’s exactly what he appears to be: a musician who’s tickled to be studying for his Musicology Ph.D. in rock and roll! Now, as Education Department Manager at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame + Museum, he oversees a wide range of programs dedicated to keeping the rock rolling for generations to come. From their “Teachers Rock” program, offering specific lessons tied to curricula on music education to the Rock Hall’s “Summer Teacher Institute,” a week-long, hands-on interactive program for K-12 educators, to the no-charge “Rock and Roll Night School” for adults in the region covering artists, producers, sound men, songwriters and the people behind the hits. Cool Cleveland’s Thomas Mulready visited Jason and captured him on video after one of his “Rockin’ The Schools” sessions, where bus loads of kids get free indoctrination into the roots of Rock ‘n Roll. A fund is available for schools with difficulty funding transportation. And when the kids can’t leave the classroom, the Rock Hall goes “On The Road” with a touring version. To pay for all this, the Rock Hall is hosting It’s Only Rock and Roll, a benefit for their education programs, on Sat 5/10 at Public Hall featuring an all-star line-up with $15 tix still available. Don’t let the rock stop. Check out this historic concert, and give Jason a hand. He can’t do it alone. http://RockHall.com
How to get $300 floor seats for the Rock Hall’s “It’s Only Rock and Roll” Benefit on Sat 5/10 at 7PM at Public Hall: send us an e-mail by midnight Thu 5/1 telling us what you love about the Rock Hall, we’ll do a drawing for a pair of top-priced floor seats, and you could be hobnobbing with the celebs on the main floor, enjoying open bar & goodies all night long! Your chances are very good: Info@CoolCleveland.com
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A summary of Cuyahoga County Public Librarys reading survey is available to view online here. The NEAs To Read or Not to Read report can be viewed at here.
From Front Porch to Webcast “The History and Impact of Spouses in Presidential Campaigns” drops in Canton in a couple short weeks, featuring McLaughlin Group panelist/ Newsweek columnist Eleanor Clift as keynote. Read more about it at http://www.firstladies.org.
You knew that the 2009 U.S. Figure Skating Championships are coming to Cleveland, right? Check out info on it and other upcoming sports events here in Cle: http://www.clevelandsports.org.
Cleveland Botanical Garden and Kent State University will unveil a pioneering research project that examines the potential of liquid crystal technology for creating the greenhouse of the future this morning, Wed 4/30 at 10AM. http://www.cbgarden.org.
Nat City gets a video send-up that’s really a must-see. Watch
Internet at capacity by 2010? We hope not, because we’re gonna need more space! Read
Berea sends Childrens Peace Stone Sculpture to help rebuild Katrina Damaged Alabama Zoo. The Zoo. Learn More.
UBS Virtual Maestro gives Severance Hall visitors a chance to conduct their very own orchestra! Super cool kiosk in place during the month of May. Conduct!
Cle loses elder statesman for historic preservation with the death of Robert Gaede, FAIA. Service on Sat 5/3. Learn More
Mandel JCC selects New York playwright for commissioned work. Follow the Bouncing Blog
Like something you read in Cool Cleveland? Nominate a piece for The Lit’s “Writers & Their Friends.” Deadline has been extended to Thu 5/15. (You can nominate other great local works as well!) Click
Comedy troupe Something Dada announces new online ticketing program. Click
Playhouse Square announces latest Slam U Team Team of six members headed to national slam! Click
First Centennial project coming to Cuyahoga Valley Nat’l Park. Click and Click Again
Betcha didn’t know about the Cle Million Marijuana March on Public Square Sat 5/3 at, um, High Noon…?
Julliard chair selected president of CIM After a national search, Joel Smirnoff, first violinist of the 4-time Grammy award winning Julliard String Quartet and chair of the violin department at The Julliard School in NYC, has been named president of the Cleveland Institute of Music, succeeding David Cerrone who announced his retirement in 10/06. Smirnoff is married to the eminent concert violinist Joan Kwuon, a graduate of CIM. http://www.CIM.edu
Cool Cleveland Podcast Weekly roundup of cool events, in an easy-to-digest 3 minute audio format, for playback on your computer or iPod.
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HOT Cool Cleveland’s Thomas Mulready speaks at COSE’s Tales from the Trenches at 8AM on Wed 5/30 at COSE’s new HQ in the Higbee Building, on The Rise of Cool Cleveland, highlighting the humble beginnings of this viral e-blast you’re reading now, recently awarded “Best News Site in the State” by the Society of Professional Journalists. Come see just how far a good attitude and a great idea can take you. Register.
Nesting The Cleveland Museum of Natural History opened a new photo exhibition Nesting: Photographs by Judith McMillan last week, and it’s pretty cool. Check out her work from Wed 4/30 through early July in the Museums Fawick Gallery. These black-and-white images by local Waite Hill artist explore birds nests as architecture; more than 20 images of nests and eggs from the Museums ornithology collection are a part of it. McMillan first became familiar with the Museums vast collections as a volunteer, and then again while photographing specimens in 1990 and 1995. http://www.cmnh.org.
SPONSORED: “25 Questions for a Jewish Mother” meets “Frankenstein” meets “Runt of the Litter” (and more!) at FusionFest. Experience Cleveland artists with local and national performing arts talent – at Cleveland Play House! Tix start at $10. Reserve your tix now for these performances: All Hail Hurricane Gordo: now – 5/11; In the Continuum: 4/30; A Handsome Woman Retreats: 4/30 5/4; Runt of the Litter 5/1 5/3; Peaches Plums and Pontifications: 5/2 5/3; The Black Ice Showband (at Stages Restaurant): 5/2 5/10; Frankenstein (A De-Monstration): 5/5 5/6; Before I Die – The War Against Tupac Shakur: 5/7; 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother: 5/8 5/10; The Cleveland Plays, Part 1: Migration: 5/8 5/11. Contact www.clevelandplayhouse.com for more info.
HOT Fashion Week Cleveland Fashion means change, and Fashion Week Cleveland is changing. For 2008, Fashion Week Cleveland dropped a new tagline, Because Everyone Wants Fashion, and has shaken up its programming in a big way. Beginning Fri 5/2 and running through Sat 5/10, learn how fashion is relevant to everyone, celebrate at their well-established opening party and three major fashion shows, experience a schedule of films, lectures and exhibits and broaden your mind on what fashion in the 21st Century means. And of course, we expect you to party with us at the u n c l o t h e d shindig… dig? Details and full schedule of events at http://www.fashionweekcleveland.com.
HOT The Grand Wazoo Cleveland Jazz Orchestra presents The Jazz Unit Plays The Grand Wazoo — The Music of Frank Zappa live on Fri 5/2 and Sat 5/3 at the Cleveland Bop Stop. The Jazz Unit won the Award of Achievement in Popular Music from Northern Ohio Live in 2003 for their last performance of Zappa’s music. Some of the most accomplished musicians on the local scene will participate in these performances, including saxophonist Howie Smith, guitarist Bob Fraser, and Artistic Director Jack Schantz. Transcribed and arranged by bassist Dave Morgan, the group will deliver such classics as Peaches en Regalia, The Black Page, Sofa, and Sinister Footware. Cleveland Bop Stop, 2920 Detroit Rd. Call 521-2540 for tickets. http://www.clevelandjazz.org.
The Cleveland International Wine Show The Cleveland Wine School is producing a major wine show at the I-X Center on Fri 5/2 and Sat 5/3 is a two-day event designed to provide wine connoisseurs and interested consumers an opportunity to sample more than 500 different wines from around the globe. Live entertainment, nosh and the ability to be a sommelier for a day (or two) is right in your backyard. I-X Center, Brookpark Rd. http://www.clevelandwineschool.com.
Charmaine Spencer: A Place To Dwell opens at The Sculpture Centers Euclid Avenue Gallery on Fri 5/2 from 5:30 – 8:30 PM with an Artists Talk between Charmaine Spencer and Bruce Edwards, sculptor and educator, at 6:30 PM. The opening and Artists Talk are no cost, open to the public. Exhibition continues through the end of May. This is the fourth and final of the exhibitions of the 2008 Window to Sculpture Emerging Artist Series being shown in succession this winter and spring. 1834 East 123rd St. http://www.sculpturecenter.org.
Cleveland State University Ceramics Show The Ceramics Students and Faculty @ CSU will be exhibiting a large variety of functional pottery, tiles, decorative vessels, sculpture, and jewelry Fri 5/2 and Sat 5/3 from 10AM – 5PM. The quality of the work is very good and the prices are reasonable. For additional information call Prof. Richard Schneider at 687-2086 of email: r.schneider@csuohio.edu. 1768 E. 25th St. rear entrance.
Real Men Cook XX On Fri 5/2 at 11:30AM, the Women’s Alliance for Recovery Services will be hosting the 20th of its annual fund raiser, Real Men Cook. Over 100 chefs from all walks of life and lifestyles delighting the taste buds of Cleveland lunchtime epicures — and all for a very good cause: helping Ohio women battle drug addiction and violence. Holiday Inn Select City Centre/Lakeshore (1111 Lakeside Ave.). For more info, tickets or how to become a chef, call 575-9120 or email: womensrs@aol.com. http://www.womensalliancerecovery.org.
HOT Coventry Fundraiser Coventry will be having its annual fundraiser to benefit the Coventry Village Street Arts Fairs on Fri 5/2 from 6 – 9PM at the B Side Lounge, 2785 Euclid Heights Blvd., Cleveland Hts. Food from all Coventry restaurants will be served; its all about food and neighbors and great times, all to support artistic, homespun, family-friendly events! http://www.coventryvillage.org.
Down Yonder Quartet Heights Arts and Roots of American Music present the group Fri 5/2 at 7PM at the Heights Arts Studio, 2340 Lee Rd. (west side of library bridge), Cleveland Heights. Sing along, join in the hootenanny with call and response and other communal aspects of traditional music-making! Enjoy the work of Doc Watson, Big Bill Broonzy, Robert Johnson, Jimmy Rodgers, the Carter Family, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Johnny Cash. Kevin Richards (vocals, guitar and mandolin), Bill Lestock (fiddle and mandolin) and Raymond DeForest (acoustic bass) deliver the goods. http://www.heightsarts.org.
If All Else Fails Artchitecture Gallery presents a solo exhibition by Steve Ehret If All Else Fails starting with an opening reception Fri 5/2 at 7PM. Exhibit runs through end of the month. Ehret paints canvases filled with phantasmal creatures and landscapes; his spindly characters and shadowy trees evoke a feeling of eeriness, and vivid, dreamlike ambience. Artchitecture Gallery, 1667 E. 40th St., Unit 1A. http://www.artchitecturegallery.com.
HOT Poetry On Daniel’s Way An open poetry reading will accompany the presentation of a plaque honoring the late poet Daniel Thompson on Daniels Way (West 2nd St. at Rockwell) on Sat 5/3 at 2PM. Directly following, a soiree w/ refreshments will begin at Visible Voice Books in Tremont, 1023 Kenilworth. No cost, open to the public; donation of a non-perishable food item is suggested. Signed copies of Cleveland Poetry Scenes, a book of essays and verse on historical and contemporary poetry in the Cleveland area (edited by Mary Weems, Nina Gibans and Larry Smith) will be available. Call 321-2665 for more info. http://www.visiblevoicebooks.com.
Holden Arboretum Spring Plant Sale Kick your garden (or other various swatch of earth) into gear with Holden’s Annual Sale Sat 5/3 and Sun 5/4 from 10 AM – 4PM. A diverse variety of high quality plants will be available for purchase, as well as accessories and Holdens cultivated wildflower varieties. Self-guided and guided hikes led by Holden experts allow visitors to see mature plants in the gardens before making selections for the home landscape. Other activities included. Holden Arboretum, 9500 Sperry Rd., Kirtland. http://www.holdenarb.org.
Kentucky Derby Party “And theeeeyrrre off!” The 134th Kentucky Derby hits Cleveland with this West Side Ecumenical Ministry (WSEM) benefit for the WSEM Food Centers at Brookside, Community Corner and Near West. The event will be Sat 5/3 fom 4 – 8PM at the Great Lakes Brewing Comp any Tasting Room, 2516 Market Ave. Authentic Derby fare, including hors doeuvres, mint juleps and GLBC beer, a raffle, “betting” your favorite horse, a hat contest and a silent auction round out the festivities. http://www.wsem.org.
HOT u n c l o t h e d Cool Cleveland and Fashion Week Cleveland bring you the hottest fashion event of the season, this Sat 5/3 from 8-midnight at Sammy’s in the Flats. Scrumptious hors d’oeuvres, a Fashion Passion martini, and DJ Santina will keep you dancing even after the “wearable art” fashion show is history. Newsletter/Party
Cocktails & Art Enjoy cocktails, great food and an art auction to raise money for Tremont West Development Corporation’s “Adopt-a-Senior and Community Organizing Programs” Sat 5/3 at 8PM at the Asterisk Gallery in Tremont. Guests will be able to indulge their appreciation for all three at the event; an open bar and hors d’oevres from many of Tremont’s eclectic, exceptional restaurants will tempt the tastebuds. 2393 Professor St. Call 375-0484 or email: marketing@twdc.org.
Cleveland Black & White Ball 2008 This “Hats Off” benefit for the Foundation for Community Betterment hits the Masonic Temple, 3615 Euclid Ave., on Sat 5/3 at 7:30PM. With elements of Kentucky Derby Party elegance and grandeur, the event includes music and dancing, food stations, an open bar, a silent auction, merch raffle (where you can win a fully stocked bar, just in time for summer!) and a hat contest. http://www.communitybetterment.org.
Celebrating Israels 60th Anniversary Opus Gallery presents their May Show, featuring artwork of Israeli artists David Shluss, Shaul Kosman, Calman Shemi and a handful of others beginning with an Opening Reception Sat 5/3 at 5PM. The show continues through early June. Call 595-1376 for more info. 27629 Chagrin Blvd., Woodmere. http://www.opus-gallery.com.
SPONSORED: One of the more unusual programs on Cleveland radio is Weekend Radio, heard Saturdays at 10PM on WCLV. This Sat 4/26, host Robert Conrad presents Ruth Draper’s hilarious monologue called Doctors and Diets. Also, he celebrates National Library Week with Charlie Manna’s Perfect Squelch and Marian the Librarian from “Music Man”. And he features Ann Mortifee, a long-time Cleveland favorite singing The Moonlight. Full details on WCLV’s programming at www.WCLV.com.
HOT Activemuse.org Peace & Music Anti-War Show This year’s show will take place Sun 5/4 at 6PM at the Kent Stage, 175 E. Main St., Kent. This no-cost even (donations for talent transportation are welcome) is chock full of local musical talent — including Gusti, David Ullman, Sue Jeffers, ODFX, Kristofer Carter (from the Twist-offs) and the Screaming Smoldering Butt-Bitches. That’s right, folks. NO joke. We couldn’t make up something that crazy. Call 330-677-5005 for more info. http://www.activemuse.org. http://www.myspace.com/activemuse.
T.G.I.S. “Thank Goodness It’s Spring” Fest Shake off those winter blues and celebrate spring Sat 5/4 from 4- 7PM! Join the Cuyahoga Valley Environmental Education Center for the first-ever “T.G.I.S.” Fest at their facility. The event includes a huge cookout, games, guided nature hikes, art activities, and aquatic discovery with ponds and nets! Come eat good food, enjoy being outside, and get your hands dirty. This is an event that will definitely be fun for the whole family. Call 800-642-3297 or visit http://www.cvnpa.org for info and to register.
Heights Chamber Orchestra continues to celebrate its 25th Anniversary Season with a gala concert and dinner to end the season Sun 5/4 at 4PM at Judson Manor, 1890 E. 107th St. Conductor Anthony Addison leads the group through a program of Strauss, Bach, Rossini, Dvorak and others. Dinner to follow the concert. http://www.heightschamberorchestra.org.
Trolley Tour of Cleveland’s Little Known Cemeteries Sounds morbid? No way. This fascinating Lolley the Trolley tour features host Vicki Blum Vigil, author of Cemeteries of Northeast Ohio on Sun 5/4 from 1 – 4PM. The tour will begin at the Lolly public boarding station (Powerhouse at Nautica on the West Bank of the Flats) and will travel to five small area cemeteries. Learn about the dozens of fascinating people who have come to rest in these and other locations across NEO. The stories will surprise you! Learn more about Vigil’s book, which will be available for signing afterwards. Call 771-4484 to reserve a space! http://www.lollytrolley.com.
Cletus Black The singer-songwriter will hold a book signing for his new vanZeno title The Black Book on Sun 5/4 at 2PM at the John Christ Winery, 32421 Walker Rd., Avon Lake. The author will perform pieces from the book — a lyrical compendium — as well as songs from his soon to be released CD, Thats The Story. http://www.cletusblack.com. http://www.vanzenopress.com.
HOT Walk+Roll Benefit at Pickwick & Frolic A supercool networking benefit event connects you with Clevelands sharpest change agents (who also happen to bee bicycle enthusiasts. Meet, mingle and share ideas with a laundry list of Cle’s coolest — all on Cinco de Mayo! Ole’! The fun begins Mon 5/5 from 5:30 – 7:30PM at Pickwick & Frolic (in the car-free East 4th Street District), 2035 E. 4th St. Act fast! Space is limited! Check out the details here. And read more from Claudia J. Taller on Walk+Roll in this week’s Ingenious feature! http://www.walkroll.com.
HOT CIM Uncorked! The Cleveland Institute of Music is the place to experience the energy of classical music. Explore your passion for music and discover all that CIM has to offer Tue 5/6 from 6 – 8:30PM with fine wine, great food and spectacular music — all in support of the CIM. Foster’s Wines Estates and top area restaurants are fortifying this cool event at Windows on the River. Don’t miss it. http://www.cim.edu.
Relay for Life Stand-Up Comedy Jam Faculty and staff of Cuyahoga Community College will take to the stage to raise money for Relay for Life at the “Stand-Up Comedy Jam” Tue 5/6 from 6- 9PM at the Cleveland IMPROV. In addition to stand-up comedy, audience members will also have the opportunity to bid on auction items, and play trivia games. Emcee for the night will be Fox 8 news anchor Kathleen Cochrane. Relay for Life raises money for the American Cancer Society. Contact Adam Zambetti at 987-5386 or Don Gabriel at 987-5439 for more info and tix.
Quality Education in Cleveland Leaders from three successful community schools and the chief academic officer of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District will talk about their innovative work to provide quality education to Clevelands children at noon on Wed 5/7 at The City Club of Cleveland. Randell McShepard of RPM International will serve as moderator. http://www.cityclub.org.
Send your cool events to: Events@CoolCleveland.com
SPONSORED: Dont Miss an Unparalleled Encore of the popular wine-tasting event CIM Uncorked on Tue 5/6 from 6 – 8:30PM at Windows on the River. This unbeatable evening features unconventional whites and reds from more than 20 wineries and savory samples from 17 of Clevelands finest restaurants including Sergios, Table 45, Parallax, Fahrenheit, One Walnut and more. This unbeatable food and wine is paired with a silent auction and music performed by CIMs unsurpassed students and faculty. Dont miss the chance to unwind at CIMs Uncorked and enjoy an uncanny combination of fine wine, good food and great music! Tickets start at $75 with proceeds benefiting the CIM Annual Fund. Call 216.791.5000 or visit www.cim.edu.
A hot selection of tech and business news & events from around the region. Got business news? Send it to: EVENTS@CoolCleveland.com
Thinkers and Drinkers
Economic Development with a Cocktail
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Thinkers and Drinkers is such a good idea that it is spreading fast. Started by a non-hierarchical group that’s been meeting monthly in Youngstown, their meetings have spread around the country to Washington, D.C. and Columbus. The concept is simple: invite a diverse group of 8 people: professors, artists, laborers, and ask each one to bring a guest. After ordering a round of drinks, everyone writes a question on slips of paper, tosses them in a hat, and the discussion begins. Two to three hours later, you might find yourself in the throes of a productive discussion on urban design, economic development, housing code enforcement, or park and green space development. Sometimes the talk gets political and starts to deal with social issues, looking at the problems of the Downtown, or communicating with political leadership and City Hall. But one of the goals of Thinkers and Drinkers is to flatten the hierarchy, inspire leadership and put people in the driver’s seat. The social networking aspect of the Thinkers and Drinkers movement has become paramount: the Cleveland meeting attracted some of the key economic development bloggers in Northeast Ohio. Thomas Mulready of Cool Cleveland attended the group’s first-ever Cleveland meeting at the new Euclid Tavern and digitized a video interview with a couple of Thinkers and Drinkers from the Eastern portion of our Cleveland Plus region, and was inspired, as many are, by the buzz these Youngstowners have created. By using email and social networking connections, Youngstown is now investigating Downtown movies and a Farmer’s Market, while the Cleveland discussion began by focusing on how to connect the wider community to critical social issues. http://www.ShoutYoungstown.com; http://www.DefendYoungstown.com; http://www.InTheYo.com; http://www.44503Live.blogspot.com
SPONSORED: Earn an MBA in as Few as 11 Months! Advance your career with an MBA from Cleveland State University – the regions most practical, flexible, and effective graduate business education. Youll engage in hands-on projects for NEO companies, develop your leadership skills, and expand your network. Programs include: a 19-month Executive MBA for qualified professionals, an 11-month Accelerated MBA for recent business graduates, and an 18-month MBA offered in Brunswick, Mayfield Heights, Solon and Westlake. We also offer specialized master degrees in Health Care Administration, Labor Relations & Human Resources, Computer & Information Science, and Accountancy. Scholarships and Graduate Assistantships available. Learn more at an open house on Wed 5/7 or Sat 5/10. Special EMBA sessions will be held on Tue 5/6 and Thu 5/8. For details, visit www.csuohio.edu/cba.
New York Times looks to Cle for Recession Diet story. Read
A green light for green energy. Read
“The new Ohio Law expected to spawn” 5,000-7,000 MW wind market. Read
Civic Innovation Lab has been nominated as a finalist for the TeamNEO / Inside Business Economic Impact Awards in the category of Community Impact. Click
Goldman scores $175M for putting together $7B Nat City deal with private equity investors. Read
All that capital now spoken for, will Nat City make a comeback? Watch
NEO Dev Org invests in InSeT Systems to track people, equipment in underground mines. Read
Spring is making Cle, but did you know that theres a company in Solon that is helping the whole country go green? Pretty cool stuff. Click
Cle Shipyard awarded $546K grant First-ever shipyard grants announced by DOT Maritime Admin. Click
Midtown Brews w/ Meet The Bloggers feat. an open conversation with guest Ben Cipiti, native Clevelander, and author of The Energy Construct on Thu 5/1 at 5:30PM. 2530 Superior Ave., Suite 600. Call 348-8700. Click
Innovation accelerator spon. Magnet/NorTech hits DoubleTree Hotel Cle South, 6200 Quarry Ln, Independence Thu 5/1 at 8AM. Info
20 in their 20s Crain’s/COSE event at the HOB hits Thu 5/1 at 6PM. Register
BioE ‘s Baiju Shah and others lead Corp Club at Landerhaven luncheon Thu 5/8. Click
Young Executive Committee The Club at Key Center hosts Cles finest professionals on Thu 5/8 for their 9th annual Meet and Greet, which benefits Look Up To Cleveland. The networking event runs from 5:30-8:30PM. Members and non-members alike are welcome. Call 241-1272 for tickets.
YP Networking in the Middle – Akron Edition hits Musica, 21-23 Maiden Ln, Akron on Thu 5/8 at 6PM. Details
Cle hosts 2008 Economic Development Administration Regional Conference and you are invited to attend! It drops Mon 5/12 – Wed 5/14 at the Crown Plaza and features 300 economic development professionals from 19 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. All you need to do is Register
Financial Decision Making forum helps newbie and longtime biz owner-ops navigate $ waters, find magnetic north Wed 5/14 at 9AM. Register
Federal Grants for Start-Up Companies workshop starts series for start-ups with cool programming Thu 5/15. See the full schedule and register here
JumpStart Annual Public Mtg hits Corp College East Thu 5/15, celebrating entrepreneurship. Details and Registration
2008 Ohio Business Womens Conference & Expo at Cle Marriott Downtown Key Center on Fri 5/16 pres. by Hispanic Business Association, promises to be the largest event of its kind in the region for women in business. Register
HOT Craig Newmark, fndr of Craigslist keynotes TechSync forum on Sat 5/17. Details
Marketing to the Social Web is latest AAF-Cleveland Windows on the River meal Wed 5/21, focusing on digital community building. Details
Cleveland Opportunity + Expo 2008 is designed to provide small and mid-size businesses in Cle an opportunity to promote and introduce products or services and establish new relationships. It hits Fri 5/23 at 10AM at the Galleria. Click
Velocity/2008 celebrates NEO companies accelerating our economy with innovative practices, strategies Thu 5/29 at 4:30PM at the Idea Center. RSVP? Call 375-7974 or email: danyoung@dxysolutions.com
E4S leader Holly Harlan and GCBL Institute’s David Beach headline June Corp Club at Landerhaven lunch Thu 6/12. Click
HOT Walk+Roll Networking Benefit This fantastic networking event will include bicycle riders who also happen to be some of Clevelands change makers, entrepreneurs, movers and shakers. Meet, mingle and share ideas with a laundry list of Cle’s coolest — all on Cinco de Mayo! Connect on Mon 5/5 from 5:30 – 7:30PM at Pickwick & Frolic (in the car-free East 4th Street District), 2035 E. 4th St. Act fast! Space is limited! Learn more here. http://www.walkroll.com.
NASA Glenn Biz Op Forum An exciting day at the NASA Glenn Research Center includes a cool Business Opportunity Forum on Fri 5/16 at the Ohio Aerospace Institute. Registration will be limited to the first 125 guests. Reservations can be made here
SPONSORED: The People Formerly Known as the Audience is one of the break out discussions at Case on Thu 5/8 from 9Am to 4PM. See a keynote address by Anthony D. Williams, co-author of Wikinomics www.wikinomics.com on the future of higher education at Collaboration Technology and Engaging the Campus 2008 from 9AM to 4PM. See a keynote on “Mass Collaboration and the Future of Higher Education.” Dont miss the Panel Sessions featuring a co-founder of SecondLife, Cory Ondrejka, that include Learning 2.0: Making Sense of the Explosion of Web 2.0 Tools and their Relevance and Consequence in Higher Education. Other topics include: Collaboration Technology – What’s Next: Bold Predictions, Cautionary Notes and Take Away Lessons. Break out discussions include Community Engagement: From Local Impact to Global Influence, Mobile Discovery, The People Formerly Known as the Audience and Blogs and Wikis. Space is limited. For more info contact http://www.case.edu/its/collabtech08/collabtech08.html.
Three Summer Reads
With spring bursting out all over, now is the prefect time to start selecting books for summer reading. Three books that Ive recently completed are as disparate as literarily possible, which makes them all the more interesting.
The first is The Prince, the Fool, the King & a Strange Woman, by my good friend Michael R. Lisman. Over a decade ago I was writing an article concerning adoption, and Michael, whom Id just met at a civic event, informed me that he was adopted, and, in turn, he and his wife were adoptive parents. Adding his voice to the article made it stronger, and weve remained fast friends ever since. In fact, we now are neighbors; he and his wonderful wife live a couple of houses down the street.
His work is subtitled, An Allegory about Leadership & Achievement and he draws heavily from a collection of biblical proverbs, a retelling and exposition of universal truths derived from the writings and collections of King Solomon. The proverb, the song and the wisdom of the ecclesia are given to instruct the young man or woman to know discretion between two opposing ways; to receive knowledge of things great and small; to perceive understanding in its heights and depths; and to give a gift of service that will deliver a vision and a legacy to their generation…
Read more from Mansfield B. Frazier here
SPONSORED: Watch It! Web It! Win It! The WVIZ/PBS Televised Auction is Thu 5/8 Sun 5/11. Support WVIZ/PBS by making tax-deductible donations of a product or service. Particularly popular are trips, tickets to sporting events, dining certificates, home appliances, sporting goods and electronics. Call the Auction Office at 216-916-6154 or visit www.wviz.org.
This week’s most active post on BrewedFreshDaily.com
When AT&T started pitching its Project Lightspeed, marketed as U-Verse, it was touted as the next generation of High Speed Internet, Cable TV and Phone Service. As AT&Ts competitors eclipse U-Verses current maximum speed offering of 6Mbps, some residents in cities like Lakewood are thinking AT&T has seriously overpromised and underdelivered. Are cities starting to have buyers remorse? A BFD post from David Lay.
Share your experience and opinion on BFD
Kicking up a Slavic Soul Party
Rollicking Brass Band Pushes Cle’s Buttons With Balkan Soul Gypsy Funk
The New York Times describes them as Fiery Gypsy brass, soulful Balkan anthems, and hip-grinding American funk. If there’s truth in advertising, then the Brooklyn, NY-based brass act Slavic Soul Party surely goes wire to wire with their thumping funk grooves, Gypsy accordions and jazz virtuosity. The group returns to Northeast Ohio this Sat 5/3 at 7:30PM with a performance at St. Sava Cathedral Hall, 6306 Broadview Rd., Parma. These guys take globalization to a whole new level, stirring up a cauldron of Mexican, Asian, Jewish, Gypsy, and American roots music — all filtered through a partying brass vibe. Don’t miss the special, one-night-only concert and dance party. This family-friendly event only costs a ten-spot; kids 16 and younger get in gratis! Not bad for a fun night of tunes that speak to the cultural menagerie that is Cleveland. Learn more about the group, their spectacular style and their upcoming Cle show at http://www.slavicsoulparty.com/main.html.
Slavic Soul Party is Ben Holmes and John Carlson (trumpet), Oscar Noriega (clarinet, sax), Jacob Garchik and Brian Drye (trombone), Ron Caswell (tuba), Peter Stan (accordion), and Take Toriyama and Matt Moran (snare/bubanj/darabouka). Guests Eva Salina Primack (vocals) and Kristina Melike (bellydance) round out the group. Catch some wicked audio samples at http://www.myspace.com/slavicsoulparty.
From Cool Cleveland Managing Editor Peter Chakerian peterATcoolcleveland.com
A “Walk + Roll” in Cleveland
Community Building and Active Living in the Neighborhood
The first time I came across Walk + Roll Cleveland, I was intrigued. Imagine city streets closed to motor vehicle traffic so people can walk and bike along the roads and play Frisbee from planned green space to city gardens. When art, music, games and educational activities are taken outside along the byways, it becomes a community event. Without car traffic concerns, people who get themselves down to the signature event in Rockefeller Park participate in a street party reminiscent of the street fairs in neighborhoods like Manhattans Little Italy and closed-off Sunday streets in European cities. Walk + Roll Cleveland promotes bicycling, walking, alternative transportation, public health, diversity, and community building, through human-powered neighborhood programs that combine fun with active living, learning and participating. Its about getting out and about without the car and with other people, conscious about our effect on the environment and our need to be active. Organizer Lois Moss, a cycling advocate and previously a co-owner of Century Cycles, started the main event, dubbed Walk + Roll Cleveland, in 2006. This year, W + R events intertwine magically with Cleveland Bicycle Week. It’s too bad we live in a climate where four months out of the year bicycling is uncomfortable. Thankfully, that doesnt stop our enthusiasm for being outside and riding our bikes.
Walk + Roll Cleveland events start this Spring with a benefit event to be held on our only closed-to-traffic street in downtown Cleveland: East 4th Street. On the evening of Cinco de Mayo, Monday 5/5, partygoers support cycling in northeast Ohio at Pickwick & Frolic. The networking event will be attended by cycling enthusiasts from many Cleveland organizations, businesses, and media sources including CoolClevelands Thomas Mulready and Meet the Bloggers George Nemeth. The event supports making Cleveland more bikeable and walkable. Tickets are available now; Pickwick & Frolic will have special drink prices and healthy fare at this special event…
Read more from Claudia J. Taller here
Links to interesting NEO blogs
Can residents of one ward get their CDCs money back from another councilman?
Waterloo night out a big success.
One area blogger is seeing ghosts. Have you seen any?
Twice as many Air Quality Advisories may be issued this year by NOACAs Air Quality Programs.
Housing prices decline less in transit oriented development areas.
Mentor-based mother/daughter team is helping raise awareness of everyones carbon footprint.
Among Cutting Threads
Humphry Clinker
erroneous exegesis records
This local, savant-garde indie-rock act’s limited edition EP is like a chip off the old block — fizzy, fuzzy, big & buzzy. Coming hot on the heels of last year’s debut CD What’s the Story with the Knife?, and with distribution limited to purchase at live shows, Humphry Clinker’s four-song effort Among Cutting Threads leaves you wanting more. Raw, concussive and filled with edgy, garage-pop histrionics, the band carries on in dynamic fashion. Engineered by Guided By Voices Todd Tobias, the group showcases singer Becky Goede’s husky (and occasionally guttural) delivery… which again recalls Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The EP feels like Full Cleveland Rock and Roll. This is a band that knows what this town’s post-punk genius sounds like; with Threads, they are boldly suggesting their names be added to that illustrious list. Strikingly over-caffeinated, the abstract poetics and fire of these tunes portend great things for the quintet. Can’t wait to hear what they come up with next.
Humphry Clinker performs Thursday, May 1 at 9PM at the Grog Shop on Coventry with le loup & to be a high powered executive. Details on the gig can be found at http://www.grogshop.gs. Learn more about the band at http://www.humphryclinker.com.
From Cool Cleveland Managing Editor Peter Chakerian peterATcoolcleveland.com
Wanna get reviewed? Send your band’s CD (less than 1 year old) to: Cool Cleveland, 14837 Detroit Avenue, #105, Lakewood, OH 44107
Quick reviews of recent events
Submit your own review or commentary to Events@CoolCleveland.com
Double-Edge Dance @ CPT 4/13 From the edgily playful first piece, Nerve C(h)ord, in which a dancer explores a whole variety of attitudes towards and reactions to handshakes, to the dramatic and severe last piece, Scratching the Surface, which takes place entirely under, on, and around a metal bed frame, I found myself completely taken in, and ridiculously happy to be in the audience for Double-Edge Dance’s new show at the CPT. The show was surprising, funny, furiously gestural at times, and eerily constricted at others. The music, composed by Ross Feller, both played with and supported the choreography beautifully.
The stand-out piece was Some Nerve. Two women with attitude, whose posturing, confrontational duet is all about the ordinary, sometimes comical way humans interact physically without even making contact body language in bold *and* italics. And in a sometimes sweet, sometimes sassy, and not a little sexy improv piece, Quick Save, Double-Edge Dance co-founders Kora Radella and Feller enact a lovely duet; Radella, in romantic white flowing garb but with the destabilizing and somehow charming addition of a white silk “front hood” which for most of the piece completely obscured her face, moved around Feller who stood rooted, playing the saxophone despite Radella’s “messing with him” in some very direct ways, including at one point sticking her head into the horn of his sax. The comic yet sweet, bold yet emotionally open tone of the show struck yes just the right chord.
From Cool Cleveland contributor Jessica Grim jessica.grimAToberlin.edu
10,000 Little (micro) Ideas Strategy Meeting @ Crop Bistro & Bar 4/21 10,000 is a grassroots volunteer organization headed by emerging leaders who are focusing on taking positive ideas and turning them into action to revitalize northeast Ohio. The 10,000 Team hosted this strategic planning event where 75 people came together, engaged in conversation over cocktails and complimentary hors d’ oeuvres. To assist in finalizing the organizations strategic plan, their goal was to encourage idea sharing, brainstorming, and networking among the attendees. Mission accomplished!
Being assigned specific tables, we were broken up into smaller groups. At each chair, there was a large blank cardboard placemat surrounded by colored markers, glitter, pipe cleaners, glue sticks, feathers, and cut-out letters.
Each of us was asked to construct a picture of what we would like Cleveland to look like in the future. Hmmm… now remember, these were professional people, lawyers, financial planners, architects, program directors, and entrepreneurs, who generally sit at computers. After several moments pause and contemplation, we all dug into the assignment with gusto, asking to pass the feathers and can I have the glitter after youre done with it? We were talking to each other and working together, visualizing images like Green City Blue Lake. This is what 10,000 Little Ideas is all about.
The organization is moving forward on four initiatives: wind, lighting, volunteerism, and the Cleveland Apprentice Program. 10,000 organized a wind rally on Tuesday, April 22, at the wind turbine in front of the Great Lakes Science Center in support of green manufacturing jobs. Visit http://www.10000littleideas.com to sign a petition to be sent to state legislators in Columbus.
Another 10,000 initiative, the Cleveland Apprentice Program, is devoted toward helping high school students become involved in Cleveland. Trying to reduce the brain drain, this initiative is reaching out to tenth graders starting at Beachwood and Solon High Schools. Getting young people involved in the city will help them return here after college. Over 100 tenth graders applied for 25 openings in the apprentice program where they will spend time in Cleveland businesses directly learning how things work. The organization needs everyones support. Visit http://www.10000littleideas.com to become involved. Every success story begins with a simple idea.
From Cool Cleveland contributor Susan Schaul susn1ATatt.net
CSU Chorus and Orchestra @ CSU Waetjen Auditorium 4/22 There is such an abundance of wonderful music in Cleveland. At times, I sound like a broken record on this topic. But its true! How often do you get to hear a Grammy winner in concert performance with NO admission charge! Cleveland State University has a wonderful music department, numbering among its faculty several members of the Cleveland Orchestra and the above-mentioned Grammy winner in 2007 Angelin Chang, a superb pianist in her own right.
The CSU Chorus and Chorale (really two separate entities) are both conducted by Betsy Burleigh, who is Associate Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, and current Music Director of the 100-year-old Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh. The CSU Symphony Orchestra is conducted by Victor Liva.
Waetjen Auditorium was the setting for a concert featuring the Requiem of Maurice Duruflé, for chorus, orchestra and organ and the Piano Concerto No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff, for orchestra and soloist. It was a wonderful musical evening.
Ms. Burleigh conducted the combined forces in the Requiem, which featured three of her choristers as soloists: Dawn Mitchell, mezzo-soprano; Elyse Roberts, soprano, and Nikola Budimir, baritone. William Shaffer, who is the usual accompanist on piano, for this evening, performed on the resident pipe organ. Also featured in a solo role was Nick Diodore, principal cellist of the orchestra.
Duruflés Requiem is more contemplative and peaceful than most such works. This performance was well-balanced and intelligent. Ms. Burleigh kept the musicians involved throughout. The soloists all performed with confidence and displayed lovely voices.
After intermission, the larger orchestra was conducted by Mr. Liva, who also assisted the soloist, Ms. Chang in repositioning the piano, which drew appreciative chuckles from the large audience. Ms. Chang was in command from the very first notes. Her graceful, languid style belies the strength required to do justice to the thunderous opening chords, in which each note could clearly be heard. The horn solo, from which a 1940s popular song was fashioned (Tonight We Love) was eloquently played by Natalya Rager. Luke Gormans clarinet solo was a highlight of the second movement.
The finale allegro scherzando features a brilliant cadenza for the soloist, then steadily builds in tension until the last sweeping octaves create a tumultuous ending. Bravas and huzzahs follow. And no admission charge. Bravo Cleveland State University!
Some musical presentations at CSU do have an admission fee. For more information, call 687-5010 or visit the website for a calendar of upcoming events at http://www.csuohio.edu/music.
From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz artswriterATroadrunner.com
Anne Sofie von Otter @ Oberlin College Finney Chapel 4/23 Anne Sofie von Otter, the world-renowned Swedish mezzo soprano with a sunny warm voice, and recital partner pianist Bengt Forsberg delighted a Finney Chapel crowd of college students and seniors in this Oberlin College’s Artist Recital Series performance. The gifted duo turned the chapel into a cozy, musical parlor with a feast of lovely songs–most celebrating summer (an emotion easily shared with the winter-weary audience). Scandinavian composers such as Nielsen, Sibelius, and Grieg as well as those by less-familiar names (in the United States) such as Wilhelm Peterson-Berger and Sigurd von Koch took up the first half of the program; works from the Austro-German song tradition made up the second half with a compelling Korngold piano work and vocal works by Mahler, Brahms, and Richard Strauss (the latter’s “Die Nacht” called forth moonlit yearning also heard in the composer’s opera, “Salome”–do you suppose Strauss was an insomniac?). Perhaps the most fun came during the encores when von Otter sang popular works (including the jazz piece, “My April Heart”) in ways that turned them fresh. And who knew that Tom Waits’ gritty and lovely farewell “Take it with me” (“Phone’s off the hook/no one knows where we are”) could sound so richly embellished?
From Cool Cleveland contributor Laura Kennelly lkennellyATgmail.com
All Hail Hurricane Gordo @ Cleveland Play House 4/23 Okay. Theres weird. And then, theres really weird. Most of the time, what happens on the stage during All Hail Hurricane Gordo is in that latter category. But if it isnt being just really, its still all-weird, all the time. I suspect that anyone who hasnt had to deal with a fragile person emotionally or physically will be likely to find the play more humorous than those who have. Whatever category you find yourself in, however, it is difficult and painful and exhausting to watch. But to be honest, at times, it is also brilliantly funny.
Imported nearly intact from Louisvilles Humana Festival of New American Plays, it is also the opening salvo in this years FusionFest at the Cleveland Play House. Its entirely appropriate then, for the director Sean Daniels to be directing the same four actors on the same set (Paul Owens)with the same costumes(Lorraine Venberg), lights (Deb Sullivan) and sound(Matt Callahan)barring reasonable wear and tear on any or all of these! Stage manager Amanda Harland kept everything running smoothly on opening night.
When the lights come up, were treated to an exhilarating, but thankfully short, game of nerf ball by Patrick James Lynch as Gordo, who is indeed a hurricane in this brief scene. Kudos to fight supervisor Lee Fook for keeping all the body parts undamaged and in the right places. Gordos brother Chaz is marvelously played by Matthew Dellapina. The two of them were abandoned years before by their mother, and have struggled with the bare essentials of living since then.
Chaz does have a sort of life as a volunteer tennis coachhe once had a tennis scholarship to collegebut came back home to care for Gordo, who has serious anger and acting out issues, and occasionally even tangles with the sweet-tempered Chaz. The two young men are not always neat, and their living room seems to be constructed entirely of telephone books and battered furniture.
Into this mix comes the rubber-bodied, blue-haired India, a teen-aged runaway, who responds to an ad for a room to rent. Tracee Chimo jumps from serious to dingbat in the blink of an eye, and is as loose-limbed as youll ever see. She bends her body in ways that most people cant even imagine, and makes it all seem normal. Of course, normal varies greatly in this set-up.
Veteran actor William McNulty is the oldest person on stage as Indias father, Oscar. He wants her back home again, along with Bob. Of course, we have no clue as to Bobs identity until late in the play. (He turns out to be a very well-behaved white bunny.)
The immense collection of telephone books are there for a reason, which is finally divulged near the end of the play. It is a heart-wrenching, poignant moment when Chaz realizes just how far his world has come unglued. To his amazement, India is there to help him pick up the pieces. Maybe.
All Hail Hurricane Gordo continues in the Drury Theatre through May 11. FusionFest is a cornucopia of arts eventstheatre, dance, musicetc., that also runs through May 11. For tickets or information, call 795-7000 or visit the website http://www.clevelandplayhouse.com.
From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz artswriterATroadrunner.com
All Hail Hurricane Gordo @ Cleveland Play House 4/23 Carly Menschs comedy with a message, now on stage at The Cleveland Play House, is the kind of play that you might expect at Cleveland Public Theatre or The Bang and Clatter. Its an off-the-wall script that needs an outlandish production and the right kind of audience to gain its bizarre level of full effect. Not surprisingly, many of the patrons at the production I saw, seemed unmoved by the exceedingly good production they were observing. From the nerf ball basketball game that started before the play actually began, to one of the characters literally bouncing off the walls, dressed in a football helmet, knee pads and gym shorts, to the hopeful ending, audience members were either laughing hysterically or stoically sitting in silence.
The story concerns two adult brothers living on their own. As the story unfolds we find out that the duo were abandoned in a parking lot by a mother, who found herself overwhelmed by life. In order to make sure that Childrens Services does not separate them, the older brother Chaz, hides Gordo, his emotionally challenged brother, by returning the duo to their family home. Working enough to pay for basic necessities, selling off the family possessions, and living in squalor, the duo basically live as recluses.
In an attempt to raise some money, Chaz decides to rent out a room. Along comes India, a teenager who has run away from her affluent family. Through her bizarre actions, she quickly brings the duos problems to the surface and helps bring about some semblance of resolution.
In Yiddish, the word mensch (the authors last name) means a person of high integrity and compassion. The author imbues Chaz with those qualities. Yet, though one admires Chazs commitment to his brother, one can only wonder why he was willing to give up a promising tennis career and college scholarship to care-take the psychologically fragile Gordo.
The play abounds with questions. Is it possible to be your brother’s keeper and have a life too? What is really behind Chazs obsessive letter writing? Why does Gordo have outbursts where he slams his head into the wall? Are his outbreaks an illness or a device to keep his brother bound to him?
Carly Mensch is a promising playwright. This script, which received rave reviews at the Humana Festival of New American Plays in Louisville, puts her in the class of Craig Wright (Orange Flower Water which received an amazing staging at Akrons The Bang and the Clatter earlier this year) and Neil LaBute, whose This is How it Goes, is presently on stage at Clevelands newest theatre, the Bang and the Clatter.
Mensch has a wonderful way with words and visual images. In Gordo she weaves a play about family responsibility and dependency, with an uncomplicated format that evokes laughs about a subject which, on the surface, is not funny. However, if she had made this into a drama, it could have been emotionally overwhelming. Being able to laugh at the painful is often the best way to approach certain subjects. Its the same device LaBute used in his enthralling Fat Pig.
The play encourages audience members to think about our responsibilities to our loved ones and how they may conflict with our responsibilities to ourselves.
The CPH production, under the adept direction of Sean Daniels, is excellent. The cast is uniformly fine. As Gordo, Patrick James Lynch is a perfect boy/man. He develops a character that carefully balances his being sympathetic, yet infuriating. Matthew Dellapina, who has the physical air of the stereotypical nerd, capably makes Chaz a caretaker and enabler who has given his life for his brother. Tracee Chimo nicely develops India, the potential housemate, into a spoiled teenager, who is both wise and unwise. And William McNulty’s Oscar, Indias father, clearly displays the frustration of being the father of a teenage girl.
Capsule judgment: This is the kind of play that audience members will either love or question why they attended. I loved it. It was a departure from the usual Play House script and I appreciate their going out on a limb to expand their offerings. Maybe picking scripts like this will encourage a younger audience to attend.
Gordo runs through May 11. For tickets to CPH call 795-7000 or go visit http://www.clevelandplayhouse.com.
From Cool Cleveland contributor Roy Berko royberkoATyahoo.com
Roy Berko’s blog, which contains theatre and dance reviews from 2001 through 2008, as well as his consulting and publications information, can be found at http://royberko.info.
Cleveland Orchestra @ Severance Hall 4/24 It’s easy to forget that musicians — makers of heavenly sound — are also athletes. But when a program has to be changed at the last minute, as was the case this week when Pierre-Laurent Aimard was instructed by his physician not to play the scheduled Bartok Second Piano Concerto lest he cause further damage to injured muscles, it becomes a disappointing fact of life. Aimard and Tamara Stefanovich did join for a duo-piano performance of Peter Eotvos’s Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra, a percussive work which showed off their fast fingers. Eotvos, who was guest conductor, also led the orchestra in a romantic and evocative performance of Zoltan Kodaly’s “Dances of Galanta” and in Bartok’s “Concerto for Orchestra.” The Bartok concerto offered a reminder of his “Bluebeard’s Castle” heard earlier this season and, indeed, seemed a scrapbook of the composer’s musical life with passages suggesting the dark clown at the circus (you know, the scary ones) and others shimmering with mystery and majesty. The orchestra, as ever, sounded wonderful — even with many of the first chairs evidently taking the night off (if they were a sports team, we’d have to congratulate the team because the bench is so deep–excellence in every chair).
From Cool Cleveland contributor Laura Kennelly lkennellyATgmail.com
Cleveland Orchestra @ Severance Hall 4/24 Do you like Hungarian Paprikash? When properly prepared and served, its a magnificent treat, with ample spices, namely paprika, and sour cream for added richness. No matter how smooth, its not necessarily everyday fare, which makes it all the more special when it does appear. The menu at last weeks Cleveland Orchestra concerts served heaping helpings of this favorite nationality and it was all spectacular. Of course, you begin with the chef, and I cant imagine why weve had to wait so long for the appearance of Peter Eötvös as guest conductor. I hope it doesnt take so long for him to return.
It was perhaps not quite an even exchange to hear Zoltán Kodálys Dances of Galánta instead of the Bartók Second Piano Concerto, but pleasurable all the same, and immensely invigorating. Mr. Eötvös conducted the entire program without a baton, but with a fair amount of physicality, moving freely around the podium. There are those who might think his version idiosyncratic, but to me it definitely sounded authentic.
Michael Mayhews opening horn solo was terrific, as was the succeeding clarinet response of Daniel McKelway. Overall, the entire work was redolent with lilting syncopation and buoyancy.
It would certainly be an exciting treat to hear the fabulous pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard in the Bartók Concerto, but, being a good patient, he followed his doctors advise, and appeared only in the Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra by Mr. Eötvös. The intricate piece was originally written for piano, keyboard (acoustic and electronic, respectively) and orchestra. Mr. Aimard was the soloist for that premiere in 2006. A year later, the composer revised the work, using instead, two acoustic pianos. He could not have two more capable pianists than the two we heard: Mr. Aimard, and his musical partner, Tamara Stefanovich.
The two Steinways were placed side-by-side, rather than facing each other, which worked well as the orchestra was a bit smaller than usual. Three percussionists were aligned at the back of the stage, one at either side, the other in the middle, with roughly the same assortment of instruments allotted to each. An additional presence was saxophonist Joseph Lulloff, who last appeared here in 2005 as soloist in the Dahl Concerto for Alto Saxophone. This time he also brought along the soprano and baritone companions for his slightly jazzy portions.
This piece is one of those that are almost as much fun to watch as to hear. The music is furioso most of the time, and it seemed amazing that the pianists still had working fingers and hands by the completion of it. Tone clusters dissolved into organized chaos which then morphed into episodes of pure lyricism. The pianists played together rhythmically, at the same pace, but the scales were in different intervals to each other, producing an intriguing and exotic sound.
I suspect it would have been impossible without another pair of pianists handy to step in as performers, but Id have enjoyed hearing the piece again. Judging by the reaction of the audience, it would have been very well received had such a possibility occurred.
Closing out the concert was the Concerto for Orchestra by Béla Bartók. Its a great showpiece for a great orchestra, and as usual, there were no surprises. It was performed with precision, lush string sounds, jaunty bassoons, snappy drumbeats, languid strumming from the cellos, and the capability of switching from sweet to raucous in a heartbeat.
Certainly this was one of the best (most enjoyable) concerts of the season.
Sir Andrew Davis returns to conduct this weeks concerts. For tickets or other information, call 231-1111 or visit the website http://www.clevelandorchestra.com.
From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz artswriterATroadrunner.com
Opera Scenes @ CIM 4/25 All the Worlds a (Musical) Stage! Or so sayeth the Opera Theater program of the Cleveland Institute of Music, and they then proceeded to prove their point. The final production of this season was a series of solos and/or ensembles from various operas inspired by, or based on, dramatic works originally written for the stage. Composers represented ranged from Mozart to Massenet to Delibes and Bizet; Donizetti, Bellini, Mascagni and Puccini. All told, twelve such scenes were featured, as staged by David Bamberger, head of the department and accompanied by John Simmons, music director. Two scenes featured Benjamin Malkevitch as pianist.
Each scene was introduced by a student who would then appear later as a singer. As you might expect from a student production, some performers were more equal than others, both in speaking and singing. Some of these young people seem born to the stage, for others its a struggle. But yet, theyre putting themselves out there, and for that, they must be commended. Its quite clear that some of them will have no trouble pursuing their dream to the prominent stages of the world, and it will be fun to remember them when they were still performing here as students.
Alison Garrigan designed wigs and makeup, while Molly Taylor did an excellent job with the costumes. Sarah Stewart served as assistant director and production manager. Sets and props were sufficient to convey the time and place.
For information about next years programs or to subscribe, call CIM Opera Theater at 791-5000 ext. 411, or visit the website at http://www.cim.edu.
From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz artswriterATroadrunner.com
Brooklyn: The Musical @ Baldwin-Wallace College 4/25 This slight musical (a more tuneful and hopeful “Rent) is moving to Playhouse Square’s 14th Street Theatre this weekend (May 1-3). Go see it. I stayed awake for the whole performance (which didn’t start until 10:30PM in the Berea venue) and that’s saying a lot from someone who prefers an earlier show time. What makes it fun is not the simple story (troupe of street musicians trying to earn tips by putting on a play about a girl born in Paris who travels to Brooklyn to find her father) or the OK songs (sometimes, as with “Love Fell Like Rain” or “Magic Man,” very appealing). The show’s real strength is its young cast, all of whom exhibit a wholesome sexy energy that translates into a real “feel good” evening. It’s double cast with one exception, Miss Malika Petty. It’s easy to see why.
Petty, with a flippant prance (anyone remember Pearl Bailey?) and a sexy stance (what Eartha Kitt must have been like in the day), is mesmerizing as Paradice, a pop singer whose comically world-weary take on life contrasts with that of the angelic Brooklyn (a fetching Cassie Okenka). Stephen DiBlasi (soulful street singer narrator), Mike Russo (Taylor, Brooklyn’s Vietnam vet father who never got over the war), and Cathy Prince (Brooklyn’s gorgeous young mother) work beautifully together to keep this Victoria Bussert-directed gem moving and musical. The alternate cast looks equally good (quite a few veterans of last fall’s lauded “Phantom of the Opera” at B-W). The show’s a Playhouse Square production created in collaboration with the Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory of Music. It’s professional in every way and a true delight (and one of the shows starts at 10PM so if you’re really into that late show thinghere’s your chance).
From Cool Cleveland contributor Laura Kennelly lkennellyATgmail.com
La Boheme @ Opera Cleveland 4/26 Rats. Even in this lovely Playhouse Square production of the Puccini classic, Mimi dies. But before she did, the lively cast headed by an enchanting Melody Moore as Mimi and Mark Panuccio as Rodolfo, brought a little slice of opera heaven to the State Theatre at Playhouse Square. Director Tomer Zvulun kept things sprightly with a pace that emphasized the zany frat house exchanges between the “guys” in the chilly Latin Quarter garret where the story opens and closes.(I never realized before that the lasting love in this opera is between the bohemian guys who support and tease each other as they aim for “artistic greatness.” The women are incidental, really.) Laura Pedersen did a brilliant job both vocally and dramatically as she brought out the sweetly airheaded quality of Musetta, that outrageous flirt. The whole cast, including the Oberlin Choristers and the bustling chorus made the Cafe Momus scene memorably chaotic. The supertitles made it clear that there’s probably no other opera with more inane dialogue attached to such heavenly music. Dean Williamson conducted the orchestra, which showed outstanding playing of this complex score. Everyone around me loved the opera–and my impression was that many were new to opera, especially the young voice I heard behind me saying in surprise “This is really good.”
From Cool Cleveland contributior Laura Kennelly lkennellyATgmail.com
Verb Ballets: To Hope @ CPH FusionFest 4/26 I consider Verb Ballets to be one of the best dance companies in the area. I have watched in pleasant joy as the company matured. Unfortunately, in the last year, Ive seen what I consider a stagnation setting in. They havent upped their game. The females in the company are outstanding. They consistently are up to the task of interpreting the works of Artistic Director Hernando Cortez and guest choreographers. Early this year Verb lost two of its male dancers. Neither has been replaced. This leaves the company with three male dancers. The very proficient Brian Murphy; Robert Wesner, who is a fine solo dancer but doesnt always pull back and blend when he is dancing in corps, and Sydney Ignacio, who does excellent leaps, but does not fit in with Cortezs disciplined style… Yes, it is difficult to find strong male dancers, but if Verb is to continue to grow and not atrophy, it needs to find two or at least one very strong male dancer. The missing link was evident in their recent to hope program at FusionFest 08.
Appalachian Spring, is subtitled Ballet for Martha because of its strong ties to choreographer Martha Graham, who created the dance in 1944. Verb has performed this piece many times. In spite of strong performances by Murphy, Catherine Meredith and Katie Gnagy, this was the companys weakest rendition of the Graham classic. Sydney Ignacia simply does not have the stage presence and power to portray the fanatic Revivalist whose followers quake at his every command and blindly follow his lead. In addition, The Followers often reverted to a pounding on the ground pattern, that evoked laughter from some of the audience. This is the not the intended purpose of that choreography.
In Cortezs Two Hours That Shook the World, another revival, Wesner did what he does best, shine as a soloist. Though Cortez contends that he did not set out to create a 9/11 tribute, the piece does have much of a disaster-centered theme. The chaos, panic and strong movements project an emotional core. Edward Hilles video background helps create the mood, though watching a video of dancers paralleling the movements on stage could confuse some. Why not just accept that this is a 9/11 piece and have the video show the destructive holocaust of the fall of the Twin Towers. The ending seemed to catch the audience by surprise, not realizing that the piece was over they sat quietly sitting, waiting. Waiting for whatever.
The Yellow River, in its world premiere, was an agreeable piece that used ballet movements to interpret Asian music (Jian Zhong-Wangs The Yellow River Concerto) and the classical The Mermaid Ballet Suite: Waterweed. Though the dancers were not always in sync, the overall effect was generally positive. The piece allowed an opportunity for the companys interns to perform. The lovely female costumes were designed by Suzy Campbell.
From Cool Cleveland contributor Roy Berko royberkoATyahoo.com
Roy Berko’s blog, which contains theatre and dance reviews from 2001 through 2008, as well as his consulting and publications information, can be found at http://royberko.info.
John Hammond @ Mike’s Barn 4/28 Last Saturday evening; on one of those sweet temperate nights, when spring bursts open her colour palette out of crystallized winter hibernation; that rarefied air that Clevelanders anxiously await each year was in perfect North Coast order. In keeping with this cyclical magic that is part of the bewitching spell that keeps her inhabitants from leaving; the stage was set for another kind of real magic, that of Legendary Blues Man, John Hammond. Following Cleveland’s own Kristine Jackson, Hammond showed why loyal fans would exercise the tracking skills of blood hounds; to find another rarefied jewel on the outskirts of Cleveland in Elyria, Mike’s Barn. Thus the stage was set for the genius of Hammond to skillfully weave such table-slappin’ songs as: “My Mind Is Ramblin'”, or the Muddy Waters’ classic, “Can’t Be Satisfied”. Just when he would get that steel guitar locomotive going, he’d slow it down and cry “Have you ever heard the church bell tollin’, well it was one kind favor I asked of you”; or from In Your Arms Again, the line “The wind is hollerin’ and the leaves are turnin’ inside out”. That is probably as apt a metaphor for the musical experience a master like John Hammond shares with the audience; he turns himself inside out and starts the wind a hollerin’ exposing his soul and giving the listener a glimpse of the life from which real blues music comes.
Hammond went to college in Yellow Springs Ohio, where he met fellow traveler, Michael Bloomfield; this the listener knows because in the true tradition of the Blues Man, he privies the audience by teasing you with these autobiographical vignettes, like stops at a train station in his magical mystery tour. We are “snuck in” to passages in his life as he recants the story of going to see another master, Sonny Boy Williams, at Sylvia’s in Chicago in 1961 with Bloomfield. Hammond sells you the sizzle as he recalls walking into Sylvia’s, hearing the music but not being able to see where it is coming from. Bloomfield instructs him to, “Follow the chord”, whereupon John follows the chord to find Sonny playing his guitar at a table with three beautiful women. To quote Hammond; “I was impressed”. Then Hammond delivers the steak when he feeds his audience with, “Fattening Frogs for Snakes”.
To only tell you about the tall, slim, silver-haired Hammond, without painting the rest of the picture around him would not do the reader justice. One must share in snapshot fashion; that Hammond sits on a stage in front of a larger than life portrait of himself between Robert Lockwood Jr. and a smaller Jimi Hendrix. This backdrop is appointed with a 50’s style lamp with a smaller-yet picture of JFK. And, ahh, the lighting; not so strategically placed are various hanging lamps and lanterns of no particular style except that of what most aptly can be called, the eccentric genius of proprietor, Michael Yates. I could take several paragraphs just describing the old rotating watch display and its various objects, then add to this the wall decorations of street signs, prints, pictures, barn equipment, organ keys lining poles, organ peddles lining the center joist, a menagerie of organs and organ parts, and some great black-light paintings such as the “Shangri La-like” Baratko painting. “Shangri La” takes you back to the days when those were ubiquitous accompaniment to the drugs that we would grow up to wage one of many wars on. It opens you like a window and allows the soul an escape route you may have forgotten you even hungered for. Though I no longer need any help to make me small enough to; “Go Ask Alice” and the mushrooms I ate were shitake’s on my veggie stir-fry, that night the men on the chessboard got up and told us where to go. It was “further on up the road” and you can get there with Hammond’s latest release Push Comes to Shove. Or, use that Cleveland quality of tracking down authentic music and follow it out to Mike’s Barn in Elyria some Saturday evening this summer. Just maybe you’ll experience that rarefied truth of why real and raw genius can create such magic in that music that haunts your soul–it reminds us of who we are and what we’re capable of when someone is brave enough to live authentically and reveal and resonate their own truth… so loud it reverberates in yours.
Clevelanders can handle the truth, we live it here. I think we’re just the kind of audience that is enough to give a little something back to a man who splits himself open and reveals himself to you, John Hammond. Ahh–the magic of it all.
From Cool Cleveland contributor Gloria at the Fire O’Neil-Savage arcancientaromaATyahoo.com
Most clicked
Here are the Top 5 most clicked links from last week’s issue, with one more chance for you to click.
1) u n c l o t h e d Cool Cleveland party on 05.03 with Fashion Week Cleveland.
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2) Cleveland Plus launches new site geared towards talent attraction.
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3) Ohio Bike Week get the details.
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4) Shaker Square concert series announced.
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5) The best place to buy a home. You might be surprised. Again.
Money Magazine
Stripped Back All dressed up with nowhere to go? Strip things back and let the Hard Corps help you figure out where to take your fast fashion. Thanks to Peter Chakerian, T.L. Champion, George Nemeth, Steve Copley, Susan Schaul, Kelly Ferjutz, Laura Kennelly, Elsa Johnson and Victor Lucas, Claudia J. Taller, Jennifer Keirn, Roy Berko and introducing Jessica Grim and Gloria at the Fire O’Neil-Savage. And lastly, though most 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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