Each week brings new excitement and fresh anticipation. Whether it’s a new film about the impact of college radio that’s screening at the Grog Shop, or the 20th anniversary of Cleveland Burlesque and Bella Sin’s arrival in Cleveland, a night of cathartic heavy metal at the Winchester, or the return of the Count Basie Orchestra to Tri-C Metro, cool events are popping out all around the region this week.Cleveland’s underground music scene is about to be revealed like never before in a new show that Vanity Crash and I are working on for May about the history of women rockers in NEO, to be presented at the Beachland, the BOP STOP and Jilly’s, entitled Our Day Will Come. In the meantime, Mac’s Backs and the Coventry branch of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library present Cleveland Undergraphics, featuring key authors and illustrators, including Gary Dumm, who worked closely with Harvey Pekar.
CoolCleveland travel/food/wine/adventure writer Claudia Taller shares her recent travels to Kenya (including photos!), while connecting that trip with the work being done at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. We’ve also got a peek at the survey that Bike Cleveland conducted, telling us what Clevelanders want from their transportation infrastructure (safer streets & protected bike lanes).
Emerging from winter are new shows from Wizbang Circus Theatre, CPT’s Test Flight, SPACES, Ensemble Theatre and the Maltz PAC. Plus talks and programs on organic gardening, assimilation of newcomers, how to undo gerrymandering, remembering Bob Marley, stopping the hate, and, of course, Drag Bingo.
And if you’ve been hibernating, the day after Easter is Dyngus Day, which also happens to be April Fools Day, the perfect time to roll out from under your winter slumber and enjoy “all the polka, paczki and piwo [beer] you can handle!” Feels like we’ve already arrived.
The Cuyahoga County Public Library Foundation will host its annual fundraiser Books & Bites: A Culinary Literary Affair with Chef Rocco DiSpirito on Thu 5/2 at the Parma-Snow Branch. DiSpirito is a James Beard Award-winning chef, healthy lifestyle expert, and bestselling author of fourteen books, including three #1 New York Times bestsellers.
Your VIP ticket ($200) includes pre-show reception with food, drinks, prize raffle and silent auction, signed copy of DiSpirito’s latest, Everyday Delicious, and gift bag. General Admission ($50) includes signed book. Proceeds will benefit the Cuyahoga County Public Library Foundation which supports Library programs and services. Read more.
Travel/food/wine writer Claudia Taller has taken us to Akron, Vermilion and the Cleveland Metroparks. But now she’s leading us on a far more exotic trip, sharing her recent travels to Kenya’s Nairobi National Park to admire the giraffes, rhinos. flamingos, lions, zebra, antelope and much more, and share what’s being done to protect these extraordinary animals.
She also shares how the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo fits into what she saw in Africa, with its expansion of habitat-like environments designed to replicate the animals’ homes and teach visitors to value and respect the wildlife and support efforts such as Nairobi National Park’s. She also took some pretty amazing photos! Read more.
The nonprofit Bike Cleveland has been advocating for safer streets for cyclists and pedestrians since 2011, hosting events, meetings, socials, rides and education initiatives. It’s lobbied civic leaders for improvements such as protected bike lanes. Recently, it commissioned a poll of Clevelanders to find out how they felt about the area’s transportation infrastructure and shared the results. Read more.
With Fanfare — the name of its special announcement event — the Cleveland Orchestra unveiled its 2024-25 season at Severance Hall, which includes another opera by Leoš Janáček, and a continuation of its recent-years programming of old favorites (Beethoven! Mozart! Bach!) alongside new works, often by non-traditional composers, and CSO premieres and debuts. Tickets are already on sale for the 2024 Christmas concerts for those of you who don’t mind skipping summer. Read more.
The upcoming total solar eclipse on Monday April 8 is a once-in-a-lifetime event. Commemorate it with a t-shirt designed by a CIA Advanced Studio students. Ten students created ten designs for ten different shirts being sold by the nonprofit Canalway Partners to benefit their nature-friendly work. Read more.
SUN 3/31 Happy Easter We were wondering why we couldn’t find any events scheduled for today — and then we realized that it’s Easter. You can brave a sold-out brunch crowd or you can take a walk and see all the daffodils and forsythias in bloom.
