01.26-02.02.11
Smart
Can you believe how much cool stuff is going on in the middle of winter? Vicky Bussert mounting Rent and La Boheme in rep (a first); an interview with Marvin Hamlisch, coming to town to help out CIM (smart and talented); a sweet upgrade to one of Cleveland’s most treasured landmarks; a preview of the gender-bending all-male Ballets Trocks; and a review of David Ullman’s new live CD. Mansfield questions columnist Phillip Morris, and guest columnist Minister Kyle Earley wisely asks us to look inside with our toughest questions. Smart advice. –Thomas Mulready
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Here we are, again, crying about the lack of diversity and the lack of an urban and minority agenda. Amazingly, the same leadership who once valiantly fought for the rights of those disenfranchised, neglected to empower a new generation of leaders to fight even harder and become more progressive.
We are disappointed with the results of the November 2010 general election, but please be reminded that we lost because we killed ourselves as a party, a race, and a state. We bought into a state democratic system that was not diverse and organized enough to win. People please, stop thinking that we, the Democratic Party, can win because we throw around a name carved in history; better know as President Barack Obama.
I understand we are a country, state, county and city that enjoys pointing the finger of guilt, but who is to blame?
Do not be angry with Governor Kasich when we, the Democratic Party, have not called on the resignation of the Ohio Democratic Chairman who cost democrats state wide seats due to his lack of diversity and commitment to the minority community.
Do not be angry with Governor Kasich when we, the Democratic Party, will not organize an agenda that will educate, empower and engage minority voters, yet will hire us at the last minute to canvass for an unworthy cause and candidates we do not know.
Do not be angry with Governor Kasich when we, as the black community, are not organized with an agenda of change, progress, and inclusion of our own communities.
Do not be angry with Governor Kasich when we have a local school board, a Chief Executive Officer, and Unions who can not get along because of the fight for self interest, instead of uniting for the future academic success of our children which they are responsible to educate.
Do not be angry with Governor Kasich when less than 30% of registered Cleveland voters participated in the very election of this governor (who is not concerned with diversity and inclusion)… Read more from Minister Kyle Earley here
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SPONSORED: Win Airline Tickets! Hey Cleveland! We need you more than ever. Help Akron-Canton Airport reach 25,000 fans on Facebook, and you could be the lucky winner of two round-trip tickets on AirTran Airways to anywhere they fly in the Continental U.S. Become a fan and enter to win now: Facebook.com/akroncantonairport.
CMNH to build SmartHome Cleveland, a house representing the future of energy efficiency. Designed to function w/out a furnace, this “passive” house will be constructed w/ sustainable materials, high levels of insulation & triple-paned windows. SmartHome Cleveland will open in Summer 2011 in conjunction w/ the Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s Climate Change exhibit. [Image: Doty & Miller Architects]
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How much impact can one person have on a region’s cultural life? Victoria Bussert, whose 20+ year theatre & opera career includes directing 7 national tours, extensive New York experience, and impressive stints with all our regional theaters, will do what no one has done before: present Rent and La Boheme in rotating rep from Tue 2/15 thru Sun 2/27 at the John Patrick Theatre at Baldwin-Wallace College, where Vicky serves as Director of Musical Theatre in the Music Conservatory. The productions are directed by Constantine Kitsopoulos, who directed La Boheme on Broadway. Watch the video as Cool Cleveland talks with Vicky about the challenges of this audacious effort, and her annual trip to New York with her theatre students, all of whom were signed by agents after professional auditions last trip. For tickets to Rent, La Boheme, (or both productions, which can be witnessed back-to-back on weekends) call 440-826-2240 or click here for more information.
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SPONSORED: Soul of the Village Women’s Workshop at CPL will launch the Women of a New Tribe exhibit, a photographic tribute to the beauty of African-American women. Learn to direct your tremendous power and potential by attending a one-day workshop on Sat 2/5, 10AM 3:30PM with other women who have helped shape the village we call Cleveland. Visit CPL.org to reserve your seats today! Exhibit runs through April.
Facing Mars @ GLSC Would YOU go to Mars? Find out how you’d fare traveling to that infamous red planet at Facing Mars, a new exhibit @ Great Lakes Science Ctr opening on Sat 1/29. Try walking on Mars, examining a real meteorite & seeing how easily you get motion sickness.
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SPONSORED: United Way’s eBay Store is open! United Way’s 10th Annual Auction on eBay is live! Bid on items such as Continental Airlines tickets, tickets to Les Miserables and Shrek, Sand Ridge Golf Club package, gift cards, and much more. Auction ends Sun 1/30. Proceeds benefit United Way of Greater Cleveland. ebay.com/unitedwaycleveland.
Child prodigy Marvin Hamlisch started picking out tunes he heard off the radio at the age of 5. His father, a Viennese accordionist and bandleader filled the house with music and one critical piece of hardware: a piano. Young Marvin started playing those radio tunes on the piano and never turned back. By age seven, he was studying at a division of the Julliard School, he became Barbara Streisand’s rehearsal pianist for Funny Girl, and then started composing a remarkable streak of hit tunes and film scores, winning 3 Oscars in 1973, only the second person to do so, and achieving the “Grand Slam” of winning Oscar (3), Emmy (4), Grammy (4) and Tony (1) awards.
The Cleveland Institute of Music’s benefit One Singular Sensation on Sat 1/29 at Severance Hall will feature Marvin Hamlisch conducting the CIM Orchestra and select CIM vocalists presenting Broadway tunes and the Hamlisch songbook. Cool Cleveland spoke with Mr. Hamlisch about the importance of childhood arts and music education, and about his fabulous career in film and pop music composition. Listen in on the call here.
SPONSORED: Party with fellow art lovers at MOCA’s Opening Night Celebration on Fri 1/28 from 7:30-10PM. Be the first to see three dynamic exhibitions: Teresita Fernandez’s Blind Landscape, Lorri Ott’s passive voices, and Javier Tellez’s Letter on the Blind for the Use of Those Who See. Catch the Artist Talk with Teresita Fernandez at 7PM. No charge. Details at MOCACleveland.org.
Meet Gary McGauley general manager of the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel, the keystone 92-year-old property on Public Square in Downtown Cleveland that was once home to the Sheraton, and was originally called Hotel Cleveland, when it pre-dated the construction of the adjacent Terminal Tower. Now the Renaissance Cleveland has upped their image, making a bold statement with a fresher look, aromatherapy, cool flowers and a $5 million renovation.
Listen as Gary and Cool Cleveland talk about their new Navigator concierge service and the hipper attitude that pervades this venerable hotel, as well as the impact that the upcoming Casino, Medical Mart & Convention Center will have on the hospitality industry in NEO. Get more information and watch the video here.
WED 1/26
Gourmets in the Garden Winter Series @ Cle Botanical Garden. Warm up w/ tasty dishes cooked by Cle’s hottest chefs using locally-sourced ingredients. Ben Bebenroth [pictured] of Spice of Life Catering Co. will cook you a fine meal on Wed 1/26. Learn cooking techniques, score recipes & sip on wine. Register now.
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THU 1/27
Coverage: The Songs of Charlie Mosbrook Local musicians pay homage to Cle legend Charlie Mosbrook — who led the success & growth of the local coffeehouse music scene for 20+ years — w/ Coverage, a musical collaborative created in his honor. Be at the Grog Shop for the CD Release Party on Thu 1/27 at 8PM & be a part of Cle music history.
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FRI 1/28
MOCA 2011 Winter Exhibition apparently comes in threes. Opening on Fri 1/28: Teresita Fernandez – Blind Landscape, Javier Tellez – Letter on the Blind for the Use of Those Who See doc about blind ppl interacting w/ an elephant [pictured] & Cle artist Lorri Ott presents passive voices. Sculpture + doc + mixed media + one giant party on opening night. [Photo: Libby Rosof]
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SAT 1/29
The Trocks are coming! Experience groundbreaking gender-bending ballet on Sat 1/29 when famous all-male ballet troupe Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo comes to PlayhouseSquare. The Trocks showcase a vast knowledge of dance w/ a little added comedy. Don’t miss it!
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SPONSORED: The Cleveland Orchestra is off to Miami for the first of its three weeks of residency. And WCLV 104.9 will be there to bring you live the Sat 1/29 concert from Knight Concert Hall. Pierre-Laurent Aimard is the soloist in the Schumann Piano Concerto. Franz also conducts Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun and Richard Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben. Full details on all of WCLVs programming at WCLV.com
SUN 1/30
Put your chili to the test at Reddstone & Whiskey Island Boat Club’s Chili Cook-Off on Sun 1/30. Bring in a crock pot of your very best chili & enter one of six categories, such as Most Unique, Best Vegetarian, Hottest and Best Overall. Pre-register up to the day of event. Portion of proceeds will benefit the Friends of the City of Cleveland Kennel. Get cooking.
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MON 1/31
Cornel West @ EJ Thomas Hall He’s the conscience of America. He’s been a champion of racial justice since being a kid. He’s the one & only Cornel West, one of our nation’s most prominent & provocative intellectuals. He’ll speak on diversity & multiculturalism on Mon 1/31 at 7:30PM. It’s a speech we all need to hear.
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TUE 2/1
Life Imitates Artifice @ CSU Gallery This exhibit of contemporary photography will disrupt your expectations of life. See a civilization free from humans; photos of reconstituted photos; and work wherein an image’s meaning shifts when textual info is added. It’s all a part of this new exhibit @ CSU featuring the work of Nate Larsen & Marni Shindelman, Brandon Juhasz, Matt Siber, Kerry Skarbakka & Lori Nix. Tue 2/1 is the perfect day to stop by the Gallery & have a gander. [Pictured: Lori Nix, Laundromat, 2008]
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WED 2/2
TWO : TWO – 2-Man Band Festival @ Beachland 1/1 was all about one-man bands. But on Wed 2/2 the two-man bands take over. Celebrate duos at the 1st Annual 2-Man Band Fest @ the Beachland w/ Qix, Green Abyss, Beach Stav, Madame & The Moist Towelettes, The Walkies [pictured],
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Men in Toe Shoes and TutusTraditional gender-bending ballet from Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo
A man dressed as a woman may cause a stir in some neighborhoods, but in the history of the theater cross-dressing is hardly out of the ordinary. Men played women’s roles in traditional kabuki theater and boys portrayed women in Shakespearean theater in the Elizabethan age.
The history of ballet is even more of a funhouse mirror of cross-dressing, gender-bending, and role reversal. Louis XIV, like his father, often danced the part of a fetching village girl. But by the 1840s role reversal had turned full circle and male dancers were all but banned from Parisian stages, their roles performed by ballerinas en travesti.
Not to mention ballet’s tradition of Ugly Stepsisters and Evil Fairies outrageously portrayed by older men. So when we heard that Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, 16 hairy-chested guys in pointe shoes and tutus, were coming to Cleveland on Sat 1/29, we saw them as part of the great tradition of the ballet and arranged a telephone interview with the Ballet Master of the Trockadero, Paul Ghiselin, also known as Ida Nevasayneva, Socialist Ballerina and Heroine of the Revolution… Read more from Elsa Johnson & Victor Lucas here
Unplugged @ Uncorked brings you the fourth release from Cleveland’s own David Ullman. A series of live recordings taken from Akron’s Uncorked, this album takes listeners directly to the intimate surroundings of the wine bar and into the entire live experience, with vocals and pre/post song conversation present. Perfect practice if you plan on attending his performance this Fri 1/28 at Arts Collinwood Cafe.
Ullman clearly has talent. Live cuts can’t keep secrets, and these tracks reveal honest vocals and a clear voice. Unplugged @ Uncorked is an acoustic rendition of Ullman’s highs and lows in love, even breaking into a bitter spell against all the schmoozers and schmucks with “Mullet Man.” Sticking to acoustic rock with a slight stray towards folk, it is easy, anytime listening… Read more from Laurie Wanninger here
For years some of my loyal and thoughtful readers have encouraged me to call out PD columnist Phillip Morris and label him an Uncle Tom for the positions he regularly takes in print that are diametrically opposed to those of the vast majority of the African-Americans hereabouts … or indeed in America. I’ve always demurred from doing so, my logic being, “Hey, the brother gotta eat, and I’m sure those white folks are feeding him well.”
Additionally, Morris (if he’s as bright as he would have the public believe) will use the fact that he is under attack from a member of the black community to ask for a raise… some weird kind of combat pay; and I ain’t trying to help increase his income. Also, the whites he plays to will coalesce around him in a circle the wagons move once they see that he is finally being called out.
For sure Morris is not the first person of color to make his living telling racist whites what they want to hear about black folks. His relatively constant calling (using very clever language) members of his own race lazy, shiftless, stupid and worse provides reactionary whites and others ample reasons for their twisted opinions of us. They can point to Morris’ self-hating babblings and say, “See, we were right all along about those people, one of their own even says so…”
Read more from Mansfield Frazier here
Read other recent pieces by Mansfield Frazier here
Quick previews & reviews of recent events
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Mansfield: Thank you, Gov. Kasich… or, “Diversity? What’s That?” Back in the early 90’s the Oregon Citizens Alliance began a campaign of fear, intimidation and political aspirations that maligned, segregated and marginalized the LGBT community. The first year of their homophobic Measure 9 saw the Portland Pride Parade swell from a mere few hundred marchers to over 6,000! Sometimes adversity brings people out of their comfortable turtle shells and…
Read the comment from Bud Perry here
Mr. Frazier, You should quit guarding your words and tell us what you really think. Carry on…
Read the comment from Bill Rucki here
We need more voices to ban together, peacefully to make a difference! Im ready…
Read the comment from Dena Conner here
Read and comment here: http://www.coolcleveland.com/blog
Most clicked
Here are the Top 5 most clicked links from last week’s issue, with one more chance for you to click.
1) Dredgers Union: A Downtown Cleveland shopping revival?
2) The NEO Top 25 Under 35 Movers & Shakers Awards
3) VIDEO: Emerging Chefs Take Over Cleveland
4) Mansfield: Thank you, Gov. Kasich or, Diversity? Whats That?
5) Lost Cleveland: Seven Wonders of the Sixth City
The smartest people in the town: our writers Minister Kyle Earley, Mansfield Frazier, Elsa Johnson & Victor Lucas, Sarah Valek and Laurie Wanninger. 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.
Get Smart,
–Thomas Mulready
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