12.02-12.09.15
Light Up
It’s time to flip the switch. From carols across the centuries to Nutcrackers across the region, it’s all happening this week, if you know where to look. Metalheads are hosting a holiday food drive. Circlefest and its Lantern Procession will brighten up the entire family.Artist enclaves from Tower Press to Lakewood’s Screw Factory will illuminate your holidays, while the Day Glo art show relocates to Waterloo. Lakewood lights it up and Olmsted Falls premieres a brand new holiday chestnut. Mike Polk releases a new comedy CD this week at the Agora in Midtown, and already he hates it. Steve Presser is back on Clifton with a pop-up in his old space, bringing a few bright friends with him.
Shining like stars are Cleveland women Faye Hargate at CPT, and Liz Huff at Brothers, while Alison Garrigan’s Talespinner makes magic with music, dance, puppets & masks in Gordon Square. CoolCleveland featured photographer Elisa Vietri (that’s her work up top every week) visits with us from her Moonstruck gallery in Little Italy. And get this: the Rock Solid Summit posits Cleveland as a hub for the music business, creativity and tourism. That kind of stuff lights me right up. –Thomas Mulready
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Photo by Elisa Vietri
Ever wonder whose photography is featured at the top of every issue of CoolCleveland?
Elisa Vietri is one of Cleveland’s most recognizable photographers, and her gallery Moonstruck in Cleveland’s Little Italy neighborhood expresses an even wider range of her aesthetic. Listen as Elisa talks about her inspiration and some of the artists she has chosen to feature at Moonstruck. Then visit her gallery at Little Italy’s next art walk, Winter Wonderland, on Fri 12/4, Sat 12/5 and Sun 12/6.
Maybe you’ve seen A Christmas Carol and The Nutcracker as many times as you care to. Maybe you’re even burned out on A Christmas Story. There’s a new holiday show in town you haven’t seen because it’s having its world premiere right here in Cleveland.
Kris Kringle the Musical opens this week at the Olmsted Performing Arts Center. How did it happen to make its first-ever appearance there? CoolCleveland’s Roy Berko has the story. Fri 12/4-Sun 12/13.
Ready to light up your online presence? Consider CoolCleveland Sponsored Links, Sponsored Features and Sponsored Videos. Info@CoolCleveland.com
SPONSORED: Aiming to move from the meeting room to the boardroom? An MBA from Baldwin Wallace University gives you a 360° understanding of the business landscape, develops your individual skills and supports your professional goals. Learn how to become a leader who can meet the challenges of the modern business enterprise; attend a BW MBA Open House on Wed 12/9 at Corporate College East or Thu 12/10 in Berea. Info and registration at BW.edu.
Cleveland-based comedian Mike Polk Jr. cops to being kinda lazy. He released his last album “four or five years ago,” he’s not quite sure. But now, he says, a friend he calls his “sugar daddy” pressured him until he came up with his new effort, titled Baselessly Arrogant.
Polk talks to CoolCleveland’s John Benson about how the new album came about and where he’s drifting next. He’ll celebrate the album with a show at the Agora where he says he won’t perform anything from it. Fri 12/4.
One of the most predictable holiday occurrences is the return of The Nutcracker, every little girl’s favorite ballet, set to familiar music by Tchaikovsky. For many, it’s their first time dancing onstage, thanks to its large cast of kids’ roles.
There are a half dozen different versions coming to area stages in the nest several weeks, some very traditional and some with unusual spins. Our dance writers, Elsa Johnson and Victor Lucas, provide a rundown on the many types of Nutcrackers you can see. Sat 12/5-Sun 12/20.
The Artists Archives of the Western Reserve has had a lot of experience in preserving the work of significant area artists so that it doesn’t end up dumped on a tree lawn after their death. Their mission is to make sure Cleveland’s art history is available for research and exhibition long after the artist has died.
In keeping with that mission, they’ve invited two attorneys who specialize in this sort of estate planning for artists and collectors to come to talk to anyone interested and answer questions. Sat 12/5.
Ohio Legal Blank has been providing legal forms, notary supplies and official paperwork since 1883. Their latest location is smack in the heart of Cleveland thriving new downtown retail district.
Visit their new retail outlet at the 5th Street Arcades where you will find a generous offering of everyday office supplies, specialty forms and certificates, rubber stamps, stock & LLC certificates, corporate kits, embossing seals & stamps, landlord supplies and much more.
Big Fun on Coventry is a toy-lovers’ paradise, no matter what era one grew up in. Its collection of toys and novelties spans half a century. There used to be a west side location on Clifton which closed a few years ago. But owner Steve Presser is reopening that location as a pop-up shop for the holidays.
Expect the same mix of the weird, the amusing, the nostalgic and the collectible, the vast majority of it well within a kids’ allowance budget. Stop in to do one-stop shopping for stocking stuffers. Through Sun 1/3/16.
Both boys and girls should love Talespinner Children’s Theatre’s fantasy/adventure, Prince Ivan and the Firebird. It’s filled with music, dancing, puppets, masks and costumes. And if your kids love it, buy them tickets for the Talespinner’s 2016 season as a holiday gift. Through Sun 12/20.
Click here for more CoolCleveland Kids events
Sandwich Special: The 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon Melt. Seasonal Sides: Cheesy Romano Cauliflower & Kung Pow Brussels Sprouts. Bread Pudding: Red Velvet Bread Pudding. Beer Feature : Brew Kettle Winter Warmer. Drink Feature: St. Elmo’s Fire.
Melt News: Melt Announces 7th location coming to Akron at 3921 Medina Road just east of Interstate 77, tent: 3/16. Star Wars Weekend: 12/18-20 The Force Awakens with special Star Wars themed sandwiches and drinks offered all weekend! Book your holiday parties at Melt: 216-520-1415 & check new catering/party menu: MeltBarAndGrilled.com/menu.
SPONSORED: December shines at The Kent Stage with performers like The Stampede: Donna The Buffalo; Peter Rowan; Ben Cohen, J.D. Souther, The Speedbumps, George Winston, and Rumple Mountain Boys. Get your DISCOUNT tickets now and SAVE $10 with the promo code “cool10” for An Evening With Felix Cavaliere’s Rascals on Sun 12/13. TheKentStage.com.
Each year around this time Cleveland metal fans pour into the Beachland Ballroom for a free show with a huge lineup of local bands. They come bearing cans of food and sacks of pet food because it’s the annual Metal Holiday Food Drive. Sat 12/5.
Read more of CoolCleveland’s picks for Cool Events.
WED 12/2
CIM grad Liz Huff is a singer and actress who has performed on stages all around town. But now she’s releasing her first solo album, and it’s all about Christmas in the many musical styles she’s adept at. She’ll debut it at a show at Brother’s Lounge.
Click here for more events on Wed 12/2
THU 12/3
Faye Hargate is quickly acquiring a reputation as one of the most daring and riveting performers in Cleveland. Her one-woman show about a young woman navigating the passage from pre-teen to late adolescence opens at Cleveland Public Theatre. Through Sat 12/19.
Click here for more events on Thu 12/3
FRI 12/4
Rockfeller Park Greenhouse will be awash with poinsettias for sale this weekend. And there will be a group of artists there selling giftable items they’ve made from upcycled materials. Also Sat 12/5.
Click here for more events on Fri 12/4
SAT 12/5
The Tower Press Building is home to some of Cleveland’s most talented artists. Stop by and check out what they create – and maybe buy some art for gifts – when they open their doors for the all-day holiday sale.
Click here for more events on Sat 12/5
SUN 12/6
Music as a tool to survive oppression is the theme of the concert “Songs of Resistance” by the Imani Temple Singers, who will perform songs of slavery tied in with the Holocaust-related exhibit Violins of Hope at the Maltz Museum. They’ll perform it at the Maltz Museum today and Imani Temple 12/13.
Click here for more events on Sun 12/6
MON 12/7
Bassist Stu Hamm is known for the virtuoso technique he’s deployed in bands with guitarists like Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. He’ll perform with Testament guitarist Alex Skolnik when he brings his Stu Hamm Trio to Nightgown.
Click here for more events on Mon 12/7
TUE 12/8
Jazz and pop standards, along with Latin, funk and rock tunes, arranged for a big band, will be on the setlist when the True North Big Band take the stage tonight at the BOPSTOP.
Click here for more events on Tue 12/8
WED 12/9
Sustainable Cleveland 2019 looks at a different aspect of sustainability each year. At their quarterly meeting tonight, free and open to the public, they’ll look back on the Year of Clean Water and look ahead to the Year of Sustainable Transportation. It takes place at Rustbelt Reclamation, a sustainable-minded business which makes furniture from discarded materials.
Click here for more events on Wed 12/9
Send your cool events to: Events@CoolCleveland.com
in the end, the ballyhooed “endorsement meeting” with Donald Trump and (allegedly) 100 black ministers, scheduled for Mon 11/30, was cancelled as it became mired in controversy. Many of the ministers claimed they were told the meeting, organized by Cleveland minister Darrell Scott, was “informational.” In the end, far fewer than 100 showed up and only Scott formally endorsed Trump.
CoolCleveland columnists Mansfield Frazier and C. Ellen Connally have some thoughts about the kind of clergy who would play footsie with Trump, and they pull no punches in sharing them with us….
On Monday, November 30 Trump Tower in New York City will play host to a modern-day sale of Negroes, as upwards of 100 colored boys – all pretending to be men, and men of the cloth no less – will be bought by presidential candidate…
* More on McGinty The two characteristics I value most in a person are loyalty and consistency: You know that a person is going to stick by their beliefs, and not change from…
Read other stories from Mansfield Frazier here
A look back at the last week
Submit your own review or commentary to Events@CoolCleveland.com
THEATER REVIEW: Guys on Ice at Actors’ Summit by Roy Berko
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) ShopLOCAL This Holiday Season
2) MANSFIELD: What Would Dr. King Do?
3) MANSFIELD: Coates on Religion
4) Explore the Cool Neighborhoods in Northeast Ohio’s
5) Citizen Pie Brings Neapolitan-Style Pizza to Waterloo Road
Turn on the bright lights,
–Thomas Mulready
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