04.11-04.18.2018 Drums & Dragons

04.11-04.18.18
Drums & Dragons

It’s not quite time to get out on the water. But the Cleveland Dragon Boat Association is getting a jump on things with their benefit this week at Forest City Brewing. Row on over.

As a drummer, I relate to the beat. Whether it’s the thrum of Beethoven’s symphonies performed by TCO, or the Rock Hall Inductions returning to Cleveland this year. If you’re ready to go daytripping, CoolCleveland correspondent Nicole Hennessy rolls out the perfect plan for an artsy weekend nearby. If you’re up for a road trip, we’re headlining with our Bowie show and Vanity Crash in Chicago this weekend.

On the flip side, Terrence Spivey, Peter Lawson Jones and Jeffrey Glover dispel the myth of leaving home to become successful in the arts. CoolCleveland columnist Ellen Connally criticizes the blizzard of hostile taunts Native American protesters suffered on opening day. Mansfield beats the drum about making our community safe for sex workers, while CoolCleveland’s wine maven Claudia Taller finds a new favorite spot in Lakewood. Let’s find the best in each other, and beat it to the Lake. –Thomas Mulready

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Photo by Mary Breiner
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Dragons & Drums on the Cuyahoga

As the Cuyahoga’s combustible years fade from memory, recreational use of the river has exploded, with crews of all sizes rowing all types of boats. None are more colorful or impressive than the dragon boats, with their 22-person crews including a drummer whose beats urge the rowers along.

The Cleveland Dragon Boat Association, which hosts its races in August, starts up in May but in the meantime, it’s holding an informal fundraiser at Forest City Brewing. Come down and see what it’s about. They’re always welcoming new rowers. Sat 4/14.

Tap Dance Killer Comic Debuts Worldwide Today

Actress Nikki St Clair (named after the iconic Avenue) was the sweetest gal in the Cleveland until she was cast in a horror show musical as the Tap Dance Killer. Now, unable to shake the role, this 1920s-esque bizarre mobster assassin is out on the streets dealing damage with a theatrical flair that leaves ’em, quite literally, slain in the aisles!

Akron resident Ted Sikora, raised in Cleveland, unleashes his latest comic masterpieces with issue #1 of Apama and Tap Dance Killer, a character that debuted as a song, morphed into a staged musical, and now explodes as a graphic novel worldwide. Wow!

How to Make Cleveland a Springboard, Not a Trap

The idea of leaving for LA or NY has probably occurred to every fledgling midwestern actor or musician. But do you really have to go to be successful? Cleveland-based actors Jeffrey Glover and Peter Lawson Jones didn’t think so. And while we’ve seen them on many local stages, they’ve also amassed packed resumes of film and TV appearances.

How? They’ll share their secrets at a forum at the Shore Cultural Center moderated by director Terrence Spivey who certainly didn’t have to go anywhere to be doing the work of at least three people. Sat 4/14.

To the Happy Hunting Grounds

It’s well past time that the Cleveland Indians’ 86-year-old logo Chief Wahoo was retired, says CoolCleveland columnist Ellen Connally. But even though he’ll be vanishing from uniforms next year, he’ll linger on decorating merchandise and in the minds of some angry fans who have rudely confronted Native-American protestors.

Connelly suggests that fans need to let go with a show of class and not a blizzard of hostile taunts. “Clevelanders should stand up for the right of those Native Americans who wish to express their opinions as well as the rights of the Chief Wahoo supporters,” she says.

An Artsy Weekend

Maybe that vacation getaway to an exotic tropical locale isn’t in the cards, but you can always go to… Akron? Nicole Hennessy spent a weekend an hour south of Cleveland, where she discovered some cool art, both in a hideaway house gallery and at the city’s premiere art destination, the Akron Art Museum.

She also took a side jaunt to Canton where she chatted with Azriel Johnson of Writing Knights to learn what they’re doing to promote the city’s literary scene. She shares her discoveries – and her photos – with us.

VIDEO: Pterosaurs Land at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History

Millions of years ago, the skies were ruled by pterosaurs, the first vertebrates to fly. Not dinosaurs, pterosaurs could fly with their fingers and they could walk on their wings. Learn more about these prehistoric reptiles at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s new exhibition, Pterosaurs: Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs.

Dr. Michael Ryan gave CoolCleveland’s Stephan Haluska a tour of the exhibition, learning about pterosaurs along the way. You can see fossils, pterosaur recreations, videos and an interactive game where you can become a pterosaur. The exhibition runs through Sun 8/12.

A Fairytale for Today

Remember the old fairytale of The Emperor’s New Clothes – the one in which a couple of crafty tailors convince the emperor that they have made him the greatest suit of clothes anyone has every seen? The suit didn’t actually exist and he was naked, but they convinced him he looked so splendid that he boasted about his new gear.

Sound a bit too close to home these days? Oh well, the kids will still get a kick out of Illusion Factory’s version of the story performed this afternoon at the Akron Civic Theatre. Sun 4/15.

Click here for more CoolCleveland Kids events

Our wine maven Claudia Taller also loves a good meal. And she has a new favorite place to get one: a cozy new Italian place in Lakewood called Molto Bene, run by Gonzalo Egozcue and his wife Liliana.

Come with her as she tries the bruschetta, the arancini, lobster ravioli, eggplant parmesan, salmon with pistachios on linguine with white sauce, Pollo a la Luchese enlivened with capers and more and finds them all “motto bene.” She reminds you to try the gelato: Egozcue comes from a gelato-producing family and he has been making it for 40 years.

Read more of CoolCleveland’s picks for Eats and Drinks.

Akron native Tim Easton pays tribute to acoustic blues and traditional American folk on his stark new album, Paco & the Melodic Polaroids. He’ll perform at Survival Kit gallery to celebrate its release. Fri 4/13.

* Apollo’s Fire closes its season with Monteverdi opera Orfeo. Fri 4/13, Sat 4/14 & Wed 4/18.

* The spirit of late Parma metalhead Jim Konya still lives at Konyafest 3. Fri 4/13.

* The Akron Symphony and Cleveland Jazz Orchestra swing some tunes at E.J. Thomas Hall. Sat 4/14.

* Trumpeter Dominick Farinacci and veteran/narrator Jaymes Poling tell the story of a “Modern Warrior” at Nighttown Thu 4/12 and Akron’s Blu Jazz + Sat 4/14.

Read more of CoolCleveland’s picks for Cool Events.

WED 4/11
NEOSonicFest wraps up tonight at Baldwin Wallace, where the Cleveland Chamber Symphonies performs a free concert of music by the finalists in its Young and Emerging Composers program, all students at area colleges and universities.

* 80s blue-collar rocker Willie Nile resurfaces at the Winchester Music Tavern.

* NYU professor talks about Islam and homosexuality at Baldwin Wallace.

Click here for more events on Wed 4/11

THU 4/12
Breaking free and realizing your potential is the theme of the classic Pinocchio story, and it underlies Cleveland’s Dancing Wheels ensemble too. So it’s an appropriate story for them to choreograph and perform at the Breen Center, with performances today, tomorrow and Sun 4/15.

* Three NE Ohio artists talk about their work on view at the Akron Art Museum.

* Between tonight and tomorrow morning’s concert, the Cleveland Orchestra will play THREE Beethoven symphonies.

* Bassist Francois Moutin and vocalist Kavita Shah perform as a duo at the BOP STOP.

* Author of Jewish baseball card book speaks at the Baseball Heritage Museum.

* Roaming blues musician Ray Bonneville rambles back to Oberlin’s Riverdog Retreat.

Click here for more events on Thu 4/12

FRI 4/13
Summit Artspace’s new show 24 is a photographic look, for better and worse, at Akron’s 24 neighborhoods. It was juried by Akron photographer Shane Wynn whose own look through the lens at Akron will also be on view.

* Akron Civic Theatre goes to the dogs with the Chris Perondi Stunt Dogs.

* Lakewood’s Thrift Crypt becomes a little toy shop of horrors.

* Chris Allen & friends pay tribute to Rock Hall inductees past and present at the Music Box.

* Pianist Billy Childs continues his Oberlin residency with performances at Finney Chapel tonight and tomorrow.

* Shaker Heights’ Van Aken District kicks off the outdoor season with Bloom & Buzz.

* Akron’s artist-run Box Gallery opens two new shows.

* Cellist Dane Johansen performs for the Cleveland Cello Society at The Music Settlement.

* Walkabout Tremont is all a-bloom for April.

* Blank Canvas Theatre tackles Side Show, a musical story of conjoined twins. Through Sat 4/28.

Click here for more events on Fri 4/13

SAT 4/14
In the last decade, the roller derby revival has taken the country – and Cleveland – by storm. Tonight Lakewood’s Good Goat Gallery holds a “Moonlight Masquerade” art benefit party for the Burning River Roller Girls. Costumes and masks encouraged!

* Jazz pianist Gerald Clayton explores Piedmont Blues in a multimedia presentation at Tri-C Metro.

* The Rock Hall inductions are sold out, but you can go to the afterparty at the House of Blues with Dj Questlove.

* Go green at the Rock for Water fashion show at the Lorain Palace Theatre.

* The Baseball Heritage Museum remembers the great Jackie Robinson.

* Oberlin’s Riverdog Retreat hosts singing Americana couple and burns winter in effigy!

* North Union Crocker Park Farmers Market opens its outdoor season.

* Virginia’s high-energy downhome Steel Wheels returns to Peninsula’s G.A.R. Hall.

* Folksinger Nathan Bell has stories to sing at Folknet concert in Lyndhurst.

* Akron Civic presents UA male a cappella group Nuance.

Click here for more events on Sat 4/14

SUN 4/15
Sometime in April the daffodils are at their peak. Lake View Cemetery always hopes it coincides with Daffodil Sunday when it invites drivers and walkers to stop by Daffodil Hill where 100,000 bulbs will be blooming. Or come another day, but today refreshments and souvenirs will be available.

* Cleveland poet d.a. levy is remembered by WordStage at the Lakewood Library.

* Kent’s environmental film festival covers a gamut of earth-friendly topics.

* The Musical Theater Project and Kent musical theater department stage obscure Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Allegro at KSU tonight and the Breen Center tomorrow.

* Violin/cello duo plays old and new music for Arts Renaissance Tremont.

* Tour the town and enjoy student art at the Lakewood Coffee Shop Hop.

Click here for more events on Sun 4/15

MON 4/16
Israeli shoe designer Kobi Levi’s astonishing footwear creations have been worn by the likes of Lady Gaga, who can afford them. Even if you can’t, you can look for free at The Temple Museum in Beachwood, where Levi will be in the gallery all week, following a Sun 4/15 reception and shoe fashion show.

Click here for more events on Mon 4/16

TUE 4/17
Shortly after WW II, civic leaders got the idea of clearing slums by housing their residents in huge clusters of high-rises, which quickly became hives of violence, crime & poverty. The film The Pruitt-Igor Myth, screening at the Capitol Theatre, examines why this happened.

* Nature-minded poet Elsa Johnson is featured at Art on Madison’s POETRY +.

* Sustainable Cleveland holds its quarterly public meeting at the Great Lakes Brewing Tasting Room.

* Canadian bass-baritone Gerald Finley performs at Oberlin’s Finney Chapel.

* Free improvising trio Spectral kicks off the evening at the BOP STOP, followed by the monthly Outlab jam.

* New Yorker journalist/author David Grann talks about the grisly real-life stories in his books at CWRU’s Maltz PAC.

Click here for more events on Tue 4/17

WED 4/18
Journalist/author James Renner has become an amateur sleuth, unearthing clues to solve real-life crimes. He’ll talk about the books he’s written about these cases at a Cleveland Stories event at the Music Box Supper Club.

* Tonight’s Think and Drink With the Extinct event at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History looks at flight, including that of the pterosaurs currently on exhibit at the Museum.

* The Brentano String Quartet plays modern music and Mozart at E.J. Thomas Hall.

Click here for more events on Wed 4/18

Send your cool events to: Events@CoolCleveland.com

Ending the World’s Oldest Profession

But we citizens need not worry; the government is protecting us by putting an end to all prostitution by taking down the Backpages website. Remember that the next time you drive by a group of women standing on a street corner…

Read other stories from Mansfield Frazier here