Everywhere you go in our region this week, you find luminous, shimmering talent on display. Listen to Bella Sin, as she proudly announces the 13th Ohio Burlesque Festival, and tells CoolCleveland how the event has grown to include 75 performers: burlesque and drag artists, live singers, aerial performers and sideshow, vaudeville and variety acts.Other stars shine just as radiantly: local heavy metal legends sparkle at the Rock Hall, while three of the area’s most popular women singers shimmer at Cain Park’s Sunset Sounds. Highland Square’s PorchROKR glistens with more than 150 bands. Third Friday at 78th Street glows on all four floors of art and artists. Pagan Pride blazes away with three days of music, dance, artists and workshops on Bedford Square.
Bike Cleveland calls attention to protected bike lanes, the Waterloo Alley Cat Project hosts a big party to help fund their splendid work, and The Cleveland Legal Aid Society helps people with non-criminal legal issues (work disputes, landlord issues), and to raise money, lawyers, judges and law professors rock out brilliantly at the Beachland. It’s all quite incandescent. So put on your shades and get out there.
Join us on Sunday, August 18, for a back-to-school bash at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History! As we gear up for the new school year, we invite young visitors to decorate notebooks and create natural history–themed items to jazz up backpacks.
Educators enjoy half-off general admission by presenting their school ID at the front desk. As part of our Mandel Community Days, all Cleveland and East Cleveland residents can visit the Museum and participate in these activities for free. No registration required! Read more.
Sometimes it’s hard to believe how far the Ohio Burlesque Fest has come, from a lightly attended one-night event in 2011 featuring mostly local and regional performers, many clearly novices, to a three-night extravaganza drawing some of the most gifted burlesque and drag artists from across the country and even around the world, representing an astonishing array of races, cultures and gender identities as well as talents and performance styles.
Founded by Cleveland’s premier burlesque performer, producer, teacher and historian Bella Sin as an offshoot of an ensemble she launched 20 years ago, OBF has weathered challenges to become one of the major events on the national burlesque calendar. Bella tells us how it happened and all the work that led up to this weekend’s event featuring more than 75 performers of all types.Read more.
Astoria Café & Market General Manager Michael Slater and CoolCleveland’s Thomas Mulready are having way too much fun as they discuss the latest summer drink ideas from Cleveland Independents.
Summertime Splash is a collaborative effort between Stoli Vodka and the Watermelon Council, along with many of Cleveland’s favorite restaurants and bars to offer fun libations and a slick recipe book for mixing up sweet summer potables. From Batuqui’s Watermelon Bliss to a Watermelon Mint Martini from Creekside Restaurant & Bar, celebrate Watermelon Month and pick up a free recipe guide at participating Cleveland area restaurants. Read more.
Cleveland’s creative community has lost two significant figures in the last few weeks.
Joyce Brabner came to Cleveland in 1984 and married comic book writer/graphic novelist Harvey Pekar. She established her own credentials as a talented writer, sometimes working on projects with Pekar, other times on her own. Following his 2010 from cancer in 2010, she wrote extensively, as well as tended to Pekar’s legacy. She passed away form cancer at age 72.
Music producer Bill Korecky was known as the curmudgeon of Cleveland’s heavy music scene, but his Mars Recording cranked out great records by everyone who was anyone in that scene, including Mushroomhead, Environmental Hazzard, the Spudmonsters, Hatric, Lestat, Keelhaul, Integrity, Outface and the mighty Craw. While he often griped about the bands, their lack of professionalism and what he had to do to get a good performance out of them, his love for the music shone in his results.Read more.
The Cleveland Arts Prize is thrilled to announce its Annual Awards Event, presented by the Cleveland Museum of Art, set to take place on Thu 10/24, at the Tri-C East Campus in Beachwood, hosted by Ideastream’s Kabir Bhatia, featuring a stunning lineup of performances that showcase the rich talent of past winners and Ohio’s vibrant arts community. Tony Award-winning performer and Cleveland Arts Prize winner Alice Ripley will grace the stage, alongside a mesmerizing performance by the Ohio Contemporary Ballet, who will bring to life the choreography of Cleveland Arts Prize winner Heinz Poll.
Following the awards ceremony, guests are invited to a post-show reception sponsored by Case Western Reserve University, where they’ll have the unique opportunity to mingle and connect with the 2024 award winners. This year’s honorees include the visionary photographer Amber N. Ford, celebrated composer Clint Needham, esteemed photographer Barbara Bosworth, art advocate Shannon Morris, community leaders Dr. Ronald and Eugenia Strauss, and arts and culture philanthropist Ellen Stirn Mavec. Read more.
SUN 8/18 Sharing Their Music The Cleveland Philharmonic is comprised of freelance professional and semi-pro musicians as well as trained amateurs and students, with a goal of making classical music accessible to all. Today’s recital and wine tasting at the BOP STOP benefits that goal.
