Wed 12/4 @ 7PM (5pm doors)
Whether you were on the dance floor at the annual Cleveland Thanksgiving Polka Weekend or never danced a step, you’re invited to come down to the Music Box Supper Club to learn about an important piece of Cleveland music and cultural history: The Life and Times of Frankie Yankovic, Cleveland’s Polka King.
When the boys came home from fighting overseas in World War II, they flooded Cleveland’s nightclubs to fill the dance floors in the area’s active Slovenian polka scene. Yankovic himself served in the war and owned one such bar, which became a gathering place; he sold it after his 1947 record “Just Because” became the first of his two platinum-selling hits (The other was 1949’s “Blue Sky Waltz”) and he hit the road for a touring career that lasted nearly until his death in 1998 at the age of 83. Following his funeral mass at St. Mary’s in Collinwood, local accordion players gathered in front of the church for an impromptu jam session.
The discussion will be hosted by Western Reserve Historical Society historian John Grabowski. His guests will be Joe Valencic, a co-founder of the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame in Euclid, and local polka band leader Anthony Culkar who will bring his accordion and plays some tunes for the audience.
As usual, there’s a fixed-price three course dinner available, themed to the evening’s program: pierogi soup, pork schnitzel with mashed potatoes, and coffee & doughnut bread pudding. You can also order off the regular menu. Doors open at 5 for dinner; program starts at 7. It’s free but you should make a table reservation to eat. Go here.
Cleveland, OH 44113