07.26-08.02.17
Artsy
And we mean that in a good way. Unpretentious. Inventive. Un-self-conscious. Ingenious.Nothing could be more artistic and delightful than light opera, and no one does it better than Ohio Light Opera, celebrating their 36th season. Cleveland’s Baseball Heritage Museum at historic League Park honors the Cactus League in the 1940s when the first Negro League stars like the Cleveland Indians’ Larry Doby started spring training for the major leagues.
Post-harcore band Sparrows flys into Blankslate, James Levin prepares FireFish Festival, Mookoomba appears on Ohio City Stages, Ohio Shakespeare Festival tells A Winter’s Tale, this year’s DEVOtional adds a 5KDEVO Race, and this year’s 14th annual Family Unity in the Park, organized by Cleveland City Councilman and leading mayoral candidate Zach Reed, features the Average White Band.
CPT’s Student Theatre Enrichment Program (STEP) has been changing lives by exposing low-income urban teens to rigorous arts and theater training for 23 years in a row. Artsyism is a backyard fundraiser for Autism Speaks featuring some of Cleveland’s most creative artist selling jewelry, art, textiles, crafts and vintage finds. Artsy is where you find it. –Thomas Mulready
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One of Cleveland Public Theatre’s many outreach programs is the Student Theatre Enrichment Program aka STEP, now in its 23rd year. Each summer, it hires a company – cast & crew – of low-income urban teens to put together an original play to express their own thoughts, ideas and dreams, which they perform free in local parks.
The year’s production, And Yet, We Shine, will begin its parks tour at Herman Park in Gordon Square on Tue 8/1, the first of 11 performances all over Cleveland. Tue 8/1-Fri 8/11.
There’s really nothing quite like Ohio Light Opera, which performs a two-month summer stock-style season of classic musicals and operettas in Wooster each summer. Now in its 36th season, it always honors its roots with a Gilbert & Sullivan production. But it also presents classic musicals and operettas like The Music Man and The Student Prince along with seldom-seen gems like George Gershwin’s Primrose.
John Benson talks to OLO artistic director Steven Daigle to discover what has kept this theater driving as other summer stock theaters fall by the wayside. Sat 6/17-Sat 8/12.
Some benefits are big and bustling, with a focus on the open bar. That’s not true of Artsyism, a fundraiser for Autism Speaks. This intimate event takes place in a backyard garden in Cleveland Heights and it revolves local artists selling their handmade wares, including jewelry, textiles and crafts, along with vintage finds. It also features a farm stand with fresh produce!
The garden’s owner Donald Bingham Schmitt explains how special it is to have the artists there selling their work, instead of just donating pieces for the typical benefit raffle or auction. Sun 7/30.
Juggler/comedian Mark Nizer is known for his spectacular shows which combine his dexterous feats with spellbinding special effects, enhanced by his engagingly humorous personality. While Nizer has performed at plenty of “adult” venues such a nightclubs, cruises and corporate events, and on college campuses, the matinee show he is doing at Cain Park in Cleveland is geared toward the whole family. Wed 8/2.
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SPONSORED: Open House at The Music Settlement Bring yourself & your whole family (grandparents, too!) to BOP STOP at The Music Settlement for a FREE Community OPEN HOUSE on Sun 7/30 from 12:30-3:30PM. Performances, snacks, activities… plus information about our under-construction NEW CAMPUS on Detroit Rd (opening Fall 2018). Click for details & come on down! 2920 Detroit Ave., Ohio City.
Food is always more flavorful with members of the allium family – onions, garlic, chives, leeks. Come learn how to grow your own from a master gardener at the Euclid Public Library. Fri 7/28.
* Karen Small of Ohio City’s Flying Fig hosts the first of six farmers market dinners – with an all-vegetarian menu. Thu 7/27.
Read more of CoolCleveland’s picks for Eats and Drinks.
See how high schoolers are transforming agriculture in Cleveland. Holden Forests & Gardens’ Green Corps work-study program employs high school students to grow, harvest, and sell produce at five urban farms. The Green Corps Midtown Farm is part of this year’s Ohio Sustainable Farm Tour presented by the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association and others. Youth farmers will describe square foot gardening, composting, herb spirals and beekeeping.
The event also features food demonstrations, music and family-friendly activities, such as scavenger hunts and crafts. Fresh produce will be available for purchase. Free admission on Sat 7/29 at 1-4PM, at the Green Corps Midtown Learning Farm, 1945 E. 66th St., Cleveland, OH 44103 Details here.
Opera in the Italian Garden has become an annual tradition that draws thousands to hear a free performance by world-class singers. Sun 7/30.
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You best believe him when James Levin opens his mouth to speak.
The same guy who founded Cleveland Public Theatre, started the Gordon Square Arts District, and co-founded Ingenuity with yours truly, (along with many more creations), is now in his third year of the FireFish Festival, transforming Lorain, Ohio with arts & culture. Listen in as Levin describes the transformative power of art, as evidenced by his efforts at in Cleveland at W. 65th & Detroit and down at E. 4th Street, this time along Broadway Avenue in Downtown Lorain.
The community is ready to come alive on October 6 & 7, 2017 with musical stages, abandoned storefronts turned into art galleries and interactive art exhibits, all capped off with a Symphony for a Thousand Voices, a pagan Steampunk parade and the ritual burning of the FireFish.
WED 7/26
Come to a free street party in Hingetown as Zimbabwe “Afro-fusion” group Mokoomba closes this year’s series of Ohio City Stages global music concerts. There’s food, drink and art-making too.
Click here for more events on Wed 7/26
THU 7/27
As part of its Sustainable Cleveland 2019 program, Cleveland’s sustainability department hosts a PechaKucha-style event at the Music Box on the year’s theme. 2017 is the Year of Vibrant Green Space.
Click here for more events on Thu 7/27
FRI 7/28
Earth Day Coalition’s Clean Transportation Cruise-In at Edgewater Park won’t feature vintage muscle cars, but rather the vehicles of the future including electric motorcycles, hybrid cars & natural gas vehicles.
Click here for more events on Fri 7/28
SAT 7/29
“Cactus Leagues” spring training in 1947 was the harbinger of the shattering of the color line that kept black players out of major league baseball. Learn more in a multimedia presentation by author Charlie Vascellaro at the Baseball Heritage Museum.
Click here for more events on Sat 7/29
SUN 7/30
The Cleveland Foundation has partnered with various civic, nonprofit and cultural organizations for “Common Ground,” a day of conversations about creating a stronger community at dozens of locations, including Public Square.
Click here for more events on Sun 7/30
MON 7/31
The county fairs start coming fast and furious now, with their livestock, giant pumpkins, country performers, rides and the popular giant truck races and demolition derbies. Medina is up this week. Through Sun 8/6.
Click here for more events on Mon 7/31
TUE 8/1
Could the conficts on Earth expand to encompass outer space as use of space grows? That’s the topic at this month’s Happy Dog Takes on the World. Given the current president’s propensity for inventing conflict out of thin air, maybe you should order TWO hot dogs during the presentation. Or three!
Click here for more events on Tue 8/1
WED 8/2
Bats aren’t as creepy and dangerous as you might think. Come to Summit Metroparks and learn how they benefit the ecosystem while getting up close and personal with some live bats.
Click here for more events on Wed 8/2
Send your cool events to: Events@CoolCleveland.com
As Cashin points out, the purposeful creation of an entrenched pigmentocracy gave the lie to our fledgling democracy. The white ruling class had to engage in tremendous mental gymnastics in an effort (failed, to this very day) to juxtapose the two facets…
Read other stories from Mansfield Frazier here
A look back at the last week
Submit your own review or commentary to Events@CoolCleveland.com
PHOTOSTREAM: 78th Street Studios Third Friday by Anastasia Pantsios
THEATER REVIEW: Countess Maritza at Ohio Light Opera by Lisa Rene DeBenedictis
MUSIC REVIEW: Cleveland Orchestra does “Best of Broadway” @ Blossom by Roy Berko
THEATER REVIEW: The Sound of Music @ PlayhouseSquare by Roy Berko
DANCE REVIEW: GroundWorks DanceTheater @ Cain Park by Roy Berko
Read and comment here: http://www.coolcleveland.com/blog
Art thou artsy?
–Thomas Mulready
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