05.22-05.29.2019 Women Speak Out

05.22-05.29.19
Women Speak Out

And it’s time for us to listen. The Bechdel Test for films is easy: at least two female characters with names must talk to each other about something other than a man or boy. Akron teacher/activist Brit Charek took those guidelines and turned them into the Bechdel Film Fest, taking place at several venues in Akron this week.

14-year-old Cleveland singer/songwriter Ava Preston is Billboard’s Best Junior High Jazz Vocalist for the 2nd year in a row, and she is performing at the #1 Jazz Club in the USA, the BOP STOP. Street glass artist Deanna Dionne shows her work at Oberlin’s Verite Gallery. Film icon Bette Davis stars in the 1950 film All About Eve, screening at the Capitol Theatre’s Happy Hour Classic Film Series.

Peruse our curated listings and features below and you’ll find other superwomen (and men) appearing, performing and otherwise strutting their stuff in our region this week. Be sure to check out our popular annual 2019 Summer Festival Guide, freshly updated. Then we’ll see (and hear) you out and about this week. –Thomas Mulready

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Time to Party Outdoors

After a long, chilly spring, all of a sudden it’s Memorial Day and summer is here in a flash! That means that the festival season, which gave us scattered events in April and May, suddenly explodes with activity. Just this weekend, you can choose between the Greek Festival in Tremont (pictured), Blossom Time in Chagrin Falls & the National Rib Cookoff at the Berea Fairgrounds.

There’s a festival for every taste, with events centered around food, wine, beer, art, theater, music, local history & traditions, religious celebrations, ethnic culture, agriculture, animals, football, contests, tall ships and dragon boats, sustainability, community, interactive creativity, and more. Check out our annual guide and plan your summer now, before it’s too late.

SPONSORED: You and your favorite rising high school senior can enjoy a laid-back college visit to Baldwin Wallace University at a summer cookout (June 21, July 11 or August 1). In addition to food and fun, you’ll gain valuable information about BW’s academics, activities and campus life, along with the admission process and financial aid. Info/RSVP here.

Strutting Their Stuff

Anyone who knows Bella Sin, founder and director of the Cleveland Burlesque troupe, knows that one of her passions is her commitment to diversity, booking performers who represent a spectrum of races, ethnicities, gender & sexual identities and body types.

Cleveland Burlesque’s 2nd annual Caramel Revue at the Beachland Ballroom, subtitled Divinitease, focuses on “Black Divinity, Obsidian Goddesses, Voodoo, Witchcraft and Black Mythology.” It features performers such as Mr. Tuesday (pictured), popular local drag queen Kimmy Katarja, Dakota Cox, CeCe Noir, Deva Diamond, Cinnamon Coquette, Lisa Love and more. Sat 5/25.

Women Speak Up on Film

Comic strip artist Alison Bechdel came up with the Bechdel Test in 1985 to apply to films: to pass the test, at least two female characters with names must talk to each other about something other than a man or boy. Akron teacher/activist Brit Charek took those guidelines and turned them into the Bechdel Film Fest, taking place at several venues in Akron Wed 5/29-Sun 6/2.

Charek snagged a grant and pulled out all the stops, booking more than 50 films of all types that show women in active rather than passive roles. There are also live performances & social hours, and some of the filmmakers will be there. “I did my initial pitch in early 2017, way before the #MeToo or #Timesup movements,” she says. “So it’s really interesting to see how this has some cultural relevance.”

Singer/songwriter Ava Preston is only 14, but she’s on her way to a busy career. She’s won three national Downbeat awards for middle school vocalists in jazz, blues, pop & rock. The versatile young artist returns to the BOP STOP. Wed 5/29

* David Mayfield brings his Bluegrass Parade to Riverdog Barn. Sat 5/25.

* Beachland Tavern hosts tribute to Cleveland country-rock pioneers Eli Radish. Sun 5/26.

* Carlos Jones announces new coffee blend, new album in the works and Reggae on the River cruise on Goodtime III Tue 6/18.

WED 5/22
The Cuyahoga Libertarians host a meeting at the west side Denny’s to discuss justice reform, including bail reform, reducing incarceration and providing more funding for public defenders, issues where the rightwing Libertarians find common ground with those on the left. All are welcome, regardless of political persuasion.

* The Rock Hall film series screens the flamboyant 1975 film version of The Who’s Tommy.

* Local officials cut the ribbon on the newly reconstructed Euclid Beach Pier.

Click here for more events on Wed 5/22

THU 5/23
The highlight of the annual Blossom Time festival in Chagrin Falls is the hot air balloons, which do their Balloon Glow tonight at dusk and take flight tomorrow & Saturday. Today through Sunday there’s music, food and rides; on Sunday, the Blossom Time run and parade conclude the festival.

* Karamu Theater stages the Elton John/Tim Rice version of Aida, through Sun 6/16.

* Good Goat Gallery hosts an evening of offbeat vaudeville and cabaret.

* Michael Sonata sings Sinatra for Seeds of Literacy benefit at the Music Box.

* The second weekend of DanceWorks at Cleveland Public Theatre features Inlet Dance Theatre with work inspired by other media, through Sat 5/25.

Click here for more events on Thu 5/23

FRI 5/24
Are scientists funny? Find out tonight when curators at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History perform standup comedy at Science Riot! Be kind – these are first-time performers.

* South African play addresses love in the time of apartheid at convergence-continuum theater.

* Street glass artist Deanna Dionne shows her work at Oberlin’s Verite Gallery.

* Miami trio the alt Default mixes genres at Praxis Fiber Workshop.

* Cleveland Pops Orchestra salutes America and the military at Severance Hall.

* Sax player Greg Ward brings his new band Rogue Parade to the BOP STOP.

* Tremont Greek Festival kicks off the Memorial Day weekend, through Mon 5/27.

Click here for more events on Fri 5/24

SAT 5/25
Sculptor Fred Gearhart creates his work – mostly in stone but some in wood and bronze – in his Cleveland Heights garage and arranges them around his landscaped backyard. Once a year, he opens it up to the community to check out and purchase his work, which ranges from tiny vases to hulking statues. Also tomorrow.

Click here for more events on Sat 5/25

SUN 5/26
Longtime Nighttown denizen Neil Slobin – he worked there in the 70s – brings some friends down to the restaurant’s Stephen’s Green patio to host Club Neilism, an evening of dance music from across the decades. As long as it’s got a good beat, he’ll play it!

Click here for more events on Sun 5/26

MON 5/27
Celebrate an old-fashioned Memorial Day at Lake View Cemetery, where there’ll be a parade, a keynote speech and a band playing rousing music by march composer John Phillip Sousa, honoring both fallen troops and family and friends lost in the past year. You’re invited to bring a picnic and hang out too.

Click here for more events on Mon 5/27

TUE 5/28
If you’re taking an extra day off work to relax, why don’t you head down to the Cleveland Museum of Art and catch the spectacular show of work by one of the 20th century’s greatest photojournalists, Gordon Parks? It includes his seminal images from the 40s, when he documented the lives of ordinary people – especially black people – in Chicago, D.C., New York & elsewhere. It closes Sun 6/9 & you shouldn’t miss it.

Click here for more events on Tue 5/28

WED 5/29
“Fasten your seatbelts – it’s going to be a bumpy night.” Bette Davis uttered those famous words in the 1950 film All About Eve, in which she plays an aging diva, sparring with her ambitious replacement. It’s the next offering at the Capitol Theatre’s Happy Hour Classic Film Series.

* Rock Hall screens film Boy Howdy about the history of Detroit’s legendary, freewheeling Creem Magazine.

* Cuyahoga River enthusiast Doug Kusak shares his Cleveland stories at the Music Box.

Click here for more events on Wed 5/29

Send your cool events to: Events@CoolCleveland.com

Hemp Comes to Glenville

“Selling dreams to the poor and impoverished is not new. It’s as old as time,” notes our columnist C. Ellen Connally as she looks at the situation of the fast talker who persuaded a lot of people – not all of them impoverished – that he was going to create 650 jobs in the Glenville neighborhood manufacturing biodegradable, recyclable hemp bricks.

A prominent pastor even held a job fair his church, but those who were “hired” – some even quitting other jobs to come on board – quickly found that paychecks were going missing. “It seems to me that certain members of the clergy should stick to preaching and selling chicken dinners and leave economic development to those who have the expertise when it comes to separating the wheat from the chaff,” says Connally.

Snake Oil

If you’ve ever gotten even a whiff of snake oil it’s a smell you never forget. It’s like dirty old gym socks, dry popcorn farts and toe jam all rolled together and left out in the blazing sun for a week or so until it reaches its height of funky ripeness. It’s an odor you want to avoid at all costs….

* Pie in the Sky By all appearances, Ty Williams – the nickel-slick and very sick dude who promised to bring 650 decent-paying jobs in the hemp industry to Glenville – is a sociopath who hides behind Bible scripture. …

Read other stories from Mansfield Frazier here