Fireworks

7.04-7.11.07
Fireworks

In this week’s issue:
* Cool Cleveland Party CLE Orchestra Outdoors PLUS our party beforehand
* Cool Community Forum Giving the public their say on the Med Mart Tax
* BizTech Profile Richard Stuebi, BP Fellow for Energy and Environmental Advancement at The Cleveland Foundation
* Cool Cleveland Kids Local Children’s Book Authors
* Straight Outta Mansfield The mostly symbolic Supreme Court ruling
* BFD Weekly If you had your choice, how would you spend $400M?
* Ingenious Lisa K. Lock & Larry Coleman @ Ingenuity Festival 2007
* Sounds Eric Letta’s Say
* RoldoLINK A Plan for a Mart, Convention Center
* Cool Cleveland Kids podcast click here, CC podcast click here, Brewed Fresh Daily here

It just wouldn’t be summer without them. This week, we’ve got our share of explosive goodness. We’re planning a Cool Cleveland CoolFest party at Blossom on July 14, and nobody parties bigger than Mahler. We have a vast listing of cool things going on this Fourth of July holiday week below, including a slew of family and kids events. Looking for some white-hot sparks? We’re planning a Community Forum on 7/12 to give the public a chance to discuss the recent proposal to raise our County taxes by 1/4% to fund a not-yet-defined convention center and medical mart. There is no charge for this event, but please register and join us, or post your questions in advance, and we’ll take them forward. Roldo has a few words about the medical mart, and Mansfield discusses the recent Supreme Court ruling on desegregation. So welcome to the region that rockets through the middle of summer. All you have to do is light the wick. —Thomas Mulready

Blossom CoolFest Explodes Sat 7/14
Lowest Price Tix until Midnight Thu 7/5 here!

Does It Get Any Better Than This? You tell me: 1) Meet your friends, 2) Wear your lounge attire and bring your lounge chair, 3) Listen to the Cleveland Orchestra under the stars and 4) Start with a pre-concert Cool Cleveland party with food and drink included. It all happens on Sat 7/14 from 6-7:30PM.

Sample the mouth-watering appetizers that include Tortellini with Sun-dried Tomato Tapenade, Asiago/Fennel and Chorizo Flatbreads, Hummus in Mini-Pita with Cucumber, Seared Eggplant and Wild Mushroom Polenta and more from Gypsy Beans and Baking Company. Experience open bar wine/beer with great beers from Akron’s own Thirsty Dog Brewery, including Balto Golden Lager, Hoppus Maximus and Old Leghumper. Get comp lawn tix to Gustav Mahler ($20 value), and breathe in the sounds of summer.

Plus, two lucky CC party goers will win two Pavilion ticket subscriptions to Blossom’s POPs Summer Concert Series (over a $200 value!). Score!

Pack a blanket and snag your Cool Cleveland party tix here. The price goes up after midnight Thu 7/5, so move quickly!

You get all this:

• Pre-concert Cool Cleveland party from 6-7:30 PM
• Delicious Tortellini with Sun-dried Tomato Tapenade, Asiago/Fennel and Chorizo Flatbreads, Humus in Mini-Pita with Cucumber, Seared Eggplant and Wild Mushroom Polenta; Hors d’oeuvres will also be provided by Mustard Seed Market Catering
• Open bar wine/beer with great beers from Akron’s own Thirsty Dog Brewery, including Balto Golden Lager, Hoppus Maximus and Old Leghumper
• Comp tix to the Mahler’s exuberant Symphony No. 1 (a $20 value)
• Special offers to Blossom 2007 concerts, including The Lord of the Rings Symphony
• Guaranteed parking just a few steps from party location
• Chance to win two Pavilion ticket subscriptions to Blossom’s POPs Summer Concert Series.

Blossom Music Center is one of the nation’s finest music venues, situated in a natural acoustic amphitheater in the beautiful surroundings of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, less than a 30-minute drive from Cleveland, Akron and surrounding suburbs. See map here. For the complete 2007 Blossom Festival Calendar go here.

The coolest part Get the best discount if you order by Midnight Thu 7/5 here:
https://CoolCleveland.net/tickets/071407/index.php

Still not convinced? Check out how much fun the last Cool Cleveland party was with these pics by Janet Century.

Can You Add to the Blossom Cool as a volunteer for our next CC gig? If you can help, feel free to bring a friend to volunteer with you. It’s always more fun with a friend. Details: Blossom Music Center/Cool Cleveland party on Sat 7/14 from 6:00 – 7:30PM. Come at 5:30 if you can. Free party, concert and t-shirt. Contact tl@coolcleveland.com

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Talking a Good Game The GCMA (Greater Cleveland Marketing Alliance) is, once again, Johnny-on-the-spot with the great news coverage about our region in the last thirty days (and LeBron nights). And, of course, this includes several articles with titles like these: “Akron Hails King James: LeBron’s Rise Lifts Hopes in His Hometown,” from the New York Daily News; “Witness a City’s Surge: Rise of LeBron James and Cavs Coincides with Cleveland’s Revival” from the Chicago Tribune; and “Make no Mistake, Cleveland Deserves Its Day,” from USA Today. Are we bragging? Maybe. But the national press coverage Cleveland gets this month and every month gives us the right. Find all the good news here: www.clevelandplus.com/gcma_media.asp. Or contact Rick Batyko at rbaytko@clevelandplus.com or 216.592.2225.
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Cuyahoga County sales tax for convention center & medical mart

Join your Cool Cleveland colleagues at this free and open Community Forum on July 12, 2007 from noon to 1:30PM at the Cleveland Public Library, 325 Superior Avenue N.E. in Downtown Cleveland, in the Louis Stokes Wing Auditorium. Map of parking here.

While a number of subject matter experts will be invited to invited to be in the audience as resources in the fields of government, economic development and convention centers, this Community Forum is designed to allow the public to ask questions and raise issues about the 1/4% sales tax recently proposed by the Cuyahoga County Commissioners to raise money for a yet-to-be-determined convention center and attached medical mart. There will be no panels, no presentations and no speakers. After a brief outline of the issue, the public will be invited to step up to the microphones and raise questions and issues, which will be transcribed and then posted to CoolCleveland.com, BrewedFreshDaily.com and the Meet.The.Bloggers* network of top regional blog sites.

To attend, please register by clicking here:
http://www.coolcleveland.com/forums/071407/index.php

To post your comment or question in advance, or if you are unable to attend, please click here:
http://www.brewedfreshdaily.com/2007/07/03/coolclevelandcombfdmtbyoucool-community-forums/

A copy of the press release is available for download as a PDF here:
http://www.coolcleveland.com/doc/SalesTaxForumAnnouncement.pdf

A sharp and serendipitous array of hot tech and business news & events from around Cleveland and around the region. Send your business news and events to: EVENTS@CoolCleveland.com

Richard Stuebi
Cleveland Foundation

Richard Stuebi walks the talk. With nearly 20 years of experience as an executive, entrepreneur and consultant in the energy industry, he’s spent the past decade focused on advanced energy technologies. Currently the BP Fellow for Energy and Environmental Advancement at The Cleveland Foundation, Stuebi works with stakeholders to “amp up” the region by working toward cleaner energy solutions and greater environmental sophistication. Stuebi regularly contributes perspectives on energy and environmental matters through the site http://www.cleantechblog.com, offering insights on how thinking outside the energy tech box can revitalize cities, neighborhoods and help reconfigure public spaces. He took time out of his busy schedule to chat with Cool Cleveland’s Thomas Mulready in front of the Great Lakes Science Center and its lakefront wind turbine. http://www.ClevelandFoundation.org

Letters@CoolCleveland.com

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Ensure Your Sanity This Summer: Get the Kids Out of the House! Sure you love ‘em, but they’ve been out of school for almost a month now and they haven’t built even one robot or designed their own computer game. Why? Because they’re not enrolled in the Children’s Technology Workshop (grades 2-8) where they can learn how to design, make and take home, their own video games, movies, animations and other cool projects! We offer Lego® robotics as well! Call us for late season registration (at the same affordable price): 440.484.2222 CTW holds workshops and parties in Chagrin Falls (38 River Street, 44022), around Cleveland or at your place. Schedules: www.ctworkshop.com/glc. Children’s Technology Workshop is a portfolio company of Beta Strategy Group, Ltd, www.betagroup.us, a founding sponsor of Cool Cleveland Tech.
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Brookings bias The recent Brookings Report was widely misinterpreted by our local MSM (mainstream media) as a slam against Ohio cities, when its thesis was that the State government in Columbus can and should do more for its urban centers. So the reports authors posted an op-ed explaining how State government can help reach goals like encouraging 2% of a metro area’s population to live Downtown. “Our report is a playbook for revitalizing older industrial communities by fixing the basics (public safety and schools), building on economic and physical assets and creating strong neighborhoods and families.” Too bad our media always sees the glass half-empty. Read

Breuer ballyhoo Ignoring it’s architectural importance, and the environmental concerns about conserving energy, the Cleveland City Planning Commission fell in line last week and approved Cuyahoga County’s request to demolish the Breuer Tower to make way for a new County HQ, and in doing so ignored it’s own member, Norm Krumholz, a CSU professor of Urban Affairs, who had pushed for an independent cost-benefit analysis. By complying, the City Planning Commission avoids the potential of being overruled by the County, potentially neutering the City’s ability to manage planning and growth in Cleveland. Read

How Cool is That? According to our recent survey, 43.8% of Cool Cleveland readers spend between 11-20 minutes reading about our events, news and reviews every week? It’s true. And, as a result, 22% have purchased a product that they discovered in Cool Cleveland. For more info about advertising contact us at InfoATCoolCleveland.com.

Bookstore breakthrough “What this town needs is a great bookstore Downtown.” That dream may be coming true, as Barnes & Noble plans to open a branch at 2020 Euclid, in Cleveland State University’s new College Town neighborhood, designed by Cle-based City Architecture, and on track to open in August. http://www.BarnesAndNoble.com

Foreclosure Fight Club It’s time to stop wallowing in our negativity. Foreclosures have hit Northeast Ohio hard, but some communities are hitting back. Read about how Slavic Village homeowners, landlords and businesses have cleaned up their neighborhood, removed pay phones used for drug deals, installed surveillance cameras, started a community garden, and are paying kids to decorate houses. But it’s the banks that own these abandoned houses, so they are working with Housing Judge Ray Pianka who has issued arrest warrants and criminal citations against 30 banks responsible for dilapidated properties. Next: convincing banks to refinance to allow people to stay in their homes. Keep up the good work. Read

And Forget Tyler Durden… The real first rule of Foreclosure Fight Club is, don’t mess with Clan Rokakis! Cuyahoga County Treasurer Jim Rokakis and others see NEO foreclosures as a personal crusade. Read

Sarah Morrison of MorrisonDance speaks at Midtown Brews Thu 7/12 [Note the new date!] at 5:30PM. Webtego, 2530 Superior Ave. Hear how she connects tech, nature, and space. Details
LEED @ Lunch Green Bldg Forum at Cle Env Ctr, 3500 Lorain Ave. hits Fri 7/6 at noon. Register
Marketing Cle+ feat. Rick Batyko @ Exec. Caterers of Landerhaven Tue 7/10 @ 11:30AM. Info
Len Komoroski Pres. of Quicken Loans Arena/ Cleveland Cavaliers speaks at SBL Cleveland Thu 7/12 at 11:30A. Forum Conf Ctr. 1375 E. 9th St. No-cost; RSVP req’d, Sherrie Scarton 250-7000
Understanding Intellectual Prop w/Suzann Moskowitz of Ulmer & Berne Tue 7/17 at noon. Protect your IP on a shoestring budget! Cle Foundation 1422 Euclid Ave. RSVP to jthomas@civicinnovationlab.org
Cleveland+ Learn about the brand, the campaign, and the tools w/Thomas A. Waltermire, CEO of Team Northeast Ohio Wed 7/18 @ 11:30AM. Marriott Cleveland East Harvard Rd. & I-271 Register
New Biz Plan Svc Intro w/ Melissa DeGennaro, Principal at marketQUEST, Inc Thu 7/26 at noon. Write a biz plan to take your initiative to the next level. Cle Foundation 1422 Euclid Ave. RSVP to jthomas@civicinnovationlab.org

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Built for Speed If you attend B-W part-time evenings and/or Saturdays, you can earn all the requirements for a major in just two years! How? As a working professional, you are equipped with knowledge and skills that enable you to earn your degree at an accelerated pace. Complete your degree on the fast-track in: Business Administration, Human Resources, Management and Marketing. Other majors such as Accounting, Finance, Organizational Leadership, Communication and Criminal Justice are also available and generally take a few semesters more. Once you’ve completed your major, continue on to finish your degree. B-W advisors, mentors and faculty are committed to your success. You’ll earn a degree of distinction with skills that will help you advance in today’s competitive market. For more information contact 440-826-8012 www.bw.edu/adult.
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USW hosts POTUS 08 hopefuls including, Clinton, Biden, Kucinich, Edwards. Read
Karamu announces Oatman as Coord. for 16th Whitley Festival of New Plays. More
YouTube product spoofs Cornucopia of commercials by NEO wiseacres. Read
Univ. Circle Icon undergoing facelift, return to prominence. More
Human Fund gets Warholistic with fall event announced at ideastream’s Ideacenter. Next to the Pitt museum, Andy never had it so good. More
SummerDance at CSU schedule celebrates 25 years. Click
Cool Cleveland Podcast You know how to do it. Click here to listen: Link. iTunes or other.
To ensure you receive Cool Cleveland every week, take a moment now and add CoolCleveland@CoolCleveland.com to your address book, trusted sender list, or corporate white list.

Panic in Paying for School Summer jobs, selling plasma, selling CDs back to the store, running up credit cards and bumming cash from the folks. All are popular ways for kids to pay for college. But what about a webpage asking businesses and individuals to sponsor your years of post-graduate education? Clevelander John Sammon is testing that idea that with a new website he has created to help fund his return to school to pursue a Master’s degree. http://www.fundjohnsmasters.com. Thoughts? letters@coolcleveland.com.

Did you know that 12.5% of our readers read Cool Cleveland in their underwear? Whether you read CC partially or fully clothed, we’re guessing you enjoy the news and upcoming events. Consider forwarding CC to some of your half-naked friends today.

Every week, all of us here at Cool Cleveland pour through gads of fantastic things happening in CLE and NEO, all in an effort to answer that ever-nagging question: “What’s cool to do this week?” Submitted for your approval, here’s a snapshot of what we found. Got a unique event coming up? Know of something that is a totally Cool Cleveland worthy event? We want to hear from you about it; our tens of thousands of readers do, too. Be a civic and cultural activist and turn on your fellow readers.

Send your cool events to: Events@CoolCleveland.com

Akron Family Barbeque A 3-day extravaganza as a part of Lock 3 Live’s concert series featuring 80’s rock band Survivor, the Akron Symphony Orchestra, Cletus Black Revue and “Old School Soul” featuring The Dazz Band, Con Funk Shun and the Bar-Kays. Kicks off with Survivor, they of the 80s Balboa classic “Eye of the Tiger,” on Wed 7/4 at 7:30PM. Complete schedule of events and listings at http://lock3live.com.

July 4th Waterfront Festival The East and West Banks of the Flats make a perfect location for spectacular fireworks Wed 7/4 at dusk. On the West Bank, the PD Pavilion to Shooters on the Nautica Boardwalk and all points in between are open for viewing; the East Bank offers spots at Settlers Landing. Fireworks will be shot from where Lake Erie meets the Cuyahoga River; simulcast of the event on WEWS-TV5 and WDOK 102.1 FM. Cyrus Waterfront Restaurant & Patio runs a wine tasting “Red, White & Pinot” concurrently. Rain date is Thu 7/5. For more info call The Flats Oxbow Association at 566-1046. 1283 Riverbed St. http://www.clevelandflats.org.

Flatstock 2007 No-cost Flats Oxbow indie-punk fest features Blackheart Recording Artists the Vacancies, Glenn Schwartz and the Schwartz Brothers, Boatzz, the Choke and the Tall Boys on Wed 7/4 from 2-9PM. Get your black-clad, DIY music-and-ethos fix all day; then steal a spectacular view of the fireworks on the river that night. Sure to jar your fillings loose! Plain Dealer Pavilion, West Bank of the Flats. Email flatsoxbowlf@ameritech.net for more info.

Always… Patsy Cline Carousel shines light on a musical legend, famed torch singer Patsy Cline. The theatre’s 2003 production of Always… Patsy Cline sold out; this year Christine Mild stars as Patsy, performing in front of a live band on stage. Memorable hits “Crazy,” “Walkin’ After Midnight” and “I Fall to Pieces” are only the beginning of what looks to be another memorable run of performances. Sneak preview hits Wed 7/4 at 7PM and the Carousel folks promise you’ll be out in time for fireworks. Runs through late August. 1275 East Waterloo Rd., Akron. Call 330-724-9855 or visit http://www.carouseldinnertheatre.com for more info.

From Being Bound to Being Free Join Tiiu & Shakthi for Yoga in Lincoln Park Wed 7/4 at 10AM. Participants will meet at Studio 11 & Stroll over to the Park (class will be held at the studio in case of rain). Explore those things holding you back from bliss & set yourself free through pranayama, chanting, asanas, nidra and much, much more. Studio 11 Yoga, Pilates & Thai Yoga Massage, 2337 W. 11th St. http://www.studio11tremont.com.

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Voted One of the Best in the US – Right Here in Cleveland! The Cain Park Arts Festival is nationally recognized as top notch and you can check it out for yourself – with some of the best artwork you’ll ever see including digital drawings, art shoes (that rockers wear!), slashed and reconstructed leather, aluminum furniture, artglass window panels, welded steel jewelry, puzzle coats, hammered copper with cast concrete, 3-D found objects, assemblages of cast & painted aluminum and so much more. The Cain Park Arts Festival has no admission fee and is open to the public. Introduce yourself as a “Cool Clevelander” at the t-shirt table, and you’ll get $2 off the price of a 2007 Cain Park Arts Festival t-shirt. Dates: Fri 7/13 – Sun 7/15 (Fri 3-8PM, Sat 10-8PM, Sun 12-5PM) at Lee and Superior in Cleveland Heights. Free parking shuttle on Sat and Sun. Contact 216-371-3000 or www.cainpark.com.
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HOT Star-Spangled Spectacular Concert and Festival The Cleveland Orchestra offers its 18th annual no-cost downtown concert in celebration of the Independence Day holiday Thu 7/5 beginning with a festival at 4PM. Music Director Franz Welser-Möst will conduct the orchestra on Public Square at 9PM, including works by Bernstein, Gershwin, Prokofiev and Leroy Anderson, as well as the perennial favorite, Tchaikovsky’s “1812” Overture, followed by a fireworks display. Hosted by ideastream’s Dee Perry, this event will be simulcast on 90.3 WCPN and WCLV 104.9 FM. http://www.clevelandorchestra.com.

Optic Verve Explore the insight of artist Ed Mieczkowski with his latest round of paintings on display at Tregoning & Co. (1300 West 78th St.) as a part of their Inaugural Re-opening Celebration. Perfect for this Thu 7/5 from 11AM – 8PM. Gallery hours are available throughout the week for this no-cost, open to the public showing. Call 281-8626 or visit http://www.tregoningandco.com for more info.

Yoga in the Garden Spend 7 glorious evenings focused on your health in the beautiful surroundings of the Cleveland Botanical Garden. Beginning Thu 7/5 at 5:45PM, join yoga instructor Marcia Camino, R.Y.T., to unwind, increase your flexibility and strength, connect to nature and heighten your self-awareness. Students age 16 and over at all levels of fitness are welcome. Wear comfortable clothing and bring a mat, pillow, and blanket. Classes will be held outdoors or indoors with a garden view in case of inclement weather. http://www.cbgarden.org.

Bradley D. Collins The executive director of the American Solar Energy Society will discuss the job creation potential in the business sector and the educational and workforce training needed to manufacture and deploy solar, wind, biomass, and fuel cells at noon on Fri 7/6 at The City Club of Cleveland. He will be in Cleveland for the 36th American Solar Energy Conference, the theme of which is “Sustainable Energy Puts America to Work.” http://www.cityclub.org.

HOT Objectify Level Three Gallery presents this exhibition focusing on fine craft created by Cleveland artists Gina DeSantis, Lauralee Hutson and Ruth Sholtis-Furyes. Functional and decorative fine art objects make up the works, anchored by environmental and natural influences. Check out the sharp colors and designs at the exhibition’s opening reception Fri 7/6 at 6PM. Show runs through Sun 7/29; gallery hours are by appointment. For more info, contact Gina DeSantis at artzy_grl@yahoo.com or 440-785-5409. http://levelthreegallery.blogspot.com.

Step Write Up Wanna tell the world about the best things in NEO? Let us know your area of interest as a writer, ’cause we’d love to hear from you. Letters@CoolCleveland.com

Imagine Peace The Emily Davis Gallery at University of Akron’s Mary Schiller Myers School of Art features the exhibition, Yoko Ono Imagine Peace, beginning Fri 7/6 at 6PM with a no-cost, open to the public Reception. Focusing on the thematic ideals of peace and love, the exhibition will chronologically follow Ono the artist from her early ad work, through her collaborations with husband John Lennon, and up to her recent solo work. Reception at Folk Hall, 150 E. Exchange St., on UofA campus. http://www.uakron.edu/art for details and gallery hours.

Road Tripping Check out a series of 4 thrilling, trippy, existential road movies from the early 70s — Richard Sarafian’s Vanishing Point, Spielberg’s creepy Duel and The Sugarland Diaries and Monte Hellman’s Two-Lane Blacktop — beginning Fri 7/6. All will be shown in 35mm studio archive prints through Sat 7/28. For times and schedule, visit http://www.cia.edu/cinematheque. Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque, 11141 East Blvd.

HOT Melissa Daubert The artist’s exhibition at Studio 11 in Tremont captivated at the last Tremont ArtWalk; it features a series of 17 different sculptural pieces that attendees could animate with cables and pulleys. The installation, featuring monkeys to spiders to humans, runs through Tue 7/11; a closing reception, open to the public, will be held Fri 6/6 at 7PM. Explore the life of these pieces while you can. 2337 West. 11th St. FYI: Daubert’s Circus of Shadows is coming to this year’s Ingenuity Festival!!! http://www.studio11tremont.com. http://www.ingenuitycleveland.com.

Ohio Lavender Festival The 2007 edition will be held Fri 7/6 – Sun 7/8 at DayBreak Lavender Farm — a family-owned lavender and herb farm in Streetsboro — just minutes away from Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Festival visitors can pick their own lavender bouquets, sign up for hands-on lavender craft workshops, cold-climate lavender growing and cultivation seminars, several varieties of lavender for sale, popular DayBreak soaps and new gourmet lavender products in the Gourmet Pavilion and a Lavender Cook-off. There will even be an all Lavender High Tea served! Events schedule, directions and hours at http://www.ohiolavenderfestival.com.

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WCLVnotes WCLV 104.9 FM is in the midst of its annual American Music Festival featuring works by such composers as Copland, Grofe, and Gershwin. And at 1PM today, the July 4th holiday is celebrated with a Cincinnati Pops July 4th Spectacular hosted by conductor Erich Kunzel. Tomorrow night, Thu 7/5, at 9PM, WCLV broadcasts the annual Cleveland Orchestra Public Square Concert live. Franz Welser-Moest conducts, and the highlight will be Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. Also on the program, Tchaikovsky’s Marche slav, selections from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet and Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries. Complete details on all of WCLV’s programs can be found at www.wclv.com.
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HOT Solar 2007 Conference Want to learn how renewable energy can work for you? Then mark your calendar for the National SOLAR 2007 Conference starting Sat 7/7 and running through Thu 7/12 at the Cleveland Convention Center. Don’t miss the conference Public Day on Sun 7/8 when you’ll have free access to demonstrations, lectures, job recruitment and much more! Learn how “Sustainable Energy Puts America to Work!” Call 866-GREEN-OH or visit http://www.greenenergyohio.org/solar2007 for hours and further event details.

Summer Camp Gets Deadly Cedar Lee Theatre’s “Summer Camp Cult Film Series” turns deadly this weekend with 2 showings of the classic slasher film, Friday the 13th on Sat 7/7 at 9:30PM and midnight. Part of the Cedar Lee’s on-going film Series held on the first Saturday of every month, one audience member at each showing will win a machete signed by legendary actress Betsy Palmer (who played slasher Jason Vorhees’s mom) in the film. Other audience members could win free bacon in honor of one of Kevin Bacon’s earliest roles as one of Jason’s victims. For more info on the series and updates, visit http://www.clevelandcinemas.com.

Radio Birdman Always independent of mainstream music, this definitive Aussie act’s DIY ethos and punk ‘tude floored folks at a rare Beachland Ballroom gig recently. They’re back for another round this Sat 7/7 at 9PM. The band spent the better part of last year readying an album of new material, Zeno Beach, which is expected to break new ground for the band. With Detroit’s Easy Action and Cle punishers Coffinberry. Beachland Ballroom on Waterloo. http://www.beachlandballroom.com.

Zé Renato Trio Direct from Brazil, the vocalist, guitarist, and composer of Boca Livre fame leads a dynamic trio featuring Jacques Figueras (bass) and Rogerio Boccato (drums/percussion). Zé Renato is said to have one of the most beautiful voices in Brazilian music. Hearing is believing! Check him out Sat 7/7 at 9PM and Sun 7/8 at 7PM at Nighttown, 12387 Cedar Rd., Cleveland Hts. http://www.nighttowncleveland.com. http://zerenato.com.br.

HOT Party for the Planet On 07.07.07, 2 billion people worldwide will join together for an historic global call to action to solve the climate crisis. The Live Earth-Save Our Selves concerts will feature more than 150 of the world’s top musicians for 24 hours of music from 9 concerts across all 7 continents and set the standard for sustainable, zero-carbon events. Raise a glass to raise awareness about global warming at the Audubon Party for the Planet Sat 7/7 at 5PM at Great Lakes Brewing Company, 2516 Market St. Enjoy no-cost appetizers, a cash bar and TV simulcasts of the international Live Earth concerts! To RSVP or for more information, call 246-7150 or email murso@audubon.org. http://www.liveearth.org.

Northside Arts District Art Walk July is a huge month for the visual arts in Akron; the new art museum is opening and the local art scene is primed! Check out the latest installment of the Art Walk Sat 7/7 starting at 5PM. Northside Art Walks are held every first Saturday of the Month; plenty of no-cost parking and trolley service is provided by the city of Akron. For more info, call Akron Glass Works at 330-253-5888.

A Christmas Story Food Drive Ralphie and Randy can tell you there are people all over the world without enough to eat. While they don’t want your meatloaf or your oatmeal, A Christmas Story House & Museum invites guests to bring non-perishable food items to be given to the Cleveland Food Bank. Guests will receive a buck off admission to the Museum and the House for each item donated on Sat 7/7 and Sun 7/8. http://www.achristmasstoryhouse.com.

Bluescasters Check out the venerable local blues act and they swing you into the weekend groove this Sat 7/7 at 10PM @ 2527 (2527 W. 25th St., just south of the West Side Market). http://www.bluescasters.org.

Rachel Sage Returning for her third concert at Loganberry Books this Sat 7/7 at 8PM, Sage is folk musician with an edge. Now touring behind her album The Blistering Sun, the intellectual performer goes for socially-aware folk. The winner of the Independent Music Award, the Billboard Songwriting Contest and the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, her performances are eclectic and riveting. Loganberry Books, 13015 Larchmere Blvd., Shaker Hts. http://www.loganberrybooks.com. http://www.rachaelsage.com.

The Polyphonic Spree The self-described “choral symphonic rock” group from Texas features a 10-person choir, a pair of keyboardists, as well as a percussionist, drummer, bassist, guitarist, flautist, trumpeter, trombonist, violinist/violist, harpist, French horn player, a pedal steel player, Theremin player, and an electronic effects person. Sounds like an earful? You better believe it. Tim DeLaughter (nee of the band Tripping Daisy) serves as musical director and contributes lead vocals, keyboards, guitar, and percussion. Check them out at the House of Blues downtown Sat 7/7 at 8PM. http://www.thepolyphonicspree.com. http://www.hob.com.

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Six Thousand Sq. Ft. of Beautiful, Enchanted Gardens? Young and Old will marvel at the outdoor wonderland of rolling gardens and model trains at Holden Express: A Garden Railroad at The Holden Arboretum now through 9/23. Artists, garden enthusiasts and outdoor lovers will delight at the sights and sounds of trains built into one of Holden’s premier gardens. Winding through 2,000 feet of track, the exhibit will spread over 6,000 square feet, encouraging visitors to immerse themselves in the magic. Located just 30 minutes east of DT Cleveland, Holden Express will be open from 10AM to 5PM (and until 9PM Wednesdays) daily through Sun 9/23. Holden Express has no-cost admission for members; Nonmembers: $6 adults, $3 children ages 6-12 and $2 children ages 2-5. Seniors: no-cost admission each Tuesday. Holden Arboretum is located at 9500 Sperry Road, Kirtland. For more info contact www.holdenarb.org.
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A Viennese Evening Music Director Franz Welser-Möst will conduct The Cleveland Orchestra in a “Viennese Evening” program at the Blossom Festival on Sun 7/8 at 7PM. The program of Viennese music includes works by Mozart, Richard Strauss, Johann Jr. and Josef Strauss, and others. http://www.clevelandorchestra.com.

Unexpected Grace Author Bill Kramer signs his work Unexpected Grace: Stories of Faith, Science and Altruism on Mon 7/9 at 7PM at Joseph-Beth Booksellers. Kramer offers a rare look into the human side of the world of scientific research; the behind the scenes view of four scientific investigations on diverse aspects of the study of unlimited love and offers uplifting portraits of human beings struggling to understand and improve the complex issues facing them. 24519 Cedar Rd., Lyndhurst. http://www.josephbeth.com.

Don’t Complain Check out the no-cost public information meeting Make Cleveland City Council enact a law to stop hospitals from sometimes banning patients who complain on Mon 7/9 at 5PM. Sponsored by Ohio Patients Rights. Cleveland Public Library, 325 Superior Ave., #218, Louis Stokes Wing. For info, call 221-2724.

10th Annual Walk & Dine Tour exciting sites in the Historic Gateway Neighborhood while enjoying great food and beverages by many of the best restaurants in Cleveland Tue 7/10 at 5:30PM. Festivities begin at the Arcade, 401 Euclid Ave., and wind through a number of enticing locations: the Leader Building, the Lofts on 4th and Wonder Bar; the Howard M. Metzenbaum Federal Courthouse, the Park Building, Prospect Place Apartments, Statler Arms and the East 4th Street district. Dessert Finale at Fat Fish Blue. For reservations, call Kelly at 771-1994.

Free Your Mind Sensei Anthony Stultz brings together the ancient wisdom of the East and the psychological language of the West, making it easier for those living in a contemporary society to understand the Dharma and put it into practice. He signs his self-discovery book Free Your Mind Tue 7/10 at 7PM at Joseph-Beth Booksellers, 24519 Cedar Rd., Lyndhurst. http://www.josephbeth.com.

Our clients love us, yours will too Promote your products and services (or your client’s) with the edgy, weekly e-newsletter that delights the senses, ruffles the feathers and gets down with Cleveland’s cool like no other: “There wouldn’t be enough money to put into other forms of advertising that could have created the buzz that Cool Cleveland gave our MOMIX performance in January! You knocked our socks off! Thanks for making our performance a success. It was more than we ever expected and meant the world to us.”— Pam Young, Dance Cleveland. To request info on sponsorship and advertising, drop a note to: TL@CoolCleveland.com.

HOT Ingenuity Forum features a keynote address (via technology) by Steve Deitz, director of ZeroOne: The Art and Technology Network on Wed 7/11 at 4PM. at the CSU Levin College of Urban Affairs. Ingenuity, Cleveland’s Festival of Arts and Technology will be hosted this year by Playhouse Square and Cleveland State University; this forum will be an opportunity to preview Ingenuity and to experience synergy created by artists and tech innovators fueling Northeast Ohio’s new economy. The Levin Atrium, 1717 Euclid Ave. http://urban.csuohio.edu/forum. http://www.ingenuitycleveland.com.

Westfield Junior PGA Championship The most tour-like event in junior golf for players and attendees, the Westfield Junior PGA Championship features roped fairways, covered grandstands, real-time scoring, leader boards, pairing sheets, player biographies and a full-service food pavilion. Admission and parking are free all four days. Tee times begin Wed 7/11 at 7:30AM daily through Sat 7/14. Visit http://www.westfieldinsurance.com for more info.

Chris Ronayne The president of University Circle Inc. will sort out the development activity currently underway in University Circle and outline other projects still on the drawing board at noon on Wed 7/11 at The City Club of Cleveland. Art & architecture critic Steve Litt will serve as the program’s host. http://www.cityclub.org.

Send your cool events to: Events@CoolCleveland.com

Put These Local Children’s Book Authors
On Your Kids’ Summer Reading Lists

As kids, how many of us could have imagined one of our favorite authors living just around the corner? “I wasn’t sure where my favorite authors lived, but I was pretty sure it wasn’t anywhere near Ohio,” remembers Cinda Williams Chima. Yet today, Chima, Sara Holbrook and Mia Coulton are just a few of the talented children’s book authors who not only live in Northeast Ohio, but regularly visit schools and kids’ events to meet their pint-sized fans in person. They’ve made Cleveland their writing home, while putting Cleveland settings on the page for young readers around the world…

Read more from Jennifer Keirn here

*************** SPONSORED LINK ***************
Kids & Teens: What’s Black & White and a Legend All Over? Find out at the “Ansel Adams: A Legacy,” exhibit headlining the grand master of American landscape photography. Adams had an eye for majestic vistas and his work appears at the Cleveland Institute of Art now through Sun 8/19 and is a co-presentation with the Cleveland Museum of Art. If you’ve never experienced Ansel first hand, you simply haven’t lived. And you’ll get to see over 100 images spanning his career (1902–1984). The images show the strong contrast and large size that Adams preferred between the 1960’s and early 80’s. There’s no charge for admission, which is open to the public. Don’t miss “Ansel Adams: A Legacy,” and visit www.cia.edu for special gallery hours.
*************** SPONSORED LINK ***************

Shipwreck Camp 2007 Inspired by the exploration of scientist and explorer, Dr. Robert Ballard, finder of the wreckage of the Titanic, this kids camp experience will engage campers in field science and exploration weekdays from 9:30AM – 3:30PM starting Mon 7/30. Part of Case Western Reserve University’s Center for Science and Mathematics Education programming. Click this link for additional info and registration items, or call 368-5075 for further details.

Jekyll & Hyde This popular gothic musical, based on the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, explores the duality of man and the constant struggle of good and evil within oneself. Jekyll and Hyde kicks off on the Beck Center’s Mackey Main Stage starting Fri 7/6 at 8PM. Dr. Henry Jekyll is intrigued by the good and evil found within all men, and believes he has found a way to separate the good self from the bad. Determined to test his groundbreaking new formula, Jekyll takes it himself and unleashes the evil Mr. Hyde. Features the incomparable Dan Folino as the lead. Runs through Sun 8/5. 17801 Detroit Ave., Lakewood. http://www.beckcenter.org.

Porthouse Peter Pan NEO outdoor summer theatre Porthouse (on the grounds of Blossom Music Center) offers J.M. Barrie’s classic, Peter Pan beginning with an opening night reception Fri 7/6 at 6:30PM. This family favorite is transformed by visiting NYC director Matthew Earnest into an energy-charged trip to Never Never Land where magic rules over technology. Includes a complimentary champagne for adults and meet-the-cast reception. Show runs through Sat 7/21. http://www.porthousetheatre.com.

Forró para Crianças It’s a Brazilian Weekend with Passport Project! Brazilian percussionist/ singer/ dancer Cacau Arcoverde offers a 3-day workshop, sharing rhythms of Samba, Samba de Coco, Coco de Roda, Ciranda and Maracatu, and the respective dances. This workshop focuses on tradition, and hands-on experiences; students perform at Passport Project’s Brazilian Party! Launches Fri 6/6 at 6PM. Also, the great Brazilian singer Zé Renato (in town for a weekend’s worth of gigs at Nighttown) offers an interactive exploration of Brazilian music for children. Kids 8 and under must be accompanied by an adult for the Sun 7/8 gig at 2:15PM. No-cost to children. http://www.passportproject.org.

Under the Big White Tents Come to Shaker Square for family fun Under the Big White Tents, featuring no-cost public performances and art exhibits geared to kids and families Sat 7/7 at 10:30AM. ArtWorks apprentices will entertain and inspire everyone with theater, dance, music and visual arts. No-cost, open to the public and hosted by Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio. ArtWorks employs 65 local high school students as paid apprentices with master teaching artists in the areas of dance, photography, music, theater and visual arts. Students expand their artistic talents, create original works of art and gain valuable skills. For more, visit Young Audiences here.

ALS Awareness Night with the Captains Learn about ALS and support the Northern Ohio chapter of the ALS Association with a Lake County Captains game at Classic Park in Eastlake this Sat 7/7 at 7PM. A portion of the ticket proceeds to benefit Post-game fireworks extravaganza included. For more info 888-592-2572 or visit http://www.alsaohio.org.

Silk Painting Family Workshop The Children’s Museum of Cleveland presents two such events Sat 7/7 from 10AM – noon and again on Sat 7/21 (duplicate hours). Participants will experiment with a number of different techniques while utilizing a traditional method of silk painting. Two silk hoops, designs, permanent dye, and instruction from local art educator Carol de Britto will be provided. When completed, each participant will have created two beautiful silk hoops to hang in a sunny window or on a wall in their home! Cleveland Childrens Museum, 10730 Euclid Ave., University Circle. http://www.clevelandchildrensmuseum.org.

Daily Dose of Reading invites parents/caregivers with children (up to 8 yrs of age) to enjoy a morning of “Stories in the Shade”, including stories, music and crafts. This no-cost event hits Mon 7/9 at 10AM at the City of Beachwood Playground on Fairmount Blvd., right next to the pool. Visit http://www.dailydoseofreading.org or call 291-9424 x151 for more info!

Oberlin Heritage Kids Cool kids ages 8 – 13 will love the week-long camps presented by the Oberlin Heritage Center starting Mon 7/23. The camps feature hands-on activities, games, crafts, and much more to teach about history, architecture, and world cultures. Sessions take place 7/23 – 7/27 (American Kids Hands-on History Fun), 7/30 – 8/3 (Exploring the Built Environment: An Architecture Workshop for Kids), and 8/6 – 10 (Kids and Cultures around the World, Part 2). All camps are held at the air- conditioned Oberlin Depot from 10AM – 3PM, with a program presented at the end of the last day of camp. Details and info at http://www.oberlinheritage.org.

You don’t want to miss what 11-year-old Max has for you and your family this week. Listen here: http://www.coolcleveland.com/files/audio/CoolClevelandKids07.06.07.mp3. Click here to subscribe: iTunes or other.

The Supreme Court ruling:
More symbolism than substance

The Supreme Court’s recent decision striking down considerations of race (as one of a host of other factors) in the assignment of students to schools within a district was more of an embarrassment to us on the world stage than actually having any deleterious effect on the education of underclass or inner-city children. With or without the ruling schools in America are far more segregated today than they were when bussing was first initiated in an effort to bring about desegregation and parity in educational outcomes, and no court ruling is going to effectively change that reality now or in the foreseeable future. The ruling was essentially moot since few school districts across the country were still attempting to solve the desegregation conundrum…

But the impact the ruling will or will not have on the education of minority children is probably not what bothers people the most (although many would argue to the contrary). If the education of underclass children means all that much to us as a nation we would have long ago done more to help devise methods of creating real equality of educational outcomes…

Read more from Mansfield Frazier here

BrewedFreshDaily.com, run by Cool Cleveland’s George Nemeth, scans over hundreds of area feeds everyday and provides links and commentary on a range subjects—from coffee to economic development in Northeast Ohio. Here’s an excerpt:

$400 Million is a lot of money to raise… and if used correctly, would generate significant economic development. Bill Callahan proposes a rigorous discussion regarding alternatives to the Medical Mart:

A sampling of the comments:

Read and add your comment here

Lisa K. Lock & Larry Coleman
Ingenuity Festival 2007

Lisa K. Lock and Larry Coleman push the envelope. Performing contemporary dance works internationally for over a decade, Lock, a native of Switzerland, recently debuted Without Feathers, a multimedia dance concert for Cleveland Public Theatre’s Big [Box] series; she’s also the ballet mistress for Cleveland Contemporary Dance Theatre, and teaches ballet at Cleveland City Dance, the Masonic Center, and serves as guest teacher for Verb Ballets. Later this month, Lock and her partner Larry Coleman, a Cleveland native and Cleveland Institute of Art alum, launch Gravity Well Movement at the Ingenuity Festival of Art and Technology. The highly-anticipated tech-dance fusion runs throughout the entire festival. The duo talked to Cool Cleveland’s Thomas Mulready about their experience and the futuristic vision of this “ancient yet contemporary” work – showing humans morphing with the future. http://www.Ingenuity2007.com

Cool Cleveland is Looking for a Few Good Men and Women to volunteer at Ingenuity — to sign people up for Cool Cleveland. Here are the shifts we’re looking for: Thu 19th from 7-10; Fri the 20th from 7-10; Sat the 21st from 5 – 7:30PM and 7:30 – 10PM; and Sun the 22nd from 5 – 7:30PM or 7:30 – 10PM. Interested? If so, tell us what shift(s) you’d like and contact tl@coolcleveland.com.

Links to interesting NEO blogs

CLE+ stickers are spotted in the wild.
Mayor Jackson cans the only school board member critical of the board for its laid-back attitude.
Harvey Pekar meets celeb chef Anthony Bourdain.
Speaking of celeb chefs Michael Symon answers some questions posed by a local blogger.
MotleyFool.com has a good article on Cleveland investments.
We’ll be at the Best Damn Tech Show Period. Will you?

Check Brewed Fresh Daily here, where Peter Chakerian comments on the news of the week in the Cool Cleveland e-blast. When you’re through, add your own comments, questions and attitude. Letters@CoolCleveland.com.

Say
Eric Letta
Jazzeejones Productions

Warm, sexy tones of bop and traditional jazz styles, and a strong embouchure fortify Akron native Eric Letta’s debut CD Say. With shades of Monk, Getz, Ornette Coleman and Dexter Gordon looming, the award winning saxophonist and Kent State grad has done right by a genre that hardcore fans clearly worry about the future of. Say features seven original compositions and two classic American arrangements – “God Bless the Child,” the gospel-tinged “You Are My Sunshine” – all articulated in his own inimitable manner on tenor and soprano saxes. The harmonies and rhythms on the disc have a slightly modern jazz bent, but that keeps the whole experience fresh and inviting play after play…

Read the review by Peter Chakerian here

A Plan for a Mart, Convention Center

I’ve got a great idea for the medical mart and the convention center. Why don’t those who Profit from it Pay for it?

How original and novel is that?

Tower City, the Forest City kingdom, wants it. So why don’t they donate its Higbee property to a non-profit for the mart.

Tower City also covets the Convention Center. So it should donate the land it wants us to build the center upon to a non-profit to construct and operate a Convention Center.

Why don’t all the downtown hotels, restaurants and other businesses start a fund to finance the facilities that they say will so greatly enhance their businesses?

Can’t anybody here be a capitalist anymore…?
Read more from Roldo Bartimole here

Quick reviews of recent events
Going out this weekend? Take along your PDA and your digital camera. Scratch out a few notes to send us with a picture of it for our Instant Karma real-world reviews of what’s really happening. We’d love to hear from you. Send your stuff to Events@CoolCleveland.com

GroundWorks Dance Theater @ Cain Park 6/22 GroundWorks Dance Theater has performed at Cain Park’s Alma Theater every summer for 5 years now; we’ve probably seen all of them. This performance, Friday 6/22 – Sunday 6/24/07, appeared to continue some of the transitions taking place in the company while reversing others. In keeping with his announced intention to retire from performance, Artistic Director David Shimotakahara danced in only one piece. Artistic Associate Amy Miller continued to contribute new, interesting choreography, and we got our first look at the company’s new dancer, Sarah Perrett.

Unfortunately, we unavoidably missed nearly the entire concert’s first dance, U me U, a duet for Felise Bagley and Mark Otloski. What little we saw through the gaps in the Alma’s door curtains confirmed our impressions from the piece’s January premiere at Cleveland Botanical Gardens, that U me U, Miller’s second choreographic effort for GroundWorks, is a notably close collaboration between her and guitarist / composer James Marron, who composed the score as the dance was choreographed and performed it live onstage at both venues. The closeness of the collaboration begins in the dance’s first section where the dancers’ movements are closely synched to the guitar sounds and in, for instance, the 3rd (?) section, where playful pizzicato guitar passages are embodied by the dancers, who pointedly freeze when the music stops.

Interaction between musician and dancers in U me U is not only aural. Instances of eye contact between dancers and musician seem to be choreographed into the dance, and staging often places the dancers close to the musician. Cleveland dance audiences may remember Marron’s first collaboration with dancer / choreographer Bethany Prater in which Prater literally climbed over Marron for the entire dance; U me U may not be that intimate a collaboration, but close.

Yes, close collaboration could be taken as the watchword of this dance, but not too close when it comes to the dancers’ relation to each other. In “U me U” there’s a formal distance between the dancers, a consensual quality to the dancers’ interactions, that’s a world away from Miller’s first choreographic effort for Ground Works, eleveneleven. As we remarked in our Cool Cleveland review of that work, the many long embraces that the dancers share in eleveneleven “are not the formal positions of the ballroom, parallel, proximate but definitely apart; rather, the dancers embrace with the full length of their bodies pressed together. And in the many daring and highly original lifts (of eleveneleven), the women are not held at arms length but are propelled over and around in close proximity to their partners.”

We were, in short, very impressed and a little shocked by eleveneleven both in terms of the achievement it represented as a choreographic debut and for the departure it represented for Ground Works whose work had sometimes seemed to us too cerebral and abstract. eleveneleven seemed to be Miller’s take on the work of guest choreographer Keely Garfield, a New York-based artist whose intentionally outrageous explorations of emotions and boundaries provided GW with, we think, a certain edginess, a kind of sexiness onstage that we had found missing before.

Definitely pulling back from the unedited explorations of eleveneleven U me U begins in the manner of the most formal classical pas de deux with the male dancer offering his hand to the female dancer – ‘may I have this dance?’ In U me U the dancers ‘embrace’ from time to time but it is, according to our careful tabulation, the stylized ballroom embrace in every instance except in the 6th movement, which ends, as we recall, with a sustained stillness, and the 9th movement, which begins with Mark holding Felise in, again, stillness. U me U explores many moods and tempos, frequently becoming playful and upbeat [the 7th movement builds movement jokes around the offering of hands] but it’s a dance that’s formal and yet informed by the intimacy of those 2 sustained moments of stillness.

“Juxta,” Miller’s premiere work of the evening, was, like eleveneleven, an ensemble work with a considerable amount of partnering. Unlike eleveneleven, Juxta’s partnering was defined by formal constraints, with the dancers typically holding their partners at arms length in suspensions. Our first look at a new dance is seldom the most insightful, but Juxta, like eleveneleven, left us impressed by Miller’s and her dancers’ skill in organizing ensemble passages; how often all 5 dancers danced in close proximity with every dancer having something different to do!

Proximal, guest choreographer KT Niehoff’s duet for Miller and Damien Highfield, sparked rather a lot of amused comments from our fellow theatergoers. The dance began with what looked at first like 2 stagehands struggling with a sticky fire door upstage center. Struggle continued to be the dominant theme as Miller and Highfield worked through several repetitions of a core phrase built around some contact improv material, audibly whispering to each other as they encountered imagined difficulties, progressed from stage R to stage L, and eventually reached a blinking lighting instrument that Highfield fiddled with while Miller protested in furious sotto voce.

We too were amused but we found the work perhaps too easy to talk about, too easy to reduce to a few well-worn choreographic devices, too gimmicky, and too reliant on the performers’ established stage personae. The perils of first impressions notwithstanding, we fail to see why Niehoff and her supposedly original choreographic approach needed to be imported; couldn’t GroundWorks’ 2 resident choreographers turn out similar dances like hot cakes?

Still – we gotta remember how wrong our first impressions can occasionally be; in July of 2005 we saw the premiere of Shimotakahara’s Kabila (the final dance on Friday’s program) and we were not terribly enthusiastic.

Kabila strings together 19 minutes worth of 2 – 5 minute cuts from the compilation CD, African Voices Songs of Life. Like a lot of contemporary Afro Pop, Voices is built around the beguiling tones of vocalists and stringed instruments rather than drums. Nonetheless, it is polyrhythmic music, demanding that dancers respond in kind.

Unfortunately, ballet and modern choreographers often fail to take full advantage of such musical opportunities, falling back on a movement vocabulary of questionable relevance and papering over the music’s rhythmic complexities. And that, in 2005, was, we thought, our gripe with Kabila. How very wrong that negative assessment of Kabila seemed at the Alma in 2007! We realized that Shimo finds a lot of movement that keeps up with and comments on the rhythmic complexities of the music at hand, movements of the hips for the ensemble in the first section, percussion sounds from stamping feet in Perrett and Otloski’s duet in the 3rd section, and rhythmically precise little skips in a circle that provide a bass line in Kabila’s final ensemble section.

Kabila cast a joyous, celebratory glow over dancers and audience alike at the Alma in both 2005 and 2007.

It is possible that only livestock is subjected to more impassioned scrutiny than a new dancer. Sarah Perrett, the studio mavens tell us, is more a modern than a classical dancer. She got the job with Ground Works because they liked her improvisation, but, they are quick to add, she is no slouch as a ballet dancer with a great big jump to die for.

We noticed that both Miller and Shimo used Perrett rather a lot in their ensemble pieces, much as they would have used the recently departed Jenn Lott. To our eyes Perrett looked just fine in everything.

From Cool Cleveland contributors Elsa Johnson and Victor Lucas vicnelsaATearthlink.net

GroundWorks Dance Theater @ Cain Park 6/22 I took a friend, who had never seen Groundworks Dancetheatre to the company’s recent Cain Park concert. His reaction? “Wow, that was really something special!” Yes, as has come to be expected from Groundworks, the choreography and dancing were something special!

The program opened with U me U, choreographed by company member Amy Miller. Danced to music composed by and performed live by James Marron, there was perfect synchrony between the dancers and the guitarist. Miller’s creative choreography, a series of movements featuring interlocking bodies and flowing heads and arms, was enhanced by Dennis Dugan’s lighting, which created flowing shadows on the intimate Alma Theater’s back wall. Petite Felise Bagley and very tall Mark Otloski danced with disciplined control to create a sometimes sensual, sometimes joyous duet. This was a wonderful start to the program.

Proxinal, choreographed by KT Niehoff, was a crowd pleaser. The piece started out with a pounding sound coming from behind a steel garage door at the rear of the stage. One hand appeared underneath the door, then three more hands appeared as Amy Miller and Damien Highfield pried open the portal and crawled underneath to freedom. Giving each other verbal instructions regarding what moves they were going to perform, the duo, moving to no music, showed amazing athletic strength and abilities to manipulate each other’s bodies through lifts, drops and pushes. Their crawling back under the door at the conclusion of the piece was met with enthusiastic applause by the near sold-out house.

Juxta, Amy Miller’s choreographed offering introduced the audience to Sarah Perrett, the company’s newest member. Perrett fits well into Artistic Director David Shimotakahara’s dance philosophy. She displayed controlled movements, blending into the physical action and reaction of the choreography. She is an excellent addition to the Groundworks family. Juxta, which featured same and mixed sex couples working as a group, was danced to selections from Steve Reich’s “Electric Counterpoint.” As exemplified by Miller herself, the choreography was gymnastic, controlled, and well defined. It fit the tone and intent of the music.

The evening concluded with the creative Kabila (“Tribe”), based on African Voices Song of Life. Shimotakahara used numerous African dance forms to create an audience pleasing number. It featured wonderful costumes by Janet Bolick and fabric artist Esther Montgomery, inspired by the Dark Continent. The many moods and illusions of Africa were showcased in the dancing of Bagley, Miller, Perrett, Highfield and Otloski.

Capsule judgment: GroundWorks has to be listed as a Cleveland artistic treasure. Its ninth consecutive performance at Cain Park, was, once again, a showcase of what well-conceived and executed audience-pleasing dance is all about! BRAVO!

You can see the company for free on August 3 & 4 at 8:45PM at the Heinz Poll Summer Dance Festival at Cascade Plaza in Downtown Akron, and at Lincoln Park in Tremont on August 10 & 11 at 8:30PM. For more information, visit http://www.notsoobvious.com.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Roy Berko royberkoATyahoo.com

Roy Berko’s blog, which contains theatre and dance reviews from 2002 through 2007, as well as his consulting and publications information, can be found at http://royberko.info.

Pirates of Penzance @ Ohio Light Opera 6/26 The Ohio Light Opera’s Pirates of Penzance is a campy, fast-moving concoction on the Freedlander Theatre stage at the College of Wooster. Director Frederick Reeder allows, nay, insists, that the satiric tone of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta shine, with physical comedy and vocal high jinks contributing to a fresh version of this operetta oft-staged in the Cleveland area.

The story, based on the premise that the good British subject honors duty above all, concerns the hapless Frederic (Todd Strange) who has been apprenticed by his nurse Ruth (Stina Eberhardt) to a “pirate” because she got mixed up when instructed to take the lad to a “pilot” to learn a trade. When the story opens, Frederick is about to be released from the terms of his apprenticeship because he is finally 21 years old. Frederick, who has seen no other woman, is a bit dubious about marrying the much older Ruth. When he sees Sarah Asmar’s gorgeous Mabel (who flounces onto the scene glorying in a deliciously florid coloratura solo), he casts Ruth off with “Oh, false one, you have deceived me.”

Things are, of course, sorted out, but not before fun with Eberhardt’s overwrought Ruth hanging on to Frederick’s legs as he pulls her across the stage. Whether this stage bit is just how every dumped lover feels or a classic (and scrumptious) send up of English Baroque opera such as Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas,” it’s funny and typical of comic touches throughout the production.

Reeder makes every ridiculous word ring clear as a bell in Major-General Stanley’s patter song, “I am the very model of a modern Major-General.”

And Boyd Mackus, as the Pirate King, a man who can never harm an orphan (and, strangely enough, all ships captured by this pirate band turn out to be manned by orphans) manages the neat trick of being commanding, honorable, touching, and charming. The Sergeant of Police, Paul Hindemith, leads his merry fellow officers in wobbly quick-steps and fancy footwork as they sort-of capture the pirates.

Birth secrets play a major role in the happy ending of this pirate tale as they so often do for G&S.

But hey, it’s summer fare and (no surprise) things work out happily for a whole boat-load of pirates, Major-General Stanley’s many daughters and even the timid police.

The Pirates set sail again July 6 (8PM), 8 (2PM), 12 (8PM), 14 (2PM), 18 (2PM), 27 (2PM), Aug. 4 (8PM) and 9 (2PM) at the College of Wooster’s Freedlander Theatre, 329 E University St., Wooster. http://www.wooster.edu

From Cool Cleveland contributor Laura Kennelly lkennellyATgmail.com

Der Vogelhändler @ Ohio Light Opera 6/27 “If women didn’t marry fools and blockheads they would all be single.” Hmm. How can one not love an operetta with lines like these (unless, of course, one is a fool or a blockhead)? The Ohio Light Opera production of “Der Vogelhändler” [“the birdseller”] comes to life with quips such as the above by worldly-wise Princess Marie (sung by a delightfully adult Julie Wright). Although the story is on the surface about the budding love between villager Christel (sung by perky Robin Farnsley) and the obtuse wandering birdseller Adam (Josh Kohl), it’s also about married love as personified by Princess Marie and Prince Karl Ludwig (Boyd Mackus, a performer who just gets better and better).

Wright and Mackus, both in fine fine voice, pretend to be “commoners,” and intervene (a bit like gods and goddesses in more classical works) in Village Square doings. Christel wants Adam to be the Royal Menagerie Keeper so they can be together. Adam thinks she’s in love with the Prince and so on (you get the drift).

Act II, set in the Royal Place, shows more sass than the life in Act I’s village (ho-hum). Helped a lot by identical white “fro” wigs on the ladies, the Act II courtiers flutter around with a funny gossipy “Listen, have you heard?” The sleazy professors who examine Adam for the post of Keeper prove what we’ve always suspected–certifying oral exams can be rigged.

Overall, though, the mood of this 1891 work with music by Carl Zeller and lyrics by M. West and L. Held proves to be sweet as its signature song, “Roses in the Tyrol.” Director Ted Christopher (who evoked a similar feeling in another current Light Opera production, “The Student Prince”) gets many points for creating a great “date operetta” that will likely encourage one to feel great about love–fools and blockheads of either sex notwithstanding.

Other performances are July 6 (2PM), 13 (8PM), 19 (8PM), 21 (2PM), 26 (2PM), August 3 (8PM) and 7 (2PM) at the College of Wooster’s Freedlander Theatre, 329 E. University St., Wooster. http://www.wooster.edu.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Laura Kennelly lkennellyATgmail.com

Gourmets in the Garden @ Cleveland Botanical Garden 6/27 If you love to cook or watch Food TV?, you’ll love Cleveland Botanical Garden’s Gourmets in the Garden summer series. For a five-spot, you’ll spend at least an hour with top chefs in the area learning about their favorite foods, how they make them, and where to get the ingredients in Cleveland. Last Wednesday’s event with the folks from 806 Martini and Wine Bar in Tremont, (http://806martinibar.com gave us a taste of interesting pates and oysters on the half shell along with lively banter from both the chef and owner. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, the program is interactive. Afterward, take a stroll through the CBG to see the gardens in bloom and then to Wade Oval to enjoy the Wednesday evening activities. Gourmets in the Garden runs every Wednesday through 8/22 from 6PM to 7PM on the Geis Terrace (although no event will be held today due to the holiday). Still to come are chefs from Blue Point Grille, Fire Food and Drink, and Baricelli Inn, to name a few. In the meantime, I’m heading to Gallucci’s (http://www.tasteitaly.com) to pick up the Spanish Smoked Paprika I’ve been trying to find and making herb infused oil for my own pate. It only goes to show that you can teach an old cook new tricks.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Nan Frost nanettehfATsbcglobal.net

The Best Little Whore House in Texas @ Stan Hywet Hall 6/29 The Ohio Shakespeare Festival opened it seventh summer season at Stan Hywet Hall in Akron last Friday with The Best Little Whore House in Texas. Sure, it’s not Shakespeare but it’s fun and Shakespeare will come later this month and in August with The Comedy of Errors and Othello. Terry Burgler is hilarious as Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd and after he makes his entrance the pace of the entire production picks up. Because of Burgler’s high-energy performance, the other characters with which he interacts become more believable, including Jan Guarino’s portrayal of Miss Mona. Henry Bishop’s interpretation of the Governor in Act 2 as he sings The Sidestep is also a crowd pleaser. Catch Best Little Whorehouse July 6-8, but if you miss it, mark your calendar to attend one of the other productions. Enjoy a glass of wine, a snack from your own picnic basket, the sunset over the Cuyahoga Valley and a beautiful night of entertainment under the stars at Stan Hywet. It’s an experience you’ll long for when the snow starts to fly in November. For ticket information and driving directions, visit Stan Hywet online: http://www.stanhywet.org.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Nan Frost nanettehfATsbcglobal.net

A Narrow Bridge @ Bang & Clatter 6/30 You have to give a lot of credit to Bang and Clatter, the Akron-based theatre that has a goal of doing world and local premieres, such as their present offering, Clevelander Cliff Hershman’s A Narrow Bridge. But, as much as the Seans (producers Derry and McConaha) deserve credit for their dedication to helping expose the audience to new material, they also need to make wise choices. A Narrow Bridge is a case-in-point.

Hershman, in spite of dedication and a valiant try, doesn’t seem to have the playwriting skills to pull off the needed natural dialogue, development of exposition, and built in motivation for the actors to develop their characters. He doesn’t make us care about the people he is writing about. The script shows a strong need for a good dramaturg to work with the writer to develop the material.

As reflected by actions of the second night-of-the-run audience, the play fails to captivate. There was no applause at the intermission, the sold-out audience thinned after intermission, and the curtain call was met with polite, if unenthusiastic applause.

The story centers on yet another dysfunctional family. This one, a Toledo, Ohio unit, presents Blue, a man who has been a failure most of his life and is out to scam his second-wife, Edie, out of the value of her house. Edie is an insecure woman who was abandoned by her previous husband, and has only the house she salvaged out of the divorce.

Her junior high school daughter (Kim) is being seduced by her step-father as part of his plan to get the youngster to convince her mother to sign loan papers which will allow Blue to grab the dough and run. The final member of the group is Willy, Blue’s drugged-out son from a previous marriage who has returned, for no explicable reason, from wandering in the desert where he has “faced the void.” (I’m not sure what that means, but at one point in the production a character asked about the “meaning of meaning.” Someone in the audience, after having hearing the phrase expressed more than a dozen times, yelled, out, “It’s all about the void, man.” It got the biggest reaction of the night.)

Hershman knows no bounds when it comes to psychological problems and has stacks them high in the script. Bulimia, drug and alcohol use, emotional avoidance, drug addiction, absent-father syndrome, abandonment, depression, incest and sexual depravity are only some of the deviances glanced over.

The writing style leaves the actors at bay. The cast seemed confused about their characters’ identities. The motivations behind the character’s actions were often not developed.

The over-all effect was four weak performances and little audience empathy. The cause? Part script, part talent, part directing.

Chuck Simon showed no understanding of the motivations behind the role of Blue. The idea development of his lines was generally missing. In addition, he stumbled over lines and overlapped some of his speeches with those of other cast members.

Ann McEvoy (Edie) valiantly tried to create the mother role, but she, too, was thwarted by the writing.

Jennifer Hoffman (Kim), was too old for the role of a junior high student, and was unconvincing in her portrayal.

Even Ton Weaver, a B&C favorite who has shown he is a fine actor, failed to develop a clear characterization.

The set added to the chaos. A back wall served as a divider/stairway for three different rooms and the house’s entrance. Actors kept ducking in-and-out behind the wall, making for chaos as to where they were or where they were going.

Some questionable directing decisions were made by Sean McConaha. When Kim turned on a set of personal headphones, the audience could hear the music… why? When, in the final scene, a car speeds away from the house, we hear the car. This is the only time we hear outside noises. And, people walked through “locked” doors.

”Capsule judgment: During this production, one of the characters stated, “I’m sorry you had to see this.” A person sitting next to me moaned, “Yep!” Unfortunately, there is little that I can conjure up to encourage the reader to attend this production other than to say that you get all the free wine and beer you want before the opening curtain and at intermission. Too bad I’m not a drinker. it might have helped.”

A Narrow Bridge runs at Bang and The Clatter, 140 E. Market Street, Akron, through July 29. For tickets call 330-606-5317 or visit http://www.bnctheatre.com.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Roy Berko royberkoATyahoo.com

Roy Berko’s blog, which contains theatre and dance reviews from 2002 through 2007, as well as his consulting and publications information, can be found at http://royberko.info.

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On the County Commissioners, the Medical Mart, and the Breuer Tower (See video interview with Peter Lawson Jones here) I fully agree with Mr. Jones that they should save money and use the existing building and work on saving tax payers money. I also agree with Mr. Jones that we do not need to raise the tax a 1/4%. We already have some of the highest taxes in the state, period. And Mr. Hagan and Mr. Dimora wonder why we keep losing people. I know people that will not move here because of the taxes. I am considering moving back out myself. I just moved up here from Summit County about five years ago. Keep up the smart fight for the public Mr. Jones.
from Cool Cleveland reader John D. Sheldon jsheldon@nstitle.com

This is in reference to the mentioned sales tax increase for the Medical Mart / Convention Center. I firmly believe in the Medical Mart, and that the Convention Center should be located at Tower City which should be the hub of downtown. During the last county tax drive, Mr. Dimora was on a talk show with Mike Trivisonno. When questioned what he would do if it didn’t’ pass, he said that “He’ll get more creative”. Wow, well the three of you should get “Creative” now. Don’t increase the county sales tax which is already higher than anyone else. The Breuer Tower on 9th St, renovation makes financial sense, just look at the renovation of the Warehouse District buildings; you couldn’t build for the price of the makeover. Don’t put the business on 9th St. through another tear-up; renovation would be enough of an interruption. Get “Creative” again! Maybe you can name a recent county building that looks a whole lot better than the “Brutal” Tower.
from Cool Cleveland reader Leonard J. Nagel lNagel@aexcelcorp.com

IF we’re going to have a convention center we don’t want or need rammed down our throats, let’s at least insist that any sales tax increase be levied in all of the counties that make up Northeast Ohio. None of the surrounding counties would have a tax base at all, if it weren’t the City of Cleveland and the communities adjacent to it. Come on, all you upper middle class folks who fled Cuyahoga County for quieter living and lower taxes in the outer ‘burbs, step up to the plate and take some responsibility for our region as a whole.
from Cool Cleveland reader Carla Rautenberg RCarlaATaol.com

I think that this is just another smoke screen to fleece the public for the better of the chosen few it should go on a ballet; to both of the county commissioners that are double dipping and not watching are money by letting someone rob the county welfare system under both their watches for nearly a million$ over decades: let untold amount of money disappear when the construction of the stadium and gateway that put one persona in jail and an other retire with god knows how much money never wanting to be heard from or accountable.
from Cool Cleveland reader Carmen Paparosa Cjp29347ATaol.com

Send your letters to: Letters@CoolCleveland.com

Most clicked
Here are the Top 5 from last week’s issue, with one more chance for you to click.
1) RoldoLINK Hagan the Backstabber at it again.
www.CoolCleveland.com

2) Cleveland Wine Festival More than 20 wine exhibitors feature samples of some 150 domestic and international wines.
http://www.ClevelandWineFestival.com

3) Interview Cuy Co Commish Peter Lawson Jones re: the Med Mart Tax.
www.CoolCleveland.com

4) Straight Outta Mansfield A Tale of Two Occurences.
www.CoolCleveland.com

5) Chagrin Falls commits $8M Partners w/ Chautauqua aiming toward goal of becoming a new arts hub/destination.
www.Cleveland.com

Fireworks Reds, Whites and Booms to Peter Chakerian, T.L. Champion, George Nemeth, Jennifer Keirn, Nan Frost, Roy Berko, Laura Kennelly and Roldo Bartimole. And lastly, though most certainly never least, thanks to our readers and everyone who partners with us. Want to volunteer and contribute your writing to Cool Cleveland? Send your reviews, articles, or story ideas to: Events@CoolCleveland.com.

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Happy 4th, Cleveland,
–Thomas Mulready
Letters@CoolCleveland.com

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