11.26-12.06.2025 Encouraging

 

 

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Encouraging

11.26-12.03.25

 WHAT WE BELIEVE 

Maybe it’s this incredible time of year (our favorite around here), the approaching holidays, or just something in the water, but doesn’t it feel like we have a lot to be thankful for? Maybe I’m biased after having the opportunity to interview Ohio gubernatorial candidate Dr. Amy Acton, but it seems like we’re on the precipice of better things to come.Again maybe a bias, but we’re giddy to be kicking off our NEO Rewind Series, celebrating our region’s musical history with

three shows in January featuring local legends like Billy Bass, Denny Sanders and our own Anastasia Pantsios. CoolCleveland’s travel columnist Claudia Taller is feeling grateful amidst the blessings and gifts we all share this time of year, and we thank Emily Applebaum as she moves on from Ingenuity and leaves things better off for her creative stewardship and fierce belief in the arts and artists of NEO.The holidays are indeed impending, with a Cleveland Thanksgiving Polka weekend, Akron’s WinterBlast, the Festival of Lights in Kent, the Cleveland Pops Orchestra’s Jingle Bell Jamboree, Penitentiary Glen’s Candy Land, and WinterLand on Cleveland’s Public Square, plus holiday markets at Foundry Concert Club, Avon’s Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show, and the Screw Factory’s Small Business Saturday. We are indeed indebted.

-Thomas Mulready

CoolCleveland.com 

Photo by Thomas Mulready

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 VIDEO: DR. AMY ACTON
CANDIDATE FOR
OHIO GOVERNOR 

Dr. Amy Acton came to the public’s attention as the first woman to serve as director of the Ohio Department of Health, exhibiting leadership during the pandemic to work collaboratively and help to successfully save lives.

In this exclusive interview, CoolCleveland’s Thomas Mulready caught up with Dr. Acton at Lakewood Public Library before she addressed the Lakewood Democratic Club last week. They discussed her difficult upbringing in Youngstown experiencing neglect and homelessness, her life as a doctor and public servant, and her key issues: affordability, building a diverse economy, lowering the cost of health care, and more.

 

 

 CELEBRATE DAVID BOWIE
WITH BILLY BASS,
DENNY SANDERS
& ANASTASIA PANTSIOS

To celebrate David Bowie’s 79th birthday, and to mark the 10th anniversary of his death, Thomas Mulready and Vanity Crash take a deep dive into the artist’s intimate relationship with the Northeast Ohio region that made him an international superstar.

Bowie was an obscure folkie with a novelty hit (Space Oddity) when Denny Sanders first heard Hunky Dory. He took it to Billy Bass who put it into heavy rotation on WMMS. Then Ziggy Stardust sealed the deal, and Bowie chose Cleveland’s Music Hall as his first US performance, where Anastasia Pantsios was front row center in the balcony… with her camera. Come see the photos (like the one above) & ask your questions of Billy Bass (Fri 1/9 BOP STOP), Anastasia Pantsios (Sat 1/10 Jilly’s Music Room) and Denny Sanders (Sun 1/11 Beachland Ballroom) at the opening salvo of the NEO Rewind Series. Tickets make great presents.

 

FEATURE

 

 A TIME TO GIVE THANKS
by CLAUDIA J. TALLER 

Life can feel too full. Too full of work tasks, appointments, emails, messages and news, distractions from quit and calm, from being in nature, from spending time with those we love, from doing things we’re passionate about. But we can turn around and realize there’s a lot to be grateful for. What do you notice? What are the gifts that come your way? Where do you see magic?

Not everyone feels thankful, especially when there’s no food or water, no shelter or bed to sleep on, no money to pay bills or family to love. But those of us who have what we need should feel blessed. May we be attentive, may we be grateful, may we give from compassion. 

 

NEWS

 

 INGENUITY LEADER MOVES ON 

Emily Appelbaum took over the reins at Cleveland’s Ingenuity festival in 2015 when it was 10 years old, and presided over its growth into the creative behemoth it is today, with a full-time space for creators and year-round events. Now she’s stepping down, leaving Ingenuity stronger than ever as she moves on to her next adventure.

 LOOKING FOR LANTERN MAKERS 

For the fifth year, Canalway Partners will be presenting its Towpath Trail Lantern Parade on March 7, 2026. Right now it’s looking for artists who can build 10-foot lanterns to lead the parade, with themes revolving around NEO history and environmental sustainability. Deadline to submit a potential project os January 4, 2026.

WEDNESDAY
11/26

 

If you haven’t seen the Cleveland Museum of Art’s  show Renaissance to Runway: The Enduring Italian Houses, don’t wait any longer. It’s a sumptuous display of garments and accessories made by 20th-century Italian couturiers, along with paintings and jewelry showing how they were influenced by the style of wealthy 15th-17th century Italians. 

THURSDAY
11/27

 

There’s not much going on Thanksgiving evening. But if you have a urge to get out of the house, head down to the Grog Shop where one of Cleveland’s most engaging frontmen, Apostle Jones’ Mikey Silas, will be hosting “Shitshow Karaoke,” an informal open mic night. 

FRIDAY
11/28

 

Just about everyone loves Motown, so Karamu’s A Motown Christmas, opening tonight at Playhouse Square, should have wide appeal, mixing the many Christmas tunes recorded by Motown acts, such as the Supremes, the Temptations and Marvin Gaye, with their well-known hits.

 MORE on FRIDAY… 

SATURDAY
11/29

 

Joanie Deveny aka Joan of Art is well known in the local art community for her diverse, creative and unpredictable projects. Her latest, Fragile/Handle with Care, features portraits in photos and paintings of people and things she’s run into, on view at Negative Space Gallery. 

 MORE on SATURDAY… 

SUNDAY
11/30

 

Cleveland Pops Orchestra’s Jingle Bell Jamboree at Playhouse Square offers a family-friendly holiday program of sing-alongs, dancing, Santa, and in the lobby, local shelters with adoptable animals. Beware the cuteness! 

 MORE on SUNDAY… 

 

MONDAY
12/1

 

You have until January 4 to get out to Lake Metroparks Penitentiary Glen Reservation for Candy Land, a display of holiday decor, a chance to play family-friendly games, shop and enjoy s’mores and hot chocolate, and learn about animals from park naturalists. It’s open almost every day except holidays.

TUESDAY
12/2

 

 The Ohio Arts Professional Network provides opportunities to connect performing artists with agents and bookers for theaters, arts centers and colleges. Its final Networking Night of the year at the Maltz Performing Arts Center is open to both members and non-members. 

 MORE on TUESDAY… 

 

WEDNESDAY
12/3

 

This is the first season of Oberlin’s new music theater program, headed by acclaimed director Victoria Bussert, who developed Baldwin Wallace’s nationally recognized program. This week it opens its first production, the 2012 musical Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812.

 MORE on WEDNESDAY… 

POINT OF ORDER

 

 C. ELLEN CONNALLY 

 THE CLEVELAND FUNERAL OF PRESIDENT JAMES A. GARFIELD 

 

On November 22, 2025, the nation marked the 62nd anniversary of the funeral of President John F. Kennedy. The eyes of the nation and the world were on Washington D.C. as Americans saw their slain president put to rest. 

On September 26, 1881, the eyes of the nation and the world were focused on Cleveland for the funeral of another president, Ohioan James A. Garfield. For most of the 20th and 21st century, the average American knew little or nothing about Garfield. But thanks to the widely acclaimed Netflix movie, Death by Lightning, the second president to die at the hands of an assassin is back in the public eye.

 

BACKTALK

 

 

Don’t give up.-Thomas Mulready
CoolCleveland.com
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