Category: Arts & Entertainment

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Arts & Entertainment News

PIPPIN Kicks off Carnegie’s Diverse Theater Season

The Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center kicks off its 2011-2012 season with the provocative tale of young Pippin’s relentless journey through politics, war, sex, and marriage seeking his “corner of the sky.” PIPPIN’s tale of self-discovery is itself edgy and glossy; the score is bright and clever; and the Carnegie production promises all the glam its audience can handle: “young, spry, sexy dancers and performers is what this show needs,” reports Joshua Steele, The Carnegie’s Managing Director, “and we’ve got them.”

More than half of the production’s cast is comprised of the region’s top young talent from the award-winning musical theatre programs at Northern Kentucky University, The University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music, and Wright State University.

Adventurous, insatiable young Pippin is played by Chris Stewart, a gifted Nebraska native who is active with the the Children’s Theater of Cincinnati, the Showboat Majestic, the Cincinnati Opera, and the Commonwealth Theatre Company.

The fresh pizzaz of the young talent is matched by the professionalism and experience of Greater Cincinnati theatre favorites including Deb Girdler, Brooke Rucidlo, and Jim Stump. Girdler, whose resume boasts 40 years of stellar performances including a record-breaking 46 parts on the Showboat Majestic and 25 critically-acclaimed turns at the Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, takes on the comedic role of Pippin’s grandmother, Berthe. A show-stopping number in the first act filled with verve and energy lets Girdler truly shine. Rucidlo, regarded as one of the area’s top rising young talents, plays PIPPIN’s non-traditional ingénue, Catherine. Stump, the Artistic Director of Cincinnati’s New Edgecliff Theatre was last seen as Mr. Bumble in Carnegie’s production of Oliver! Here, he appears in the role of Pippin’s father, Charles.

PIPPIN challenges as it inspires. “It is a very self-aware show,” Steele says, “When you walk in, you are completely aware that you are watching a show. It satirizes the traditional theatrical process and all the things we expect from it.”

The show is delivered by a complex, talented production team. PIPPIN marks the second time the Carnegie has partnered with Commonwealth Theater Company, the professional production arm of Northern Kentucky University’s Department of Theater and Dance. Commonwealth contributes the peerless vision of multiple Acclaim Award Winners, Ken Jones (director) and Jamey Strawn (music director). In 2008, the pair brought the critically acclaimed Carnegie / Commonwealth collaboration of Jesus Christ Superstar, which set and still holds Carnegie theatre attendance records.

The Carnegie starts its season with the wile and sheen of PIPPIN and ups the ante with its second production. From November 4-20, 2011, Carnegie joins with CCM Drama to bring the regional premiere of In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play, about a doctor at the dawn of electricity who invents the vibrator to treat hysteria in women. “The content of it probably pushes the envelope for us at The Carnegie,” reports Steele.

The second half of the Carnegie season is much more traditional. Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The King and I will be presented in concert with musicians from the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra from January 20-29, 2012. The season closes with Pump Boys & Dinettes running April 13-29, 2012. “We have some nice variety this season,” concludes Steele, “and PIPPIN will kick us off!”

PIPPIN will feature eight performances, all during weekends between August 19, 2011 and September 3, 2011. Tickets may be purchased through The Carnegie Box Office at 859.957.1940 (open Tuesday through Friday, noon to 5:00 pm) or
online .

PIPPIN picture provided.

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‘Cincinnati Drive-By’ creatively tours the Queen City’s urban core

In an attempt to capture the many changes taking place in Cincinnati’s urban core, Zachary Herche decided to do what it is he is passionate about and make a video of the city.

“Production and editing is my passion,” said Herche. I think Cincinnati is a beautiful city and I wanted to show as much as I could of it by driving around.”

Herche lives in Mt. Adams and is attending the University of Cincinnati’s acclaimed College Conservatory of Music (CCM) where he is studying Electronic Media. He currently works for Prime Productions and says that he wanted to capture some of the city’s historic architecture and collection of bridges over the Ohio River.

“It is interesting to see some of the transformations happening around the city recently,” Herche continued. “It seems like there is so much in the works here, and I’m excited to see it all come together.”

Cincinnati Drive-By features the song “Grace Kelly” by Mika in the video.

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Cleopatra brings ancient Egypt to the Queen City

Cleopatra’s body was never found, but all of her stuff is currently in residence at 1301 Western Avenue, right here in Cincinnati. Cleopatra VII, the infamously beautiful political leader who seduced two of the world’s most powerful men, can be seen in all her past, present and future glory at “Cleopatra: The Search for the Last Queen of Egypt” at Cincinnati Museum Center.

The exhibition boasts nearly 150 artifacts that range from coins with her portrait to towering statues. The  pieces were uncovered during the modern-day expeditions led by Egyptian archeologist and Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs, Dr. Zahi Hawass, and French underwater archeologist and Director of IEASM (Institut Européen d’Archéologie Sous-Marine), Franck Goddio. Since they began uncovering the elusive queen’s world by land and sea, the two men have done as much for Cleopatra’s legacy as Julius Caesar and Marc Antony.

Destroyed by an earthquake, subsequent tsunami, and a classic case of the Roman Empire determined to erase it from history, Cleopatra’s life and world have been hidden for nearly 2,000 years. Franck Goddio began his ambitious dive to the ocean floor in 1992 and has since uncovered Cleopatra’s royal palace and two ancient cities lost to the natural disasters, Canopus and Heracleion. On land, Dr. Hawass and his team are on the hunt for the tomb of Cleopatra and Marc Antony, but in the interim have uncovered artifacts (coins, statues, shafts) from the temple of Taposiris Magna.

Patrons are taken through Cleopatra’s lost world in a gorgeous underwater setting with the exhibits narrated by the queen herself.  Divided into eight separate, chronological galleries, the Cincinnati Museum Center provides a comprehensive display of the world as it was and gives viewers a new prospective on the politically ambitious pharaoh. As one walks through the maze of never-before-seen artifacts, she explains her family, husbands, decisions, and love for Egypt and its people.

“I am so proud that Cincinnati Museum Center is able to provide our community with this tremendous window on the world and Cleopatra’s remarkable story,” said Douglas W, McDonald, president and CEO of Cincinnati Museum Center. “This is a must-see experience of Cleopatra’s power, mystery, ambition strategy, romance, glamour and economic success. It helps us recognize the unique culture and priceless antiques Egypt offers the world looking back on humanity over thousands of years.”

“Cleopatra: The Search for the Last Queen of Egypt” is currently at Cincinnati Museum Center. The queen will be in the Queen City until September 5, 2011 and admission price ranges from$14 to $23. Tickets are timed and dated and admission is 10:00 a.m. – 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays (last entry at 5 p.m.), 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays (last entry 8 p.m.), 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. on Sundays (last entry 6 p.m.). Discounts are available for groups of 15 or more. For more information on the exhibit visit their website or call 513-287-7001.

 

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‘Cincinnati: City of Immigrants’ to premiere tonight at LULAC conference

The League of United Latin-American Citizens (LULAC) annual conference is well underway in downtown Cincinnati. The conference, and its thousands of attendees, is in the process of diving into issues surrounding Latinos in America while also exploring the Queen City through a host of events.

One unique event at the conference is the premiere performance of Cincinnati: City of Immigrants which takes place this evening, appropriately enough, at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. The event begins at 7:30pm, and is free and open to the public.

Cincinnati: City of Immigrants was written by critically-acclaimed playwright Joe McDonough. Produced by ArtsWave and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the story follows six fictional characters representing the six major waves of ethnic immigrants – German, Irish, African-America, Jewish, Appalachian and Hispanic – to Cincinnati over the past 180 years.

The fictional characters include a young German woman living in Over-the-Rhine in 1850, an African-American former slave in search of her son, and a Latino family celebrating a birthday in Cincinnati’s west side Price Hill neighborhood. The goal, producers say, is to tie together common experiences and encourage audience members to think differently about how their family history might connect them to other Cincinnatians.

The show will be performed at the theatre on the third floor of the Freedom Center. The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (map) is located along downtown Cincinnati’s riverfront in The Banks development. Convenient parking is available in underground parking garages located directly beneath the museum, and the Freedom Center is easily accessible by Cincinnati’s future streetcar line.

There are four other opportunities to see the show, which includes a dialogue with the cast after each performance. Additional performance dates and locations include:

Friday, July 8th Fairfield Arts Center
Tuesday, July 12 Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati
Wednesday, July 13th Irish Heritage and Cultural Center in Columbia-Tusculum
Thursday, July 14th BLOC Mission in Price Hill

These performances begin at 7:00 p.m. and include time for a post-show community dialogue with the actors. Performances are free and open to the public.

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Arts & Entertainment News

“Courses” brings food and community together on Main Street

CS13 is an art and performance space, located at 1420 Main Street, that hosts concerts, monthly reading series, and bi-monthly art projects/exhibitions. These projects often engage with overlaps in art practice and everyday life. Over the 2 year run of the gallery, CS13 has become more than just a collective that curates and hosts, transforming into an art collective that also produces projects of our own, also under the name CS13.

Paralleling their ongoing interest in overlaps of art and the everyday, this June CS13 presents a month-long project that looks to the comforts, history and politics of the kitchen, emulating the format and layout of cooking lessons and TV shows as a vehicle for discussion driven presentations by local community members. This project will consist of a working kitchen built in the gallery that will double as a meeting space and lecture hall, from which a weekly series of talks and demonstrations will be programmed and led by local community members, merchants and non-profits. Focused on the social structures implicit in recipes, cooking traditions and food based services, COURSES hopes to provide a unique community space that will offer both free storytelling, educational programming and shared meals prepared on site.

“We constructed the the kitchen and programmed all the events, but the details of each dinner/discussion are left up to the guest cook/speaker,”CS13 collaborator Aaron Walker explains “[The forum] gives the speaker a platform to highlight personal topics of interest and to host informal, intimate cooking demonstrations and dinner conversation.”

The crew at CS13 hopes to break down the barriers that some may feel when dealing with art by presenting it through the familiar lens of food. Many different kinds of folks feel comfortable interacting with Cincinnati’s robust selection of dining establishments. But art spaces, for many, are conceptually distant. “COURSES” is a fun way to bring those worlds together and imagine a more integrated and accessible creative community. Meanwhile we hope to highlight the important community-oriented work that a variety of organizations have been doing and provide an outlet for learning and engaging with a these provoking, forward thinking trades/projects that many people might not be aware of.

This coming week’s “COURSES” events include:

Final Friday, June 24th from 5-8 PM: Ufuk Adak
UFUK ADAK is a University of Cincinnati PhD student from Izmir, Turkey, will lead an informal discussion about Turkish and Ottoman food cultures as he prepares a popular dish or two. Possible topics of conversation include the appropriating of Ottoman court cuisine by the masses and contemporary Turkish food culture.

Saturday, June 25th from 5-8 PM: Vicki Mansoor and Bill Brown
VICKI MANSOOR: Mansoor is part of an evolving initiative, Homemeadow Song Farm, where participants are active in areas of land stewardship, gardening, nutrition, education, artistic processes and cultural renewal.

Vicki has invited Susan Gilbert, a gifted storyteller and artisan and Jose Navales of Pura Vita, a pop-up taqueria in Dayton KY, to support this program. They will lead a cooking demonstration centered around the history of corn in the U.S. Corn from Homeadow Song Farm will be ground and used to make tamales.

BILL BROWN: Bill Brown is both the author and the publisher of “Fenced Off, Obscured or Painted Over” (Colossal Books, Cincinnati: 2011), which is a collection of photographs of murals in community gardens in the Lower East Side of Manhattan (NYC) that Bill took in 1997 and 1998.

Established as long ago as 1972, and the survivors of Mayor Giuliani’s attempts in the 1990s to have them all bulldozed and sold off, these community gardens in NYC still bring people together who want to better their relations with their neighbors and the earth itself. Small-scale food production is the key to these gardens, which are oases in the middle of one of the least-green metropolises in the world.

For more information, check out CS13 on Facebook.
Courses + Cincinnati Cooks! picture provided.