free hot dogs and a 70% chance of rain

Maya tipped me off to this art project, LIFE/THEATER HOT DOGS.
Their mission statement said,
"By infusing actors into public space to perform everyday mundane activities, Life/Theater projects blur the line between what is real and what is not real...Free hot dogs will be grilled on-site and given to the public for designated periods of time. Through text descriptions that have been stamped on the hot dog wrappers, the public will become aware of a series of Life/Theater performances happening around.[them]"

the art lover in me said "this sounds really interesting!"

the cynic in me said "this sounds stupid"

the philosopher in me said "if performers are engaging the physical space in a public park, are they not real?"

love it or hate, think its interesting or stupid, I've always envied artists and I hope the dreamers keep dreaming no matter how silly it seems to everyone else.












[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati
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Wicked

Is back in town in all its steam punk glory

[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati
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Life Could Be a Dream

The Ensemble Theatre is going through a transformative period right now, they've launched a new website and the facade has been painted. Gone are the faux marble columns and period paint in exchange for a very clean and modern look.
To help get the word out they invited Ms.5chw4r7z and I out to opening night of Life Could Be a Dream.

I hate it and cringe when a review begins with the line, I'm not a fan of..(insert your favorite genre here) but I have no choice in this review of the Ensemble Theatre's newest show Life Could Be a Dream but to admit that I'm not a fan of musicals and 60's music.
Ms. 5chw4r7z, who does love this stuff assured me the show was very good, so I'll just add that from a technical point of view, the actors were all talented singers. The stage did a creative interpretation of Denny's mother's basement. Everyone but me was having a good time so I'd say if you like these types of shows, most likely you'll like this one too.

An empty theater is a promise unfulfilled ~ unknown

Sitting for two hours through an awkward (for me) musical lead my mind to random and not so random thoughts on the current and future state of the stage. The first thing is the subject itself. Sixties music. It attracts to an older segment of the population that actually spends money on the arts. It puts butts in seats, I get it and understand but it seems short-sighted. The vast majority of the audience was old, they all had a good 20 or so years on me and ok, there was a small amount of people younger than me in attendance, and they laughed and enjoyed the show, but what happens in 20 years? No way 30 or 40 people support the Ensemble. I know there are smaller stages out there taking risks, is that the key I'm missing, they are small? Will there be consolidation down the road or will the theaters relying on equity actors become a thing of the past?

One more thing bothering me and I wonder if its because of this PC era where everyone gets a gold star just for showing up.
Ovation inflation.
The past five or six shows I've attended have received a standing O. So now how do we acknowledge a truly moving performance?
One thing I do know for certain, The Lackman is only a block away and the beer is cold the wine sweet and the company delicious.

[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati

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The 39 Steps at The Faclon Theatre

Somewhere someone told me The 39 Steps was a spoof of all the Hitchcock movies, and I heard that repeated a few times last night. Watching the show I started thinking I needed to go back and rewatch Hitchcock because I wasn't picking up which movies were being spoofed. Looking up The 39 Steps this morning I found out it was written in 1915 and later made into a movie by Hitchcock in 1935, one of his first. So that explained my confusion, not a spoof of Hitchcock at all but a Hitchcock spoof. Subtle difference there.

What is The 39 Steps? A four actor show, one woman and three men. Dan Doerger portrays the protagonist, Richard Hannay. Elizabeth Molloy plays all three of his varied love interests. Mike Hall and Donnie McGovern play the other 40 roles with their varying accents, sometimes multiple roles and accents in one scene changing characters with the switch of a hat.

Falcon is one of the smallest most intimate stages in the area so no matter where you are sitting you almost feel part of the action. Action that is fast paced and hilarious. The props are cleverly done and are the costume changes. If you don't see many theater productions this should be on your short list. You can find more info on Falcon's webpage.
I should also add this was a yelp! sponsored event so it was free.
Thanks yelp!
[where: 45202]best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati
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Cirque Du Soleil OVO

What to say about Cirque that hasn't been said in the last 19 years.
Last night we were treated to the dress rehearsal which they warned the performance could be stopped for fine tuning. But it went off without a hitch.
The evening started off with food and drinks, but just not any food, no, it too was a circus. A circus in your mouth, hitting every spot and doing flips on your tongue.
Can I tell the story about my foot getting stepped on? Good, so my foot gets stepped on an appology is issued and Ms 5chw4r7z starts gabbing with the gentleman, introductions go around. Steve Norris. OK why does that name sound familiar, are his comercials on constant rotation? You know like Steve Norris Hyundai in Florence. No silly Ms 5chw4r7z says later, he's the WCPO weatherman. OK, he's shorter in real life than I thought he'd be.


OVO comprised of nine acts spanning two and half hours including a half hour intermission but it certainly didn't feel that long. Its amazing how far the human body can be pushed.
How long do you think you could do a one handed hand stand.
On a tight rope.
30' above the ground.
And then do a handstand on a unicycle on a tight rope. Because, you know, riding a unicycle normally on a tight rope would just be too easy. I can't even pick what my favorite act was, the ants juggling food and each other with their feet? The butterfly emerging from a cocoon? The trapeze artists or acrobats on the trampoline running straight up walls? The whole thing was my favorite part.
There were no photos allowed in the main tent, which to tell the truth I wasn't that upset with, I would have been snapping pictures like crazy instead of enjoying the show.

Right before the show started Shebar and I decide to make a cupcake run, and while we're picking out some good ones we took just a little too long and got busted by the cupcake gestapo.
Damn! We would have totally got away with it if we hadn't stopped for a minute to talk, I'm blaming it all on Kevin Dugan.

If you've been to a Cirque Du Soleil event before you don't need me telling you to buy tickets, you've undoubtedly already bought them. If you haven't experienced Cirque Du Soleil yet, don't second guess yourself, buy tickets now, you'll thank me. They have a number of different packages including some pamily packs. Get all the OVO information right here.

I want to thank Kristen Humphrey of Hadley Media, Darcy Little of Vehr Communications and Alex Shebar the Cincinnati Yelp Community Manager for hooking me up with an incredible experience and treating us like royalty.[where: 45202]best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati
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Big River The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Photo courtesy Mikki Shaffner
The story of Tom's friend Huckleberry, as he grows up and learns a little more of the world, the bad and some good.
You know by now I'm not the biggest musical fan but I had a good feeling about this one and I wasn't wrong, the songs were witty, smart and once or twice a little bawdy. But it was all in good fun as although there were dark moments for the most part Big River is light hearted.
The performers, most notably Deondra Means as the slave Jim who had a voice that grabbed you and didn't let go, all sang their hearts out. And Micheal Carr as Pap had everyone's sides slitting in his tongue twisting rendition of Gov'ment. Ben Durocher and Zack Steele had chemistry that sold me they've known each other their whole lives.
The stage setup was sparse but the actors made good use of the few props and at times it actually felt like they were in the middle of the big river or dockside.
Guys, take your wives/girlfriends to see this one if you hate musicals, you'll enjoy it, and it'll get you out of the next big production to come through the Aronoff that invariably finds you sitting next to someone sobbing to music you don't understand.

The performances run the next three weekends at the Carnegie. Click here for more info.

August 20 7:30pm
August 21 7:30pm
August 22 3:00pm
August 27 7:30pm
August 28 7:30pm
August 29 3:00pm
September 3 7:30pm
September 4 3:00pm
September 4 7:30pm[where:1028 Scott Boulevard, Covington, KY 41011 ]best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati
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It Doesn't Get Any Deeper Than This

The play, revolving around Alzheimer's patients in a nursing home explores how the disease affects many different people, the family, residents and workers surrounding the disease.
Dramatic, well acted, sinks into a lecture once in awhile, but otherwise an enjoyable production.
You get to see Ms5chw4r7z in one of the leading roles as Nurse Ratched. Just kidding, but she does portrays Nurse Debby
See it this weekend at the Brookwood Retirement Community. Where else would they perform it?[where:12100 Reed Hartman Highway Cincinnati, OH 45241]cincinnati ohio blue ash
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Final fantastic freakin Friday

A confluence of events resulted in an OTR and downtown overflowing with people last Friday.
Final friday, the Fringe Festival, Indie Summer on Fountain Square and Park+Vines 2nd anniversary party.
It was off the hook trying to wade through throngs of people filling the sidewalks, it had me thinking, "this is Cincinnati? OTR?" how crazy awesome is that.
Tons and tons of people we knew milling around, we took in a show, walked up and down Main St, the weather was nice, just a magical fantastic night.

All the shops in the "Q" were swamped, the mix of retail with stuff you cannot get anywhere else is spot on, this is the place to go for unique.
Ms. 5chw4r7z scored a Sigg she's been eyeballin forever.




If you remember I mentioned art?
I was talking specificly about fine art, but with Fringe going on, are you up for some performance art?
These guys were there all night playing strip poker.
to the victor goes the spoils

[where:over the rhine cincinnati ohio 45202]cincinnati ohio downtown otr fringe fest final friday the q gateway quarter shopping theater
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Guns and Chickens @Fringe

Guns and Chickens set on a minimalist stage and starting out with, what? interpretative dance?
Not sure.
It was interesting and set the story up, a farm is wiped out by a tornado, the last chicken runs away and the farmer's son, Peter strikes out to make his fortune.

What did it all mean? My take is the farmer and the bartender represent the older generation who believe hard work is the only way to success, Peter and his friends the younger generation who want to take the shortcut to success and become poorer and poorer for it, and the chicken, the disruptive new class who challenge and question everything.
For chicken set it right up at the beginning,
"in chicken mythology there is no chicken crossing the road, or even any roads for that matter"
So she shouldn't be judged by any preconceptions we have of her.
I really liked this one, get to the Know next week, theres two more showings[where: 45202]cincinnati ohio otr know theater jackson street underground fringe festival
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Vigils @The Know

What I like about the Know is their philosophy of what the limits of the stage should be and what a play should be and encompass. This is also what I hate about them.
When its good, it’s really really good, when its bad, it can be a train wreck.
But with Vigils they hit the nail right on the head.
The fireman bursting through the door and the ceiling of the burning building collapsing, if that doesn't send shivers up your spine, wow.
The Soul, a top-notch portrayal by Fang Du was captured by his wife exiting his body and forced to remain on Earth, reliving his last dying moments over and over. Torn between his desire to leave these memories behind, and his fear of judgment setup some of the more dramatic scenes.
The widow, Jenny Guy, also an excellent performance, torn between holding onto her dead husband’s soul and moving on with her life. Funny how it seems she had a better relationship with his soul than she did with him.
I felt the end drug out a little too long, but the cast's performance, the stage and story arc more than made up for it.
If you get a chance, see this show, the last of the season for the Know.
[where:1120 jackson street cincinnati ohio 45202]cincinnati ohio downtown jackson street underground otr over rhine theater
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Third times a charm

About a year ago a pool buddy told me that “Terrys” had the best burger in Cincinnati we set out to find it but ended up lost in California. Yeah I know, California for cryin out loud, honest. Tried Googling but couldn't find info on Terry's anywhere.
It was only after that I started hearing about Terry’s Turf Club, ah ha, that’s more like it. But we hit there one night awhile back and it was packed and no one looked like they were going anywhere and we ran out of time.
Last Saturday we hit the sweet spot, no one was in there yet and after we sat down 20 people rolled in over about 15 minutes.
Our server Lauren saying she didn’t drink and pushed us to make up for lost time.
Crazy lady, but in a good way, the first time we ate and we already felt like long lost friends.
But I can put all the debate to rest now, Terry’s has the #1 best burger in Cincinnati and the #2 burger in the world after Rockit.
The burgers were just how they should be, the meat was packed just tightly enough to stay together, almost falling apart, and the juice ran down your face and arms. Perfect.
The bill was wild, hand written, whens the last time you saw anything like that?
One aside here, the fresh cuts fries. The first bite brought on waves of nostalgia that a Youngstown ex-pat would identify instantly. I could smell the elephant ears, feel the chill in the air and hear Kates grandfather over the public address system at the Canfield Fair letting Joe know to meet his parents by the fountain. Or Karen to meet her boyfriend by the merry-go-round. Yeah, for a quarter you could have anything announced you want.

After dinner Ms 5chw4r7z wanted to see The Santaland Diaries. Now, I’m a traditionalist and don’t like people f#@k!ng with Christmas. I get it, not everyone grew up like the Waltons and have the need to mock everything that other people hold on to as holy. I’m never letting go of Santa, he’s a state of mind.
Anyhow, it wasn’t as bad as I thought being biographical, the acting was very good, takes some skills to pull off a one man show. The second act, Season's Greetings however was a whole different story. A quarter way through I totally shut it off and thought about more interesting things. HSRP, Jacob and Bella, the condo. You get the point.

[where:4618 Eastern Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45226]cincinnati ohio burgers burger joint fries

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