Cincinnati bands make the scene at South By Southwest festival
Page 8
NEWS & VIEWS
Local body builders get pumped for Mr. Cincinnati Contest
Page 5 F I L M
Actress Toni Collette and director P.J. Hogan see themselves in Muriel's Wedding
Page 21
Kirsty MacColl, Laurie Anderson hit town with mature musical visions
Pages 17, 20
MUSIC
Volume 1, Issue 19
editor/co-publisher John Fox
seneral manager/co-publisher Dan Bockrath
managing editor Alison Tranbarger
news editor Nancy Firor
essayist Daniel Brown
contributing editors Mike Breen, Music; Dale Doerman, Onstage; Billie Jeyes, Literary; Rick Pender, Onstage; Steve Ramos, Film; Fran Watson, Art.
contributing writers Anne Arenstein, Karen Amelia Arnett, Brian Baker, Elizabeth Carey, Jane Durrell, Jeff Hillard, Jon Hughes, John James, Josh Katz, Jonathan Kamholtz, Michelle Kennedy, Brad King, Kim Krause, Craig Lovelace, Susan Nuxoll, David Pescovitz, Jeremy Schlosberg, Peggy Schmidt, Kathy Y. Wilson, John 0. Young.
photo editor Jymi Bolden
photographers Jon Hughes, Staff; Sean Hughes, Marty Sosnowski.
listings editor Billie Jeyes
cartoonists Gary Gaffney, Julie Larson, Tom Tomorrow.
art director Paul Neff
production manager Mark Dodge
display advertising Michael Finney, Bill Kellerman, Mimi Thomas.
classified
There He Is: Local body builders such as Andre Ewing (left), who competes this weekend in the annual Mr. Cincinnati contest, discuss their training regimens and their sport. News & Views, 5.
CityBeaf
DailySrecf
Technology A guide to local online services and areas 13
Health & Fitness Establish your own rhythms for exercise 13
UtterKiosk
Index to calendar listings 15
Music Singer/songwriter Kirsty
MacColl says she’s content to be on the “outside” of fame looking in 17
Things That Make You Go
interest to readers in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. The views expressed in these pages do not necessarily represent those of the publishers. Entire contents copyright 1995 Lightborne Publishing Inc. and may not be reprinted in whole or in part without prior written permission from the publishers. Unsolicited editorial or graphic material is welcome to be submitted but can only be returned if accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
Unsolicited material accepted for publication is subject to CityBeat’s right to edit and to our copyright provisions.
deadlines: Calendar listings information, noon Thursday before publication; classified advertising, 5 p.m. Friday before publication; display advertising, noon Monday before publication. Next issue will be published March 30,1995.
PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER WITH SOY-BASED INKS
ON THE COVER: Relaxing in Austin, Texas, at the South By Southwest Music Conference are members of SHAG
(left
Film Interviews with Toni Collette and P.J. Hogan, star and director, respectively, of Muriel’s Wedding 21
Art Five artists display the versatility of photography at Adams Landing
Art Center 25
Onstage Dale Doerman interviews
Foxrock Theatre’s Rene Marrero 27
Literary Elinor Lipman turned rejection of her bid to ghostwrite for Ivana
Trump into a novel of her own 29
Suburban Torture 30
Classified4cfs
How to submit an ad 31
Classified Ads Help wanted, for sale, for rent, music, services 31
Back Beat Answer CityBeat’s question of the week 32
Huh: Members of Cincinnati’s Roundhead (right) check out the action in Austin, Texas. Music editor Mike Breen offers his first-hand report on the 1995 South By Southwest festival, including rousing performances by Roundhead and SHAG. Cover Story, 8.
The Ugly One: Brian Baker reviews The Ugly One with the Jewels and Other Stories a compelling new spoken-word album by multimedia artist Laurie Anderson (left), who will bring her must-experience performance Monday to the Taft Theatre.
Music, 20.
PHOTO: ANNIE
to right, standing: Buzz, Johnny Miracle, Mark Chenault, Joodi Reynolds and Craig Shields; in front: Duran, Chris Sherman and Chris Donnelly).
Photo by Ursula Coyote Design by Paul Neff
The Straight Dope
BY CECIL ADAMS
Iread that cocaine is cut with strychnine, arsenic or other substances to stretch the volumefor increased profits. I can understand milk sugar in heroin, but why these deadly poisons? Do they accelerate the effect of the drug or what?
Max Buscher, Cambridge, Mass.
Dunno, but they sure scare the pants off potential users, which is maybe why strychnine and other poisons figure so prominently in media and medical reports of the dangers of drugs. Truth is, adulterating cocaine with strychnine or arsenic seems to be relatively rare. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration analyzed 2,944 samples of cocaine confiscated in five big cities (well, semi-big one was Buffalo) between 1974 and 1980. The DEA reported only those adulterants found in at least 5 percent of the samples, and strychnine and arsenic didn’t make the cut. Here’s the stuff that did: lactose (milk sugar), 29 percent of samples; lidocaine (local anesthetic), 29 percent; mannitol, 26 percent; inositol, 10 percent; dextrose, 8 percent. (The last three items are all sugars.)
A team of researchers (Shesser et. al, 1991) also went through DEA bulletins and the forensic science literature from 1982 through January 1989 looking for reports of contaminants. They found mentions of 48 substances, everything from heroin and amphetamines to baking soda and caffeine but no strychnine or arsenic. Strychnine and arsenic were found on occasion in heroin though. So maybe you want to rephrase the question. Why would you put strychnine or arsenic in heroin? Cecil can but guess. Strychnine in low doses is a stimulant; the seeds of the nux vomica tree, from which it’s derived, were once used to make a tonic. Heroin is a narcotic, not a stimulant, but maybe dealers figure a drug is a drug and they might as well mix the two together. A more likely explanation though is that dealers will cut their wares with any powder that’s cheap, white and available, and strychnine (commonly used as a rat poison) fills the bill. In a pinch, I suppose, so does arsenic.
The fact that coke isn’t usually cut with rat poison doesn’t mean the stuff it is cut with is harmless. Milk sugar won’t do much to you apart from irritating your nose, but the same can’t be said for lidocaine. Lidocaine, benzocaine, procaine and other local anesthetics are used to stretch cocaine because they can’t be readily distinguished from the
real thing when snorted. But if you get too much and the average street sampie of cocaine is only 40 percent pure, leaving a lot of room for chemical surprises you could suffer tremors, hallucinations, seizures or in the odd case death. And since the stuff you buy on corners doesn’t have the ingredients printed on the side, you won’t even be sure what from. Let the buyer beware.
It's a Rock» BRollFeasll
Time to wash up
When I was a little girl my daddy used to say, Edna, girl, when you’re in the shower, leave the soap on you for a little while. Soap needs time to work, so you leave it on you so’s you don’t stink like your mama. Ifollow his advice to this day, but sometimes, like in the women’s showers after aerobics, all the women look at me funny, standing there motionless, all soapy, whistling. Cecil, there’s no instructions on soap, and / don’t know who else I can ask. Does soap need time to work?
Edna Welthorpe, Los Angeles
Edna, the thought of you standing in the shower all soapy and whistling is, how shall I say, perturbing. Also, not to engage in pernicious stereotypes or anything, you sound like you come from one
of those families that always has a car up on blocks in the front yard. Be that as it may, I had your question posted to the Net.
consensus is that the time you spend soaping and scrubbing alone is
BORDERS
WE COULD ALL JUST BE LISTENING To PARTISAN BOMBAST AND VITRIOL?!
taxpayers WOULD BE S SAVED ONE Dollar a year: ro finally be able TO AFFORD ONE OF THOSE “RUSH IS RIGHT" BUM-
Gray Should Give Property to Poor
Thank you for Nancy Firor’s article, “Buying Buildings, Dying Buildings” in the March 2-8,1995, issue. Buddy Gray operates under a siege mentality whenever anyone questions his low-income housing operations.
I have a question for Mr. Gray: If you really believe in empowering poor peopie, why don’t you turn over ownership of your 72 properties to poor people? For over 25 years Mr. Gray has refused to include poor people in ownership or leadership
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roles in his efforts to advocate for low-income housing in Over-the-Rhine. Mr. Gray has the time and resources to sit on the board of ReStoc, Shelterhouse Volunteers, Cincinnati Central Fiscal Co-op, Shelterhouse Plus, a national homeless association, the OTR Community Council, OTR Community Council Housing Committee and the OTR Housing Network. He is also the volunteer director of the Drop Inn shelter.
If he would simply step aside and put low-income residents both on the deeds of his property and in his place in the board room, he would truly show his support of poor folks.
It is a sad irony that his siege mentality is the primary contributing factor to the division of classes and races in Over-the-Rhine development. His charges of displacement and social cleansing in OTR ring hoilow when you consider his ownership and leadership holdings. Buddy Gray is keeping the very people he supposedly supports homeless and silent.
Joseph Gorman, Cincinnati
Note: Buddy Gray is a founder of ReStoc and its treasurer. He also is program coordinator for the Drop Inn Center shelter.
Being a Parent
So, Marsie Hall Newbold wants to do the world a favor and not have children (“Yuppie Spawn,” March 16-22], Well, that’s fine by me. Frankly, the thought of
some small child running around with her qualities is rather frightening.
It’s been my experience that the people who despise children the most are the ones who know deep down inside that they’d make shitty parents. Being a parent takes love, patience, understanding and talent all of the things that Newbold lacks.
After reading your jealous, hateful article, I for one am certainly glad your tubes are tying themselves.
A. Ray, Cincinnati
Talking Back
Each week, Cincinnati CityBeat poses a question on its back page. Our staff selects the best responses to print the following week, with published responses meriting a fabulous, 100-percent cotton CityBeat T-shirt. Here are some of the responses to last week’s question: “What’s the meanest thing you ever did to a friend?”
Amy Burke: I got into a fight with a friend, and I ran over her dumb dog with my car. Then I told her that her boyfriend had done it because she broke up with him.
Angela Keebler: I was so angry with this person, I kicked her out of my apartment at 1 a.m. My name was on the lease, so I threw all her stuff outside, and some of it got stolen.
C. Bell: I Nair-ed off one of her eyebrows! Nair is the hair removal cream for legs and underarms.
Larry Goins: I befriended them in the first place.
MINING QUESTIONS
BY NANCY FIROR
Domestic Violence Law: Someone Reports Abuse, Someone Goes to Jail
Ohio's new, get-tough domestic violence law is designed to allow prosecution to proceed even when victims will not testify against their assailants.
Since the law took effect earlier this month, news reports have explained that the law means police officers must collect more evidence so they will not have to rely on a victim’s testimony. Examples that have been cited include a list of injuries, a detailed report of officers’ observations and photographs of visible injuries.
This evidence is needed for court. But is it also needed to charge the offenders?
No, said Cincinnati police Spec. Tom Prem.
Instead, an arrest can be based simply on the victim's statement, Prem said. While police like the victim to sign a statement, under the new law police must pursue an investigation and arrest even if the victim does not cooperate, he said.
While an outright attack on violence against women is needed, the law has removed some of a police officer’s discretion, Prem said. Since 1990, he said, Cincinnati police have followed a mandatory arrest policy in cases where the officer assessed the situation and determined that domestic violence occurred. An estimated 95 percent of domestic violence victims are women.
For the past two years, the city has had a 30 percent conviction rate on domestic violence cases. A vast majority of the remaining 70 percent were unsuccessful because the victim did not show up for court or showed up but denied abuse occurred because she did not want to press charges, said Terrence Cosgrove, City of Cincinnati prosecutor. In bringing those cases to court, Prem said police officers had discretion.
“If I could not document that an offense took place" there likely would not be an arrest, he said. Under the new law, “if that person signs something, or they make a statement, we have to make an arrest.”
Would it be accurate to say that under the new law, an officer is called to a residence, someone answers the door, someone makes a complaint and someone goes to jail?
“That’s pretty close,” Prem said.
And are these arrests to be made only when the complaint is about violence that has occurred?
No, Prem said.
Verbal threats to cause physical harm also are punishable. Under the law, no person shall knowingly cause a family or household member to believe that the offender will cause physical harm.
Does that mean the victim can say she or he is afraid and the alleged offender can be arrested?
Yes, Prem said, though he said he thought the evidence police gathered would reveal whether the alleged offender was guilty or the complainant was not presenting the situation accurately.
“That’s going to be a tough one ...,’’ he said. “What we want to try to do is knock out violence against women.... They’ve stretched this a little bit. It’s a real stringent law.”
Will arresting someone based on the victim's statement make for difficult prosecution?
No, Cosgrove said.
Under the law, police officers will gather more evidence, which will enlighten the court. For example, if a victim says her abuser hit her in the face with a telephone, then ripped the telephone out of the wall and ransacked the living room, the scene will be observed and photographed. If the telephone and living room are intact and the victim has no injury, the evidence collected might be evidence favorable to the defense, Cosgrove said.
“The officers are going to do the best job they can,” Cosgrove said.
BURNING QUESTIONS is our weekly attempt to afflict the comfortable.
News&Views
An Alternative Look at How
and Why It
Happened
All Pumped Up
Body builders ready to viefor ‘Mr. Cincinnati,’ ‘Ms. Cincinnati and ‘Mr. Teenage Cincinnati’
BY BILLIE JEYES
Andre Ewing and Tommy Nicely rub each other with competition posing oil. Their bodies begin to glisten. They flex their muscles, sending ripples down their torsos.
Bob Hull, owner of Pinson’s Gym in Norwood, gives them a look of approval.
“They are ready," he says.
Ewing and Nicely are in final training for the 55th annual Mr. Cincinnati Body Building Contest, which is Saturday at Taft High School. Three winners will emerge from the contest, which one of the competition’s organizers calls the oldest body-building competition in the country.
“Whoever wins this contest has been training for many years,” says Tim Bergstresser, director of the Central Parkway YMCA, which has organized the amateur competition since its inception.
For Ewing and Nicely, that means about three hours of exercise each day.
As they warmed up March 17, their enjoyment of working out was apparent. For their interview with CityBeat, they agreed to remove their shirts but would not uncover their legs.
“That might be their secret weapon,” Hull says. “This is the most anyone has seen of their bodies in months.”
Nicely’s warm-up starts with an awe-inspiring amount of push-ups. Ewing does pull-ups, lifting himself up effortlessly
Flexed and posing are Tommy Nicely, will compete Saturday in the Mr. Cincinnati
Serious training is not accomplished with physical exertion alone, i had a shake for breakfast. At 1 p.m. I’ll have fish and rice. At 3 p.m. I’ll have egg whites and rice. At 5 p.m. I’ll have egg whites and rice again. At
PUMPED: FROM PAGE 5
“I’ve always been a subscriber to muscle magazines,” he says. “I like staying in shape, staying fit. Staying in shape is part of my personality.”
Freudenberg explains the reasons for the strict regimen.
“You want to get rid of the water weight so you can have as many striations as you can have,” he says, explaining that striations are smaller muscles on larger muscles. The reason for cutting out sugar is simple: “You want your blood sugar to stay even so your body wall burn calories.”
Ewing and Nicely work out at Pinson’s Gym. There is a camaraderie between them despite the fact that they might have to compete if they each win their class. At 172 pounds, Ewing is a middleweight. Nicely, weighing 154 pounds, is in the lightweight division.
Body builders are notoriously secretive. Nicely would not even say what music he had chosen for his routine.
“You don’t want the guy ahead of you use the same music,” he says. “People often use remixes of music to make sure it’s original.”
There are 327 paired and 12 unpaired muscles in the human body. CityBeat staff members seemed to be the only people in the gym unable to name them all.
To help show off the definition of their muscles, the body builders coat themselves with a tanning and posing oils.
Like any other subculture, body building possesses its own exclusive language. Unlike most slang, however, the lingo is suffused with anatomical terms. Hearing body builders use words like “sternocleidomastoid” and “splenius capitis” makes it difficult to maintain the stereotypical image of the muscle-bound bonehead.
At age 41, Dexter Harold Carpenter won his first body-building contest in 1976. He, too, is articulate about anatomy so much so that area universities call upon him to deliver anatomy lectures, which he says he does in the nude.
“Body building expresses all sports,” he says. “It’s a universal way of demonstrating to people that I take care of my body.”
Like Ewing and Nicely, Carpenter got into body building through sports. He has been wrestling for 26 years.
“I started lifting weights to look good in my wrestling,” he says.
Although he will not be competing in the Mr. Cincinnati contest this year, he is coaching a middleweight man for the event.
Carpenter’s posing technique is different from the hard-core version, more akin to ballet and statues from ancient Greece. He refers to it as the “soft technique of posing” and credits body-building superstar Frank Zane for inspiring him.
“He was a guest star at Mr. Olympia,” Carpenter says. “He posed to the theme from 2001 (A Space Odyssey). People were going berserk. He blew me away with his grace. J copy that style from him.”
Most male body builders, he says, are more into the hard-core approach of posing.
“That’s why I prefer coaching women,” he says. “It’s like an art. One of my protegees was 4’ 11” and weighed 150 pounds. I carved her down to 108 pounds. I take care of everything the diet, the music, training time, the whole workout.”
This weekend’s competition will produce winners in three categories: Mr. Cincinnati, Ms. Cincinnati and Mr.
Log
Body-Building
Glossary
Compiled with the help of local body culled from Donald Dean Macchia’s
Appollonian
Describes a smaller,
• Beasts Sincere, devoted body builders. Belly The strong center of the muscle.
• Bulk monster A body builder with
Bulk up To increase muscle mass
Definition The observable separation Herculean Describes a larger, more Hamstrings Tendons at the rear Lats Latissimus dorsi muscles.
Teenage Cincinnati.
• Peak Highest point of the muscle, Pecs Muscles of the pectoral, or Pump up To engorge a muscle Ripped Showing definition, lack
Body building, still a young sport, is gaining in popularity thanks in large part to Arnold Schwarzenegger. There is even a competition called the “Arnold Classic.” The zenith of body-building titles, though, remains Mr. Olympia.
Separation Separation between
• Spotters Training partners who Symmetries Upper torso proportionate Vascularity Abundance of veins
“Mr. Olympia is everybody’s dream,” Ewing says. “I come from an athletic background, and I do want to take it to the top.”
• Wings Latissimus dorsi, or lats,
He stops, perhaps humbled by his own ambition, and adds, “If it’s God’s will.”
Cabin Still Plans Convention in Cincinnati
BY BRAD KING
a news report to the contrary.
Sam Collins, president of the Log Cabin Club of Greater Cincinnati, said the organization had taken steps to repair its relationship with a major corporate sponsor underwriting the convention, which hedged on its support after an article in The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that the convention had been canceled.
Collins said the organization also was trying to line up the following Republican speakers for the convention:
New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman. Former Labor Secretary Lynn Martin. Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar.
Confusion over whether the convention would come to Cincinnati began March 8 when Cincinnati City Council removed sexual orientation from legal protection status granted by the city’s Human Rights Ordinance.
Collins, however, denied that Log Cabin ever announced plans to cancel, and the newspaper printed a retraction March 12.
Brit Lucian Freud offers insights bom from his great uncle’s genius
ESSAY BY DANIEL BROWN
The 1980s was the only decade in history when artwork was viewed and perceived as an investment much like any offering from a Wall Street financial institution. Art became a chic part of an investor’s portfolio, just another commodity to be bought and sold for a profit.
During the pluralistic, anything-goes1980s, American hegemony in the visual arts began to shift from New York to Germany and secondarily to Italy. America produced little new talent, except “bad boys” David Salle and Julian Schnabel, relying on aging superstars and artists-of-the-season in New York and abroad.
Putting It Together
Although Freud has had a long and distinguished following in England, Time magazine’s Australian art critic Robert Hughes brought Freud’s work to the attention of American museums and galleries in the 1980s. Like his great-uncle, Freud’s models, always friends, portray a haunting and chilling psychological portrait of individual people entirely isolated from anyone or anything in the outside world. He selected both male ant) female nudes who exude a sense of physical and emotional exhaustion as well as isolation very near to despair: near perfect psychological rendering of both Britain’s decline and the decline of individual autonomy.
A renewed interest in figurative and British painting began to emerge, and the staying power the sheer brilliance of artists such as Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud came to the attention of the world art scene. Freud may be the finest psychologist in all of modern and contemporary art; he is indeed a greatnephew of the psychologist Sigmund Freud, who fled from Vienna to London in the wake of Nazi terror in 1938.
Most contemporary artists in America and Europe have been spiraling downward with bizarre mixed-media works from Minimalism to Conceptualism to Neo-Conceptualism to body art and the devolution into installation art, video art, performance art and the like. Identity politics ruined the premises of multiculturalism, as more and more artists became self-absorbed and obsessed with marketing.
Freud, meanwhile, has always been a figurative painter. Figuration was “out” from the 1930s until the mid-1980s, but Freud worked with figuration from the ’50s and still does.
Freud is the finest portrait artist in all of English art. His portraits, whether heads or bodies, nude or clothed, draw inspiration from many sources in European art such as Albrecht Durer; the Dutch portraitist Van Dyck (who spent most of his time in England); the Spanish court painter Velazquez; the nude sculptures of Rodin; a touch of the French painter Ingres; and the draftsmanship of both Alberto Giacometti and Degas. Although Freud often used gay models, their “gayness” is less important than their frightening vulnerability; the vulnerability of the nude figure is his greatest and most astute contribution to the art of this century.
The nudity in Freud’s work is imperative; he does not select the nude to glorify but to isolate, to strip down and remove the artifice of clothing. By choosing people he knows, the professional model is avoided, along with a comfort zone and distance attendant to working with and paying for models. Freud’s friends/models were unused to posing nude: thus their vulnerability, and, for
me, their extraordinary dignity. Fat, thin, vain, ordinary, with a brush charged and loaded with paint and texture, Freud distorts angles and perspectives, often foreshortening with perfection. We may be invited into a painting, as in “Night Portrait” (1985-86), a female nude, or “Naked Man on a Bed,” a male from 1989-90. By thrusting the figure into an angled middle ground, Freud often depicted no foreground and rarely any background; his models seem trapped, literally and symbolically.
Since most of his paintings are painted at night that’s when friends were available to model, but also Freud’s choice he seems to present the melancholy of the dark night of the soul. When two figures are painted together on a bed or sofa, one is sometimes clothed while the other may be nude, or both may be clothed or nude. Freud’s figures/people never connect: These compositional elements enhance the isolation Freud sees and portrays.
The brutality of Freud’s vision is ternpered with mercy and empathy that make the sadness of lost lives more heightened, more haunting, more frighteningly real/realistic. Unlike Robert Mapplethorpe, every Freud painting does capture a “Perfect Moment” that moment of decline, that edge where peopie are struggling just to get by. Only American photographers Richard Avedon and Irving Penn come close to Freud in capturing similar moments.
Every Freud portrait whether painting, drawing or print, whether
heads or full figures documents and analyzes Western civilization in its final phases. They are very specific examples of very specific individuals trying to cope with a civilization run amok. The key to their success is that these are real peopie, with imperfect, aging faces and bodies, all so real, all also symbolic and metaphoric.
Freud’s great psychological portraits represent an extraordinary paradox: Since he is Sigmund Freud’s preeminent visual interpreter, Lucian Freud chooses to maintain that only in isolation, only in being sealed off in the hermetic world of his studio, can individual people be safe, and only when nude can they be free. Since nearly all his models/symbols are middle-aged when people realize options are closing and exhaustion has set in Freud begins to become a Jungian, as Carl Jhng only took patients over the age of 35. Both painter and psychologist recognized the fears of mid-life.
The act of recording and documenting these people seems an acute and astute painterly version of Sigmund Freud’s last and most depressing book, Civilization and Its Discontents. What irony, what depressing pleasure, what genius Lucian Freud manifests: He is the greatest psychologist in painting since Velazquez painted in Spain in the 1500s.
Lucian Freud possesses the genius that his great-uncle revealed, also in the privacy of one’s room. One used an office and words, the other a studio and paint.
This is the seventh and final essay in a series on the great artists of the 20th century.
Showboat Majestic
South By Southwestfestival offers hopes, dreams, schmoozing and possible dealsfor two Cincinnati bands and 548 others
6th Street in Austin, Texas, where much of the action occurred during the 1995 South By Southwest Music Conference.
AUSTIN, Texas “Welcome to Austin, Texas. The world’s live music capital.”
So reads the red computer-message sign in the airport here, the first thing many visitors see when entering the city that is host to the annual South By Southwest Music Conference (SXSW). This year’s festival, which ran March 15-19, actually proved that haughty claim to be an understatement.
With hundreds of live music clubs in the relatively small Texas capital city 32 hosted SXSW artist showcases the concentration of live sounds here is almost overwhelming. Especially every spring, when thousands of musicians, label representatives, media folks and peopie in virtually every other aspect of the music business take over.
A healthy contingent from Cincinnati joined in on the fun this year, as up-and-comers SHAG and Roundhead represented the diverse Cincy sound with their first South By Southwest appearances. (Throneberiy and Ass Ponys, unfortunately, turned down offers to appear. Throneberry is readying a new disc, and the Ponys are preparing to tour with Throwing Muses.)
Music wasn’t the only game in town last week, though. On top of the NCAA basketball regionals being held here at the same time, a rodeo and livestock convention ensured that area hotels would be sold out for the whole weekend. Thankfully, as one of the city’s cabdrivers pointed out, the University of Texas at Austin was on spring break.
South By Southwest is an educational fest that brings people together for intense panel discussions, one-onone meetings with all types of musical “mentors” and, although it’s easy to lose sight of them with all the wheeling and dealing, live music showcases the heart of the
four-day event.
Panels offered topics ranging from how to advance your career as a roadie to the volatile “Why Radio Hates You,” where radio programmers tried to explain to angry musicians how playlists are chosen. This year also saw the first “multimedia” session, which dealt with online music and the latest music-related computer software and hardware (with an additional “futuristic” price of $150 to attend).
Performances were an eclectic hodge-podge of music’s brightest young hopefuls and established icons.
Alternative groups such as Elastica, Letters To Cleo and Guided By Voices competed for club space with respected vets Robyn Hitchcock, Alex Chilton and Soul Asylum. Hip-Hop was represented by young talents such as Mad Flava and Mad Scientist. The festival attracted its best known Jazz act ever with the appearance of Joe Lovano (who played Cincinnati in early March), while Country, Blues, Folk, R&B and World music were also represented to some degree.
The amount of activity at SXSW is bedazzling, but, as Bob Mould sharply and passionately pointed out in his keynote address on Thursday, the base for it all is the art of music.
“Just have fun,” suggested Mould, an early architect of Alternative music with his band, Hiisker Dii, who moved from Minneapolis to Austin two years ago and is again making musical waves with Sugar. “Everybody try to keep it in perspective. Just care about your craft and try to do the right thing.”
Mould’s speech was a stirring plea for bands and those in the music business to keep focused on their individual jobs. “Be careful” he reiterated many times, warning musicians against losing sight of the original vision and the art of making music. Cincinnati’s Roundhead hangin’ To the labels with which, he admitted, he am * steve Metzhas had his share of conflicts Mould had this advice: “Please don’t treat your artists like they’re writing software programs. Try to remember that they’re human beings. When you see all of these bands over the week, you see the essence of what they’re doing. Don’t feel compelled to remix every song. The artist is the bottom line. The artist is the one who ultimately has the power.”
Mould’s impassioned musings were ironic given that SXSW has become one huge schmooze-fest.
Whom you know
There’s a tendency to become disgruntled with South By Southwest and other such events (CMJ, New Music Seminar) that operate under the premise of being an outlet for little-known artists to get exposure while in reality being an opportunity for established labels to show and, in turn, sell their wares.
A young band from Utah might be good, for instance, but probably will not get accepted for SXSW’s live showcases if it doesn’t have the “proper” connections. Only
550 acts were chosen from about 3,600 tapes sent in by artists in hopes of being a featured performer here. Locals Roundhead had the sponsorship of Everybody’s News, the SXSW-affiliated weekly paper, and SHAG has had the good fortune of being bolstered by the legendary Bootsy Collins.
It’s not that these bands aren’t the most deserving of Cincinnati musicians to be accepted into the conference for the most part, they are but it makes you wonder if a lack of connections might keep some of the best music from being heard here.
Daniel Durchholz, assistant editor of the national music magazine Request and part of the slew of international media that convenes annually in Austin, says it’s unfortunate such festivals lose sight of their initial intent. But he still thinks a lot of opportunities are being afforded to lesser-known artists.
“It turned out to not be as evil as I thought it would be,” Durchholz said. “Unsigned bands are like the forgotten step-child of the festival. It’s still mostly a label thing. But there was a band called Jackass that played, and the-Metal writer for Request said the place was packed with A&R people. So I guess things do happen (for unsigned bands).”
An appearance here last year by Alternative radio superstars Veruca Salt clinched the band’s deal with DGC Records; Rex Daisy, which played Saturday, also was gamering DGC attention last year and has its debut coming out on the label in April.
Durchholz cited last week’s signings of Pork and Alejandro Escovedo (to Elektra and Rykodisc, respectively) as further proof that South By Southwest isn’t completely a fourday-long record-label commercial.
Getting signed after playing a SXSW showcase isn’t always all roses, either. The festival’s managing director,
Roland Swenson, asked hypothetically, “How many acts have we seen that got a buzz at South By Southwest, were signed, got their debut out and were promptly never heard from again?”
More than a few.
Oh yeah, the music
A good number of the SXSW showcase clubs were along the energetic hub of 6th Street, which was blocked off and packed Thursday through Saturday, resembling a mini-Mardi Gras at times (or maybe that was just the vodka in my veins).
Entry to the clubs varied, causing much confusion and anger. Wristbands for admittance into every venue were available for about $40 at local ticket outlets. Badges that came with the festival registration package included access to the panels and exhibitions as well as entrance to all nonsold-out shows. Then, if space allowed, individual access was allowed to single shows (with a cover charge).
Lines got long, and angry locals shouted at the door people most notably at the Punk hangout Emo’s. At some* places even wristbands did not ensure entrance.
On Thursday night, Paul K and the Weathermen played a passionate set highlighted by K’s raw, storytelling lyrics that drag listeners through tales of murder and heartache with soulstirring vividness. Based in Lexington, Ky., K is an industry vet who’s been criminally underrated and unnoticed for the past 10 years.
Soul Asylum blew away the audience at the Terrace on the same night with a set consisting of 90 percent new material. Meanwhile, at the Austin Music Hall, Lucinda Williams previewed countrifed songs from her forthcoming American Recordings debut. She’s certainly one of the good new Country-Rock artists getting a lot of attention along with the Mavericks (which played Saturday) and Shaver (which played an outdoor stage Thursday).
Other Thursday highlights included Matthew Sweet’s invigorating outdoor show that combined older songs with tunes from his latest, 100% Fun. The Jayhawks followed Williams with a stunning set, proving themselves the finest roots Rock band in the country.
Friday night’s best bet was Victoria Williams’ show at the University of Texas Union Ballroom. Her fragile Folk set featured one of the conference’s few “surprises” when she was joined for a few songs by the Jayhawks’ Mark Olson (her husband) and Soul Asylum’s Dave Pimer, who did a duet with Williams on the beautiful and chilling love song, “My Ally.”
CONTINUES ON PAGE 11
on 6th Street: (left to right) Kip Roe, Dan McCabe, Bill Bullock, Barbara Hunter
Bob Mould delivers the keynote speech.
Five Modern Rock Lunches, and Reggaefor Dessert
Two of the most important things to know at the office are: When’s lunch? and When can I go home?
We can help with one of those questions: the 97Xpress Lunch happens each weekday at noon, and every day we serve up at least a 60-minute menu of blue plate music du jour. A special of the day you shouldn’t miss!
Mondays we feature The Blues... New Blues, Classic Blues, Cajun, Zydeco, Honky-Tonk and more - a little something to ease you into the work week. Memphis Blue Tina has it for you every Monday at noon, an hour ofthe Best Blues in the Business.
Tuesdays we bring you New Tunes Tuesday... the latest from established acts and new bands. Whatever is new in the Modem Rock world, we have it for you. More popular than the Power Rangers, and more cutting edge than a Ginsu, this is Rock and Roll that you won’t get anywhere else. The best part, though, is that we don’t stop when the clock strikes one. We
keep going, all day and night (and for a full horn re-cap of the day’s new music debuts, there’s the 11 O’clock News, a one-hour summary ofall the New Tunes Tuesday tunes).
Wednesdays we bring you the Modem Rock Crock Pot. The Fresh Catch of the Day, the Blue Plate Special, the Soup du Jour - whatever you want to call it - it’s a surprise feast that could be an horn of acoustic tunes, or maybe an hour of live tracks... maybe we’ll just track a new CD, or even play random cuts from a great old album pulled out of the vault. It’s always a surprise, and it’s always a tasty treat to get you over the hump of hump day.
Thursday we turn the kitchen over to you, the working stiffs. Thursdays we expand the 97Xpress Lunch to 90 minutes, open the phone lines and take your requests for an extend-o musical buffet. Plus, we always give away a CD Sandwich to one lucky caller - a couple of CD’s stuffed with fixin’s like concert tickets, 97X t-shirts and much more.
Fridays we go Back To The Future... an hour of late ‘70’s and ‘80’s music that we all lost our values to. It’s the stuff Modern Rockers were made of, like vintage Clash, Joe Jackson, and the Psychedelic Furs, plus one-hit wonders like The Buggies, Nick Kershaw, Bananarama and more.
Sundays we give you a treat: an hour of Reggae and World Beat sounds to groove away a lazy Sunday. The best in new and old Reggae, and the best in the budding World Beat genre.
Every day of the week we give you the essential musical nutrients you need to develop strong healthy ears and musical tastes. Blue Monday, New Tunes Tuesday, Modem Rock Crock Pot, All Request Business Lunch, Back To The Future and Reggae on Sundays. It’s a lunch time that should be the most important musical meal of the day.
Remember, you are what you eat.
and
hot and what’s not, and where your favorites land. But what fun would that be? The Top 20 can be found in the puzzle at the left, and by the way, we had to split up Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and Certain Distant Sunssorry, we’re new at this. 97X Top 20 Word Search Words (find the band, not the song)
PJ HARVEY, Down by the Water
LETTERS TO CLEO, Here and Now
THE THE, I Saw The Light
PIZZICATO 5, Twiggy Twiggy/ Twiggy vs. James Bond
BETTER THAN EZRA, Good
THE STONE ROSES, Love Spreads
THE CRANBERRIES, Ridiculous Thoughts
SONS OF ELVIS, Formaldehyde
DAVE MATTHEWS BAND, Ants Marching
THE WOLFGANG PRESS, Going South
MATTHEW SWEET, Sick of Myself
THE CAULFIELDS, Devil’s Diary
JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION, Bellbottoms
EVERCLEAR, Fire Maple Song
TOADIES, Possum Kingdom
AJAX, Ex-Junkie 17) DADA, I’m Feeling Nothing
CERTAIN DISTANT SUNS, Bitter 19) BUILT TO SPILL, Big Dipper
ASS PONYS, Banlon Shirt
SOUTHWEST: FROM PAGE 9
Letters To Cleo, known primarily for the college-radio hit “Here and Now” from the Melrose Place soundtrack, played a perky, packed show at Emo’s on Friday. The band was visibly perturbed by the screams of “Melrose!” by several numskulls and the exit of many “fans” after the group played the hit song. But the group carried on to close out with a cover from fellow Bostonites Scruffy the Cat and a bouncy version of Nirvana’s “School.” Holland’s Bettie Serveert played a solid set of its
Letters To Cleo’s Kay Hanley at Emo’s.
Throwing Muses-meets-Ass Ponys sound at the Terrace on Saturday. The group was followed after some alleged protest regarding the lineup order by Dayton’s Guided By Voices, whose set was powerful. Singer Robert Polard’s muscular melodies and unusually effective stage posings appeased the fervent crowd. Watch for GBV to go from critical and underground darling to Alterna-stars any day now. By Sunday night most of Austin’s musical visitors had left and, after witnessing the mobs of people Friday and Saturday, its streets seemed almost like a ghost town. Only six clubs featured SXSW-affiliated shows, but most of us who stuck around wound up at the Austin Music Hall for Jesus Christ Superstar: A Resurrection.
The updated stage adaptation featured musicians from Atlanta and Athens, Ga., and the SXSW production was only the third time the show had been performed in public (the other two times being in Atlanta). Cleverly casting Indigo Girls Amy Ray and Emily Saliers in the roles of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene, respec-
tively, the performance was a loose and brilliant show that relied on the Georgia bands’ spirit more than slick production. Ray was especially mesmerizing and moving.
Round and round
Roundhead’s Friday night performance showed the band at its finest. The quintet’s sound a sublime mix of dynamic, Echo and the Bunnymen-like moodiness and driving, post-Punk rhythms has made the group a focal point of the Cincinnati scene. The group’s showcase was well-received and fairly well-attended but, perhaps due to the early hour, the crowd seemed somewhat aloof.
“It was a really tense show,” said the band’s cellist, Barbara Hunter, during an interview the next day. “It’s horrible playing for people who didn’t come to have fun but came to check you out.”
Another reason for the crowd’s slight “chill” could have been the venue. While most performance sites in Austin have a funky, unique, warm atmosphere, the Inner Terrace where Roundhead performed was basically a big cement box. “I just felt naked up there,” said guitarist Steve Metz.
Hunter agreed: “It was like a school cafeteria or something.”
Roundhead’s performance was impeccable, however, making the whole experience' “redeeming,” as Hunter put it. The show brought out several members of the Austin press, some entertainment lawyers and an A&R person (an individual with the “power” to sign a band to a contract) from Island Records all of whom approached band members after the show.
“You can walk in with an attitude of, ‘Well, it’s just a show,’ said drummer Bill Bullock. “But it is South By Southwest, and there is a chance that there’s someone out there watching you. You can tell yourself, ‘I don’t care about that shit,’ but you’re nervous. It was good to be able to pull it off.”
Roundhead is set to do another festival (Undercurrents in Cleveland in late April) and, photo: mike breen encouraged by the Austin experience, band members “want to do more,” according to bassist Kip Roe. “If nothing else, it’s nice exposure and nice to have on the resume. It was good to see a lot of like-minded people around. So much of it is just experiencing the experience.”
Were there any “big-time lessons” learned from their time at SXSW? “Bring a flask,” said Roundhead’s singer Dan McCabe with a. grin.
I’m a schmoozer, baby, so why don’t you sign me?
If groups like Roundhead don’t possess (or even want to possess) the business acumen to throw a tape into the face of every music label weasel they meet, can they make it?
“I came here to have fun,” said Dana Hamblen of the Cincinnati trio Ditchweed, who was in Austin to merely escape the Tristate for a few days. “I haven’t given one tape to anyCONTINUES ON PAGE 12
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Roundhead’s cellist, Barbara Hunter, compares the Inner Terrace, where the band played, to a school cafeteria.
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SOUTHWEST: FROM PAGE 11
one. I hate the schmoozing. But, in way, coming here makes you respect the business side of things more.”
Even a seemingly anti-establishment icon like Brett Gurewitz, owner of indie Epitaph Records, confessed that the wheels making the industry turn are separate from the actual creation of music.
“It’s a business just like every other business,” said Gurewitz, whose label was home of the biggest-selling independent record of all time, last year’s Smash by the Offspring.
Chris Sherman, bassist for SHAG, said he’d seen his fair share of schmoozing and that he’s accepted there is somewhat of a necessity for those types of things.
“I think you’ve got to do some of it, as sad as it is to say,” Sherman said before the group’s performance at the Catfish Station on Saturday. “But, hopefully, the people you meet are cool. The other day, I bumped into Henry Rollins (singer of the seminal Punk band Black Flag), and I was listening to him talking to people. It was interesting because here was someone who’s so anti-establishment doing the big schmooze thing.”
Sherman suggested it was important for musidans-to tiy to align themselves with a producer or agent who’s sensitive to their creative essentials, which should cut down on the amount of pressure artists feel to get out and network.
“It’s cooler to stay involved with the music side and not worry about the industry side,” he said. “Bootsy (Collins, who is shopping the group’s music to labels) understands that because he’s a musician himself.”
Funkin’ with the Lone Star state
SHAG’s performance on Saturday night was one of the week’s most anticipated shows, largely due to a tip-off from Austin’s weekly alternative paper, The Austin Chronicle, that Collins might appear with the group. Though he didn’t show, those who came solely for that were not disappointed. SHAG came out in full flamboyant regalia and served up a set that showed everyone why Collins, a former member of Funk king George Clinton’s band, took such a liking to the eight-member crew.
Before the show, Sherman was optimistic yet grounded as far as what this appearance could or couldn’t do for the band’s career.
“If something comes out of it, that’s great,” he said. “But the main thing is that it’s really nice to play outside of the Midwest. There’s a lot of bands doing socalled Funk, but I don’t think there are many groups doing it from the kind of angle that we’re coming from. It’s nice to let people see that live Funk really originated in Cincinnati.”
Though the crowd seemed to consist
mostly of dancing, sweating Funk fanatics record-label people don’t dance Sherman said there were plenty of industry folk lurking around.
“We got a call last week from MCA Records in California,” he said. “They had been hearing about us on our own for a while now, but the South By Southwest office faxed out a Top 20 list telling labels who to check out, and SHAG was on the list. And a girl from Elektra who’s been keeping a real interest in the band is supposed to be coming. I know Bootsy’s been calling a lot of people, too, but I don’t know who. A lot of it’s touch and go.”
The next day, before the band started its trek back to Cincinnati, a bleary, caffeine-starved Sherman reflected on the show: “It was incredible. There were so
many people there, booking agents and stuff. I talked to these two guys who were deejays who traveled around the country, and they wanted to get some vinyl of our record so they could start playing it in the clubs, which is great.”
Sherman, who, along with his bandmates donned masks and sequins on stage, doesn’t seem like the quintessential Texan. But he said he could see a future living “deep in the heart.”
“I’d love to live here,” he said. “It’s so damn supportive of music, live music in particular. A lot of musicians down here can spend their whole life making a living playing music, and I don’t mean cover bands like in Cincinnati. I’d really like to come here on off-time and see if it’s as great.”
Do you want hot sauce with that?
With physical exhaustion setting in after an overwhelming amount of activities and with a hand cramped from shaking so many others, the question remains: Is South By Southwest worth it for musicians?
Well, a little perspective certainly seems necessary to decide if you’re cut out for the music biz. It’s not all cigarchamping fat guys in suits, and can a tiny bit of business know-how really be all that 'j bad?
Jayhawks Gary Louris (left) and Mark Olson (right).
WELL BEINGS
BY JOSH KATZ
Know When To Say When
Whether you have decided to implement short brisk walks around the block with your spouse or have been training for Sunday’s Cincinnati Heart Mini-Marathon, monitoring your biological clock may be a good idea.
You might not watch the clock on a regular basis but your body does.
According to Dr. Randy Eichner, professor of Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Science Center, humans have a biological clock that follows a day-night cycle. This circadian rhythm orchestrates many biological functions, including temperature, alertness, vigor, heart rate, blood pressure, urinary excretion and hormone output. This “clock" is located in the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that controls such functions as sleep and appetite.
The clock is reset daily by the diurnal cycle (a 24-hour light-dark cycle), or a breakfast-lunch-dinner cycle. Moods follow suit, which is why “night people” are not very productive or happy in the early morning hours!
Harvard researchers studied the time of onset of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), or heart attack, in 3,000 patients. Three times more heart attacks occurred at 9 a.m. than at 11 p.m. The effect of the circadian rhythm was confirmed by timing changes in plasma (liquid portion of blood) levels of certain enzymes.
Further research found that, in 15 healthy men, there was a rise in blood platelet clotting when men arose, showered and walked up and down three flights of stairs, vs. when they remained in bed past noon. In addition, the concept of morning risk for cardiovascular events expanded with findings of morning peaks in the incidences of angina, stroke and sudden death. Contributing factors may include morning rises in: heart rate, blood pressure, cortisol (the stress hormone) and blood viscosity.
So we should not exercise in the morning, right? In fact, we should all sleep until noon, and then exercise. Correct?
Not so fast. In a study of more than 1,800 patients with AMI, a morning peak was noted but external triggers were found in only 10 percent. The three most common triggers turned out to be a violent quarrel, excessive mental stress or heavy physical work. Researchers coneluded that internal changes not exercise accounted for the increased rate of AMI.
Also, a study of 144 patients enrolled in cardiac rehabilitation morning exercise programs seemed to indicate that morning exercise is safe. Over 10 years, morning exercisers suffered only 3.0 cardiac events per 100,000 patient-hours of exercise, not significantly more than the 2.4 events for afternoon exercisers. While the subject sample was small and the patients were monitored (and on aspirin and heart medication), the benefits of moderate exercise at any time still outweigh the risks. This advice is echoed by Dr. Andrew Epstein, chair of the American Heart Association's sudden cardiac death committee and professor of medicine at the University of Alabama.
If morning exercise is probably not dangerous, when does exercise do the most good?
If your goal is to reduce stress and anxiety, research suggests it doesn’t really matter. If your goal, however, is peak performance the “circadian peak" is usually later in the day. Body temperature, arousal, strength and flexibility peak late in the day, and the morning surge in stress hormones has diminished. Research on soccer players, swimmers, runners and cyclists suggests peak performance comes later in the afternoon. Very few world records are set in the early morning. The key is consistency if you’re consistent exercising as an owl, keep it up in the p.m. If the other hand, you’re a lark, keep it up in the a.m.
EIssues Bom of Everyday Living
Cruising the Neighborhood
veryday, it seems, some business or entity announces it’s going “online.” We’ve all heard about the national figures going online, from the New York Times on America Online, to Rush Limbaugh on CompuServe, to major computer software companies everywhere. But what about right here in River City?
Locally, there are several organizations and areas of interest that existing online users and even “newbies,” or people new to the ’Net, can access easily. Channel 12 offers access, via e-mail, to Howard Ain and other newscasters on the TriState Online (TSO) bulletin board system. Located on Productivity OnLine, Cincinnati’s local version of CompuServe, users can check out the Small Business Journal, the Cincinnati Post’s Online edition, the Whistleblower’s online edition (updated daily) and even Wired magazine. Also of pertinent interest to area users are: Playhouse in the Park Located on TSO, anyone with a modem can access play schedules, reviews and audition schedules, and even leave messages for various members of the Playhouse staff. To access TSO, have your modem’s software dial 579-1990 and follow the instructions on the screen. Remember, you don’t have to be a member of TSO to access the Playhouse area. You do, however, have to be a member (at $20 a year) to leave messages on TSO’s bulletin board system.
CINCH The Cincinnati Library’s internal online research system CINCH, for Computerized Information Network for Cincinnati and Hamilton County, gives users access to the library’s card catalog system, newspaper abstracts, periodical index, book-reservation systern and other libraries, such as Xavier’s and Miami University’s. CINCH also allows users to leave messages for library departments, requesting more information or books users can’t find on the system. Using the software that came with your modem, dial 369-3200. This will connect you to CINCH. From here, follow the instructions. It looks and acts exactly like the system in the library. If you encounter problems, call the Library Online help line (369-4599) for assistance.
The United Way & Community Chest Located on CompuServe, for those of you who have it, the United Way/Community Chest of Cincinnati is one of more than 70 local agencies nationwide that will take donations (via credit card), as well as provide numbers that users can call for information and referral to services, or volunteer opportunities. At this time, there is no readily
accessible area to ask for help; users, however, may leave messages in the feedback area for assistance or leave questions on how to get help for others. Plans are in the works to provide individual kiosks in area stores and community service bureaus to hook users, who may not have computers, directly into the United Way, sometime next year. For now, it is the easiest way possible to find numbers for service organizations, and to donate money. Get your plastic money ready, connect to CompuServe and type “GO United Way.”
The Mayor Since last March, Cincinnati residents have had online access to Mayor Roxanne Qualls, as well as Cincinnati City Council members Bobbie Sterne, Nick Dial up Mayor Roxanne Qualls and other council members on Productivity OnLine.
Vehr and Todd Portune. Located in the Community section of Productivity OnLine, you can access all of the speeches and motions posted by any of the above council members, as well as leave a few thoughts of your own. Call 333-3113 to receive free software. Or dial 333-3111 with your modem to access Productivity OnLine directly.
UC Medical Center Designed to “provide easy, equitable and widespread access to health information,” the UC Medical Center, along with the Ohio University Health Science Library, will provide health information to area residents when it goes online in May. It’s funded through a state grant. Here you will be able to find the latest information on drugs, diseases, general health and wellness, alternative therapies and insurance, plus physician-referral services and health literature.
Onliners also will be able to address questions via e-mail to pharmacists at the Cincinnati Drug and Poison Information Center. Users will be able to cruise the systern from their home or office computers by accessing TSO, the Southeastern Ohio Regional Freenet or the Dayton Freenet (two local services that allow free access to the Internet, not including phone charges).
Beginning in July, 40 public workstations will be housed in public libraries, health clinics, hospital waiting rooms and pharmacies in the region.
Around the Tristate, there are areas of the Infobahn just waiting to be discovered, or under construction. The point is there’s a lot of local stuff out there.
And there’s a lot of local stuff yet to come. This summer, watch Productivity OnLine for expansions in all areas. Besides online versions of Cincinnati CityBeat and Cincinnati Magazine, Productivity OnLine is looking to expand its coverage of local governments.
As more local services go online, it’s easier to contact council members, check out the library's holdings from a pharmacist
PHOTO: JYMIBOLDEN
Listings Index
Music (concerts, clubs, varied venues) 15
Film (capsule reviews, theater guide) 20
Art (galleries, exhibits, museums) 24
Events (cool happenings) 25
Onstage (theater, dance, classical music) 26
Etc. (events, meetings, attractions) 26
Literary (signings, readings, events) 28
Attractions (museums, historic homes) 28
Sports (recreational, spectator) 30
Upcoming (a look at what’s ahead) 30
Recommendations
★ CityBeat, staffs stamp of approval
To be included
Submit information for CityBeat calendar listings in writing by noon Thursday, seven days before publication. Mail to: Billie Jeyes, Listings Editor, Cincinnati CityBeat, 23 E. Seventh St., Suite 617, Cincinnati, OH 45202. Fax: 665-1369.
Please include a contact name and daytime phone number.
Blues. 9 p.m. Friday. Southgate House, 24 E. Third St., Newport. $10. 779-9462. FROM PLAINS TO PUEBLOS Native American music and dance. 8 p.m. Friday. Victoria Theatre, Main and First streets, Dayton, Ohio. $10-$15. 513-223-3655.
LIVE WITH SPONGE AND LOVE SPIT LOVE Alternative. 8 p.m. Friday. Millet Hall at Miami University, Oxford. $12. 749-4949.
PETER OSTROUSHKO AND DEAN MACGRAW Folk. 8 p.m. Friday. Old St. George’s Great Hall, 42 Calhoun St., Clifton. $12. 681-2344.
★ KIRSTY MACCOLL Given MacColl’s career-long predilection against touring and the abrupt cancellation of her 1993 Bogart’s show, don't miss the opportunity to see this Folk Pop singer/songwriter. 7 p.m. Saturday. Bogart’s, 2621 Vine St., Clifton. $6/$8 day of show. 749-4949.
PATRICK KELLY AND THE PSYCHOACOUSTIC ORCHESTRA Jazz. 8 p.m. Saturday. Sungarden
Not Just an Entertainment Calendar... A State of Mind
This Week’s Theme: Small
Things
Billions of bouncing BABIES can strut their stuff at this year’s Baby Expo. Winners of the Cutest Baby Contest, which is divided into two categories (0-2 years and 2-4 years), will receive $5,000 scholarships to the college of their choice. Just think, when they’re 18 and ready to squander your hard-earned money, you won’t have to give them a dime. Well, perhaps 50 bucks every now and then. (See Events listings.) Remember when DUDLEY MOORE, the world’s smallest comedian, was funny? It must have been more than 10 years ago. Now that he’ll never reunite with his old partner Peter Cook, he has to travel around the country doing his schtick on the piano with the likes of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. (See Onstage.) The Art Academy of Cincinnati celebrates its 8th Minumental Exhibit with works of no more than 2 INCHES in height. (Guess that leaves out the majority of anatomically correct members. Did we say members?)
(See Art.) Joseph-Beth Booksellers is celebrating Turn off the Tube Week, an unfortunate piece of timing obviously planned by someone who is completely unaware of the NCAA tournament. Oh well, if you succeed, it will be ONE SMALL STEP FOR MANKIND, one giant leap for basketball fans. (See Literary.) Ralph Waite, who shared the SMALL SCREEN with more than 10 main characters in The Waltons, joins M. Emmet Walsh onstage in a much more manageable TWO-MAN show at the Playhouse. (See Onstage.)
Lounge at the Hyatt Regency, 151 W. Fifth St., Downtown. $5. 579-1234. WIDESPREAD PANIC Rock. 8 p.m. Sunday. Millet Hall at Miami University, Oxford. $16. 749-4949.
★ LAURIE ANDERSON Multimedia artist Anderson relates unbelievably compelling stories propelled by a familiar subtheme of electronically treated sound, not exactly music and not exactly not. 7 p.m. Monday. Taft Theatre, Fifth and Sycamore, Downtown. $22.50. 749-4949. GREAT WHITE Metal Rock. 8 p.m. Monday. Blue Note Cafe, 4520 W. Eighth St„ Price Hill. $12.50. 749-4949. EXTREME Rock. 7 p.m. Tuesday. Bogart's, 2621 Vine St., Clifton. $13/$15 day of show. 749-4949. BLUES TRAVELER Rock. 8 p.m. Tuesday. The Newport, 1722 High St., Columbus. SOLD OUT. JOHN AND AUDREY WIGGINS Country. 7 p.m. Wednesday. Coyote’s, 400 Buttermilk Pike, Fort Mitchell. $8. 721-1000.
THE AKOUSTIKATS Eclectic acoustic. 10 p.m. Saturday. Buffalo Wings and Rings, 3207 Linwood Ave., Mount Lookout. 321-0120.
BRIAN EWING Alternative Folk. 8 p.m. Saturday. Blue Mountain Coffee Co., 3181 Linwood Ave., Mount Lookout. 871-8626.
JANET PRESSELY AND BINGO BONGO Folk. 8:30 p.m. Saturday. The Blue Jordan Coffeehouse, 4573 Hamilton Ave., Northside. 541-FORK.'
THE MELLOW STRINGS Dulcimer. 8 p.m. Saturday. JosephBeth Booksellers, Rookwood Pavilion, Madison and Edwards roads, Norwood. 396-8960.
CINCINNATI KLEZMER PROJECT, FRANK RENFROW AND ED DUEMLER Open mic. 7 p.m. Sunday. Leo Coffeehouse in the University YMCA, 270 Calhoun St., Clifton. 321-8375.
LONGWORTH'S 1108 St. Gregory 579-0900. MAIN STREET 1203 Main St., 665-4677. MANSION HILL 502 Washington 431-3538. MCGUFFY’S 5418 Burkhardt 800-929-2354.
Babe the Blue Ox will play at Sudsy Malone’s and Tierra Del also will perform.
MURRAY’S PUB 2169 Queen City 661-6215NEW NINETIES 3613 Harrison Ave., 481-9013. OGDEN'S PLACE 25 W. Ogden Place, 381-3114. OZZIE’S PUB 116 E. High St., 513-523-3134.
CLUB 2346 Grange Hall Ohio. 513-426-9305.
PALACE 646 Donalson Road, 727-5600.
CIRCUS OF THE SUN Rock. Club Gotham. Cover.
CRAWDADDY, WOODPECKERS, MILHAUS AND MORE Alternative favorites. Caddy’s. $5.
Music
BRIAN EWING AND BANJO
Alternative Folk. York Street International Cafe. Cover.
THE CRUNCH Rock. Silky Shanohan's. Cover. THE DOGS Blues. Burbank’s Eastgate. Free.
GROOVEYARD Rock favorites. First Run. $2/$4 day of show.
FOREHEAD Alternative favorites. Blue Note Cafe. Cover.
H-BOMB FERGUSON Blues. Burbank's Eastgate. Free.
FRANK POWERS TRIO Eclectic. Arnold’s. Free.
GOSHORN BROS. Classic Rock. Tommy's. Cover.
HEAVY WEATHER AND NEZ PEACH Alternative Rock. Salamone’s. Cover. HIGH STREET RHYTHM ROCKERS Acoustic Blues. Arnold’s. Free.
GROOVE THERAPY Rock. JA Flats. Cover.
THE HOP HEADS Rock. Allyn’s. Cover.
IVORY’S OPEN HOUSE Jazz. Ivory’s. Free.
JIM GILLUM Acoustic. Blind Lemon. Cover.
JOHN REDELL AND THE BOTTOM LINE Rock. Rivertown Pub. Cever.
JOHNNY SCHOTT WITH AIN’T HELEN, MARK MESSERLY, MJ.
HOODWINK, BILL SHAMBLIN AND PETER ALLEN Open mic. Courtyard Cafe. Free.
THE MENUS WITH NEW BEDLAM Rock favorites. Blue Note. Cover.
JOHN ZAPPA QUARTET Jazz. Ogden’s Place. Free.
METRO CITY BAND Rock. Logo's. $1. MISS MAY 66 Punk Alternative. Stache's. Cover.
KEN COWDEN AND CHRIS GOINS Acoustic Flock. Shady O’Grady's. Free.
MODULATORS Eclectic. Mt. Adams Pavilion. Cover.
ONLY MORTAL’S Modern Rock. Shady O'Grady's. Cover.
KEVIN TOHLE Classic Rock. Zipper’s. Free.
OROBOROS Rock. Ozzie's. Cover.
OUT OF THE BLUE Blues. Local 1207. Cover.
KRIS BROWN Acoustic. Blind Lemon. Cover.
OVERDUE Rock favorites. Chug-ALugs. Cover.
LYNN CALLAHAN Acoustic. Local 1207. Cover.
MODULATORS Eclectic. Mt. Adams Pavilion. Cover.
PHIL BLANK BLUES BAND Blues. Burbank's Florence. Free. PLOW ON BOY WITH THE ARTUR MONKE TRIO - Folk. Ripleys. Cover.
POSITIVE REACTION Reggae. Club Gotham. Cover.
RICHIE AND THE STUDENTS Rock favorites. Jim and Jack’s. Cover. SNAGGLETOOTH WITH JAVA BEAN Alternative. Sudsy Malone’s. Cover.
RADIOLARIA AND EVERGREEN Alternative. Sudsy Malone’s. Cover.
THIN ICE Rock. McGuffy’s. Cover.
SNOWSHOE CRABS Alternative Rock favorites. Salamone's. Cover.
THE WEBSTERS Alternative favorites. Quigley’s. Cover.
UPTOWN RHYTHM AND BLUES Rhythm and Blues. Stow's. Cover.
WILLIE RAY AND THE MIDNIGHTERS Blues. Ivory's. Cover.
WOLVERTON BROS. Alternative. Top Cat’s. Cover.
WINE BOTTLES Rock. Ripleys. Cover.
SATURDAY MARCH 25
YAZ 7-11 Blues. Burbank’s Forest Fair. Free.
THE ZIONITES Reggae. Ozzie's. Cover.
BABE THE BLUE OX WITH HOUSE OF LARGE SIZES AND TIERRA DEL Alternative. Sudsy Malone’s. Cover. THE BEAUMONTS Blues. Burbank’s Sharonville. Free. THE BLUE BIRDS Blues. JA Flats. Cover.
FRIDAY MARCH 24
ANN CHAMBERLAIN JAZZ TRIO Jazz. Coco’s. Cover.
ANVIL SLUGS Alternative favorites. Murray’s Pub. Cover.
BANJO Alternative. Zipper’s. Free.
BATCH Alternative. Club One. Cover.
THE BEAUMONTS Blues. Burbank’s Sharonville. Free.
THE BLUE BIRDS Blues. JA Flats. Cover.
BLUE LOU AND THE ACCUSATIONS Blues. Mansion Hill Tavern. Cover.
BOB CUSHING Acoustic. Village Tavern. Free.
BRIAN EWING Acoustic Alternative. Empire. Cover.
BROKEN IMAGE AND DOCK ELLIS Metal. Annie’s. Cover.
BOB CUSHING Acoustic. Million’s Cafe. Free.
BROKEN IMAGE AND DOCK
ELLIS Metal. Annie’s. Cover.
Talent and Anonymity Galore
CHAIN REACTION Rock. Logo's.
$1
CRAWDADDY Acoustic Alternative favorites. Scooter’s. Free.
wallows lack
DASH RIP ROCK WITH FLYIN’ SAUCERS Rock. Stache's. $6.
INTERVIEW BY JEREMY SCHL
DOUBLESHOT WITH ANNIE ELLIS Pop. Briarwood. Free.
TFOREHEAD Rock favorites. Blue Note. Cover.
GENERICS Rock. Local 1207. Cover.
GEORGE LAVIGNE Rock. The New 90’s. Cover.
GOSHORN BROS. Classic Rock. Tommy’s. Cover.
GREG ABATE Jazz. Blue Wisp. Cover.
he last time British singer/songwriter Kirsty MacColl was heading toward Cincinnati, in November 1993, her body broke down somewhere near Cleveland. “I had an incredible sore throat and a really bad cough,” she says, remembering the tour. “I couldn’t breathe, basically. I was not very pleasant to listen to.”
GROOVE YARD Rock favorites. Murray’s Pub. Cover.
H-BOMB FERGUSON Blues. Burbank’s Eastgate. Free.
HIGH STREET RHYTHM ROCKERS Blues. Mansion Hill Tavern. Cover.
THE ICEMEN Hard Rock. Rivertown Pub. Cover.
JELLO LOGIC Rock. Ozzie’s. Cover.
JOHNNY SCHOTT WITH JEFF JOHNSON AND FRIENDS Open mic. Empire. Free.
THE KATIE LAUR BAND Jazz. Arnold’s. Free.
LOUIS JOHNSON BAND Rock. Shady O'Grady's. Cover.
This is somewhat hard to imagine given how very pleasant she is, normally, to listen to but we’ll take her word for it. In any case, MacColl canceled the Cincinnati show. And given her career-long predilection for avoiding the road, one might have assumed all bets were off for a return engagement before the millennium’s end.
MICHAEL DENTON Acoustic. Blind Lemon. Cover.
MYSTERY WAGON Folk Alternative. Zipper’s. Free. OUT OF THE BLUE Blues. Allyn’s. Cover.
But with the release of her sparkling compilation album Galore, she with the unsinkable wit, the heavenly voice and the Gaelic red hair is back on the bus and scheduled for a stop at Bogart’s on Saturday.
OVERDUE Rock favorites. Chug-ALugs. Cover.
PHIL BLANK BLUES BAND Blues. Burbank’s Florence. Free. PORTERHOUSE AND SHELLY Alternative. Salamone’s. Cover.
RICHIE AND THE STUDENTS Rock favorites. Jim and Jack’s. Cover.
SHIRLEY JESTER JAZZ TRIO Jazz. Coco’s. Cover.
“I didn’t tour for a long time, but I’m getting over that now,” she says from her hotel room in Atlanta. In a way, however, we’re better off for her previous nervousness what we see now, as a result, is a highly accomplished 35-year-old performer who can still approach a tour as an eager newcomer. “I suppose if I had toured for the ten years when I didn’t, then I might be a bit more jaded about it.”
But to MacColl, even an old song like “He’s on the Beach,” a glorious mid1980s single that never dented the charts, becomes new again on this tour.
“It’s quite nice, really,” she says, about performing nowadays. (Is that a hint of surprise in her voice? Relief?) “I like having a good band, and having to work on new numbers, and getting to do them differently as well.”
The occasion for her tour, the release of Galore, provides an occasion for the rest of us to shake our heads yet again at the way the fates too often conspire to keep talent and popularity in separate quarters. Featuring 18 wonderful and diverse songs, hand-picked by MacColl herself and spanning 15 years of work, Galore is all highlight, no filler taking us from the Rockpile-ish stomp of her
debut single, the unforgettably titled “There’s a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He’s Elvis,” to a recently recorded cover of “Perfect Day,” a bittersweet Lou Reed nugget reworked exquisitely as a duet with Evan Dando. Her bountiful 1989 album Kite, shamefully ignored on this side of the Atlantic, is strongly represented in the middle of Galore with five wide-ranging tracks, including the C&Wtinged gem “Don’t Come the Cowboy With Me Sonny Jim.”
So will success finally find Kirsty MacColl? Well, let’s face it, the woman doesn’t help her own cause. Not only does she instinctively refuse to create a reductive image of herself for marketing purposes, but she is further cursed with a knack for performing sophisticated and eclectic pop music in a Dumb and Dumber day and age. Some nerve! She seems more bemused than bitter about it, however.
“The music business has become such a big business,” she says philosophically or, at least, diplomatically. “There are so many people who’ve got nothing to do with music who make so much money out of it that they are not going to push things for the same reasons that music fans would.”
Not that she isn’t a bit disheartened over the inability of American radio to handle musical diversity. “I think it’s a shame there aren’t radio stations here that play eclectic music. You have to fit in this little box. It’s like, ‘Don’t look over the edge! You might hear something else!’
That she has managed to get swept into the “alternative rock” box in recent years spurred in 1991 by Electric Ladyland's electrifying, hip-hoppy “Walking Down Madison” is good in terms of exposure in this country but belittles her broad-spectrum pop talent. Maybe gaining entry into the hipperthan-thou world of alternative rock will allow a musical free spirit like MacColl to change some of its lock-step rules.
She’ll be the first, however, to throw up her hands rather than try to understand the vagaries of the music business.
CONTINUES ON PAGE 19
BY JOHN M. JAMES
Rebooting the Bootleggers
demos and live recordings ranging from 1983 to 1993, in chronological order (completely annotated as to where each track comes from) and a WYNU radio interview from 1987. The 70-minuteplus CD comes out this Tuesday.
Releases Coming Tuesday
And like the winds, young grasshopper, are subject to change. 18th Dye Tribute to a Bus (Matador); Amateur movie soundtrack (Matador/Atlantic), with Bettie Serveert, Pavement, Liz Phair; Butthole Surfers The Hole Truth and Nothing Butt (Trance Syndicate), demos and interview; Carlene Carter Little Acts of Treason (Giant); Chokebore Anything Near Water (Amphetamine Reptile); Don Dixon Romantic Depressive (Sugar Hill); Faith No More King For a Day Fool For a Lifetime (Slash), CD and cassette; Firehouse 3 (Epic); Steve Forbert Mission of the Crossroads Palms (Giant); Foreigner Mr. Moonlight (Rhythm Safari); Guided By Voices Alien Lanes (Matador), double album with 28 tracks; Julianna Hatfield Only Everything (Mammoth/Atlantic); Robyn Hitchcock Eye and Invisible Hitchcock (Rhino), reissues with bonus tracks; Robyn Hitchcock You and Oblivion (Rhino), rarities compilation; Jamiroquai Return of the Space Cowboy (CBS/Chaos); Laika Silver Apples on the Moon (Too Pure/American), domestic reissue; Sarah McLachlan The Freedom Sessions (Netwerk/Arista), CD and multimedia package; Ministry Pig Food (Warner Bros.); Mudhoney My Brother the Cow (Warner Bros.), LP available with bonus 7-inch; Nelson Because They Can (Geffen); New Jersey Drive movie soundtrack (Tommy Boy); Nitzer Ebb Big Hit (Geffen); 01’ Dirty Bastard Return to the 36 Chambers (Elektra), member of Wu Tang Clan; Pavement “Rattled by the Rush” (Matador), CD 5-inch and 7-inch single; Pizzicato Five Quickie 1 (Matador), EP on CD 5-inch single; the Pooh Sticks Optimistic Fool (Seed), fourth full-length album; Red House Painters Ocean Beach (4AD); the Rembrandts LP (EastWest), Hey! it’s not on LP! get it?; the Sea and the Cake Nassau (Thrill Jockey); Season to Risk In a Perfect World (Columbia); Charlie Sexton Sextet Under the Wishing Tree (MCA); Skid Row Subhuman Race (Atlantic); Smog Wild Love (Drag City); SNFU One Voted Most Likely to Succeed (Epitaph), produced by Dave Oglivie of Skinny Puppy; Snow Murder Love (EastWest), with Ninjaman and Junior Reid; Spiritualized Pure Phase (Arista), the CD comes in glow-in-the dark packaging! oooh, spooky!; Suddenly Tammy! We'il Get There When We Do (Warner Bros.); Tank Girl movie soundtrack (Elektra), with Veruca Salt, Hole, Joan Jett and Paul Westerberg; Tanita Tikaram Lovers in the City (Reprise), with David Lindley; Chris Whitley Din of Ecstasy (WORKgroup); Wilco A.M. (Sire / Reprise), Jeff Tweedy of Uncle Tupelo; Yo La Tengo "Tom Courtenay” (Matador), CD 5-inch and 7-inch single. JOHN JAMES can be found behind the counter at Wizard Records in Corryville.
Music
SPIDERFOOT Alternative Rock.
Top Cat's. Cover.
THIN ICE Rock. McGuffy’s. Cover. TOM MARTIN Rock. Mt. Adams Pavilion. Cover.
UNDER THE SUN Alternative. Ripleys. Cover.
THE WEBSTERS Alternative favorites. Quigley’s. Cover.
WILLIE RAY AND THE MIDNIGHTERS Blues. Ivory’s. Cover.
WONDERLAND Dance Rock. Stow's. Cover.
WOODPECKERS, MILHAUS AND MORE Alternative favorites. Caddy’s. $5.
THE ZIONITES Reggae. First Run. Cover.
SUNDAY MARCH 26
BLUE BIRDS Blues. Allyn's Cafe. Cover.
BOB CUSHING Acoustic. The Straushaus. Free.
BRIAN EWING Acoustic. Tommy’s. Cover.
CAT CITY Jazz. Blue Wisp. Cover.
★ CLAN DIAH This Cincy quartet plays heart-felt Modern Rock with a Celtic/Scottish twist via bagpipes. Sudsy Malone’s. Cover.
DAVE SAMS Acoustic. Blind Lemon. Cover.
DMT Classic Rock. Rivertown Pub. Cover.
THE DIXIE CRUISERS
Dixieland Jazz. Arnold’s. Free.
THE EXCEPTION Rock. Blue Note. Cover.
EWING Open mic. Tommy’s. Free. LUBE, OIL AND FILTER Rockabilly. Mt. Adams Pavilion. Cover.
GREAT WHITE Rock/Metal. McGuffy's. Cover.
JIM CONWAY Acoustic. Blind Lemon. Cover.
THE MENUS Rock favorites. Katmandu Cafe. Cover.
LAURIE TRAVELINE, CHRIS
MILHAUS WITH GROOVEYARD Rock favorites. Blue Note Cafe. Cover.
ALLEN AND MILES LORETTA Acoustic. The Friendly Stop. Free.
OPEN MIC Folk. Canal Street Tavern. Cover.
OUT OF THE BLUE Blues. Local 1207. Cover.
PHIL DEGREG TRIO Jazz. Blue Wisp. Cover.
PLOUGH HOUSE Folk Alternative. Salamone’s. Cover.
SONNY MOORMAN AND THE DOGS Open Blues jam. Southgate House. Cover.
TAPROOT AND CRAMBONE Alternative. Sudsy Malone's. Cover.
STACY THE BLUES DOCTOR WITH BLUES U CAN USE Blues. Local 1207. Cover.
WEDNESDAY MARCH 29
ARK BAND Reggae. Ripleys. Cover.
THIN ICE Rock. McGuffy’s. Cover.
ARNOLD'S WEDNESDAY NIGHT
GUYS Eclectic. Arnold’s. Free.
MONDAY MARCH 27
BLUE BIRDS Blues. Tommy’s. Cover.
BLUE WISP BIG BAND Jazz. Blue Wisp. Cover.
BOB CUSHING Acoustic. Cloverleaf Lakes. Free.
DAYTON JAZZ ORCHESTRA Big Band. Gilly’s. Cover.
BRIAN LOVELY AND THE SECRET Alternative Rock. Shady O’Grady’s. Free.
CELTIC JAM Celtic. Hap’s Irish Pub. Free.
FRED GARY AND DOTTIE WARNER Eclectic. Arnold’s. Free.
CURTIS CHARLES Classic Rock. Zipper’s. Free.
MARC MICHAELSON Rock. Mt. Adams Pavilion. Cover.
EKOOSTIK HOOKAH Rock. Ozzie’s. Cover.
FESTIVE SKELETONS Alternative favorites. Blue Note. Cover.
THE MENUS Rock favorites. Chug-A-Lugs. Cover.
FOREHEAD Alternative favorites. Murray’s Pub. Cover.
METRO BLUE AND MR. BLACK Alternative. Sudsy Malone’s. Cover.
GREENWICH TAVERN JAZZ
ENSEMBLE Jazz. Greenwich Tavern. Cover.
RON BRAMLAGE QUARTET Jazz. Blue Wisp. Cover.
SCOTT KARNER Acoustic. Blind Lemon. Cover.
JEFF GOITHER Acoustic. Blind Lemon. Cover. THE MENUS Rock favorites. Katmandu Cafe. Cover.
SONNY MOORMAN AND THE DOGS Blues. Fat Frank’s. Cover.
MACCOLL: FROM PAGE 17
H-BOMB FERGUSON Blues. Burbank’s Eastgate. Free.
THE IMPULSE BAND FEATURING
“I’m used to trouble,” MacColl says, with a knowing laugh. “I never know what the hell is going on, really.” An understandable, and almost poignant, comment from an artist who has recorded at least one album her record company never bothered to release and was dropped from her last label after having a hit record.
RICHARD DANIELS Jazz. Babe Baker’s. Free.
JOHN KOGGE AND THE LONESOME STRANGERS Folk. The Stadium. Cover.
JOHNNY SCHOTT WITH FLYING PENGUINS, JIMMY LIPP AND RICK LISAK, TONY FESTA, CARLO IAVICOLI AND BRIAN
TUESDAY MARCH 28
BOB CUSHING Acoustic. Foley’s Western Hills. Free.
BRIAN LOVELY AND THE SECRET Alternative Rock. Tommy’s. Cover.
But with apparently solid record company support a new studio album is also planned for later this year and an end to stage fright, MacColl seems ready to emerge from the fringes and onto center stage. She has been calling Galore an “end to part one” of her career; where part two will go is as yet unclear. Her taste in listening has been shifting a precursor, perhaps, to some new musical directions.
CRAWDADDY Acoustic Alternative favorites. Scooter’s. Free.
DALLAS MOORE BAND Southern Rock. Chug-A-Lugs. Free.
“I have to admit, I haven’t listened to anything in English since last summer,” she says. Latin music is a particular passion. She loves visiting Havana and has begun writing songs with a musician friend there not for the next album, but, she says, “there may be one down the line.”
The eye-catching picture of her on the Galore CD sleeve wearing a Cuban army cap and lighting a cigar with a burning dollar is her offbeat but heartfelt “tribute to Cubans in Cuba,” she says. Careful observers will note that even the “glamour” shot on the back of the album features a resplendent MacColl reclining on a sofa, still wearing army boots.
Don’t put this woman in a box. She’ll kick her way out.
KIRSTY MacCOLL plays Bogart’s on Saturday. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. $6 in advance. $8 at the door. 281-8400.
MY FRIEND KEVIN Alternative Rock. Top Cat’s. Cover.
NOAH HUNT AND JASON DENNIE Acoustic. Local 1207. Cover. OVERDUE AND THE MENUS Rock favorites. Blue Note Cafe. Cover.
PHIL BLANK BLUES BAND Blues. Burbank’s Sharonville. Free.
PIGMEAT JARRETT Blues. Allyn’s Cafe. Cover.
PLOW ON BOY Folk. Sudsy Malone’s. Cover.
SAFFIRE: THE UPPITY BLUES
WOMEN Blues. Stache's. Cover.
SHINDIG Rock favorites. Murray’s Pub. Cover.
SONNY MOORMAN AND THE DOGS Blues. Fat Frank's. Cover.
THE WEBSTERS Alternative favorites. Salamone’s. Cover.
Coming Soon
CATHERINE WITH CHROME CRANKS Sudsy Malone’s. Thursday, March 30. Cover. 751-9011.
THE DUDE OF LIFE Ripleys. Friday, March 31. Cover. 861-6505.
SHERYL CROW AND FREEDY JOHNSTON Taft Theatre. Friday, March 31. $20. 749-4949.
TOAD THE WET SPROCKET WITH HOOTIE AND THE BLOWFISH Taft Theatre. Saturday, April 1. SOLD OUT.
SWEET HONEY IN THE ROCK Taft Theatre. Sunday, April 2. $22.50. 749-4949.
VERUCA SALT AND HAZEL
The Newport in Columbus. Wednesday, April 5. $12.50/$14. 749-4949.
THE GUESS WHO Blue Note Cafe. Friday, April 7. $12.50. 749-4949.
BILLY RAY CYRUS Hara Arena in Dayton. Sunday, April 9. $18.50 and $22.50. 749-4949.
DANZIG WITH MARILYN MANSON AND KORN The Newport in Columbus. Monday, April 17. $18.50/$20 day of show. 749-4949.
MIKE WATT AND FOO FIGHTERS WITH HOVERCRAFT Bogart's. Wednesday, April 19. $8/$9 day of show. 749-4949.
VAN HALEN Nutter Center in Dayton. Friday, April 21. SOLD OUT. ALLMAN BROS. Millet Hall in Oxford. Friday, April 21. $18/$25. 749-4949. THROWING MUSES AND ASS PONYS Bogart’s. Saturday, April 22. $10. 749-4949. DREAD ZEPPELIN Bogart’s. Sunday, April 23. $7/$8. 749^1949. THE CULT Bogart’s.
Laurie Anderson Reinvents Storytelling Tradition
REVIEW BY BRIAN BAKER
U influential creative geniuses follow a similar modus operand! They create within a familiar framework, but alter the reality within that framework to the extent that traditional standards of observation and appreciation become obsolete.
Such is the plight of Laurie Anderson, who brings her tour to the Taft Theatre on Monday. She has chosen to major in several areas simultaneously (music, art, technology, literature) and has left herself open to charges of spreading her talents too thinly across her ambitions. Luckily, Anderson’s supply seems limitless.
Admittedly, since her full-length 1982 debut, Big Science, Anderson’s recorded work has suffered from a lack of context when compared to her live presentations. At the third album juncture, when many artists warily consider the marketplace’s acceptance of their work, Anderson defied conventional wisdom and released her five-album United States Live. This was followed by Home of the Brave, the soundtrack to the film of the same name, which shattered another unspoken taboo releasing live albums back to back. With the recent release of Anderson’s most straightforward work, Bright Red, it seems natural that something unusual should follow. The Ugly One with the Jewels and Other Stories (Warner Bros.) does not disappoint in this regard.
Ugly One is in actuality an excerpt from the live London recording of readings from her Storiesfrom the Nerve Bible. Anderson launched the tour of readings from the book last year due in large part to her fascination with language, and her discomfort with her work on the printed page. Feeling that something might be lost in
the translation, she mounted a low-tech (in Andersonian terms) production, which found the artist mixing the sound, playing keyboards, effects and violin, and performing the reading all from center stage. From that aspect alone, Ugly One is an impressive document.
First and foremost a keepsake from the Nerve Bible spoken-word tour, the disc cements Anderson’s reputation as an incisive observationalist with a comic’s sense of timing and a god’s sense of irony. Her delivery remains unchanged from her previous works, and if you don’t care for her breathy, Rod-Serling-on-estrogen speech pattern, Ugly One is not likely to make you a convert.
Regardless of the opinion one holds for Anderson herself, the stories she relates here are unbelievably compelling. Most are propelled by a familiar subtheme of electronically treated sound controlled by Anderson, not exactly music and not exactly not. Sometimes the stories are circuitous and seemingly without point, and sometimes they end abruptly, journeys without clear destinations. Some are overwhelmingly poignant, hanging in the air long after Anderson has moved on to another tale, and it is this quality that ensures the disc’s durability. Whether the subject is her fundamentalist grandmother (“The End of the World”), Herman Hesse’s gravesite (“Maria Teresa Teresa Maria”) or her rechristening by Mayan ancestrals (“The Ugly One with the Jewels”), it is clear Anderson has surpassed the acknowledged forefathers of avant-word, William S. Burroughs and John Giorno, if not in content and impact than at least in presentation. As with every discipline she has mastered, Anderson has twisted the idea of the short story to satisfy the parameters in her alternate multimedia universe. CltyBeat grade: B+.
(Rated PG-13; at area Loews Theatres.)
in her wedding finery. Upon moving to Sydney with her friend Rhonda (Rachel Griffiths), Muriel plots a scheme that will change everyone’s perception of her once and for all.
A box-office smash in its native Australia, Muriel's Wedding emerges as 1995's first pleasant surprise. Funny, fresh and touchingly poignant, Hogan’s movie makes a star out of newcomer Collette. In the process, his career looks very promising. Muriel's Wedding combines crowdpleasing comedy with a very heart-felt tale about peer pressures, personal dreams and self-esteem. Whereas few comedies have bite, Muriel's Wedding leaves a lasting impact. Granted, its ABBA soundtrack sticks in one’s mind for an uncomfortably long time. Still, it's the laughter that you’ll remember most. With Bill Hunter. (Rated R; opens Friday at Showcase Cinemas Cincinnati and Springdale.)
CltyBeat grade: A.
★ BULLETS OVER BROADWAY Earning Oscar nominations for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor for Chazz Palminteri and Best Supporting Actress for both Dianne Wiest and Jennifer Tilly, Woody Allen’s fantastic comedy returns. In this story, a young playwright (John Cusack) receives tips from an unlikely source. Allen’s trademark elements of witty dialogue, quality production and a stellar ensemble cast are in place. Thankfully, his work is prolific. (Rated R; closes Thursday at Showcase Cincinnati.)
★ BYE BYE, LOVE In American film, giving the people what they want receives a bad rap. It’s no surprise. Most attempts at crowd pleasing become annoyingly predictable. Too bad. When done well, like the family comedy Bye Bye, Love, crowd-pleasers emerge as the mindless good times that they’re made to be. Three best friends Donny (Paul Reiser), Vic (Randy Quaid) and Dave (Matthew Modine) all recently divorced complete their weekly ritual of picking up their kids for the weekend at a neighborhood McDonald’s. The bulk of the story takes place a single evening. Donny deals with a rebellious daughter. Dave juggles three women who happen to stop over his house at the same time. In the film's funniest sequence, Vic faces a date (Janeane Garofalo) from hell. Bye Bye, Love sets out with the simpie goal of making people laugh and hits the target more than it misses. In fact, you’ll laugh so much that its lack of plot and annoying use of music over dialogue fade into memory. Oh, for those simple movie pleasures. With Amy Brenneman and Lindsay Crouse. (Rated PG-13; at area Loews Theatres.)
SHALLOW GRAVE Looking for another roommate, three friends Juliet (Kerry Fox), David (Christopher Eccleston) and Alex (Ewan McGregor) discover more than they bargained for in director Danny Boyle’s homage to American film noir, Shallow Grave. Any movie in which a woman pounds a knife into a man’s body using her shoe has to be appreciated for its verve. Thankfully, Shallow Grave benefits from strong performances, breathtaking set design and some legitimate shocks. Everyone knows that friends fall out over money all the time. Here, Boyle keeps his plot turning, the twists coming and wraps everything inside some pretty cool photography. Hollywood may have invented film noir, but this Scottish filmmaker goes one up on American studios with this firsttime effort. Fast and funny, Shallow Grave is one bloody good time. With Ken Stott and Keith Allen. (Rated R; opens Friday at Loews Kenwood Towne Centre.)
CltyBeat grade: B.
TALL TALE THE UNBELIEVABLE ADVENTURES OF PECOS
CANDYMAN FAREWELL TO THE FLESH Poor Candyman (Tony Todd), he could have been a horrormovie contender, the next Freddy Krueger. Now, after this awful sequel to the hit film Candyman, he’s just a monster-bum. It’s a bit sad really. Whereas the first film placed an interesting spin on the horror genre by combining contemporary myths with a poor urban locale, Farewell to the Flesh serves up tired old jolts and slasher-movie imagery. Caroline (Caroline Barclay), a young schoolteacher, discovers her family possesses a close relationship to Candyman. As a result, she must face an ancient curse. Ho-hum. Based on a short story by Clive Barker, director Bill Condon wastes good material. Worst of all, the film ends with a redundant scene of a young child in danger from the monster. Candyman, if say your name five times, would you give these filmmakers the hook? With Veronica Cartwright. (Rated R; at area Showcase Cinemas.)
BILL Daniel, a feisty young boy (Nick Stahl), conjures up some legendacy characters from the Old West, John Henry (Roger Aaron Brown), Paul Bunyan (Oliver Platt) and Pecos Bill (Patrick Swayze). Daniel needs his new friends’ help. Determined to help save his family’s farm, he asks these mythical figures to help him fight J.P. Stiles (Scott Glenn), who wants to take the farm away. (Rated PG; opens Friday at area Showcase Cinemas.)
★ DESTINY IN SPACE Sure, everything looks cooler when it’s blown-up super huge in the IMAX format, but too often the initial excitement fades fast. (Remember Antarctica?) This time, IMAX cameras follow the space shuttle as it repairs the Hubble, and the images are amazing. Move over Star Trek Generations, here’s a real out-of-space adventure. (Unrated; at Robert D. Lindner Family Omnimax Theater.)
Continuing
BAD COMPANY From a script by mystery novelist Ross Thomas, Bad Company looks at the industrial espionage that occurs when former CIA operatives go to work for big business. Underlying the corporate spy games is an intimate relationship between two agents, played by Ellen Barkin and Laurence Fishburne. Double-crosses occur both in the workplace and the bedroom. Like Miami Rhapsody, here is another film that Disney basically sat on for two months. One wonders if those folks over in Mickey Mouse-land are afraid of films that don't fall into the category of moronic comedy. With Spalding Gray and Frank Langella. (Rated R; closes Thursday at Showcase Cincinnati.)
★ DISCLOSURE Sex. Power. Betrayal. Disclosure, director Barry Levinson’s film of the best-selling novel by Michael Crichton, rightfully sidesteps any controversy and sticks to pure entertainment. Set in the offices of Digicom, a high-tech computer firm, Disclosure turns sexual harassment upside-down. Few topics are as timely and volatile as sexual harassment. Those who go to Disclosure expecting an intelligent treatment of a controversial issue are forcing their brains where they do not belong. With Michael Douglas and Demi Moore. (Rated R; opens Friday at Norwood, Turfway, Forest Fair, Biggs Place Eastgate and Westwood.)
DUMB AND DUMBER Before movie audiences get to see Jim Carrey vamp it up as the Riddler in Batman Forever, he returns just in time for some tomfoolery. This time, he teams with Jeff Daniels to play bumblers who cross the country to return some stolen loot to its rightful owner. Rumors are that in France, people have thrown out their posters of Jerry Lewis and replaced them with ones of Carrey. A new slapstick god is born. With Teri Garr and ex-MTV veejay Karen Duffy. (Rated PG-13; at MORE, PAGE 2 2
UtterKiosk
Digging the Dancing Queen
Likefilm's director and star,; Muriel's Wedding' what it’s like to strugglefor one's dream
BY STEVE RAMOS
The Australian filmmaker’s story begins on a dark, stormy Los Angeles night. Earlier this month, P.J. Hogan’s first feature, Muriel’s Wedding, opened in L.A. theaters. Hogan was worried.
What if no one showed up?
Sure, Hogan’s story about Muriel a young woman who survives ridicule from her peers by planning for her imaginary wedding wowed film-festival crowds, but this was different. These were regular ticket buyers shelling out hard-earned cash.
“Last night, I did a cruise of the cinemas in the pouring rain,” says Hogan at his Los Angeles hotel. “I expected the cinemas to be empty because Los Angeles was flooding, but the ones I went to were full, and audiences’ reactions were fantastic.”
Hogan was shocked. After struggling for five years to get Muriel’s Wedding made, skepticism comes easy. For a long time, nobody wanted to finance Hogan’s movie. Their reasons were endless. The script’s a downer. Muriel's not the stuff that heroes are made of. Make Muriel beautiful, they told Hogan; rewrite the part for actress Juliette Lewis, then we’ll talk.
Hogan knows why these film companies fear Muriel. “Muriel’s gauche, unconventional and a compulsive liar. These things are normally the first things to be taken out of a character, but in Muriel’s Wedding, they’re glorifled.”
Hogan remembers how Muriel’s Wedding came together. Completely broke, Hogan and his wife, fellow filmmaker Jocelyn Moorhouse, possessed few luxuries. One thing they could afford was sitting in a corner cafe, drinking endless cups of coffee. Across the street, Hogan watched women go into a bridal shop. Later, they would appear in the window, resplendent in wedding finery. “Young women would go into this store looking very ordinary and then appear in the window as beautiful brides.” Desperate to find out more, he lied his way into another bridal shop. Pretending to be a journalist working on a story about marriage, Hogan watched a movie form before his eyes.
“A bridal register is an exclusive club because only engaged women get in,” he says. “I thought, what if one of the girls is an impostor? She’s not engaged but in love with the experience of dressing up.”
Hogan saw his story, a serial bride who’s addicted to this experience of dressing up.
“That’s Muriel. I identified with her completely. I know what it’s like to have a dream and be failing at it.
Three years after pretending to be a journalist, Hogan’s deal finally came through. With help from the Australian Film Finance Corp., Hogan had $3 million U.S. dollars to make his movie. “I knew the key to the film was finding the right Muriel,” he says.
On the first day of auditions, Hogan met Toni Collette, an unknown stage actress.
Collette looked Hogan in the eye and says she told him, “I want you to know before I begin that I am Muriel, and if you cast anybody else, you’re making a big mistake.”
“I read the script and saw myself in it,” says Collette, in her L.A. hotel.
Like Muriel, Collette grew up in a small Australian
reminds us all Film
BILLY MADISON Comedian Adam Sandler of TV’s Saturday Night Live makes the leap to movie-star status in this story about a 27-year-old man, Billy Madison (Sandler), who wants to inherit his father’s (Darren
beach community, Collette searched and shaving her head. called Collette a reject thing.
One thing made productions. At 16, take up acting full-time. it’s weddings; for
“I’m acting,” she comes from me. It’s observations and Inside, Collette to do. Muriel’s plump; Wedding’s budget look fat. So with a gained 45 pounds. for Collette to lose Finding Muriel needed ABBA. “I friends would consider about wanting to were perfect for Muriel. He loved the band, pleaded with ABBA movie. Hogan bought pared for a personal quished on one condition: The struggles paid
in Muriel’s Wedding.
Actress Toni Collette and director to portray Muriel
(Joan
(John
Film
Showcase Cinemas Cincinnati, Eastgate and Erlanger.)
FAR FROM HOME THE ADVENTURES OF YELLOWDOG 20th
Century Fox’s family adventureFar from Home tells the tale of a young boy who becomes lost at sea. His trusted doggie leads him home. Too bad theater owners won’t let pets inside. This one is for the pooches. Woof. With Jesse Bradford, Mimi Rogers and a certain yellow dog. (Rated PG; closes Thursday at Turfway Park and Forest Fair.)
★ FORREST GUMP After raking in 13 Oscar nominations, our man Gump is bouncing back to a theater near us. Tom Hanks combines the right amount of syrupy pathos with humor in his portrayal of a simple man's travels through life. The masses adore Forrest Gump. Let’s see what those 4,924 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences think. (Rated PG-13; at area Showcase Cinemas.)
HIGHLANDER 3 Christopher Lambert returns as the Scottish clan leader who finds that being immortal can be a real pain. Mario Van Peebles turns up as an evil sorcerer. Sooner or later, somebody always loses his head in these Highlander movies. Maybe for Lambert, the third time is the charm. (Rated R; at Norwood and Turfway Park.)
HIDEAWAY Officially declared dead after an automobile accident, Hatch Harrison (Jeff Goldblum) is brought back to life by Dr. Jonas Nyebern (Alfred Molina). The experience leaves Hatch with a new sense of tranquillity. It’s a feeling that does not last long. Horrifying images of brutal murders begin to haunt him. Hatch's wife, Lindsey (Christine Lahti), fears for their safety. Something happened to Hatch before the doctors brought him back to life. Evil has entered the lives of the Harrison family. Finding the source of this evil may be their only hope for survival. Famous for his groundbreaking use of computer effects in The Lawnmower Man, director Brett Leonard brings the same technical wizardry to this adaptation of author Dean R. Koontz’s best-selling thriller. Koontz failed in his attempts to have his name removed from the film’s credits. Wonder what he was afraid of? With Alicia Silverstone and Jeremy Sisto. (Rated R; at area Loews Theatres.)
★ HOOP DREAMS Documentary filmmakers Steve James, Peter Gilbert and Frederick Marx spent seven years following the lives of Arthur Agee and William Gates, two African-American
With the
on
he enlists the help of a modern-day samurai (Yoshio Harada). A successful screenwriter, J.F. Lawton (Pretty Woman, Under Siege) makes the leap into the directing chair with this action thriller that mixes both ninjas and samurais. With another
Christina (Mia Kirshner) develops a personal relationship with her regular customer while dancing at the club Exotica in Atom Egoyan’s Exotica.
boys from Chicago’s inner-city. Gates and Agee share a common dream. These two envision a time when NBA uniforms will drape their bodies. Hoop Dreams together the best elements of two different film genres. It has all the emotional intensity of a dramatic narrative and the educational impact of fine documentary filmmaking. Tragedies such as a father’s struggles with drug addiction or a family sitting around a dark apartment because the electricity has been turned off take on more meaning when they’re real. (Rated PG-13; at the Esquire Theatre.)
HOUSEGUEST Trying to ditch loan sharks at the airport, a con artist (Sinbad) spots the key to his safety. Gary Young (Phil Hartman) is waiting for a long-lost friend whom he has not seen in more than 25 years. Before long, Kevin has convinced the absentminded Gary that he is that friend. Let’s see if such street humor can survive in an antiseptic Disney environment. With Jeffrey Jones and Kim Greist. (Rated
PHOTO: J. EISEN
County. At the Fox lot, the production came to a screeching halt. The Warner Bros, film, Outbreak, remains No. 1 at the box office. Inspired by recent best-selling books like The Hot Zone and The Coming Plague, screenwriters Laurence Dworet and Robert Roy Pool craft a tale about an officer from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases, Col. Sam Daniels, M.D. (Hoffman), who investigates a village in the African rain forest. There, a “hot’’ virus has wiped out the population. Daniels fears that the virus may spread to the States. His warnings to the authorities at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention go unheeded. Later, when residents of a small California town begin to experience flulike symptoms with deadly results, Daniels fears for the worst. The story behind the making of Outbreak is fascinating. Let’s see if the movie is equally entertaining. With Morgan Freeman and Donald Sutherland. (Rated R; at area Showcase Cinemas.)
★ THE PROFESSIONAL Filmmaker Luc Besson (La Femme Nikita, Subway) revolves his bloody action story around an unlikely protagonist, a young girl. Just as cinema violence begins to seem blas6, Besson shakes things up by throwing a child in the mix. With Jean Reno and Natalie Portman. (Rated R; at Norwood.)
★ PULP FICTION Director Quentin Tarantino has shifted from cult favorite to Academy darling. Pulp Fiction received Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor (for John Travolta) and Best Supporting Actor (for Samuel L. Jackson). With wild frenzy, Tarantino mixes gun play, drug abuse and racial epithets into a series of interrelated crime tales. If Pulp Fiction did not reveal strong growth in Tarantino’s technique, his personal hype might have overshadowed this fantastic film. An accurate reflection of what really makes America go round, violence, drugs and racism. With Uma Thurman. (Rated R; at area Showcase Cinemas.)
★ QUEEN MARGOT Queen Catherine of Medici, the Catholic Queen Mother of France (Virni Lisi), arranges a marriage between her daughter Margot of Valois (Isabelle Adjani) and a Protestant, Henri of Navarre (Daniel Auteuil). What looks like an act of peace between two religious groups evolves into a deadly double-cross. Henri's unsuspecting wedding guests are brutally slaughtered on St. Bartholomew’s Day. Blood covers Parisian streets. Kneedeep in the carnage, Margot struggles to protect her lover, Lord of La Mole (Vincent Perez), her husband and herself. French filmmakers can teach Hollywood a thing or two about costume dramas. Sex sells. Director Patrice Chereau’s Queen Margot overflows with carnal pleasures and blood lusts. It’s a bit hard to believe Chereau’s screenplay (co-written with Daniele Thompson) originates from Alexandre Dumas’ novel Marguerite de Valois. Here, narrative takes a backseat to vices.
Famous for his stage direction of Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle opera, director Chereau’s visual panache is evident in Queen Margot. Adjani also has style. Her face belongs in front of a movie camera. Sexy, bloody, Queen Margot overflows with arousing visual imagery. For normally staid art-house patrons, here’s an unexpected adult pleasure. With Jean-Hughes Anglade. (Unrated; at the Movies.)
★ QUIZ SHOW Juiced by Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor for Paul Scofield’s performance as the elder Mark Van Doren, Robert Redford's Quiz Show returns to the nation’s box offices looking for that audience that never materialized. Taking a cue from attorney Richard N. Goodwin's book Remembering America: A Voice From the Sixties, director Redford has crafted his best movie to date. With Mira Sorvino and David Paymer. (Rated R; at Showcase
Cinemas Cincinnati.)
* RICHIE RICH - A little rich boy in real life, Macaulay Culkin has finally found perfect role. Based on the popular children's comic book, Richie Rich weaves a rather simple message about the importance of friendship with light-hearted romp about kidnapped parents and a search for hidden loot. Plus, Warner Bros, unveils its first new Roadrunner cartoon, a short titled Chariots of Fur, in more than 30 years. With Jonathan Hyde and Edward Herrman. (Rated PG; at Norwood, Turfway, Forest Fair and Biggs Place Eastgate.)
★ THE RIVER WILD In the lat est effort, director Curtis Hanson (The Hand that Rocks the Cradle) turns Meryl Streep into an action heroine. Facing terror from two criminal goons, Streep’s character leads her husband and son on a white-water rafting trip. What the story lacks in character development, it makes up with frantic action and breathtaking photography. With Kevin Bacon and David Straithairn. (Rated PG-13; at Norwood, Turfway and Biggs Place Eastgate.)
ROOMMATES Being inspired by true story does not necessarily make a movie good. After the death of his parents, young Michael moves in with his 75-year-old grandfather Rocky Holeczek (Peter Falk). What develops is a friendship that spans more than 30 years. Michael (D.B. Sweeney) goes away to college, becomes a surgeon, gets married and has a family. The always-ornery Rocky is there every step of the way. In real life, Rocky and Michael’s story probably inspires. Well, none of that poignancy finds its way to the silver screen. Screenwriters Max Apple (The Air Up the There) and Stephen Metcalfe (Cousins) use every trick in the book. Roommates plays like a fish-out-of-water story when the elderly Rocky moves into his grandson’s college bachelor pad. Roommates also gives that old opposites-attract theme a whirl. The prudish, old-fashioned Rocky knocks heads with his young grandson all the time. Pity actor Peter Falk (A Woman Under the Influence, Wings of Desire). It took five hours a day to apply the layers of latex for him to appear as an old man. The makeup works. Nothing else in the films does. Roommates is laughably bad. We learn that Rocky lives 107 years. This film feels just as long. With Julianne Moore and Ellen Burstyn. (Rated PG; at area Loews Theatres.)
THE SANTA CLAUSE Tim Allen makes the leap from TV stardom to the big Kids may eat up the story about a grouchy dad who becomes Kris Kringle. Do they know what “tool time" even means? In film, quality and box-office draw do not always match. With Judge Reinhold and Peter Boyle. (Rated PG; at Norwood, Turfway, Forest Fair and Biggs Place Eastgate.)
THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
Based on the Stephen King short story “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption,” director Frank Darabont inspires more than frightens with this tale of friendship behind bars. Voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences were very inspired; they nominated The Shawshank Redemption for Best Picture Oscar, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor for Morgan Freeman. With Tim Robbins. (Rated R; at area Showcase Cinemas.)
STAR6ATE Cutting-edge special effects wrap around a rather old-fashioned science-fiction epic. Consider Stargate as a hip Forbidden Planet. In true ’90s fashion, The Crying Game's Jaye Davidson steals the show instead of Robby the Robot. With Kurt Russell and James Spader. (Rated PG-13; at Forest Fair.)
STAR TREK GENERATIONS TV’s Next Generation has pushed James T. Kirk and company off the silver screen. Generations' flimsy story about an evil scientist who harnesses a rift in time is high on technology and low on drama. Too bad: Trekkers deserve better, and non-fans won’t get any of the inside jokes. With Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frakes. (Rated PG; at Norwood, Turfway, Forest Fair, Biggs Place Eastgate and Westwood.)
STREET FIGHTER Inspired by the video game, Street Fighter puts Jean-Claude Van Damme, the Muscles of Brussels, in a cartoon environment about an Allied Nations commando team against the psychotic warlord Gen. M. Bison (the late Raul Julia). Director Steven De Souza, screen writer for Die Hards 1 & 2,
Repertory
★
75. If one movie warrants a road trip, this is it. After his cult classic Slacker, Linklater proved himself to be an up-and-comer with this thoughtful story about a group of teenagers set in a Texas high school, circa 1976. (Rated
Openings
ART ACADEMY OF CINCINNATI
Seniors with an emphasis in art history exhibit their work. Opens
Sunday. Through March 31. 9 a.m.10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.10 p.m. Friday, noon-5 p.m. SaturdaySunday. Chidlaw Gallery, next to Cincinnati Art Museum, first floor, Eden Park. 562-8777.
★ CINCINNATI ART CLUB The 105th Anniversary Spring Exhibition celebrates the beginning of Cincinnati Art Club’s second century with a number of approaches to art by former and current members. Duveneck, Farny, Farnhorn, Loose, Muller and Schunk are some of the artists whose works will be represented. Opening reception: 6-9 p.m. Friday. Through April 2. The gallery is open 1-5 p.m. Friday-Sunday. 1021 Parkside Place, Mount Adams. 241-4591.
LOVELAND ARTIST CLUB
Presents the Spring Show. Opening reception: 7:30-10:30 p.m. Friday. Through April 8. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday. 188 S. Taylor St., Loveland. 683-1888.
MIAMI UNIVERSITY ART MUSEUM Carol Summers Woodcuts opens Tuesday. Through July 30. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. Free. Patterson Ave., Oxford. 513-529-2232.
★ NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY - The Annual Juried Scholarship Competition C I N C I A R T
Kenwood Towne Centre, 7875 Montgomery Road, Kenwood. 791-5023.
and Exhibition features sculpture, ceramics, paintings and drawings by current NKU art students. Main Gallery. Opening reception: 4-7 p.m. Thursday. Through March 31. A Senior Show displays the graphic design work of Dan Edminten and Amy Kennedy. Third Floor Gallery. 9 a.m.9 p.m. weekdays, 1-5 p.m. SaturdaySunday. Fine Arts Building, NKU, Highland Heights. 572-5148.
WOODBOURNE GALLERY -
Continues its Cincinnati Artist of the Month series with a shewing of Diana McClure's pottery. Opening reception: noon-5 p.m. Sunday. Through April 25. 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, noon-5 p.m. Sunday. 9885 Montgomery Road, Montgomery. 793-1888.
Galleries & Exhibits
OLMES GALLERY Artists of Disguise displays reinterpretations of works by the Masters by students at Anderson, Indian Hill and Turpin high schools. Opening reception: 2-4 p.m. Sunday. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. TuesdayWednesday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Thursday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday-Saturday. 3515 Roundbottom Road, Newtown. 271-4004.
★ ADAMS LANDING ART CENTER Five in Photography features color photos by Barry Anderson, handcolored photos by Diane Kruer, Polaroid transfers by Ann Segal, lightboxes by Connie Sullivan and installations by Michael Wilson. Through April 15.11 a.m.-3 p.m. WednesdaySaturday or by appointment. 900 Adams Crossing, Downtown. 723-0737.
STUDIO SAN GIUSEPPE AT THE COLLEGE OF MOUNT ST.
JOSEPH Senior Thesis I highlights works by arts seniors in their major areas of concentration. Opens Sunday.
ART ACADEMY OF CINCINNATI The 8th Annual Minumental Exhibit displays works no more than 2 inches in any dimension. Through March 24. Exo Gallery, next to Cincinnati Art Museum, second floor, Eden Park. Senior Illustrators’ Exhibits. Through March 24. 9 a.m.-lO p.m. MondayThursday, 9 a.m.-lO p.m. Friday, noon5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Chidlaw Gallery, next to CAM, first floor, Eden Park. 562-8777.
Through April 3. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays, 1:30-4:30 p.m. weekends. College of Mount St. Joseph, 5701 Delhi Road, Delhi Township. 244-4314.
THOMAS MORE GALLERY
Thomas More College 1995 Student
Exhibition features paintings, drawings, phetographs and sculpture. Opens Monday. Through April 21.
8 a.m.-9:45 p.m. Monday-Thursday,
8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Friday, noon-4 p.m. Saturday, 4-8 p.m. Sunday. Thomas More College Library. 333 Thomas More Parkway, Crestview Hills. 344-3309.
ARTERNATIVE GALLERY Coffee Break features oils and pastels by Carole Meyer, pottery by Terry Kern, wearable art by Suzanne Poag, Kimberley Henson and Vera Stastny and dolls by Michele Naylor. Through March 25. 10 a.m.-7 p.m. MondayWednesday and Friday: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday: noon-5 p.m. Sunday. 2034 Madison Road, O’Bryonville. 871-2218.
ARTISTREE STUDIOS - Offers an array of artwork in a variety of media from artists around the Tristate. ArtisTree also offers.classes, workshops and lectures. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Sunday. 6818 State Route 128, Miamitown. 353-2100.
★ THE TAFT MUSEUM - Etchings by Whistler and Zorn features seven 19th century etchings. Opens Thursday. Through May 28. 10 a.m.-
5 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday. 316 Pike St., Downtown. $3 adults: $1 seniors and students: children 12 and under free. 241-0343.
WENTWORTH GALLERY Artist
ARTS CONSORTIUM OF CINCINNATI, UNION TERMINAL Art for City Walls is a yearlong exhibit focusing on local artists. Bein' Round Natti Town, a permanent exhibition, highlights the first 150 years of African-American presence in Cincinnati. 1-5 p.m. WednesdayFriday, noon-5 p.m. weekends. Union Terminal, 1301 Western Ave., Queensgate. 241-7408.
Diane Anderson is the guest of honor at a champagne reception to open an exhibition of her new works, originals and limited edition lithographs.
ARTS CONSORTIUM OF CINCINNATI, LINN STREET Art for City Walls is a yearlong exhibit focusing on local artists. 1-8 p.m. TuesdayThursday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. weekends. 1515 Linn St., West End. 381-0645.
5-8 p.m. Saturday. Boats, featuring the works of Mlinar, Modic, McCann and Hallam, opens Tuesday. Through April 3. 10 a.m.-9 p.m. MondaySaturday, noon-7 p.m. Sunday.
BABA BUDAN’S ESPRESSO
BAR The works of Toby Dials, editorial cartoonist for the News Record, are on display through March 31. 7:30 a.m.-ll p.m. Monday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m.-l a.m. Friday, 11 a.m.-l a.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-ll p.m. Sunday. 243 Calhoun St., Clifton. 221-1911.
N N A T I CLUB
BASE ART Using photographs and words, Cincinnati native Jay A. Plogman rips apart racial and ethnic stereotypes while searching into the philosophical, emotional and concrete aspects of Being American. Through March 25. Noon-4 p.m. Saturday and by appointment. 1311 Main St., Overthe-Rhine. 491-3865.
BEAR GRAPHICS AND ILLUSTRATION GALLERY The Art of the Car features original illustrated automotive art by Bob Woolf, David Skrzelowski. Steve Petrosky, Tom Osborne, Mike Brann, Russ Brandenburg and David Lord. Through May 31. Noon-5 p.m. TuesdaySaturday. 105 E. Main St., Mason. 398-2788.
Works by Barb and Neil More. Through March 31. 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday. Borders Books and Music, 11711 Princeton Road, Springdale. 671-5852.
CAFE ELITE Silk-screen prints and oil paintings by Tom Lohre. Through March 31. On Saturdays,
Lohre will paint on the sidewalk, weather permitting. 11 a.m.-lO p.m. daily. 364 Ludlow Ave., Clifton. 281-9922.
★ C.A.G.E. Group show featuring sculpture by Susan Balboni of Kent, Ohio; mixed-media boxed construetions by Sally Grant of San Antonio, Texas: photo collage by Cincinnati’s Susan Forman: mixed-media wax paintings by Victoria Beal of Chicago; paintings by Beth Black of Bloomington, Ind.; and Book of Shadows, a video ballet by multimedia artist and composer Janis Mattox. Through March 25. Noon-8 p.m. Friday, noon-6 p.m. Saturday, noon4 p.m. Sunday. 1416 Main St., Overthe-Rhine. 381-2437.
CAFE Z A series of lithographs by April Foster are on display. 25 percent of the proceeds go to AVOC (AIDS Volunteers of Cincinnati). Through May 31. 227 W. Ninth St., Downtown. 651-3287.
★ CARL SOLWAY GALLERY An exhibition of new interactive sculpture by San Francisco multi-media electronic artist Paul DeMarinis is on view. DeMarinis’ recent series of installation works. The Edison Effect, uses optics and computers to make new sounds by scanning phonograph records with lasers. Through March 31. Painter Julian Stanczak, who was born in Poland and studied under Joseph Albers, displays paintings that create intense perceptual effects by working in systematic way; often referred to as “Op Art.” Through March 31. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. MondayFriday, Saturday by appointment. 424 Findlay St., West End. 621-0069.
★ CARNEGIE ARTS CENTER
Paintings by Fort Thomas' Paige Williams Murphy, assistant professor at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, are displayed in the Duveneck Gallery. The show is generating a lot of interest, especially among local artists. Through March 25. Sculptures by Cincinnatians Larry Jones and Ed Aub can be found in the Aileen McCarthy Gallery and the Corner Gallery respectively. The Downstairs Gallery features a student exhibition. Through March 25. 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, noon-4 p.m. Satuiday. 1028 Scott Blvd., Covington. 491-2030.
★ CINCINNATI ART GALLERIES Moments of Light features a diverse compilation of paintings done in watercolor, dry brush and tempera by Gary Akers, winner of the American Watercolor Society’s Mario Cooper Award in 1984 for “William.” Through March 31. Also displays works by Potthast, Weis and the Wessels as well as a fine collection of Rookwood pottery. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m.4 p.m. Saturday. 635 Main St., Downtown. 381-2128.
CINCINNATI COMMERCE CENTER Joan Hull Simons blends oils on canvas and watercolors on paper for Recent Impressions. Through March 31. 8 a.m.-6 p.m. MondayFriday, 8 a.m.-l p.m. Saturday. Cincinnati Commerce Center, 600 Vine St., Downtown. 241-6006.
CIVIC GARDEN CENTER OF GREATER CINCINNATI From the Far Side features the works of a group of Carnegie Arts Center artists. Through March 31. 9 a.m.4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday. 2715 Reading Road, Avondale. 221-0981.
★ CLOSSON'S GALLERY DOWNTOWN Presents 19th and 20th century American, European, regional, Far Eastern and West African paintings, prints and sculpture. Through May 1. Permanent collection features some of the best art by Cincinnati’s earlier artists, including Frank Duveneck, John Henry Twachtman, Herman and Bessie Wessel, Charles Meurer, William Louis Sonntag, John Weis, Charles Salis Kaelin, Julie Morrow DeForest and Henry Mosler. 10 a.m.-8 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, noon5 p.m. Sunday. 401 Race St., Downtown. 762-5510.
★ CLOSSON’S GALLERY KENWOOD Paintings, primarily abstracts, by Nellie Leaman Taft. Through March 25. 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Saturday. 7866 Montgomery Road, Kenwood. 891-5531.
★ COLLECTOR BOOK AND PRINT GALLERY The politically motivated lithographs of Gabriel Glikman, a Russian Jewish artist and sculptor, are on display. Through March 31. Works by Cincinnati novelist Robert Lowry, who died in December, are also on display. 3-6 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday. 1801 Chase Ave.,
Northside. 542-6600.
SHARON COOK GALLERY Serene transitional to wild abstract imagery. The gallery represents Phoenix Art Press and Winn-Devon. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday. 1118 Pendleton, Over-the-Rhine. 579-8111.
FITTON CENTER FOR CREATIVE ARTS Phosphorescent Paintings by Tom Bacher can be found in Gallery I. Through April 7. W. Bing Davis’ Pots, Paintings, Mixed Media Works are exhibited in Gallery II. Through April 7. 9
a.m.-5
a.m.-3
554-0900. GOLDEN RAM GALLERY Original oil paintings by Nelle Ferrara. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday; 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Wednesday; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday. 6810 Miami Ave., Madeira. 271-8000.
HARROGATE Works exhibited are mostly of maritime themes including 19th and 20th century paintings, ship models and artifacts. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday. 3075 Madison Road, Oakley. 321-6020.
HASELLE POTTERY Copper matte raku and barium matte glazes by Robert Haselle. Through March 30. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday. 4046 Hamilton Ave., Northside. 541-1171.
★ HEBREW UNION COLLEGE SKIRBALL MUSEUM Aishet
Hayil: Woman of Valor features paintings, textiles and sculptures. Through March 31. 11 a.m.4 p.m. MondayThursday, 2-5 p.m. Sunday. 3101 Clifton Ave., Clifton. 221-1875.
HILLEL JEWISH STUDENT CENTER Michal Koren, Jonah Tobias, Nate Waspe and Pam Zelman, students from UC's school of Design, Art, Architecture and Planning, display their work. Through March 31. 9 a.m.5 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday. 2615 Clifton Ave., Clifton. 221-6728.
INNER SPACE DESIGN
Currently showing works by James Brown, Robert Motherwell, Roy Lichtenstein, Ellsworth Kelley, Robert Rauschenberg, Louis Bourgeois, Donald Judd, Elizabeth Murray, Robert Indiana, Tom Nakashima and Louise Nevelson. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. MondaySaturday. 2128 Madison Road, O’Bryonville. 533-0300.
JAMAR GALLERY Has closed and is currently looking for a new location. It will be located temporarily at 79 Locust Hill Road, Anderson Township. By appointment only. 752-1344.
KALDI’S COFFEE HOUSE & BOOKSTORE Pam Polley’s paintings, queens have known, attempt to overcome stereotypical expectations of women, celebrating instead their strength, sexuality and power. Through March 31. 7 a.m.-l a.m. MondayThursday, 7 a.m.-2:30 a.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-2:30 a.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.midnight Sunday. 1202 Main St., Overthe-Rhine. 241-3070.
KZF GALLERY Paintings and drawings by Ken Landon Buck, sculpture by Barbara
a.m.-9:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday. 444 W. Third St., Dayton. 513-449-5381
STUDIO 701 Art from the Heart
showcases large and small works on canvas and paper by M. Katherine Hurley, winner of a recent Artist's magazine award. A good look at conservative landscape work. Studio 701 of the Pendleton Art Center, 1310 Pendleton St., Over-the-Rhine. 241-4123.
★ SUB.QRESSIVE
Parasite=Host is an unsettling new installation created by David Opdyke. By appointment through March 31. 1412 Main St., Over-the-Rhine. 421-4221.
THE SUN’S EYE An exhibition of art jewelry in sterling silver and gemstones by V.L. Punkari and J. ■Gustafson. Through April 30.11 a.m.5:30 p.m. weekdays. 923 Vine, Downtown. 241-2066.
★ TANGEMAN FINE ARTS
GALLERY L/C Fine Arts
Collection: Enriching the Future is a project developed as part of the university’s 175th anniversary celebration. The exhibit includes many works that have not been displayed publicly in years, including works by Elizabeth Nourse and prehistoric artifacts dating to 5000-4000 B.C. found during UC excavations at Lerna in Greece. Through March 24. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays. Tangeman Student Center, UC, Clifton. 556-2962.
THOMAS MORE GALLERY Dress Code, sculpture by Jill Rowinski, continues through March 24. 8 a.m.-9:45 p.m. MondayThursday, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Friday, noon-4 p.m. Saturday, 4-8 p.m. Sunday. Thomas More College Library. 333 Thomas More Parkway, Crestview Hills. 344-3309.
★ TONI BIRCKHEAD GALLERY
Recent paintings by Cincinnatian Kim Krause, who teaches at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. Through April 14. 10 a.m.4 p.m. weekdays, Saturday by appointment. 342 W. Fourth St., Downtown. 241-0212.
TOON ART GALLERIES - Disney Dimensions highlights limited-edition and one-of-a-kind 3-D pieces from raku pottery to collector plates and jewelry. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. By appointment Monday. 21 E. Fifth St., Westin Hotel, Downtown. 651-3500.
★ UC CLERMONT COLLEGE ART
GALLERY Recent Works by Katherine Hurley, Dianne Loos and Lynda S. Reiner. Through March 31. 8 a.m.-6 p.m. weekdays. 4200 Clermont College Drive, UC Clermont College, Batavia. 732-5224.
★ UC HEALTH SCIENCE LIBRARY Melvin Grier’s moving photographic documentary, Not Without Prejudice, his view of the conAid, loss and dislocation experienced by a group of Avondale residents whose homes were demolished and replaced by a Cincinnati Zoo parking lot, stands in contrast to Jymi Bolden's more cerebral photographic abstractions of the human form. Through April 14. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays. 231 Bethesda Ave., Clifton. 558-5627.
PATRICIA WEINER GALLERY
Features 19th and 20th century museum-quality paintings with special interest in Cincinnati artists. 11 a.m.5 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, or by appointment. 9352 Main St., Montgomery. 791-7717.
Nations, showcases the museum’s finest examples of ethnic dress Chinese robes, Indian saris, Japanese kimonos, African robes and Rumanian dresses. There also is a display of 30 dolls in traditional dress from such countries as Japan, Russia, Arabia and India. Through Oct. 1. The Dawn of Engraving: Masterpieces from the 15th Century features many fine examples of late Gothic and early Renaissance engraving; through July 23. Singing The Clay: Pueblo Pottery of the Southwest, Yesterday and Today features 111 examples of pottery from 12 pueblos; through June 4. In conjunction with this exhibition, Mary Lewis Garcia, one of the most distinguished contemporary potters, demonstrates her work, 1-4 p.m. Sunday. Garcia also presents the second of three lectures: Singing the Clay. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. $7, $9 non-members, $8 students and seniors. 721-5204, Ext. 293. Richard Bitting: Nine Summer Haiku is a suite of nine color lithographs with music and text transformed into designs; through April 9. Air in Motion, Heart in Motion includes 14 prints by Shinoda Toko, trained in calligraphy but best known for her paintings: through May 14. $5 adults: $4 students and seniors; children free. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. TuesdaySaturday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. Eden Park. 721-5204.
★ CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER Carrie May Weems examines the status of African-Americans in today’s society through narrative photographic images; through March 26. In Memory Spaces, Pittsburgh artist Paul Glabicki uses state-of-theart computer programs while working simultaneously with paintings, drawings, photographic sequences and installation plans to create a continuous architectural landscape for the viewer to experience when projected three-dimensionally and viewed through polarized glasses; through April 5. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday-Saturday. $2 adults; $1 students and seniors; children 12 and under free; free to CAC members; free to all on Mondays. 115 E. Fifth St., Downtown. 345-8400.
MIAMI UNIVERSITY ART MUSE-
UM Le Corbusier: Unitd featuring aquatints by the architect which were printed by Atelier Crommelynck in 1963 and 1965, opens Tuesday. Through Oct. 1. Forever Flowers continues through Oct. 1. Stitched, Woven and Plaited: Contemporary Craft Traditions of Africa; through June 11. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. TuesdaySunday. Free. Patterson Ave., Oxford. 513-529-2232.
★ THE TAFT MUSEUM Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Pamela R. Lessing Friedman Collection comprises more than 100 exquisitely decorated snuff bottles dating from the 18th and 19th centuries. Through May 28. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday. 316 Pike St., Downtown. $3 adults; $1 seniors and students; children 12 and under free. 241-0343.
COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS: SEEKING QUESTIONS ON ISSUES OF IMPORTANCE
David Gosling, the keynote speaker, discusses the definition of community. The program includes a panel with attorney Alphonse Gerhardstein and Zane Miller, director of UC’s Center for Neighborhood and Community Studies. Free. 7-9 p.m. Tuesday. UC’s Raymond Walters College Theater, 9555 Plainfield Road, Blue Ash. 745-5685.
DOING BUSINESS IN CHINA, JAPAN AND SINGAPORE
George B. Graen, director for the Center of Enhancement of International Competitiveness, will present the lecture. 7:30-9 a.m. Thursday. Science Lecture Hall, 333 Thomas More Parkway, Crestview Hills. 344-3623.
DOWNTOWN AWARDS LUN-
CHEON Warren K. Summers, the president of the Cincinnati Association for the Performing Arts, serves as the keynote speaker. 11:30 a.m. Thursday. $25 a person, $175 for a table of eight. Hall of Mirrors, Omni Netherland Plaza, Fifth and Race streets, Downtown. 579-3191.
FROM THE KINGS OF KUBA TO THE QUEENS OF HIP-HOP
Robert Farris Thompson, a professor of Art History from Vale, presents the lecture. 7:30 p.m. Miami University Art Museum, Patterson Ave., Oxford. 513-529-2232.
GARDENING WITH PERENNIALS
PClara Berger kicks off the spring series. 7:30 p.m. Friday. Free. Anderson Regional Branch Library, 7450 State Road, Anderson Township. For reservations, call 369-6030.
GOING BACK TO COLLEGE
NKU’s Harriet Krumpleman will conduct a seminar on how to go back to school. 1 p.m. Saturday. Barnes & Noble, 7663 Mall Road, Florence. 647-6400
ITALIAN DINNER AND DANCE
The Germania Society dance includes an Italian dinner, music by Variety Pak and a command performance by an Italian dance group. 9 p.m.-l a.m. Saturday. $12 covers the dinner and dance, $7 covers the dance only. Germania Park, West Kemper Road, Colerain Township. 742-0060.
hotography is rarely viewed as having as much versatility as other artistic media. But the Five In Photography exhibit at Adam’s Landing Art Center provides proof that nothing could be further from the truth. The living photographers featured in this exhibit have each stretched this medium to its creative boundaries. From the surreal to the sublime, each artist uses photography in a unique and skilled way. In fact, in some cases, viewers will be surprised to realize they’re observing the same medium.
MERCANTILE LIBRARY FORUM ON THE FUTURE Dave Phillips, president of Downtown Cincinnati Inc., Ben DeWinter, general manager of Saks Fifth Avenue in Cincinnati, and Cincinnati City Councilman Nick Vehr discuss the city’s future. 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. $6.50, $9 non-members. Price includes buffet lunch. Reservations are necessary and must be made by 1 p.m. Tuesday. 414 Walnut St., Downtown. 621-0717.
NUTRITION FOR YOUR LIFE
Thomas T. Tierney, one of America’s foremost experts on nutrition and antiaging, discusses the value proper nutrition has on vitality, athletic performance and health. The seminar is being broadcast live from the Spreckles Theater in San Diego. 7:30-9:30 p.m. Friday. Pre-registration necessary. Body Wise, 501 Missouri Ave., Hyde Park. 321-6989.
SPRING STROLL MainStrasse Village welcomes spring with an Easter Basket Extravaganza. There will be a drawing for two Easter baskets. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, noon-5 p.m. Sunday. Covington. 491-0458.
Five Takes on Photography Diversity holds together show
her body. Kruer’s use of purple and blue pencil gives each photograph an illustrationlike quality. In each photo, gold surrounds the body, offering drama and emphasizing the central parts of the photo. When the woman’s face is hidden with her hands, gold paint glows from between her fingers. When she covers her breasts with her arms and hands, gold glows from her heart. And when she is turned from the camera, a series of gold beads highlight her spine. Each photo is framed in an elaborate gold frame.
WOMEN’S ART CLUB OF CINCINNATI Meets at 1 p.m. the second Saturday of every month.
the medium's varied potential
Although Barry Anderson’s photographs might be considered the most “traditional” of this exhibit, his method is not. Each photo of his series of “Cloudscape” photographs was shot as he piloted an acrobatic stunt plane. In doing so, Anderson daringly captured the beauty and personality of clouds. His clouds communicate both danger and fury, calm and tranquillity, giving an almost otherworldly presence. In “Cloudscape #60-7,” the clouds take on a form like an ocean’s waves. One majestic cloud turns and crashes, subtly colored by the pastel shades of sunset. In “Cloudscape #20-15,” the eye is instantly drawn to a small faraway cloud in the center. Majestically, the cloud stands erect. Unfocused, dreamy dark clouds frame this centerpiece, the varying shades of gray adding drama.
Artist Diane Kruer contributes a series of compelling self portraits. In this series, titled “An Alchemical Diary II,” each photo has been hand-colored with gold paint and colored pencils. In each work, the woman is naked, yet her face and breasts are never exposed. Instead, the woman’s arms and fingers conceal
THEATER MAKEUP DEMONSTRATION The Beechmont Players, a community theater group, demonstrate the art of making theatrical appliances. 7 p.m. Wednesday. Free. Turpin High School, 2650
Although not a photograph itself, Kruer’s “Alchemical Diary I” is one of the most captivating contributions to this show. Using photographs as one component of this multimedia piece, Kruer has constructed a rack of 42 test tubes. The test tubes each “contain” a year of her life from nothing for her earlier years, to a knot from the year she “tied the knot.” Preserved in the corked tubes, this piece proves to be a creative and enchanting autobiographical work.
Seasoned photographer Connie Sullivan features a series of nine photographs displayed in lightboxes. The lightboxes provide an added level of contrast and augment the drama of the subject matter. Sullivan juxtaposes the natural and unnatural in these surreal compositions. She uses recurring images of drab, cold technological objects. In one piece, Sullivan features a power plant, wires connecting the different parts. A chain-link fence and bleak granite block complete the drab image of this setting. But inside a circular opening in the granite block, three decayed human skulls
CONTINUES ON PAGE 30
Michael Wilson’s “A Mute’s Prayer” is on display
★
The
Osmond
8
Theater
$22-$29.
Tickets to regular performances are half-price when purchased noon-2 p.m. the day of the show. Eden Park. 421-3888.
CITYFOLK Presents From Plains and Pueblos, featuring the Native American music and dance traditions of the Zuni of the Southwest, the Lakota of the Great Plains and the Vup’ik Eskimo. Dancer and flute master Kevin Locke, who appeared in the movie Dances with Wolves, will perform the incredibly complex and aerobatic Lakota hoop dance. 8 p.m. Friday. $10-$15. Victoria Theatre, 138 N. Main St., Dayton, Ohio. 513-223-3655.
ENSEMBLE THEATRE OF CINCINNATI Mark Mocahbee directs Suzanne and Gabor Barabas' Find Me A Voice, a play about the Holocaust. Opens Wednesday. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. Through April 16. $20 adults; $15 students and seniors. 1127 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine. 421-3555 or 721-1000.
FITTON CENTER FOR CREATIVE ARTS Reader's Theatre: Five One Act Plays takes place 7 p.m. Saturday. 101 S. Monument Ave., Hamilton. Call 863-8873 for prices.
FOREST VIEW GARDENS Phantom runs through April 2. Reservations required. ThursdaySunday. 4508 North Bend Road, Monfort Heights. 661-6434.
MARIEMONT PLAYERS
David Edwards directs the American premiere of Ranjit Bolt’s adaptation of Lysistrata, Aristophanes’ bawdy, antiwar comedy. The cast features Teresa Ripple in the title role with Bill Keeton as the Magistrate. Also, look for former Monkeytimer Scott Levy as Kineseas. Through April 2. 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 7 p.m. Sunday. $10. Walton Creek Theatre, Muchmore Road, Mariemont, 684-1236.
MIAMI VALLEY DINNER THEATRE Gypsy, the musical based on the life of Gypsy Rose Lee, runs through April 29. $26.95-$34.95. Route 73, Springboro. 513-746-4554.
PEGASUS PLAYERS Opens its 1995 season with a production of
Nuts, by Tom Topor. CCM’s Michael Burnham directs this courtroom drama that deals with child abuse, prostitution, the legal and mental health establishments and individual responsibility. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Closes Saturday. $8. Gabriel's Corner, Liberty and Sycamore streets, Over-the-Rhine. 521-1884.
★ VICTORIA THEATRE ASSOCIATION The Children’s Theatre Company of Minneapolis presents Animal Fables from Aesop. 1 and 3:30 p.m. Saturday and 12:30, 3 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. The 3 p.m. Saturday performance will be audio-described and sign-interpreted. $8.50 adults, $6.50 children. Kim Hunter, who won an Academy Award for her portrayal of Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire, and Emmy-winning actor Vincent Dowling star in D.L. Coburn’s Pulitzerwinning drama The Gin Game. 8 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 3 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday. Opens Tuesday. Through April 9. $13-$37. Victoria Theatre, 138 N. Main St., Dayton, Ohio. 513-228-3630.
VILLAGE PUPPET THEATRE Charles Killian, the founder of the theater, presents The Dream of Prince Shiraz, an original work written and directed by Salil Singh with music by Ewar. The play is based on tales from Indian folklore and mythology and uses both marionettes and shadow puppets. Through May 28. 4:30 and 7 p.m. Friday, 12:30, 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. Saturday and 12:30 and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. $5.25. Special showings and prices available for groups of 15 or more. 606 Main St., Covington. 291-5566 or through Select-A-Seat at 721-1000.
Classical Music
ATHENAEUM CHORALE Presents its annual spring concert with orchestra and guest soloists. 8:15 p.m. Friday. $6 reserved: $8 at the door. Athenaeum of Ohio/Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, 6616 Beechmont Ave., Mount Washington. 231-2223.
★ THE CARMINA QUARTET
The Cincinnati Chamber Music Society presents the Carmina Quartet, winner of Gramophone's 1992 "Best Chamber Music” Award. The program includes Haydn’s Quartet in D major, Op. 76, No. 5, Bloch’s Quartet No. 3 and Schubert's Quartet in G major, D. 887. 8 p.m. Monday. $16 adults; $8 faculty, students free with ID. Corbett Auditorium, UC campus, Clifton. 761-6867.
DUDLEY MOORE JOINS THE DAYTON PHILHARMONIC
ORCHESTRA The British comedian and musician appears with the orchestra for two Superpops Concert.
8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Dayton Convention Center, Dayton. Call 513-224-9000 for tickets and info.
FITTON CENTER FOR CREATIVE
ARTS Harpist Erin Walker from Oxford and Bryan Wallick from Hamilton team up for a performance. 3 p.m. Sunday. $8, $10 non-members, $9 seniors, $5 students. 101 S. Monument Ave., Hamilton. 863-8873.
MUSICA SACRA CHORUS AND ORCHESTRA Under the direction of Helmut J. Roehrig, chairman of the Department of Music at Xavier University, the 70-voice ecumenical chorus performs Cherubini’s Requiem and sacred motets by Anton Bruckner. 4 p.m. Sunday. Free. Our Lord Christ the King, Linwood and Ellison streets. Mount Lookout. 563-8834.
NKU CHAMBER CHOIR As part of its spring tour, the choral ensemble will perform a number of free concerts. The series continues 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Crestview Presbyterian Church, 9463 Cincinnati-Columbus Road, West Chester. 7 p.m. Friday. First United Methodist Church, 133 E. Walnut Road, Hillsboro. 8 p.m. Sunday. Greaves Concert Hall, NKU, Highland Heights. 572-5433
SARA JOHNSON - Plays selec tions on the hammer dulcimer. 2-5 p.m. Saturday. Half Price Books, 8118 Montgomery Road, Kenwood. 891-7170.
★ XAVIER UNIVERSITY PIANO & GUITAR SERIES Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, a native of Lyon, France, won the Premier Prix du Conservatoire at 15. At 18, he won the Young Concert Artists Auditions. He will perform Debussy’s Preludes, Book 1, Liszt’s Ballade No. 2 in b minor as well as three pieces that Liszt set to piano: 0 du mein holder Aendstern from Wagner’s Tannhauser, a paraphrase on Isolde’s Liebestod from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde and a waltz from Gounod’s Faust. 2:30 p.m. Sunday. $16, $14. University Center Theatre, Xavier, 3800 Victory Parkway. 745-3161
Dance
★ CINCINNATI BALLET Spring Dance Festival features The Merry Widow and The Elements. 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday. $9$48. Music Hall, 1241 Elm St., Overthe-Rhine. 749-4949.
★ MARK MOROZUMI Cincinnati dancer Mark Morozomi presents a benefit concert, a preview of his solo work which will premiere in New York at the end of March. 8 p.m. Friday. Free showing, donations accepted. The Dance Hall, Vine and E. Daniels, Corryville. 751-2800.
Comedy
GO BANANAS Mark Brittan and J.R. Remick through Sunday. Phil Van T. and Doc Barham open Wednesday. 8:30 and 10:45 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday. $5 weekdays, $7 weekends. 8410 Market Place, Montgomery. 984-9288.
or 241-9622. ART ACADEMY Offers Saturday art classes for children 5-14. Junior High Drawing and Painting runs through April 22. 1125 St. Gregory St., Mount Adams. 562-8748. ARTS CONSORTIUM OF CINCINNATI Offers a variety of photography, art, dance, martial arts, music and-theater classes. 1515 Linn St., West End. 381-0645.
C.I.C. PERCUSSIONS Offers adult drum classes in Djembe and Conga, 3:30-6 p.m. Saturdays; children’s class in Nigerian Drum and Dance, 10 a.m.-noon Saturdays. Classes run through March 25. The Miller Gardette Loft, 2401 Concord, Walnut Hills. 221-2222.
CINCINNATI ARGENTINE TANGO SOCIETY Offers dance classes in authentic Argentine tango. 8 p.m. every Thursday. $3, $5 non-members. University YMCA, 270 Calhoun, Clifton. 631-6215.
CINCINNATI BALLET Offers classes for adults and children. Adult Ballet Class Session II takes place
7:15-8:45 p.m. Monday and Tuesday. $10 per class. 100 E. Central Parkway, Over-the-Rhine. 621-5219.
CINCINNATI NATURE CENTERJonathan Hart takes students step by step through the art of origami. 7:30-9:30 p.m. Thursday. The series continues March 30. 4949 Tealtown Road, Milford. Call 831-1711 for prices.
CITIZENSHIP CLASSES Travelers Aid International continues its citizenship classes. The non-profit group also offers English for the foreign born, immigration counseling, application assistance, finger printing and photos. 707 Race St., Suite 300, Downtown. 721-7660.
CIVIC GARDEN CENTER OF GREATER CINCINNATI Offers a garden variety of classes. 2715 Reading Road, Avondale. Call 221-0981 for information.
CONTEMPORARY DANCE THEATER Offers classes in tap, jazz,
StraightDope News&Views CoverStory
ballet, modern dance, African dance, creative movement for children and yoga. The Dance Hall, Vine Street and East Daniels, Corryville. 751-2800.
FITTON CENTER FOR CREATIVE ARTS Handstamping on Fabric: Techniques of Asia and Africa. 9 a.m.2 p.m. Saturday. Plains Indians. 7:30-9:30 p.m. Monday and April 3. 101 S. Monument Ave., Hamilton. Call 863-8873 for information.
GLASS CRAFTERS STUDIOS Offers classes in the art of stained glass. 11119 Reading Road, Sharonville. 554-0900.
GOSPEL STUDY Father Jim Willing presents and discusses the Gospel for the coming Sunday 12:05-12:55 p.m. Wednesday in the Undercroft. Cathedral of St. Peter in Chains, 325 W. Eighth St., Downtown. 421-5354.
LOVELAND ART CENTER Offers classes for adults in basic drawing, oil painting, watercolors, acrylic painting, pastels, calligraphy, cartooning, comic book drawing and introduction to art. Summer art classes also will be offered for children. 118 S. Taylor St., Loveland. 683-1888.
THE SUN’S EYE Offers classes on silversmithing and stained glass. 923 Vine St., Downtown. Call 241-2966 for prices.
TIGER LILY PRESS Andy Agee, a graduate of the Art Academy of Cincinnati, will teach an etchings class 7-10 p.m. Tuesdays. Theresa Kuhr, a UC graduate with an MFA in printmaking, will teach a collagraphic printing class 9 a.m.-noon Saturdays. Art Academy of Cincinnati, 1125 St. Gregory St., Mount Adams. Call 562-8748 for information and prices.
TREASURE ISLAND JEWELRY Offers classes on stained glass; basic, beaded and wire-wrapped jewelry; polymer clay; and lamp work beads. 34 W. Court St., Downtown. 241-7893.
VITAL VISIONS PROGRAM Targets at-risk students. A multifaceted program includes visit with an artist of international and/or national reputation, plus a tour of the materials and techniques employed by the artist. Each student receives complementary exhibition-related workbook. Free to eligible schools. Contemporary Arts Center, 115 E. Fifth St., Downtown. 721-0390.
Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door, $25 for Box Seats
Tickets available at any TicketMaster location or charge by phone: 749-4949, Or call the CMC Hotline at 861-4042.
Tickets may also be ordered at Pink Pyramid, Crazy Ladies Bookstore, and Victory Books
Theatre Noir
Foxrock ventures from the absurd with 15-scene'Dark Rapture’
Q & A BY DALE DOERMAN
Director Rene Marrero is making adjustments with his Foxrock Theatre this season. After producing a few seasons of absurdist and absurdist-influenced dramas such as Buried Child and Waitingfor Godot, Marrero is ready to make some changes.
Instead of putting together another season of two or three productions with that decidedly unrealistic style that has become the group’s identity, Foxrock is mounting only one show this season, Dark Rapture. And it’s not what anyone is expecting.
“I read a review of this play when it first opened in Seattle about two years ago, and it just sounded very close to what I was looking for,” Marrero says. “It’s not exactly a mystery or anything there’s no detectives or anything but it’s sort of a ‘film noir’ style story.”
CityBeat: Can you provide a synopsis of the story?
Marrero: It’s complicated. There’s a woman who wants to be a Hollywood producer, and she borrows money from a couple of loan-shark, gangster types. The money’s in a package at her home and her husband, Ray, is supposed to deposit that money. Ray is kind of a patsy type who hasn’t really done anything with his life for a long time. There’s a big fire and the house goes up in smoke, and when the smoke clears, the money is gone and Ray is gone. He may have died in the fire, or he may have taken the money and disappeared. The play is about people chasing Ray across country and how people try to get the money back, as well as the people he encounters along the way.
Onstage
Marrero: Right. Lighting is going to be very important. We’re going to go for high contrast. I’m going to keep the palette into sort of blacks and grays and blues and whites. I’m going for a thick atmosphere a sexy scene in a little
and
Rapture, which opens April 8 at Carnegie Theatre. hotel room down in Mexico where it’s just hot and sweaty. And there’s another hotel room in Seattle where it’s kinda rainy and gloomy. We’re really going for heavy atmosphere.
CityBeat: How are the actors dealing with the “film noir” style?
CityBeat: It sounds like a film script.
Marrero: It does. It’s 15 scenes in 15 different locations: Seattle, Tampa, St. Vincent. It really does move quite cinematically. It has Chandler-esque qualities, and it also resembles things like Pulp Fiction. It’s sexy; it’s violent.
CityBeat: Can you describe the set?
Marrero: It’s going to be a couple of unit platforms with walls on them, and they are just going to swing around to be a hotel room here and then swing around to be a cafe somewhere else or just pulled back to have a wide open stage. It’s going to have dark qualities to it.
CityBeat: I guess lighting wifi be important.
Marrero: Our starting point can’t be the “film noir” style. We’ve got to find out who these characters are, and once we make these characters believable, we can start to add some of the stock traits that they do have your gangsters, bad girls, good girls. It’s going to be fun. Very exciting.
CityBeat: Is this an indication that you might be doing more projects outside of the absurd in the future?
Marrero: Well, yeah. Obviously I want to expand, I want to grow. There was an article in Cincinnati Magazine last month that called my work “bleak.” That’s not a tag I’d like to have attached to my work.
Rene Marrero, left,
Matt Wehner in Dark
Readings, Signings & Events
EILEEN TWAY CHILDREN’S LITERATURE CONFERENCE The featured speaker is Laura Numeroff, author of If You Give A Mouse A Cookie. Registration begins at 8 a.m. with the first session starting at 9 a.m. Saturday. $40. Miami University, Oxford. 513-529-6462.
★ EILEEN EISENBERT Parents
can pick up some helpful parenting tips from the author of What To Expect The Toddler Years, a continuation of the popular series that began with What to Expect When You're Expecting. Noon Thursday. JosephBeth Booksellers, Rookwood Pavilion, Madison and Edwards roads, Norwood. 396-8960.
CRYSTAL L. FAULKNER AND TOM COONEY The authors of 96 Ways You Can Save Taxes in '95 present an informative slide show and seminar. 2-3:30 p.m. Saturday. Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Rookwood Pavilion, Madison and Edwards roads, Norwood. 396-8960.
THE ISIDOR SCHIFRIN ESSAY CONTEST Essays must answer the question: “Jewish Education: Who Is It For?” The deadline for entries is May 1. First prize is $100, second prize is $50. Word count for junior and senior high school is 750-1,500; word count for college students and adults is 1,500-2,000. Send entries to the Bureau of Jewish Education, 1580 Summit Road, Cincinnati, OH 45237.
KALDI'S OPEN MIKE POETRY
READING 8 p.m. Wednesday. Kaldi’s Coffee House & Bookstore,
CINCINNATI WRITERS PROJECT
FICTION CRITIQUE GROUP Meets at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Arnold’s Bar & Grill, 210 E. Eighth St., Downtown. 441-5573.
1202-04 Main St., Over-the-Rhine. 241-3070.
CRAZY LADIES BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP Meets the fourth Monday of every month at 7 p.m. in the May Sarton Room. Crazy Ladies Center, 4039 Hamilton Ave., Northside. 541-4198.
★ ELINOR LIPMAN The author of Isabel's Bed will speak at the Mercantile Library. Noon Thursday. 414 Walnut St., Downtown. 621-0717. She also will read from her book and sign copies. 7-8:30 p.m. Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Rookwood Pavilion, Madison and Edwards roads, Norwood. 396-8960.
GATHERING HOUSE Offers classes and workshops designed to help men and women discover their innate creativity. 100 S. College Drive, Oxford. 513-523-4284.
MURDER AND MAYHEM The mystery book group is currently reading Carl Hiaasen’s Striptease. It meets at 7:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month. Little Professor Book Center, 814 Main St., Milford. 248-BOOK.
JAMES NEFF The author of Unfinished Murder: The Capture of a Serial Rapist, the true story of a serial rapist in Cleveland, signs copies of his book. 7-8:30 p.m. Monday. JosephBeth Booksellers, Rookwood Pavilion, Madison and Edwards roads, Norwood. 396-8960.
SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS Organization of working journalists and writers offers monthly programs, monthly newsletter and subscription to national Quill magazine. Local and/or national dues. Marc Emral, 683-5115.
PUBLIC LIBRARY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY
WRITERS WORKSHOP Open to all emerging writers, the workshop meets once a month to discuss and share works in an open forum atmosphere. $3. Arts Consortium of Cincinnati, 1515 Linn St., West End. 381-0645.
The brown bag lunch series continues with a slide show and talk by Abe Schwartz on “An Illustrated History of Fountain Pens.” 12:10 p.m. Tuesday. Tower Room, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, 800 Vine St., Downtown. 369-6960.
WRITING LIVES WRITING WORKSHOP Workshop for women writers. 871-8702.
Groups
Young Readers' Events
B&N MYSTERY GROUP - Meets to discuss Colin Dexter’s Way Through The Woods. 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Barnes & Noble, Sycamore Plaza, 7800 Montgomery Road, Kenwood. 794-9440.
B&N FLORENCE CHILDREN’S STORY TIME There will be a story time at 10 a.m. Wednesday and pajama story time at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Barnes & Noble, 7663 Mall Road, Florence. 647-6400
BLACK HISTORY BOOK CLUB
Meets at 7 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of the month. Walnut Hills Branch Library, 2533 Kemper Lane, Walnut Hills. 369-6053.
CHILDREN'S BOOKERY LAP STORYTIME - Two- to 5-year-olds can join Cathy Fasano and Diane Volk for stories about cows. A parent guardian must accompany children. 10:30-11 a.m. Tuesday. $1. Registration required. Children’s Bookery, 1169 Smiley Ave., Forest Park. 742-8822.
BOOKSHELF BOOK CLUB
Meets at 9 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of every month. Coffee Please, 6930 Miami Ave., Madeira. 271-9140.
BOONE COUNTY WRITERS
GROUP Meets at 7 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month at the Gathering House, Florence Nature Park, U.S. 42, Florence. 371-5491.
CINCINNATI PLAYWRIGHTS
Critique group for playwrights meets at 7 p.m. every Monday at the Carnegie Arts Center, Robbins and Scott streets, Covington. 556-3914.
CINCINNATI WRITERS PROJECT Support group for writers of every genre offers monthly meetings. 689-5283.
CINNAMON TREE STORYTIME Lee Leist entertains with springtime stories and crafts. 1-3 p.m. Saturday. $1. Reservations required. Cinnamon Tree Books, 11328 Montgomery Road, Montgomery. 489-TREE.
JOSEPH-BETH KIDS Children can enjoy stories about avoiding TV in celebration of Turn off the Tube week. 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Saturday. The whole family can join the staff for an evening of board games. 7-8 p.m. Monday. Teachers are invited to the monthly “Teacher Appreciation Night” for a brief tour of the store and information about the services JosephBeth Booksellers provides for teach7-8 p.m. Tuesday. Madison and Edwards roads, Norwood. 396-8960. LITTLE PROFESSOR, WEST CHESTER, STORY HOURPreschoolers can listen to stories and make take-home crafts. 11 a.m. every Thursday. Little Professor Book Center, 7844 Cox Road, West Chester. 777-0220.
MEDIA PLAY KIDS CLUB Children’s story hour and activity takes place 2 p.m. Saturday at all three stores. 4488 Montgomery Road, Norwood, 531-5250. 87 Spiral Drive, Florence, 647-6950. 6174 Glenway Ave., Western Hills. 481-4775.
OAKLEY BLUE MARBLE STORYTIME Celebrate the wonders of the season with stories and fingerplays. 10 a.m. Free. Thursday. Children can pick out their favorite pajamas, slippers and robes for
SATURDAY
PROMONT Completed in 1867, this Italianate villa belonged to former Ohio Gov. John M. Pattison. All rooms are furnished with period antiques. 1:30-4:30 p.m. Friday and Sunday. $2 adults; $1 children; group tours can be arranged. 906 Main St., Milford. 831-4704.
GREATER LOVELAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY A Civil War Display, featuring John Hunt Morgan’s ride through Hamilton and Clermont counties opens Saturday. Through May 29. Other highlights include a turn-of-the-century kitchen and the Nisbet Library. 201 Riverside Drive, Loveland. 683-5692.
SHARON WOODS VILLAGE Guided tours of eight
HARDING MUSEUM OF THE FRANKLIN AREA HISTORICAL SOCIETY Open 1-5 p.m. Sunday and by appointment. 302 Park Ave., Franklin. 513-746-8295.
Reshaping Rejection
After being passed over as pens tale of what it might had such an assignment
INTERVIEW BY BILLIE JEYES ghostwriter,; Lipman have been like to have
When Elinor Lipman found out her publisher had signed Ivana Trump to write a novel and was going to pay the ghostwriter $1 million, she immediately called her agent to ask if they would consider her for the job.
After all, Pocket Books had recently published two of her novels, both of which had been well-received critically.
Her agent, Elizabeth Grossman, passed on the idea to the editorial director. He rejected the idea.
Although he loved her books, he explained, her voice was not quite right for Ivana.
Says Lipman: “They were probably looking for a Vanity Fairtype writer.”
Grossman gave her the bad news, adding that she would have loved to read the novel Lipman would have written after ghostwriting with Trump.
Isabel’s Bed is the result of that conversation.
Harriet Mahoney, a would-be novelist, answers an advertisement in The New York Review ofBooks and is hired to ghostwrite The Isabel Krug Story. Harriet leaves New York and moves into Isabel’s spacious mansion in Cape Cod.
Meek and self-effacing, Harriet stands in contrast to the sexy, confident Isabel, who has achieved notoriety for her involvement in a nationally televised murder trial, having been in bed with wealthy socialite Guy Van Fleet when his wife, Nan, shot him.
Lipman’s breezy style and comic touch make for a quick and entertaining read.
“I wrote Isabel’s Bed before the white Bronco,” says Lipman of the novel’s timeliness. “So it’s a total coincidence.” Nevertheless, she is pleased with the extra attention her book is getting.
Lipman began writing fiction in an adult education class at Brandeis University in 1979.
“I got hooked but I had no confidence,” says Lipman. “I kept doing exercises. When the writers brought out their stashed-away novels, the teacher said to
me, ‘It’s time to do a story.’ “I was so nervous that I only brought in half a story. But when I read it, they laughed and I was intoxicated by it.”
Three years later, she sold her first short story, “Catering,” to Yankee magazine.
The timing was perfect. “Since I had been getting encouraging acceptance letters,” Lipman continues, “my husband and I decided that I should take a year off. On the fifth day, I got my first acceptance.”
On a grant from the “husband foundation,”
Elinor Lipman, in town
Thursday, began her literary career by writing short stories.
Lipman continued writing and finally managed to find an agent. Soon, her stories began to appear in mainstream magazines, such as Ladies Home Journal and Cosmopolitan. After she had written enough stories, Viking published 14 of them in the collection Into Love and Out Again (1987). In 1990, Pocket Books published Lipman’s first novel, Then She Found Me. Randy Cohen, writing for the New York Times Book Review called it “a bright, lively and funny look at an eccentric mother-daughter relationship.”
With the publication of her second novel, The Way Men Act (1992), The Times Literary Supplement called her, “an American Anita Brookner with younger and more spirited protagonists.”
Although she spends most of her time on her work, Lipman occasionally teaches writing workshops.
“People write for different reasons. And everyone who writes a story puts the same amount of blood, sweat and tears in it whether it’s good or bad. The teacher’s job is to make sure that there are no in-groups, no snideness.”
“Kindness is important,” she continues, “because it’s hard and cruel out there. If you’re not good, you’re going to find out soon enough, and you don’t need people in a workshop sticking a knife in your heart.
ELINOR LIPMAN will speak at the Mercantile Library at noon Thursday for the literary lunch series. The lecture is free and open to the public. Call 621-0717 for info. At 7:30 p.m., she will be at Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Rookwood Pavilion, Edwards and Madison roads, Norwood, to sign books and read from Isabel's Bed.
PHOTO: STEVE SKOLL/POCKET
PHOTOGRAPHY: FROM PAGE 25
float. A cylindrical tank sits beside this image, assuming very subtle human characteristics. In fact, many of the most drab and lifeless objects in Sullivan’s series take on these subtle traits.
Michael Wilson is probably best known for his photography that has appeared on more than 30 album covers. For this show, however, he contributes two multimedia works. In “A Mute’s Prayer,” Wilson features 15 black and white photographs arranged on an altarlike setting. The varied photos include everything from a wom-in easy chair to an old shoe on a pedestal. The photos are framed by crudely cut glass and thin strips of unfinished wood. All of this rests on an oxidized metal ledge on a bed of red velvet. Seven votive candles are scattered on the base of the metal.
Ann Segal’s photography is created through the use of Polaroid transfers, adding character to the subject matter. Each photo is matted delicately with handmade paper, and selected photos are stitched into this matting. The plant in “Pomegranate” is reduced to shapes and colors, the photo itself blurred at the corners. The handmade paper is made with flowers. In “Santa Barbara,” palm trees are reflected in a lake, framed by mountains in the background. What appear to be construction materials are stacked on the beach. The actual work is blurred and a bit blotchy, giving it a surreal quality enhanced by handmade green paper, flecked with gold.
Each artist’s piece acts to balance and complement the work of the others. It is this diversity that provides the cohesion of the show a celebration of the medium of photography and all its potential.
FIVE IN PHOTOGRAPHY continues at Adams Landing Art Center, 900 Adams Crossing, Downtown, through April 15. 723-0737.
Sports Spectator
CINCINNATI CYCLONES IHL hockey vs. Fort Wayne. 6 p.m. Sunday. $6-$12 adults; $4-$10 students. Cincinnati Gardens, 2250 Seymour Ave., Norwood. 531-7825. TURFWAY PARK Live racing. 7 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 1:30 p.m. weekends. Jim Beam Stakes, noon April 1. Parking $2, valet parking $3; grandstand admission $3.50, clubhouse $2.50. 7500 Turfway Road, Florence. 371-0200.
Recreational
AMERICAN WALKERS ASSOCIATION The Cincinnati chapter has hikes each weekend. 9:30 a.m. Sunday. St. Philomena Church, Perintown. 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Sharon Woods, U.S. 42, Sharonville. 561-3799.
CAMERA WALK Park visitors are invited to join photographer Roy Mast who will share his tips capturing the beauty of late winter on film. 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Amphitheater,
CINCINNATI
ORIENTEERING CINCINNATI
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per hour. In the Roselawn area. Outcalls available for $30$50 per hour. Male, Ohio licensed therapist. Hours by appointment only. Call 284-3421.
MASSAGE THERAPIST Licensed massage therapist with 12 years experience and excellent professional referrals. Specializing in
myofascial therapy. In the privacy of Automotive your own home. Call Kathie Stuhlbarg, L.M.T., 871-2434.
HONDA CRX ‘91 Honda CRX HF, air conditioning, cassette/stereo, rear window defrost. 48 highway, 44 city. Expertly maintained with all records. In excellent condition. $7500. Call'723-1140.
ASTROLOGY CLASSES Professional reader and experienced astrologer is offering beginner astrology classes. Every Monday starting March 27 through May 1, join in exploring your spiritual meaning and answer
PSYCHIC DEVELOPMENT Beginning Wednesday, April 12, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., join Krista Hanson in a unique ten week Psychic Development class at the Mt. Auburn Community Center. Topics will include application of psychic energy, meditation techniques, introduction to psychic tools, and personal symbolism and dream interpretation. Class size is limited. Call to register for more information, 381-1760.
PSYCHIC READINGS & MORE Experience the energy! Victory Books is a metaphysical emporium at 609Main Street, Covington. Featuring new and used books, New Age cassettes and CDs, incense, oils, tarot cards, jewelry, crystals, and much more. Psychic, tarot, and astrological readings by appointment. Open daily. Call for information, 581-5839.
STRESS THERAPIST/ HYPNOTHERAPIST Ron Scanlon, Certified Stress Therapist/ Hypnotherapist, Relaxation, Emotional Clearing, and Muscle Tension Release to balance the body, heart, and spirit. Understand and let go of everyday aches and pains. 1-513-298-4939.
THE BODY MALL Understand yourself and those you love better. Professional astrologer Jeri Boone offers counseling through the art of astrology and numerology. Or join Jeri and Beverly Boone, both licensed massage therapists, as they offer therapeutic massage, Swedish massage, cranial sacral, body reflexology, polarity therapy, and accupressure. The Body Mall has fully trained professional staff, and offers study groups, development workshops, children’s classes, and many alternative methods of caring for yourself. 3519 Glenmore Avenue, 662-5121.
THE GIFT OF PEACE We looking for three offices with at least four people to participate in our own survey. We to your office and do a 10 or 15 minute chair massage. What is chair massage, you may ask. It is seated massage which relieves mental and physical stress by calming your nervous systern, releasing tight and painful cles, and increasing circulation. If you feel your office could benefit from this, please submit your name and number, and indicate how many peopie will be participating. Inner Peace Massage, located at 3907 Harrison Avenue, in Cheviot- only minutes from downtown. Call 661-0302.
THERAPEUTIC BODYWORK Bodywork is individualized and includes Massage-Swedish, Deep tissue, and Amma; Acupressure-jinshindo; Energy Work- Reiki, Therapeutic Touch; and Integrative Bodywork. Kirk Prine, Ed.D., C.M.T., by appointment only. 431-3112.
speakers. Only three months old. Asking $149, best offer. Call 861-4724 or 556-8075.
VOODOO DOLLS! Boss, co-worker, lover, ex', neighbor, whoever giving you the blues? Get even! Great gift or conversation piece. See back page for more information and ordering instructions.
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can also ereate original radio and TV jingles for your business and soundtracks for your corporate presentations. We also do CD, record, and cassette duplications, all at reasonable prices! Jewel Recording, 522-9336.
KEYBOARD PLAYER Looking to play R & B, soul, and blues. A lot of years invested, and to the Call 870-0365.
LOBSTER’S MUSIC We buy, sell, and trade recycled musical instruments of all types. Don't throw it away! We recycle those old, forgotten instruments
PARILLO PERFORMANCE Nutrition and exercise products for fat loss, muscle gain, or improved endurance. Olympus Gym, 128 E. 6th St. Free Downtown delivery. 651-9114.
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Learn about your future... Money, romance, happiness, career. Get individual consultation. 1-900-420-2444 ext. 070. 18 years and older. $2.99/minute. 24 hours, touch tone required. Avalon Comm.,305-525-0800.
services. For your personal tarot readings and astrology chart readings, call Deborah Williams. Tarot reading classes begin March 9th! 606-371-7044. MASSAGE THERAPY Licensed massage therapist specializing in stress management, relaxation, and injury. House calls and gift certificates available. Flexible hours. Strictly non-sexual. Oakley area. Sherry Meinhardt, L.M.T. 73i-0490. METAPHYSICAL MEETING Come enjoy a unique crystal bowls concert by Doris Beierle at the Northern Kentucky Metaphysical meeting Thursday, March 30, at 7:30 p.m. Held at the Edgewood Public Works Building, Edgewood, Kentucky. For more information, call 341-7447.
CAN 1 MINUTE CHANGE YOUR FINANCIAL LIFE? Call and find out why doctors, athletes, business professionals, and ordinary people are joining a company that is sweeping America. Not 9 to 5 job, but once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. 95% phone work. Call 24 hours, 929-2266. GIFT SHOP - AVAILABLE Retail/established, popular jewelry and gift shop. Prestigious location, profitable, $55,000. Will train. 929-2366. THE PERFECT BUSINESS No inventory, no deliveries, no collections, no customer risk, employ-
