Scene december 6, 2017

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| clevescene.com clevveessce cl cen nee.c .com om | December Deece D Dece cemb mbeerr 6 - 112, 2, 22017 2, 00117

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$%#%-"%2 s 6/,5-% . O 23 Dedicated to Free Times founder Richard H. Siegel (1935-1993) and Scene founder Richard Kabat Group Publisher Chris Keating

CONTENTS

Publisher Andrew Zelman

5PFRONT

Associate Publisher Angela Nagal Editor Vince Grzegorek

Ohio moves forward with more medical marijuana licenses, Newburgh Heights mayor Trevor Elkins sues WEWS for recent story, and more

Editorial Managing Editor Eric Sandy Music Editor Jeff Niesel Senior Writer Sam Allard Staff Writer Brett Zelman Web Editor Laura Morrison Dining Editor Douglas Trattner Stage Editor Christine Howey Visual Arts Writers Dott von Schneider Copy Editor Elaine Cicora Intern Lawrence Neil

&EATURE

Advertising Senior Multimedia Account Executive John Crobar, Shayne Rose Multimedia Account Executive Kiara Davis Events and Marketing Coordinator Maggie Lilac

We examine the Cleveland City Council Leadership Fund and its implications

Creative Services Production Manager Steve Miluch Layout Editor/Graphic Designer Christine Hahn Staff Photographer Emanuel Wallace

'ET /UT

Business Sales Assistant/Receptionist Megan Stimac Controller Kristy Dotson

All the events you should check out this week

Circulation Circulation Director Don Kriss Euclid Media Group Chief Executive OfďŹ cer Andrew Zelman Chief Operating OfďŹ cers Chris Keating, Michael Wagner VP Digital Services Stacy Volhein Digital Operations Coordinator Jaime Monzon www.euclidmediagroup.com National Advertising Voice Media Group 1-800-278-9866, voicemediagroup.com Cleveland Scene 737 Bolivar Rd, #4100 Cleveland, OH 44115 www.clevescene.com Phone 216-241-7550 Retail & ClassiďŹ ed Fax 216-241-6275 Editoral Fax 216-802-7212 E-mail scene@clevescene.com

3TAGE

The Chaste Genius and His DeathRay Gun delivers a fascinating story about an electrical marvel

Film

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Peter Oren WILL BE AT THE "EACHLAND "ALLROOM ON 4HURSDAY

Movie about cult classic The Room ďŹ nds a sweet spot

Cleveland Scene Magazine is published every week by Euclid Media Group.

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Abo’s Grill is ying under the radar, and it shouldn’t be

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...The story continues at clevescene.com

Singer-songwriter Will Hoge takes on the NRA with his new single

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UPFRONT OHIO’S MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW INCHES CLOSER TO FRUITION Photo by Bob Doran

THE STATE ANNOUNCED THE recipients of its 12 Level I medical marijuana cultivation licenses last week, finalizing the list of grow ops that will be built around Ohio in the next year. These 12 companies will be permitted to operate cannabis facilities of up to 25,000 square feet. Cuyahoga County will have at least one cultivator located within its bounds: Parma Wellness Center LLC will operate a large-scale cultivation facility somewhere within Parma. Harvest Grows LLC was granted two provisional licenses — in Cuyahoga County and Lawrence County — but may only use one; that company has 10 days to choose, from Nov. 30.

THIS WEEK

Here’s the list of Level I operators: Buckeye Relief LLC (Eastlake, Lake County) Grow Ohio Pharmaceuticals LLC (Newton Township, Muskingum County) OPC Cultivation LLC (Huron, Erie County) Riviera Creek Holdings LLC (Youngstown, Mahoning County) Pure Ohio Wellness LLC (Springfield, Clark County) Columbia Care OH LLC (Mt. Orab, Brown County) Terradiol Ohio LLC (Canton, Stark County) Standard Wellness Company LLC (Gibsonburg, Sandusky County) AT-CPC of Ohio LLC (Akron, Summit County) Cresco Labs Ohio LLC (Yellow Springs, Greene County) Parma Wellness Center LLC (Parma, Cuyahoga County) Harvest Grows LLC (Hamilton Township, Lawrence County) Harvest Grows LLC (Cleveland, Cuyahoga County)

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The state announced its Level II license recipients earlier this month. None were granted in Cuyahoga County. Level II licenses allows operations up to 3,000 square feet. Application fees alone have already juiced the medical marijuana coffers in Ohio with $2.33 million right off the bat. Each year, those 12 Level I license holders will pay an annual $200,000 fee. Level II license holders will pay a $20,000 fee. That’s $2.64 million each year. As part of an April 2017 feature story on the medical marijuana law, we wrote about Buckeye Relief’s

Andy Rayburn, who now holds a Level I cultivation license in Lake County. Here’s an excerpt from that story: “We went into it with an open mind,” [Eastlake mayor Dennis] Morley says. “I sat down with my police chief and my fire chief, and if they hadn’t been on board there wouldn’t have been any more discussions. They understand the difference between the medical and the recreational. We’ve really not found anything that’s been negative, from our end as a city.” Rayburn’s initial annual payroll

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Last standing water slide at defunct Geauga Lake/Sea World site finally demolished. Armond Budish marked the somber occasion by unfurling a homemade slip ‘n’ slide on East Ninth under a “Never Forget” banner.

Gladiators announce team will take a two-year break as renovations begin for the Q transformation project. When asked for comment, Dan Gilbert replied, “Russ Crowe was great, but I don’t need to see it again.”

Toby Cosgrove celebrated at retirement party at Cleveland Clinic with industry and city’s muckety mucks. After last game of beer pong, Cosgrove led a small group in egging Ahuja Medical Center.

| clevescene.com | December 6 - 12, 2017

is estimated at $1.5 million across 30 jobs. “We fully expect to double, triple or quadruple,” he adds. His is one of the “tier-1” 25,000-square-foot facilities, where Buckeye will grow marijuana and then extract its oils and process them for tincture and edible production. The law will not allow patients to smoke marijuana, but rather consume the plant’s active cannabinoids through oils (vaping), tinctures, patches or edibles. Briefly, here’s how the cultivation process works — and why Rayburn and others argue that it’s best to have these things happening on the

QUALITY OF LIFE ‘Tis the season to decorate your Browns parade float.

same property: Marijuana plants are cultivated in staggered groups that include various varieties or strains. A portion of the plants will be trimmed down to flower, to be sold through dispensaries. Most of the plant will go to extraction and refinement for the end oil product, to be sold for direct consumption through vape pens and for edible processing. Different strains are grown in different rooms in different, staggered structures. Think lighting levels, air flow, temperature control, “fertigation,” pest control. “It’s a really, really complicated growing process,” Rayburn says. He’s traveled to more than 100 cultivation facilities, from Colorado westward, where the markets are more mature, to get a sense of direction. On the dispensary front, some 370 applications for licenses have been filed. More than 50 of those are for businesses located in Cuyahoga County. The state only has 57 dispensary licenses to issue — at least in this initial round. (Three licenses allotted to counties in western Ohio will go unused, as no businesses applied in six counties in that part of the state.) Notable Cuyahoga County names in early applications include Majestic

Steel CEO Todd Leebow and Bobby George. The medical marijuana law is expected to be fully implemented and active by next fall. It’s not yet clear when these dispensary licenses will be approved. Cuyahoga County, being one of the larger counties in the state of Ohio, may have multiple medical marijuana dispensary operations when these licenses are issued. Businesses may hold up to five dispensary licenses and operate in five separate locations; some businesses owners applied for more than five licenses in this first round. The dispensary applications cost $5,000, netting the state another $1.85 million right up front. — Eric Sandy

NEWBURGH HEIGHTS MAYOR TREVOR ELKINS SUING CHANNEL 5 FOR ‘OUTLANDISH’ DEFAMATORY STORY Newburgh Heights mayor Trevor Elkins and four Newburgh Heights village council members have filed a scorching lawsuit against News Channel 5. They allege that a November story by reporter Jonathan Walsh was false and

defamatory. A complaint filed last week in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas contends that the story, and the defamation therein, represents a “calculated and perverse political smear” against Elkins, whom the complaint calls a “rising star” in the County Democratic Party. (Elkins was featured in Scene’s 2016 People Issue. He is being represented by attorney Peter Pattakos, who has legally represented Scene.) The News Channel 5 story in question — “How a governmentsanctioned scam in Newburgh Heights has taken thousands of dollars from drivers” — described a process in which the village of Newburgh Heights billed “drivers and insurance companies” for calling the police. The legal complaint responds to the chief allegation as follows: “This so-called ‘scam’ involves nothing more than billing at-fault drivers for the Newburgh Heights’ police services that their negligent conduct requires. The bills are sent to the drivers’ insurance companies, which are contractually obligated to pay the fees for these police services, and the Village is specifically authorized by statute to collect these fees.”

The complaint refutes key assertions and sensational language within the story — that Newburgh Heights is a “little village with a big secret”; that the publicly passed ordinance is a “sinister” enterprise; that those billed by the “widespread scam” are “victims”; and that the Newburgh Heights town hall, complete with “bay windows, crown molding and a chandelier” is flagrant evidence of the officials’ indulgence. “The defamatory implications of [News Channel 5’s] intentional falsehoods are many,” the complaint reads, “including that the Plaintiffs are crooks and stooges, unfit for public office.” For the record, 208 motorists have been billed in Newburgh Heights for calling the police to the scene of an accident since the ordinance was passed in 2014. That’s about five per month. The suit suggests a political motive. Citing reporting by Scene and Cleveland.com, the complaint recounts Elkins’ unsuccessful campaign for Cuyahoga County Democratic Party chair against Shontel Brown, who was criticized as a puppet of her establishment backers. Despite that criticism, and despite departing party chair Stu

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UPFRONT Garson’s endorsement of either Elkins or state senator Sandra Williams, Brown prevailed. Though the Channel 5 story did not run until Nov. 2, reporter Jonathan Walsh first contacted Newburgh Heights officials on Feb. 22, 2017. That was only days after Elkins first announced his candidacy for party chair. Quoting the juiciest portion of the complaint: “The facts alleged in this Complaint, including the outlandish nature of Defendants’ hit piece against Elkins (that necessarily also defamed the Council members), support an inference that Defendants published their false and defamatory statements recklessly or intentionally at the behest of persons or entities with a political or financial interest in smearing Trevor Elkins’ reputation as a rising

DIGIT WIDGET 1 Full-time staffers currently at Cudell recreation center, according to councilwoman Dona Brady. Same for Halloran Park, which is known for its ice rink.

154 Number of the 235 hearings in a Cleveland immigration court in fiscal year 2017 that resulted in a person deported either voluntarily or by court order.

$80 BILLION Estimated cost of outfitting the rest of the U.S. with reliable broadband connection. The White House has proposed an initial $25 billion investment.

36 Numbers of years Judge Ronald Adrine has served on Cleveland Municipal Court bench. He’s retiring in January.

star in the local Democratic Party.” — Sam Allard

EUCLID POLICE SUED FOR TASING, PEPPER-SPRAYING MAN WEARING A COLOSTOMY BAG Lamar Wright is accusing two Euclid police officers of forcibly arresting him last year and “maliciously” filing false charges against him. He filed a lawsuit against the officers and the department last week. According to the civil complaint, on Nov. 4, 2016, Wright pulled into a driveway on East 212th Street “to safely use his cell phone.” Two armed men approached his vehicle and, realizing they were police officers, Wright placed his car in park and held his hands up. Officer Kyle Flagg’s gun “was raised and pointed toward Wright,” as he stood next to the driver’s door. Office Vashon Williams stood behind Flagg, his gun raised as well. Flagg ordered Wright out of the car. Before the man could exit the vehicle, Flagg grabbed Wright’s left arm. According to the lawsuit, “Flagg yanked on Wright’s left arm. Wright was still seated in the car at this time, and had staples in his stomach and a new colostomy bag. This, in combination with Flagg yanking on his left arm, prevented Wright from extending his right arm toward Flagg. ... Flagg’s conduct caused Wright extreme pain. Wright cried out to Flagg several times that he was hurting his arm, but Flagg ignored him.” The officers then tased and pepper-sprayed Wright, before he had a chance to explain the colostomy bag and pain. Wright argues that each officer “had the duty and opportunity to intervene to protect Wright, and to prevent the unconstitutional use of force against Wright. Neither Flagg nor Williams did anything to prevent this unlawful attack.” Despite the sudden abdominal pain, the officers forced Wright onto the ground and handcuffed him. “I got a shit bag!” he says to the officers between sputtering coughs on the ground. Wright was charged with obstructing official business, resisting arrest,and criminal trespass. He was taken to a hospital, where, he says, the officers “mocked” him for his pain. Later, Wright was jailed. He paid “nearly $900” in bond, according to the suit. “However, after posting bond,

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| clevescene.com | December 6 - 12, 2017

Wright was not released from custody. Instead, his detention was extended without lawful justification. He was transported to the Cuyahoga County Jail, where he was subjected to a search via a full-body x-ray scanner. ... Only after this scanning was complete, approximately four to five hours after bond had been posted, was Wright finally permitted to walk free,” he states in his lawsuit. Wright mentions that he also had to pay a $1,000 fee for the pepper spray stains on his rental car, which was impounded. “The rental company placed Wright on a ‘Do Not Rent’ list, and refuses to do future business with him,” the lawsuit states. Charges against Wright were dismissed in June 2017. “I filed this case to stand up against police brutality, and to stand with other victims of senseless attacks by officers from the Euclid Police Department. These officers’ illegal treatment of people in the city must stop,” Wright said in a public statement. “We need justice for all the victims of the EPD.” Since Wright’s arrest last year, two high profile incidents have focused the spotlight on Euclid

Police Department’s personnel. The shooting death of Luke Stewart was swept under the civic rug for months before the state announced that no charge would be filed against officer Matthew Rhodes. Stewart’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit. The violent arrest during the traffic stop of Richard Hubbard III resulted in the firing of officer Michael Amiott. Not for nothing, on Nov. 20, chief Scott Meyer announced that the Euclid Police Department had been awarded the AAA Platinum Award for community traffic safety. — Sandy

... AND ANOTHER EXCESSIVE FORCE LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST EUCLID PD Michael Amiott was fired from the Euclid Police Department this year after multiple accusations of excessive force piled up on his personnel file. In August, he was seen on video beating a black man in the street during an apparent traffic stop. Now, a Dec. 5, 2016, incident has come to light via a lawsuit against Amiott and the Euclid Police Department. If this is all starting to sound like a familiar refrain, you’re

Emirius Spencer

not wrong. Emirius Spencer argues that Amiott kicked him in the face during an arrest for possession of marijuana. Spencer was carrying less than a gram of bud when officers encountered him in the hallway of Richmond Hills Apartments, where he lives. Two officers approached and began questioning him. Amiott reached into Spencer’s pocket and pulled out the small amount of

marijuana. According to the lawsuit, “Amiott immediately grabbed Spencer’s arm and began twisting it. Officer Amiott’s response was sudden and unnecessarily aggressive. Spencer was pushed against the hallway wall and grabbed by both Officers Amiott and [Shane] Rivera. Spencer tried to be calm and asked the Officers why they were doing this, but he was ignored. Rather, Officer Amiott was shouting at Spencer to ‘Stop Resisting!’ despite the fact that Spencer was being compliant. Amiott then kneed Spencer in the groin and forcefully pushed Spencer to the ground.” As the officer restrained Spencer on the ground, Amiott kicked him in the face. Both officers then tased him. Amiott’s partner, Shane Rivera, is also a named defendant. “Spencer was eventually taken to Euclid Hospital. The medical staff at Euclid Hospital recommended Spencer be transferred to MetroHealth Hospital because MetroHealth has trauma unit and Spencer injuries were sufficiently severe,” according to the lawsuit. “Later, Amiott and Rivera attempted to justify their use of force by alleging Spencer was violently

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UPFRONT uncontrollable. Spencer, and 155 lbs., has no criminal felony record nor does he have any history of violence. Amiott, and 218 lbs., has history of misconduct, dishonesty and using excessive force.” Spencer seeks at least $25,000 in compensatory and consequential damages, along with punitive damages. — Sandy

CITY COUNCIL RENEWS CONTRACTS WITH PR GURU, LOBBYING FIRM, OTHERS Cleveland City Council passed, as emergency ordinances, seven pieces of legislation last week that will renew contracts for consulting work and other professional services. The ordinances will greenlight yearlong commitments to the following folks: a project manager, a public relations guru, a CPA, a lobbying firm, an IT firm, a public utilities consultant and Jim Rokakis’ Thriving Communities Institute. The discussion about the contracts at last week’s finance committee meeting was limited. Only councilman Mike Polensek asked questions about them in detail. At last week’s meeting, some council members wanted to know how the firms had been selected. So this afternoon, Shameka Jones Taylor, city council’s CFO, described the process. She said the city’s entire network of contractors had been relentlessly pursued and duly notified of the opportunity to bid on the proposed work. Once proposals had been submitted, council’s finance team provided recommendations to the operations committee, chaired by the lately booted Terrell Pruitt, which okayed the selected firms, all seven of which were awarded contracts last year. Jones Taylor said that in at least one instance, more than one firm bid on the contract, but it wasn’t clear how many were scored and debated by the operations committee. At last week’s finance meeting, councilman Matt Zone said firms had been scored on a “matrix.” Council members asked to see the matrix, but only the contracts themselves were provided. Here are the victorious firms in question and their work, in broad strokes: The Cobalt Group: Patti Choby will provide project management support to clerk of council Pat Britt for $66,000. Mita Marketing: Mary Anne

Sharkey will provide public relations expertise and big-picture communications strategy to council and its communications team for $60,000. Western Reserve Land Conservancy: Former councilman Jim Rokakis and his Thriving Communities Institute will “continue to work” in the areas of reforestation, demolition funding, code enforcement, green space and property information for $150,000. The Batchelder Group: The lobbying firm will monitor statewide politics and make legislative recommendations for $48,000, a retainer of $4,000 per month. Guy Gadomski, CPA: Among other things, Gadomski will provide monthly budget reviews and analysis for $50,000. On Technology Partners: The IT firm will provide network support and general assistance to council’s IT staff for $80,000. The Project Group: Former city councilman John Zayac and his team will provide regular updates, including two semi-annual reports, on “utility-related matters,” for $200,000. (Note: In all of the above, the listed amounts are the maximum value of the contract. For example, the Project Group’s contract is “not to exceed” $200,000. In all but the Batchelder Group’s contract, payment will be based on hourly invoicing. City council said that, in past years, some contracts have come in at less than the allotted value.) Polensek, in wide-ranging remarks, said that in the coming year, he hoped city council could inspire these consultants to “really drill down” on their research to help council improve the city in areas of need. And he said council, in general, ought to challenge the mayor and his administration much more vocally. “We will make the Jackson administration a better administration if we do our job on this side of the table,” he said. “You can talk about George Voinovich and Mike White all you want, but they knew they were gonna get challenged. And if we don’t get back to that, we’re not benefiting Mayor Jackson and we’re not benefiting our citizens ... I believe he will rise to the occasion if he’s challenged. That’s what I’m hoping for.” — Allard

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

NEWS CAN OHIO SOLVE ITS RURAL BROADBAND PROBLEM? By Eric Sandy SOME STATE LEGISLATORS ARE hoping to set aside $50 million to provide broadband internet access to Ohioans left without a connection. According to Connect Ohio, some 300,000 rural households don’t have reliable access to the internet. In November, state Sens. Joe Schiavoni (D-Boardman) and John Eklund (R-Munson Township) introduced SB 225, which would funnel $50 million in annual grant funding toward broadband improvement projects in rural areas across Ohio. The money would come from Ohio Third Frontier bond revenue, not the state’s general fund. State House Reps. Ryan Smith (R) and Jack Cera (D) introduced “companion” legislation in the House. “This bill would help make Ohio competitive in a changing economy,” Schiavoni, a 2018 gubernatorial candidate, said in a public statement. “By expanding internet access, we can create opportunities for everyone, no matter where in the state they live.” The bill has been in the Senate’s Finance Committee for three weeks, where the particulars of this funding mechanism will be sorted out. The plan is to award grants of up to $5 million per local project. Generally, the bill is based on Minnesota’s broadband infrastructure development program. Under the Ohio proposal, businesses, nonprofits, co-ops or political subdivisions would apply for funding to build broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas. “Preference would be given to applicants who offer creative ways to stretch dollars and help as many people as possible [and] expand broadband to vital services such as schools, hospitals, and police and fire departments,” according to Schiavoni’s office. It’s a timely suggestion, underscored by the Ohio State University in a recent report on Ohio’s disparate state of broadband. The report looks closely at rural counties, where 31 percent of the population lacks access to fixed broadband (as opposed to rates closer

to 90 percent in urban areas). The authors offer several suggestions in the effort to bridge the digital divide in Ohio, like establishing a state broadband office. The OSU authors also assert that a “dig once” policy should be on the books in Ohio, which would “require that private broadband providers be notified when public right of ways are excavated so that they can be given the opportunity to install broadband infrastructure. They also often require that dedicated internet conduit be laid in the right of way during new construction to prepare for future broadband needs.” Ideas like that are being discussed as SB 225 slowly picks up traction among state lawmakers. “The recommendations that are in that OSU report, I support 1,000 percent. And they aren’t rocket science. They’re gosh-darn common sense,” Connect Ohio’s executive director Stu Johnson tells Scene. His nonprofit has also praised the statehouse legislation, which would provide at least some measure of public funding for these efforts. With major telecommunications corporations tied to shareholder concerns (rather than any sense of competition in the marketplace), there’s little hope that an AT&T or a Comcast will invest proportionately in a place like Fairfield County, southeast of Columbus (population 151,000 or so). It’s incumbent, then, on local governments to get involved

in the development work. Last winter, Connect Ohio selected Fairfield County as one of its engagement sites. The organization helped craft a technology action plan, which was published in the spring. Spurred by the analysis and the interest from Intelliwave Broadband, local leaders in Fairfield County rerouted zoning laws to make it more palatable for a provider to invest in infrastructure development. Intelliwave specializes in local “lastmile” development, which was cited specifically in the Connect Ohio report on Fairfield County. (“Lastmile” development refers to the gap between established “global” fiber infrastructure and the places where infrastructure is lacking.) By August, Intelliwave publicly announced that it was beginning construction on a gigabit fiber optic broadband network that would benefit hundreds of households. “The digital divide in Fairfield County has just narrowed,” Intelliwave CEO Chris Cooper said in a public statement at the time. And though it took some creative cooperation from multiple parties, “Bottom line is: We got it done,” Johnson says. “It resulted in a billion-and-a-half-dollar investment and about 500 houses connected. That solved that one little neighborhood. But guess what? You go one township over, you have the same goddamn problem! If you want a regional approach, you need a

regional strategy.” Right now, there’s no coherent “digital divide” policy at the state level — or even at a regional level across Ohio. That’s where the legislative intent of SB 225 comes in, at least as a starting point in the conversation. Projects like the Fairfield County work could receive a helpful bump in available funding, were the bill to become law. We’ve asked to speak about the digital divide with representatives from JobsOhio, the private nonprofit that operates as an economic development office at the state level, which does not comment on pending legislation. As a presidential candidate in 2016, Gov. John Kasich wasn’t clear at all. When asked by a Massachusetts voter about broadband access in rural townships in the U.S., Kasich kicked it to the private sector. “There are technologies being developed right now that can really basically solve the ‘last-mile’ problem through an ability through wireless. These technologies are being developed, and I think ultimately that’s the answer.” As the FCC looks to dismantle net neutrality policies on the federal level next week, the urgency of this problem will only grow more dire. “And yet here in Ohio we have been a leader when it comes to government technology,” Johnson says. “Our school systems — while there’s plenty of work yet to be done — if you compare Ohio schools’ connectivity against the rest of the nation, we are smoking them. When you look at public safety, we have an extremely robust public safety network for our first responders. If you look at our government agencies, they have wonderful connectivity. But that’s it. Our current administration’s broadband philosophy is 100-percent selfish. They’re more interested in connecting semi-trucks on the Ohio Turnpike than they are K-12 kids in Stark County.”

esandy@clevescene.com t@EricSandy | clevescene.com | December 6 - 12, 2017

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| clevescene.com | December 6 - 12, 2017

T How a Clevelan nd City Council campaign fund rewards allies and stifles dissent By Sam Allard

LAST M LAST MON ONTH TH,, WA WARD RD 1 13 3 CL CLEV EVEL ELAN AND D CI CITY TY C COU OUNC NCIL ILMA MAN N KE KEVI VIN N KE KELL LLEY EY wass re wa re-e -ele lect cted ed aass co coun unci cill pr pres esid iden entt by a u una nani nimo mous us vvot otee of h his is ccol olle leag ague ues. s. T The he u una nani nimi mity ty w was as assu as sure red d by aan n outd outdat ated ed p pol olit itic ical al iins nstr trum umen entt know known n as tthe he U Uni nitt Rule Rule,, whic which h ma mand ndat ates es ttha hatt al alll coun co unci cill De Demo mocr crat atss mu must st vvot otee wi with th tthe he m maj ajor orit ity y or eels lsee fa face ce bban anis ishm hmen entt fr from om tthe he p par arty ty ccau aucu cus. s. Whil Wh ilee the the U.S. U.S. D Dem emoc ocra rati ticc Pa Part rty y ab abol olis ishe hed d th thee Un Unit it R Rul ulee fo forr it itss ow own n no nomi mina nati ting ng ccon onve vent ntio ions ns iin n 1968 19 68,, th thee rule rule aact ctua uall lly y do does es m mak akee se sens nsee in a p pol olit itic ical ally ly d div ivid ided ed lleg egis isla latu ture re,, wher wheree vo voti ting ng bblo locs cs can ca n us usee it ttoo le leve vera rage ge tthe he fful ulll mi migh ghtt of tthe heir ir m mem embe bers rshi hip. p. B But ut iin n Cl Clev evel elan and d City City C Cou ounc ncil il’s ’s ccur urre rent nt make ma keup up — ttha hatt is, is, 10 1000-pe perc rcen entt De Demo mocr crat atic ic — tthe he U Uni nitt Ru Rule le’s ’s ffun unct ctio ion n is aaut utho hori rita tari rian an.. It sser erve vess only on ly ttoo si sile lenc ncee di diss ssen ent. t. Thee Un Th Unit it R Rul ulee is bbru ruta tall lly y ef effe fect ctiv ivee in tthe he h han ands ds ooff Ke Kevi vin n Ke Kell lley ey,, wh whoo typi ty pica call lly y ho hold ldss a vo vote te ttoo in invo voke ke tthe he befo fore re a vo vote te iiss ta take ken n on Unit Un it R Rul ulee be

the is the issu suee at h han and d — his his pr pres esid iden ency cy,, forr ex fo exam ampl ple. e. T Thi hiss en ensu sure ress a unan un anim imou ouss ou outc tcom ome. e. B But ut ccer erta tain in city ci ty ccou ounc ncil il vvet eter eran anss roll roll tthe heir ir eeye yess

when tthi when hiss ha happ ppen ens, s, bbec ecau ause se tthe he poin po intt of tthe he U Uni nitt Ru Rule le iiss to eens nsur uree that th at aall ll p par arty ty m mem embe bers rs vvot otee wi with th once ce a m maj ajor orit ity y is thee ma th majo jori rity ty on

establ esta blis ishe hed d vi via ia ca cauc ucus us vvot ote. otee. ot e IIt’ t’s t’s no nott inte in tend nded ed ttoo guar guaran ante teee unan unanim imit ity y on ever ev ery y is issu suee fr from om tthe he ssta tart rt.. Butt th Bu this is iiss Cl Clev evel elan and. d. And An d so K Kel elle ley y wa wass be bein ing g si sinc ncer eree when wh en h hee to told ld C Cle leve vela land nd.c .com om ttha hatt he wass co wa confi nfid den entt he ““[h [had ad]] th thee vo vote tes” s” ffor or hiss re hi reel elec ecti tion on aass co coun unci cill pr pres esid iden ent, t, and an d th ther eref efor oree sa saw w no n nee eed d to w wai aitt forr of fo offi fici cial al ttal alli lies es iin n Wa Ward rdss 1 an and d 7, w whe here re p pro rovi visi sion onal al bbal allo lots ts h had ad nott yet no yet af affi firm rmed ed ttha hatt ch chal alle leng nger erss Joee Jo Jo Jone ness an and d Ba Bash shee eerr Jo Jone ness defe de feat ated ed iinc ncum umbe bent ntss Te Terr rrel elll Pr Prui uitt tt and an d T. T.J. J. D Dow ow iin n th thee ci city ty’s ’s g gen ener eral al | clevescene.com m | December 6 - 12, 2017

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election on Nov. 7. In fact, Kelley was understating things. He knew that the Joneses’ votes would be moot. Thanks to the Unit Rule, he didn’t just have the votes, he had all the votes. The Unit Rule is by no means the only instrument that incentivizes conformity and obeisance to power on council. One of the clearest, though seldom reported on in depth, is something called the Council Leadership Fund. Like the Unit Rule, the Council Leadership Fund is wielded by the council president, who controls the purse strings. It began long ago, predating even councilman Mike Polensek, who was first elected to the body in 1978. It is a pot of money that fluctuates in size — it ballooned in 2007 and 2008 to more than $400,000 in available funds — and has long been used to help finance the re-election campaigns of incumbent councilpeople, provided the incumbent councilpeople remain in the good graces of the council president. That means doing what they’re told. Former council president Marty Sweeney confirmed the fund’s purpose to Scene in 2009. “If you’re supportive, it’s there,” he said. Current council president Kevin Kelley confirmed much the same, responding in general terms to a series of questions that Scene posed about the fund. “The Council Leadership Fund is a PAC of council leadership,” he wrote, in a statement provided by a council spokesperson. “It has been in existence longer than anyone knows. It’s similar to PACs at the state or federal level, to support Republican or Democratic caucuses. The fund supports those council people who support council leadership’s agenda.” Most councilpeople are grateful to hitch a ride on the gravy train because the gravy is plentiful. And in many of the city’s wards, independent fundraising, even by well-known incumbents, can be a challenge. That’s less the case for citywide elections. Scene reported on mayor Frank Jackson’s June campaign fundraiser in Gates Mills. That event, dubbed “Frank’s Fat Cat Festival” by protesters, netted the mayor nearly $150,000 in big contributions from the region’s elites — prominent figures in the fields of law, finance and real estate. Many of those same elites,

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Photo by Sam Allard

FEATURE

operating as firms or as individuals, have contributed to the Council Leadership Fund as well. In the fall of 2017 (the as-of-yet unaudited “Pre General” filing), the Fund raised $128,405 in contributions. This was the most in a single reporting period since 2007. This year, for the first time in several years, the fund’s balance eclipsed $200,000. The vast majority of the most recent fundraising, and existing reserves besides, went to the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party, on which Kevin Kelley now serves as vice-chair. Modest chunks were distributed to Kelley’s aligned council colleagues to aid their campaigns. This is how the Council Leadership Fund has operated for years. Scene examined the financial filings of the Council Leadership Fund from 2010 to 2017, an era that spanned the council presidencies of both Martin Sweeney and Kevin Kelley. The filings illustrate how Cleveland lawmakers remain in power by conforming with council leadership — by “not rocking the boat,” as one councilperson put it to Scene recently — and how consultants and other professional contractors are rewarded for their contributions. This dynamic is a familiar one, observable daily in corridors of power from the statehouse to Washington, D.C. It’s easy to deride politicians who are so beholden to campaign donors that, in effect, they become employees of their benefactors. Take, for example, the National Rifle Association; Big Pharma; the Koch Brothers and their affiliates; the rib-sucking,

| clevescene.com | December 6 - 12, 2017

10-gallon-hat-wearing Houstonians of the oil & gas lobby, and so on. Is the situation in Cleveland all that different? Last month, Kevin Kelley sponsored legislation to require the filing of financial disclosures alongside initiative petitions. He framed the ordinance as a benefit to voters. He said it was important to educate Cleveland citizens on who was funding voter-led campaigns like the Fight for a $15 minimum wage and the opposition to public subsidies for the Quicken Loans Arena renovation. “This is a small ray of light,” Kelley told his colleagues, “a small amount of transparency that we can provide.” Kelley told Scene after the meeting that the legislation was “good for our citizens and good for transparency in general,” which we can get behind. So too is a ray of light on council itself, and its sources of money. The Council Leadership Fund hasn’t been examined closely since 2013-2014, when Cleveland. com’s Leila Atassi reported on the contributions of city council consultants. That came, in part, as the Leadership Fund drew attention after conversations by contractor Michael Forlani were caught on FBI wiretaps in its Cuyahoga County corruption probe. In one, Forlani described efforts to funnel $20,000 to the fund through intermediaries to curry favor. A Plain Dealer review of that year’s filings showed no such donations, but the prospect of possible untoward contributions and rewards merited a deep dive. As 2017 draws to a close, in the

face of growing concerns about city council’s homogeneity under Kevin Kelley and its inability to stand up to mayor Frank Jackson, it’s high time for another look.

WHO GIVES? The largest single donation ($12,000) to the Council Leadership Fund in 2017 came from Albert Ratner, co-chairman emeritus of Forest City, via his RMS Investment Corporation, the real estate management and development firm behind Shaker Heights’ Van Aken District. Since 2010, there has been only one other individual donation of that size, from the parking lot magnate Manuel Chavez III, in 2013. Chavez is one of the fund’s many recurring donors. The $12,000 donation in 2013 was his first and largest, but he gave $10,000 in 2014, 2015, and 2017 as well. Chavez is a partner at FastPark, the Cincinnatibased airport parking company which operates a facility at Hopkins. Other top donations in 2017 came from Jimmy Haslam, the Cleveland Browns owner, who gave $10,000, (the Indians’ Paul Dolan only gave $2,500); Doug Price and Karen Paganini of K&D development, who each gave $6,077.76; the law firm Tucker Ellis LLP, which contributed $5,000 for the third time in four years; and Landmark Management, which gave $5,000 via four contributions from Robert Rains, John J. Carney, John M. Carney and Michael Carney. As in most years, the industries that provided the largest share of 2017 contributions were law and real estate.

In addition to the Tucker Ellis contribution, lawyers from the following ďŹ rms contributed in 2017: Ulmer & Berne; Mansour Gavin; Collins & Scanlon; Douglass & Associates; Walter HaverďŹ eld; Roetzel & Andress; Climaco, Wilcox, Peca & Garofoli; Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff; Spangenberg Shibley & Liber; Bricker & Eckler; Calfee, Halter & Griswold; and Squire Patton Boggs. Sometimes, these ďŹ rms donate as PACs. Squire Patton Boggs, for example, and its predecessor Squire Sanders & Dempsey — in whose employ attorney Fred Nance pays very close attention to the region’s weight class — typically gives $2,500 each year and lists its Washington, D.C. address. This was the case in 2017. (In 2016, a name was attached to the contribution: partner David Goodman.) Other times, these ďŹ rms donate in packs. In 2010, 10 lawyers from Calfee Halter & Griswold each donated $1,000 for a grand total of $10,000. In 2012 and 2013, ďŹ ve Calfee lawyers each gave $1,000. In 2014, Robert Triozzi, (former Cleveland law director and current Cuyahoga County law director) gave $5,000 on behalf of the ďŹ rm, where he practiced until 2015.

Bricker & Eckler is the ďŹ rm of former prosecutor (and Kevin Kelley chum) Bill Mason. Mansour Gavin is Tony Coyne’s ďŹ rm. (Coyne was the longtime chairman of the City Planning Commission.) Walter HaverďŹ eld and Roetzel & Andress were the law ďŹ rms that represented city council clerk Patricia Britt and law director Barbara Langhenry, respectively, in the Q Deal suit. Todd Hunt, the Walter HaverďŹ eld attorney for Britt, personally gave $1,000 to the Council Leadership Fund in 2014 and 2015, $500 in 2016, and then $1,000 in 2017 again (along with two other attorneys from Walter HaverďŹ eld). Stephen Funk, the Roetzel & Andress attorney, didn’t give to the fund personally. The Roetzel contributions come from partner Lewis Adkins: $2,500 in 2012, $1,000 in both 2013 and 2014, and $2,500 in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Funk did, however, give to Frank Jackson’s mayoral campaign. (He was representing Langhenry, not Britt, to be fair.) He and four other Roetzel attorneys each contributed $1,000 at Jackson’s June fundraiser in Gates Mills. As in years past, the 2017 Council Leadership Fund ďŹ lings disclose a Who’s Who of the region’s

top real estate developers. As an exercise, see if you can track down a big Cleveland development project in which the developer did not give to the fund. In addition to the hefty contributions from K&D, representatives from the following ďŹ rms contributed this year (with notable projects in parentheses): Landmark Management (Bridgeview Apartments, Colonial Marketplace); MRN Ltd. (East Fourth Street, Uptown); Richard Bowen + Associates/Shaker Associates (Third District Police Station/Midtown); Weston Inc. (The Standard, West Sixth & St. Clair); Forest City; FastPark; Geis Companies ( Cuyahoga County HQ, The 9); The Finch Group (The Innova Project); Cumberland Development (Cleveland Lakefront, 5th Street Arcade); Carnegie Management and Development; Chelm Properties (Cleveland Business Park); First Interstate Properties (Steelyard Commons, One University Circle); and Foran Development Group (West 25th Street Lofts). For all of the above, save Carnegie, Cumberland and Foran, these were not ďŹ rst-time contributions to the fund since

2010. Adam Fishman of Fairmount Properties (Flats East Bank), John Ferchill of the Ferchill Group (North Point OfďŹ ce Complex, Cleveland Institute of Art) and Peter Rubin of the Coral Company (Shaker Square), among other wellknown developers, did not donate in 2017, but have donated in years’ past. Other regular contributors to the fund include ďŹ nancial executives — including Mr. Umberto Fedeli himself, the insurance magnate who hosted Jackson’s Gates Mills event, and who has made six contributions of $500 and one of $750 since 2013 — the DeGeronimo family of Independence Excavating Inc., who regularly contribute thousands; Marc Divis of Cleveland Thermal, “Downtown Cleveland’s leading business district energy providerâ€?; sports team owners and their families and partners, and union PACs. In addition to the Cleveland Teachers Union and Employees for a Better America (formerly the Continental Airlines Employee Fund), the most consistent union contributions come from the construction trades. PipeďŹ tters Local 120, Local 38 (Electrical Workers), Sheet Metal Workers

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FEATURE #33 and the Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Council (which is composed of 17 unions) generally contribute every year. Terry McCafferty of Local 120, and Dave Wondolowski of the Construction Trades Council, were also outspoken proponents of the Q Deal. They both testified at Cleveland City Council in support of the project. Dan Gilbert and his wife Jennifer, both of Franklin, Michigan, each donated $5,000 in the fall of 2014. Executives from Gilbert’s network of companies, Rock Ventures (Matthew Cullen, Jeffrey Cohen, Steve Rosenthal and Nathan Forbes), contributed to the fund in the fall of 2013 for the first and only time. That reporting period (the “Post General” 2013 filing) was notable for another reason: The only other two contributions came from the Friends of Armond Budish PAC ($1,000) and Robert Dykes, the CEO of Triad Research Group ($500). The Dykes’ donation is significant because his firm had just received $100,000 from the City of Cleveland to redraw the city’s wards. That process was a notoriously secretive one and led to the bizarrely shaped Ward 10, the “Eugene Miller Ward,” which Jeff Johnson nevertheless carried in 2013 — more on which shortly. Payment into the fund by consultants hoping for contracts, or as gratitude for ongoing contractual relationships, is common. The payments are sometimes small (perhaps even symbolic), as in the case of Mary Anne Sharkey. Sharkey’s Mita Marketing just received another Cleveland City Council contract, worth as much as $60,000, to provide “big picture” public relations strategy and assist with crisis communications in 2018. She contributed, under the names Mary Dirk and Mary Ann Dirk, $250 in 2016 and 2017. Sam Salim, who owns Madison Graphics and receives regular printing work for city council yard signs and mailings, donated $100 in 2014 and $250 in 2016 and 2017. The most extreme example of this relationship is former city councilman John Zayac and his Project Group. Zayac told Cleveland. com’s Leila Atassi in 2014 that he likely would not contribute to the Council Leadership Fund at the

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| clevescene.com | December 6 - 12, 2017

same level if his contract were to be terminated. (In fact, he began contributing less after Atassi’s reporting.) Zayac’s Project Group just received another annual contract from city council, worth as much as $200,000, for monitoring public utility projects in 2018. This year, Zayac’s wife Marie Simon donated $500 to the fund, but Zayac gave nothing personally. In both 2016 and 2015, the Project Group PAC gave $2,500. In 2010, 2011, 2013, and 2014 the PAC gave a minimum of $2,500, and Zayac himself, his wife, his Project Group partner Michael Tuan Bustamante and even his sister, Michele Hejnal, contributed to the fund at varying levels. Former city councilman Jim Rokakis runs the Thriving Communities Institute at the Western Reserve Land Conservancy. His organization just received another annual city council contract, worth as much as $150,000, to continue its work on demolition and reforestation issues in 2018. Rokakis gave $250 to the Council Leadership Fund in 2014 and $1,000 in both 2016 and 2017. In 2015, the same summer that Kevin Kelley and councilman Tony Brancatelli provided $20,000 in casino revenue funds to Rokakis’ organization to help pay for a citywide property assessment survey, Rokakis gave twice, donating $1,000 in both August and October. Rokakis told Scene that his contributions were unrelated to his contractual work. He had been donating to the fund since the late 1990s, he said, and gave to individual city councilpeople as well. “The current council president is a strong leader and effective manager of the Council process,” Rokakis wrote in an email. “There is no tougher job in elective office that I know of than the job of Cleveland City Councilperson. I support their work. I would contribute to their efforts regardless of whether we contacted with them or not.”

WHO GETS? The most egregious use of the Council Leadership Fund — and the most astonishing line items to encounter in the financial filings we reviewed — was the aggressive attempt by council president Martin Sweeney, in 2013, to secure Ward 10 for councilman Eugene Miller.

Sweeney had specifically redrawn that ward for Miller, to the vocal frustration of his colleagues, in an effort to unseat Jeff Johnson. This proved unsuccessful. As it happened, Miller ran for the seat again in 2017, which Johnson will be vacating after his failed mayoral bid. Miller lost to county councilman Anthony Hairston in November. But in the fall of 2013 (as reported in both the “Pre-General” and “PostGeneral” campaign finance filings for that year), Sweeney poured more than $20,000 into Eugene Miller’s campaign efforts, paying for canvassing, consulting, printing and mailing, all from the Council Leadership Fund. Since then, no favoritism of that magnitude has surfaced. Under Kelley, council members typically receive modest contributions of $1,000 or $1,500, based on campaign needs. But favoritism does still exist. On Oct. 10, Kevin Bishop, who won the Ward 2 city council seat in November, was given $1,000 from the Council Leadership Fund. This was striking because Bishop was not yet a sitting member of city council. Before he set one foot inside City Hall as a duly elected representative, he had already received more support from the Council Leadership Fund than the man he was to replace, Zack Reed. That is, at least since 2010. Reed and Jeff Johnson are the only two council members who haven’t received a dime from the fund in the period we reviewed in detail. Mike Polensek, Kevin Conwell and Dona Brady all received modest contributions and printing dollars from Martin Sweeney, but have received nothing under Kevin Kelley. Brady told Scene that this was “no big deal.” It was merely her preference. Brian Cummins, much like Reed and Johnson, was a leadership fund outcast and had received nothing from 2010-2017. But after Cummins flipped his vote on the Q Deal in April, a decision Cummins admitted was motivated by political pragmatism, Kelley rewarded him. Cummins received payments of $1,500 in June and October. The $3,000 total for Cummins was the second-highest among all councilpeople in 2017. Only Phyllis Cleveland, Kelley’s majority leader, received more: three contributions totaling $4,000. “It’s no more than a slush fund for the council president,” said departing councilman Zack Reed. “The hypocrisy is, they raise money

on behalf of city council, using the council name. But it’s based purely on personality. If the council president does not like you, you don’t get the money. Now I learned long ago how to raise [my own] money. The problem is people who don’t raise money, or can’t, are beholden to the council president. They vote how they’re told to vote. That’s the sad fact.” In December 2016, Kelley gave $1,000 contributions to many of his colleagues: in fact, to everyone but Zack Reed, Jeff Johnson, Mike Polensek, Kevin Conwell, Dona Brady, Brian Cummins and Mamie Mitchell. Five of these seven outcasts, the men, were among the six opponents to the Q Deal, (all but T.J. Dow). The Mamie Mitchell omission is perhaps most revealing. She had been a regular recipient of contributions and marketing dollars when Sweeney controlled the fund. And she was one of seven councilpeople to receive a $1,000 contribution in 2015, when Kelley was in control. The omission suggests that city council leadership likely knew she wouldn’t be around much longer and that, in keeping with rumor, the installation of Blaine Griffin in her Ward 6 seat was planned long before it was made public. Blaine Griffin was officially appointed in May — though it was uncontroversial among city councilmembers, his appointment was ratified via the Unit Rule — and he immediately benefited from his “incumbent” status. He received a $1,500 contribution a month later to help his council campaign. Griffin won Ward 6 by a wide margin. The single largest contribution that the Council Leadership Fund has made since 2010, however, was not to a councilperson. It was a $50,000 donation to the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party in the fall of 2013. That donation was followed by three additional donations totaling $40,000. But this fall, that generosity was surpassed. From July 19 through Oct. 10, the Council Leadership Fund donated $137,500 to the County Democratic Party, of which Kevin Kelley would soon be appointed vice-chair. The Council Leadership Fund’s “Post-General” 2017 financial report is due next week. Check back at clevescene.com afterward for a breakdown.

sallard@clevescene.com t@scenesallard

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36495 VINE STREET | WILLOUGHBY, OH | (440)951-3838 | clevescene.com | December 6 - 12, 2017

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Check Out Our Brand New Game Room!!

Tuesday

Foosball Tournament Every Tuesday Signups begin at 7pm

Wednesday Country Night

Friday

Darts Tournament ($3/ player) KARAOKE NIGHT

Sunday

We Will Book Any Band. Bands Get Door. Call us to secure your spot!

WJW.CLEVELAND

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| clevescene.com | December 6 - 12, 2017

Come Watch THE FOOTBALL PLAY on our two 100” screen projectors and 10 TV’s Open Pool Tournament ($5 to enter)

GET OUT

everything you should do this week Photo by Pam Loshak

WED

12/06

MUSIC

Saturday. Tickets start at $18. (Niesel) 2035 East Fourth St., 216-241-7425, pickwickandfrolic.com.

Comedian JB Smoove comes to the Improv. See: Friday.

Chamber Music in the Galleries Now in its sixth season, this monthly concert series at the Cleveland Museum of Art places young musicians from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Case Western Reserve University in the CMA galleries. The series features “mixed programs of chamber music” for “a unique and intimate experience.” The performances often feature instruments from the museum’s keyboard collection. Tonight’s concert begins at 6 and lasts for about an hour. Admission is free. (Jeff Niesel) 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org.

THU MUSIC

SPORTS

Cavaliers vs. Sacramento Kings Since trading away star center DeMarcus Cousins last season, the Sacramento Kings have become a team without a standout player. Power forward Zach Randolph can still score, and point guard De’Aaron Fox is having a good rookie season, but the Kings are definitely in rebuilding mode. Tonight they take on the surging Cavs at 7 at the Q. Tickets start at $25. (Niesel) 1 Center Court, 216-420-2000, theqarena.com.

2017,” and the hosts are Adam Richard and Zachariah Durr. The program starts at 7:30 p.m. sharp at the Happy Dog. Admission is $5. Want to be a storyteller at a future session? See details on the website. (Niesel) 5801 Detroit Ave., 216-651-9474, happydogcleveland.com. THEATER

DANCE

The Hip Hop Nutcracker Emcee Kurtis Blow will be on hand for tonight’s Hip Hop Nutcracker, an evening-length production featuring dancers, a DJ and a violinist. In this rendition of the classic ballet, MariaClara and her Nutcracker Prince travel back in time to the moment when her parents first meet in a nightclub. Jennifer Weber, artistic director of the Brooklyn-based theatrical hip-hop dance company Decadancetheatre, directs and choreographs the show. The performance takes place at 7 p.m. at the State Theatre. Tickets start at $10. (Niesel) 1519 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org. SPOKEN WORD

Keep Talking Keep Talking is an exciting storytellers program where locals can share their real-life experiences on a theme. The series offers attendees the chance to grab a drink and a dog while listening to some of their Cleveland neighbors tell tall tales. The theme for tonight’s event is “Best of

12/07

Macbeth In their final MFA show, the 2018 class of the acting program at Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Play House presents Shakespeare’s Macbeth, a play about a powerhungry Scottish general. Tonight’s performance takes place at 7:30 at the Helen Rosenfeld Lewis Bialosky Lab Theatre. Tickets are $10 to $15. (Niesel) 1407 Euclid Ave, 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org. THEATER

On Your Feet Directed by Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell (Kinky Boots) and featuring choreography by Olivier Award winner Sergio Trujillo (Jersey Boys), the musical On Your Feet tells the story of Emilio and Gloria Estefan’s journey to America to become pop music sensations. The play opens tonight at 7:30 at Connor Palace; performances continue through Dec. 23. Tickets are $29 to $109. (Niesel) 1615 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

THEATER

The Santaland Diaries The Santaland Diaries returns to Playhouse Square in a production by Cleveland Public Theatre. Now a staple of Christmas in Cleveland, this one-hour memoir by gay humorist David Sedaris, relating his incarceration (er, employment) as an elf in Macy’s Santa Village, was a huge hit when he read it on National Public Radio back in the day. Since then, it has been staged locally at many venues featuring various actors. Tonight’s performance takes place at 8 at the Outcault Theatre, where performances continue through Dec. 17. Tickets are $32.50. (Christine Howey) 1407 Euclid Ave, 216-640-8669, playhousesquare.org. COMEDY

Andy Woodhull Clean-cut comic Andy Woodhull jokes that after 10 years of marriage, he only has had one fight with his wife. The argument centered on his attempt to bring another woman’s dishes into her home when he moved in. “I’d like to remind you that my wife has two daughters — I don’t think I’m being unreasonable. My dishes don’t kind of look like my exgirlfriend or go to my ex-girlfriend’s house every other weekend and talk about how much more fun it is to be in her cabinets.” The clever comic performs at 8 tonight at Hilarities, where shows continue through

Brahms’ First Symphony Renowned Finnish conductor Mikko Franck makes his Cleveland Orchestra debut tonight, conducting Brahms’ First Symphony at Severance Hall. Brahms conceived the piece as a hymnlike composition filled with lyrical melodies and vibrant harmonies. The orchestra will also perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 18, with acclaimed pianist Richard Goode. Performances take place at 7:30 tonight and at 8 tomorrow and Sunday nights. Music lovers under 18 are free on Friday with purchase of adult ticket. Consult the Cleveland Orchestra website for ticket prices. (Niesel) 11001 Euclid Ave., 216-231-1111, clevelandorchestra.com. THEATER

A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens was a hell of a writer, but he could be a tad verbose. So it’s convenient that there have been so many great stage and screen versions of his classic ghost story. One of them — required viewing for anyone with a Netflix membership — is the 1951 movie starring Alastair Sim as a Scrooge for all eternity. And the other is this Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival production, which never fails to engage and delight. Framed cozily as a story within a story in this Gerald Freedman adaptation, the production really comes alive once the ghost of Jacob Marley appears, dragging his chains and creaking eerily with every movement. This annual tribute to knee-jerk liberal sentiments like compassion for the downtrodden is always a must-see, whether you’ve seen it before or not. It opens tonight at 7:30 at the Ohio Theatre. Tickets are $28 to $75. Performances continue through Dec. 23. (Howey) 1501 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

FRI

12/08

THEATER

Brain Candy Live Adam Savage of Mythbusters fame and Michael Stevens of YouTube’s Vsauce have teamed up for this theatrical | clevescene.com | December 6 - 12, 2017

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GET OUT

SPORTS

science education show they’ve dubbed Brain Candy Live. The guys bring more than three tons of “crazy toys” along with “incredible tools” and “mind-blowing demonstrations” to the stage for a live show that critics call “a cross between TED Talks and the Blue Man Group.” The performance takes place at 8 tonight at the Akron Civic Theatre. Tickets start at $48.50. (Niesel) 182 South Main St., Akron, 330-253-2488, akroncivic.com.

Monsters vs. Chicago Wolves The Monsters kick off a two-game series against the Chicago Wolves today at Quicken Loans Arena. The two teams face each other again tomorrow at 1 p.m. As part of a 1-2-3 Friday promotion, today’s concession specials include $1 Pepsi products, $2 hot dogs and $3 beers. Both games feature a toy drive; fans are encouraged to donate new, unwrapped toys at the toy drive bins located on the arena’s main concourse. All toys will be distributed to underserved children in Northeast Ohio. Tickets to the

games start at $10. (Niesel) 1 Center Court, 216-420-2000, theqarena.com. FILM

From the Land of the Moon Nicole Garcia directs From the Land of the Moon, a French drama set in the 1950s. The film focuses on a sickly woman (Marion Cotillard) who falls in love with a veteran at the spa where she goes to recuperate. The film screens today at 6:45 p.m. at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Tickets are $10, or $7 for CMA members. (Niesel) 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org.

THEATER

A Christmas Story A Christmas Story, a near-genius piece of American reminiscence, is so period-perfect and charming that the squishy sentimentality (of which there is plenty) never leads to saccharine reflux. Philip Grecian is listed as the playwright, but everyone understands that the bulk of insights and telling detail comes from the mind of Jean Shepherd, who wrote the original story, co-authored the movie, and narrated the flick in his distinctive, triple-wry voice. The Cleveland Play House’s production of Story rides a two-hour wave of intricate details to unerringly establish the period and to help even the youngest patrons make the leap back to a time before televisions were omnipresent and cowboy hero Red Ryder was king of the wireless. See it tonight at 7:30 at the Allen Theatre. Performances continue through Dec. 23. Tickets are $25 to $110. (Howey) 1407 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org. SPOKEN WORD

Editor Appearance: Holly Gleason In Woman Walk the Line: How the Women in Country Music Changed Our Lives, a collection of personal essays, female music writers pay tribute to the female country artists who have inspired them. Editor Holly Gleason, who speaks about the book tonight at 7 at Visible Voice Books, says, “It’s about life and music. It’s a book that really tackles those moments where everything changes ... sometimes profoundly.” Local singer-songwriter Rachel Brown will perform as well. Admission is free. (Niesel) 2258 Professor Ave., 216-961-0084, visiblevoicebooks.com.

All neW

FAMILY FUN

Highlighting 30+ years of induction ceremonies! The hall of fame pays homage to our inductees through an immersive concert-like experience and a space for fans to share their own stories. 1100 Rock and Roll Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44114 • 216-781-ROCK • rockhall.com

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| clevescene.com | December 6 - 12, 2017

*On general admission when showing a valid ID with ZIP beginning in 440, 441, 442 or 443.

Scuba Claus & the Seas’N of Play Like many local institutions, the Greater Cleveland Aquarium embraces the holidays with special seasonal activities. This year, it presents Scuba Claus & the Seas’N of Play on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Dec. 24. At activity stations, you can see how hula hoops, fish-cicles and other toys and treats keep the Aquarium’s residents active and engaged. Stimulation and “environmental enhancements” include wrapping presents for the tortoises to discover and adding seagrass for the stingrays to explore. Seas’n of Play also features parallel sensory activities such as practicing to aim like an archerfish spurting a stream of water at a moving target. From noon to 1:30 p.m., patrons can

see Scuba Claus dive into 230,000 gallons of water. You can even ask him questions while he visits a porcupine pufferfish, green moray eel, goliath grouper and other aquatic creatures. Children visiting for Seas’N of Play will receive an original Scuba Claus coloring book and a temporary tattoo. The aquarium is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Check the website for ticket prices. (Niesel) 2000 Sycamore St., 216-862-8803, greaterclevelandaquarium.com. COMEDY

JB Smoove Famous for his portrayal of Leon, a fast-talking friend of Larry David’s on the HBO hit Curb Your Enthusiasm, comedian JB Smoove started his career back in 1999, when he moved to Los Angeles and landed a recurring role on MTV’s The Lyricist Lounge Show. He also starred opposite Adam Sandler in Mr. Deeds. After a season as a cast member on the sketch comedy program Cedric the Entertainer Presents, he worked as a writer on Saturday Night Live before landing the Curb Your Enthusiasm gig. Smoove, who just published his new book, The Book of Leon: Philosophy of a Fool, performs at the Improv tonight at 7:30 and 10 and tomorrow night at 7 and 9:30. Tickets are $25. (Niesel) 1148 Main Ave., 216-696-IMPROV, clevelandimprov.com. ART

Walkabout Tremont Today from 5 to 10 p.m., December’s Walkabout Tremont includes live music, specials at neighborhood bars and restaurants and plenty of art. Stop by the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church for a pop-up holiday shop that will feature Greek food, GLBC Christmas Ale and more. For business hours, an event map and info on neighborhood tours, visit the website below. Admission is free. (Niesel) walkabouttremont.com.

SAT

12/09

MUSIC

The Barefoot Movement The Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park partners with the National Park Service to bring live music year-round to Cuyahoga Valley National Park at the Happy Days Lodge. Tonight’s featured guest, the Barefoot Movement, will play a special set of bluegrass holiday music. Before the show, you can join in on a holiday cocktail soiree presented by

CCVNP’s chef, Larkin Rogers. The soiree starts at 6:30, and the concert begins at 8. Tickets start at $30. (Niesel) 500 West Streetsboro Rd., Peninsula, 330-657-2909, ConservancyforCVNP. org.

Celebrating 10 Years of Holiday Rock & Roll SAT. DEC 16th, 7:30 PM - HOUSE OF BLUES CLEVELAND

FAMILY FUN

Chardon Polka Brunch with Santa (and Krampus) The party hearty Chardon Polka Band headlines this holiday event, dubbed Polka Brunch with Santa (and Krampus). Like last year’s edition, there will be polka dancing and a kielbasa-infused brunch menu. The mighty Cleveland Krampus will make an appearance as well. And you can snap your photo with Santa in the photo booth. Tickets for the music portion of the day are $10; brunch is an additional $18. The merriment takes place at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Music Box Supper Club. (Niesel) 1148 Main Ave., 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com. SPORTS

Cavaliers vs. Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers have a roster of talented young players, and the team will probably make the playoffs for the first time in years. But the Cavaliers had no trouble dispensing with the squad when the two teams faced off last month. Expect the veteran Cavs team to put the 76ers in their place when they go at it again tonight at 8 at the Q. Tickets start at $32. (Niesel) 1 Center Court, 216-420-2000, theqarena.com.

It’s a CLE Christmas tradition you don’t want to miss! Sponsored by:

Tickets available at Ticketmaster.com or at the House of Blues box office

FAMILY FUN

Coventry Village Holiday Festival An annual tradition that’s taken place for the past five years, the Coventry Village Holiday Festival will take place from noon to 11 p.m. today. The fest will include complimentary photos with Santa, Rudolph, Frosty and the Grinch, ice carving demonstrations, a Coventry merchant holiday window contest, a Lolly the Trolley Holiday Light Tour, winter storytimes, holiday crafts, and live music and karaoke. Coventry Claus will be on hand to lead an ugly sweater bar crawl. Shoppers and diners will earn a $10 Coventry Cash Coupon for every $50 they spend on a single receipt at participating Coventry Village locations, on select weekend dates through the end of the year. (Niesel) coventryvillage.org. FAMILY FUN

Elf the Movie and ELFcon There’s a time to watch Christmas classics like Elf and It’s a Wonderful Life while wrapped up in blankets | clevescene.com | December 6 - 12, 2017

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GET OUT on your own cozy couch. And there is also a time to catch the flicks with fellow fans in a public setting. First up is Elf, which screens today at 2 p.m. at the Akron Civic Theatre. The classic tale of Buddy the Elf, who heads to Manhattan to find his father, is still as funny as it was in 2003 — and this time, elf costumes are encouraged. The screening is part of Akron’s ELFcon, a party at the downtown Lock 3 outdoor park. The event, which features the four elf food groups, ice skating, a holiday sing-along and putt-putt golf, runs from noon to 8 p.m. Free popcorn will be offered at the film’s screening, which does require a ticket. As for It’s a Wonderful Life, that classic screens at the Civic on Friday, Dec. 15. See the website for details. (Laura Morrison) 182 South Main St., Akron, 330-253-2488, akroncivic.com. FLEA MARKET

Heavy Metal Flea Market Organizers of today’s Heavy Metal Flea Market at Now That’s Class encourage patrons to “come buy, sell, and trade old merch that is collecting dust.” The event will feature numerous independent vendors who’ll sell new and used shirts, records, CDs, VHS, instruments and gear, homegoods, horror novelties, taxidermy, arts and crafts, and more. A $1 donation gets you in. Doors open at noon. (Niesel) 11213 Detroit Ave., 216-221-8576, nowthatsclass.net.

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Rock ‘n’ Roll Holiday Flea Market Big box retail outlets offer the usual assortment of prefab gifts that range from portable electronic devices to household items. But anyone looking for something outside the box has plenty of good options. Consider the Beachland Ballroom’s annual Rock ’n’ Holiday Flea Market. More than 25 vendors will be on hand for the event, which takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today. It will feature art, clothing, records, vintage wares, jewelry and more. Food and beverages will be available in the Beachland Tavern throughout the day, and admission is free. (Niesel) 15711 Waterloo Rd., 216-383-1124, beachlandballroom.com.

SUN

12/10

TRANSPORTATION PARTNER

have thrown a number of events at Brothers Lounge. According to promoter Frank Ian, who runs the company with his wife, there’s been a “packed house every time.” For tonight’s show, they’ve booked Carmen M’Knoxide, Ava Adore, Rubi-nesque, vocalist Selena Noir, Lavender Bitters and drag queen extraordinaire, Kaydence Jayne. The show begins at 7 p.m. and tickets are $15. (Niesel) 11609 Detroit Ave., 216-226-2767, brotherslounge.com. SPORTS

Browns vs. Green Bay Packers As the Browns careen toward a winless season, each game offers yet another glimmer of hope for the struggling team. Today’s contest against the Green Bay Packers should be a close one, given that the Packers are without their star quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. at First Energy Stadium. Tickets start at $50. (Niesel) 100 Alfred Lerner Way, 440-891-5000, clevelandbrowns.com. MUSIC

Gospel Brunch The monthly Gospel Brunch has been a spiritual Sunday staple for years at the House of Blues. The recently reinvigorated show puts a bit more emphasis on the music. As for the food, the all-you-caneat musical extravaganza features Southern classics like chicken jambalaya, biscuits and gravy, and chicken and waffles. Seatings are offered at 11 a.m. Tickets are $40 and are available online, by phone or at the box office. (Niesel) 308 Euclid Ave., 216-523-2583, houseofblues.com. FILM

Madam Satan Madam Satan, a 1927 film directed by Cecil B. DeMille, stars Kay Johnson as a woman who goes to great lengths at a masquerade ball on an ill-fated zeppelin to win back her cheating husband. Some critics consider the movie to be the firstever disaster flick. It screens at 1:30 p.m. today and at 1:45 p.m. on Tuesday at the Cleveland Museum of Art as part of the museum’s The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s exhibit. Tickets are $10, or $7 for CMA members. (Niesel) 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org.

BURLESQUE The FirstEnergy Powerhouse 2000 Sycamore

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GCA = Greater Cleveland Aquarium

F L A T S

E A S T

B A N K

| clevescene.com | December 6 - 12, 2017

CALL 216.673.4222 TO SCHEDULE

Burlesque at Brothers The folks at the local burlesque promotion company Toxic Burlesque

COMEDY

Mike Paramore Local comedian Mike Paramore has

said that his material has always been based on life observations. He released a comedy album last year and likes to have a go at patrons when he can, but he keeps his jokes light-hearted when they are aimed at audience members. He performs tonight at 7 at Hilarities. Tickets are $13 to $18. (Niesel) 2035 East Fourth St., 216-241-7425, pickwickandfrolic.com.

MON

++

12/11

SPOKEN WORD

Science Cafe The second Monday of each month, Music Box Supper Club hosts Science Cafe, an informal lecture series that brings scientists from throughout the region to the club to talk about science topics. Tonight at 7, Herman O. Sintim, a professor of chemistry in the department of chemistry and the Center for Drug Discovery at Purdue University’s College of Science, will discuss how antibioticresistant pathogens make over two million Americans sick every year. Admission is free. (Niesel) 1148 Main Ave., 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com.

12/12

SPORTS

Cavaliers vs. Atlanta Hawks Last month, the Atlanta Hawks, arguably one of the worst teams in the NBA, surprised the Cavs and beat them at the Q. Don’t expect that to happen this time around. The Cavs have suddenly awoken and have started to play like a team headed to yet another NBA Finals. Tonight’s game begins at 7, and tickets start at $22. (Niesel) 1 Center Court, 216-420-2000, theqarena.com.

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WWE Raw Since it debuted in 1993, WWE Raw has become a flagship program for the professional wrestling organization. Tonight’s edition features a six-man tag team match pitting guys like Seth Rollins, John Cena, Roman Reign and Dean Ambrose against each other. It all goes down tonight at 7:30 at the Q. Tickets start at $20. (Niesel) 1 Center Court, 216-420-2000, theqarena.com.

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| clevescene.com | December 6 - 12, 2017

Sit down with your guests. Advertise with SCENE. Call 216-241-7550 for more information.

STAGE TAKE A DRIVE IN A TESLA It awaits you on stage in The Chaste Genius and His DeathRay Gun, a fascinating play about an electrical marvel HOW CAN YOU TELL WHEN YOU’RE famous? Well, when your name is used as an official unit of measurement, is also the name of an electrical transformer, and is emblazoned on a high-end automobile, you can safely assume you’ve achieved fame. Of course, many of the tributes to Nikola Tesla (the Tesla unit of magnetic induction, the Tesla coil, and Elon Musk’s Tesla electric car) arrived after his death. While he was alive, this engineering genius often struggled in the shadow of other, more famous inventors such as Thomas Edison, his lifelong foe who, in turn, thoroughly detested Tesla. The Tesla story is revealed in bold strokes (and too many minilectures) in The Chaste Genius and His DeathRay Gun by esteemed local playwright Christopher Johnston. Tesla was a Serbian-American who contributed mightily to the advancement of alternating current (AC), along with holding a patent for wireless communication. But more than that, Tesla was an inquisitive fellow whose personal quirks almost matched his voracious intellectual curiosity. Directed with imagination and insight by Geoffrey Hoffman, the play attempts to encompass the entirety of Tesla’s adult life. As the title indicates, there’s no love interest in this story. Tesla appeared to live without personal relationships of any kind, devoting his 22-hour workdays (!) to the single-minded pursuit of his scientific theories and inventions, which have changed the way we live today. Given Tesla’s gargantuan output, this is still a huge challenge, and playwright Johnston is mostly successful in conveying the Tesla mystique. The dialog scenes capture the turn-of-the-century period well, and have the snap of spontaneity that makes them quite engrossing. From an energy standpoint, Chaste Genius is arcing in all the right ways. From Jim Smith’s ingenious scenic design, featuring metal pipes conducting all manner of impulses, to the lighting design by Cory Molner that at times isolates the cool, wireless fluorescence of one of Nick’s signature inventions, the stage is alive with

Photo by Cory Molner

By Christine Howey

Robert Hawkes as Tesla, Nicole McLaughlin Lublin as Teddy Roosevelt.

vitality. Beau Reinker’s crackling sound design adds to the sizzling mix. And that energy is enhanced by the performances of the four-person cast, three of whom portray various personalities who interacted with Tesla during his long life. Some of these characters stand out, such as Robert Branch’s rendition of a fulsome Mark Twain who is fond of quoting himself. When Tesla is about to show off some of his electrical pyrotechnics to visitors, Twain declaims, “What I always say, and mind you they’ll be quoting me into the hereafter, is that thunder is good, thunder is impressive, but it’s

portrait of the young Serbian scientist from the future, Dragan, who soaks up everything he can absorb from Tesla. Although she does her best to impersonate some titans of the business world, including William Vanderbilt, Nicole McLaughlin-Lublin is more successful as the female characters. These include Katherine Johnson, wife of Tesla’s pal Robert. However, the play never makes clear who Robert and Katherine Johnson are, and why they’re important to Tesla. In addition, some of McLaughlinLublin’s lines suffer from too much forced character explanation. When

THE CHASTE GENIUS AND HIS DEATHRAY GUN THROUGH DEC. 16, PRODUCED BY CONVERGENCE-CONTINUUM AT THE LIMINIS, 2438 SCRANTON RD., 216-687-0074. CONVERGENCE-CONTINUUM.ORG

lightning that does the work!” Val Kozlenko amusingly portrays a very attentive waiter at the luxe hotel where Tesla dines daily, providing a pleasant atmosphere so the great man can encounter his meal with his precise, scientific curiosity (Tesla measures the cubic volume of his food). Kozlenko also delivers a fine mini-

Tesla visits the Johnsons at home, she says, “Well, Mr. Scientist, we know you are always immersed, pushing and pushing to impregnate science with your seeds of new discovery …” Double entendre alert! In the role of Tesla, Robert Hawkes fully embodies this self-controlled and nattily attired man, drawing a contrast

to the shabby and unkempt Edison. Given their enmity, it’s entertaining at the beginning of Act 2 when Tesla and Edison go mano-a-mano in an AC/ DC duel, which wireless Tesla wins handily when Edison can’t find an outlet to plug in his incandescent bulb. Indeed, the scenes where Tesla interacts with others work splendidly, such as when he’s trying to pry money out of famed fiancier J.P. Morgan (Kozlenko). But one temptation when writing about a person as fascinating as Tesla is to give him the floor a bit too often. And in this work, playwright Johnston has Tesla go off on several monologs that turn into lectures. And even a performer as talented as Hawkes can’t always keep these wordy rants on course. Speaking of the title, it turns out no one ever found Tesla’s supposed “DeathRay Gun” which could, he claimed, destroy an army at 250 miles. Similarly, no one has ever discovered what made the man Nikola Tesla tick. But this engaging play offers some tantalizing hints.

scene@clevescene.com t@christinehowey | clevescene.com | December 6 - 12, 2017

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YOU AND A GUEST ARE INVITED TO A SPECIAL SCREENING

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Please note: Passes are limited and will be distributed on a first come, first served basis while supplies last. No phone calls, please. Limit one pass per person. Each pass admits two. Seating is not guaranteed. Arrive early. Theater is not responsible for overbooking. This screening will be monitored for unauthorized recording. By attending, you agree not to bring any audio or video recording device into the theater (audio recording devices for credentialed press excepted) and consent to a physical search of your belongings and person. Any attempted use of recording devices will result in immediate removal from the theater, forfeiture, and may subject you to criminal and civil liability. Please allow additional time for heightened security. You can assist us by leaving all nonessential bags at home or in your vehicle.

IN THEATERS DECEMBER 22 #FatherFigures

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IN THEATERS DECEMBER 15 | clevescene.com | December 6 - 12, 2017

PITCH PERFECT 3 has been rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content, language and some action. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. While supplies last. One entry per person. Duplicate entries will be deleted. Seating at the screening is first-come, first-served and is not guaranteed. Please arrive early. Winners will be chosen at random. Winners within the past 30 days are ineligible.

IN THEATERS DECEMBER 22 PitchPerfectMovie.com

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MOVIES BEAUTIFUL DISASTER Movie about cult classic The Room finds a sweet spot By Sam Allard THE DISASTER ARTIST, opening Friday in limited local release, pulls back the curtain on one of the most beloved, and worst, cult movies of all time: The Room. James Franco directs and stars, and he has achieved the first (and perhaps most difficult) task for a movie about a notoriously bad movie and its notoriously weird auteur, Tommy Wiseau. Franco impersonates his subject faithfully without denigrating him completely. Wiseau is, after all, a mercurial figure. He is by all accounts wealthy beyond fathom. He is destitute of tact and style. He is unable to form standard English vowel sounds. But boy, does he love the movies. He meets Greg Sestero (Dave Franco) in an acting class in San Francisco and soon convinces him to move to L.A. with him. Together, they pinkieswear, they’ll make it big on the silver screen. A montage of auditions — one of the film’s several laugh-outloud moments — demonstrates the poverty of their acting skills and the unlikelihood of their dream. In the face of rejection and new associations, Greg begins to see Tommy for the oddball he is. But their friendship endures, and Greg doesn’t argue with — in fact, he agrees to

participate in — an independent production. Wiseau writes, directs, produces, stars in and personally finances a cinematic opus. The Room, Wiseau’s white whale, was met with critical derision when it was released in 2003, immediately admitted into the pantheon of Worst Movies Ever Made. And yet it gained a cult following among the midnightmovie set. Viewers discovered that that the wildly bad acting, disjointed melodramatic plot and junior-high dialogue was something other than bad: It was funny. Indeed, it became enough of a curiosity that James Franco decided to make a movie about it, the results of which are mixed, though largely positive. Again, thankfully, The Disaster Artist does not become a relentless slamming of

Wiseau, which would have been an easy, and worthless, exercise. As evidenced by documentary testimony at the outset of Disaster Artist, the questions that fans of The Room likely want answered in a film about its genesis are: 1.) Who on earth is Tommy Wiseau? And 2.) What on earth was it like being on set? The Disaster Artist gamely answers the second. We watch Wiseau lavishly spend on equipment and studio space, hire his cast via unorthodox methods, and treat his crew (Seth Rogen and Paul Scheer among them) with practiced disdain. When he screams at a makeup assistant to cover up a birth mark on his romantic co-star, Lisa (Ari Graynor), shouting that she must

be beautiful like an American movie star, he defends his tirade to Greg by saying that Alfred Hitchcock behaved the same way. Had Greg heard of the movie The Birds? As for the first question, viewers will be left with precious little: From whence did Wiseau emerge? What is the source of his wealth? How old is he? These are mysteries, still. And in its failure to pursue these answers, we sense in The Disaster Artist a kind of reverence for Wiseau and his horrendous artistic vision (a paradoxical respect for his privacy?) But this reverence is complicated: Even in its tender efforts to humanize, can it be anything other than a form of mockery? Wiseau’s own associates certainly have no respect for him until they realize his awful film may be successful for a totally unintended reason. But Disaster Artist deserves credit for trying to make Wiseau more than a tragic figure. As signaled by the title, it ultimately argues that even if your product is disastrous, you are an artist if you believe like hell that you are.

sallard@clevescene.com t@scenesallard

SPOTLIGHT: DREAM BOAT A GAY EUROPEAN CRUISE MIGHT sound like a wild good time, but in the new documentary Dream Boat, writer-director Tristan Ferland Milewski doesn’t focus on the frivolity, though there’s plenty of that. Rather, he provides compelling profiles of the men who show up to board the ship because it represents a safe place. The movie screens at 7:30 on Tuesday, Dec. 12, at the Capitol Theatre as part of the Capitol’s Fall Documentary Film Series. You get the sense that Milewski could’ve centered on any one of the hundreds of guys and gotten an intriguing backstory out of him. But he chose to focus on five men from five different countries. Each man has a unique story about the problems he’s faced in coming out of the closet and embracing his homosexuality. It hasn’t

been easy for any of them. The men all talk about the persecution they faced in their respective countries. The cruise ship provides a great outlet that enables them to embrace their sexuality in ways they couldn’t in their native lands. A passenger from India talks about what it’s like to be on his first gay cruise, a Frenchman with disabilities

aims to overcome his limitations (he even manages to scale the climbing wall), a Polish guy looks for his soulmate, a Palestinian man talks about the problems that his homosexuality has created with his friends and his family, and an Austrian photographer laments the fact that he can’t find a meaningful relationship. The warm weather means that

most of the men dance topless. Across the board, the guys have marvelous, sculpted bodies, and Milewski continuously centers on their frames. We see men giving each other massages (and more) and oiling their bodies in the sun. One man jokes that he’s like a “weathervane” because he’s always turning to check out the various men on the cruise. Set to a soundtrack of woozy electronic dance music, the movie possesses a hypnotic feel, especially when it includes scenes of halfnaked men dancing, dizzying shots from above the boat or clips of guys dressing up in drag. — Jeff Niesel

jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel | clevescene.com | December 6 - 12, 2017

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EAT A MATCH MADE IN LYNDHURST Abo’s Grill is flying under the radar, and it shouldn’t be IF DINERS CAN’T GET BEHIND A place like Abo’s Grill, I said to my wife during a recent visit, what hope do other indie restaurants have in today’s chain-heavy landscape? This two-year-old sleeper of a place in Lyndhurst does all right, don’t get me wrong, but considering the facts, it doesn’t generate the sort of traffic that a solid neighborhood joint should. In the kitchen of this Italian restaurant is a CIA-trained chef turning out fromscratch dishes at prices that match bland, impersonal national chains like Carrabba’s. “I know, we are way underpriced for the kind of food we’re putting out,” chef Matt Mize agrees during a followup call. If the chef’s name sounds familiar, that’s because Mize owned the buzzy Mizestro bistro in Brecksville, where he tickled guests with molecular gastronomy tricks like levitating food with an electromagnet, whipping up tableside sorbet in cryogenic bowls, and pouring glow-in-the-dark cocktails. “We’re not fine dining,” the chef liked to say, “we’re fun dining.” Well, the fun didn’t last much longer than a year and a half before Mize made the decision to cut his losses. Mize joined Abo’s about a year after it opened, and he acknowledges that he inherited an already well-run operation. Owner Sam Abounader comes from restaurant-rich stock, with uncles and cousins running such classic establishments as Karl’s Inn of the Barristers and the late Sammy’s Grille, to name a few. Since Day 1, the operation has been making pasta and gnocchi from scratch, preparing the pizza dough in house, and breading provolone by hand for the fried cheese. Of course, given his culinary predilections, Mize has been working to step up the quality and consistency of each dish while introducing intermittent sparks of his trademark creativity. “I didn’t change the whole philosophy; I don’t want to give people culture shock,” he says. “I just added a few fun things here and there from the restaurant.” Fans of the old restaurant will recognize one such carryover, the 96-hour sous vide-braised beef short rib with banana polenta. Other

Photo by Emanuel Wallace

By Douglas Trattner

recent chef specials include crab cakes atop fennel whipped potatoes garnished with lemon “air” and handmade tortellini filled with duck and brie in a lobster-butternut sauce. On more familiar ground, the golden brown and perfectly spherical arancini ($8) are filled with a creamy risotto-like mixture enriched with cheese. Three large orbs rest in a pool of smooth, flavorful marinara and are garnished with shavings of Parm. Other starters include that homemade fried provolone ($7) and an item called “pizza fries” ($6) that tops a nest of crispy eggplant fries with cheese and pepperoni. There’s

and blue cheese. A lengthy lunchtime sandwich menu is trimmed for dinner, but there are still a few gems like the meatball grinder ($9). Three plump and bouncy meatballs, made with a blend of pork, veal and beef, are stashed in a toasted bun, topped with cheese and broiled, and garnished with fresh parsley. The sandwich is sided by marinara for dousing or dipping and a mountain of dark and crunchy housemade potato chips. Abo’s pizzas are of the type that often get labeled as Cleveland-style, for want of a better term. The crust is buttery, chewy and floppy; there’s

ABO’S GRILL 5288 MAYFIELD RD., LYNDHURST 440-409-7000 ABOSGRILL.COM

marinara on the side for dipping. Unless you’re a goat, you’ll likely find the kale salad ($8) too fibrous to enjoy as it currently exists. The large and mature leaves either need to be sliced thinner, dressed earlier or replaced by a younger, more tender variety. Other salads on offer include a classic Caesar with rosemary croutons, and a wedge topped with bacon, egg

heaps of sauce and cheese; and there’s a golden brown base underneath. Diners can build their own 12- or 16-incher from a list of toppings or select one of eight specialty pies ($13 small, $18 large). If you prefer your pizza parts to arrive rolled or stuffed, you can go the stromboli ($11) or calzone ($11) routes. Fresh pasta makes a big difference

in dishes like cavatelli, gnocchi and lasagna. The latter ($17) shucks convention thanks to a squat, wide stance as opposed to tall and trim. The result is more surface area for the best part: blistered cheese. Nubby cavatelli ($15) in sauce has a toothsome texture and is topped with two hefty meatballs. In the entree department, eggplant, chicken and veal all get the “Parmesan” treatment, joined by steak and salmon options. We didn’t think chicken piccata ($16) could ever be too lemony, but the one served here comes close. It’s partnered with sauteed kale and roasted potatoes. When the owner scored one of the few vacant lots in town and built Abo’s from the ground up, he did so with the intent of creating a restaurant that catered to latenight dining. The result is a dining room that looks and feels more like a saloon owing to a massive threesided bar that dominates the room. On the plus side, he also constructed a separate entrance dedicated to takeout orders that makes the pick-up process extremely efficient.

dtrattner@clevescene.com t@dougtrattner | clevescene.com | December 6 - 12, 2017

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2X Cleveland chefs take on the nuclear noodle challenge By Douglas Trattner

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clevescene.com | clevescene.com | December 6 - 12, 2017

IF YOU FOLLOW CERTAIN LOCAL chefs and restaurants on Instagram, you likely saw pics of various folks hunched over bowls of fire enginered ramen. These masochistic people have accepted a dare: the 2X Spicy Chicken Ramen — or Nuclear Noodle — challenge. Billed as the spiciest instant noodles on the market, Samyang Nuclear Edition 2X Spicy Chicken Ramen is twice as spicy as that brand’s original “fire noodle.” Nearly a quarter million YouTube videos show brave souls accepting the challenge, with many withering in embarrassing defeat. Clocking in at 8,706 on the Scoville scale, the heat ranks well above a typical jalapeno pepper and far below that of a habanero, but I can tell you from personal experience that it eats much hotter than that. One local challenge circuit was initiated by Matthew Spinner, executive chef of Ushabu in Tremont. He and his crew ate them on a whim, he says, but it was only after seeing the videos online that he decided to share the pain. “While browsing the internet one day, I noticed a popular Korean YouTube trend called the ‘nuclear noodle challenge’ and decided to do our own — like an ALS ice bucket challenge — to our friends at other restaurants,” Spinner says. “Our staff ate one pack of noodles with two packs of sauce each. It was hot, very, very hot. These are, after all, the spiciest instant noodles in the world.” What makes these noodles terrifyingly spicy is a special packet of blisteringly hot paste that gets stirred into the cooked noodles. It’s a lip-scalding venom of pretty epic proportions, even for hot pepperheads. When it came time to pass the torch, Spinner obviously sought out the most vulnerable of victims. “We sent it along to our best restaurant friends over at the Plum,” he notes. “It was natural transference, since chef Brett [Sawyer] notoriously dislikes spicy foods.” “I felt pretty honored that Ushabu thought of us,” reports Plum owner Jonah Oryszak. “We love what they

are doing over there.” Oryszak said that he and his crew had never heard of the product or the challenge, but they were up to the task, despite the pre-game smack being tossed their way. “Spinner had done a pretty good job scaring us — telling us how bad it was and how painful it is the next day,” he recalls. “The oil coats your mouth in fire — that’s what’s hard to shake. My involuntary hiccups had everyone laughing, so it was pretty hard to eat. In our video you can hear Brett asking me if I swallowed a squeaky toy. Everyone laughing definitely made it way harder.” As for who would be on the receiving end of the next round, Oryszak said that the guys at Ohio City Provisions immediately came to mind. “They looked pretty scared when we dropped it off, but in their video they are squirting sriracha on it and acting like it’s not even hot,” he says. “I have no clue how it wasn’t killing them.” Indeed, the macho butchers at OCP can be seen in their Instagram video pausing only long enough to add hot sauce to their bowls, which they devoured to the very last drop. “We love to eat spicy things at OCP,” reports owner Adam Lambert. “We have a lot of fermenting Scorpion and Carolina Reaper peppers and a few large batches of hot sauce that we will be releasing soon for sale here. The noodles are pretty spicy, but seeing that part of the challenge is to eat them as fast as you can, it can get fairly intense, especially when you cover the already spicy noodles in sriracha!” Even before the last noodle had been slurped, Lambert can be heard on the video challenging the kitchen at Black Pig. “We wanted to bless them with this painful spicy gift!” As for the guys at the Pig, they’ve happily accepted the challenge and plan to share their experience very soon.

dtrattner@clevescene.com t@dougtrattner

Mon - Fri: 7am - 3pm Sat & Sun: 7am - 4pm | cl cclevescene.com evves esce cene ce n .ccom ne m | December Deece Dec cemb cem mbe ber er 6 - 12, 2, 22017 0 7 01

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a little kick to them but quite tasty. They were buttery and lightly sweet. I enjoyed my meal and will return in the future.” - Ladonna G. ★★★★★ “This is some Seriously delicious chicken. I have lived very close, and almost drive by there daily. Thought it was part of the convenient store, so I would not go there. After reading the reviews and being extremely hungry, I took the plunge, and I am more than glad I did. I will be coming here so much more.” - Stephanie L. ★★★★★ “It’s no joke, best fried chicken in Cleveland. They’ve got plenty of sides, but don’t kid yourself, it’s all about the chicken. While there’s a variety of flavors the staff might not give you many clues past identifying the individual flavors. Luckily there’s a brief explanation of them at the restaurant.” - Noah F.

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MUSIC A SENSIBLE MAN Singer-songwriter Will Hoge takes on the NRA with his new single By Jeff Niesel IN THE INITIAL MEDIA GUIDELINES that the Country Music Association sent out regarding the CMA Awards ceremony that took place earlier this month in Nashville, journalists were warned to refrain from asking questions about the mass shooting that had just taken place in Las Vegas. “If you are reported as straying from these guidelines, your credential will be reviewed and potentially revoked via security escort,” warned the CMA. Singer-guitarist Will Hoge was one of the first artists to lambast the CMA’s guidelines. As other artists spoke out too, the CMA eventually rescinded those restrictions. Given that the National Rifle Association has such a huge role in the country music world (it regularly sponsors tours), it was a gutsy move on Hoge’s part. Hoge, who performs at 8 p.m. on Friday at Musica in Akron, says he was happy to lead the charge and start a conversation about gun control. “People are starting to talk about [gun control] more, especially from an artist’s perspective, which is helpful and can fuel that conversation,” he says via phone from his Nashville home. “It’s going to be hard to change. I don’t think the change will come from the top down. There’s too much money involved. I think it has to change from the bottom up. The reality is that almost everybody that I know is for sensible gun regulations. Unfortunately, almost everybody I know is too much of a coward to speak about it publically.” Hoge has just released “Thoughts & Prayers,” a biting social commentary on politicians who don’t do anything to stem gun violence but only offer words of condolence. The acoustic track has a Bob Dylan feel to it as Hoge snears, “Another politician sitting far away/Doesn’t matter how many people got gunned down today/ As long as you can keep your reelection bills paid/You’re just a whore to the pimp that’s called the NRA.” “Outspoken alt-country singersongwriter” is a far cry from Hoge’s original career goals. He initially intended to be a basketball coach and school teacher. When that didn’t work out, he started the rock band Spoonful in the mid-’90s. He’s been

WILL HOGE BAND, AUGUSTANA, DAN LAYUS 9 P.M. FRIDAY, DEC. 8, MUSICA, 51 EAST MARKET ST., AKRON. TICKETS: $20, LIVEATMUSICA.COM

touring and recording ever since and has written songs for big-time country acts such as Eli Young Band and Lady Antebellum. “I was in and out of a thousand different bands as I was figuring it all out,” he says. “[Spoonful] came together with two guitarists I had met and a keyboard player I had been in another band with. We found a rhythm section in town, and it was really innocent. It was the last 100 percent innocent project I was a part of, but it was fun. It was real fun.” After leaving Spoonful to embark on a solo career, Hoge signed to Atlantic in 2003. Looking back on it, he says it probably wasn’t the best decision since the folks at the label didn’t turn the record he cut for them into a hit.

“The fuse burned pretty fast, and the rocket didn’t go as high as you hoped it would,” he says of the experience. “When it came down to that first record, I had the option of Atlantic or this new label called Lost Highway that had done Lucinda Williams and Ryan Adams. Looking back, the smarter choice would’ve been that. I could have cultivated my craft longer and been surrounding by a small group of people that cared about music in a different way. I also grew up listening to rock ’n’ roll records, so it made sense from that perspective. I got to fly to New York and meet [Atlantic head] Ahmet Ertegun. We talked about Otis Redding and the Rolling Stones. It’s one of the biggest, most iconic labels in the world, and it was hard to say no to.”

Hoge then had a good run with Rykodisc, a label that turned into a catalog company after signing quality singer-songwriters like Hoge and Alejandro Escovedo. A solo tour inspired the songs on Hoge’s latest album, Anchors. After writing the tunes, he assembled an all-star band featuring drummer Jerry Roe (Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell, Darius Rucker), bassist Dominic Davis (Jack White, Wanda Jackson), and guitarists Brad Rice (Son Volt, Ryan Adams) and Thom Donovan (Lapush, Ruby Amanfu) to record the thing. “For about a year and a half, I lost myself in solo mode and went out and played old songs and worked on some old things,” says Hoge. “That helped rekindle the love of the process.” The album opens with the rootsy ballad “The Reckoning,” and then veers into more rock-oriented territory with songs such as “(This Ain’t) An Original Sin.” “It’s some characters just in real life [who inspired ‘The Reckoning’],” says Hoge. “I have some older people in my extended family, and I try to look through their lens a little bit. I don’t know if it’s a biblical thing or not, but the word ‘reckoning’ does have a larger connotation that makes it sound more foreboding than the word itself.” Since moving to Nashville, singersongwriter Sheryl Crow has become friends with Hoge’s wife. So when it came time to ask her to sing on the tune “Little Bit of Rust,” Hoge felt comfortable approaching the Grammywinner. “Once the song was done and I knew we needed a female vocal, that was my first call. It turned out great. She is top notch.” Hoge, who’s currently touring with Donovan and a rhythm section he hired for the tour, says he hopes to keep the band he used on Anchors for the next record. “I think it will be an extension of where we are,” he says. “I just want to capture a new batch of songs with these guys.”

jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel | clevescene.com | December 6 - 12, 2017

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Photo courtesy of the Syndicate PR

BAND OF THE WEEK

PETER OREN By Jeff Niesel MEET THE BAND: Peter Oren (vocals, guitar) STAN’S HIS MAN: Born and raised in Columbus, Indiana, singersongwriter Peter Oren grew up playing piano. But by high school, Oren, who possesses a rich baritone, had switched to guitar and started writing poetry. “My voice didn’t start out like this,” he says. “It’s taken some time to develop and mature. It’s deepened a bit since I was 18 or so. It wasn’t a conscious decision to sing like this. It’s just my natural tendency. My dad listened to this guy Stan Rogers, who was this guy from the ’80s who died young. He had this deep baritone voice that had a lot of vibrato on it. That was something I was around when I was younger. We didn’t listen to Johnny Cash or Leonard Cohen early on. Stan Rogers was the main subconscious vocal influence.” Oren would eventually begin writing songs, and he released his debut, Living by the Light, in 2015.

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| clevescene.com | December 6 - 12, 2017

AN ALL-STAR BAND: For his new album, Anthropocene, Oren worked with Ken Coomer, who used to play drums in Wilco. He offered to produce the record at his studio in Nashville. “I thought it was a good opportunity to say something of significance,” says Oren. “I focus the songs around political and social struggles that I’m grappling with.” Coomer recruited keyboardist Michael Webb (John Fogerty), singer Maureen Murphy (Zac Brown Band),

and guitarists Sam Wilson (Sons of Bill) and Laur Joamets (Sturgill Simpson) to play on the disc.

WHY YOU SHOULD HEAR HIM: Oren has described the album’s gritty single “Throw Down” as a tune for “people fighting for freedom from oppression everywhere.” “That song was intended to try to express a sense of urgency that comes with people with a political motivation to change things, particularly the kind of feeling I felt with the people in the Occupy movement years ago,” he says. “It’s about the urgency of the situation. It’s the feeling of wanting to do something immediately. There’s all sorts of violence and injustice happening all around the world. I wanted to grapple with that. I struggle to find hope through the conventional channels and alternatively trying to struggle in physical material ways.” Oren says he’s a fan of Neil Young, and he thought the song, which becomes a real dirge thanks to Joamets’ driving solo, was best served with “some emphatic playing.” WHERE YOU CAN HEAR HIM: peteroren.com. WHERE YOU CAN SEE HIM: Peter Oren performs with Matthew Milia and Dolfish at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 7, at the Beachland Tavern.

jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel

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Buy tickets at HOUSEOFBLUES.COM/CLEVELAND Order By Phone: 800.745.3000 • House of Blues Box Office

| clevescene.com | December 6 - 12, 2017

39

MUSIC A TREASURE CHEST Music critic Holly Gleason talks about the process of curating her new book By Matt Wardlaw

40

Photo by Allister Ann

THE INSIDE JACKET OF HOLLY Gleason’s new book, Woman Walk the Line: How the Women in Country Music Changed Our Lives describes it as “part history, part confessional and part celebration of country, Americana and bluegrass and the women who make them. Woman Walk the Line is a very personal collection of essays from some of America’s most intriguing women writers.” The essays spotlighting artists like Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, Lucinda Williams, Taylor Swift and others illustrate that music has an incredible power to rescue and transform those who are searching for the next steps in their life journey. It’s that song or album that happened to be playing at just the right moment. The lyrics take hold, and everything suddenly comes clear. In their essays, the writers share their own experiences of how these musicians have played a crucial role in their own lives. Gleason, a Shaker Heights native, will read from the book at 7 p.m. on Friday at Visible Voice Books in Tremont. Local singer-songwriter Rachel Brown will also perform. Gleason began the project with two legal pads — one with a list of writers and the other with names of prospective musicians she wanted to see featured. She asked each writer to name the musician who impacted her, and in what way. As New York journalist Caryn Rose shares with Scene, even if you answered those two questions successfully, the work was just beginning. “When Holly reached out to me, the book was almost done. I said, ‘Well, the only person I’d want to write about has definitely been covered already,’ and when she asked me who it was, she told me that no one had yet written about Maybelle Carter. That, however, didn’t make it easy, because the thought of being the person in that lineup of writers to write about Mother Maybelle was pretty daunting. She knew where and when to push and was never wrong. She is a superhero.” The Carter essay leads off the book, which is appropriate, Gleason

Holly Gleason

points out during a phone call from her Nashville home. “Here is a woman who is really the foremother of so much of all of it,” she explains. “A.P. [Carter]’s out of the game, and rather than ceding her autonomy, [Maybelle] starts booking the gigs, driving the station wagon, smoking the cigarettes. She didn’t ask permission; she just kept going.” Taylor Swift is one of several artists who contributed essays, with an interesting twist — her contribution was written when she was 17 years old and just getting started with her musical career. “I approached her team, and I said, ‘I’m doing this book. I know she’s done a ton of benefits with Emmylou. I’m sure she’s gleaned stuff from her. I’ll give you Emmylou. If she doesn’t want to do Emmy, she can do anybody else; she

| clevescene.com | December 6 - 12, 2017

can do whatever she wants, but let me just start the conversation.’” After about a week, she heard back from the Swift camp. Swift had written a short essay about Brenda Lee, which they were willing to provide with one caveat. “She wrote it when she was 17, and it’s really important that is acknowledged in the work,” they told Gleason. “Because she doesn’t want anyone to think that she wrote it now. Obviously. She’s a 27-year-old woman.” Gleason was floored when she got the piece from Swift. “Because she’s not Taylor Swift when she writes this essay. She’s a young girl, who has had some hit singles, and we know how many of those girls come and they go,” she says. “There she is, sitting on her mother’s bed, looking at Brenda Lee, who was arguably, in her day, one

of the biggest stars, and here is this ambitious child, who is looking at her future, she hopes, and trying to do the math. There’s not another human being in the world that could have written that essay.” Gleason has two essays in the book, including one on Tanya Tucker that traces her own formative years in Cleveland. “There was so much energy around rock music and local music. WMMS, I remember pulling into the library parking lot and Kid Leo saying, with that voice of his, ‘This is brand new from London, England, Akron’s Chrissie Hynde, on the home of the Buzzard.’ It was the import single of ‘Stop Your Sobbing.’ That’s what Cleveland gives you. Music is important. There was great curation. The things that got lifted up were visceral.” She also offers credit to muchloved Cleveland singer-songwriter Alex Bevan, who “put me on the road” to discovering the music of John Prine, Steve Goodman and Jimmy Buffett, “the pre‘Margaritaville’ years,” she clarifies. As a result of that association, she crossed paths with Vince Gill, then a member of Pure Prairie League, who heard her reel off a string of Rodney Crowell’s credits and told her she should be writing about music. Woman Walk the Line, which is already in its second printing, has gotten a hefty stack of accolades, including praise from The New York Times and Rolling Stone. “You always hope that good work will find its audience, but as we both know, that’s rarely the case,” Rose writes in an email. “I am so thrilled to be part of a project that is finding its home and resonating so strongly with readers. It just proves that there is an audience for women writing about music.” Adds contributing writer Shelby Morrison, who wrote about Barbara Mandell: “This book is a treasure chest, each story is a jewel, much like the soul of every writer who shared their story.”

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

| clevescene.com | December 6 - 12, 2017

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LIVEWIRE 12/06

Photo by Kevin Mazur

WED

all the live music you should see this week Singer Katy Perry returns to the Q. See: Sunday.

10 X 3 Singer Songwriter Showcase hosted by Brent Kirby: 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge. Cleveland State University Jazz Showcase: 8 p.m., $5. Bop Stop. A Billy Coakley Christmas: 8 p.m., free. Brothers Lounge. Horton’s Holiday Hayride! with Reverend Horton Heat/Junior Brown/The Blasters/Big Sandy: 8 p.m., $35. Beachland Ballroom. Hundreth/Spotlights/Tennis System/Gleemer/honeymoon: 7 p.m., $12 ADV, $15 DOS. Mahall’s 20 Lanes. The Jive Aces: 7:30 p.m., $18 ADV, $22 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. Scarface: 9 p.m., $28 ADV, $30 DOS. Grog Shop.

THU

FRI

SUN

12/07

Bobby Floyd/Christian Howes Quartet: 8 p.m., $20. Nighttown. Chris Hatton’s Musical Circus (in the Wine Bar): 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge. Hot Djang! (in the Supper Club): 7:30 p.m., $5. Music Box Supper Club. Jam Night with the Bad Boys of Blues: 9 p.m., free. Brothers Lounge. Matthew Milia/Peter Oren/Dolfish: 8 p.m., $10. Beachland Tavern. Mist/Pool/Ma Holos/The Pink Owl: 9 p.m., $5. Happy Dog. Urban Tropic/The Katy/Mars Dog: 8:30 p.m., $5 ADV, $7 DOS. Grog Shop. Vesperteen/Bonelang/Amy Guess: 8 p.m., $12. Musica. Z109 White Out Party 2017 Featuring Moneybagg Yo/K Camp/Q Money: 7 p.m. House of Blues.

12/08

Muriel Anderson/Mark Sganga/Pete Cavano: 8:30 p.m., $20. Nighttown. Brazilian Night with Luca Mundaca & Her Band (in the Supper Club): 8 p.m., $10. Music Box Supper Club. Breakfast Club: 9:30 p.m., free. Brothers Lounge. Eric Clapton Tribute by Slowhand: 8 p.m., $12 ADV, $15 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. Dr. E and The Doni Jai Band: 7 p.m., $15 ADV, $20 DOS. Bop Stop. Drop the Act/Two Hands/Seconds to Live/Grim Republic: 8:30 p.m., $5.

Woodchoppers Ball: 7 p.m., $30. The Kent Stage. World Zen’d: 9:30 p.m., $5. Brothers Lounge.

The Euclid Tavern. Sara Evans, At Christmas: 8 p.m. Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park. Hackensaw Boys/Swap Meet: 8:30 p.m., $15. Beachland Tavern. Will Hoge Band/Augustana/Dan Layrus: 9 p.m., $20. Musica. John Lennon Remembered: 7 p.m., free. Beachland Ballroom. No Love Lost: A Dance Party with Strantron 3000 and Mateo Manic: 9 p.m., free. Happy Dog. Rollin’ Grams Tour: Sonny Digital Reese La Flare, Black Boe, DJ Fresco, DJ KNYCE, Von Swagger: 9 p.m., $15. Grog Shop. Samfox Single Release/Oregon Space Trail of Doom/White Buffalo Woman: 9 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Mahall’s 20 Lanes. Sponge: 6 p.m., $15 ADV, $18 DOS. Odeon. Moss Stanley: 10:30 p.m., free. Nighttown. The Stolen: 8 p.m., $10. The Winchester. Travelin’ Johnsons (in the Wine Bar): 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge.

SAT

12/09

Do Make Say Think: Nearly a decade after the release of their last album, the legendary instrumental postrock act Do Make Say Think is back in action this year with yet another poetically named album, Stubborn Persistent Illusions. (Other record titles include Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn and You, You’re

A History In Rust.) And that means the Toronto-based five-piece is on the road, bringing more than 20 years worth of jazz-fusion tunes to cities across the world. The new record, five years in the making due to the fact that some members also play in Broken Social Scene, shows off the band’s signature interlooping guitars and drums while still pushing toward new heights. (Laura Morrison) 7 p.m., $15 ADV, $17 DOS. Agora Ballroom. Blockhead/p. stoops: 9 p.m., $14 ADV, $17 DOS. Beachland Tavern. Ces Cru/DTK of Psych Ward: 6 p.m., $15 ADV, $18 DOS. Odeon. The Dear Hunter/The Family Crest/ VAVA: 8 p.m., $20. Musica. The Front Porch (in the Wine Bar): 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge. Kneebody: 8 p.m., $20 ADV, $25 DOS. Bop Stop. Love Birds/Blitchseat/Connections: 9 p.m., $5. Happy Dog. Ottawa/Public/Saint Light: 8:30 p.m., $10 ADV, $13 DOS. Beachland Ballroom. Street Gurgler/Der Kommissar: 9 p.m., free. Now That’s Class. Trophy Eyes/Free Throw/Grayscale/ Head North: 7 p.m., $15 ADV, $17 DOS. Mahall’s 20 Lanes. Jackie Warren: 10:30 p.m., free. Nighttown. The Whiskey Hollow EP Release/The Tom Katlees/ The Mason District/Meg & The Magnetosphere: 8:30 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Grog Shop. Who Hit Me/Greg Blucher/Ennui: 8:30 p.m., $5. The Euclid Tavern.

12/10

Katy Perry/Purity Ring: Three years ago, singer Katy Perry performed in front of a capacity crowd at Quicken Loans Arena and delivered a highly entertaining familyfriendly performance that would’ve been rated PG-13 as she kept her banter with the crowd on the safe side, talking about the garden she has at home where she grows kale and other veggies (she even bristled when one fan suggested she grows pot). Perry’s two-hour show was never dull as she regularly changed outfits and strutted across the giant catwalk that extended about 100 feet into the audience. While she’s not athletic enough to pull off the kind of gymnastic moves that Pink does during her concerts, she did allow herself to be hoisted into the Q’s rafters during various parts of the show. Expect a similar performance when Perry returns to the venue tonight in support of her new album, Witness. (Jeff Niesel) 7 p.m., $50.50-$150.50. Quicken Loans Arena. Tab Benoit/Eric Johanson: Arriving pretty consistently in Cleveland each winter, Tab Benoit returns to drop some N’awlins heat on the North Shore. He most recently dropped a “greatest hits” album, but to really get the bayou bliss from this guy, turn your attention toward 1994’s What I Live For or 2002’s Wetlands, each of which sums up Benoit’s Cajun vibe quite adroitly. Through tunes like “Blues Come Walking In” and “Time and Time Again,” he shows off his effortless approach to six-string rhythms and inventive vocal acrobatics. Check out his 2016 Jazz Fest set, available on Youtube. Sick stuff. Of course, you could also just stroll on down to the Beachland Ballroom tonight, where he and Eric Johanson will delight the Cleveland masses with edgy Delta blues. (Eric Sandy) 7:30 p.m., $30. Beachland Ballroom. Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience: 7 p.m., $15. Bop Stop. Big Ship Holiday Brunch: 2:30 p.m., $6-$12. Nighttown. The Black Lillies (in the Supper Club): 7:30 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. | clevescene.com | December 6 - 12, 2017

43

LIVEWIRE “ Rainy days seem to wind up sunny”

at Margaritaville

Taylor Caniff: 1 p.m., $30. Mahall’s 20 Lanes. Davey Suicide/Syringe/Monster Dolls/Beside the Silence: 6:30 p.m., $15 ADV, $18 DOS. The Foundry. Mike Petrone (in the Wine Bar): 5:30 p.m. Brothers Lounge. PsychoStick/Kissing Candice/Raven Black/Arsonists Get All the Girls/ Fit For a Funeral: 6 p.m. Odeon. Straight No Chaser: 3 p.m., $29.50$59.50. State Theatre. Suitcase Runaway/Julia Julian/ Biplane Orchard/Kim Haffey: 8:30 p.m., $6. Grog Shop. $uicideboy$: 8 p.m., $25. House of Blues. John Watkins Experience: 7 p.m., $20. Nighttown.

MON

12/11

Skatch Anderssen Big Band: 8 p.m., $7. Brothers Lounge. Black Marble/You/Golden Streets of Paradise/DJ Mix Silkman: 8 p.m., $8 ADV, $10 DOS. Now That’s Class. Grassroots Bluegrass Jam: 7:30 p.m., free. The Euclid Tavern. Radiator Hospital/Cheap Clone/Joey Sprinkles: 9 p.m. Grog Shop. Arin Ray/Childish Major: 8:30 p.m., $10. Beachland Tavern. Riviera/Bleacher Days/Goldleaf/ Maybe Later/Hello Weekend: 7 p.m., $10. Mahall’s 20 Lanes. Shit Show Karaoke: 10 p.m. B-Side Liquor Lounge & Arcade. Snails/Funtcase/Boogie T: 7 p.m. House of Blues. Velvet Voyage (in the Wine Bar): 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge.

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| clevescene.com | December 6 - 12, 2017

12/12

Amanda & Rick (in the Wine Bar): 7 p.m. Brothers Lounge. Hayes Carll/Rebekah Jean: 7:30 p.m., $20 ADV, $25 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. Bill Kirchen & Too Much Fun’s Honky Tonk Holiday!: 8 p.m., $18 ADV, $20 DOS. Beachland Ballroom. Ernie Krivda Fat Tuesday Big Band: 7 p.m., $10. Nighttown. Made Violent/Ugly Sun/Pack Wolf: 8:30 p.m., $10. Grog Shop. Steel Panther/Diamante: 7 p.m., $28$40. House of Blues. Twisted Pine/The Vindys: $7 ADV, $10 DOS. Beachland Tavern.

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

Photo courtesy of Ottawa

C-NOTES

Ottawa will head to Atlanta to record its new album.

A PROPER SENDOFF Local indie rockers Ottawa to debut new songs at the Beachland By Jeff Niesel AFTER THEIR PREVIOUS BAND, the Royaltons, split up, singer Dale DeLong and guitarist Tim Czajka formed the local indie rock act Ottawa in 2013. They had a good run with the Royaltons, which played around town from 2007 to 2010, but they’ve had an even better run with Ottawa, which has built a bigger local following and produced more material. Earlier this year, the band released the EP Small Talk. Now, the group has announced it plans to record a new album in Atlanta. Its show on Friday at the Beachland will serve as a send-off, and the group plans to play five new songs at the gig. “We shook things up within the band and really found our sound with these songs,” says DeLong. “We went from sounding like a band that had good intentions of writing great songs to just writing great songs. We’re all in; you’ll see soon.” Public and Saint Light will also perform at the concert, which begins at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance, or $13 at the door.

LOCAL SINGER RELEASES NEW MUSIC VIDEO Once voted “Best Singer” in Scene’s Best of Cleveland campaign, and a regular nominee in the Ohio Hip Hop Awards, local soul singer Lauren Lanzaretta is one of the more active artists

on the local scene. She generated plenty of hype with her full-length debut, 2014’s Naked Soul, and she’s currently working on a new album with local producer Jim Stewart. Deliverance, the Stewart-produced full-length, will likely drop in early 2018. In the meantime, you can catch a glimpse of the album by checking out Lanzaretta’s new single, “Calm the Storm.” It features backing vocals from the talented local group Jabtune and a string arrangement courtesy of Alex Hitchens. Lanzaretta has also released a new music video. “We filmed at Glo Studios and Edgewater beach,” says Lanzaretta when asked about the music video. “It was directed by Sequoia Byrd and the dance performance was by Tessa DelZoppo, who is from Niagra Falls, New York. She traveled to Cleveland to film. The idea behind the video was to evoke emotion through dance, to show frustration and pain, then counter it with feelings of peace from the water scenes. The song is about turning to God when you feel alone, desperate or misunderstood, and to encourage people to not turn to destructive things like drugs or suicide.” Appropriately, the tune has a gospel feel; it also allows Lanzaretta to show off her remarkable voice.

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jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel | clevescene.com | December 6 - 12, 2017

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| clevescene.com | December 6 - 12, 2017

SAVAGE LOVE WHAT HAPPENED By Dan Savage Dear Dan, I used to be a fan of your column, Dan, but something happened to you. Maybe it’s stress, the current political climate, or some other issue — I don’t know. I used to look forward to your columns because they were fun, smart, and helpful — but I don’t enjoy what I’m seeing now. If something did happen to you, reach out for help. You’re on the verge of losing a loyal reader. — Reader Enquiring About Dan’s Enervating Responses I’ve been getting letters like yours — what happened to you, Dan, you used to be more fun — at this time of year, every year, for the last 25 years, READER. Maybe I get moody when the weather gets gloomy and that spills into my column annually. And perhaps the current political climate — a rather reserved way to describe the destruction of our democracy — is making my seasonal grumping worse. Another possible factor … I don’t know how long you’ve been reading, READER, but I’ve been writing this column for a long time. And back before the internet came along and ruined everything for everyone, I used to get a lot of how-to/what’s-that questions about sex acts and sex toys. A column explaining butt plugs to readers who knew nothing about them — and lacked easy access to butt plug info — was as much fun to read as it was to write. But every sex act and every sex toy has its own Wiki page now, which means I don’t get to write fun columns about butt plugs anymore, READER, and you don’t get to read them. Now the questions all revolve around someone being deeply shitty or someone deluding themselves about how deeply shitty they’re being. Columns filled with questions about and from people behaving badly are never going to be as delightsome as those butt plug columns of yore. But thank you for writing in to share your concern, READER, and rest assured that nothing truly terrible has happened to me — besides Trump, of course, but Trump happened to all of us, not

just me. Still, I don’t want to lose you as a reader, so I’m going to make an effort to sunny things up a bit over the next few weeks. Okay! Let’s see what else came in the mail today! Hopefully something fun!

Dear Dan, My significant other and I rarely have sex. A while ago, I had a sexual encounter with her daughter. We continued to have sexual encounters for some time. Now my significant other and I may be getting married. Her daughter and I broke it off, but it started up again after a week. I am attempting to break things off with my significant other’s daughter again, but I’m having a hard time. Please advise. — Restraining Urges Is Necessary Ugh. Do you see what I mean, READER? It’s hard to come through with jokes, erudition, and uplift when you’re responding to questions like this one. Okay, RUIN. Marrying a woman whose adult daughter you can’t keep your dick out of … yeah, that’s a bad idea. (And her daughter is an adult, right?!? You’re not Roy Moore’ing it, are you?) Sooner or later, your significant other is going to discover what’s been going on, and your relationship with both of these women will be destroyed. You’ll be able to move out and move on, RUIN, but your former significant other isn’t going to be so lucky. Because while you won’t always be her SO, and hopefully won’t ever be her husband, her daughter is always going to be her child. So while you may get out from this relationship with some light scarring, your ex and her daughter will be left with open, gaping wounds for the rest of their lives. My advice: Pull up your pants, cancel the wedding, and get as far away from your SO and her daughter as possible.

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