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Group Publisher Chris Keating Publisher Andrew Zelman

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Woe to the Plain Dealer

Associate Publisher Angela Nagal Editor Vince Grzegorek

Feature

Editorial Music Editor Jeff Niesel Senior Writer Sam Allard Staff Writer Brett Zelman Web Editor Laura Morrison Dining Editor Douglas Trattner Visual Arts Writer Dott von Schneider Copy Editor Elaine Cicora Interns Preeya Shankar, Alana Whelan

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Two emerging young leaders on the lack of racial equity in Cleveland

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UPFRONT PLAIN DEALER EDITOR ANNOUNCES 12 REPORTERS AND EDITORS WILL LOSE JOBS, DECIMATING PRINT NEWSROOM

Photo by Sam Allard

IN A LATE-FRIDAY EMAIL NEWS dump, Plain Dealer editor George Rodrigue announced a “painful adjustment”: The paper would be reducing its newsroom staff by 12 reporters, photographers and editors within the next two weeks. He attributed the decision to declining revenue from print advertising. “The essence of a reduction in force like this is that good people lose their jobs, through no fault of their own,” Rodrigue wrote. “That is a kind of tragedy, and one that will be deeply felt by everyone at The Plain Dealer.” These forthcoming layoffs are in addition to the outsourcing of 24 production jobs in the paper’s “Pub Hub.” Rodrigue announced in December that the work of local copy editors, layout designers and illustrators would be relocated to a “centralized production system” — i.e., these jobs would be given to non-union remote editors working at various sites owned by Advance, the paper’s corporate parent. (Rodrigue noted in his Friday email that this new production system is scheduled to start in May.) The PD’s personnel decision comes only days after the News Guild suggested a joint subscription drive. In a letter last week, guild members requested that for every 500 new subscriptions purchased, one local journalist’s job be preserved for an additional year. Rodrigue did not acknowledge the proposed drive in his email, but he did mention subscribers. He said that while they have been “extraordinarily loyal” over the years, there “must be a limit to their generosity; we need to keep our expenses within the means of our readers.” Also, no doubt, they must keep their expenses down for Advance, a company which has had no qualms about coughing up tremendous dough to maintain two news operations in the same city — print (union, Plain Dealer), and digital (non-union, Cleveland. com) newsrooms — an inefficient arrangement designed, everyone knows, to kill the union. The

Newhouse Family, owners of Advance, can spare the expense. Despite claims of declining profitability and hand-wringing about the need to tighten belts, the Newhouses are the nation’s 12thrichest family, worth roughly $18.5 billion. Despite this extraordinary wealth accrued from the profits of newspapers and magazines, the paper can no longer afford, we’re told, these crucial editorial positions. Nor can the Plain Dealer afford to let readers down, Rodrigue said. “We have been a community voice and a civic watchdog for nearly 180 years. We have coped with countless disruptions during that time, from the invention of electricity to the creation of radio to the pervasiveness of the Internet. At each juncture, we’ve had to reshape ourselves. This is not the end of that story, but another chapter in it.” Well, this may very well be the final chapter for the nation’s

first News Guild. That’s why the Plain Dealer is Local 1. Its tiny membership has been decimated by this latest assault. In a statement, the Guild said that its membership had been reduced by roughly 90 percent in the past 20 years, from 340 to about 30, after the latest cuts. “Guild journalists have stuck it out through pay cuts, skyrocketing health care costs and a frozen pension because doing this work — this service — for many is a lifelong vocation,” the Guild wrote. They said that Rodrigue assured them in December that the outsourcing of 24 production jobs was in order to save money so that the newsroom could focus on important local reporting. “But with today’s decision,” they wrote Friday, “it’s clear to us the cuts are meant to crush a union.” The Guild also said that they were told 14 newsroom staffers would be laid off, but that two production jobs

would be added to the newsroom (so the net loss from the Pub Hub and the newsroom is still 36). Rodrigue, to conclude, made a point of thanking the journalists for “pouring their souls into a noble calling.” “I also want to thank our subscribers and our advertisers for supporting us as we have evolved over the past decade. A region like ours deserves a great newspaper, and your loyalty sustains us.” — Sam Allard

How a Mobster Scammed the Flats East Bank Twice, With Rascal Flatts and Toby Keith Restaurants The Arizona Republic had a dynamite investigative package last week on Frank Capri, a mafia soldier turned government witness turned Arizona businessman who scammed | clevescene.com | March 20 -26, 2019

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developers across the country by selling them on Toby Keith and Rascal Flatts bars before torpedoing them into the ground and walking away with millions. The first part, the Toby Keith saga, was already well-documented by the same paper. Capri and Boomtown Entertainment had announced deals in the early 2010s to expand the Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill from 20 to 40 locations, including one at the Flats East Bank. After years of waiting, the Flats officially announced in 2015 that the project would never open. The same went for the other 20 or so, after Boomtown stiffed contractors, failed to pay taxes, racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax liens and faced some $30 million in lawsuits. (That number had climbed to $65 million in judgments by 2017.) The second part begins shortly after. By 2016, the Flats East Bank announced, amid other openings and closings, that a Rascal Flatts Bar and Grill would be gracing the development. Scott Wolstein, developer and partner of the Wolstein Group, said at the time, “A restaurant supported by a national name like Rascal Flatts is the perfect addition to the Flats East Bank. From the beginning, we set out to build an urban waterfront destination, and we’re excited to be able to offer this type of concept in conjunction with our existing restaurants and entertainment venues. It’s also a testament to Cleveland’s resurgence for us to be able to attract these types of businesses.” Last April the developer set a target opening date of late summer. Summer came and went, and by January of this year plans were officially scuttled. As the PD and others noted, it felt eerily similar to what happened with Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill. Public records and business registrations found a good reason why: Capri’s girlfriend was among the many names included. The Arizona Republic expanded on that information with its sprawling investigation, showing developers like the Wolsteins had no idea that in Rascal Flatts they were getting into bed with the same guy who previously fucked them over with the Toby Keith enterprise. The Republic found [Capri]

controlled key aspects of the restaurant projects. Phone recordings, text messages, documents and interviews show Capri relied on his girlfriend and her business associate to front the restaurants. Working behind the scenes, Capri oversaw hiring, firing, employee payments, permits, construction schedules and collection of development fees. He directed contractors on what to say to mall managers in Cleveland. Phone calls recorded by one of Capri’s contractors show how he tried to push Flats East Bank general manager Rob Clarke. Here’s how Capri described Clarke on one phone call: “He’s trying to put pressure on everybody. To get the f—king place built. But what he’s going to do is f—k himself. We threatened him last week, said we’re going to quit the job, OK? Then he f—king backed up, OK? So he’s being handled. It’s going to be fine. I wouldn’t lie to you.” After seeking some $350,000 from Capri over the Toby Keith fallout, one of the many situations across the country from which Capri bilked developers of tens of millions of dollars, the Flats eventually found out they were dealing with him again when a man named Ray Rostho, who owned an Arizona construction company and who was hired by Capri to front the Rascal Flatts project here and in other cities, told Rob Clarke at one point that he really ought to just talk to Frank Capri, because it was his project. “I said, ‘You’re going to have to call Frank Capri,’” Roshto told the Arizona Republic. “He was totally surprised. He shouted out, ‘Frank Capri!’ Then he said it again: ‘Frank Capri.’ And I said, ‘Yeah.’” According to the report, “Contractors said Capri used a sophisticated system of fake invoices and exaggerated construction schedules to squeeze as much cash as he could from each project with the least amount of work. After a few months, it became clear Capri wasn’t interested in finishing the projects.” All the while, his longtime girlfriend and mother of his children, Tawny Costa, was listed on paperwork; her lawyers told the paper she had no control or interest in the various projects. Also listed was her business associate, Chris Burka: He claims he was duped and the Costas were in control. In reality, behind the scenes, Capri was running everything. The FBI and U.S. Marshals (Capri entered the witness protection program after testifying in trials

spanning two decades that led to the conviction of some 70 maďŹ a members; Frank Gioia Jr. was his given name) have declined to comment on their one-time star witness and his evolution into megascammer, but the Arizona Republic notes, “A criminal case ďŹ led in January in Arizona U.S. District Court and initially sealed from public view could signal something is about to change.â€? — Vince Grzegorek

Ohio Senate Passed a ‘Heartbeat’ Abortion Bill Last Week, Ohio House Passage Likely The Ohio Senate on Wednesday voted 19-13 to pass a bill that would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected — as soon as six weeks after conception. It’s not the first time the restrictions — which, if passed, would be among the strictest in the country — have come before the Ohio General Assembly. But they may have a better chance of passing into law and withstanding legal challenges now than at any time in the past. The bill has roughly 50 cosponsors as well as the support of pro-life groups like Ohio Right to Life. But last month, dozens also testified or submitted written statements opposing the bills, including NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio and the Ohio State Medical Association, on the grounds that it would block women’s access to needed health care. “The OSMA is extremely concerned due to specific provisions of the legislation that allow for civil and criminal penalties for clinicians who provide medical care related to women’s reproductive health issues,� the group said in written testimony. The Republican-lead General Assembly last year passed a similar bill, but it was vetoed by then-Ohio Gov. John Kasich. It was the second time Kasich had vetoed the legislation due to concerns about its constitutionality. New Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, however, says he will sign the bills into law. The version of the bill the state Senate passed does not include exceptions for rape or incest. Four Republicans joined Democrats in voting against the legislation. Republican senators who voted for the legislation say it is part of the state’s duty to protect the unborn. Bill sponsor Republican

State Sen. Kristina Roegner argued that Ohio must protect fetuses as soon as they are viable, and that current laws don’t go far enough. “We need a new standard. The heartbeat bill provides a sensible solution,� she said. But critics say it is government interference in women’s choices about their body. “This feels like, looks like, reads on paper like it’s a political intrusion into an extremely personal decision that a woman would make with her doctor,� Sen. Nicki Antonio, a Democrat, said during debate over the bill. Antonio presented an amendment to the bill that would have exempted rape and incest cases, but it was voted down. — Nick Swartsell

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FEATURE

Leaders Lead Work Photo by Emanuel Wallace

Evelyn Burnett and Mordecai Cargill are not here to be polite about Cleveland leadership and racial equity in the city By Sam Allard

I Third Space Action Lab is premised on a simple, radical idea: There are not enough spaces in Cleveland designed with people of color in mind.

f you got rid of Evelyn Burnett and Mordecai Cargill, the first floor of the Medical Associates Building on East 105th Street would be virtually empty. But the building’s not getting rid of Evelyn and Mordecai. Nor is Glenville. Nor even, despite its time-honored tradition of ignoring, suppressing or expelling its fiercest and bravest emerging leaders, is the city of Cleveland. At least not yet. They’ve just finished up a long conference call with a client, and they’re now seated at a plastic folding table responding to emails (Evelyn) and organizing notes in one of several large beige notebooks (Mordecai). Per the floor mats and exterior signage, the building where they currently sit is called the Madison, named in honor of Robert Madison, Ohio’s first registered black architect. Madison designed this building in the early 1960s for African American doctors, who financed its construction. It has recently undergone a substantial

renovation as part of a new Glenville “arts campus,” unveiled in 2017. PNC Bank and the Cleveland Foundation are both involved in this effort, having contributed funds to reinvigorate a dormant commercial district along the formerly bustling eastside corridor. The arts campus is also part of the microneighborhood known these days as Circle North. It’s the poster child for Cleveland mayor Frank Jackson’s Neighborhood Transformation Initiative. Circle North is an “edge” neighborhood — or is it a “hinge” neighborhood? — that connects University Circle and Glenville. But the first floor of the Madison is not yet permanently activated. That is to say, it feels a little sparse. In December, it came alive for a holiday bazaar and party that featured local black small-business owners, gratis Goldhorn brews, a DJ, and tours of the sleekly renovated apartments upstairs. The hope, though, is that the ground floor will soon be home to a fulltime coffee house or cafe. Khrys Shefton, of the Famicos Foundation (the Glenville area CDC), told | clevescene.com | March 20 -26, 2019

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Cleveland.com in late 2017 that they had been “in discussion with local entrepreneurs” to conceptualize and operate the space. Those entrepreneurs are Evelyn and Mordecai, and the Third Space Cafe is a vision that Evelyn has been turning over in her mind, she estimates, since 2007, when she moved to downtown Cleveland after graduating from the University of Akron and immediately encountering “aggressive, highly specific, institutional racism” vis-avis the Warehouse District. “The Warehouse District is, like, the epicenter of a lot of interesting racial dynamics to watch,” Evelyn tells Scene, asking that we bear with her. “This was a phenomenon we called ‘black night /white night.’ On Fridays you could go out and be a black male. You know, maybe your Tims could slide. But on Saturdays, you’d roll in with your crew and the black men would be stopped at the door. This happened all the time. Meanwhile, the cats at the door would be letting in white dudes in Bermuda shorts and flip-flops.” Evelyn says she and her friends generally laughed off these indignities, “because we had to,” but that she became acutely aware of the need for spaces outside of the home and the workplace — third spaces — where black people could simply exist. Her dream was nurtured in Washington, D.C., where she traveled regularly for work, and where she was instantly drawn to hip gathering spaces like Tryst, the coffee house-slash-bar in the Adams Morgan neighborhood, and Busboys and Poets, the famous bookstore. “It was still Chocolate City back then,” Evelyn reminisces, noting in contrast that when she would return to Cleveland, she and her friends tended to be the only black people in the Tremont bars they frequented. She took a job in New York City. And when she returned in 2014 to work for Cleveland Neighborhood Progress as the VP for economic opportunity, she began talking with Famicos and saw the potential for a third space in one of Cleveland’s historic black neighborhoods. “We want this to be a cool space, but a cool space in and of itself isn’t enough,” she says. “I mean we do want it to be beautiful. You’re out on a Friday night spending your hardearned money. It shouldn’t look like a shithole. But there has to be

nuanced intentionality. We want to see different kinds of black people here. I was very nervous about the idea of creating a space in a black neighborhood that my own brother wouldn’t feel comfortable coming to. So that’s a new challenge. How do you create a space for that lowincome black male with a GED that doesn’t alienate black people who grew up in Beachwood?” There are few people in Cleveland, a city without a single active black real estate developer, asking these sorts of questions. And those who are, aren’t doing so publicly. But these are crucial questions, and they’re the type of questions that Evelyn and Mordecai are now probing, and inviting others to probe, as they launch their new venture, the Third Space Action Lab. The Cafe is only one small piece of this venture, which is broadly concerned with community collaboration, strategy development and both temporary and permanent space activation. At its core, Third Space Action Lab is premised on a simple, radical idea: There are not enough spaces in Cleveland designed with people of color in mind. Both Evelyn and Mordecai worked at Cleveland Neighborhood Progress before they set out on their own last year. There, they helped facilitate the Racial Equity and Inclusion trainings — a fourhour crash course and a twoday extended workshop — that have become popular with local nonprofits. Mordecai says that after those sessions, participants would often emerge with significantly altered or destabilized views about the endurance of racism. “Most people walked away more sensitive to the fact that racism is still a problem,” he says, “and that it affects their work in some ways.” But he says the trainings rarely led to action. “Some people felt like they didn’t understand the issues well enough,” he says. “Others felt bad about it, but it just wasn’t their bag. And then others were like, ‘I get it, I want to be supportive, tell me how.’ And we realized we had to try to demonstrate it.” Third Space Cafe, then, should be the concrete example of what a space could look like if it were designed specifically for black people. “And it’s going to be,” Mordecai says, “because me and Evelyn are black. And this is a predominantly black community. We want to do something that’s a tribute to this

community but also is designed with this community.”

has been edited for concision.)

Scene: I’m curious about people like you guys who seem skeptical, at least, of local institutions, and who have abandoned the standard leadership trajectory to do their own thing. What can you do at Third Space Action Lab (TSAL) that you couldn’t have done at Cleveland Neighborhood Progress? Mordecai Cargill: Even though our background is community development and philanthropy — nonprofit work — there are certain challenges that are innate to the social sector. It’s why we wanted to launch as a for-profit rather than a nonprofit. We still work with nonprofit partners and foundations, but one of the limiting factors which prevents us from being as bold and audacious and visionary as we want to be is that, in a very real sense, the foundations aren’t necessarily organized to cultivate that orientation.

*** In August 2018, Evelyn Burnett spoke at an evening event hosted by the City Club of Cleveland, part of the off-record “Dinner + Dialogue” series. It was billed as a continuation of the conversation Jon Pinney had kick-started with his June City Club talk about Cleveland’s woeful economic performance and the angst-y disunity of city leaders. Evelyn’s comments about local leadership that evening were challenging — far more confrontational than anything Pinney said — and the small audience nodded along. These were comments that a huge number of civically engaged younger Clevelanders know to be true but are fearful of saying out loud. Both Evelyn and Mordecai’s ideas deserve space to breathe. We’ve decided to include an extended portion of our conversation with them, conducted at the Madison earlier this month. (This conversation

Scene: How so? Isn’t the general assumption that you can be bolder at a nonprofit because you’re not worried about … profit? MC: You have the runway to do work that is not explicitly about making money, sure. It’s not revenue

driven. But a lot of the underlying philosophy for how nonprofits are funded is driven by market logic. There is an idea rooted in the presumption that there’s not enough resources to go around, and that there’s not going to be more resources, so the limited resources have to be spent in the places with the highest returns. But that’s very much disconnected with the reality of need. Coming from the community development ecosystem, we see a tremendous need for services and resources in places like UnionMiles and Mt. Pleasant. The whole southeast side is fucked up. And these problems are distinctly more severe than the problems of Ohio City or downtown, or even Glenville. I think the closer you get to it, the more appreciation you have of the complexities, and the more ambivalence you have about what to do. This doesn’t make for good boilerplate, but like, on one hand, I can understand the impulse to maximize your investments. But on the other, I’m confronted with this reality that if our purpose of community development is actually to create better neighborhoods — safer, stronger, more resilient, more

vibrant neighborhoods — then every neighborhood should have the same opportunity to be that ideal community. Evelyn Burnett: I had a lot of autonomy at Cleveland Neighborhood Progress. I had a good setup and was given a lot of latitude to bring more black and brown people on staff. But we were confronted with systemic issues in really tangible ways.

Scene: Systemic racism? EB: I’m talking about funding. The relationship with philanthropy. It’s hard to untangle in a philanthropy town like Cleveland, but it’s not like this in other cities. Scene: Like what, exactly? EB: The funders make the decisions here. Like we’ve got data and we’ve got observations and we’ve got experiences telling us one thing, but then as an organization we’re acting in a different way. This really bubbled over with the Race, Equity and Inclusion (REI) work. Once you put race on the table, you can’t unring that bell. REI did an incredible job synthesizing this information — putting racism in a historical context, helping people understand

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FEATURE what it means to be white — but after going through those for more than a year, I became increasingly uncomfortable with my peers not seeing the emotional and psychological toll on black people, who are sitting through these trainings every month and then watching their institutions uphold the status quo.

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| clevescene.com | March 20 -26, 2019

Scene: So that’s why you left? EB: It was just too much cognitive dissonance. I knew there was no way I could get at the issues I wanted to get at inside an institution. Too often, I need to oppose, or call out, or organize around, or agitate against, the institution itself. And that’s when stuff gets messy. People get uncomfortable. It starts to get very personal. But it was just like, we have to leave. Scene: This was June of last year? EB: Right. And June through November was crisis-mode. Dealing with fallout. People were like, ‘What could you possibly be upset about? You have a great job. You’re making a lot of money. You’re sitting on panels. Why are you so angry?’ And I’m like, ‘Ain’t y’all been sitting in these mothafuckin’ REI trainings every month?’ None of the natural allies seemed to be there. This is for sure a leadership growth opportunity, a collision with reality. What do you call it, Mordecai? A violent collision — MC: — between theory and practice. EB: Right. We are learning and thinking about a lot of things. Scene: Thinking about anything around here is kind of a radical thing to do. EB: Right? But thought is important. It’s work. At a lot of institutions, it’s just blind action. It’s just, show that you are busy, just doing stuff. And I’m like, to what end? This is a theme across Cleveland, from the highest levels of nonprofits down to people doing the day-to-day. It’s like, we’re going from meeting to meeting to meeting. I’m busy as shit! But with what? With going to meetings? Then I’m exhausted at the end of the day, which is when it’s time to do some actual work, which is thinking and writing. Nobody recognizes that. They think working means going from meeting to meeting and then

patting each other on the back for meeting and setting up more meetings. Look at infant mortality. Look at lead poisoning.

Scene : Let’s form a committee. Let’s plan a summit. EB: Yes! And most of these institutions — not all, I want to be fair, but most of them — aren’t designed for you to act on the problems you see. Scene : You left CNP right around the time that Jon Pinney and Bernie Moreno were starting to get a ton of buzz for their leadership and economic development talk. Through the fall, these discussions were at least gesturing toward the idea of ‘inclusion.’ Does that seem sincere to you? Or do you think it’s lip service? EB: I hate to be pessimistic, but I think it’s a lot of lip service. One of the hardest things about racial equity awareness building — not even the action, just the awareness building — is the acknowledgement that people learn language pretty well. They learn, ‘Okay, we’re not supposed to say this sort of thing about black friends,’ or, ‘Okay, we can’t submit anything to the foundations without gesturing toward equity and inclusion, toward D&I [diversity and inclusion].’ But we’ve been talking about D&I since the ’80s! The racial equity and inclusion work continues to feel very different for me, because it’s not just about who you hire and what board seats you have. It’s about understanding the systemic challenges. We’re not trying to throw the baby out with the bathwater. There are still programmatic things you have to do. But we have to acknowledge that we’re going to keep getting the same results if we try to address systemic problems with programmatic solutions. We’re not going to address the wealth gap by getting black businesses some mentors with one $100,000 grant in a single grant cycle. MC: I’m always the person who tries to complicate things, so let me just add that it’s difficult for me to say objectively whether or not the inclusion efforts are sincere or lip service. Through this work, you become more aware that people are trying to do right, even if they’re doing it in the wrong ways. Like with Bernie or Jon, what is really unique about them as Cleveland figures, and why they’re drawing so much attention, is because they’re saying shit. Taking a

position — any position — is rare in this city.

Scene: That’s for sure true, but I personally don’t see these new economic development strategies or leadership prognoses as all that different from the past 40 or 50 years. MC: Oh yeah, I mean I wish they took a position in service of a more noble cause. This shit hasn’t worked. There’s no magic involved in what makes a strong regional economy. There’s no magic in what makes a neighborhood safe or vibrant. You can quantify it. You can calculate exactly how much it would cost to fix lead contamination. There’s a number you can put on what it would take to renovate every fucked up house in Glenville north of Superior. But it’s not important to enough people. EB: That leadership conversation was so offensive for a couple of reasons. For one, Jon Pinney can get up on the City Club stage and say some shit that people have been living forever, and that other leaders have been working on for decades. Which is why I was less mad at Jon Pinney and more mad at the people who were calling it brilliant. Mordecai’s right. We have a mentor that talks about Cleveland as a ‘consensus city,’ and so taking a stance, right or wrong, is a thing. What I resent about a Bernie or a Jon Pinney is that they can do that without retribution. When we did that shit, back in May and June, our livelihoods were threatened. Scene: Who are you working with now? At TSAL? MC: We have a diverse mix of clients. EB: It’s a hodge-podge. MC: We’re working with CDCs — Famicos, Midtown — trying to figure out how might we create an equitable development framework, considering how rapidly these neighborhoods are changing, and the economic development pressures on them. EB: We’re also working with JumpStart. They’re really interested in access to capital for diverse entrepreneurs. Scene: That’s cool. EB: It is! But this conversation has been happening for a long time among black-and-brown serving organizations. So this is kind of a test, to see if an organization of JumpStart’s size and magnitude can do anything about the access to capital problem, given that they have so much of it.

Scene: Who are your ideal clients? EB: My ideal clients are places like the Hispanic Business Center, Mt. Pleasant CDC, Union-Miles CDC, Mrs. So-and-so with her small business, and Resident-X up the street. But those people don’t have any money. And this is a tough pill to swallow. I think one of the biggest problems we have in America is capitalism — now hyper-capitalism — which makes this a tricky dance. It’s complicated to live your values when you need funding to do your work. We have to be thinking about

approaches we can take that will actually begin to, quote unquote, ‘move the needle.’ I’d love to know one thing in Cleveland that we’ve moved the needle on in 50 years. Just one. Just one systemic thing. Like, everyone loves this term ‘low-hanging fruit.’ But what does that even mean? Low-hanging fruit is hanging so low because it’s either really ripe or because it’s rotten. And I’m like, damn, everyone around here is talking about the low-hanging fruit, but maybe we’re just gathering a whole bunch of rotten-ass fruit and calling it a fruit salad.

Scene: At least you’re out here growing fruit from scratch. That’s cause for optimism. MC: What I’m optimistic about is that there are leaders here in Cleveland who are not speaking at the City Club because they’re doing work. And when they get ready to emerge and lead, they will. All of our work is about organizing, and we want to connect with people who are willing to think, and do things, differently.

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GET OUT everything you should do this week Photo courtesy of the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque

WED

03/20

FILM

Both Sides Now: Live at The Isle of Wight Festival 1970 Both Sides Now: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970, a movie that features a performance by singersongwriter Joni Mitchell, captures the musician playing in front of a huge crowd. Directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Murray Lerner, the film shows how Mitchell at first fights with and then wins over the crowd. Following the screening, which takes place at 7 p.m. at the Rock Hall, there will be a Q &A with Eliot Kissileff, who worked with Lerner on the film. The screening is free for Rock Hall members and $5.50 for nonmembers. (Jeff Niesel) 1100 Rock and Roll Blvd., 216-515-8444, rockhall.com. SPORTS

Cavaliers vs. Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks will prove a formidable challenge for the Cavs tonight when the two teams meet at 7 at the Q. The Bucks might just be the best team in the entire NBA (and not just the Eastern Conference) and have played stellar ball all season. Consult the Quicken Loans Arena website for ticket prices. (Niesel) 1 Center Court, 216-420-2000, theqarena.com. SPOKEN WORD

Cleveland Stories Dinner Party Cleveland Stories Dinner Party is a weekly series that pairs fine food with storytelling. The goal is to “bring to life some of the fun, interesting stories about Cleveland’s past — from sports, to rock ’n’ roll, to Millionaires’ Row,” as it’s put in a press release. Admission is free, with no cover charge, although a prix fixe dinner, designed to complement the night’s theme, is $20. Tonight, Harvey B. Webster, a naturalist, educator, wildlife biologist and conservationist who’s been on the staff of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History since 1974, will talk about the “land before time” when dinosaurs ruled the world. Webster currently serves as the museum’s chief wildlife officer and museum ambassador. Doors

A documentary about punk icon Stiv Bators has its world premiere at the Cinematheque. See: Saturday.

open at 5 p.m., dinner is served at 6 and the storytelling starts at 7. (Niesel) 1148 Main Ave., 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com. THEATER

School of Rock A popular musical based on the comedic film that starred Jack Black as a rock ’n’ roll-obsessed instructor, School of Rock has come to Connor Palace after a successful run on Broadway. The plot centers on Dewey Finn and his attempts to train his students to play together in a “guitar-shredding, bassslapping, mind-blowing rock band.” Tonight’s performance takes place at 7:30, and performances continue

through March 24. Tickets start at $10. (Niesel) 1615 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

THU

03/21

COMEDY

Matt Braunger The creator and host of the popular podcast Ding-Donger with Matt Braunger, comedian Matt Braunger shares stories and observations and also doles out advice to people who call in and leave questions on his voicemail. It’s a novel approach that showcases Braunger’s wacky sense of humor. The comic performs at 7

tonight at Hilarities, where he has shows scheduled through Saturday. Tickets are $23 to $28. (Niesel) 2035 East Fourth St., 216-241-7425, pickwickandfrolic.com. COMEDY

Lil Rel When comedian Lil Rel Howery came through town three years ago, his first hour-long standup special had just aired on Comedy Central. A comic you might have heard of — Kevin Hart — produced the show. The fast-talking comic punctuates his joke with urban slang. In one skit about “hoodrats,” he makes fun of a run-in he had with a group of girls at the liquor store who are “too busy talking | clevescene.com | March 20 -26, 2019

17

7 at the museum, and tickets cost $10, or $7 for museum members. (Niesel) 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org.

GET OUT about what they’re going to order instead of just ordering it.” It’s funny stuff, especially when Rel begins impersonating the eccentric people that you might meet at a liquor store in the ghetto. On the heels of starring in hit flicks such as Get Out and Uncle Drew, Lil Rel has seen his popularity rise tenfold in the past few years. He performs at 7:30 p.m. tonight at the Improv and has shows scheduled through Sunday. Tickets start at $25. (Niesel) 1148 Main Ave., 216-696-IMPROV, clevelandimprov.com.

SPORTS

Cavaliers vs. Los Angeles Clippers Even though the Los Angeles Clippers traded away some of their best players right before this year’s

DANCE

CSU Spring Dance Concert 2019 Featuring the Cleveland State University Dance Company, faculty, staff, musicians and guest artists, the annual CSU Spring Dance Concert under the direction of Lynn Deering will feature “an eclectic evening of contemporary and traditional choreography.” It takes place at 7:30 tonight and tomorrow

HORROR

MUSIC

Open Mic Night/Live Band Karaoke Every Thursday, Stella’s Music hosts a night of music, poetry and comedy. The club’s doors open at 5 p.m., and performances begin at 8 p.m. Artists can sign up at stellasmusic.com/open-mic to secure a 15-minute time slot. Signups will be available at the club as well. Meanwhile, happy hour takes place from 5 to 7 p.m. Admission is free. (Niesel) 2217 East Ninth St., 216-272-3377, stellasmusic.com.

3/20 3/27 4/17 4/24 5/22 5/29 6/5

FILM

Starfi sh Director A.T. White will attend tonight’s screening of his unconventional horror film Starfish. The movie follows a young woman who spends the night at a dead friend’s house only to wake up to an apocalyptic world. A mixtape her friend left behind might be the only way she can save the world. White will conduct a Q&A after the movie screens at 7:45 at the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque. Tickets cost $12, or $9 for Cinematheque members and students. (Niesel) 11610 Euclid Ave., 216-421-7450, cia.edu.

FRI

2017 • R • 106 minutes • Courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment

Miss Sharon Jones! 2015 • not rated • 93 minutes

Horn from the Heart: The Paul Butterfield Story 2017 • not rated • 104 minutes • DCP Format

Turn It Around: The Story Of East Bay Punk 2017 • not rated • 155 minutes • DCP Format

Tommy 1975 • PG • 111 minutes • DCP Format

Boy Howdy!: The Story of Creem Magazine 2019 • not rated • 75 minutes • DCP format

Gimme Shelter 1970 • R • 91 minutes Criterion Collection Edition • DCP Format

FILMS FREE for Members

03/22

Bauhaus Spirit: 100 Years of Bauhaus Cleveland Museum of Art curator Stephen Harrison will be on hand at today’s screening of Bauhaus Spirit: 100 Years of Bauhaus, a movie that pays tribute to the famous German design school that produced notable artists and architects. The movie screens at

18

Joni Mitchell: Both Sides Now: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival

Non-Members: $5.50

BECOME A MEMBER OR GET TICKETS AT ROCKHALL.COM

FILM

Finding the humor in life and death, the wake acts as a dark backdrop to an otherwise hilarious show in which alcohol fuels the humorous reminiscing. Sort of like a tragic Tony ’n’ Tina’s Wedding, the interactive and improvised show engages the entire audience. Tonight’s show starts at 8 and repeats tomorrow night at 8 at Kennedy’s Theatre. Performances continue weekends through April 27. Tickets are $26. (Patrick Stoops) 1501 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

1100 Rock and Roll Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44114 • 888 .764 .ROCK (7625 )

trade deadline, the team remains in the playoff hunt and is hanging on to one of the last seeds in the Western Conference. The team will prove to be a tough opponent for the Cavs when they face off tonight at 7:30 at the Q. Consult the Quicken Loans Arena website for ticket prices. (Niesel) 1 Center Court, 216-420-2000, theqarena.com.

| clevescene.com | March 20 -26, 2019

night at the Allen Theatre. Tickets cost $5. (Niesel) 1407 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org. THEATER

Flanagan’s Wake Flanagan’s Wake transports the audience to an Irish wake where villagers tell tales and sing songs for their dearly departed Flanagan.

Last Podcast on the Left Ben Kissel, Marcus Parks and Henry Zebrowski, the hosts of Last Podcast on the Left, bring their live show to the Masonic Auditorium tonight. The program covers “dark” subjects such as serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, werewolves, Jonestown, hauntings and the history of war crimes. As it’s put in a press release, the aim is to “laugh into the abyss that is the dark side of humanity.” The show begins at 8 p.m., and tickets start at $25. (Niesel) 3615 Euclid Ave., 216-431-7370, masoniccleveland.com. MUSIC

‘A Hero’s Life’ by Strauss Critics originally made fun of composer Richard Strauss for making himself the hero of Ein Heldenleben (“A Hero’s Life”), a piece they called “a monstrous act of egotism.” But the piece has stood the test of time. Tonight at 7:30 at Severance Hall, the Cleveland Orchestra will perform the composition along with selections from Schubert and Webern. Rose Breckenridge, a lecturer and administrator for the Cleveland Orchestra Music Study Groups, gives the pre-concert talk that takes place an hour before the concert. Consult the orchestra website for more information, including ticket prices. (Niesel) 11001 Euclid Ave., 216-231-1111, clevelandorchestra.com. COMEDY

Steven Wright Few comics can deliver a deadpan line like Steven Wright can. A veteran comic whose career stretches back decades, the frizzy-haired Wright relies on observational humor. “Some people are afraid of heights. I’m afraid of widths,” he likes to joke. And when the restaurant sign reads “Breakfast anytime,” count on him to order “eggs during the French

Renaissance.” Half the time, his laconic delivery makes the simpleminded jokes work. He performs tonight at 8 at the Ohio Theatre. Tickets are $45 to $65. (Niesel) 1501 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

SAT

03/23

MUSIC

Dala Amanda Walther and Sheila Carabine met in high school in 2002; since forming their vocal group, Dala, the Canadian acousticpop duo have released five albums and toured extensively across North America. They perform tonight as part of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park concert series. Doors open at 7 and the music starts at 8 p.m. at Happy Days Lodge. Consult the website, below, for ticket prices. (Niesel) 500 West Streetsboro Rd., Peninsula, 330-657-2909, conservancyforcvnp.org. FILM

Genesis 2.0 Genesis 2.0 focuses on the harsh and dangerous life of so-called “mammoth hunters” who live and work in the far north of Siberia. The film captures the gold-rush fever that exists in the market for mammoth remains, because prices for this “white gold” have never been so high. Sometimes the hunters even find an almost completely preserved mammoth carcass with fur, liquid blood and muscle. The movie plays today at 5 p.m. at the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque; it screens again at 8:05 tomorrow night. Tickets cost $10, or $7 for Cinematheque members and students. (Niesel) 11610 Euclid Ave., 216-421-7450, cia.edu. SPORTS

Monsters vs. Hershey Bears Monsters Moon Landing Night, a special promotion for tonight’s game featuring the Cleveland Monsters and the Hershey Bears at the Q, will find the first 10,000 fans receiving an astronaut bobblehead. The promotion pays tribute to the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. The two teams face off again at 3 p.m. tomorrow when it’s a Pucks & Paws game, and dogs are welcome. Consult the Q website for ticket prices. (Niesel) 1 Center Court, 216-420-2000, theqarena.com.

FOOD

North Union Indoor Farmers Market Until March 30, the North Union Indoor Farmers Market takes place on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon at Crocker Park. Local farmers, makers and bakers will be on hand to sell seasonal greens and vegetables, fruits, meats, cheeses and bakery items. The market is held at 228 Market St., between the Gap and Cyclebar. Afterward, check out Comet Alley, which sits between Yard House and Hyatt Place Hotel: You’ll find locally owned businesses and shops that’ll appeal to a “shop local” mentality. (Niesel) 189 Crocker Park Blvd., Westlake, crockerpark.com.

CIM@SEVERANCE HALL Friday, April 12 at 8pm CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF MUSIC ORCHESTRA Robert Spano, guest conductor MAHLER Symphony No. 5

Reserve your FREE tickets today at cim.edu/mahler5 or call 216. 231.1111.

FILM

Stiv Punk pioneer Stiv Bators left behind a remarkable legacy before his untimely death in 1990. Bators, who sang with acts such as the Dead Boys and Lords of the New Church, is the subject of Stiv, a new documentary by Danny Garcia (The Rise and Fall of the Clash, Looking for Johnny, Sad Vacation). The movie receives its world premiere tonight at 8 at the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque. Tickets are $15, or $10 for Cinematheque members and students. (Niesel) 11610 Euclid Ave., 216-421-7450, cia.edu.

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Tiny Houses A Cleveland Play House production, Tiny Houses focuses on a woman who quits her finance job to move across the country with her boyfriend and build a 200-squarefoot tiny house. What could possibly go wrong? The play makes its world premiere tonight at 7:30 at the Outcalt Theatre. Tickets start at $25. (Niesel) 1407 Euclid Ave, 216-241-6000, clevelandplayhouse.com.

SUN

03/24

MUSIC

Choir of Man Set in a working pub, Choir of Man combines “hair-raising” harmonies, high-energy dance and live percussion with foot-stomping choreography. Tonight’s concert features the music of Paul Simon, Adele, Queen, Guns n Roses and Sia as a multi-talented cast of nine “handsome blokes” sings pub tunes, folk, Broadway and classic rock. It all goes down tonight at 7 at

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GET OUT the Ohio Theatre. Tickets are $45. (Niesel) 1501 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org. FILM

Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf Thomas Piper directs Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf, a documentary film about the landscape designer who designed the gardens along New York’s High Line and the Lurie Garden in Chicago’s Millennium Park. The film shows at 6:30 tonight at the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque. Tickets cost $10, or $7 for Cinematheque members and students. (Niesel) 11610 Euclid Ave., 216-421-7450, cia.edu. FILM

The Sower Set in the French Alps in the 1850s, The Sower centers on a group of women who live in a remote village. After they get caught in the crossfire of President LouisNapoléon’s 1851 coup d’état, they find themselves living in a town that possesses no men. Of course, when a man does arrive in the village, the women battle for his attention. The film screens at 1:30 p.m. today and at 1:45 p.m. on Tuesday at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Tickets cost $10, or $7 for museum members. (Niesel) 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org. BOOKS

Sunday Beat As part of a Sunday Beat promotion at Visible Voice Books, if you purchase a New York Times at

the store, you’ll receive a free cup of coffee or tea and a Jim Alesci’s Place pastry. An added bonus: A jazz, Americana, samba or bossa nova band will perform from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Anyone who shows a Sunday receipt from Music Box, Prosperity Social Club or any of the Tremont restaurants that offer brunch can enter a same-day drawing for a $30 Visible Voice gift certificate and a $25 Visible Voice Loyalty Card. They’ll also receive 10 percent off any Visible Voice book purchase. The bookstore is open today from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Niesel) 2258 Professor Ave., 216-961-0084, visiblevoicebooks.com.

MON

03/25

GHOSTS!

Connor Palace Ghost Tour The Connor Palace Ghost Tours promise to provide an “in-depth” historical overview of the Playhouse Square venue and explore the “untold history” of the many ghost sightings and unexplained occurrences that have taken place at the theater during its nearly 100-year history. Guided tours will be offered at 7:30, 8:30 and 9:30 tonight. In addition to the guided tours, snacks and specialty cocktails will be sold in mezzanine level of the theatre from 7 to 11 p.m. Tarot card readers will be on hand as well. Tickets are $35. (Niesel) 1615 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org. TRIVIA

Monday Night Trivia Do you have tons of obscure music knowledge? Are you a student of fast food menus and their nuanced histories? What say you about the geographic evolution of Scotch whisky? Tonight’s your chance to wow your friends, make yourself

instantly more desirable to someone you’re newly dating, and hang with Cleveland’s headiest hipsters and hot dog lovers. It’s the Happy Dog Monday Night Trivia. Starting at 8 p.m., expect themed rounds and general knowledge questions that seem considerably trickier than at some of the other live trivia locales in town. Obviously, have a hot dog and a craft brew while you’re at it. And arrive early: Seats fill up fast. (Sam Allard) 5801 Detroit Ave., 216-651-9474, happydogcleveland.com. FILM

Movie Mondays Every Monday, Cleveland Cinemas hosts $5 Movie Mondays, where film fans can catch up on the latest Hollywood flicks for significantly reduced prices. Bring your friends and family and make Movie Mondays a weekly tradition — many theaters even offer discounted concession stand items. Participating theaters include Apollo Theatre, Capitol Theatre, Cedar Lee Theatre, Chagrin Cinemas and Tower City Cinemas. Unfortunately, additional charges apply for 3-D movies. (Alaina Nutile) clevelandcinemas.com.

Shit Show Karaoke Local rapper/promoter Dirty Jones and Scene’s own Manny Wallace host Shit Show Karaoke, a weekly event at the B-Side Liquor Lounge wherein patrons choose from “an unlimited selection of jams from hip-hop to hard rock,” and are encouraged to “be as bad as you want.” Fueled by drink and shot specials, it all goes down tonight at 10 p.m. (Niesel) 2785 Euclid Hts. Blvd., Cleveland Heights, 216-932-1966, bsideliquorlounge.com.

written by KAREN ZACARÍAS | directed by ROBERT BARRY FLEMING

TICKETS START AT $25 | STUDENT & GROUP DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE

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03/26

SPORTS

Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics Kyrie Irving and the Boston Celtics come to town tonight at 7 to take on the Cavs. At the beginning of the season, it appeared the Celtics would be one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. Even though the Celtics appear playoff-bound, they’ve underperformed, and the Cavs should be able to contend tonight. Consult the Q’s website for ticket prices. (Niesel) 1 Center Court, 216-420-2000, theqarena.com. MUSIC

Open Turntable Tuesday Tonight from 6 to 9, the Winchester hosts its weekly Open Turntable Tuesday. DJ Kris Koch offers 20-minute slots to people who want to bring their own vinyl and spin their favorite songs or deep tracks. Turntables are provided; you can play three to five songs during your time slot; and a mic is available to talk about the selections. (Niesel) 12112 Madison Ave., Lakewood, 216-600-5338, facebook.com/ TheWinchesterMusicTavern. MUSIC

NIGHTLIFE

APR 27 – MAY 19 • ALLEN THEATRE

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Vinyl Night Jukebox, the music-focused bar in the Hingetown ’hood, has been described as “a place where people can expect to hear and learn about music of multiple genres, all of which is concentrated in a constantly evolving jukebox.” The club hosts a vinyl night every Tuesday. You can bring your own vinyl and spin it too. It all starts at 5 p.m. (Niesel) 1404 West 29th St., 216-206-7699, jukeboxcle.com.

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STAGE AN IRISH BLESSING Ensemble’s Moon for the Misbegotten sets the stage aglow By Elaine T. Cicora Photo by Aimee Lambes

SEX, CLASS, MYTHOLOGY, religion, the Irish-American experience and the perfidy of the rich: All this, and some black humor too, is what you get just within the first act of Eugene O’Neill’s redemption story, Moon for the Misbegotten. Written in 1943 — and set 20 years earlier on a rocky Connecticut farm — Moon follows its three protagonists (Phil Hogan, Josie Hogan and Jim Tyrone) as they wrestle with love, loss, deception and redemption in the course of slightly less than 24 hours. Alternately called a love story, a tragi-comedy and a miracle play, the four-act opus is, most notably, O’Neill’s apology to his real-life brother James, the object of both the playwright’s rage and pity, who died of alcoholism two months after the September day in which the play is set. Conceived as a follow-up to the darker, better-crafted Long Day’s Journey into Night, it’s not hard to see the play as O’Neill’s late-career offering of forgiveness for his brother’s sins. In this sense, it’s not all that far-fetched to suspect that O’Neill wrote the play — his last completed drama before his death 10 years later — more for himself than for an audience, a supposition that helps explain the occasionally clunky dialog and the long, grueling slog the characters take toward the play’s final resolution. (Has ever a couple of lovers misunderstood each other’s meaning for even half as long? Except, you know, maybe in real life?) But if, as some critics have claimed, Moon is one of O’Neill’s lesser plays, it is still worth viewing. Much like listening to the least polished tune on a beloved album, seeing Moon performed provides both greater insight into a groundbreaking American playwright and a fuller appreciation of his craft. Plus, the cast at Ensemble Theatre is currently doing a bangup job of bringing the play to the boards, under the strong direction of Ian Wolfgang Hinz and assistant director Cassey Fye, and stage manager Becca Moseley.

Jim (Mitch Rose) and Josie (Lara Mielcarek) prove confession is good for the soul.

In the pivotal role of Josie Hogan, the physically powerful daughter of Irish farmer Phil, classically trained Equity actress Lara Mielcarek shines. While in his stage notes O’Neill describes the 28-year-old Josie as “so oversize for a woman that she is almost a freak,” Mielcarek is no such thing. Still, she commands the stage and the action with such energy that it seems entirely plausible that she could beat any man senseless, should she so choose. More importantly, she maintains that command throughout

in scenes that find them alone on the stage trading insults, plotting revenge or revealing themselves to one another as the well-meaning human beings they truly are. (And in return for all that, we’ll overlook the odd fact that the daughter’s Irish accent is far stronger than the father’s.) The role of James “Jim” Tyrone Jr. is the vehicle for O’Neill’s memories of his alcoholic brother, and the eventual rapprochement between Josie and Jim — as saint, and sinner making his confession beneath

MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN THROUGH MARCH 31 AT ENSEMBLE THEATRE 2843 WASHINGTON BLVD. | CLEVELAND HEIGHTS 216-321-2930 | ENSEMBLETHEATRECLE.ORG

all four acts of the play, during which time she is almost constantly on stage. In the role of her scheming father Phil, Robert Hawkes makes for a cuddly old rapscallion who hides his love for his tough-as-nails daughter beneath a blustering exterior, all the while helping her maintain the selfprotective ruse that she is the town slut. Hawkes and Mielcarek have great chemistry together, especially

the holy light of the moon — is the nut of the story. While on opening weekend, actor Mitch Rose seemed a little stiff in his early scenes as Jim, he loosened up as the play progressed, exhibiting more range and generally capturing the torment of a drunkard yearning, first, for absolution and, second, for his own death. Actor Nate Homolka makes a brief appearance at the beginning

of the first act as Josie’s annoyingly prim brother Mike, an appearance that seemed greatly enhanced by the presence of Mielcarek’s Josie. And in the play’s most outright comical scene, James Rankin plays the role of the Hogans’ despised upper-class neighbor, “Standard Oil’s sappiest son,” T. Stedman Harder. Using their rapier-sharp wits and dark sense of humor, Josie and Phil cut poor Harder to pieces in a comic confrontation over property lines. Perhaps inevitably, Rankin sort of disappears beneath the onslaught of hilarious hostility from Mielcarek and Hawkes, like a piece of liver thrown to a pair of hungry lions. Costume designer Meg Parish dresses the cast in period- and circumstance-appropriate garb, right down to Harder’s riding crop and Jim’s rakishly perched boater hat. Still, it’s hard to believe that a man with Jim’s money would wear such sloppily hemmed trousers; and for a struggling dirt farmer, Phil’s shoes looked awfully clean. The play’s action takes place almost entirely on the porch and front yard of the Hogan’s rundown house, which Hinz, who doubles as set and light designer, has modeled with a spare, almost abstractimpressionistic quality. Lighting effects stand in for the titular moon and later provide a golden sunrise. And between acts, a soundtrack of melancholic acoustical and roots music maintains the action’s growing sense of sorrow. While O’Neill was the first American playwright to see theater as a worthy venue for stories of substance and psychological insight, today’s audiences can certainly quibble with some of his characterizations. Most problematic is probably Josie’s stereotypically dual nature — the all-forgiving Earth Mother hiding beneath a cloak of sexual promiscuity. But there is no doubt that Saint Josie’s famous last line — “May you rest forever in forgiveness and peace” — could make a fine benediction for us all.

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene | clevescene.com | March 20 -26, 2019

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ART LIFE’S BOUNTY Claudio Orso’s Relief Therapy marries the decorative and fine arts By Dott von Schneider Courtesy of the artist

IN A TIME WHEN WE EXPECT the most with the least amount of effort, where digital is everything, it is a breath of fresh air to encounter artwork that is so completely involved, so analog. Hand-pulled woodcut prints, especially those on a grand scale like tones displayed at Claudio Orso’s latest exhibition, Relief Therapy, are an incredible feat. It is a meditative process, creating these types of prints. The artist must first carve his image into a wood panel and then lay down the ink. The brayer, a tool used to infuse the paper with the ink, is next. Sometimes an artist will use a spoon to marry the two, as is often the case with Orso’s works. One way to describe them is big, textural and full of vibration. It’s chunky without being clunky. Moving about the labyrinth of Orso’s hand-pulled woodcut prints and clay sculptural works, we identify the cohesive dance between the two mediums. Within the nucleus of the gallery sits five sculptures. Despite the heft of the clay, there’s an airy quality to them. Muted tones of green, gray, salmon and bone, especially bone, coat the skeletal structures. Reflecting the woodcut prints, there are hashes and carved marks within nearly every piece. As noted by ceramic artist Kristen Cliffel, “Print and clay have so much to do with each other in their tactile nature, and I think that the mark making is always what he’s after. There’s such a good push/pull with the prints and, really, with the pulling of the press and all that stuff, there’s a lot of impressions with the woodcut that also can be seen with the clay.” Including some of the wood panels from which Orso pulled the prints was a great decision. For “Danze dei Corvi” (“The Dance of the Ravens”), a piece depicting two wolves howling into the night, the panels neighbor the final artworks. “Querida” (dedicated to Mary Owen Rosenthal) is displayed on its own in the smaller of the two gallery spaces.

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“Icarus,” a woodcut by artist Claudio Orso.

Here we have a rare opportunity to witness the artist’s hand. The faint perfume that wafts from the ink is intoxicating and we are almost transported to Orso’s studio. The two-dimensional work in Relief Therapy strikes the balance between heavy and light, both visually and in its content. We found it difficult not to get pulled in. “Icarus,” at first glance, resembles a fallen bird. Only when we approach do we realize the poetry behind the image. The

maniacally. A clock with broken hands floats behind him like a ghost. It’s as creepy as it is psychedelic and possibly the only print in which Orso employs color. The incredible “Stock Exchange” shows two skeletons locked inside a dead whale. This particular print is so riddled with information, one really needs to be with it for at least 15 minutes before the mayhem starts to cinch into order. Then there are “American Woman” and “Once,” both so large

RELIEF THERAPY THROUGH MARCH 29 HEDGE GALLERY | 1300 WEST 78th ST. | SUITE 200 216-650-4201 | HEDGEARTGALLERY.COM

arm of the soon-to-be fallen son of Daedalus is trussed into his homemade wing, fingers clenched in a fist of defiance even as his feathers burn from the sun’s kiss. The wording — “You Fall as Hard as You Fly” — serves as both prophecy and consequence. “One Nation on Medication” shows a crazed, drug-addled personage, oblivious and smiling

| clevescene.com | March 20 -26, 2019

that they are displayed on the metal fire doors leading in and out of the gallery. “Once” depicts a person wearing a hat. On the top is perhaps one of many leaders in life’s circus, ringing a bell and holding up a hoop for what we deem a possible shoutout to Icarus. Scurrying around the brim are figures with musical instruments. We are given permission to go

mad once a year, as roughly translated from the Latin floating above the image: Samel in anno licet insanre. “American Woman” shows a beauty queen, or perhaps Lady Liberty, with her shopping bag of guns and money, climbing the hill atop oil barrels, perhaps alluding to King Sisyphus, who was punished for his pompous and deceitful behavior by having to push a boulder up a hill for eternity. Her crown resembling a jester’s hat at full attention, the self-aggrandizing beauty-queenturned-clown is wearing a sash over her star-spangled outfit inscribed with the word antan, or “last year.” Clearly her act has gotten old. Claudio Orso is an artist’s artist. Each artwork is a learning experience in both the visual and technically sense. In this exhibition, Orso weaves through the definitions of fine arts and decorative arts with ease, bringing them together as one and serving up the bounty of life.

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

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IF RUBEN BRANDT, COLLECTOR, the new animated film from Slovenian-born Milorad Krstic, were a live action movie, the budget would’ve been astronomical — simply because the film includes scenes in some of the most famous art galleries in the world. Even if Krstic doesn’t actually take you inside these famous locations, he creates credible renditions of them in the film, a visually rich and surreal experience. The movie opens on Friday at the Cedar Lee Theatre. The plot centers on psychotherapist Ruben Brandt (Ivan Kamaras), a guy who suffers from nightmares that involve 13 famous paintings. Ruben realizes that if he steals the painting, the nightmare goes away; so he recruits a few of his criminal-minded patients to infiltrate places such as the Louvre, Tate, Uffizi, Hermitage and the Chicago Institute of Art. Krstic captures the details of each location with incredible accuracy. And he makes Ruben’s nightmares really resonate too. While observing Botticelli’s Venus, for example, Ruben ends up hallucinating and goes into convulsions because he thinks he’s battling an octopus-like creature. All the while, Ruben also vaguely remembers his CIA-operative father showing him the paintings when he was a kid and begins to wonder about what kind of effects they might’ve had on him. After Ruben begins to accumulate

all these prized works, he becomes the most wanted criminal in the world, and gangsters try to track him down, so they can claim the reward for his capture. In addition, an insurance company hires private detective Mike Kowalski (Zalan Makranczi) to track down the thief. The film’s animation is terrific, and the angular lines give everything a cubist feel. It’s hardly conventional stuff; several characters have multiple eyes, and one of the thieves is only twodimensional, so he can slip under doorways. While it might be difficult to know what’s a dream and what’s reality in this trippy movie, the film’s unique visual presentation makes it worth the mental effort of following the storyline. It’s an ideal movie to prepare you for the visually inventive, sometimes experimental films screened at the Cleveland International Film Festival, which begins next week. Speaking of CIFF: This year, as in years past, the Festival will play host to more than a dozen films by directors from Central and Eastern Europe as part of the George Gund III memorial competition. Two of those films, Consequences and Erased, hail from Milorad Krstic’s Slovenia.

jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel

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EAT LET’S GET SPICY Newcomer Sichuan Hot Pot is already a tongue-tingling hit in Asia Town By Douglas Trattner Photo by Doug Trattner

AN EXTRAVAGANT FACADE IN Cleveland’s old Chinatown quickly gives way to a somewhat disquieting landing. A block-long exterior along Rockwell Avenue, the recipient of a recent beautification project, welcomes visitors with a showy procession of gilded doors, jadegreen awnings and stately columns in royal red, the color commonly associated with joy and luck in the Chinese culture. But open the internal door that leads into Sichuan Hot Pot and you’re forced to muscle your way through a vinyl strip curtain, the sort commonly found inside a walk-in cooler. Fears of dining in an icebox quickly dissipate, however, thanks to numerous wide-brimmed bowls of simmering broth that fill the room with a heady, humid vapor of exotic spice. Around those hot pots, animated groups of young Asian diners use chopsticks to shuttle raw ingredients from plate to pot to mouth with nimble fluidity. Just when you think that Cleveland’s Chinese restaurant scene can’t possibly get any better, when stalwarts like Siam Cafe, Li Wah and Szechuan Gourmet are joined by thrilling additions such as Han Chinese, LJ Shanghai and Koko Cafe, along comes Sichuan Hot Pot to gobble up some of the attention. And deservedly so, as die-hard fans of tongue-tingling Szechuan cuisine can’t seem to stay away from the relative newcomer. I know I can’t, which admittedly is a rare sensation given my crowded dance card. But I carve out time for places that excite, delight and challenge me the way that Sichuan Hot Pot does, even after back-to-back visits. Fans of the cuisine, like me, crave the electrifying spiciness of authentic Szechuan food in much the same way that those with a sweet tooth lust after boxes filled with sugary donuts. As is the case at other Asian eateries in the area, the menu here is intimidatingly long and obtuse, with terse designations augmented by a smattering of photos. Chinese characters precede English letters, while tabletop specials placards are entirely without English. But that shouldn’t stop intrepid diners from

wading in, even if the waters are somewhat unfamiliar. Most meals start with a cold appetizer, like the omnipresent cucumbers ($6), gleefully crunchy wedges tossed in a sweet, tart and spicy vinegar-based dressing. On the other end of the textural spectrum are the wontons ($6) that come bathed in an aromatic roasted chili sauce. There’s heat, but it takes a back seat to the earthy, toasty spice

savory goodness is what it’s all about. Tongue-tingling Szechuan peppercorns provide numbing cover so that you can keep spooning the crimson stew onto steamed white rice and devouring it. We took a flyer on a dish called, simply enough, sliced beef with hot pepper ($16) and we did not regret it. Tender, silky and wokhot slices of stir-fried beef languish in a dark, seductive and pungent sauce. Cabbage, leeks, celery and

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blend. Other cold starters include thinly sliced pork belly with chili garlic sauce ($8) and dry beef with special sauce ($16). That last one might best be described as an acquired taste, not because of the flavor, which is deeply captivating, but for its chewy, jerky-like texture that comes from the dry-fry process. If you think that bean curd is boring, order the mapo tofu ($9) here to disabuse yourself of that belief. At once electric and comforting, this witch’s brew of fire, spice and

bean sprouts provide a little crunch. Part soup, part stir-fry, the shredded pork with pickled cabbage ($8) swaps the incendiary chiles for the more subtle punch of preserved vegetables. A deep bowl of flat noodles in chicken broth is capped with a nest of slender pork strips and crunchy-sour pickled mustard greens that tickle the tongue in a completely different way. There’s a winter-appropriate spicy beef noodle soup ($8) with chiles that will warm even the coldest of cockles.

There is always room on the table for vegetables like eggplant in garlic sauce, sauteed Chinese spinach, garlicky green beans or springy pea shoots. If you want more than the complimentary white rice, consider ordering the twice-cooked pork fried rice ($9). The well-seasoned side is studded throughout with melt-in-yourmouth slices of fatty pork and briny fermented black beans. And then there are the namesake hot pots, with innumerable iterations of spicy and non-spicy broths — or a combination thereof, thanks to a two-sided pot — meats, seafood, veggies and dipping sauces. Design your own experience from a lengthy list that includes items like fried tofu, enoki mushrooms, eggplant, tripe, pork blood curd, spicy beef, fish filet, shrimp, Spam and squid balls, to name only a few. This is social, communal food that’s meant to be shared with adventurous friends who can’t seem to get enough of those exhilarating, intoxicating chilies, spices and peppercorns. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

dtrattner@clevescene.com t@dougtrattner

| clevescene.com | March 20 -26, 2019

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EAT BITES Long-running vegan pop-up, Foodhisattva, to open restaurant in Cleveland Heights By Douglas Trattner FRANCES CHENG AND JOSHUA Sias hosted their first vegan pop-up back in 2014. The monthly events, held at the now-departed No Whey! vegan candy shop in Lyndhurst, quickly caught the attention of both vegan and non-vegan diners. “We were doing everything from scratch and it really took off,” explains Sias. “We started to get a following.” Soon, additional pop-ups began popping up and drawing crowds at eastside locations like Bottlehouse Brewery and Poison Berry Bakery. Catering business further extended the reach of the name and brand throughout the community. Before long, the hunt for a suitable location in which to put down roots became a priority. “We wanted to stay in Cleveland Heights because there are not many vegan options on this side of town,” notes Sias. “They are mostly on the west side, in Lakewood and Rocky River.” The pair found just what they were searching for at the former Greedy Girl and, briefly, Sangeet space (2158 South Taylor Rd.) in the Cedar-Taylor District of Cleveland Heights, ironically located next door to Mr. Brisket. Work has commenced on transforming the small, casual storefront into Foodhisattva, a 25-seat vegan eatery that will open in two to four months. Over the years, Sias and Cheng have enjoyed support not just from the vegan community, but the dining community at large thanks to the creative, satisfying and delicious foods that embody the Foodhisattva brand. “We try not to just do things because they’re vegan,” explains Sias. “A lot of our clientele are not vegan. Most of the market isn’t really vegan, it’s reducetarians, people who are trying to reduce their use of animal products for health or environmental reasons. So we try and focus on things you don’t really see elsewhere in Cleveland.” “It’s not the typical standard when you think about vegan food,” adds Cheng. “We have a lot of burgers and hearty sandwiches.” At its core, the food is veganAsian fusion that leans heavily to

Korean and Japanese. Popular items that will likely make appearances at Foodhisattva include chickpea burgers with veggie slaw and Sriracha mayo, bulgogi seitan cheesesteak with cashew “cheese” sauce, kimchi waffles with vegan Korean fried chicken, sesame noodles topped with sprouts, cucumber and “omelet” strips, and onigirazu (Japanese rice ball sandwiches) stuffed with vegan tofu omelet, avocado and coconut bacon. Sias and Cheng will open as a weekend-only operation serving dinner and brunch Friday through Sunday. Down the road, weekday lunches will be added. Sias says that given the type of food being made, the petitely proportioned space suits the business just fine — for now. “I have this romantic view of the small neighborhood corner space,” he says. “I really like the feel of those sorts of spaces where you have a small community approach. Down the road, I can see expanding the brand to the west side.” Sias says that despite some fits and starts, Cleveland’s vegan restaurant scene is generally strong, with plenty of room for growth. Cleveland Vegan continues to expand, numerous restaurants offer recurring vegan nights, and more and more vegan popups continue to materialize. Sias feels that recent restaurant failures often have less to do with vegan demand (or the lack thereof) than the usual roster of business challenges such as location, management and finances. Quality vegan food tends to be more expensive than its equivalent, owing to elevated food and labor costs. “It’s just really hard for vegan business owners because they tend to be younger, motivated by an ethic, and they don’t necessarily have that financial support,” Sias explains. “I think if Cleveland’s food scene wants to keep up with other big cities, they really need to get hip to the whole vegan scene. If you look at any other foodie town like your Chicagos, New Yorks and so on, this scene is burgeoning.”

dtrattner@clevescene.com t@dougtrattner | clevescene.com | March 20 -26, 2019

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| clevescene.com l m | March Marchh 20 -26, -26 26, 20 2019 19

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B

ECAUSE BAND MEMBERS live all over the place, the indie rock act Tokyo Police Club has had to record many of its albums piecemeal. For the past couple of records, singer-bassist David Monks would email bits of songs to the other members, who would flesh them out as best they could. “We relied on Dave [Monks] to come up with the structure and ideas and everything else,” says guitarist John Hook in a recent phone interview. “We wrote by email, but it wasn’t conducive for everyone. It didn’t allow us to make changes until we were in the studio. And at that point, the ship had already sailed, and we’re not made of money, so we couldn’t add another month of studio time.” All that changed for the band’s latest effort, last year’s TPC. Written over the course of 2017 in a church in remote rural Ontario, TPC marks a fresh beginning for the band. The group’s tour in support of the album comes to the Grog Shop on Friday.

“Recording [TPC] was really great,” says Hook. “We got together for weeks at a time and Dave [Monks] would come in with a kernel of an idea or fully formed song. We would play it over and over again. The church was a great spot for that. The sound of this open, airy room had an influence on what we wanted to do. We wanted more simple guitar rock; playing big loud instruments in a big empty room really expanded the songs. We wanted to be a little more simple and a little more open, and the room was key.” The album shows just how much the band has evolved over the course of its nearly 20-year career. When the group first began, it stuck to tried-and-true indie rock, even though it didn’t quite fit into that scene. “We grew up in a regular suburb just about 40 minutes north of Toronto,” says Hook. “My parents were really into music. My mom played piano. Going through school, we were all interested in music, but since it was such a small town, we

didn’t know anyone who played instruments. In eighth grade, we decided to be in a band. We decided to do that before any of us knew how to play our instruments.” That band, Suburbia, consisted of the same four guys who are now in Tokyo Police Club. “Newmarket, like all suburban cities, had a good punk and hardcore scene but not really much else,” says Hook. “There were some coffeehouses that would do singer-songwriter stuff, and we found that we fit in better with that crowd than the full-on punk/hardcore crowd. From there, we started playing shows in [Toronto] because it was more accommodating to our style of music.” After a shift in musical direction, the band rechristened itself Tokyo Police Club and released its debut EP in 2006. The band has steadily released albums and toured since then. At a recent meeting, however, the guys agreed they wouldn’t

| clevescene.com | March 20 -26, 2019

33

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be as calculated when it came to deciding what was best for the group. “We had a moment a couple of years ago when we had a good heart-to-heart and talked about where everyone was at, and we decided to make decisions we were stoked on instead of what made sense,” Hooks says when asked about why the group chose to work again with producer Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliott Smith), who had helmed their 2010 album Champ. “We had fond memories of working with Rob. He’s hands off, but he’s instrumental in shaping songs. We knew he would be the perfect guy to take these raw songs and shape them. We made the decision to work with people we really liked and would even wait if they were busy so that we could get it right the first time. Hook says Schnapf’s studio proved to be the perfect place to cut the album. “His studio is a cramped space

typical approach, “Simple Dude” starts with a bit of spoken word before emerging into something that sounds like a cross between Smashing Pumpkins and the Dream Syndicate. “That wasn’t very over-thought at all,” Hook says of the tune. “At least structurally when Dave played the first part, we knew it was the intro. With the snare hit and the chorus, it’s like a Sixpence None the Richer song but in the best way. It’s unashamedly a ’90s influence. We just wanted to let it be and not wrangle it into something else.” Just last week, the band raised eyebrows with the music video for “Ready to Win.” “Anne Douris directed it,” says Hook. “She’s done props for a bunch of videos. Her and Dave were talking. Because the song is about how we’re not perfect people, we thought it would be cool to open it up to other people and have them submit their fuck-ups. We were on a label maker kick. Anne animated it and did so much work on it. We really had fun reading the things people submitted.” Hook says he’s particularly excited about the current tour. Last

TOKYO POLICE CLUB 9 P.M. | FRIDAY, MARCH 22 GROG SHOP | 2785 EUCLID HEIGHTS BLVD. | CLEVELAND HEIGHTS 216-321-5588 | TICKETS: $16 ADV, $18 DOS | grog shop.gs

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| clevescene.com | March 20 -26, 2019

but in the best way,” he says. “It’s utilitarian. It’s the most insane collection of instruments you’ve ever seen, but it’s not luxurious. It’s just what you need. It was easy to be hands-on in that room because you’re literally working so close together. It was great. You could really zone in. It was very rejuvenating.” One album highlight, “Hercules,” has a great, Strokes-like feel to it, thanks to its snotty vocals and infectious guitar hook. “I remember Dave coming in and having that main staccato-ish riff,” says Hook when asked about the track. “It came together really easily. The DNA of the song was already there. It wasn’t over-thought at all. When we first started playing it, we thought it sounded like a straight-up Strokes song. In the past, we would have shied away from that. Early on, we often got compared to them, and they are one of our favorite bands. In the past, we would have wanted to change it, but we were like, ‘Fuck it. Let’s just keep it as it is.’” A departure from the band’s

year, the band played the West Coast and most of Canada. This time around, it’s hitting the U.S. cities it missed. “Instead of doing larger venues, we’re doing smaller rooms and doing multiple nights in some places,” says Hook. “We want to enjoy ourselves more. We’re not young any more. When you get to spend two days in a city, it provides more of a breather. In the smaller rooms, the songs have gone over really well. We often joke that we got older and more comfortable playing songs that are more conventional in structure and then we go back and play the old stuff and it doesn’t make any sense and has such a weird structure. It’s been fun and it’s great to see fans respond to the new stuff. On this tour, we’re going to try to work in more material from Elephant Shell since it’s the 10-year anniversary of that album.”

jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel

@masoniccle @hobcleveland

@masoniccleveland

J U S T A N N O U N C E D - O N S A L E F R I DAY

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MARCH 21

CRADLE OF FILTH

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w/ WEDNESDAY 13, RAVEN BLACK

MARCH 22

MARCH 26

MARCH 29

MARCH 30

w/ Wordburglar

APRIL 5

APRIL 7

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CA

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April 19 April 26 April 26 April 28 April 29 April 30

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Whiskey Myers w/ Bones Owens SOLD OUT Trap Karaoke Eric B. & Rakim SOJA w/ Passafire, Iya Terra In Association with Beachland Ballroom Saved By the 90’s Hard Day’s Night (Tribute to Beatles) This Wild Life w/ Sleep On It, Crooked Teeth, Hold Close Cambridge Room SOLD OUT Overkill w/ Death Angel, Act of Defiance Tom Odell Jack & Jack w/ Alec Bailey, Spencer Sutherland

CHRIS D’ELIA MARCH 28

May 1 May 2 May 2 May 3 May 5 May 6 May 8 May 9 May 10 May 11 July 11

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Gary Allan w/ Teddy Robb Mott the Hoople ’74 SOLD OUT Jonathan Van Ness The Empire Strips Back: A Burlesque Parody Elle King w/ Barns Courtney Wish You Were Here (Tribute to Pink Floyd) Ali Wong SOLD OUT LANY MGMT Snarky Puppy Norm Macdonald

MASONIC CLEVELAND: 3615 Euclid Ave, Cleveland OH 44115 HOUSE OF BLUES: 308 Euclid Ave, Cleveland OH 44114 masoniccleveland.com / houseofblues.com | clevescene.com | March 20 -26, 2019

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| clevescene.com | March 20 -26, 2019

LIVEWIRE

all the live music you should see this week Photo by PFA Media

WED

03/20

DBUK: 8 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Now That’s Class. Dead Fall/Past Comfort/Static on the Radio/Fair Weather Friend (in the Locker Room): 7 p.m., $10. Mahall’s 20 Lanes. Island: 8 p.m., $15. Beachland Tavern. Stephen Kellogg/Pete Muller Band: 7:30 p.m., $20 ADV, $25 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. Tommy Lehman Quintet: 7 p.m., $15. Bop Stop.

THU

03/21

Albert Cummings/The Alan Greene Band: 8 p.m., $20 ADV, $22 DOS. Beachland Ballroom. First Offenders (in the Supper Club): 7 p.m., free. Music Box Supper Club. LittleBoyBigHeadOnBike/Swell Tides/Ouster: 9 p.m., $5. Now That’s Class. Sean McConnell/Caleb Elliott: 8 p.m., $12 ADV, $15 DOS. Beachland Tavern. Edda Muvek: 7:30 p.m. Agora Ballroom. Skerryvore: 8 p.m., $20. The Kent Stage. Take 6: $80. Nighttown. We Three: 8 p.m., $25 ADV, $30 DOS. House of Blues.

FRI

03/22

Gentleman of the Piano: 7:30 p.m., $20. Bop Stop. Trevor Hall/Dirtwire/Will Evans: An indie singer-songwriter who got his start nearly 20 years, ago, Trevor Hall has been pretty busy lately. In 2015, he followed up 2014’s Chapter of the Forest with KALA, a terrific album that opens with somber, semi-acoustic tunes such as “To Zion” and “All in Due Time.” The piano ballad “Forgive” and the shuffling “Uncle Jo” both show off Hall’s husky voice and manage to have a quiet intensity to them. He returned in 2017 with The Fruitful Darkness, adding another terrific release to his everexpanding repertoire. (Jeff Niesel) 7:15 p.m., $25 ADV, $30 DOS. Agora Theatre. Jukebox the Ghost + The Mowgli’s/ Twin XL: 8 p.m., $22 ADV, $25 DOS. Beachland Ballroom.

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong returns to the Beachland. See: Friday.

Lonesome Traveler with Peter Yarrow: 8 p.m., $50-$85. The Kent Stage. Pigeons Playing Ping Pong/ Mungion: Based out of Baltimore, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong have steadily garnered an exciting renown as they tour the region. Let year’s Pizazz builds off of 2016’s Pleasure, which builds from 2014’s Psychology and the band’s original Funk EP, serving up funky instrumentation with swagger-laden lyrics and confidence. Much of their material alternates between blissed-out groovin’ and, y’know, in-your-face arpeggiating and wanton funk throwdowns. The music is kind to all, so come to the show expecting to be welcomed into the band’s tight-knit community. Songs like “F.U.” guarantee a bustling dance floor, what with their tendency for tongue-in-cheek humor and shredtastic solos. “Zydeko” flirts with its namesake musical tradition, while remaining close to the funk pocket that these guys are known for. Among the East-Coast, third-tier jam bands (or however you want to classify the scene), these guys are absolutely worth watching closely. (Eric Sandy) 9 p.m., $22-$30. House of Blues. Sankuro/Free Black!/Luvabstract/ Wes Will/King Ish: 8:30 p.m., $5 ADV, $8 DOS. CODA. Bob Seger Tribute by Katmandu: 8 p.m., $15 ADV, $20 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. Tokyo Police Club: 9 p.m., $16 ADV, $18 DOS. Grog Shop.

Tooth Lures a Fang/Korine/Bonnie Clydemann: 9 p.m., $5. Now That’s Class. The Vindys/Marc Lee Shannon (in the Supper Club): 8 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. Jackie Warren: 10:30 p.m., free. Nighttown.

SAT

03/23

80s’ Dance Night Live: Footloose Featuring Key to the Mint: 10 p.m., $8 ADV, $10 DOS. Grog Shop. Aretha Franklin Birthday Bash with Thornetta Davis (in the Supper Club): 8 p.m., $18 ADV, $22 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. Kinky Friedman/Austin Stambaugh: Over the course of a career that stretches back to the ’60s when he played with the surf-spoof act King Arthur & the Charlottes — a group known for its one and only single, “Schwinn 24/Beach Party Boo Boo” — Kinky Friedman has made quite a name for himself. He’s toured with Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue, recorded with Eric Clapton, appeared on Saturday Night Live and played at the Grand Ole Opry. Friedman has also written a slew of detective novels and once ran for governor of Texas. And, oh yeah, he wrote a song that became the tune that the late Nelson Mandela counted as one of his favorites. Tonight’s show will offer a mix of spoken word and music by one of

America’s truly great treasures. (Niesel) 8 p.m., $22-$40. Beachland Tavern. Gentleman of the Piano: 7:30 p.m., $20. Bop Stop. Grumpy Plum/The Dollyhoppers/ Live Happily/Shelter Pup (in the Locker Room): 7 p.m., $10. Mahall’s 20 Lanes. Metanoia/ADAB/The Debt Collector/ Mx. Silkman: 9 p.m., $5. Now That’s Class. Pat Metheny Side Eye: 8 p.m., $55$75. The Kent Stage. The Pack is Back: Cleveland Kings Action Pack Turns 1: 7:30 p.m., $5. Grog Shop. Paper Morning/Molehill/M. Moody: 8 p.m., $5 ADV, $7 DOS. CODA. Revival ABB: An Evening with the Music of Allman Brothers Band: 8 p.m., $12 ADV, $14 DOS. Beachland Ballroom. Rosello Stone Album Release/ The Unexpected Featuring Nick Samps/Kent Archie: 8 p.m., $5. Now That’s Class. Paul Thorn/Alice Drinks the Kool Aid: 8 p.m., $28 ADV, $35 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. Umphrey’s McGee/Big Something: 7 p.m., $32.50 ADV, $35 DOS. Masonic Auditorium. Dane Vannatter: 8:30 p.m., $20. Nighttown. Void/Terrestrials/Mateo Manic/Red Devil Ryders: 9 p.m., $6. Happy Dog. Jackie Warren: 10:30 p.m., free. Nighttown. Whiskey Myers/Bones Owens: 8 p.m., $25 ADV, $30 DOS. House of Blues. | clevescene.com | March 20 -26, 2019

37

KentStage =HGÍM FBLL MA>L> @K>:M LAHPL MB<D>ML HG L:E> GHP

17th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION T SOLD OU

Skerryvore Thu Mar. 21

Lonesome Traveler w/Peter Yarrow Fri Mar. 22

David WIlcox Beth Nielsen Chapman Fri Mar 29

Pat Metheny SIde Eye Sat. Mar 23

Swamp Pop Legends Tour

Cyrille Aimee

Jimmy Hall, C.J Chenier, Roddie Romero & The Rockin’ Cajuns Sat Mar 30

Thu April 4

LIVEWIRE SUN

“Gentlemen of the Piano” With David Thomas, Cliff Habian, & Theron Brown: 7 p.m., $20. Nighttown. Joseph Huber: 8:30 p.m., $8 ADV, $10 DOS. Beachland Tavern. Anthony Lovano’s Supernatural Band: 7 p.m., $12. Bop Stop. Murphy’s Law/Inducing Panic/Civil Unrest/Born Deprived: 8:30 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Now That’s Class. Stuyedeyed/Native Sun/Item/Smith Taylor: 9 p.m., $7. Happy Dog. TMS Suzuki Recital: 3 p.m., free. Bop Stop. TORAE Nu 90s Experience Hosted by Vice Souletric and DJ NuERA: 8:30 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Grog Shop.

MON Thompson Square Sat. April 6

Sat. April 13

Fri April 12

Carbon Leaf Sat. April 20

Kent Paranormal Kent Paranormal Weekend Weekend 2019 Friday Night Sessions Searching Earth & Sky

Ana Popovic Sun April 21

Squirrel Nut Zippers Sat. April 27

JUST ANNOUNCED

03/24

03/25

Baldwin Wallace Musical Theatre Program: 7 p.m., $20. Nighttown. Better Oblivion Community Center/ Lala Lala/Christian Lee Huston: 8 p.m. Agora Theatre. Bit Brigade performs Mega Man III/Double Ferrari/Yellowstone Apocalypse: 8:30 p.m., $10. Grog Shop. Deals Gone Slack: 9 p.m., $10. Now That’s Class. Sandy Ewen/Amanda Howland/ Kristen Drake Duo (in the Apartment): 8 p.m., $8 ADV, $10 DOS. Mahall’s 20 Lanes. Jazz Is PHISH: 8 p.m., $20. Bop Stop.

MURDER MYSTERY DINNER MARCH 21 & 28

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Anniversary Party! Celebrating 6 Years with....

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3/20 | 7PM | $15

TOMMY LEHMAN QUINTET 3/22 | 7:30PM | $20

GENTLEMAN OF THE PIANO 3/23 | 7:30PM | $20

Karla Bonoff Sat Jun. 6

Rhiannon Giddens

w/Francesco Turrisi Wed Oct. 23

TUE

03/26

GENTLEMAN OF THE PIANO NIGHT 2 3/24 | 7PM | $12

Baker Hess Duo: 7 p.m., $12. Bop Stop. Cradle of Filth/Wednesday 13/ Black Raven: 7 p.m., $32 ADV, $36 DOS. House of Blues. Malcolm Holcombe/Joe Wunderle: 8 p.m., $12 ADV, $15 DOS. Beachland Tavern. The Kruger Brothers/Brand New Hat: 8 p.m., $20 ADV, $25 DOS. Beachland Ballroom. Masked Intruder/Heart & Lung/ Hogan’s Last Smash: 8 p.m., $15. Mahall’s 20 Lanes.

ANTHONY LOVANO’S

SUPERNATURAL BAND ALBUM RELEASE PARTY 3/25 | 8PM | $20

JAZZ IS PHISH 3/26 | 7PM | $12

BAKER-HESS DUO 3/28 | 7PM | $25

FRONT STEPS HOUSING AND SERVICES PRESENTS:

BLUES CHRONICLES 3/29 | 8PM | FREE

NO EXIT NEW MUSIC ENSEMBLE: PATTI CUDD 3/30 | 7PM | $40

CLEVELAND OPERA THEATER PRESENTS:

BERNSTEIN 3/31 | 7PM | $15

:EE LAHPL :M MA> D>GM LM:@> NGE>LL HMA>KPBL> GHM>= Tickets available at thekentstage.com or 877-987-6487 GMK [w cw i {{ © a{ B e~ JJHJF

38

| clevescene.com | March 20 -26, 2019

MARIA JACOBS

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

4/1 | 7PM | FREE

NEOSONIC FEST PRESENTS

88 BIT

| clevescene.com m | March 20 -26, 2019

39

BAND OF THE WEEK Photo by Cortney Armitage

THE MOWGLI’S By Jeff Niesel MEET THE BAND: Colin Louis Dieden (vocals, guitar), Katie Jayne Earl (vocals, percussion) Matthew Di Panni (bass, vocals), Josh Hogan (guitar, vocals), Dave Appelbaum (keys, vocals), Andy Warren (drums, percussion, vocals) A KANSAS CITY KID: Born in L.A.,

Dieden grew up in Kansas City where he played in punk bands. He moved back to L.A. when he was 18, and that’s when he met the other members of the Mowgli’s. “I just got out there, and we met at a backyard party one night in Calabasas, California,” says Dieden. “We started drinking and playing music, and we quickly had a little band going.” Dieden grew up on acts such as James Taylor, the Beatles and Crosby, Nash and Young. He says he’s become obsessed with pop songwriting. “I think it’s fascinating that you can write a song that will appeal to 40 million people,” he says. UP ALL NIGHT: In the early days, the

band would play mini-festivals in Southern California. “We would play two or three shows in Venice Beach a night,” Dieden says. “There’s all these crazy hippie Burning Manlike warehouse parties. It’s the most insane thing you ever experienced. We’d do our early shows at the bars, and then we’d go back to our Venice Beach house and play a 4 a.m. party at some warehouse. I’m glad it happened, but I’m also glad it’s in the past because it was so exhausting.”

them on a record,” says Dieden. “The next one was Waiting for the Dawn and that came out through Island/ Def Jam. I got a taste of what it was like to work with high-caliber people, and I realized we needed to take it seriously. Once I discovered that I need to know more about songwriting, the records got better and more interesting.” WHY YOU SHOULD HEAR THEM: The

band’s latest effort, a four-song EP called American Feelings, shows just how refined the band’s sound has become. The breezy “Norman Rockwell” features cooing backing vocals, spirited horns and a great Sublime-inspired groove. “It was just a title, but I didn’t know what it meant,” says Dieden. “We ended up capturing this weird, melancholy, middle-of-America, sepia-toned story. The fan reaction has been really phenomenal.” Singer Katie Jayne Earl brings some real gusto to “Talk About It,” a poppy tune that deserves commercial radio airplay. Dieden says the band has never sounded better. “Even our sound guy turned to us the other night and said it’s insane how tight the band sounds,” he says. “This is definitely the right time to come out and see the band.” WHERE YOU CAN HEAR THEM:

themowglis.net. WHERE YOU CAN SEE THEM: The Mowgli’s

perform with Jukebox the Ghost and Twin XL at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 22, at the Beachland Ballroom.

BUILDING ON A FOUNDATION: The band

made a good impression with its 2012 debut, Love’s Not Dead. “We just wrote a couple of songs and threw

40

| clevescene.com | March 20 -26, 2019

jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel

SAVAGE LOVE CRAZY SWITCH ASIANS By Dan Savage I’m a straight white woman in my early 30s. In theory, I’ve always been into men of all races — but in practice, most of my exes are Latino and white. In September, I met this really handsome Chinese American guy, and I feel like he rewired me. I’ve been exclusively attracted to Asian guys since. I’m not writing to ask if this is racist, because I’m not asking these guys to, like, speak Korean to me in bed or do any role-playing stuff. But if any of these dudes saw my Tinder matches, they’d be like, “This woman has a thing for Asian guys.” Which I do, but it’s pretty new. Is this normal? Do people just change preferences like that? Also, can you do a PSA about Asian dicks? In my recent but considerable experience, they run the gamut from average to gigantic. If small Asian dicks were a thing, I would have encountered at least one by now. That shit is a myth. — Asian Male/White Female Here’s my general take on racespecific sexual preferences: So long as you can see and treat your sex partners as individuals and not just as objects, and so long as you can express your preferences without coming across and/or being a racist shitbag, and so long as you’ve interrogated your preferences to make sure they’re actually yours and not a mindless desire for what you’ve been told you’re supposed to want (i.e., the currently prevailing beauty standard or its equally mindless rejection, the “transgressive” fetishization of the “other”), then it’s okay to seek out sex and/or romantic partners of a particular race. I ran my general take on racespecific sexual preferences past Joel Kim Booster — a writer and comedian whose work often touches on race and desire — and he approved. (Whew.) Booster had some thoughts for you. “It doesn’t sound like her newfound preference for Asian men has anything to do with the uncomfortable fetishization of culture,” said Booster. “It’s good that she’s not asking them to speak Korean or do any sort of Asian role-playing — something that’s been asked of me before (and it’s a bummer, trust me). Her interest in Asian men seems to be mostly an aesthetic thing,

which you certainly can’t fault her for: There are a lot of hot Asian dudes out there.” Booster also had some questions for you. “It’s not uncommon for people to discover that they’re attracted to something they’d never considered sexy before,” said Booster. “But she went 30 years before she saw one Asian man she was attracted to? And now this guy has ‘rewired’ her to be attracted only to Asian men?” He said that he would like to see a picture of this magical guy, AMWF, and I would, too. “If she was chill about it and just started adding Asian men into the mix, this wouldn’t seem like an issue,” added Booster. “But from what I can gather, she has shifted to exclusively fucking Asian guys and feels the need to write a letter about it. That feels like a red flag, yet I can’t pinpoint why.” Maybe you’re just making up for lost time, and your desires/preferences/ Tinder profile will achieve a racially harmonious equilibrium at a certain point. But whether you remain exclusively attracted to Asian guys for the rest of your life or not, AMWF, make sure you don’t treat Asian guys like you’re doing them a favor by sitting on their gamut-running dicks. “I’m weary of people with a specific racial preference for Asian men. And it’s less out of a fear of being fetishized — though that’s certainly part of it — and more because of the implicit power imbalance that exists in those relationships,” said Booster. “Guys who have a preference for Asian men sometimes bring a certain kind of ‘entitlement’ to our interactions, i.e., ‘You should feel lucky I’m paying you this kind of attention.’ And that’s gross! It doesn’t sound like she’s doing that, but something makes me feel like she wants to be congratulated for being woke enough to consider Asian guys. She’d do well to keep this stuff behind the curtain — no one wants to feel like someone was into them only because of some witch’s curse a hot Chinese American guy put on them at a bar.”

mail@savagelove.net t@fakedansavage

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