Monthly Archives: October 2015

October 22, 2015 · 7:03 am

Aronoff Center 20-Year Economic Impact: $365 Million

Cincinnati Arts Association commissions study in conjunction with 20th anniversary

CAA_Aronoff 20 logoCINCINNATI (Oct. 21, 2015) – A University of Cincinnati Economics Center study reveals the Aronoff Center for the Arts’ economic impact to be more than $365 million since it opened. The venue celebrates its 20th anniversary Wednesday, October 21.

The Cincinnati Arts Association (CAA), the not-for-profit organization that oversees the programming and management of the Aronoff and Music Hall, commissioned the economic impact study.

“As we celebrate this milestone, we are proud not only of the economic impact of the Aronoff Center, but also of its educational and cultural impact on our community,” said Steve Loftin, president and executive director of CAA. “This center has been a special place for artists, patrons, children and so many others. We look forward to creating wonderful memories for this community for years to come.”

“The Aronoff Center has had a substantial economic impact every year for 20 years,” said Jeff Rexhausen, senior research associate at the UC Economics Center. “It has also been a stimulus for downtown revitalization. Its partnership with community education and healthcare organizations has brought the arts into the lives of many people who otherwise may not have had the opportunity.”

Other key findings from the study:

  • The Aronoff has reached a collective audience total of 8.81 million people.
  • The Aronoff has hosted more than 13,000 events.
  • More than $6.53 million was spent at downtown restaurants and bars in conjunction with attending a performance during the 2013-2014 season.
    • One in six of these patrons comes from outside the Cincinnati Metropolitan Statistical Area, and patrons’ dining at restaurants, combined with other spending for parking, hotel stays and other retail purchases, produced a total of $6.71 million in visitor spending. The result of visitor spending had an economic impact of almost $13.9 million and approximately 170 jobs with total earnings of $4.15 million
  • The combined economic impact of the Aronoff and visitor spending amounts to over $34.3 million in fiscal year 2014.
  • The combination of spending by the Aronoff and non-local visitors directly produced $1.45 million in local tax revenues for the city and county in the 2014 fiscal year.

For more information, or to read the entire study, please visit www.cincinnatiarts.org/AronoffCenterEconomicImpact

For more information about the Aronoff Center, visit http://www.cincinnatiarts.org/aronoff-center.

###

About CAA
Founded in 1992, the Cincinnati Arts Association (CAA) is a not-for-profit organization that oversees the programming and management of two of the Tri-state’s finest performing arts venues – the Aronoff Center for the Arts and Music Hall – and is dedicated to supporting performing and visual arts. Each year, CAA presents a diverse schedule of events; serves upwards of 700,000 people in its venues; features the work of talented local, regional, and national artists in the Weston Art Gallery (located in the Aronoff Center); and supports the work of more than one dozen resident companies, including Cincinnati Ballet, Cincinnati May Festival, Cincinnati Opera, Cincinnati Symphony/Pops Orchestras, and Fifth Third Bank Broadway in Cincinnati, presented by TriHealth. Since the inception of its acclaimed arts education programs in 1995, CAA has reached more than 1.4 million students.

Leave a comment

Filed under Press Releases

Tagged as ,

October 22, 2015 · 6:53 am

Actress Needed for Murder Mystery at Milford Theatre Guilde

MTG_logo_newThe Milford Theatre Guilde is hosting an Audience-Participation Murder Mystery Dinner Show on the first two weekends of November. We are seeking an actress – a young woman to play the murder victim’s adult daughter.
All rehearsals and performances will take place in Milford, Ohio at the Day Heights Fireman’s Memorial Building on SR 131. We are in rehearsals now so the time commitment is brief!

If interested, Please contact Terri, the director, for more detailed information.
Thanks!!
Terri Wilson
Milford Theatre Guilde

Leave a comment

Filed under Casting Call

Tagged as

October 21, 2015 · 7:49 am

THE NORWEGIANS Review

Links to all reviews can be found using the REVIEWS link at the top of the any page. Blog postings, links and  more are available on my Facebook fan page. You can also receive updates on Twitter from @BTCincyRob.

CP_The Norwegians logoTHE NORWEGIANS presented by Clifton Players through Nov. 1. Click here for more information on the production. I attended the opening Thursday performance.

On paper, THE NORWEGIANS looks like a winner. A goofy premise with a solid cast of four. Unfortunately for me, it was paper in the form of the script that derailed the show.

I found the script to be uneven at best. Digging around on the internet, I discovered that this 90-minute show began its life as a ten-minute play and the stretch marks show. It seemed to rely heavily on gimmicks as opposed to strong story telling.

A problem for me was the pacing. While I understand the deliberate, measured speech of Tor (Sean Dillon), his delivery was so consistently slow that it offset any momentum built by the other actors. The simple scene changes between flashback and present day seemed a bit over-thought and slow.

The interactions between the characters seemed flat. For example, the barbs being traded between Tor and his half-Norwegian muscle (Michael Bath) didn’t seem to have much of an impact on their relationship. In the bar scenes with Betty (Carol Brammer) and Olive (Miranda McGee), they never became “funny to watch drunk.” With the final scene essentially being on a countdown, it failed to build to any sort of climax, there was no sense of urgency to it.

Overall a very uneven show that for me, struggled to be both dark and a comedy.

My rating 3.75 out of 5

I would enjoy hearing what you think about the show or my review. All I ask is that you express your opinion without attacking someone else’s opinion. You can post your comments below.

2 Comments

Filed under Reviews

Tagged as

October 21, 2015 · 7:08 am

Cincinnati Boychoir to Perform with PBS-sensations THE TENORS at the Aronoff Center – Tue., Nov. 3‏

Members ofMISC_Cincinnati Boychoir log

To Perform With THE TENORS

CAA_The Tenors promo

CINCINNATI, OH –­­ The Tenors – the Canadian multi-platinum, JUNO Award-winning vocal group – recently announced that twenty members of the acclaimed Cincinnati Boychoir will perform with the popular PBS-sensations new Under the Sky Tour at the Aronoff Center’s Procter & Gamble Hall on Tuesday, November 3, 2015 at 7:30 PM. The event is presented by the Cincinnati Arts Association as part of its 2015-16 Season – celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Aronoff Center. 

Tickets range between $40-$85 (prices subject to change) and are now on sale at www.CincinnatiArts.org, (513) 621-ARTS [2787], and the Aronoff Center Ticket Office.  Group discount tickets for 10 or more are available by calling (513) 977-4157.

The twenty-member choir will perform three songs with The Tenors during the second half of the evening’s program, including one of The Tenors’ original songs and the most famous aria of all time, Nessun Dorma.

“This is a great opportunity to involve the Cincinnati community,” said Ashley Majher with Red Light Management, the tour promoter. “It gives the boys a chance to experience the thrill of performing in front of a large audience with such a high-level touring act. We feel that it is something the boys and their parents  will always remember.”

The Cincinnati Boychoir, under the artistic direction of Christopher Eanes, is one of the premiere professional boychoirs in the United States. A resident company of the Aronoff Center for the Arts, the Boychoir reaches approximately 200 young men each year from more than 90 schools in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. Since 1965, the Cincinnati Boychoir has been dedicated to the musical, intellectual, and emotional development of these young men and has served as one of the foremost music education and performance organizations in the region; boys attend weekly rehearsals, retreats, music theory classes, and the annual SongFest Summer Music Camp for Boys at Xavier University. The Boychoir celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2015.

“For the boys to have the opportunity to back up a professional touring group is fantastic,” said Eanes. “It is just one of the many opportunities that have come about because of our new and ongoing relationship with the Aronoff.”

The Tenors, with multiple #1 Billboard Classical Crossover albums under its belt, “have talent to burn” and “killer singing voices” ravesThe Toronto Star and “pitch perfect harmonies” says Examiner.com. The music of Clifton Murray, Victor Micallef, Remigio Pereira, andFraser Walters is rich and soulful, spanning powerful anthems, classic covers, and original songs penned/co-penned by The Tenorsthemselves.

On their new album, Under One Sky, the multi-platinum Juno Award-winning foursome co-wrote eight tunes, showing facets of themselves they’ve longed to share with their millions of fans. Over the years, The Tenors’ musical diversity has become one of their primary strengths, and Under One Sky’s material covers the full range of tunes that have made the group one of the most popular livedraws across the globe. In addition to the original songs, Under One Sky includes the foursome’s reinventions of contemporary classicslike “Lean on Me,”“You Are So Beautiful,” and Queen’s “Who Wants To Live Forever”;  a swoon-worthy duet featuring Walters’ wife, Kelly Levesque; as well as their glorious interpretations of classical pieces “Granada,” “Besame Mucho,” and “Agnus Dei.”

Since their formation in 2007, The Tenors have performed more than 500 concerts on five continents and made over 150 television appearances, including The Oprah Winfrey Show (with Celine Dion), the 2014 National Christmas Tree Lighting at the White House, the 2014 Stanley Cup Finals, the 2012 Emmy Awards, the Queen’s 2012 Diamond Jubilee at Windsor Castle in England, and the 2010 Vancouver Olympic opening ceremonies. Among the artists with whom they have performed are Paul McCartney, Sting, Sheryl Crow, Andrea Bocelli, and Sarah McLachlan.

The Tenors’ first album is certified double platinum, and their holiday album is certified triple platinum in Canada. Their third album, 2012’s Lead With Your Heart, went double platinum, won a 2013 Juno Award for Adult Contemporary Album of the Year,  and debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Classical and Classical Crossover charts. They have sold almost one million albums around the world.

For more information about The Tenors, visit www.tenorsmusic.com.  Twitter: @TenorsMusic | Facebook: The Tenors (www.facebook.com /tenorsmusic) | Instagram: @TenorsMusic

For more information about Cincinnati Boychoir, visit www.cincinnatiboychoir.org.

Cincinnati Boychoir members performing with The Tenors   

  • Samuel Bennett (Mason, OH)
  • Forrest Bushstone (Loveland, OH)
  • Tyler Daniels (Hamilton, OH)
  • Aden Devlin-Bergman (Cincinnati, OH)
  • Oscar Dreith (Cincinnati, OH)
  • Kyler Endress (Cincinnati, OH)
  • Callahan Geoppinger (Cincinnati, OH)
  • Sean Hutson (Mason, OH)
  • Cade Jenkins (Goshen, OH)
  • Josiah Krodel (Cincinnati,  OH)
  • Peter Laskey (Fort Thomas, KY)
  • Jude Laskey (Fort Mitchell, KY)
  • Daniel McDowell (Cincinnati, OH)
  • Mark Schutzman (Villa Hills, KY)
  • Owen Tucker (Cincinnati, OH)
  • Jacob Turner (Union, KY)
  • William Van Verth (Mason, OH)
  • Daniel Vennemeyer (Mason, OH)
  • Patrick Wells (Loveland, OH)
  • Alexander Zagorianos (Cincinnati, OH)

Leave a comment

Filed under Events, Press Releases

Tagged as ,

October 21, 2015 · 6:57 am

DESCENT Runs Oct. 30-Nov. 1

MISC_Descent promoDESCENT: An Interactive Performance of the Descent of Inanna
Oct. 30-Nov. 1
Mount Airy Arboretum [Mount Airy]

Created and performed by Sharon Penz, Alison Vodnoy Wolf, Mia Vera & Laura Grace-Cox

The Inanna myth comes to us from Ancient Sumer. It is the story of the great goddess’s descent to the underworld and the sacrifices that she must make along her journey. Inanna – at the pinnacle of her powers- chooses to make the journey to the underworld, and along the way must pass through seven gates. At each of these gates the goddess is forced to surrender one of her magical garments (symbolic of her power and status) until- stripped of all her treasures- she finally arrives naked in the underworld, where her sister reigns .

DESCENT is a new adaptation of this four thousand year-old myth that brings the audience on a journey to the underworld. During the Halloween weekend performances, the audience enters the forest, passing through the seven gates, just as Inanna did in her descent. An ensemble of women illuminate the ancient story with song, live music, dance, and spoken word. DESCENT is a visceral experience of myth and a contemporary expression of feminine transformation.

  • Fri-Sat, Oct. 30-31 at 6pm
  • Sun, Nov. 1 at 5pm

Facebook event |

Leave a comment

Filed under On Stage