Category Archives: Events

October 20, 2017 · 12:30 pm

Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati Presents TODD ALMOND & MICHELLE SHOCKED for One-Night Only Performance November 1

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(Cincinnati, OH) Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati’s (ETC) first pop-up performance in its newly renovated venue will be a one-night only fundraiser featuring Cincinnati favorite Todd Almond, with Michelle Shocked. Composer/performer Todd Almond and two-time Grammy Award-nominee and folk-rock icon Michelle Shocked share an intimate evening celebrating their provocative songwriting and their recently forged theatrical collaboration. Featuring songs by both artists as well as a look at Shocked’s seminal album, Kind Hearted Woman, the evening brings together two innovators in their fields.

The duo will perform new songs and past hits to benefit the expansion of ETC’s workshop opportunities. Additionally, at the performance, ETC will make a very special announcement. The performance is Wednesday, November 1 at 9:45 pm. The show will go up shortly following the conclusion of that evening’s performance of This Random World. Tickets are $20.

About the Performers

Todd Almond is a composer, lyricist, and playwright. His Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati credits include I Am My Own Wife (subsequently reprised at Actors Theatre of Louisville), Hedwig and the Angry Inch in 2001 and 2003, and the world premiere of James and Annie. Other credits include musical director for the recent production of Suzan-Lori Park’s F**cking A (Signature Theatre); original music for the off-Broadway production of How to Transcend a Happy Marriage (Lincoln Center); original music for the Broadway production of Noises Off (Roundabout); book for Girlfriend (songs by Matthew Sweet, directed by Les Waters; CTG; and Know Theatre of Cincinnati); book, music, and lyrics for Kansas City Choir Boy (also starred alongside Courtney Love, directed by Kevin Newbury; Prototype Festival, American Repertory Theater, Center Theater Group); music, lyrics, book/adaptation for The Odyssey, The Winter’s Tale, The Tempest (directed by Lear deBessonet; Delacorte, Public Theater’s Public Works Program); Iowa (a collaboration with playwright Jenny Schwartz, directed by Ken Rus Schmoll; Playwrights Horizons); score for Melancholy Play (a chamber-musical version of Sarah Ruhl’s play).

Michelle Shocked received her first international exposure in Europe with her debut album, The Texas Campfire Tapes, a bootleg recorded around a festival campfire on a cassette recorder. She signed with Mercury (PolyGram/Universal) in 1987. Her U.S. debut came with the release of her 1988 album, Short Sharp Shocked,  vignettes of her early life in rural East Texas. On college radio rotations around the country, it was met with strong listener acclaim. Captain Swing, released in 1989, is a survey of swing styles from jump to hard bop. Arkansas Traveler, released in 1992, inspired by traditional bluegrass. In 1995, she contributed “Quality of Mercy” to the soundtrack for the Academy Award-winning film Dead Man Walking. In 1996, she released a studio version of an underground release, Kind Hearted Woman. In 2002, with the release of Deep Natural, Shocked established her own Mighty Sound label. A 2005 trilogy, Threesome, and a 2007 bootleg of a gospel set, ToHeavenURide, followed. In 2009, Soul of My Soul, her most recent release. Shocked continues her creative endeavors as an independent artist and currently lives in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.

Performance Information
This one-night-only performance is on Wednesday, November 1, at 9:45pm on ETC’s main stage. The show will start at approximately 9:45 pm, shortly following the conclusion of This Random World. 

Ticket Prices
All tickets are $20 and may be purchased by phone or in person at the box office at (513) 421-3555. For more information, visit www.ensemblecincinnati.org.

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Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati is supported, in part, by the generosity of community contributions to the ArtsWave Campaign.

The Ohio Arts Council helps fund Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati also receives funding from the Shubert Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.

2017-2018 Season Presenting Sponsor is the Otto M. Budig Family Foundation. Additional support provided PNC. 

Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati is a professional theatre dedicated to producing world and regional premieres of works that often explore compelling social issues. We fulfill our mission through our stage productions and educational outreach programs that enlighten, enliven, enrich and inspire our audiences.

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October 6, 2017 · 4:09 pm

The Kentucky Symphony Orchestra Opens Its 26th Season With Classical Warhorses And Their Rock & Rock Offspring

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The KSO’s program ALL BY THEMSELVES features two works of pianist/composer
Sergei Rachmaninoff juxtaposed with the ’70s hit songs of singer/songwriter Eric Carmen

The Kentucky Symphony Orchestra opens its 26th Season on October 14th, at Greaves Concert Hall, with a unique pairing of classics and rock & roll. Sergei Rachmaninoff’s works — vast sonic canvases, with lush sonorities — made him the last of the truly Romantic composers. Sixty years later, such romanticism was not lost on young rock & roll singer/songwriter Eric Carmen. He borrowed themes from Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony and Second Piano Concerto respectively to write the mid-70’s hit songs “Never Gonna Fall In Love Again” and “All By Myself.”

Rachmaninoff, in addition to being a world-renowned pianist, wrote four piano concerti and the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, 3 symphonies, 4 assorted orchestra works and 3 one-act operas, plus songs and piano pieces. Rachmaninoff emigrated to the United States in 1918 and was welcomed with offers from piano manufacturers, record companies and orchestras including the Boston and Cincinnati Symphonies. He began concert tours playing his own concerti and recitals of other composers’ music. The Second Piano Concerto, his most famous work, will be performed by award-winning and acclaimed pianist Soyeon Kate Lee, currently an artist/faculty member at University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music.

As a youth, Carmen regularly attended rehearsals of the Cleveland Orchestra with his aunt, who was a violist in the orchestra. His exposure to the classics impacted his songwriting later in life, as he borrowed tunes from both Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff. After years as lead singer and songwriter for the Raspberries (“Go All the Way,” “I Wanna Be with You”), Carmen set off on a solo career in 1975 finding immediate success with his Rachmaninoff-inspired songs. Eric continued to write and perform hits into the 80s (“Hungry Eyes,” “Make Me Lose Control”). Living in his hometown Cleveland, Carmen occasionally writes, but no longer performs. Broadway veteran singer and actor (NKU alum), Aaron LaVigne will belt out Carmen’s pop ballads accompanied by the KSO.

“The KSO’s thematic programming philosophy would normally steer us away from such large traditional works, but adding Eric’s songs from the 1970s, and showing the relationship of the classical works to the pop songs they inspired, made this all-Rachmaninoff pairing more universally relevant to our audience,” remarked Music Director James Cassidy. “I have spoken to Mr. Carmen about the program, but don’t know whether he will make a cameo.”

The Kentucky Symphony Orchestra fills Greaves Concert Hall with Rachmaninoff and Carmen at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, October 14 at NKU, Highland Heights, KY. Reserved seating tickets are $19, $27, $35 (children ages 6-18 are 50% off) and are available online at kyso.org, by phone (859) 431-6216, or at the door.

ALL BY THEMSELVES
(Classical Warhorses and their Rock & Roll Offspring)

7:30 p.m. Saturday, October 14, 2017
Greaves Concert Hall, NKU

Sergei Rachmaninoff – Symphony No. 2 in E minor
Eric Carmen – “Never Gonna Fall in Love Again”

Intermission

Carmen – “All By Myself”
Aaron LaVigne, vocal

Rachmaninoff – Piano Concerto in C minor
Soyeon Kate Lee, piano

First prize winner of the 2010 Naumburg International Piano Competition and the 2004 Concert Artist Guild International Competition, Korean-American pianist Soyeon Kate Lee has been lauded by the New York Times as a pianist with “a huge, richly varied sound, a lively imagination and a firm sense of style,” and by the Washington Post for her “stunning command of the keyboard.” She has performed as soloist with numerous orchestras, including The Cleveland Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional in the Dominican Republic, Orquesta de Valencia, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Juilliard Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, and Naples Philharmonic. In recent seasons, she has given recitals at New York’s Zankel, Alice Tully, and Merkin halls, Kennedy Center, Ravinia Festival, Madrid’s National Auditorium, and San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre.

A Naxos recording artist, she records a double CD of Scriabin piano works this season following the Scarlatti and Liszt albums released earlier. A second prize and Mozart Prize winner of the Cleveland International Piano Competition and a laureate of the Santander International Piano Competition in Spain, she has worked extensively with Richard Goode, Robert McDonald, Ursula Oppens, and Jerome Lowenthal. Ms. Lee is the co-founder and artistic director of Music by the Glass, a concert series dedicated to bringing together young professionals in New York City. A Yamaha Artist, Ms. Lee is an Assistant Professor of Piano at the Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music, and lives in Cincinnati with her husband, pianist Ran Dank, and their one-year-old son, Noah.

If Jack Johnson, Jason Mraz, Paul McCartney, The Avett Brothers, and Jeff Buckley had a baby, Aaron LaVigne would be that baby. Singer / Songwriter / Actor based out of New York City, Aaron’s favorite credits include Broadway’s Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, both the International Tour & Off-Broadway revival of the hit musical RENT, Jesus Christ Superstar, Forever Plaid, Civil War, and tick, tick… BOOM! His latest studio EP, Call Your Mom, is now available on iTunes as well as his previous album, The DownTown Crowd. Aaron is making his second appearance with the KSO since his debut in 2005 in “We the People,” a theatrical program of music from and about America’s revolution in Devou Park.

About the KSO:
For 25 years the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra has taken the “phony” out of symphony by eliminating traditional barriers and presenting engaging, live, thematic concerts that enrich, educate and entertain the residents of Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati. The KSO performs three series of concerts annually throughout Northern Kentucky.

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October 3, 2017 · 3:54 pm

THE LAST FIREFLY Brightens the Arts Center at Dunham and its Free Family Fun Series

PIP_The Last Firefly

Promotional photo by Tony Arrasmith/Arrasmith & Associates.

CINCINNATI, OH – September 27, 2017 — The Free Family Fun Series returns to the Arts Center at Dunham with the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park’s Off the Hill THE LAST FIREFLY on Saturday, October 7 at 2 p.m.

Courtesy of a grant from Price Hill Will Arts CAT, THE LAST FIREFLYy is the mythical story of Boom, the son of Thunder, who sets out to discover his true self. After his stepfather forces Boom from his home, he begins a search for his real father, which takes him on a journey of self-discovery where he must courageously battle forces of nature. THE LAST FIREFLY is recommended for ages 8 and up.

“This show is a fun adventure that will engage the imaginations of children and parents alike,” says Daunielle Rasmussen, director of education and community engagement at the Playhouse.

Noted playwright Naomi Iizuka’s script is an evocative and kabuki-influenced play geared towards young audiences. Kabuki theatre is a Japanese form of stage drama that is characterized by elaborate costumes, lively storytelling, music, movement and dancing.

Traditionally, kabuki theatre explores themes of good and evil through nature and spirituality. Characters include Lightning, Monkey, Tree and Spider, and Boom must also battle fierce elements of nature. These fantastical characteristics call for an especially innovative approach to set design, props and costume, all of which are crafted by Playhouse artisans.

THE LAST FIREFLY is performed by members of the 2017-18 Bruce E. Coyle Acting Intern Company, under the direction of Playhouse Associate Artist Timothy Douglas. As Associate Artist, Douglas has directed many productions for the Marx and Shelterhouse stages, including Jitney, Buzzer, Clybourne Park, The North Pool, Mothers and Sons and the world premiere of Safe House. THE LAST FIREFLY marks his first production for the Playhouse in which he directs young and emerging artists for children’s theatre. Off the Hill is supported by The Robert and Adele Schiff Family Foundation and John C. Griswold Foundation.

“The Free Family Fun Series has a growing following, and we are excited to bring it back for another season at The Arts Center at Dunham,” said Carrie Mees, who supports programming at the Arts Center at Dunham. “The series allows people of all ages to experience the arts for free and inspire them to get involved in the performing arts.”

All Free Family Fun Series performances are on Saturdays at 2:00 p.m. The remaining series includes:

  • February 17, 2018 – PINOCCHIO by Toby Hulse and performed by the Playhouse in the Park’s Off the Hill Productions. Courtesy of a grant from Price Hill Will Arts CAT. The much-loved tale about a wooden puppet who dreams of becoming a real boy is packed with magical characters, cartwheels, circus antics and dollops of fun for the whole family starting at age 6 and up.
  • March 3, 2018 Cincinnati Ballet Dancers from the prestigious Cincinnati Ballet will provide an exciting peek into the typical day in the life of professional dancers. Audience members will learn the fundamentals of the art of ballet and gain an understanding of the discipline and athleticism required for a professional career in ballet. A dance demonstration with audience participation and a question and answer discussion are included.
  • April 7, 2018 ROKCincy Opera for Children: TRIP JONES AND THE CASE OF THE MISSING MUSIC
    Join Trip Jones for a choose-your-own adventure opera with ROKCincy as he tried to solve the mystery of the Diva’s missing music before the curtain goes up and the show…can’t go on. This action-packed, interactive story takes audiences behind the scenes to learn what it takes to put on grand opera. The performance is 40 minutes in length and is appropriate for grades K-6 and their families. ROKCincy is a non-profit program with a mission to introduce young people to the thrill of live, fully staged opera and to give developing professional musicians an opportunity to hone their performance skills through experience.
  • May 19, 2018 RAPUNZEL by Mike Kenny and performed by the Playhouse in the Park’s Off the Hill Productions. Courtesy of a grant from Price Hill Will Arts CAT. Rapunzel lives in tower with her loving, yet very overprotective Nan after her mother left across the big sea. Year after year, Nan builds their tower higher and higher to protect them from the disgraceful, scary world. Every year, Rapunzel’s hair grows longer and so does her curiosity about the outside. It isn’t until she meets a local boy, Rafi, who finally gives her the courage to be free. Recommended for all ages.

Reservations for performances in the ACAD FREE Family Fun Series can be made online (www.sunsetplayers.org) or by calling 513-588-4988.

The Arts Center at Dunham is a fine arts center for the west side of Cincinnati and its vision is to provide affordable creative and performing arts for Price Hill and surrounding communities. Housed in one of the three remaining buildings of what was the first municipally owned tuberculosis sanatorium in the United States, the Arts Center includes a 350-seat performance venue as well as extensive studio and programming space. The Arts Center is located in the Dunham Recreation Complex. See what is happening at the Arts Center at Dunham on Facebook.

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October 2, 2017 · 4:41 pm

JERRY SEINFELD to Appear On Stage at Aronoff Center

CAA_Jerry Seinfeld Live logoCINCINNATI, OH
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3 at 7pm

TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6 AT 10am!

America’s premier comedian, Jerry Seinfeld, will be performing his signature stand-up routine at the Aronoff Center. Seinfeld has been hailed for his uncanny ability to joke about the little things in life that relate to audiences everywhere. Seinfeld now sets his sights on performing both nationally and internationally in 2018.

His tour will visit the Aronoff Center in Cincinnati on Saturday, February 3 at 7pm.

This show is on sale Friday, October 6 at 10am!

Tickets available online at CincinnatiArts.org, the Aronoff Center Ticket Office or charge by phone 513-621-2787.

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A JS TOURING PRODUCTION

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October 2, 2017 · 4:29 pm

Cincinnati Ballet and Contemporary Dance Theater Partner to Present COLLIDE!

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The unique collaboration celebrates the BLINK Festival through contemporary dance

 CINCINNATI. – In partnership with Contemporary Dance Theater (CDT), and with support from the Cincinnati Arts Association and ArtsWave, Cincinnati Ballet is pleased to announce Collide!, with three performances on October 13 and 14, at the Aronoff Center’s Jarson-Kaplan Theater. The Collide! performance series is a unique collaboration in celebration of the BLINK Festival taking place the same weekend, and offers an exciting opportunity to experience contemporary dance along the BLINK route.

 Collectively curated by Cincinnati Ballet Artistic Director Victoria Morgan and CDT Artistic Director, Jefferson James, Collide! features three brand new contemporary works from choreographers Debbie Blunden-Diggs, James Cunningham, and André Megerdichian, danced by the Cincinnati Ballet Second Company. The collaboration honors Richard J. Collins, late artistic director of the Cincinnati Ballet Company, 1990-1991.

 Debbie Blunden-Diggs is in her 11th season as Artistic Director of the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCDC), and performed with the Company for more than 20 years. She is also an accomplished choreographer, creating works for the company that have become part of their artistic blue print. Her notable works include Configurations, Kaleidoscope, Fragments, In My Father’s House and Traffic. Blunden-Diggs has also served as the company’s Associate Artistic Director and Deputy Director for Arts and Operations.  In addition to her role as Artistic Director of DCDC, she is an adjunct professor at the University of Dayton Theatre, Dance & Performance Technology department. She has assisted Central State University with their theatre and musical productions, and served as a co-director for a production of Crowns for The Human Race Theatre. Blunden-Diggs is on the board of directors for the International Association of Blacks in Dance (IABD).

 James Cunningham is a Soloist with Cincinnati Ballet and began choreographing at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music (CCM), through composition courses and yearly student choreographed showcases. Since joining the Cincinnati Ballet in 2008, he has been commissioned to create site-specific works for chamber orchestra group Concert:Nova and the Constella Music Festival. He continued to refine his craft and find his personal style through two Cincinnati Ballet Choreographic Workshop creations, Seven and Ancora, danced by the Cincinnati Ballet Second Company. His version of Peter and the Wolf has been presented as part of Cincinnati Ballet’s Ballet Toybox production and also through education and outreach performances.

 In the spring of 2016, BalletMet dancers and producers of The Benefit, a charity event for children with hemophilia, invited Cunningham to create Meandering Heartbeat in collaboration with the local rock group The Wind and The Sea and Columbus Symphony musicians. Later that year, Cunningham choreographed a brand new work for the students at CCM and his piece, Prohibition Condition was featured in Cincinnati Ballet’s main stage production of Director’s Cut. Steve Sucato from ArtsAir said, “Cunningham’s well-crafted choreography balanced clever movement with bravura ballet fireworks.” In January 2017, he choreographed a world premiere pas de deux for Cincinnati Ballet dancers, entitled Garcia Counterpoint, with music by Bryce Dessner, as part of the MusicNow Festival.

 André Megerdichian is an Assitant Professor of Dance at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). Born in New York City and raised in Beirut, Athens, and Geneva. He has performed for over a decade with esteemed companies and choreographers including the Jose Limon Dance Company, Janis Brenner and Dancers, the Mary Anthony Dance Theatre, Soundance Repertory Company, Reidel Dance Theatre, Daniel Charon and Sean Curran. He was a principal dancer with Dance Kaleidoscope, under the artistic direction of David Hochoy (former rehearsal director of the Martha Graham Dance Company) for seven seasons. During his time in Indiana, Megerdichian was awarded the 2003 Creative Renewal Arts Fellowship by the Indianapolis Arts Council, for his sustained artistic contributions to the community.

 In 1995 Megerdichian was invited to create his first evening-length work titled Moving Light, performed in the Statkino Theatre in Salzeburg, Austria, by the Painted Lights Dance Project. Since then, his choreography has been produced by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance at the California Institute of the Arts, the Deadulus Project, Dance Kaleidoscope, the Anderson Young Ballet Theatre, Ball State University and the University of Indianapolis.

 The Cincinnati Ballet Second Company is a group of up-and-coming professional dancers who come from around the world to study at Cincinnati Ballet and perform alongside Cincinnati Ballet’s Company dancers. Second Company dancers rehearse with the company on a full time basis, 9 am-6 pm every weekday, as well as serve as education outreach ambassadors for the organization. With a focus on engaging audiences of all ages, Second Company dancers bring the joy of dance to thousands of students and community members each year through schools, community centers, churches, nursing homes and more.

PERFORMANCE DATES AND INFORMATION

WHO:

Cincinnati Ballet Second Company
World Premiere: “Disconnected Fragments”
Choreography: James Cunningham

World Premiere: “Where Water Meets the Sky”
Choreography: André Megerdichian

World Premiere: “The Human Condition”
Choreography: Debbie Blunden-Diggs

WHAT: COLLIDE!

WHEN:

  • October 13 – 8:00 pm
  • October 14 – 2:00 pm & 8:00 pm

WHERE:

Aronoff Center for the Arts
Jarson-Kaplan Theater
650 Walnut Street
Cincinnati, Ohio  45202

HOW:

Call 513.621.5282, visit cballet.org or visit the Cincinnati Ballet Box Office at 1555 Central Parkway, Cincinnati, OH 45212

Tickets are $25

About Cincinnati Ballet
Since 1963, Cincinnati Ballet has been the cornerstone professional ballet company of the region, presenting a bold and adventurous array of classical, full-length ballets and contemporary works, regularly with live orchestral accompaniment. Under the artistic direction of Victoria Morgan, Cincinnati Ballet has become a creative force within the larger dance community, commissioning world premiere works and exploring unique collaborations with artists as diverse as Grammy winning guitarist Peter Frampton and popular, Ohio-based band Over the Rhine. With a mission to inspire hope and joy in our community and beyond through the power and passion of dance, Cincinnati Ballet reaches beyond the stage in programs that allow every person in the region to be part of the continued evolution of dance. To that end, Cincinnati Ballet presents exhilarating performances, extensive education outreach programs and offers top level professional ballet training at Cincinnati Ballet Otto M. Budig Academy.

CONNECT: READ / WATCH / LISTEN / LEARN / ENJOY at cballet.org 

Cincinnati Ballet 2017-2018 Season Sponsors: ArtsWave, Mercy Health, Louise Dieterle Nippert Musical Arts Fund, PNC Bank, Austin E. Knowlton Foundation, Ohio Arts Council, Frisch’s Big Boy, Rhonda & Larry Sheakley

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