Category Archives: Events

November 4, 2021 · 11:27 am

Anderson Theatre Opens a New Season with THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE

AT_25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee1

The cast of THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BE at Anderson High School includes Junior Harlie Galloway as Marcy Park, Junior Nathan Knarr as William Barfee, Junior Emma Moulas as Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre, Junior Josh Berning as Leaf Coneybear, Senior Avery Kniskern as Olive Ostrovsky, and Senior Nick Gundrum as Chip Tolentino.

THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE is a Tony-winning musical comedy that centers on six awkward spelling champions competing for top honors in a spelling bee run by three equally-quirky grown-ups. Featuring a fast-paced, wildly funny, and touching book by Rachel Sheinkin and a fun and vibrant score by William Finn, this bee is easily one of the most enjoyable musicals that you will ever be a part of. Yes, that’s right—each night, a few audience members will have the chance to compete along side the performers…at least for a while! Will you be up to the test? This delightful and heart-felt musical will send you home with a grin, a song, and a juice box. Hilarious. H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S  Hilarious!

Performances are November 19 & 20 at 7:00 pm and November 21 at 3:00 pm in AHS’s Titus Auditorium.

Tickets are $10 and on-sale now: you can use the attached order form or go to www.Showtix4U.com/events/AndersonTheatre to buy your tickets online..

Visit our website AndersonTheatre.com to find out more about the season.

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October 28, 2021 · 10:17 am

FRANKENSTEIN Radio Drama Available Halloween Night from Cincinnati Shakespeare Company and WVXU

CSC_WVXU Frankenstein logoTune into 91.7 WVXU this Halloween, October 31st at 7pm for the world premiere of a new audio drama adaptation of FRANKENSTEIN.

Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s Candice Handy and Brian Isaac Phillips have put a modern and updated spin on Mary Shelley’s sci-fi thriller that you won’t want to miss.

This is the second year in a row that CSC will be world premiering a brand new audio drama on WVXU for Halloween. Listen to last year’s War of the Worlds now to get in the spooky spirit, cincyshakes.com/event/war-of-the-worlds/.

How to listen to FRANKENSTEIN on Halloween this Sunday at 7pm:

  • Radio 91.7 FM
  • WVXU App
  • WVXU.org/listen
  • Tell your smart speaker to “Play WVXU”

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October 26, 2021 · 12:35 pm

MENOPAUSE the Musical | February 15-26, 2022 | Aronoff Center

CAA_Menopause the Musical logoNATIONAL TOUR OF MENOPAUSE THE MUSICAL® PLAYS
CINCINNATI’S ARONOFF CENTER FROM FEBRUARY 15-26, 2022
FOR 15 PERFORMANCES!
Tickets On Sale Friday, October 29

CINCINNATI, OH – GFour Productions, winners of fifty-six Drama Desk and forty-four Tony Awards, are proudly bringing the international hit show Menopause The Musical® to the Aronoff Center’s intimate Jarson-Kaplan Theater from February 15-26, 2022 for fifteen performances (see performance schedule below). The show is part of Cincinnati Arts Association’s 2021-22 Presenting Season.

Tickets go on sale Friday, October 29 at 10:00 AM at www.CincinnatiArts.org, (513) 621-ARTS [2787], and the Aronoff Center Ticket Office at 650 Walnut Street, Downtown. For Group Sales (10 or more), call (513) 977-4157. Ticket price: $65 (all seats). Applicable services fees may apply.

Menopause The Musical® is a groundbreaking celebration of women who are on the brink of, in the middle of, or have survived “The Change.” Now celebrating twenty years of female empowerment through hilarious musical comedy, Menopause The Musical® has evolved as a “grassroots” movement of women who deal with life adjustments after forty by embracing each other and the road ahead.

Set in a department store, four women meet while shopping for a black lace bra at a lingerie sale. After noticing similarities among one another, the cast jokes about their woeful hot flashes, mood swings, wrinkles, weight gain, and much more. These women form a sisterhood and unique bond with the entire audience as they rejoice in celebrating that menopause is no longer “The Silent Passage.” 

Inspired by a hot flash and a bottle of wine, Menopause The Musical® was created as a celebration of women who find themselves at any stage of “The Change.” The laughter-filled 90-minute production gets audience members out of their seats and singing along to parodies from classic pop songs of the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s.

Menopause The Musical® is now in its twentieth year and fifteenth year as the longest-running musical in Las Vegas history, performing nightly at Harrah’s Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Seen by more than seventeen million people, it has played every state in the continental U.S. and more than five hundred cities and seventeen countries worldwide; has toured internationally in Australia, Canada, Croatia, France, Hungary, New Zealand, Slovenia, South Korea and the U.K.; and has been translated into nine languages. For more information, visit www.MenopauseTheMusical.com.

Menopause The Musical® Performance Schedule 

  • Tuesday, February 15 @ 7:30 PM
  • Wednesday, February 16 @ 7:30 PM
  • Thursday, February 17 @ 7:30 PM
  • Friday, February 18 @ 7:30 PM
  • Saturday, February 19 @ 1:00 PM & 7:30 PM
  • Sunday, February 20 @ 1:00 PM & 7:30 PM
  • Tuesday, February 22 @ 7:30 PM
  • Wednesday, February 23 @ 7:30 PM
  • Thursday, February 24 @ 7:30 PM
  • Friday, February 25 @ 7:30 PM
  • Saturday, February 26 @ 1:00 PM & 7:30 PM
  • Sunday, February 27 @ 1:00 PM

About GFour Productions
GFour Productions is the proud producer of some of the nation’s highest caliber shows, from regional theatre to Broadway, including MENOPAUSE THE MUSICAL®. Other recent productions include THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG on Broadway and U.S. tour, winner of London’s Olivier Award for Best Comedy; THE INHERITANCE, TINA: THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL, and SIX THE MUSICAL on Broadway; the Tony Award®-nominated production of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF on tour in the U.S.; AMERICAN SON starring Kerry Washington, recently adapted for Netflix; and the premiere of David Mamet’s BITTER WHEAT, starring John Malkovich in the West End. Other selected highlights include winning the 2013 Tony Award® for their 50th anniversary production of Edward Albee’s WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF; co-financing the five-time Tony Award®, five-time Drama Desk Award, and seven-time Olivier Award winner for Best Musical, MATILDA THE MUSICAL; and producing the popular 9 TO 5: THE MUSICAL, with music and lyrics by Dolly Parton, and RING OF FIRE the Johnny Cash Musical Show. Their combined shows have been nominated for 121 Tony Awards®, winning 44, and 110 Drama Desk Awards, winning 56. For more information, visit http://www.GFourProductions.com.

CINCINNATI ARTS ASSOCIATION SPONSORS

SEASON SPONSORS:  AMERITAS (Founding Season Sponsor), FIFTH THIRD BANK (Lifetime Endowment Partner), CINCINNATI-NORTHERN KENTUCKY HONDA DEALERS, LOCAL 12 WKRC-TV, The P&G FUND of The Greater Cincinnati Foundation

SEASON PRESENTING SPONSORS:  21C Museum Hotel, Cincinnati Herald, CityBeat, Courtyard Marriott & Residence Inn-Rookwood, Graphic Village, Heidelberg Distributing, Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza, Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Cincinnati Downtown, Pepsi, Skyline Chili, TriHealth 

Founded in 1992, the Cincinnati Arts Association (CAA) is a not-for-profit organization that oversees the programming and management 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 600,000 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. Since the inception of its acclaimed arts education and community engagement programs in 1995, CAA has reached nearly two million students and adults. For more information, visit www.CincinnatiArts.org.

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October 26, 2021 · 10:13 am

Five-Time Grammy Winner & Oscar-Nominated Composer of DA 5 BLOODS and BLACKKKLANSMAN Offers Rare Cincinnati Concert and Workshop with Teens

MISC_Terence Blanchard

Terence Blanchard

“Jazz is a fighter,” said Wayne Shorter. “The word ‘jazz’ means to me, ‘I dare you. Let’s jump into the unknown!’” The music and legacy of jazz giant Shorter will be front-and-center as multi-GRAMMY winner, Oscar nominee, opera and film composer Terence Blanchard makes his concert debut at historic Memorial Hall OTR on Thursday, November 18, 2021, at 8:00pm, featuring double GRAMMY winners The Turtle Island Quartet. Tickets are $15 – $60 and may be purchased online at MemorialHallOTR.com, or by calling the Memorial Hall Box Office at 513.977.8838 (Tu – Fr, 1pm – 6pm). The Memorial Hall concert will be preceded by a special afternoon masterclass for Cincinnati Public School Jazz Academy at Kennedy Heights Arts Center.

The Terence Blanchard concert is supported in part by the ArtsWave Community Campaign.

ABOUT TERENCE BLANCHARD
Oscar nominee, five-time GRAMMY-winner and 2018 USA Fellow trumpeter/composer Terence Blanchard has been a consistent artistic force for making powerful musical statements concerning painful American tragedies – past and present.

Blanchard received an Oscar nomination for his original score for Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman. He won a GRAMMY for Best Instrumental Composition for writing the film’s piece “Blut Und Boden (Blood and Soil).” Some of Blanchard’s other film and television credits include Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever, Summer of Sam, 25th Hour, Inside Man, and Miracle at St. Anna; Kasi Lemmons’ films, Eve’s Bayou, Talk to Me, and Harriet; George Lucas’ Red Tails; Tim Story’s Barbershop; the powerful documentary On the Record which was directed and produced by Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering and premiered on HBO Max in May 2020; and the critically acclaimed drama series Perry Mason starring Matthew Rhys with episodes directed by Tim Van Patten which premiered on HBO in June 2020. Blanchard also scored One Night in Miami, which marks Regina King’s feature directorial debut, and wrote the music for the feature film Bruised, the directorial debut for Halle Berry, who also stars.

More recently, Blanchard became the first black composer to premiere an opera at New York City’s Metropolitan Opera with Fire Shut Up in My Bones, based on the memoir of celebrated writer and The New York Times columnist Charles Blow. Blanchard’s first opera, Champion, also premiered to critical acclaim, featuring Denyce Graves and a libretto from Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Cristofer.

Regarding his consistent attachment to artistic works of conscience, Blanchard confesses, “You get to a certain age when you ask, ‘Who’s going to stand up and speak out for us?’ Then you look around and realize that the James Baldwins, Muhammad Alis and Dr. Kings are no longer here…and begin to understand that it falls on you. I’m not trying to say I’m here to try to correct the whole thing, I’m just trying to speak the truth.”

ABOUT THE MEMORIAL HALL SHOW
Wayne Shorter’s evolution as an artist is vast & unending. Performing with and composing for Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and Miles Davis Second Great Quintet naturally led to the formation of his own legendary groups—first Weather Report, then his musically unparalleled quartet. With Shorter’s career now focused solely on composing, his musical greatness has set the table for his protégé to carry his music forward to the next generation. In ABSENCE, 2018 USA Fellow, two-time Oscar® nominee, and five-time GRAMMY®-winning trumpeter & composer Terence Blanchard celebrates both the brilliance of Shorter’s legacy and the inspiration he has given Blanchard, influencing his ever-expanding amalgam of music and storytelling.

For this monumental task, Blanchard will unite his internationally acclaimed band The E-Collective, featuring young musical pioneers Charles Altura on guitar, Fabian Almazan on piano and synthesizers, Oscar Seaton on drums, and David “DJ” Ginyard on bass, with the double-GRAMMY®-winning Turtle Island Quartet.

MASTERCLASS WITH CINCINNATI PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS
Prior to the Memorial Hall performance, Blanchard will present a jazz masterclass to students in grades 7 – 9 for the Cincinnati Public Schools Jazz Academy at the Kennedy Heights Arts Center. The CPS Jazz Academy was started in 2019 and provides free after school jazz instruction to underserved CPS students with a passion for music. Current enrollment in the Jazz Academy has reached 100 students in 4th – 10th grade. The Jazz Academy founder and director is Dr. Isidore Rudnick, Cincinnati Public Schools’ Fine & Performing Arts Curriculum Manager.

Masterclass participants will all receive complimentary tickets to the Memorial Hall OTR performance. The class is at capacity and will not be open to the public.

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October 21, 2021 · 9:46 am

Memorial Hall Celebrates Veteran’s Day with a Free Patriotic Performance & Art Exhibition

memo_logoIN ITS 113TH YEAR, MEMORIAL HALL CELEBRATES VETERANS WITH A FREE PATRIOTIC PERFORMANCE & ART EXHIBITION

Memorial Hall proudly continues its century-long mission of honoring Cincinnati veterans with a special evening of patriotic programming. Visual arts, symphonic music, and history coalesce in an evocative celebration of our armed services.

The 2021 Veterans Day Salute will take place on Thursday, November 11, at 7:00 p.m. at Memorial Hall (1225 Elm Street in Over-the-Rhine). This year’s celebration will feature Memorial Hall’s longtime resident wind symphony, the Queen City Concert Band (QCCB) for its eleventh Veterans Salute.

The Veterans Art Exhibition will also be available for viewing on Veterans Day, Thursday November 11, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.

All programs are free of charge, though concert reservations are required. Free tickets can be reserved at www.memorialhallotr.com, or by calling the Memorial Hall box office at (513) 977-8838 Tuesday through Friday, 1-6 p.m.

Masks plus proof of vaccination or negative test result within past 72 hours are required. Please read Memorial Hall’s full COVID-19 policies.

The 2021 Veterans Day Salute is co-presented by Memorial Hall, the Cincinnati VA Medical Center, and Queen City Concert Band.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS

Veterans Art Exhibition | Evenings, November 9 – 11, 6:30 p.m.  – 9:00 p.m.

Celebrate Veterans Day by viewing an exhibition of artwork created by local veterans in the Memorial Hall Ballrooms. Featured artwork will include pieces created by veterans who have participated in the Creative Arts Therapy program at the Cincinnati VA Medical Center. Mediums included in past veteran shows have included painting, drawing, sculpture and photography; applied art that includes ceramics, woodcarving, needlework and leatherwork; and craft kits such as string art, fabric art and wood building. This exhibition is part of a veteran’s therapy and provides recognition for their artistic accomplishments.

Tickets are not required to view the art exhibition.

Queen City Concert Band Veterans Salute | Thursday, November 11, 7:00 p.m.

Memorial Hall’s longtime resident wind symphony, the Queen City Concert Band (QCCB) is proud to return home for its eleventh Veterans Salute. As always, a Military Honor Guard will be on hand representing all branches of the United States military. The QCCB will offer a variety of patriotic selections with themes reflecting the service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform during America’s significant domestic and foreign wars. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the 911 tragedy, which will be commemorated with a performance of Flight of Valor. The piece was written by James Swearingen as a memorial for the victims of United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, during the September 11, 2001 attacks. Veterans (and family members) are encouraged to attend this fitting tribute. Performance time is 7:00 pm. A cookie and punch reception will follow.

The Queen City Concert Band performance is free to attend, but tickets are required, and seating is reserved.

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