NEW LSC Radio Program
LSC Radio returns with A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM.
This classic is directed by Jacqlyn Schott and produced by Jill Gornet and Micheal Harris-Kiser.
Video and audio only versions of Acts 1 and 2 are available online now on the program page. There, you can also find all the cast photos and bios!
Acts 3, then 4 and 5 will be released on the next and following Fridays (Nov. 6, Nov. 13)
http://lovelandstagecompany.org/…/a-midsummer-nights…/
Filed under Press Releases
The Drama Workshop invites you to include them in your celebration of Halloween by viewing two Home View Theatre videos featuring ghostly tales. TDW President Eric Thomas states “Now is the time to check out TDW’s Home View Theatre series and enjoy two videos just perfect for the Halloween weekend. At $5 for each video, Local Legends and A Paranormal Investigation can safely provide you with almost 90 minutes of Halloween entertainment at home for the price of going to the movie theater.”
TDW has produced two video productions that feature stories of ghostly hauntings. Local Legends features seven tales of ghostly lore, five of which are based in Cincinnati. A Paranormal Investigation into The Raven is a contemporary comedic take on the classic story of The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe.
Local Legends was directed by Alexa Justice. The seven stories included in the anthology are:
The Westwood Brickyard Ghost as told by Greg Hand, a well-known storyteller and proprietor of the Cincinnati Curiosities blog. Hand is a freelance writer who contributes regularly to Cincinnati Magazine and to WCPO-TV’s Cincy Lifestyle Show. He is retired from the University of Cincinnati and was once editor of the Western Hills Press. Westwood bricks are collector’s items today, artifacts from an era when James N. Gamble manufactured bricks to build Proctor and Gamble’s huge Ivorydale complex. But according to Hand, “Brickyards require brick makers, and brick makers sometimes argue, sometimes with fatal consequences and revenge from beyond the grave.”
Adrianna Marie Boris relates the story of Marie Hahn, Cincinnati’s only female serial killer. Ms. Boris says that Hahn “was a compelling and mysterious figure in the 1930s. Her cold-blooded crimes have largely been forgotten, but she’s a Cincinnatian you’ll never forget!”
Bill Stringer is a member of the Cincinnati Museum Center Shows and Interpretations team which allows for many opportunities for historic and scientific storytelling. He also runs role-playing games for his friends and enjoys group storytelling. His story is called The Tunnel Rat. The story is set in Cincinnati during the mid-1800’s when there where many tunnels being dug to support the city’s growing lager trade. Stringer states that “Unbeknownst to the people above, a plot for revenge was being brewed right beside the beer.”
Author Kat Klockow tells the story of Eden Park’s Woman in Black. Ms. Klockow is the editor of Cincinnati Cabinet of Curiosities comics anthology and the creator of graphic novels Witches & Sorcerers and Spiritus Maximus. She is also the author of Ohio’s Haunted Crimes and Haunted Hosier Halls: Indiana University. Ms. Klockow says that “The Woman in Black has haunted Eden Park for decades, but how she found herself there was one crazy ride.”
Carolmarie Stock is an award-winning TDW actress and has been a professional storyteller for the last 40 years. She states that “My mother says I’ve been telling stories since I learned to talk.” In the video, Ms. Stock relays an adaptation of an old Appalachian folktale.
Jeb Black is a writer, illustrator, game master and magician living in Cincinnati. His short stories can be found in the flash fiction anthologies Baby Shoes, Flash and Itty Bitty Writing Space, edited by Jason Brick. Jeb tells a story entitled Time of Death which is about a clockmaker who finds himself repairing Death’s own pocket watch.
Kat Jones is a Latina game designer and scholar who loves a good spooky story. Her story about La Llorona and how it traveled and merged with the American story of Bloody Mary.
Alexa Justice states “I enjoyed directing this project because I found every one of these stories to be a delight…in a spooky kind of way.”
The second spooky offering by Home View Theatre is A Paranormal Investigation into The Raven. This comedy written and directed by Dennis Murphy is a spoof of both the Edgar Allen Poe story of a young man haunted by a raven who keeps repeating the word “Nevermore” and of paranormal investigation television shows. “I am actually a big fan of paranormal investigation TV shows” he shares “and realized that Poe’s Raven story would be exactly the kind of thing a ghost-tracking show would want to investigate.”
Paranormal Investigation features CJ Bossart as a modern-day Poe and Betsy Bossart as the host of the Paranormal Investigations television show. Murphy states “I cast a husband and wife team because it allowed me to safely film the two actors in close quarters and because it provided for instant chemistry between them as well.”
Home Brew Theatre has also released Eric Thomas’ Stranded Traveler and will release three more productions in November ad December.
Tickets for any of the Home View productions can be purchased at www.thedramaworkshop.org/homeview or by calling the box office at (513)598-8303. Single videos are $5 or you can subscribe to the whole series for only $25.
Filed under Press Releases
Presented by Annie Ruth, in collaboration with
the Cincinnati Arts Association, Cincinnati Opera, and the Power of Her
Friday, November 20 | 7:00 PM
Streaming FREE TO THE PUBLIC on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram
CINCINNATI, OH – The virtual Dada Rafiki: Conversations on Friday, November 20, 2020 at 7:00 PM will be live streamed FREE TO THE PUBLIC on the Dada Rafiki Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram platforms. The long-running, local annual event is a multi-sensory artistic experience of dance, music, poetry, and song, which shares the empowering stories of inspirational women who positively impact the community.
The event will be hosted by WLWT-TV5 news anchor Courtis Fuller and internationally acclaimed artist/poet Annie Ruth. Special guest performers include the Legendary Clark Sisters, singer/songwriter Sistah LaLa, mother and son William Menefield and Yah’El Abiyah Yisra’el, Cincinnati Opera artist Victoria Okafor, and CA2 Dance Crew.
Dada Rafiki, pronounced (DAH-dah RAH-fee-kee), means sister friend in the Kiswahili language of Eastern Africa. Through this unique multicultural celebration, Annie Ruth honors women from all walks of life and promotes a message of universal sisterhood. This year’s theme is “Conversations,” which promotes a universal message of hope, health, and healing for the world. The event will include programming that encourages interracial, multi-generational, and cross-cultural dialogue.
Dada Rafiki Honorees
Spotlight Sister Organizations
ABOUT THE CREATOR OF DADA RAFIKI
Annie Ruth is an internationally respected artist and arts educator whose work has positively influenced audiences in Europe, Africa, and throughout the United States for more than forty years. She integrates the arts into other areas and uses innovative strategies to make the arts experience both rewarding and relevant. Annie Ruth earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from National University in San Diego, California and studied graphic design at the University of Cincinnati, College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP). She is a trailblazer who has received critical acclaim for her work in the community. She fuses her artistic talents with arts education and collaborates with major cultural institutions and museums to bring art directly to communities throughout the United States and abroad.
For more information about Annie Ruth, the history of Dada Rafiki, and how to access the virtual event, visit www.dadarafiki.net and www.annieruth.com.
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Filed under Events, Press Releases
Photo by of Mikki Schaffner Photography.
“Though this be madness, yet there is method in it”
Cincinnati, OH- Coming off its historic production of Urinetown, which garnered 19 Cappie awards last season, the Walnut Hills High School Theatre Department will now tackle perhaps the most challenging play of all time in the most challenging of circumstances.
HAMLET is being produced and filmed in the Walnut Hills High School Auditorium, and the recording will be available to the public for On Demand Streaming beginning November 20th. Actors and crew are masked, and are following strict COVID-19 guidelines while filming.
“Conceptually, we’re bringing 2020 into the world of HAMLET,” says director Mike Sherman. “Our production is set now during the pandemic, as well all our political turmoil. Our philosophy was by making 2020 part of the show, we don’t have to pretend to ignore it, and neither does our audience. In a sense, we’re all Hamlet right now- constantly bombarded with grief, overstimulated and overloaded with information, and left wondering whether or not to take action about anything. We’ve also gender flipped multiple roles to reflect a more contemporary feel. Making some of these traditional male roles female, especially Polonus and Laertes, has given a lot of the show new life and meaning.”
On Demand Streaming begins 11/20 and runs through December 31. Ticket sales for the show will begin on Monday, November 2. Streaming Passes are $10 (service fees apply). No live audience will be permitted for performances. Tickets can be purchased through the Walnut Hills High School Theatre Department Website: https://sites.google.com/view/whhstheatredepartment/tickets.
This production is graciously sponsored by the Walnut Hills High School Class of 1964 Performing Arts Fund.
About the show:
Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, is visited by the ghost of his father who reveals that Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius, is responsible for his father’s murder. Hamlet then sets down a path of madness and revenge against Claudius, who is now the king and married to Hamlet’s mother. Along the way, Hamlet begins to question his own sanity and discovers that all actions, and inactions, have consequences.
Photo by Mikki Schaffner Photography.
Featuring Jack Giglia as Hamlet, Owen Cummings as Claudius, Alli Robertson as Gertrude, Olivia Busche as Ophelia, Sarah Mansfield as Polonius, Emma Dalton as Laertes, Brando Donaldson as Horatio, Cam Hogue as Rosencrantz, Nina Roberto as Guildenstern, Sophie Christian as Francisco/Reynaldo, Megan Graeler as Marcellus / Servant, Avery Frank as Bernardo / Sailor, Wolf Singer as The Ghost / Fortinbras’ Captain, Lily Canter as Voltimand / First Gravedigger, Josie Leanza as Cornelius / Second Gravedigger, Nate Caudill as Player King / Priest, Lila Herzig as Player Queen / British Ambassador, Olivia Hufford as Third Player / Gentlewoman, Maxwell Nolan as Messenger / Osric, and Joanna Lin as Fortinbras. Understudies include Clare Graff, Chloe Goodman, Emma Herzig, Loretta Rubin, Emma Smith, Kyra Doty, Sidney Harris, and Alejandra Frecker.
Directed by Mike Sherman
Filed under High School Theatre, Press Releases
Starting this month, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, university theatre performers and regional cabaret headliners will span musical genres four nights a week
CINCINNATI, October 8, 2020 – Ghost Baby in Over-the-Rhine was designed specifically to surprise and welcome its guests, or denizens, with open hospitality and a see-it-to-believe-it experience. Live music has been as much a part of Ghost Baby as the carefully detailed décor, art, color palette, cocktails, wine list and arched limestone walls wrapping the rooms. Shortly after opening this past February, the establishment closed due to the pandemic and since July has been pushing forward even with a current 10 p.m. last call curfew limiting attendance.
“We always envisioned Ghost Baby as a spot for people to come and find something new every time they join us,” said founder Josh Heuser. “Music plays an important role in our experience, but we don’t want people to identify us by the type of music we play. We want the overall experience to
be why they come.” Case in point: Ghost Baby has been energizing audiences on Friday and Saturday nights with a mix of artists ranging from R&B to hip hop to jazz stylings to the brass of the Ghost Baby House Band curated by Afrochine.
As one of the first venues to safely usher back live music in Cincinnati, the Ghost Baby team has been carefully establishing protocols to protect performers and audiences through socially distanced banquettes and cocktail seating, table service and separate entrances and backstage rooms for the artists. Starting this month, Ghost Baby will double down by expanding live performances to Wednesday and Thursday evenings and opening up the main room dubbed The Den. “We’re not only expanding the number of nights,” said Heuser. “ We’re expanding the style of performances you’ll be able to discover.”
Through an exclusive partnership with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, CSO musicians will be performing once again within walking distance of their iconic Music Hall home on Thursdays in October and November from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. “The CSO is happy to partner with Ghost Baby and continue to find outlets to share music with Cincinnati. We hope guests will enjoy the talent and passion our musicians have for performing live music, especially in such a unique space.” said Jonathan Martin, President, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
Ghost Baby is also adding another layer of performance with the premiere of the new Wednesday night “Ghostlight Cabaret,” an homage to all of the talented professional and community performers who have had the traditional “ghostlight” lit on their stages across the region while live musical theatre has been paused by the pandemic. “We were struck by the realities of all of the theatres and performers who have been impacted by the closures throughout our neighborhood and city,” said Heuser. “The irony of a “ghostlight” representing a safe haven on a dark stage waiting for performances to begin again was not lost on us.” Ghostlight Cabaret presented by Ghost Baby draws on the history of the neighborhood that in the 1870s boasted Heuck’s Opera House, The People’s Theatre and countless vaudeville and variety showplaces and today is home to the city’s ever-growing theatre district. Ghostlight Cabaret will feature regional cabaret
performers and university student headliners and start each performance with a live Open Mic showcase at 6 p.m. where anyone who has been missing their chance to perform can bring sheet music and sign up for a spot on stage that night with CCM faculty member Steve Goers at the piano.
The premiere performance will feature an evening of burlesque with Queen Bee Cabaret on Wednesday, October 14 starting at 7:30 p.m. Ghostlight continues October 21 with headliner Spring Starr Pillow at 7:30 p.m. preceded by the Open Mic showcase. Beth Ann Wipprecht will headline November 4 at 7:30 p.m. with the Open Mic showcase again beginning at 6 p.m. The plan is to produce an ongoing series of performances that celebrate the numerous talents that have been waiting in the wings for far too long this year.
Ghost Baby is located at 1314 Republic Street and is currently open Wednesday through Saturday from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Reservations are recommended for live performances and can be made at www.ghost-baby.com.
For a complete list of upcoming events visit www.ghost-baby.com/events
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Filed under Events, Press Releases
Behind the Curtain Cincinnati 