The holiday rush starts NOW!

By Eric Robinette | Friday, November 20, 2009, 11:19 AM

Think all holiday rush starts on Black Friday?

Oh ho ho ho noooooo …. the holiday rush starts this very day, Nov. 20, when Hamilton has its tree lighting ceremony at 5 p.m. today, with the Main Street Music Fest at the same time. Click here for details on the tree lighting and here for more on the Music Fest.

Pyramid Hill’s Holiday Lights on the Hill opens tonight too. And Hamilton’s Santa parade is at 10 a.m. Saturday morning.

Middletown’s celebration starts Sunday, Nov. 22 with the Holiday Affair on the Square and its homeless art exhibit. The day begins with a holiday brunch at the Manchester Inn, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Middletown Arts Center will be open from noon to 4 p.m. featuring the art work of graphic artist and historian Sam Ashworth.

At 3 p.m. the festivities begin on Central Ave, between Verity Parkway and Main Street. The street will be closed to traffic, allowing guests to enjoy free horse-drawn carriage rides through the district.

The opening art walk of a traveling exhibit entitled “Homeless: Telling Our Own Stories” will also run from 3 to 5 p.m.. The show features different types of artwork asking the viewer to explore homelessness through the eyes of the homeless themselves. A discussion of the exhibit will be at Miami Middletown Downtown at 4:30 p.m. at 4 N. Main St.

Miami Middletown Downtown will also host a reception for work by the Guerilla Arts Collaborative. There will be free warm beverages, and holiday entertainment will be provided by local musician Chuck Evans.

At 5 p.m., the action moves to Governor’s Square Park on the corner of Central Avenue and Broad Street. Brief performances will be given by William “Kip” Moore & Friends representing Middletown Lyric Theatre, the Angel/Wesley Choir from the First United Methodist Church, the GATE music class from Middletown Public schools and others. The evening will be capped off by the lighting of the city’s holiday tree. Most of the Saturday events were coordinated by the Art Central Foundation. For more information, see their Web site at www.artcentralfoundation.org.

Other upcoming Middletown holiday events include the opening of Light Up Middletown in Smith Park at 6 p.m. Nov. 27 and the Santa Parade at 5 p.m. Nov. 28 along Broad Street.

Already ongoing in Springboro is La Comedia Dinner Theatre’s Christmas Spectacular, which I review here.

Time does not permit the listing of every holiday event in this post, but watch this space; there will be PLENTY more where this came from.

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Nothing to do? Not if you look in here!

By Eric Robinette | Monday, November 16, 2009, 11:47 AM

Greeetings and salutations! My name is Eric Robinette. You may have known me in a former life as Sir Critic, who has moved to his own domain. Now you can call me Sir Culture.

That’s another way of saying I’m the arts and entertainment reporter for the coverage areas of our newspapers, including Middletown, Hamilton and the general vicinity. I have been the entertainment reporter in Middletown for 10 years, but my geographic boundaries have been enlarged, and I’m enjoying learning more about the Hamilton area.

One of my new responsibilities is to post to this Things to Do blog. I’ll be alerting you all to various entertainment events in Butler and Warren counties, and I’ll give you my insight on the events that I attend.

One of the complaints I hear quite often is that “there’s nothing to do here.” Sorting through the mountain of emails and press releases I get, I can only raise my eyebrows and respond, “Really? Seems like there’s quite a lot to me.”

One of my favorite things to do on the movie blog was to ask my readers for their input, and that’s what I’d like to do with this blog. So I ask you - what would be most helpful to you? What would you like to see on this blog that could help you find things to do? What events do you like to attend? What would you like to see more of?

Do tell. There’s something to do right there!

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Pyramid Hill holds 7th annual Art Fair, Sept. 26-27

By Richard O Jones | Wednesday, September 23, 2009, 02:33 PM

**Pyramid Hill Arts Fair, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 26-27, Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park, Hamilton. $8 adults, free children 12 and under. (513) 868-8336.

ENTERTAINMENT

Saturday

1 p.m. Hula Dancers

3 p.m. Murstein Dancers

Sunday

12:30 p.m. Tree of Life World Music

2 p.m. Mark Camden

More than 100 artists from all over the Midwest will gather at Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park this weekend for the seventh annual Pyramid Hill Art Fair.

“Attendees will witness live art demonstrations and have the chance to purchase world class art direct from the artists,” said spokesperson Terry Dillon.

While many of the artists have become staples of the event, the Art Fair has attracted a number of first-time exhibitors, too.

Batavia-based painter Shannon Godby came to last year’s event as a spectator, but found it enough to his liking that he’ll be exhibiting his “nature-inspired abstract paintings.”

“I’m also an avid photographer, and many of my works come from the photos I’ve taken,” he said. “They’ll start out fairly realistic, but then I abstract them as I go along.”

Cincinnati artist Karen Cowden has been working double-time the past few weeks preparing her embellished tableware for her second year at the Pyramid Hill Art Fair.

She and a friend started embellishing plates and service settings about eight years ago, she said, after seeing similar products in a store. They start with plain plates, glasses and silverware and use beads, wire and other craft materials to create unique designs.

“People pretty much fall in love with it,” she said.

Other exhibitors include:

> Classic Copper by Don Persinger of Lancaster, Ohio, who creates his own unique design of copper wind sculptures.

> Kiln Fired Glass by Deborah Lewis of New Vienna, Ohio, who uses the process of fusing glass into functional, decorative piece of art.

> Smithacus Art & Design, a partnership between Stephen Smith and Jennifer Acus-Smith of Hamilton, who create customized pet portraits, striving to create vibrant and expressive artworks that focus on color while capturing the the personality of the subject.

> Totally Twisted, jewelry by Jennifer Nye of Hamilton, who creates work of sterling silver or 14k gold-filled adorned with stones and handmade beads. She also makes heirloom-quality rosaries.

Local vendors will provide food for purchase. Live entertainment and activities are planned for children.

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The inside scoop on Billy Yank

By Richard O Jones | Tuesday, September 22, 2009, 04:07 PM

In 1906, a 17-foot, 3,500-pound sculpture titled “Victory: Jewel of the Soul” was installed atop the Soldiers, Sailors and Pioneers Monument along the Great Miami River in downtown Hamilton.

Even though there was a national call for entries to create a Civil War memorial for the building, the commission went to Rudolph Thiem, a German-born artist whose studio was right across the river on A Street.

According to Thiem’s great-grandson Jon Thiem, who is a cultural historian at the University of Colorado, “Victory” was — and still is — so unlike other Civil War memorials that a historian at Chickamauga “gasped in shock” when Thiem showed him a photo of his great-grandfather’s work.

In a program titled “Rudolph Thiem and Billy Yank: What the Artist’s Life Tells Us About His Magnum Opus,” held Monday, Sept. 21 at First St. John’s United Church of Christ, Thiem told an audience of about 120 the story of his grandfather’s work.

“He was a short man who produced a bronze giant,” Thiem said.

Rudolph Thiem was born, raised and educated in Berlin, the son of a manufacturer of billiard tables. His mother died when he was 4 years old.

He was one of the first generation of industrial designers educated at the Royal School of Applied Arts, where there was an emphasis on imitating great works from the past rather than creativity. After his education, he set up a sculpture studio in Berlin making mirror frames and similar decorative products.

Rudolph Thiem may have left Berlin at age 23 and emigrated to the United States because he was angry at his 62-year-old father for marrying an 18-year-old woman, Jon Thiem said, possibly because he feared she would take over the family business or because he found it morally offensive.

When he landed in New Orleans in 1881, he went into business with another artist creating funerary art, but by 1886 the business was doing so poorly that he was considering returning to Berlin when he met a fellow Berliner, Lazarus Kahn, who convinced him to come to Hamilton to work at Kahn’s stove manufacturing foundry, where he worked for three years.

“Stove ornamentation was obviously not his true calling,” Jon Thiem said, “but Hamilton had become his home” when he married Anna Martin. He then managed a hotel for a few years before setting up shop as a designer in wood carving and modeling. He also made several war memorials and medallions.

His bid to create “Victory,” better known to locals as “Billy Yank,” was $3,250, but he probably lost money on the project because he underestimated the cost of bronze. The statue was controversal at the time because of its realistic portrayal of a soldier in a dynamic pose when other victory memorials were rendered allegorically as a goddess, usually with wings and usually scantily clad, Thiem said.

Thiem himself served as the model for “Victory.” He shouted the cried “Huzzah!” into a mirror and replicated the expression.

In addition to creating what was then the largest bronze statue made in Ohio, Rudolph Thiem also carved 79,000 letters in the marble of the Monument’s interior walls with the names of Butler County veterans who died in war.

His A Street studio has a special skylight built in it to maximize the sunlight. The studio and all of his tools were lost along with much of A Street in the 1913 flood.

First St. John United Church of Christ was Rudolph Thiem’s church, and he carved a hymn book and a dove in memory of his wife, who died in 1907, that is still part of the altar.

He was skilled at carving hard woods such as oak, and at the time of his death, he was working on a pair of oak lions for the Powell Crosley mansion in Cincinnati, but the sculptures were ruined when another artist attempted to take over the project, Jon Thiem said.

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REVIEW: “Lion in Winter,” Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, through Oct. 11

By Richard O Jones | Thursday, September 17, 2009, 02:01 PM

As we know from William Shakespeare’s many history plays, it’s no easy task to follow the tangled trail of the British monarchy.

In kicking off its 16th season, the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company has mounted “The Lion in Winter,” a contemporary play about a power play that took place in 1183 between King Henry II and his estranged wife Eleanor of Aquitaine over which of their three sons will take the throne.

Eleanor’s pick is her son Richard, the noble warrior. Henry prefers the youngest son, John, though his reasons are not clear. That leaves the middle son, Geoffrey, in the lurch, even though he may be the most suitable future king. James Goldman’s script focuses on the battle of wills and wits that keep the plot twisting like an Agatha Christie whodunit, complicated by Henry’s liaison with the young Alais, the sister to Philip the king of France. According to a previous treaty with France, Alais would be married to Henry’s successor, that is, one of his sons, and so Philip becomes involved in plots with various sons at various times as he tries to influence the outcome.

It’s all very complicated and sneaky, and in the hands of the capable talent at the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, becomes a fascinating study in character and the lust for power.

The cast is led by guest artist Bruce Cromer as King Henry and company member Sherman Fracher as Eleanor. Even though this is the first time these two regional veterans have performed together, there’s a palpable energy between them that echoes the complicated relationship between Henry and Eleanor.

Cromer, who teaches acting at Wright State University, is a frequent guest artists at CSC and other professional groups in the region (including his on-going Scrooge at the Playhouse in the Park’s annual “A Christmas Carol”). Indeed, the biggest laugh of the night came when Henry compared himself to King Lear, who had three daughters and simply divided his kingdom among them, a Shakespearian role that Cromer performed for CSC in 2008. It’s always a treat to watch him work. He hits the right notes and always brings up the level of performance of the cast members around him, which is no small feat at the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company because they already have a solid acting company. Most of the actors have been there for several seasons each now and have a solid grasp on the methods and manners of working in an ensemble company, and their performances always seem effortless and natural.

The problem with “The Lion in Winter,” however, is that while it’s good to watch the performances, there’s really no character to root for. All of them have their agendas and all willing to do whatever it takes — be it rebellion or murder — to see their plans through.

PHOTOS: Top, Sherman Fracher and Bruce Cromer as Eleanor and Henry; above, Christopher Guthrie as Richard; Josh Stamoolis as Geoffrey; Billy Chace as John; Hayley Clark as Alais and Bruce Cromer as Henry.

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REVIEW: “Sleuth,” Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, through Oct. 3

By Richard O Jones | Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 03:38 PM

“Sleuth” by Anthony Shaffer, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 4 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday, through Oct. 3, Robert S. Marx Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, 962 Mount Adams Circle, Cincinnati. (513) 421-3888.

Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park is celebrating its 50th season this year by reviving some of the most popular productions in its history.

First up is “Sleuth” by Anthony Shaffer, first produced in the 1983-84 season.

Shaffer, who died in 2001, had said that he based the character of mystery writer Andrew Wyke after his good friend Stephen Sondheim, who has an intense interest in games.

That interest is reflected in a sumptuous set with a floor like a chessboard and games set up on tables throughout. It’s to this lavish room that Wyke summons his wife’s lover, Milo Tindle.

But the purpose of the summons, at least initially, seems to not be vengeance or admonition, but rather a sort of a blessing. Indeed, the super-wealthy Wyke offers the nearly-destitute Milo Tindle the chance to earn, in a way, a bundle of money to keep the never-seen Marguerite in the lifestyle “to which she has become accustomed.”

But there are so many twists and turns in this plot to keep an audience guessing right up to the very end.

Under the direction of Michael Haney, the Playhouse’s associate artistic director, “Sleuth” is mostly taut and well-timed, marred only by a few instances (on opening night) of sputtering and stuttering from an actor who still seemed to struggle with his lines and a poor make-up job that undermines one of the scripts biggest surprises.

PS: Playwright Anthony Shaffer is the late twin brother of playwright Peter Shaffer, whose “Equus” opens the New Edgecliff Theatre’s season on Oct. 1.

PHOTO by Sandy Underwood: Munson Hicks as Andrew Wyke and Michael Gabriel Goodfriend as Milo Tindle in “Sleuth.”

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REVIEW: “33 Variations,” Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, through Sept. 20

By Richard O Jones | Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 02:57 PM

“33 Variations” by Moises Kaufman, through Sept. 20, Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, 1127 Vine St., Cincinnati. $16-40. (513) 421-3555; www.cincyetc.com.

I’ve often wondered if Ludwig von Beethoven was really the cranky old curmudgeon he’s often presented to be.

If so, Dennis Parlato and the Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati have nailed the personality of the maestro in “33 Variations,” which wraps up this weekend.

The title and the story are about a set of variations on a waltz that Beethoven apparently took his time in creating during the later years of his life. He and other top composers of his day were approached by a music publisher, Anton Diabelli, to create variations on a waltz that Diabelli wrote to be published in one magnificent and presumably profitable volume.

But rather than present one variation, Beethoven created 33, taking his time with it and apparently delaying the publication of Diabelli’s volume.

This story is woven into the story of Beethoven scholar Dr. Katherine Brandt (Amy Warner), who travels to Bonn, Germany, to explore a massive collection of Beethoven’s notes and diaries — and “conversation books” that contain notes that his visitors would write to converse with the increasingly deaf composer. She is desperately trying to ascertain exactly why Beethoven created 33 variations on the theme and what took him so long to do it.

Their stories — Brandt’s and Beethoven’s — are remarkably parallel as both are in a race against time. Beethoven’s health was failing during the years he worked on the variations and he would not work at all for years at a stretch. Brandt’s health is also failing as she embarks on her quest as ALS — Lou Gehrig’s Disease — diminishes her capabilities.

A third story line, the love story between Brandt’s daughter Clara and the male nurse who gets personally involved in his patient’s case.

“33 Variations” is reminiscent of “Opus,” an ETC production from a couple of seasons back, concerning a quartet struggling through its issues while rehearsing Beethoven’s string quartet opus 131, although the maestro did not make a personal appearance in that show.

But rather, both plays use a musical style of storytelling where voices and story lines take the place of instruments and themes. There are moments in “33 Variations” where all the characters on stage speak at once, using the same or similar phrases in different contexts that turns the storytelling into a fugue of voices.

PHOTO by Sandy Underwood: Dennis Parlato as Beethoven and Drew Fracher as his unreliable biographer Anton Schindler.

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