EVERYTHING ENTERTAINMENT

Arts, Music, Movie Reviews, Celebrity News & Events from Cleveland, OH

Cleveland SceneThe city's newest free alternative weekly shows plenty of cheek on its inaugural cover. The first issue of Cleveland Scene, a product of the merger between the Free Times and Scene, hit the streets Wednesday, July 23.

Cooperation was easier among people than computers when rival publications combined into a new alternative weekly called Cleveland Scene.

Matt Fabyan, publisher of Cleveland Scene, feared there would be tension when staffers from Scene and Free Times sat down in the same newsroom.

Scott Shaw / The Plain DealerSomer's serves up a sturdy chicken vegetable soup and tasty turkey platter.

WE WANT YOUR REVIEW
Have you been to Somer's Diner? E-mail us your review of the food, service and atmosphere. Include your full name and where you live. We'll publish a sampling on Cleveland.com and in The Plain Dealer. Click here to sound off

First things first: Somer's Diner is no Ruthie and Moe's. But, geez, it isn't trying to be. The new owners and menu that moved into the vintage 1940s spot at Prospect and 40th have a closer ancestral connection to the simple, hearty foods of the stainless steel past than the satiny comfort and style of Ruthie Helman's former kitchen.

We just have to get used to the idea.

It helps that Somer's owners, Brian Rooks and Sam Khouri (related to the original Somer's on W. 150th), are moving the menu back to traditional 1950s dishes but without the 1950s baggage.

Translated: The spoons are not greasy. In fact, I detected some love in the chicken vegetable soup ($3.49). Nobody overcooked the vegetables, for one thing. The broth was sturdy and there was almost more chicken than noodles. Make a note of that when winter muscles its icy shoulders into the Midtown Corridor.

Here's a an advance look at the 2008-09 Broadway Series at PlayhouseSquare. The PlayhouseSquare PR and IT staffs artfully blended scenes from "Spring Awakening," "Legally Blonde," "Mary Poppins" "The Radio City Christmas Spectacular" and "A Chorus Line," among others.

A caveat: The videos show the original casts of the Broadway shows. But that doesn't mean you'll see the same actors here this coming season. One exception: "Poppins," which will feature some of the orignal cast members. For more on the Broadway Series, click the links below the video. Tip o' the old straw hat to Steve Citerin at PlayhouseSquare for the video.

2008-2009 KeyBank Broadway Series at Playhouse Square from Playhouse Square on Vimeo.

In America, "The Real World" is a garbage-y show on MTV that throws young adults together under one roof for drink, drugs and faux drama.

In Japan, "Real World" is the title of a sleek, assured and disturbing novel about four young women who get caught up in the aftermath of a murder. Lucky for us, Natsuo Kirino's brilliant feminist noir is just out in English translation.

Colin Thubron spent eight months on foot and aboard bus, train, hired car and donkey cart to follow in the Shadow of the Silk Road (Harper Perennial, 344 pp., $15.95). His 7,000 miles, moving east to west, took him through some of the most remote, exotic and least-frequented places in the world -- the former Soviet republics of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, war-torn Afghanistan, Iran and Kurdish Turkey.

Thubron weaves a mesmerizing tale of history and people, explaining how Alexander the Great, Marco Polo and Omar Khayyam left their indelible mark on this route. No less important are the living inhabitants: the Chinese haunted by the Cultural Revolution and Tiananmen Square, the smiling schoolchildren in a threadbare Afghan classroom, the desperately poor of windswept desert villages.

Thubron's prose gives even the grimmest and starkest landscapes shreds of beauty. A begrimed Xian, China, "moans invisibly through smog," the wild Qilian ranges east of Tibet "glimmered through the haze in flanks of sallow stone." Reading this book shows will illustrate why many regard Thubron as our greatest living travel writer.

APMichael Savage

Michael Savage's controversial remarks about autistic children have gotten him booted off Cleveland's airwaves. WHK AM/ 1420, the only Cleveland-area station carrying Savage's radio talk show, is breaking its contract with Savage's syndicator, Talk Radio Network, said Mark Jaycox, who manages the Cleveland stations under the Salem Communications corporate umbrella. WHK is owned by California-based Salem Communications.

APHahn-orable Humor: Actress Kathryn Hahn from Cleveland Heights, is providing lots of laughs this summer. She's in the Broadway smash "Boeing, Boeing" and the new film "Step Brothers."

Also: read the "Step Brothers" review.

"Step Brothers," the raunchy, R-rated comedy starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as two childish doofs who are forced to co-exist, opens nationwide Friday.

It's laced with F-bombs and sex jokes, but the most over-the-top moments come from our very own Kathryn Hahn.

What a shocker: People magazine reports that TV's latest "Bachelor," Matt Grant, and fiancee Shayne Lamas have ended their short and often-rocky relationship.

Russell Brand: Who is that guy?

British actor and comedian Russell Brand will host this year's Video Music Awards, set to air Sept. 7

French police say camouflaged paparazzi who got on to the grounds of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's chateau in southern France fought with the Hollywood couple's guards.

Are you ready for a "Hairspray" sequel?

Sheryl Crow says she won't be working with Fleetwood Mac after all.

Rihanna's new "Disturbia" video appears to have been filmed in a kinky dungeon of some sort.

Andrea Levy / The Plain DealerSome classic-rock acts have made a killing on the road for decades. But when they stop touring, the arena-rock experience could become roadkill.

A moment of silence, please, for arena rock. OK, it's not quite dead yet. But the days of the big rock 'n' roll concert would seem to be numbered. Certain things we won't miss. The high-priced tickets. Those long bathroom lines. The view (through rental binoculars) from the nosebleed seats.

Still, you have to admit, when you and 20,000 of your closest friends used to sing along at the top of your lungs while Bruce Springsteen was belting out "Born to Run," the communal experience was pretty cool. So what happens when The Boss and other consistently top-grossing road warriors hang up their guitars for good? Will there be enough younger artists to fill the void on the arena circuit -- not to mention all those seats?

Some experts think not.