EVENTS CALENDAR

Local Theater, Gallery and Art News in Cleveland, OH

SHOP TALK: Avon Lake Summer Market boasts 30 vendors, benefits Folger Home restoration

by Laura DeMarco/Plain Dealer Friday Magazine Editor

Tuesday July 22, 2008, 12:42 PM

"Everybody has a holiday boutique and or an arts fest. We wanted to do something different," says Avon Lake Summer Market organizer Erin Stack.

So Stack and co-organizer Kristen Weeden came up with a new slant for their market, which benefits the restoration of the historic Thomas Folger Home in Avon Lake's Veterans Memorial Park.

Continue reading "SHOP TALK: Avon Lake Summer Market boasts 30 vendors, benefits Folger Home restoration" »

Jim Tews, Chris Porter and Drew Hastings: It's Laugh Track for July 24-27

by Michael K. McIntyre/Plain Dealer Reporter

Tuesday July 22, 2008, 10:09 AM

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the host of Laugh Track, now with a standard lifetime power train warranty . . . Mike McIntyre.

Thank you, Cleveland. We're not sure exactly where the power train on this baby is, but if it goes, we'll replace it. Free. Now, buckle up. We're on our way to some comedy.

The Opener: Jim Tews, the former Coast Guardsman who jokes that his training left him prepared for a real world career as a pirate, chronicles his comedy career in a new Web series for HBO's "Runaway Box."

"I've been a working stand-up comic for almost five years now but you've never heard of me. Because I'm stuck at the bottom. I'm the opener," he says at the beginning of each episode of "The Opener." The opener is the first of three acts in a comedy club, who must try to be funny while making announcements, introducing other comics and contending with everyone ordering drinks.

Filmed mostly at Hilarities 4th Street Theatre in Cleveland, Tews skewers himself, the comedy business, club owners and whatever else he can think of.

Continue reading "Jim Tews, Chris Porter and Drew Hastings: It's Laugh Track for July 24-27" »

Playing the ponies at Thistledown and Northfield Park

by John Campanelli

Friday July 18, 2008, 12:00 AM

Each day Thistledown is alive with the sounds of horses and fortunes almost won. Live and simulcast racing have kept people coming back to the North Randall track since 1925.

The image of the track used to be the grumbling old guy in the bad shirt, studying a dog-eared Racing Form through thick glasses and the smoke from a 50-cent stogie.

Well, a lot has changed since then.

The stogie is no longer lit.

Colorful characters will always be at the track, at least as long as there's a chance to turn two bucks into a mortgage payment.

Half the fun of going to the races is watching the people: the high-rollers, the dinosaurs, the degenerates, the losers and, of course, the winners.

Which is the other half of the fun: the action.

Put $2 on a horse and something funny happens. You change. The race starts and you lean forward while your insides twist. On the backstretch, you find yourself suddenly standing. As they turn and head for home you're beating your own hindquarter with a rolled-up program, jumping and shouting -- along with everyone else -- for that nag to "COME ON!"

And then, like a prom-night romp, it's over. And you're either fist-bumping your friends . . . or damning to eternal flames the owner, trainer, the guy who rakes the track, anyone responsible for your horse finishing half-a-length out of the money. Either way, you've just had quite a ride. In that way, the track is just like an amusement park, only better. When folks exit this coaster, a few get handed wads of cash.

The rest, of course, lose their money.

"The racetrack," comedian Joe E. Lewis once said, "is the only place where the windows clean the people."

Continue reading "Playing the ponies at Thistledown and Northfield Park" »

Playing the ponies at Thistledown and Northfield Park

by John Campanelli/Plain Dealer Reporter

Friday July 18, 2008, 12:00 AM

The image of the track used to be the grumbling old guy in the bad shirt, studying a dog-eared Racing Form through thick glasses and the smoke from a 50-cent stogie.

Well, a lot has changed since then.

The stogie is no longer lit.

Colorful characters will always be at the track, at least as long as there's a chance to turn two bucks into a mortgage payment.

Half the fun of going to the races is watching the people: the high-rollers, the dinosaurs, the degenerates, the losers and, of course, the winners.

Which is the other half of the fun: the action.

Put $2 on a horse and something funny happens. You change. The race starts and you lean forward while your insides twist. On the backstretch, you find yourself suddenly standing. As they turn and head for home you're beating your own hindquarter with a rolled-up program, jumping and shouting -- along with everyone else -- for that nag to "COME ON!"

And then, like a prom-night romp, it's over. And you're either fist-bumping your friends . . . or damning to eternal flames the owner, trainer, the guy who rakes the track, anyone responsible for your horse finishing half-a-length out of the money. Either way, you've just had quite a ride. In that way, the track is just like an amusement park, only better. When folks exit this coaster, a few get handed wads of cash.

The rest, of course, lose their money.

"The racetrack," comedian Joe E. Lewis once said, "is the only place where the windows clean the people."

Continue reading "Playing the ponies at Thistledown and Northfield Park" »

Dinner, Drink and a Movie: Quince, Fairview Tavern & `My Name Is Albert Ayler'

by The Plain Dealer

Thursday July 17, 2008, 10:54 AM

DINNER

Quince
Where: 8074 Columbia Road, North Olmsted.
Call: 440-427-8100.

The bacon-wrapped meat loaf was a bargain for $11. A huge plate of moist ground meat was topped with a sweet, tangy barbecue sauce and served with a novel side dish: a potato roll. It was mashed potatoes stuffed in a tube made from a crisped, paper-thin slice of potato like a potato cannoli without the sugar.
-- Bob Migra

DRINK

Labatt Blue draft
Fairview Tavern
Where: 21867 Lorain Road, Fairview Park.
Call: 440-799-4200 ormembers.cox.net/fairviewtavern.

There are happy hour specials, and then there is the Fairview Tavern's pint of Blue for $1.50. That's such an outstanding deal that happy hour should be renamed. Overjoyed hour? Ecstatic hour? You call it. Be sure to avail yourself of the daily food specials as well at the Fairview, which would be a great corner bar if it weren't in a strip mall.

MOVIE

"My Name Is Albert Ayler."

The Cleveland Museum of Art is spinning a "Midsummer Melodies" film series through Friday, Aug. 1. Kasper Collin's 2005 documentary about Albert Ayler, the innovative jazz artist from Cleveland, plays at 7 tonight. Next Friday, it's "Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan." The museum is at 11150 East Blvd. in Cleveland's University Circle. Call 216-707-2465.
-- Clint OConnor

Paul Mooney at the Improv; Ralph Harris at Hilarities -- It's Laugh Track for July 17-20

by Michael K. McIntyre/Plain Dealer Reporter

Tuesday July 15, 2008, 11:17 AM

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the host of the Laugh Track column, a man who hopes the "Right Guard Open" is offering free samples . . . Mike McIntyre.

Thank you, Cleveland. The Dew Tour's Right Guard Open, where athletes do all kinds of tricks on bikes and skateboards, continues all weekend at North Coast Harbor. If I can walk from the parking garage on Lakeside Avenue to the BMX track without soaking through my shirt -- that'll be a trick.

A comedy legend: What more is there to say about Paul Mooney? He wrote for Richard Pryor (He calls him the "mothership" of comedy), "Sanford & Son," "Good Times" and "In Living Color." He won over a new generation with his recurring stints on Comedy Central's "Chappelle's Show" as "Negrodamus," the black Nostradamus.

He's still talking about race on stage, getting laughs while commenting on the culture in sometimes deep and, for some, uncomfortable ways. Though the "N-word" had been a staple of his act, he swore off it after the on-stage racial outburst by comedian Michael Richards.

Catch Mooney, who says he was born a comedian, at the Improv in Powerhouse, 2000 Sycamore Street on the west bank of Cleveland's Flats. He'll perform at 8 p.m. Thursday ($18), 8 and 10:15 p.m. Friday and Saturday ($21) and 7 p.m. Sunday ($18.) Call 216-696-4677.

Continue reading "Paul Mooney at the Improv; Ralph Harris at Hilarities -- It's Laugh Track for July 17-20" »

Hudson Sidewalk Sale worth a stroll this Sunday: Your weekly Shop Talk guide

by Laura DeMarco/Plain Dealer Friday magazine editor

Monday July 14, 2008, 2:51 PM

Shoppers will have a chance to savor the charms of downtown Hudson this weekend -- and save money at more than 80 establishments.

The Hudson Sidewalk Sale -- featuring the areas of Main Street, First & Main and Acme Plaza -- runs through Sunday.

Everything from books to clothes to toys, home decor and sporting equipment will be marked down. Restaurants also will participate, serving up eats from burgers and Mexican food to fine dining.

Continue reading "Hudson Sidewalk Sale worth a stroll this Sunday: Your weekly Shop Talk guide" »

Great dates in Cleveland that are easy on the wallet

by Brenda Junkin/Plain Dealer Reporter

Friday July 11, 2008, 12:00 AM

Just because the economy is on the decline, your social life doesn't have to be. Especially when it comes to dating. Greater Cleveland offers so many cheap dates that don't seem "cheap."

Read on for our guide to inexpensive but fun outings that will impress your date without depressing your wallet.

Continue reading "Great dates in Cleveland that are easy on the wallet" »