Summer temperatures might be wafting down, but the Cincinnati arts and culture scene is still hot, hot, HOT! The Queen City’s plate is heaped with diversity this week. You can shop or paddle or read and there’s always something interesting to eat. (Goetta is “interesting,” I’ll give it that). Load up your calendar and enjoy!
Wednesday, Aug. 2
Mercantile Library, 20-Something Book Club | 6 p.m. 414 Walnut St., downtown. 513-621-0717. DETAILS: “On Earth as it is on Television” by Emily Jane is on tap for discussion. Enjoy the company of other 20-somethings (even if you aren’t one) as you discuss this debut novel about spaceships, Disney and generally strange life in the 21st century. Are we really alone in the universe? Free.
Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, “The Importance of Being Earnest” | 7:30 p.m. 1195 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine. 513-381-2273. DETAILS: Enjoy a preview of Oscar Wilde’s foolishly delightful story of deception and disguise. But, only if your name’s Earnest. Just kidding. Continues through Aug. 20.
Thursday, Aug. 3
It’s Commonly Jazz, Eden Park | 6 p.m. Seasongood Pavilion, Eden Park. DETAILS: The Camille Saba Smith Jazz Ensemble takes the stage in celebration of the 39th annual summer series celebrating the legacy of women in jazz. Bring a picnic, a cool drink and enjoy. Free.
Hugo West Theatriatricals, “Utopia, Ohio” | 7:30 p.m. The Carnegie Center of Columbia-Tusculum, 3738 Eastern Ave., Columbia-Tusculum. 513-473-5745. DETAILS: This new new musical, by the prolific local theater creator Joshua Steele, follows the rise and fall of three little-known 19th-century utopian experiments through the voices of individuals whose lives led them there: a widowed woman shoemaker, a Black man who escapes enslavement with his family, and a Jewish immigrant fleeing persecution. Continues through Aug. 9.
Glier’s Goettafest, Festival Park at the Levee | 5 -11 p.m., Thursday and Friday; noon-11 p.m., Saturday; noon-9 p.m., Sunday. Newport. DETAILS: From a goetta donut sandwich to a hand-dipped footlong goetta corn dog, this is your last weekend to line up for all of your goetta-infused favorites. There are goetta-free funnel cakes, cotton candy and sauerkraut, if you’re that guy/gal who finds goetta “interesting”, but your friends really must goetta their last fix. Performers taking the stage include: Grieving Otis, Deuces Wild, Michelle Robinson and many more. Continues through Sunday.
Friday, Aug. 4
Kids in the Spotlight, Shrek the Musical, Jr | 7 p.m. Fairfield Community Arts Center, 411 Wessel Dr., Fairfield. 513-867-5348. DETAILS: Once upon a time in a swamp far, far away . . . you know the story. The kids are sure to enjoy this children’s version of the familiar movie as Shrek leads his cast of misfits to save Princess Fiona and win her love. Donkey is sure to have a few wisecracks along the way. Continues through Sunday.
Lebanon Blues Festival, Bicentennial Park | 5 p.m. Downtown Lebanon. DETAILS: Enjoy 11 blues bands over Friday and Saturday, while you feast on award-winning local foods and a deluxe beer garden. Like classic cars? Get there early on Saturday to see some of your favorites. Have your own classic? Sign up to be a part of the show. Bands include Doug Hart Band, Ralph and the Rhythm Hounds, Ricky Nye & Bekah Williams, Lady Joya Band and others. Free admission.
Saturday, Aug. 5
Adventure Crew, Ohio River Paddlefest | 7 a.m. Schmidt Recreation Complex, 2944 Humbert Ave., East End. DETAILS: The nation’s largest paddling celebration is finally here. Join others to race down the Ohio River in canoes, kayaks and other human-powered craft or join the recreational set for a leisurely paddle-at-your-own pace trip downstream. Is angling more your thing? Enter the 2nd Annual Kayak Bass Fishing Tournament for your chance to win cash and gear prizes. Check website carefully for registration, launch and boat rental details. Have fun and be careful out there.
Hope4Ukraine, UNWLA, Cincy4Ukraine, Cincinnati Ukrainian Festival | Noon-7 p.m. Fleming Road United Church of Christ, 691 Fleming Rd., Mt. Healthy. DETAILS: Experience Ukrainian culture as you enjoy performances of artists and dancers, crafts, children’s activities, delicious Ukrainian food, and a Cossack beer garden. All proceeds go to the purchase of medical equipment for hospitals in Kherson, one of the most shelled cities in Ukraine.
Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Summermusik | 7:30 p.m., School for Creative and Performing Arts, 108 W. Central Pkwy, Over-the-Rhine. DETAILS: In this festival-opening performance, “Beethoven Reconstructed” does exactly that as Eckart Preu and the CCO perform Symphony No. 10, a reconstruction from fragments of an unfinished symphony. Cincinnati-based pianist Awadagin Pratt performs a new reconstruction of Ludwig’s Piano Concerto #6. The program also includes readings from Beethoven’s Heiligenstadt Testament, a letter to his brothers detailing his struggles with mental health and deafness.
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Elementz HIp Hop Arts Center, “Always for the Culture” | 7 p.m., Seasongood Pavilion, Eden Park. DETAILS: Join the CSO and Elementz Hip Hop Cultural Arts Center as they celebrate 50 years of Hip Hop. Come out and jam with the students from the Elementz Hip Hop Youth Orchestra and DJ Celine followed by “Black Odes: A Reclamation Suite” performed by Mark Lomax and the Urban Art Ensemble. Don’t miss this exciting program recognizing the many contributions of Hip Hop to the culture.
Crayons to Computers, Stuff the Van | 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Kenwood Towne Centre. DETAILS: Push 4 Pencils donations help level the field in the classroom. Most needed: colored pencils, crayons, dry erase markers, filler paper, glue sticks, notebooks, pencils, pocket folders and washable markers. Main entrance next to Cheesecake Factory. Empty your cabinets and fill up a van. Curbside drop-off is available.
Sunday, Aug. 6
Ft. Thomas Renaissance Board, Flea in the Fort | 10-3 p.m., Ft. Thomas Mess Hall, 801 Cochran Ave., Ft. Thomas. DETAILS: Peruse a bevy of handmade artisan crafts while you enjoy live music, food trucks and craft beer. There’s more to do in Ft. Thomas after you get home from the Flea, so keep reading!
Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, “Sound of Silence” | 4 p.m., Knox Presbyterian Church, Hyde Park. DETAILS: Join Ashley Hall, principal trumpet of the CCO, and pianist Awadagin Pratt, as the CCO continues its Summermusik weekend with a concert featuring the works of Faure, Boyce, Smetana and Beethoven. In an interesting twist, all of these hearing-impaired composers wrote some of their most famous works without at least diminished sound perception. Elizabeth Whelpdale shares a presentation about how deaf individuals perceive music.
Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, “Too Hot to Handel” | 7:30 p.m., Tower Park Amphitheater, Ft. Thomas. DETAILS: This sounds like as much fun as you’ll ever have at a symphony concert. Bring your squirt guns to accompany Handel’s “Water Music,” your choir buddies for a “Messiah” sing-along and your oohs and ahhs for some famous Rozzi fireworks to the sounds of Handel’s “Royal Fireworks” music. Toss blankets, lawn chairs and a tasty picnic into the car to round out this blast of an evening! Hallelujah!
Monday, Aug. 7
Klau Library, ”Birnbaum on Ivory” | 5 p.m., Hebrew Union College, 3101 Clifton Ave. Clifton. 513-221-1875. DETAILS: CCM graduate Marissa Kerbel performs an evening of piano music at the Klau. Selections are taken from the collection of cantor, composer and scholar, Eduard Birnbaum. Born in Poland in 1855, Birnbaum achieved international recognition as the leading expert in synagogue music. Free.
Washington Park, Jazz at the Park | 6-9 p.m. Over-the-Rhine. DETAILS: The Bobby Sharp Trio and vocalist Jennifer Ellis fire up your Monday night. Spend an evening on WP’s front porch and enjoy jazz standards under a gorgeous sunset. Free.
Tuesday, Aug. 8
Mercantile LIbrary, Book Launch-“Disobedient Women” | 6 p.m. 414 Walnut St., Downtown. 513-621-0717. DETAILS: Journalist Sarah Stankorb discusses her new book about the destruction of American religious power structures that were designed to silence women. Changes to evangelical culture and the Christian patriarchy are well underway as Stankorb describes the courageous women who challenged and spoke up against these traditional institutions. Free.
Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Summermusik | 7:30 p.m. Go Bananas Comedy Club, 8410 Market Place Ln., Montgomery. 513-873-7233. DETAILS: A bassoon on the stage of a comedy club? What? Members of the CCO perform works by Haydn, Joplin, Arnold and (the late CSO bassoonist) William Winstead to wind up (get it?) Summermusik’s first weekend. The performance concludes with Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf” in an arrangement for wind quintet. You might know that this piece is a narrated romp about a boy named Peter and, well, a wolf. Local comedian Zach Wycuff does the honors this evening. (The narrator, not the wolf). Tickets are going fast for this one.