Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A long-dead artist, a terrible opera singer, a friendly but homesick alien and a Man in Black walk into a bar . . . Well, wait a minute. Actually, they’re walking into Culture FIX this week. There’s no punch line here, just another varied, unpredictable week full of activity (including plenty of jazz) in Cincinnati’s arts and culture scene. So step up to the bar. What’ll it be?
Wednesday, Aug. 23
Ziegler Park Cinema Series, “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” | 8:30 p.m., 1322 Sycamore St., Pendleton. DETAILS: Each Wednesday evening in summer and fall, Ziegler Park in Pendleton screens a free family movie on its Great Lawn (at the former School for Creative and Performing Arts campus). Bring picnics, blankets and lawn chairs, and settle in for the show, which starts at 9 p.m. This week, it’s Steven Spielberg’s 1982 classic “E.T.” Leave the flying bicycles at home, please.
Concerts on the Commons, Pandora Effect | 7 p.m., Corner of Winton Road and Farragut Ave., Greenhills. 513-825-2100. DETAILS: Greenhills opens up its civic space for a varied concert series each summer – yet another chance to relax on a lawn, enjoy a picnic and listen to music. Pandora Effect, a local, six-member rock cover band with a full plate of appearances this summer (GoettaFest, Seafood Fest, church festivals and more), takes the stage this week.
Thursday, Aug. 24
It’s Commonly Jazz, Camille Thurman with the Darrell Green Quartet | 6 p.m., Seasongood Pavilion, Eden Park. 513-357-2619. DETAILS: The annual outdoor jazz series, which has devoted its 2023 season to celebrating women in jazz, continues with noted jazz composer/saxophonist/vocalist Camille Thurman, a successful recording artist, member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and runner-up in the 2013 Sarah Vaughan International Vocal Competition.
Music@BCM, The Hot Magnolias | Behringer-Crawford Museum, Eevou Park, Covington. 859-491-4003. DETAILS: And now for some musical gumbo: The BCM winds up its family-friendly Thursday night series with the Cincinnati-based Cajun/Creole band The Hot Magnolias, whose music ranges from traditional 1920s jazz to more modern New Orleans funk. The band is celebrating its 10th anniversary this month.
Friday, Aug. 25
Lebanon Theatre Company, “Souvenir: A fantasia on the life of Florence Foster Jenkins” | 10 S. Mechanic St., Lebanon. 513-932-8300. DETAILS: If you haven’t seen the 2016 movie “Florence Foster Jenkins” starring Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant with Simon Helberg (yes, “Big Bang’s” Wolowitz) as her pianist, here’s the scoop on this play’s strange but true story: Florence Foster Jenkins was an eccentric New York socialite and very amateur musician who has become known as the worst opera singer in history. Oblivious to her lack of talent, she gave a series of recitals in the Ritz Carlton Hotel, beginning in the early 1930s, that became perversely popular with New Yorkers. In fact, when she booked Carnegie Hall in 1944 (at the age of 76), her concert sold out weeks in advance! The production runs through Sept. 3.
Art After Dark, “R.I.P Pablo 1881-1973” | 5-9 p.m., Cincinnati Art Museum, Eden Park. 513-721-2787. DETAILS: Pablo Picasso died in 1973, so CAM has decided to observe the 50th anniversary of the great artist’s passing with … wait for it … a party with a DJ, cash bars (maybe with Cubist ice?), food and more. “You can’t spell funeral without FUN!,” the museum notes. Well, yes. The free event, part of its Art After Dark series, is keyed to the “Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds” exhibit at the museum.
Shakespeare in the Park, “The Comedy of Errors” | 7-9 p.m., Seasongood Pavilion, Eden Park. 513-381-2273. DETAILS: Just across the road from the art museum and its surreal Picasso wake, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company brings its Shakespeare in the Park summer touring production of the hilarious (no Blue Period here) “Comedy of Errors” to Seasongood. The company has performed the play free for park audiences throughout the region since July 14. If you haven’t had the chance to see it yet, the “Errors” tour continues through Sept. 3, including Sunday, Aug. 27 at Washington Park in Over-the-Rhine.
Saturday, Aug. 26
Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Summermusik | “Americana,” 4 p.m., School for Creative and Performing Arts, Over-thge-Rhine. 513-723-1102. DETAILS: The uniquely gifted, Kentucky-born classical/bluegrass violinist Tessa Lark headlines this concluding concert in CCO’s Summermusik 2023. It’s definitely an all-American program, featuring Michael Torke’s “Sky” Concerto (which he wrote for her in 2018), plus music by Jessie Montgomery, Scott Joplin, Leonard Bernstein (“Fancy Free” with Revolution Dance Theatre) and James Reese Europe, an early 20th century jazz band leader and composer who ought to be much better known today.
Cincinnati Museum Center, 1940s Day | 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Union Terminal, Queensgate. 513-287-7031. DETAILS: CMC’s annual day-long salute to Union Terminal’s 1940s heritage, Art Deco aesthetics and historical significance returns, celebrating the music, fashion, automobiles and culture of that crucial time. More than 3 million American troops traveled through the station during Warld War II, making Cincinnati a crossroads of the era. Displays and activities are both inside and outside the terminal. Admission is free for members or included with museum admission.
Playhouse in the Park, “Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash” | 7:30 p.m., Rouse Theatre, Mt. Adams. 513-421-3888. DETAILS: Just when you thought the Playhouse had been everywhere, man, with its string of heartfelt musical biodramas of pop legends, along comes another one – well, at least a revamped version of a musical the Playhouse put on in 2015. Featuring five actor-musicians performing more than 30 of Johnny Cash’s hit songs, the production traces the life of The Man in Black with what the Playhouse says will be new interpretations of his songs and a fresh, contemporary look at his story. Through Oct. 1.
Kennedy Heights Arts Center, “Wish You Were Here” | Reception 6-8 p.m.,Kennedy Heights. 513-631-4278. DETAILS: KHAC presents a juried photography exhibit by local artists with an intriguing theme: Select your best-loved vacation photo and tell people the story behind it that makes it special. It’s “a celebration of experiencing different places, traveling to discover, exploring and sharing our large world,” the exhibit description says. The reception is free to the public with light refreshments, and the exhibit runs through Oct. 28.
Sunday, Aug. 27
EquaSion, Cincinnati Festival of Faiths | noon-5 p.m., Cintas Center, Xavier University. 513-806-9650. DETAILS: EquaSion’s sixth annual festival opens with an afternoon of food, entertainment, music and exhibits from more than 30 faith organizations representing 13 world religions. The event is free to the public, and the festival continues with virtual as well as in-person events, ending with a Peace Walk 7-9 p.m. Aug. 31 at Ault Park.
DAAP Galleries, “DAAPmade: The Exhibition” | Reception 5-7 p.m., Reed Gallery, DAAP, University of Cincinnati. 513-556-2839. DETAILS: UC’s schools of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning are world-renowned for their excellence and their graduates’ success, so this exhibit of works representing five decades of DAAP graduates – working in a wide array of materials, techniques and styles – ought to be quite a showcase. Some of the alumns will be on hand for the opening reception. Runs through Oct. 31.
Monday, Aug. 28
Jazz at the Park, Faux Frenchmen | 6-9 p.m., Washington Park, Over-the-Rhine. 513-621-4400. DETAILS: The Fab Faux Four (Don, Paul, George and Ring… -uh, Brian) may be local guys – guitarists Brian Lovely and George Cunningham, bassist Don Aren and violinist Paul Patterson – but they’re known all over for their sophisticated take on “Hot Club”-style gypsy jazz. So, hot off their Aug. 24 gig at Wiseguy Lounge in Pleasant Ridge, they hit the big lawn at Washington Park.
1628 Ltd., “Stillness in Motion: Still Life Art and its Reflection on Human Existence” | 11 Garfield Place, downtown. 513-320-2596. DETAILS: This coworking facility doubles as an art gallery, and its fall exhibition focuses on still-life art by 21 local and regional artists. The show “invites viewers to appreciate the quiet beauty of everyday objects and the stories they tell.” A reception is scheduled for 6-8 p.m. Sept. 7, and the exhibit runs through Nov. 16.
Tuesday, Aug. 29
Jazz at the Square, Eric Lechliter | 5-8 p.m., Fountain Square, 520 Vine St., Downtown. DETAILS: Fountain Square’s Tuesday evening jazz series continues with trumpeter/arranger/composer Eric Lechliter, who’s artistic director of the Cincinnati Contemporary Jazz Orchestra and director of the Xavier University Jazz Orchestra. A CCM grad, Lechliter has performed with and has his music played by numerous jazz ensembles throughout the region.
Riverbend Music Center, Pentatonix | 8 p.m., Coney Island. 513-232-6220. DETAILS: The always-entertaining (and wow, what spiffy dressers), multiple Grammy-winning a capella group, which recently received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star (the first such group so honored), kicked off a 24-city North American leg of its World Tour this month. The tour, including this concert, features as “special guest” singer-songwriter Lauren Alaina, a Grand Old Opry member and “American Idol” runner-up.