It’s not something one expects to say in mid-August, but we hope your homes are dry and the trees near you are still standing. Assuming you’re safe and sound, there’s plenty to get out and enjoy: hot jazz, sinfully good orchestral fare and “new” Gershwin, to name a few.
Wednesday, Aug. 19
Cincinnati Landmark Productions, “Crazy for You” | 7:30 p.m. Warsaw Federal Incline Theater, 801 Matson Place, East Price Hill. 513-241-6550. DETAILS: They just don’t write songs today like the Gershwins. If only there were another Gershwin show…. OK, here you go. Sort of. In 1992, a planned update of the 1930 show “Girl Crazy” got more involved, with a new book by Ken Ludwig and songs cobbled together from several George and Ira Gershwin works. The result, “Crazy for You,” swept best musical awards in the U.S., U.K. and Canada. Now it’s the finale of Landmark Productions’ summer series. Runs Wednesdays through Sundays through Sept. 13.
Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, “Much Ado About Nothing” | 7 p.m. Multiple venues. 513-381-2273. DETAILS: You want to know why the saying is “they took it like troupers,” not “troopers”? Look no further than the troupe from Cincy Shakes bringing this Shakespearean rom-com – for free – to the four corners of the Tristate. They’ve been at it for more than a month, facing storms, bugs and withering heat. If you haven’t caught them yet, they have a few weeks of shows left, so hop to it. All performances at 7 p.m. Up this week are:
- Wednesday: Braxton Brewery Factory 52, 4590 Beech St., Norwood.
- Thursday: Delhi Park, 5125 Foley Road, Delhi Township.
- Friday: UC Bearcat Commons, 2700 Campus Way, University Heights.
- Saturday: Devou Park Bandshell, 1 Bandshell Blvd., Covington.
- Sunday: Stanbery Park, 2221 Oxford Ave., Mount Washington.
- Tuesday: Oxford Community Arts Center, 10 S. College Ave., Oxford.
Also, a reminder that it’s the last week for the company’s indoor summer offering, “The Complete Works of Jane Austen (Abridged).” It’s the latest in CSC’s parody mashups of works by great authors. Through Sunday at the Otto Budig Theater, 1195 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine.
Thursday, Aug. 20
It’s Commonly Jazz | 6 p.m. Seasongood Pavilion, Eden Park. 513-357-2619. DETAILS: Hot weather deserves hot jazz, and the folks at It’s Commonly Jazz are delivering another August of it. Week 3 features trumpeter Myles Ellington Twitty. The Cincinnati-native performer, composer has performed with the likes of Rodney Whitaker, Jerome Jennings, Eddie Henderson and the Roy Hargrove Big Band – and at venues including Birdland, the Jazz Gallery, Dizzy’s Club and Carnegie Hall. Last week’s concert dodged the rain; we hope the luck holds.
American Sign Museum collector talk | 7 p.m. American Sign Museum, 1330 Monmouth Ave., Camp Washington. 513-541-6366. DETAILS: It’s been a few weeks since the opening of the sign museum’s “Freaks & Sideshows” exhibition, which comprises about 30 American circus banners made between 1920 and 1970. All of them are from the collection of Dave and Lynn Waller. The museum welcomes Dave Waller for a talk on how his collection came to be, including the stories of some of the performers featured on the banners. In-person and virtual tickets available.
Friday, Aug. 21
Esquire Theatre, “The Last Picture Shows” | 3:30 p.m. Esquire Theatre, 320 Ludlow Ave., Clifton. 513-281-8750. DETAILS: No, that’s not a typo, and this isn’t the 1971 Bogdanovich classic (although there are plenty of references to it). In his new documentary, Rustin Thompson travels to 123 small-town cinemas across 10 western states. Once the center of town social life, many of these houses are hanging by a thread, and many have already closed. (Remember that the Esquire itself came perilously close to being razed for a Wendy’s.) Runs through Aug. 27.
Clifton Cultural Arts Center, two exhibits | 6-8 p.m. 3412 Clifton Ave., Clifton. 513-497-2860. DETAILS: Dual exhibits at the CCAC run through Sept. 18. “Fever” shows the multidisciplinary work of Cincinnati-based Todd Kunkler, who won last year’s Golden Ticket juried exhibition at the CCAC. “Security Blanket” is a collaborative quilt project whose alphabetical patches explore issues ranging from healthcare and childcare to housing, safety, labor and reproductive freedom.
Saturday, Aug. 22
Krohn Conservatory, “A Living Museum of Botanical Splendor” | 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Eden Park. 513-421-4086. DETAILS: No, you cannot get tickets for the butterfly show. It’s over. Stop asking. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still pay the city’s plant haven a visit, though. Krohn’s fall show celebrates the harmony between art, science and conservation, reminding us that flora is not just ornamental, but essential to the very fabric of life on Earth (and especially to people). Through Oct. 11.
Summermusik | 4 p.m. School for Creative & Performing Arts, Over-the-Rhine; 513-723-1182. DETAILS: It’s so funny that classical music has a reputation as rarified culture. Why? Because it’s nothing without sin. Summermusik isn’t hiding from that. In fact, it dedicates its third Mainstage program to the so-called deadly sins. Saturday’s program dives into envy, gluttony, lust and pride with music of Beethoven, Gesualdo, Rossini and Richard Strauss (plenty of sin there). Also, music director Eckart Preu welcomes soprano Victoria Okafor and dancer Simone Muhammad in a semistaged performance of the Kurt Weill–Bertold Brecht one-act opera “The Seven Deadly Sins.” Joshua Stayton did the choreography. Even better: Local history maven Greg Hand (you’ve gotta read his blog) offers lessons on sin in Cincinnati’s past. Read more c/o David Lyman in the August M&M magazine.
But wait. There’s more.
- Sunday: Okafor returns for a contrasting afternoon of music about virtue. CCO musicians join her for works by the gamut from Hildegard von Bingen to Morten Lauridsen, with Brahms, Florence Price and more along the way. 4 p.m. Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 7701 Kenwood Road, Sycamore Township.
- Tuesday: Week 4 of Summermusik kicks off with a Chamber Crawl program spotlighting modern American songwriters like Randy Newman, Paul Simon, Brian Wilson (and lots more). Guitarist Roger Klug assembled and, for many, arranged the set. 7:30 p.m. The Redmoor, Mount Lookout Square.
Memorial Hall, “We Will Rock You” | 8 p.m. Memorial Hall, 1225 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine. 513-977-8838. DETAILS: Yeah, we see you in the next lane channeling Freddie Mercury in your car. Just give in. “We Will Rock You” takes up a week’s residence at the Memo. It’s a “lightly-staged” production with a plot about a dystopian, post-apocalyptic future in which individuality has been outlawed and music is controlled by algorithms. (Are we sure this is fictional?) As the main characters, backed by a seven-piece band, save rock ’n’ roll, they manage to run through most of Queen’s greatest hits. Through Aug. 29.
FotoFocus, “Big Tent” | 11 a.m.-6 p.m. FotoFocus Center, 228 E. Liberty St., Over-the-Rhine/Mt. Auburn. 513-400-4027. DETAILS: When you read about the opening of the FotoFocus Center and its first exhibition, many of you probably thought, “I should get to that.” Guess what: Time’s up. “Big Tent” closes Saturday. This is just as much a reminder to visit the impressive facility, which is its own work of art.
Sunday, Aug. 23
Semi-Colon Club, “A Fever in the Heartland” | 4 p.m. Harriet Beecher Stowe House, 2950 Gilbert Ave., Walnut Hills. 513-751-0651. DETAILS: This is a new incarnation of the book club Harriet Beecher Stowe joined in Cincinnati. The group tackles the same kinds of serious issues as its ancestor. This month, it’s Timothy Egan’s 2023 historical thriller about the apex of the Ku Klux Klan’s influence in America, based not in the South but in Indiana in the 1920s, and how one woman’s death helped break the nation’s hateful fever.
Monday, Aug. 24
Art Beyond Boundaries, “Under the Sun” | 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Art Beyond Boundaries, 1410 Main St., Over-the-Rhine. DETAILS: Just a reminder that, if you haven’t seen this show of local artists reflecting, remembering and reuniting in our sunniest season, your time is about up. It closes Monday.
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