A & E News

This September, 24 artists are partnering with some of Cleveland’s most creative culinary experts to transform the Heights Arts main gallery into four unique, themed installations that speak to the art of food and community through the materials we use to eat and drink. The exhibition, At Table: Cleveland Culinaria, opens on Aug. 31 and will run through Oct. 14.

In addition, on Sept. 14, 6–9 p.m., Heights Arts invites the community to the opening of a new exhibition in its Spotlight gallery, featuring the work of Cleveland Heights printmaker Paula Zinsmeister. 

At Table showcases the vision of chefs Douglas Katz of fire food & drink, Provenance, and the Katz Club Diner; Gerry Grim of Edwin’s Leadership & Restaurant Institute; Zeleke Belete of Zoma; and Karen Small of the Flying Fig. 

Western Reserve Chorale's (WRC) 26th season begins rehearsals on Sept. 4. It welcomes new members to join in a community of singers who enjoy the process of working together as an ensemble to create a musical experience for the Greater Cleveland area. The Chorale has a roster of nearly 100 members, so no singer needs to fear having to carry a part on his or her own.

At Table showcases the vision of chefs Douglas Katz of fire food & drink, Provenance, and the Katz Club Diner; Gerry Grim of Edwin’s Leadership & Restaurant Institute; Zeleke Belete of Zoma; and Karen Small of the Flying Fig. 

“Total shock” was the reaction of Mac’s Backs’ co-owner and manager Suzanne DeGaetano upon learning that she had been awarded a 2018 Cleveland Arts Prize. “I don’t deserve it,” was her next thought.

The Arts Prize trustees apparently disagreed, explaining in a statement their decision to award the 2018 Martha Joseph Prize to DeGaetano: “Within the Cleveland arts community, she has established herself as a patron saint among emerging and seasoned poets, writers and artists. She knows most by name. Her generosity and commitment to Northeast Ohio's literary community knows no bounds.”

“I think of the award as one that honors the local writers whose books we sell at Mac’s Backs,” said DeGaetano.

The Cleveland Arts Prize, established in 1960 by the Women’s City Club, is now the nation’s oldest municipal arts award. It recognizes local artists as well as those “community leaders who help regional arts flourish.”

The sixth annual Heights Music Hop, a free live-music festival, kicks off on Thursday, Sept. 13. This three-day weekend of more than 60 musical performances takes place in more than 28 venues across three business districts in Cleveland Heights. Each night of the Hop takes place in a different neighborhood: in Coventry Village on Sept. 13, in Cedar Fairmount on Sept. 14, and in Cedar Lee on Sept. 15.

This annual event offers a variety of musical genres at each free concert, such as classical, rock, rap, country, reggae, bluegrass and American roots.

Funk a Deli, formerly known as Yiddishe Cup, will perform at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 16, on the lawn in front of the Grasselli Library at John Carroll University in University Heights.

The band will play klezmer and soul music--sometimes in the same song. And there will be free ice cream.

The concert, part of the University Heights Summer Concert Series, is free. Bring a blanket or chair to sit on. In case of rain, the show will move inside to the O'Malley Center. For more information, contact University Heights City Hall at 216-932-7800, ext. 205.

Dobama Theatre announces the ninth year of its Emerging Actors Program (DEAP), the summer intensive acting program for high school and college students, which culminates in the performance of a play. This year’s production is "Our Town" by Thornton Wilder, co-directed by Nathan Motta and Leighann Delorenzo.

"Our Town," a Pulitzer Prize-winning American classic, is a meta-theatrical take on an American small town. The setting for the play is the fictional town of Grover's Corners, between 1901 and 1913, and concerns the everyday lives of the town’s residents.

On Friday, June 29, 6 to 9 p.m., Heights Arts will celebrate the opening of a new exhibition in its spotlight gallery of works by Heights Arts’ founding executive director, Peggy Spaeth.

In the work, a collection of paintings made between 1972 and 1986. Spaeth focuses on the principles of design, with particular attention to color and repetition. The paintings on display were made alongside another series of work, comprising hand-dyed and hand-sewn quilts. While making her quilts, Spaeth simultaneously experimented with pattern and color in painting form, creating combinations she was unable to achieve with cloth. Spaeth’s intense love of geometry and her ability to create illusion with color and pattern are evident in this selection of works, on view through Aug. 12.

Proceeds from the sale of her work benefit two programs near and dear to Spaeth: Heights Arts, and Sober Living Cleveland, which provides safe, affordable sober housing to those in recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs.

Kicking off the summer season at Dobama Theatre is the 40th anniversary of the Marilyn Bianchi Kids’ Playwriting Festival. Dedicated to the memory of Dobama co-founder Marilyn Bianchi, the festival was the first of its kind in the country, giving young playwrights in grades 1–12 the opportunity to express themselves by writing and submitting original work.

The festival culminates in three days of innovative storytelling and performances, June 1–3, at Dobama Theatre. This year, eight plays will be performed, selected from the more than 230 submitted. Ten additional plays were given Awards of Meritorious Distinction.

Eight local directors will direct the plays, which will feature actors ages 7 to 68.

Tickets are $25 for the Opening Night Benefit Performance on June 1 at 7:30 p.m. All other performances—June 2 at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and June 3 at 2:30 p.m.—are free and open to the public.

Heights Arts presented its 2018 Haiku Death Match on April 21 at Ensemble Theatre. The sold-out event featured local and regional poets who participated in a “battle to the death” of 17-syllable word play on assigned topics. The audience voted for the best poems in each paired contest.

Poets Christine Donofrio and Lorraine Cipriano came out swinging with cutting and thoughtful pieces on the themes of “personal relationships” and “politics.”

Azriel Johnson won points from the audience with witty poems on the “the daily grind.” Returning 2017 Haiku Master Raymond McNiece battled mightily against bluntly worded, sharply amusing poems delivered by Bill Schubert in a battle that ultimately went to the former champion. Meanwhile, Michael Ceraolo pushed his way to the top four with his thoughtful and jocular poems.

The sixth annual Heights Music Hop, a free music festival that attracted 7,500 people last year, has been scheduled for Sept. 13-15. This year’s festival takes place in three Cleveland Heights districts: Sept. 13 in Coventry Village, Sept. 14 in Cedar Fairmount, and Sept. 15 in Cedar Lee.

Heights Music Hop showcases live musical talent in local businesses to promote the Heights as home to the arts, while also helping to support the local economy and celebrate the community’s diversity, walkability and quality of life.

FutureHeights, a nonprofit community development corporation, presents the event to inspire community collaboration and promote a vibrant and sustainable future for the Heights. This year, FutureHeights is partnering with Heights Arts to administer the festival.

Sticks and Stones opens Friday, June 15, at Heights Arts and will be on view through Sunday, July 29. This summer exhibition showcases the relationship between artist and nature. Contributors include Andy Curlowe, Ryan Dewey, Jeanetta Ho, Kevin Kautenburger, Steven Mastroianni, Freeland Southard and Olga Ziemska.

Curator Bill Schubert described his thought process: “Humankind’s relationship with sticks and stones is fundamental. Sticks and stones were our first tools, our first weapons, and the materials we built our first dwellings of. The history of art also begins with sticks and stones. The first known drawings were drawn on the stone walls of the Lascaux caves (1700–1500 B.C.). What did these ancient ancestors use to mark these stone walls? Sticks?

The Cedar Fairmount Special Improvement District (CFSID) is making summer plans.

On Thursday, June 21, it will host the first of two free family-friendly concerts, with Jen Maurer and Mo Mojo performing. The second concert, on Thursday, July 26, will feature the Moises Borges Trio. Each concert will start at 7 p.m., and be held on the Stephen’s Green patio at Nighttown.

Both Jen Maurer and Mo Mojo are know for their Zydeco music and blues and roots background. Expect rousing vocals, crazy and amazing fiddling, banjo plucking, guitar picking, and bass booming—and maybe some foot stomping and dancing in the aisles.

Funk a Deli, formerly known as Yiddishe Cup, will mix soul music with klezmer at the 40th annual Workmen’s Circle Concert in the Park on Sunday, June 24, 7 p.m., at Cain Park’s Evans Amphitheater. Admission is free. Tickets are not necessary.

The show will be hosted by Michael Wex, the author of Born to Kvetch and a popular guest on Terry Gross' PBS radio show "Fresh Air."

Guests performers will include klezmer violinist Steven Greenman, Cantor Kathryn Wolfe Sebo, vocalist Shawn Fink, and marimba player Greg Selker, the founder of the Kleveland Klezmorim, which disbanded in 1990. Selker hasn't played publicly this century.

What’s better than going to a show at the Evans Ampitheatre at Cain Park? Going to every show—for free.

Friends of Cain Park is raffling two free season tickets in a fundraiser for its activities to support Cain Park. Each raffle ticket costs $50, and sales are limited to just 100 tickets.

Tickets are available through May 31 at www.cainpark.eventbrite.com. Tickets will also be available on Saturday, June 2, at Residents Day at Cain Park, when the ticket booth opens for sales to Cleveland Heights residents only.

Friends of Cain Park is a non-profit founded in 1995 to support artist prizes for the July Arts Festival, music and dance performances, actor stipends and college scholarships for Cleveland Heights High School.

From the writer of Dobama Theatre’s 2016 hit, “An Octoroon,” comes a play that asks a question for which there is no easy answer: how does the past affect what we think and who we become?

“Appropriate,” winner of the 2014 Obie Award for Best New American Play, is running now through May 20 at Dobama Theatre. Written by 2016 MacArthur Genius Grant recipient Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, and directed by Dobama Artistic Director Nathan Motta, this play appropriates the white family drama to make whiteness racially visible at all times.

In “Appropriate,” the patriarch of the Lafayette clan has just passed away and the family is forced to descend upon its crumbling Arkansas homestead to settle accounts.

On Wednesday, May 23, six homeschool artists will showcase their masterpieces at The Mary Proctor Project art show, hosted by ARTFUL Cleveland in its studios on the Coventry P.E.A.C.E. Campus, 2843 Washington Blvd. in Cleveland Heights. The event takes place from 1 to 7 p.m., and light refreshments will be provided.

The artists are Kaitlynn Bamler, Elise Bolton, Lennice Bolton, Chiara Koonce, Mary Proctor and Juliana Walther.

Proctor, a 12-year-old homeschooled Cleveland Heights artist, founded The Mary Proctor Project in 2014 to showcase young artists and their work within the Cleveland community, and to raise awareness and funds to directly benefit local nonprofits.

This spring Heights Arts, the nonprofit community arts organization located at 2175 Lee Road, will present its first artist members’ show. The exhibition opens Friday, April 27, with a community reception 6–9 p.m., and runs through June 10.

The Members’ Show is an outgrowth of Heights Arts' mission to support the community by providing opportunities for artists and art audiences to discover one another. As a multi-disciplinary arts organization, Heights Arts taps into the potential of the region’s creative residents to enrich community life. The non-juried exhibition comprises works by current Heights Arts working artist members.

“One of the missions of Heights Arts from the beginning has been to encourage Heights residents to become involved in the arts, not only as audiences but as active participants,” said Greg Donley, chair of the Heights Arts Exhibition Committee

Ensemble Theatre continues its production of both parts of Tony Kushner’s masterpiece, “Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes,” with “Part Two: Perestroika” opening April 27 at the Cleveland Heights theater.

“Part One: Millennium Approaches” had its Ensemble run in January, beginning the story of a group of characters living and surviving during the rise of the AIDS epidemic in 1980s New York City. “Part Two” picks up right where “Millennium Approaches” left off—with the character of Prior (Scott Esposito) being visited by the Angel (Inés Joris).

It’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity for fans of theater to be able to see a full production of “Perestroika,” especially in conjunction with “Millennium Approaches.”

Typewriters. Maybe you have one you never use. Would you like to fix it up? Maybe you have one you use all the time. Would you like to meet other typewriter enthusiasts? If so, join them at Mac’s Backs-Books on Coventry on April 7, 3–6 p.m., for a type-in.

A type-in is a celebration of these wonderful machines, where aficionados can connect to others who are interested in typewriters without the aid of social media or algorithms.

On Saturday, April 21, at 7 p.m., eight haiku poets will meet on the Ensemble Theatre stage to battle for audience approval and the 2018 Haiku Death Match Master title. This year marks Heights Arts’ sixth Haiku Death Match, held in April to celebrate National Poetry Month, which raises funds for Heights Arts’ literary activities.

“The fame of the Death Match is spreading,” said Rachel Bernstein, executive director of Heights Arts. “Last year, the event sold out, and this year, we have new contestants from all over Northeast Ohio—some from as far away as Toledo! We’re thrilled this event is getting so popular because everybody has a good time, and it helps fund Heights Arts’ literary programs, like Ekphrastacy and the Cleveland Heights poet laureate.”

Cleveland Heights-based Choral Arts Society of Cleveland continues its 43rd season with an examination of classical expressions of folk art. In a performance that director Martin Kessler calls “one chorus, two pianos, three percussion, and four hands," Choral Arts will treat its audience to a performance that is rollicking, sassy, heartwarming, upbeat and moving, all in one entertainment package.

The concert, on Sunday, March 11, 7:30 p.m., at Disciples Christian Church in Cleveland Heights, will have added significance as Choral Arts singers honor Kessler before he retires from full-time, active directing at the end of this performance season. 

Kessler, a lifelong Cleveland Heights resident, has spent the past 50 years as an educator and musician, honing and channeling the artistic abilities of students, instrumentalists and singers.

With spring around the corner, it is time for a new show at the Nicholson B. White Gallery at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Visit the gallery between March 9 and early June to see Mindful, Colorful, Artful. This show pulls together the works of four talented local artists: a photographer, an oil painter, a printmaker and a glass bead maker. Meet the artists at a free public opening on Friday, March 9, 5 to 7 p.m. 

Bill Berris carefully selected an eclectic set of photographic works that are crisp and vivid with color, with subjects ranging from people to wildlife to landscapes. Each image has a story behind it: a moment in time or a human emotion. Berris resides in Solon, where he runs a photography service company with his wife. 

Working with oil paints on canvas is Debbie Vail, who paints primarily portraits.

Opening March 9 in the Heights Arts main gallery, Drawn Together: Emotional Intelligence and the Vernacular of the Heart explores the Buddhist concept of the brahma-viharas, also known as the four divine emotions, through drawings by Northeast Ohio artists John Carlson, Suzanne Head, Tony Ingrisano and Dana Oldfather. The community is invited to the opening reception on Friday, March 9, 6 to 9 p.m.

Drawn Together looks at the emotions of loving-kindness (metta), compassion (karuna), vicarious or sympathetic joy (mudita), and equanimity (upekkha), through the expression of visual line and imagery in a wide range of materials, including paint, charcoal, and glass.

“Drawing is so effective and efficient in its ability to convey emotion that it seemed a most appropriate medium for this subject,” said Josh Werling, exhibition curator.

Lake Erie Ink (LEI) will host its sixth annual Kids' Comic Con on Saturday, March 17, 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. At this all-day event, youths of all ages will have the chance to attend workshops with well-known comic creators.

Last year, this one-of-a-kind comic convention for young writers and artists drew nearly 150 kids and teens from across Northeast Ohio.

Workshops will cover the two aspects of comic creation—drawing and writing—and include the ever-popular activity “create your own comic character in clay.”  

Doors open at 9:30 a.m., and workshops begin at 10 a.m. Admission is $10 at the door, and scholarships are available.

Heights Youth Theatre (HYT) is thrilled to make a summer return to the place of its origin, Cain Park. In a new collaboration, HYT will partner with Cain Park to offer a summer camp for teens who are passionate about musical theater.

The camp, open to those in grades 6–12, will take place June 11–29 at Cain Park (14591 Superior Road). No audition is necessary.

From audition techniques, scene work, character development, choreography and music intensives to interaction with professional actors, directors, tech people and stage managers, HYT campers will build a musical review in the professional setting of Cain Park, culminating with a performance on the Alma stage on June 30.

This concert title pun is based on Albert Einstein’s statement, “I get most joy out of music.” The Western Reserve Chorale [WRC] plans to bring joy in music to the Heights with a March 18 concert of two masses: Schubert’s Mass in G and John Rutter’s Mass of the Children.

The approximately 100-member WRC will be joined by soprano Marian Vogel, tenor JR Fralick, baritone Matthew Brennan, and the ladies of Voices of Harmony from Beaumont School, and accompanied by an orchestra.

The concert will take place on Sunday, March 18, 3:30 p.m., at Church of the Gesu in University Heights. WRC, in its 26th year, is grateful to have been so welcomed into its new home at Gesu. 

Ensemble Theatre will host its seventh annual Colombi New Plays Festival this month, showcasing new works by local playwrights. Among this year’s festival highlights is "Mama/Moon," a new work by Cleveland Heights playwright Tom Frattare.

“Mama” and “Moon” in the title refer to Mama Cass Elliot of The Mamas & The Papas, an immensely popular folk rock group of the late 1960s, and Keith Moon, the innovative and wildly eccentric and erratic drummer of the Who. Both died at age 32.

Frattare said the impetus for his play was the rash of talented artists dying at a young age—Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and others. “It's a play about sex, drugs and rock and roll,” Frattare said. “But it’s also about the whirlwind of celebrity, and the all-too-often side effects of loneliness and addiction on the road to redemption.”

Early-music ensemble Burning River Baroque will return to Cleveland Heights with three performances of Suppressed Voices: Music of the Banished. The ensemble will perform on Wednesday, March 21, 7:30 p.m., at The Wine Spot (2271 Lee Road), and Saturday, March 24, 2 p.m., at St. Alban's Episcopal Church (2555 Euclid Heights Blvd.). Both of these concerts are free; free-will donations will be accepted.

An additional performance will be offered on Saturday, April 24, at 7 p.m., at a private residence in Cleveland Heights. A fundraiser for the ensemble, tickets will be $50. For reservations, e-mail rsvp@burning-river-baroque.org (address of the venue will be provided upon receipt of RSVP).

Follow the yellow brick road and join Heights Youth Theatre (HYT) for a performance of “The Wizard of Oz” at Heights Middle School (Wiley campus). The show opens on Friday, March 9 and runs through Sunday, March 18.

Treva Offutt directs the show, Stacy Bolton serves as music director, and Jack Ina is stage manager. One hundred Greater Cleveland students, in grades 1 through 12, comprise the cast. The lead cast members are Spencer Skok (Wizard), Victoria Skok (Dorothy), Brian Tuohey (Scarecrow), Keegan Polatz (Tinman), James Berner (Lion), Trinity Offutt Decker (Glinda), Grace Wilkinson (Witch), Grace Hoy (Miss Gulch), Margaretta Milgram (Auntie Em), and Joshua Mink (Uncle Henry).

Cleveland Heights-based Apollo’s Fire Baroque Orchestra will present a free family concert at Heights High on Saturday, March 3, at 2 p.m. The performance is part of a family concert series titled Wing It, featuring local songstress Amanda Powell with Apollo's Fire instrumentalists.

This interactive and lighthearted performance, which is open to the public, will explore the connection and similarities between jazz and Baroque music. Audience members will have an opportunity to try out the instruments, including the hammered dulcimer, percussion and guitar, during the post-concert “Instrument Petting Zoo.” The family concerts are part of the group’s new Community Access Initiative, which seeks to bring world-class music to diverse audiences throughout Northeast Ohio.

If love is a drug, can a drug make you fall in love? Lucy Prebble’s provocative new play, “The Effect,” directed by Laley Lippard and opening at Dobama Theatre on March 2, wowed U.K. critics and award panels with its fascinating questions about the mysteries of the mind and the true nature of love.

“The Effect” tells the story of Connie and Tristan, volunteers in a clinical drug trial, who begin a sudden and illicit romance. However, they must ask themselves: is theirs a palpable chemistry, or merely a side effect of the new antidepressant being tested? As their relationship forces the supervising doctors to face off over the ethical consequences of their work, the story begins to unwind in a script that plays like a thriller.

Opening Friday, Feb. 2, in the Heights Arts Spotlight gallery is a selection of new works by ceramist and founding member Sharon Grossman. While she is best known for her vessels, Grossman has created for this installation a suite of pieces that are all meant to be wall-hung.

Many of the works employ a technique known as pique assiette, that uses broken shards of dinnerware the create mosaic designs.

Previously in her creative life, Grossman was a woodworker and furniture maker, and that background informs her approach to ceramics.

“I have always loved carving,” Grossman said, ”and a lot of my work includes carved or inlaid elements. To me, this body of work really combines those interests that led me first to make furniture and then to take up ceramics."

One of the earliest plays by renowned playwright Charles Smith will get its regional premier at Ensemble Theatre this month, when “Jelly Belly” opens on Feb. 9.

In the play, Cleveland actor Lashawn Little plays Mike, who finds himself at a crossroads in his life after being passed over for a promotion at his construction job. Frequent Ensemble collaborator Greg White (“Thurgood,” “Death of a Salesman”) plays Jelly Belly, just released from prison and looking to get the gang back together.

Originally produced by Chicago’s Victory Gardens in 1990, the play comes from a real-life meeting Smith had with a Chicago gangster named Jelly Belly.

“What shocked me was not that Jelly Belly had very calmly and openly admitted to murdering several people on several occasions, many of whom had been his friends,” wrote Smith in the opening to his play. “What shocked me was the fact that each time he had been convicted of murder, he had spent no more than six months in jail.”

The Cleveland Heights High School Swim Cadets, a 16-member synchronized swimming team, have announced that their 2018 annual show is scheduled for Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 22, 23 and 24. The school’s oldest extracurricular club has chosen the theme “Swim Cadets Present: Girl Power,” and songs that highlight female empowerment. Clare Peppler, the club’s vice president, noted, “I’ve been surrounded by an amazing group of girls who motivate and influence me to be the best version of myself every day. This year we chose the theme ‘Girl Power’ to show how even in a society that isn’t always fair to women, we can persevere together.” 

Since 1939, the Swim Cadets have been a part of Heights High’s rich history, putting on an extensive show choreographed to music and lights, complete with costume changes. There are traditions that have carried on over the decades, and it is not uncommon for the girls to be second- or even third-generation Swim Cadets. Current club members include daughters and nieces of former club members.

After opening Still Point in Little Italy’s Old Schoolhouse nine years ago, Kate and Geoff Baker have now relocated their gallery to Cedar Fairmount.

Over its first nine years, the gallery continually outgrew its space, and three times moved to larger suites in the schoolhouse. The owners attribute their decision to move Still Point to Cedar Fairmount as one that addressed more than just the physical requirements of their expanding business.

“The Cedar Fairmount Business District has been on our radar for several years," said Kate, “and provides not only more gallery area and parking, but also gives us proximity to our existing customers and a larger market. We see it as a vibrant area that’s being invigorated with upscale shops, restaurants and arts venues.” 

The Heights High Symphony, under the direction of Daniel Heim, will feature senior soloist Corinne Nicol as part of the the Instrumental Music Department’s (IMD) Midwinter Concert Festival II on Friday, Feb. 16, at 7:30 p.m., in the Heights High Auditorium. Nicol and the Symphony will perform Mozart's Flute Concerto No. 2 in D Major.

Nicol knew she wanted to make music from the age of 6. She begged her parents to let her learn a variety of instruments, including the violin, harp, guitar and accordion. Wisely declining all of her requests, her parents instead decided to start her on the piano, with lessons from her mother. She continued on piano until she was 9, when she switched to flute. At age 10 she began taking private flute lessons with Linda Miller.

Heights Arts, in collaboration with the city of Cleveland Heights, is accepting applications from creative writers for the office of Cleveland Heights Poet Laureate.

The city’s ninth poet laureate will serve a 24-month period, beginning April 2018, and concluding at the end of March 2020.

The city and Heights Arts selected the city’s first poet laureate in 2005, making Cleveland Heights the first city in Ohio to appoint anyone to the position. The intention was to create programs to infuse poetry into community life.

For the next three months, sweets of a different variety will be on view inside Mitchell’s Fine Chocolates in Cleveland Heights, at 2285 Lee Road.

Beginning Dec. 8, the long hallway leading from the back parking lot will showcase an array of quilts, embroidery and mixed media fiber art—all part of This Sweet Life—an invitational fiber art exhibit.

The show, which runs until March 1, will kick off with an opening reception on Dec. 8, 6–7:30 p.m. The community is invited to meet the artists and view their work. Many of the art pieces are for sale, in time for the holidays.

The participating Northeast Ohio artists have interpreted the theme of "this sweet life" in diverse ways. The artists include Diane Bird, Victoria Bocchicchio, Natalie Isvarin-Love, Roz Kvet, Katharine O’Connell, Margaret O’Reilly, Amy Reed, Melissa Richmond, Rima Tessman, Eugenia Vainberg, Nelly Vileikis, Violet Watterson and Marty Young.

There’s no reason to stay home and hibernate in January—Heights Arts offers a number of community-friendly events to kick off 2018.

On Saturday, Jan. 13, at 8 p.m., visiting Minnesota quartet Zeitgeist joins Cleveland’s No Exit ensemble for an evening of music from the unique repertoire of each group, as well as collective performances of new music. The free community concert promises a diverse assortment of avant-garde sounds, including music that explores the possibilities of the electro-acoustic medium.

Opening Friday, Jan. 19, from 6 to 9 p.m., is Materialized: Seven Artists Working in Metal, curated by Heights Arts exhibition committee member Pamela Argentieri. “Northeast Ohio has a long tradition of sculptors, blacksmiths, silversmiths and designers working in metal,” said Argentieri. "This community and its institutions continue to support the careers and education of its artists."

Alex Gillooly and Glennis Covault are the drum majors for the Heights High Marching Band, under the direction of Brett Baker of the Instrumental Music Department (IMD). This past fall, the marching band performed pre-game and half-time shows during four scheduled home football games. As junior drum major, Covault worked closely with the more experienced Gillooly, who serves as senior drum major.

The central role of the drum majors is to coordinate and implement Baker's vision, which means being ready for anything. As Covault put it, “Mr. Baker once said that our job as drum majors is to make him `useless.' We act as the eyes, ears and hands of Mr. Baker at every level. This has inspired me to constantly be thinking ahead.”

Both Gillooly and Covault agree that their most important responsibility is the steady conducting of the music. “Out in the field," Gillooly said, "the main concern is to make sure that we direct with a very consistent tempo, maintaining eye contact with the percussion and with each other to keep the band together.”

Both parts of Tony Kushner’s masterpiece "Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes" will be staged at Ensemble Theatre this year, with "Part One: Millennium Approaches" opening Jan. 5.

Ensemble's Executive Artistic Director Celeste Cosentino is directing both parts of "Angels in America," with the follow-up, "Part Two: Perestroika," opening April 27 with the same cast of Cleveland actors. Both shows will run four weekends.

“I think it makes sense to produce both parts,” Cosentino said of the undertaking. “It’s really one big story, and I’m excited for the opportunity to provide audiences with the chance to watch the characters’ entire journey.”

Heights Youth Theatre (HYT), now in it's 64th year, starts 2018 off with an entertaining and meaningful musical, "Once Upon a Mattress." The production, which will be performed at Heights Middle School in University Heights, opens on Friday, Jan. 19, and closes on Sunday, Jan. 28.

The show is directed by Eugene Sumlin, music-directed by Stacy Bolton and stage-managed by Jack Ina. Included in the cast are 50 actors in grades 1-12. The lead cast includes Cleveland Heights residents Spencer Skok as Prince Dauntless, Charlie Proctor as the Minstrel, Julien Benchek as the Wizard, and Victoria Skok as Lady Larken. They are joined by Grace Wilkinson as Winifred, Keegan Polatz as Henry, Olivia Rood as Queen Aggravain, Brian Tuohey as King Sextimus the Silent, and Grace Hoy as the Jester.

On Nov. 13, Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC) announced that it will invest over 12 million dollars in grants to a record-number 258 nonprofit organizations in Cuyahoga County through its 2018 grant programs. The grant awards include $376,459 to 20 Heights-based organizations, which may not be surprising given that the city of Cleveland Heights bills itself as “home to the arts.” 

Four of the 20 Heights organizations are based at Coventry P.E.A.C.E. Campus: Lake Erie Ink, Ensemble Theatre, FutureHeights and Reaching Heights.

Artful is excited to announce that its newest tenant, Studio Cat, has moved into Studio 4.

Studio Cat offers a wide range of classes for children and adults. Among the January classes are Winter Break Workshops for kids, including book making, printing and open studio; Mommy and Me Art Time, in which mothers get to work on an art project while their preschoolers are guided through a play-based art class; and a Vision Board Workshop for adults, to clarify their goals for 2018. 

Recent New York City-transplant Jacqui Brown founded the new studio, which she named Studio Cat in a “funny play on words for Studio 4 in French.”

Brown is excited by the energy and vitality of the local art scene here. Asked about her goals for the studio, Brown spoke of using art to build analytical thinking skills and helping adults and children de-stress. “Creativity is a tool for problem-solving while the process of creating is very relaxing,” Brown said. “Everything is changing with technology and global issues. The biggest advantage we can give our children, and ourselves, for the future is the ability to think and problem solve. The arts exercise and develop those tools.”

To ring in the holiday season, Apollo’s Fire presents the world premiere Christmas rendition of its popular countryside program. Christmas on Sugarloaf Mountain celebrates the Celtic roots of an Appalachian Christmas, with shape note hymns, folk carols, Gregorian chant of old Scotland, and lively dance tunes. It expands upon the original concept, with a larger cast of characters, additional instruments and a chorus and children’s voices.

Artistic Director Jeannette Sorrell will lead a familiar cast, including Amanda Powell and Ross Hauck, as they evoke the journey of the Irish and Scottish immigrants who built new lives in the Appalachian hills.

The concert will be performed locally on Dec. 8 at the Cleveland Museum of Art and Dec. 9 at the First Baptist Church in Shaker Heights. The Shaker Heights performance will be followed by a free Afterglow reception with the artists. Additional performances include Dec. 2 in Akron, Dec. 3 in Willoughby Hills, and Dec. 10 in Bay Village.

Any parent with Netflix can probably attest to the positive effect the film version of The Little Prince has on children. Engaging storytelling, beautiful animation, and the powerful message mesmerizes kids without the use of superheroes or extravagant special effects.

Ensemble Theatre, continuing its 38th season, is bringing the staged version of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s seminal 1943 novella to Cleveland Heights when “The Little Prince” opens in its Playground Theatre on Dec. 1.

Following the success of last year’s “The Phantom Toll Booth,” Ensemble has brought back director Brittni Shambaugh Addison for its production of “The Little Prince.”

Karamu House has joined forces with Cleveland Heights' Ensemble Theatre to present the Ohio premiere of “The Lake Effect, a socially relevant comedy written by Rajiv Joseph, a 2010 Pulitzer Prize-finalist and Cleveland Heights native.

Performances run through Nov. 26 at Karamu’s newly refurbished concert hall, located at 2355 East 89th Street, Cleveland.

Ever wish you could create a list of special things made by local artists so that people would know what to give you for the holidays? Heights Arts has it figured out—with personal gift wish lists and some special shopping nights planned for its 16th-annual holiday store.

On Manly Mondays, idea-challenged shoppers (of all ages and genders) are invited to join Heights Arts to sip some local artisan brew and shop from their friends’ wish lists, or go beyond the lists and make their own creative shopping choices

The first Manly Monday was held in November, with an encore night planned for Monday, Dec. 11, from 6 to 9 p.m.

Complimentary gift wrapping is available to complete each package, so you may never again need to tape over a box from Amazon.

Shoppers should be sure to visit Heights Arts to fill out or update holiday store wish lists in advance of Manly Monday,so the lists are on file for your gift-giving friends and relatives.

The classic Christmas opera Amahl and the Night Visitors will be performed at Forest Hill Presbyterian Church on Saturday, Dec. 9, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 10, at 4 p.m. Admission is free.

Gian-Carlo Menotti's Christmas opera tells the story of Amahl, a disabled boy with a habit of telling imaginative tales. When Amahl and his impoverished mother are visited by three kings, faith and forgiveness lead to an emotional miracle.

In keeping with Menotti’s request that Amahl always be played by a boy, not a young adult, 10-year-old Henry Dyck again will sing the role of Amahl, alongside his own mother, soprano Lara Troyer, as Amahl’s mother.

Troyer, a former associate artist with Cleveland Opera, is on the voice faculty at Kent State University, and her recent roles include solos with the Akron Symphony.

On Friday, Dec. 1, St. Paul's Episcopal Church hosts an opening reception for a new show by four Cleveland artists, on view through Feb. 25 in the church’s Nicholson B. White Gallery. Creatures and Clay features the work of Maggie Denk-Leigh, Sarah Johnston Knoblauch, Julie Friedman and Greg Aliberti. The artists will be on hand at the opening, 5–7 p.m.

Maggie Denk-Leigh is an associate professor at the Cleveland Institute of Art. She works in the printmaking department there, and with the Morgan Conservatory. The processes she uses currently are lithography and screen-printing. In this show, Denk-Leigh presents new works on paper depicting animals inhabiting simple backgrounds, or in artistic décor around us. Some of her unique pieces draw from details within the space at St. Paul’s.

Cleveland Critics Circle award-winning director Ian Wolfgang Hinz will again take on a Eugene O’Neill masterpiece when he directs Ensemble Theatre’s production of “The Hairy Ape” this month.

Opening Nov. 17, the play is about a hard-working man, Yank, who has a bit of a crisis of identity when confronted by the daughter of a rich industrialist. Hinz won the award for Best Direction for Ensemble’s 2013 production of O’Neill’s “The Iceman Cometh.”

“O’Neill is asking the questions many of us in our polarized society are asking,” Hinz said. “Mainly, ‘where do we belong?’”

Cleveland Heights resident and artist Robert (Bob) Jones, is exhibiting a selection of paintings at the Lee Road Library through Nov. 6. The show features lush, oil-on-canvas landscapes depicting colorful skies, clouds, rich foliage, water and dramatic mountains.

The works on exhibit span 25 years of Jones’ life, with a concentration of paintings done in the 1990s, a time when Jones was most prolific, painting late at night in the basement of his home.

A self-taught artist, Jones works from memory and quick pencil sketches made during frequent trips to North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia and Pennsylvania. “I draw what I see,” said Jones, who grew up drawing. His father used to write stories to accompany his drawings.

As a young adult, Jones made charcoal portraits of his family and friends. Besides completing an 18-month correspondence course in art, Jones’ only other training came from television host and famed art instructor Bob Ross, who inspired him to pick up oil painting. Jones never looked back.

What began as a tiny Lee Road pop-up with a few local artists in 2002 has blossomed into the 16th annual Heights Arts Holiday Store, featuring creative items by about 100 Northeast Ohio visual artists and artisans, writers and musicians. “We’ve been planning this year’s store since June, and are fortunate to have intern Megan Jones, a student at the Cleveland Institute of Art, help us identify new and exciting artists for the expanded Holiday Store,” said executive director Rachel Bernstein. “Megan is collaborating with manager Courtney Young to make this the best Holiday Store in our history!”

Visitors will find new giftable art from many of their favorite makers, plus an impressive curated selection of items by artists new to the store. 

Cleveland Public Theatre’s (CPT) world premiere production of “The Family Claxon,” a new play by Cleveland Heights resident Eric Coble, is currently underway at CPT’s Gordon Square Theatre, 6415 Detroit Ave. CPT's production will run through Oct. 28.

“ ‘The Family Claxon’ is my first foray into true absurdist comedy,” stated Coble, “waving a not-so-fond farewell to reality even as I dig into greater, more disturbing truths beneath.”

As the play unfolds, Andrew is throwing a party for Grandad Claxon’s 150th birthday in a last-ditch effort to get the higher-ups to notice him. His plan for promotion might just work, as Grandad is the company’s founding father. If only Andrew’s wife would stop losing jobs and their daughter would stop blogging, while neighbors desperately flood into their home because of nearby rampages and plumbing explosions. And then there’s the Guatemalan Flu, that makes house pets spontaneously combust . . . .

Members of the new Shahrazad Theatre Company believe that now is the time to refocus attention on the revolutionary playwrights who, throughout history, have thrust audiences into the realm of enriching the human spirit with their provocative stories and the expansion of language.

With this as its goal, Shahrazad Theatre Company will present as its inaugural production Bertolt Brecht’s "The Caucasian Chalk Circle" (rendered into English by Shahrazad Theatre Company).

Brecht helped pioneer one of the most significant shifts in 20th-century art, literature and theater. In "The Caucasian Chalk Circle," which he wrote in 1944 while living in the United States, he gives these lines to his narrator: “We hope you find the voice of this poet, while old, still rings true . . . It may be a mistake to mix different wines, but old and new wisdom mix admirably.”

The Heights Chamber Orchestra celebrates the opening of its 35th season on Sunday, Oct. 8, at 3:30 p.m., at the First Baptist Church on Fairmount Blvd. in Shaker Heights. At this concert, the orchestra will announce and introduce its new music director, Domenico Boyagian.

The Heights Chamber Orchestra was started in Cleveland Heights by a University Heights resident 35 years ago. One third of its current performers live in Cleveland Heights. This homegrown ensemble has evolved into one of the premier orchestras in the region, attracting some of the best performers. Many of the 45 members have performed in other area orchestras, including the Cleveland Orchestra. 

Heights Chamber Orchestra members, all of whom are volunteers, practice up to five weeks for each performance before their first rehearsal. Boyagian said the conductor’s work is in the rehearsals, but in the performance “when a conductor starts the piece, then it takes the orchestra and the audience” to turn it into the journey. Susan Blackwell, clarinetist and board member, agreed. “The feedback performers sense from the audience is mutual," she said. "The orchestra and the audience move through the piece together.”

The Heights Arts Close Encounters chamber music series began in 2005 as an opportunity for members of the Cleveland Orchestra to perform music of their own choosing in the gracious "chambers" of Cleveland Heights residences. Now in its 12th year, the series has matured into a lively concert series which taps the creative talents of fine classical music artists from throughout Northeast Ohio. Under the artistic direction of Cleveland Orchestra violinist Isabel Trautwein, Close Encounters Season 12 presents four musician-designed programs presented in stately residences and unique venues throughout Cleveland. All concerts are at 3 p.m.

This season, concertgoers meet the hottest additions to the music scene: cellist and film producer Dane Johansen, violin-star Jessica Lee, and the Cavani Quartet's new violist, Eric Wong. They will be joining the Omni quartet, Oberlin College's newest bassoon faculty, Drew Pattison, and pianist/composer Teddy Niedermaier, among others. As a bonus, Cleveland Orchestra's English horn player Robert Walters has designed a program of music and original poetry to be performed at the Bop Stop in Hingetown.

Dobama Theatre continues its 58th season with the regional premiere of "Marjorie Prime" by Jordan Harrison. A finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, "Marjorie Prime" is an astute and provocative meditation on memory and family, set in the not-too-distant future.

In this future, it is possible to create artificially intelligent holograms of late family members. These so-called “primes” give people the opportunity to continue spending time with their lost loved ones, providing not only comfort, but also assisting with the fading memories of the elderly.

Dorothy Silver, one of Cleveland’s most reknowned actors, will portray the title character. Silver originally performed this role during the play’s staged reading at Cleveland Play House’s New Ground Festival in 2013, where Harrison received the Roe Green New Play Award. During that reading, Silver had the opportunity to meet and work directly with the playwright.

Heights Youth Theatre’s (HYT) production of “Into the Woods” will open on Friday, Oct. 20, and run through Sunday, Oct. 29, at Heights Middle School in University Heights.

The show is directed by Kelly Monaghan, with music direction by Stacy Bolton, and features 80 young actors, in grades 1–12, from Cleveland Heights, University Heights, Shaker Heights, and surrounding communities.

“I am thrilled to be back at HYT’s original ‘home’ directing my all-time favorite musical,” exclaimed Monaghan. “Stephen Sondheim's score is breathtaking, the blending of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales is so poignant and quite clever. But what I am most excited about is the unbelievable talent in these young actors. It has truly blown me away. They are all so gifted in their own unique ways and I am honored to be leading them to help tell this beautiful story.”

Performances will be presented in the Heights Middle School auditorium, 2181 Miramar Blvd., on Friday, Oct. 20 and 27, 7 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 21 and 28, 2 p.m.; and Sunday, Oct. 22 and 29, 2 p.m.

The Met: Live in HD, the Metropolitan Opera’s award-winning series of high-definition live cinema simulcasts, will begin its 12th season on Oct.7, with a new production of Bellini’s Norma, directed by Sir David McVicar, conducted by Carlo Rizzi, and starring one of the world’s most acclaimed Normas, Sondra Radvanovsky.

Audiences now will be able to see these 10 live performances from the Met’s 2017-18 season at the Cedar Lee Theatre (2163 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights).

“It’s been a goal of Cleveland Cinemas to bring these incredible operas from the Met to the Cedar Lee Theatre for years,” said Jon Forman, president of Cleveland Cinemas.