A & E News

Roots of American Music (ROOTS) held its annual fall event on Oct. 24 at the Music Box Supper Club in Cleveland. As part of its yearlong refresh, the Cleveland Heights-based nonprofit celebrated its story and service to the community. 

A vignette of ROOTS’ own “Blues is the Backbone” music education program was interactive, with teaching artist Jack Mizenko conducting the audience in the refrain of a blues song, and then of one adapted by students at Halle School.

Singer Evelyn Wright, accompanied by guitarist Michael Haburay and pianist Sebastain Mango, led guests through a vignette of the “Food for the Soul” program for seniors, which connects music with current topics, and sparks discussions among the seniors that encourage them to share their life experiences and revisit memories inspired by the music.

The N.B. White Gallery at St. Paul's has decked its walls with paintings, photographs, and woodworks this winter season. The show opens on Friday, Dec. 6, with an artist’s reception 5–7 p.m.

The bold and colorful paintings were created by DeAnne Smith of Cleveland, and by Jules Briggs, a Detroit-based painter and sculptor. J.W. Cooper’s photographs are on display as well, as are works in wood by Mike Nathal.

Smith creates flow in her art with shapes, patterns, and vibrant colors. Her large-scale, abstract paintings are influenced by her surroundings and by nature.

Briggs similarly uses a bold palette in her personal and fantastical artwork, portraying dreamscapes, fantasy scenes, and fictional characters.

Dec. 6–29, Dobama Theatre will present the professional Cleveland premiere of “Peter/Wendy,” a heartfelt, ethereal adaptation of J. M. Barrie’s classic Peter Pan, by Jeremy Bloom.

Directed by Nathan Motta, Dobama Theatre’s artistic director, this family-friendly holiday show offers an immersive, interactive experience to delight kids and adults alike. Fairies, pirates, mermaids, and more will take the stage, encouraging audiences to think of and share their “happy thoughts.”

“The idea of ‘thinking a happy thought’ might seem trite or childish on the surface, but, as it turns out, happy thoughts can elevate us, and sharing gratitude and happiness with others lifts them up as well. We hope that ‘Peter/ Wendy’ will help do just that for audiences this December,” said Motta.

Cleveland Heights resident Sid Lenington’s book-length debut, Donovan’s M.I.A., is filled with taut, lyrical, and funny dispatches from the front lines of the Anthropocene.

He will be joining Dan Chaon, author of, most recently, Sleepwalker, for a reading and discussion as part of the Coventry Village Author Series at the Coventry Village Library on Thursday, Nov.  21, at 7 p.m.

The book comprises two short stories and two novellas filled with images of garden hoses, donuts, lost puppets, troubled characters, and Rust Belt rot. It’s a glimpse into a mind which, blasted and cratered from decades of drinking, is beginning to heal after 13 years of sobriety.

The University Heights Symphonic Band will present its free, annual fall concert at John Carroll University's (JCU) Dolan Science Atrium on Sunday, Nov. 3, at 3:30 p.m.

The building is located near the Fairmount Circle entrance to the campus, just behind Hamlin Quad where the band's outdoor concerts are annually held.

This year's program, titled Distant Travels, will musically take the audience around the world, and beyond. Conducted by Music Director Devlin Pope, the performance will include the following selections: Four Scottish Dances by Arnold, Sea Songs by Williams, A Nordic Trilogy by Erickson, Metroplex: Three Postcards from Manhattan by Sheldon, Afterlife by Galante, and a percussion feature by Hazo titled A Zillion Nickels.

On Friday, Nov. 1, Heights Arts opens its 23rd annual Holiday Store to the public, offering unique, handmade gifts created by more than 100 local artists. The store holds its general opening 6–8 p.m., following a Heights Arts members-only preview 5–6 p.m. The 2024 Holiday store will be open through Dec. 30.

Shoppers will find an array of distinctive items, including decorative boxes, candles, jewelry, ornaments, and a wide variety of artworks such as prints, paintings, photography, sculptural glass, and ceramics. The Holiday Store not only provides an opportunity to discover one-of-a-kind gifts, but also supports local artisans and celebrates the creative spirit of the community.

Also in November, Heights Arts kicks off its signature concert series, Close Encounters, with a performance titled "OUVRAGE DE DAME: Music for Winds by Women" on Sunday, Nov. 3, 3–4:30 p.m.

On Saturday, Oct. 19, 4–7 p.m., Dobama Theatre will present its fourth Annual Heights Halloween Festival in the Cedar Lee Business District.

This free, family-friendly event will feature costumed characters, large-scale puppets, face painting, a DJ, dancing, games, a scavenger hunt, and circus performers from Wizbang.

The Heights Halloween Festival will also include the beloved, traditional Candy Crawl, so families should dress up and bring their goodie bags to be ready to trick-or-treat at participating businesses throughout Cedar Lee.

Dobama Theatre will present the Cleveland premiere of Selina Fillinger’s Broadway hit and three-time Tony Award-nominated farce, “POTUS: or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive.” Performances are Oct. 4–27.

When a presidential PR nightmare triggers a domino effect, unraveling layers of personal and political catastrophe with escalating worldwide implications, seven women scramble to save a White House in shambles. In “POTUS,” outrageous antics and irreverent conversations abound. The show provides contemporary commentary on the timeless concerns of gendered power structures and dynamics—while also delivering an endless stream of laughs.

Chapter Q of P.E.O. International will present “An afternoon with Amanda Flower” on Saturday, Nov.  9, 2 p.m., at Forest Hill Presbyterian Church. While the program is free, donations are encouraged. All funds raised will support women’s education through P.E.O.’s educational projects.

At the event, two-time Agatha Award-winning and USA Today bestselling author Amanda Flower will discuss her latest mystery, To Slip the Bonds of Earth, released in March 2024.

Flower’s radiant historical mystery novel was inspired by the real sister of the Wright brothers. While not as famous as her older siblings Wilbur and Orville, the celebrated inventors of flight, Katharine Wright was actively involved in her brothers’ aviation achievements. In the novel, Katharine is equally as inventive as her brothers—especially when it comes to solving crimes.

Making a connection between her writing and P.E.O.’s mission to educate women, Flowers had this to say: “Women's way of knowing and learning certainly impacted my writing. I write historical mysteries about women who have used their education and experience to uplift their life and the lives of the people around them.”

Featuring a lineup of artists that include Grammy winners, Apollo’s Fire members, and Cleveland Institute of Music faculty, The Resonance Project carefully curates a musical series that bring ideas and worlds to life. 

New to Cleveland Heights, the classical group will perform a series of concerts at Forest Hill Church (3031 Monticello Blvd.), accompanied by compelling visuals and narration, where storytelling becomes just as important as playing.

The Resonance Project’s performances feature a diverse range of genres, and delve into the work of lesser-heard composers.

Cleveland Heights High School has its share of accomplished alumni. Authors and educators, doctors and inventors, artists and entrepreneurs, professional athletes and . . . bubblers?

Yes. Bubblers. Gary Pearlman, class of 1976, is a world-renowned bubbler and has held 15 Guinness World Records for his bubbling feats. We’re talking soap bubbles—the kind you blew through a ring when you were a little kid.

Pearlman, aka Dr. U. R. Awesome, may be a grown man but he makes his living (and makes his mark) blowing bubbles. 

He started out as a magician, a job he had for 40 years. His friend and fellow Wiley Junior High and Heights High classmate, Steve Presser, eventually invited Pearlman to perform his magic tricks at Presser’s famed Coventry store, Big Fun.

The Heights Music Hop returns at the end of this month, Sept. 27 and 28, with free performances planned in three locations—the Cedar Fairmount Business District, the Noble Gardeners’ Market, and the Cedar Lee Business District.

With its annual, one-of-kind, free music festival, FutureHeights brings together local music and local businesses to spotlight Cleveland Heights as a destination, and a great place in which to live, own a business, and shop and dine at locally owned, independent stores, bars and restaurants.

FutureHeights’ 2024 Hop will kick off on Friday, Sept. 27, 6–10 p.m., in Cedar Fairmount.

On Saturday, Sept. 28, the Noble Gardeners’ Market—which, as of Sept. 7, will have moved to its new location at the Noble Neighborhood Library, at 2800 Noble Road— will host live music from 10 a.m. to noon.

On Saturday evening, the festivities will move to Cedar Lee beginning at 6 p.m.

The Cleveland Arts Prize (CAP) has awarded Shannon Morris, co-founder and executive director of Artful Cleveland, its prestigious Robert P. Bergman Prize for 2024. This honor is a significant recognition of her dedication to fostering a vibrant artistic community and her commitment to making art accessible to all.

According to CAP, the Robert P. Bergman Prize “is awarded to an individual whose life and work are illuminated by an energetic and inspiring dedication to a democratic vision of art. The Bergman Prize recognizes the highest possible expression of art stewardship through long-term commitment.” It celebrates those who not only create art but also cultivate environments where creativity can flourish, reflecting the values of inclusivity and community.

Morris is a Cleveland Heights native whose vision of a safe, inclusive artist’s enclave—Artful—found a home in the Coventry PEACE Building.

Cleveland Heights resident and psychiatrist Joan Lederer has embraced photography as an artistic pursuit as well as a tool for community engagement and social change.

Currently, Lederer's focus is on The Old Angle Boxing Gym in Cleveland's near West Side, owned by Gary Horvath, a celebrated local boxer mentored by the renowned Jimmy Bivins. With a storied career that includes multiple Golden Glove titles and inductions into three halls of fame, Horvath embodies Cleveland’s rich boxing legacy. At 77, he remains deeply rooted in the community where he was born and raised.

"After years in community psychiatry,” said Lederer, “The Old Angle has become my sanctuary—a place where individuals from all walks of life support each other through shared dedication."

CLE Concierto, a newly founded early music ensemble, will perform its inaugural concert on Sept. 27, 7:30 p.m., at Forest Hill Church, 3031 Monticello Blvd., in Cleveland Heights. The program, "Perspectives: Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre and her Musical Circle," highlights the circumstances female composers faced in 17th-century France.

Musicians performing in the concert are Apollo's Fire concertmaster Alan Choo (baroque violin), with friends Andréa Walker (soprano), René Schiffer (baroque cello), and CLE Concierto founder [and writer of this article] QinYing Tan (harpsichord).  

Inspired by the Spanish word "concertar," meaning "to come together in harmony," CLE Concierto is on a mission to identify composers whose stories are not often told by the mainstream.

Opening Friday, Sept. 6, at 5 p.m., Pinwheel Gallery presents KUMESO, a solo show of artwork by Cleveland Heights artist Sylvia Munodawafa. The show will be on view through Sept. 27.

Kumeso is the word for face in Shona, the language of Munodawafa’s country of origin, Zimbabwe. The artist’s abstract paintings and multimedia sculptures celebrate identity and connection, bridging the past with the present, and the personal with the universal.

Munodawafa explores materials and techniques at her studio at Artful Cleveland. She is skilled with acrylic paint, and willing to experiment with different paints, techniques and surfaces. 

Heights Arts named her one of its Emergent 2024 artists. She also has displayed her work at Negative Space Gallery, was a part of the SheArt show at Deep Roots Experience, and has exhibited locally, nationally and internationally. This is Munodawafa's first solo show. 

Munodawafa’s recent exploration into African spirituality and tradition is reflected in the show’s sculpted and painted masks, for which she has drawn inspiration from the rich cultural landscapes of Africa.

The Yiddishe Cup Klezmer Band will play a concert at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 28, at the outdoor, covered Wain Pavilion, on the grounds of Park Synagogue, 27500 Shaker Blvd., Pepper Pike.

The concert is free, but a donation is encouraged to the American Friends of Magen David Adom (Israel Red Cross).

Yiddishe Cup, founded in 1988, plays soul music: klezmer and Motown. During the past year, the band has performed in California, New York, Washington, D.C., and Wisconsin, as well as throughout Ohio.

Four of the band's musicians live in Cleveland Heights. The other two live in Orange and Cleveland. (Can’t win ‘em all.)

The Heights Music hop returns for it's 11th year this September.

The two-day event will kick off in the Cedar Fairmount district on Friday, Sept. 27.

On Saturday, Sept. 28, the hop moves to the Noble Gardeners' Market, open from 10 a.m. to noon, at the corner of Noble and Roanoke roads. On Saturday evening, hop performances will take place in the Cedar Lee district.

The concert season at Walter Stinson Community Park is drawing to a close, but not before two big shows this month. University Heights resident Jason Patrick Meyers will perform on Aug. 8, and reggae group Carlos Jones and the PLUS Band concludes the season on Aug. 15.

Both shows are free, and will start promptly at 7 p.m. Food trucks will be at The Walt for both shows, as well as local bakery Milk & Cookies.

With his gritty vocals and acoustic guitar stylings, Meyers connects to his listeners with a well-crafted lyrical adventure of honesty lurking in every song. A 27-year veteran of the Cleveland music scene, Meyers spends his day as program coordinator in the Music Therapy Department at University Hospitals.

The Cleveland Chamber Collective will present a free concert on Saturday, Aug. 3, 7 p.m., at Disciples Christian Church (3663 Mayfield Road). The concert will feature award-winning composers Caroline Shaw, Missy Mazzoli and Jessie Montgomery, Canadian composer Michael Oesterle, and local favorites Trevor Kazarian and Eric Charnofsky. This summer’s evening of intimate works will have on display various styles and harmonic languages, from pop and jazz influenced, to the Baroque and Renaissance Ayres, not to mention sine waves and flower pots.

The concert features two works by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Shaw, who has composed for performers from Yo Yo Ma to Beyonce. She creates strange but familiar worlds in both Boris S. Kerner, and Limestone and Felt. The first features Kazarian on cello, and Dylan Moffitt on an arrangement of flower pots.

This July, Dobama presents free performances at its Dobama Emerging Actors Program (DEAP) Showcase, featuring aspiring actors in high school and early college.

DEAP Showcase performances will take place July 26 and 27 at 7:30 p.m., and July 28 at 2:30 p.m. The free tickets are available first come, first served.

The black box-style production will present scenes from “Fuenteovejuna,” a classic play by Lope De Vega, showcasing the skills that the students have acquired and refined during Dobama’s summer intensive program. 

Now in its 13th year, the four-week, technique-based, process-centered program provides young actors with a high-quality, college-conservatory curriculum taught by area professionals in an exciting, experimental environment.

On Sunday, July 7, at 3 p.m., Lake View Cemetery will present the second concert in its Classically Lake View chamber music series, “Cleveland's Forgotten Composer, Guitar Hero, and Abolitionist, Justin Holland.”

The concert will take place at the cemetery’s Community Mausoleum, and will feature Damian Goggans (guitar), a rising senior at Oberlin Conservatory, alongside Cleveland Orchestra members Liyuan Xie and Isabel Trautwein (violins), Eliesha Nelson (viola), and Tanya Ell (cello), with Jennifer Coleman, program director for Creative Culture and Arts at the  Gund Foundation, as the evening's emcee.

The University Heights Summer Concert series heats up this month, with three artists making their Walter Stinson Community Park debut, plus a return engagement with the city’s Symphonic Band.

The Thursday night series resumes on July 11 at The Walt, with Afi ‘n the Mix. If you love the blues and love to groove, you will definitely want to be in the audience when Afi Scruggs and her band plays. A native of Nashville, Scruggs sings, and plays bass and piano. In addition, she’s a singer-songwriter as well as a producer.

Afi 'n the Mix is a family-friendly band that plays blues, rhythm & blues, soul and other grooving music. The group has played at several local festivals, including the South Euclid Food Truck Park, Public Square, Waterloo Arts Festival, and at the Beachland Tavern.

Blakk Jakk Dance Collective will offer dance instruction to 10- to 14-year-olds at its free summer dance camp, Aug. 12–16, to be held at the Cultural Arts Center at Disciples Christian Church (DCC). The camp’s theme is “Dance forms throughout the years.”

The five-day camp will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday though Friday. While the camp is free, space is limited. Register online at www.discipleschristian.org. Campers will need to provide their own lunches and snacks.

Blakk Jakk Dance Collective regularly offers programs for young people and adults at the Cultural Arts Center.

Back for its fourth year, the Noble Cigar Box Guitar Project is again offering a free summer Cigar Box Guitar Workshop for middle-schoolers. 

Many practitioners say that the first rule of cigar box guitars is that there are no rules. Cigar box guitars are versatile. They incorporate a range of materials—cigar boxes and cookie tins as bodies; paint-can lids or pie plates as resonators. They suit a range of musical styles—rock, jazz, folk, and blues. In the hands of creative people, cigar box guitars demonstrate how commonplace, throwaway objects can be re-purposed into impressive musical instruments.   

The workshop consists of four sessions over four days, Aug. 5, 6, 7, 8, 1:30–3 p.m., at Disciples Church, 3663 Mayfield Road, in Cleveland Heights.

Cain Park’s summer production of “Big Fish the Musical” is set to captivate audiences June 20–30, at Cain Park’s Alma Theater. Based on the celebrated novel by Daniel Wallace and the acclaimed film directed by Tim Burton, “Big Fish” promises an unforgettable theatrical experience that blends fantasy, romance, and heartfelt storytelling.

“Big Fish the Musical” follows the incredible life journey of Edward Bloom, a man with a penchant for telling larger-than-life stories about his adventures.

“Do You Remember” is the first single off Lauren Lanzaretta’s new album, Soul Ties. Residents and visitors will be treated to a powerful performance—one they will long remember—at Walter Stinson Community Park when Lanzaretta makes her University Heights debut on Thursday, June 13, at 7 p.m.

Lanzaretta says concertgoers can expect to hear original songs from her three studio albums, as well as a handful of fun covers.

“I love to connect with my audience—to go deeper and bring messages of hope and healing,” she said.

Building Heights, a cornerstone nonprofit in Cleveland Heights, proudly presents the fourth-season screening of Heights Middle School Shorts (HMSS) at the Cedar Lee Theatre on June 16 (Father’s Day), at 6:30 p.m. 

Initiated in 2020, HMSS is more than a film camp; it's a launchpad for young creatives in the Heights community. Supported tirelessly by the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District, HMSS has grown into a pivotal force in nurturing the filmmakers of tomorrow.

The 46th Annual Marilyn Bianchi Kids’ Playwriting Festival (MBKPF) will honor 24 young playwrights the weekend of June 7, 8, and 9. More than 250 students in grades 1–12 submitted plays to this year’s MBKPF, which is the oldest event of its kind in the nation.

MBKPF is the culmination of Dobama Theatre’s Young Playwrights Program, which teaches playwriting to students across Northeast Ohio. This year-round education program is taught by professional playwrights and theater artists. The wide-ranging resources available include classroom residencies, virtual workshops, instructional videos, and a fully adaptable curriculum based on grade level.

LaSaundra Robinson, an accomplished painter, curates the third annual Juneteenth exhibit at ARTFUL. The opening reception will be held June 15, 6–9 p.m., at Coventry PEACE Campus in Cleveland Heights. 

Robinson, who has had a studio at ARTFUL since 2017, recently answered some questions about her work and the Juneteenth exhibit:

What artist(s) most influence you? I wouldn't say that there are specific artists that influence my work directly, but there are definitely artists that inspire me. Henry Taylor, Kerry James Marshall, and Charly Palmer, along with countless YouTube and Instagram artists, keep me wanting to paint and try new things.

Can you describe how your style has evolved over the years? When I first started painting, I would just find a couple interesting images, put them together and try to make a story. I used a lot of mixed media then. I decided to focus on what I really wanted to paint and that was Black women.

This summer, ARTFUL is at it again—producing another community-devised theater piece through a series of workshops and summer youth camps. Batrachomyomachia—an Homeric epic, which translates as the battle between the frogs and the mice—is this year’s theme. 

The camps and workshops begin in mid-July, and the schedule will be posted by mid-June on ARTFUL’s website, https://artfulcleveland.org. For information, send an e-mail to artacts_ltd@outlook.com.

Already, high-school interns are working together to create prototypes for the murine and froggish headpieces, armor and other props that will bring to life this humorous epic.

The Western Reserve Chorale (WRC) will conclude its 32nd season with the concert From Sea to Shining Sea: Songs of America on June 2, 3:30 p.m., at Church of the Saviour (2537 Lee Road).

The performance will feature a broad spectrum of songs representing various genres of American music.

The music, both secular and sacred, has texts of American poets and lyricists, or are settings of other texts by American composers. The audience will hear the spirituals of Moses Hogan and William Dawson, as well as traditional Americana songs, including "America the Beautiful" and "Shenandoah."

Cain Park’s Feinberg Art Gallery kicks off the summer season with Forests of Thoughts: Elevation of the Ordinary, featuring the work of recent Cleveland Institute of Art (CIA) graduates Liana Gonzalez and Thomas Smith.

The exhibition will open with a public reception on Friday, May 24, 6–8 p.m. in the Alma Courtyard. It will be on view until Sunday, June 30..

Forest of Thoughts showcases a through line from the end of the artists’ academic careers to the present, as they learn to create, collaborate, and exhibit in their post-grad lives. The concepts for the featured works are built on the foundation of both artists’ individual BFA thesis presentations, then reimagined and integrated to create an immersive experience for viewers.

Barb Lind’s narrative quilts will be the focus of a solo exhibition at Sophie La Gourmande, May 10 through mid-July. The opening reception is planned for Friday, May 10, 6–9 p.m.

Proceeds from the sale of Lind’s quilts will be donated to refugee relief. 

Lind is a longtime Heights resident whose quilts have been featured at The Cleveland Museum of Art, the Ohio Craft Museum, and Firelands Association for the Visual Arts, and are in the corporate collections of Cleveland State University’s College of Law, and McGregor Home.

More than 40 years ago, Lind, a native of Cleveland’s industrial inner city, married into a Mennonite family from rural Kansas. Creating a quilt together—Lind’s first—provided common ground on which to build a relationship with her new mother-in-law.

Dobama Theatre announced its upcoming 2024/25 season on April 2. It comprises a lineup of five new plays—all Cleveland, regional, or world professional premieres.

The season will kick off on Oct. 4, 2024, with “POTUS Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive” by Selena Fillinger, directed by Carrie Williams. In the play, the President of the United States unwittingly spins a PR nightmare into a global crisis. The show was a star-studded hit on Broadway; an all-female farce nominated for three Tony awards.

During the holiday season, Dobama audiences will be able to visit a Neverland like no other. “Peter/Wendy,” Jeremy Bloom’s inventive adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s story, is suited for all ages.

This April, Cleveland Heights High School will present the Instrumental Music Department’s (IMD) finale concerts. On April 25, Concert Band, Symphonic Band, Concert Orchestra, and Philharmonic Strings will perform. April 26’s concert will feature Symphonic Winds, Heights High Symphony, and senior soloist Sophia Muller. Both concerts will take place at 7 p.m. in the school’s auditorium.

Muller formally began studying violin when she was 4, but has always been surrounded by music. Laura Shuster, her mother, and a Heights alumna, is a professional violist and was her first teacher. Muller recalled telling her mom, when asked to choose an instrument, “I want to play the violin,” adding, “I'm sure I thought that a violin was a viola, but I had a limited vocabulary, so she got me started on the violin.”

As National Poetry Month unfolds, Heights Arts will present the latest event in its Ekphrastacy series—a fusion of visual art and poetic expression.

At the heart of Heights Arts’ April 18 event is the dynamic interplay between artists and poets, epitomizing the nonprofit’s commitment to fostering cultural vibrancy. Spearheading this artistic endeavor is Siaara Freeman, Heights poet laureate, who began her two-year term in April 2023.

She is a teaching artist for Center for Arts-Inspired Learning and a celebrated poet and performer. Freeman's collection of poetry, Urbanshee, released in August 2022, has garnered widespread acclaim, showcasing her ability to delve into the intricacies of urban life with grace and insight.

University Heights Symphonic Band (UHSB) will return to John Carroll University’s (JCU) Dolan Science Center Atrium on Sunday, April 7, 3:30 p.m., for a free concert—a salute to spring and to the next day's solar eclipse. 

Now in its 54th season, and under the direction of Devlin Pope, UHSB will play concert band music from Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, John Philip Sousa, Frank Ticheli and more at JCU.

Parking and admission are free, and the facility is ADA accessible.

The newly reinvented Cleveland Chamber Collective takes the stage at Disciples Christian Church in Cleveland Heights for its inaugural concert on April 20, at 7:30 p.m.

The new lineup features some faces familiar to the Cleveland chamber music scene, including violinist Emily Cornelius, flutist Linda White, and pianist Eric Charnofsky. Also joining the band are up-and-coming performers, including violist Brian Slawta and cellist Trevor Kazarian, with returning percussionist Dylan Moffitt

The collective will premiere Oath Breaker, a piece that takes the audience on a 60-minute journey of anger, grief, and hope, “striving to come to grips with the events of Jan. 6 and the subsequent fallout.”

Dobama Theatre will present the regional premiere of “Significant Other” by Joshua Harmon, directed by Colin Anderson, April 26 through May 19.

Described by The New York Times (NYT) as “a tenderly unromantic romantic comedy, as richly funny as it is ultimately heart-stirring,” the play follows Jordan Berman and his trio of close girlfriends as they navigate companionship, loneliness, and love.

Berman would love to be in love, but that’s easier said than done. So, until he meets Mr. Right, he wards off lonely nights with three best friends. But as singles’ nights turn into bachelorette parties, the protagonist discovers that the only thing harder than finding love is supporting those around him when they do.

The Nicholson B. White Gallery invites the community to the opening of its Spring Show on Friday, April 5, 5–7 p.m., where attendees will have the opportunity to meet the artists: Jeff Suntala, Boni Suzanne Gelfand, Meryl Engler, and Gene Epstein. The show will be on view until Sunday, June 9, at the gallery, located at St. Paul's Episcopal Church.

Jeff Suntala is known around town for his urban plein air watercolors, featuring both familiar and obscure sites around Cleveland and its outskirts. A member of the Ohio Watercolor Society, Suntala has garnered acclaim for his Cleveland Plein Air Watercolor calendar.

Boni Suzanne Gelfand is a Cleveland artist whose work reflects her experience in interior design and the travel industry.

During this year’s school spring break, on Tuesday, March 26, and Thursday, March 28, the Cultural Arts Center at Disciples Christian Church (DCC) will offer free art classes for kids in grades one through four and grades five through eight.

The classes—in which everyone who registers will take part—will comprise circus arts, taught by WIZBANG Circus School; dance, from Blakk Jakk Dance Collective; and art activities from the Center for Arts Inspired Learning.

The classes will be held 1–4 p.m., on Tuesday, March 26, and Thursday, March 28, and will take place at DCC’s Cultural Arts Center, 3663 Mayfield Road, Cleveland Heights. 

March 8–30, Dobama Theatre will present the regional premiere of "Something Clean" by Selina Fillinger, directed by Shannon Sindelar. 

Described by The New York Times as “a beautifully observed, richly compassionate new drama,” the play is both suspenseful and stirring. It follows Charlotte, a devoted mother, wife, and respectable member of the community, who struggles to make sense of her own grief, love and culpability when an act of violence is committed by a family member.

The inspiration for "Something Clean" was an article about Brock Turner, the Stanford University swimmer from Ohio who sexually assaulted a woman behind a dumpster. Fillinger, the playwright, said, “I was following that story, and I saw a photo of him walking to court holding his mother’s hand. It was an incredibly domestic and maternal image.

The Cleveland Repertory Orchestra will present a concert featuring music by favorite French composers. The performance will be held on Saturday, March 9, 7 p.m., at Disciples Christian Church in Cleveland Heights.

The concert will feature pianist Corey Knick, performing Francis Poulenc's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Maurice Ravel's Pavane for a Dead Princess, and Camille Saint-Saëns's First Symphony.

Cleveland Repertory Orchestra performances are free and open to the public, but tickets should be requested online, in advance.

When Heights Arts was founded in 2000, the new organization’s name included the word “Collaborative.” Despite later shortening that to “Heights Arts,” the nonprofit has continued to value collaboration as an ongoing inspiration—as evidenced by partnerships with No Exit New Music Ensemble and The Music Settlement that, in March, will bring several unique experiences to the community.

First up is the exhibition Irrational Objects: Looking Back into the Future, opening Friday, March 15, at 5 p.m., and running through May 12.

Heights Arts and No Exit have collaborated for more than a decade, with Heights Arts hosting several of the ensemble’s concerts each year. Last year’s Collaborage exhibition at Heights Arts was the kickoff event to No Exit’s 2024 celebration of surrealism, and now No Exit’s foray into the visual arts expands to fill the entire Heights Arts exhibition space, which will be transformed into a surrealist environment with Irrational Objects.

Western Reserve Chorale's (WRC) performance of Brahms’s Ein deutches Requiem (A German Requiem) this month represents the return of the ensemble's mission to offer music to various audiences, and presents—perhaps for the first time—the “chamber version” of this masterpiece, created in 2010 by German flutist Joachim Linckelmann.

WRC will perform the Requiem on Friday, March 8, 7:30 p.m., at Lakewood United Methodist Church, and Sunday, March 10, 3:30 p.m., at Church of the Saviour in Cleveland Heights. Both concerts are free and open to the public; donations are encouraged and will support WRC's ability to present quality choral music to the community.

Coventry PEACE kicked off its 2024 PEACE Pops series on Friday, Jan. 26, with its annual Art of Community event. The event drew well over 400 attendees who were able to view the Art of Community exhibit, participate in hands-on art making, enjoy the sounds of live music, dance with a giant puppet, and visit working artists in their studios. 

A quarterly experience of art and community, PEACE Pops is a free, family-friendly event held on the last Friday of January, April, July and October. The 2024 PEACE Pops series will continue on April 26, July 26, and Oct. 25.

“At the Wake of a Dead Drag Queen” opened at Dobama Theatre on Jan. 26, but there is more happening at the theater than a show.

With the production, Dobama launched its Full Circle program—a new initiative to connect members of those communities represented in the scripts Dobama produces to artists during the rehearsal process, and to patrons through audience-engagement offerings during the run of the show.

For “Drag Queen,” Dobama collaborated with local drag performer Onya Nurve who served as a consultant on the show, helping to ensure the production is created with cultural competency. She was present in rehearsals and assisted on choreography, makeup, costume, and dramaturgy.

On Feb. 8 and Feb. 9, Cleveland Heights High School (CHHS) will present two Instrumental Music Department (IMD) concerts. Both will begin at 7 p.m. and take place in the school’s auditorium.

The performance on Thursday, Feb. 8, will feature Concert Band, Symphonic Band, Jazz Ensemble and Symphonic Winds.

The concert on Friday, Feb. 9, will feature Monticello and Roxboro Middle School Eighth Grade Orchestra students alongside the Concert Orchestra, Philharmonic Strings, Heights High Symphony, and senior soloist Marquis Payton performing Vivaldi’s G Major Concerto for Violin and Orchestra.

Though winter can be dreary, Heights Arts’ first exhibitions of the year aim to warm up visitors through light, color, and abstraction. The Cleveland Heights-based, multi-disciplinary arts organization debuted two new shows on Jan. 12: Prismatic and Spotlight: Amelia C. Joynes.

Prismatic features five artists, working in varying disciplines and mediums. Hope Hickman primarily works in the realm of sculpture, Marianne Hite creates fused-glass hangings, Sue Kirchner works in encaustic wax, and Cherie Lesnick and Patricia Zinsmeister Parker utilize paint and mixed media for their pieces.

“When light is emitted or reflected through glass, it lends a certain quality to the piece that nothing else can duplicate,” said Hite, who employs enameling, sandblasting, and laminating in creating her glasswork. “Moreover, the effects of heat, timing, and gravity ensure each piece its own identity. I find experimenting with such a distinct and elusive medium invigorating.”

On Feb. 24, ARTFUL invites the community to its to the third annual ART for the Masses at the Coventry PEACE Campus, 2843 Washington Blvd.

The event, which runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., will offer art for sale at prices not to exceed $250.

It’s designed to connect local fine artists with community members and potential buyers, and offers attendees an opportunity to meet the artists in an informal atmosphere, where they can start or grown their art collections.

On Friday, Jan. 26, 6–9 p.m., the first PEACE Pops event of 2024 will focus on “Art of Community.” Held at the Coventry PEACE Campus, 2843 Washington Blvd., the evening’s activities will include an art exhibit featuring works by Greater Cleveland artists.

There will also be a hands-on art-making workshop with ARTFUL artist Amy Neuman, as well as a workshop with Lake Erie Ink. Free snacks and refreshments will be provided.

Live music will be presented by Etiquette, and enhanced by dancers—including a giant dancing puppet by Robin VanLear and Art Acts, Ltd. ARTFUL members will hold open studios, and there will be a photo booth, as well as featured vendors.

PEACE Pops is a celebration of art and community which takes place on the last Fridays of January, April, July, and October.

Anticipation is already building for the upcoming 2024 Heights Music Hop, and FutureHeights invites Heights business owners to actively participate.

This year’s hop is planned for Saturday, Sept. 28, and planning is underway for an unforgettable evening of music, artistry, and community spirit. Starting this year, the Heights Music Hop will be an event that takes place on the last Saturday of September, on a recurring basis.

Heights businesses participate in the Heights Music Hop by transforming their establishments into venues for hosting live bands, and their participation is pivotal. FutureHeights invites all Heights businesses and business districts to be part of this annual event, and thanks those who have participated.

The first 2024 concert in Heights Arts’ ARTbar series—events that mix specialized cocktails, music, and poetry—will kick off on Thursday, Jan. 18, at 7 p.m., with a group sure to bring the heat.

Surrounded by the Prismatic exhibition, guests will sip drinks while experiencing a performance by William Reed Simon’s Hot Club of Cleveland—an acoustic jazz ensemble that harkens back to the historically famous Hot Club of France, a group formed in the 1930s to champion the genre. Simon describes the group’s sound as “jazz, swing with mid-century European influences as well as bebop and blues.”

Before one season at Cain Park ends, the roster of concerts and events for the following year is already being planned.

While performing rights have been granted for 2024 musical theater productions and contracts signed for nationally touring artists, the summer lineup can’t be announced until later, due to contractual agreements.

However, Cleveland Heights residents don’t have to wait to register for ticket discounts and other benefits for Cain Park’s upcoming 86th season. And becoming a Cain Park-registered resident is easier than ever before: Presenting a current Ohio driver’s license or Ohio state I.D. with a Cleveland Heights address at the Cain Park offices at Cleveland Heights City Hall is all that is required.

Dobama Theatre will present the Ohio premiere of “At the Wake of a Dead Drag Queen,” Jan. 26 through Feb. 18.

Drag star Courtney Berringers welcomes you to her wake in this two-person tour de force, by playwright Terry Guest, that Sarasota Magazine said is “bound to hit your heart.”

Courtney has recently died—but make no mistake: this isn’t your grandma’s funeral. There will be no black frocks, no perfumed flowers, and definitely no crying. This is a celebration. “At the Wake of A Dead Drag Queen” is a play about the fine art of drag—from African gods and goddesses to Trina and Whitney Houston. This irreverent, funny, and moving play thoughtfully uses storytelling, drama, and drag to celebrate Blackness and southern queerness, while exploring identity, illness, and the narratives we construct for ourselves.

Heights Arts has announced its 2023–24 music season. A blend of three unique series—Close Encounters chamber music, Gallery Concerts, and ARTbar events—the season reflects the uniquely creative community Heights Arts calls home.

With the help of its Music Community Team, Heights Arts has selected a talented lineup of musicians for both its Gallery Concert and ARTbar series.

For Close Encounters, artistic director Dane Johansen has gathered talent from the globally recognized Cleveland Orchestra and other acclaimed artists in the community.

The Winter Show at the Nicholson B. White Gallery of St. Paul’s Church will be on view until early March.

The exhibition features copper enameled jewelry, woodcut prints, wildlife photography, and oil and acrylic paintings by four artists from—or with ties to—Cleveland.

Each artists exhibits mastery and control in their chosen medium. 

Robin McIntosh paints with careful attention to detail in her landscapes and animal portraits. Her work is inspired by time spent in Ohio and Canada. 

Michaelle Marschall strives to imagine and create atmospheric, underwater views in her unique wood-block prints. In creating her abstract impressions, Marschall draws on her experiences in a form of scuba diving. 

Dobama Theatre will produce a new adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s timeless novel Little Women this holiday season. Performances begin Dec. 1 and will run through a New Year’s Eve matinee.

In this fresh approach to the story, four actors in an attic retell Alcott's classic, creating scenes of love and loss amidst the ever-glowing warmth of the March family hearth. Jo goes on a journey of artistic self-discovery and coming-of-age as she struggles to become the writer she longs to be. Amid triumphs and troubles, it is through a sense of play that Jo and her sisters find themselves—making up fairy stories with witches and heroes, or spending an evening reciting the articles written for their beloved imaginary newspaper. However, it is through tragedy that Jo finally finds her voice as an artist and moves into adulthood with the knowledge that, while families change and grow, the ones we love are always close at heart.

Roots of American Music (ROAM), the Cleveland Heights-based nonprofit organization that uses traditional American music as a tool for education, social change, and community building, welcomes Michele Colopy as its new executive director.

Colopy brings 27 years of nonprofit leadership experience, and a master’s degree in arts administration from the University of Akron, to her new role.

“I am honored to join ROAM and continue the legacy of its founder, Kevin Richards,” said Colopy. “I look forward to working with the staff and teaching artists to provide music education and creative opportunities for the community in Northeast Ohio.”