SUBURBAN LIFE Your Community Press newspaper serving Deer Park, Kenwood, Madeira, Sycamore Township and other Northeast Cincinnati neighborhoods
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2021 | BECAUSE COMMUNITY MATTERS | PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK
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Best places for winter thrill-seekers in Cincy Charles Infosino Special to Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK
Just because the winter brings chills, it does not mean that we must lose our thrills. Cincinnati is in driving distance of an outdoor ski venue and home to many indoor thrill venues. If you want to take your family snowboarding, go-kart racing, climbing or jumping; there is at least one venue in Greater Cincinnati that can feed your need for speed. Here are some of the area's top venues where you can thrill out, not chill out, with your family.
The cast of the Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati’s production of “The Velveteen Rabbit.” PHOTOS PROVIDED BY MIKKI SCHAFFNER
This local theater’s been doing live shows since November David Lyman | Special to Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY NETWORK
“When the pandemic started, we were just like every other theater,” said Kim Kern, the Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati’s CEO and managing director. “We had a Plan A. And a Plan B. And a Plan C. And then we had everything else down to Plan Z.” Also like every other theater, TCT had hopes of returning to the stage by Thanksgiving. But unlike most of those other theaters, TCT actually did it. “The Velveteen Rabbit,” a stage adaptation of the heart-wrenching children’s classic, opened on Nov. 12. Normally, that’s the time of year that TCT would be staging mega-musicals in Downtown’s 2,500seat Taft Theatre. Not this year. Too few schools would be available to attend. Besides, the safety protocols mandated by various government entities would keep the audiences so small – just 15 percent of normal capacity – that staging a big musical would be economically impractical. Instead, TCT turned to its 152-seat Storytime
Theatre, housed in the company’s headquarters on Red Bank Road. Normally, the space is used by students of the TCT Academy. But there was nothing normal about these time. Besides, TCT felt an urgency to get back onstage. “Our mission is to do live entertainment,” said producing artistic director Roderick Justice. “So we had to fi gure out a way to do it.” It wouldn’t be easy, though. Those same guidelines that made Taft shows impossible applied to the Storytime Theatre, too. That meant a maximum audience of just 44 people. “That was enough for me,” said Justice. “If we open the house and there are 12 people in the audience, we will do the show with as much energy and commitment as if there were 1,200 people there. And those people will have the times of their lives.” There were other things to consider, though. When it comes to COVID-19, actors and singers are See THEATER, Page 3A
A climbing wall at Climb Time. PROVIDED
Climb Time h Two locations: 10898 Kenwood Road, Blue Ash, and 4460 Orkney Ave., Oakley; ctoba.com. The Blue Ash location is a 7,000square-foot venue that specializes in bouldering and off ers a variety of top rope options for beginner, intermediate and advanced climbers. There are 23-foot-tall, roped routes. A day pass costs $12, and shoe and harness rentals cost $5 each. Hours: Monday-Friday from 3 to 9:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. The Oakley location features a 45foot-tall facility off ering lead climbing, top roping, speed climbing and bouldering for beginner, intermediate and advanced climbers. There are two fl oors of bouldering and nine auto belays. A day pass costs $17, a student day pass costs $14, and shoe and harness rentals cost $5 each. Hours: Monday-Friday from noon to 9:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m.
Full Throttle Adrenaline Park
From the left, Evan Blust and Deondra Kamau Means, played the Soldier and the Skin Horse, respectively, in the Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati’s stage adaptation of the classic children’s novel, “The Velveteen Rabbit.”
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h Two locations: 11725 Commons Drive, Springdale, and 24 Spiral Drive, Florence; gofullthrottle.com. Both Full Throttle locations off er indoor kart racing, axe throwing, a VR Omni Arena, and a rage or smash room – a room in which up to four people wearing protective gear smash and break items such as glass bottles, plates, computer monitors and televisions. The Springdale park off ers two high-speed go-karting tracks, 14 axe throwing lanes, 20,000-square-foot indoor, multi-level paintball fi eld, Omni virtual reality booth and two rage rooms. The Florence park off ers a high-speed go-kart track, six axe throwing lanes, Omni virtual reality booth and a rage room. Full Throttle off ers the Adrenaline Pass for $50, which grants access to high-speed go-karting, axe throwing and entry into the rage rooms (breakables purchased separately) for a speSee THRILLS, Page 4A
Vol. 57 No. 47 © 2021 The Community Recorder ALL RIGHTS RESERVED $1.00
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