Scene October 2, 2019

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| clevescene.com | October 2 - 8, 2019

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Dedicated to Free Times founder Richard H. Siegel (1935-1993) and Scene founder Richard Kabat Publisher Andrew Zelman Editor Vince Grzegorek

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Editorial Music Editor Jeff Niesel Senior Writer Sam Allard Staff Writer Brett Zelman Web Editor Laura Morrison Dining Editor Douglas Trattner Visual Arts Writer Dott von Schneider Copy Editor Elaine Cicora Interns Alice Koeninger

TO SUPPORT CANCER PATIENTS AT CLEVELAND CLINIC EAT — DRINK — GIVE HOPE Meet us in the heart of Cleveland to raise critical funds for Patient Support Services as we send a strong message of hope to Cleveland Clinic cancer patients.

Mingle with friends, hang out in our crafted cocktail lounge, nosh at food stations from celebrity chef Chris Hodgson, and shop an artisan market highlighting Cleveland’s creativity.

For more information and to purchase VIP and General Admission tickets, visit ClevelandClinic.org / TheSocial

Friday, October 11, 2019 THE MADISON | 4601 Payne Ave. Cleveland, OH | 44103 Attire: Friday night apparel. Complimentary valet.

Presented by the Stefanski Family and Rhonda’s Kiss

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Madness, miracles and meaning in These Mortal Hosts

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ARTneo’s latest exhibition is all about ďŹ gurative paintings

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A family reconnects in Before You Know It

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A can’t-miss exhibition on Leonard Bernstein, plus all the shows to catch this week

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Latino leaders want development on their terms in Clark-Fulton

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Cleveland’s love-hate relationship with home rule

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CONTENTS

UPFRONT LOCAL U.N. YOUTH CLIMATE SUMMIT REP WANTS TO BRING BETTER VERSION TO NORTHEAST OHIO Photo courtesy of Elena Stachew

ELENA STACHEW IS A 28-YEARold biomimicry Ph.D. candidate at the University of Akron and a member of the Cleveland chapter of the Global Shapers Community. She was one of 500 people between the ages of 18 and 29 selected from a pool of more than 7,000 applicants to attend the United Nations Youth Climate Summit in New York City last month.

With her trip paid for by the Cleveland Office of Sustainability, Stachew departed with an optimism and fire shared by youth climate activists from around the world, many of whom have been inspired by the courageous leadership of 16-year-old Greta Thunberg. Stachew was prepared to bring her passion and expertise to the world’s leaders on one of the world’s biggest stages.

“I am beyond humbled and excited to be able to represent the Northeast Ohio region at the United Nations,” she was quoted in a press release, “and to discuss the health of our Great Lakes, the importance of ecological restoration in the era of climate change, and biomimicry as our regional asset with stakeholders and decision-makers.”

But Stachew was unable to do so.

Like other youth activists who complained that the summit amounted to little more than a publicity stunt, Stachew told Scene she was disappointed with many aspects of the experience, not least what she viewed as the summit’s false advertising.

“In the invitation, we were told it would be action-oriented, intergenerational and inclusive,” she said in an interview by phone last week. “I got the sense that global leaders would finally listen to the youth who have to deal with the consequences of climate change, and our suggestions for mitigating its effects for young and vulnerable populations.”

But when she got there …

“It was a lot of panel sessions,” she said. “It was a lot of material presented to us, with only snippets of time for us to ask questions and engage. I spent a lot of time being

talked at in a room, and I went in with the assumption that it would be the other way around.”

Stachew stressed that it was an honor to be at the U.N., and said she did appreciate some of the day-long summit’s content. She referenced, in particular, a workshop on climate finance. But even then, she said, meaningful conversation was cut short because of a time crunch and a late start.

“I’m glad I had the opportunity to meet other young leaders,” Stachew said. “And I know the U.N. has never done anything like this before, but the content was stuff we all already know.”

(Like other attendees, Stachew joked about the multiple sessions focused on social media strategies, things like making climate posts “go viral.” One youth representative told a reporter from Vice News, “I went into a session, and it was essentially,

like, teaching us how to make an iMovie. Our generation has been doing that since we were like, what, 10?”)

But Stachew’s recognition of the summit’s flaws — including the burdensome logistics of entering the U.N. grounds — has hardened her resolve to do something better in Northeast Ohio.

“Basically, the goal is to create the summit here that I wanted to have there,” she said.

Right now, she’s aiming for a summit in September 2020, and hopes to begin reaching out to high school and college classrooms with the support of the Cleveland Office of Sustainability and other members of the Global Shapers hub in Cleveland.

One way that she wants to differentiate this planned summit from the U.N. Summit — and other summits in Cleveland, for that matter — is by ensuring

that attendees have time to review preparatory materials and opportunities to engage and “define the problem” beforehand.

So many summits begin at square one, and Stachew said that if a summit spends most of its time breaking ice and setting the stage, nothing gets accomplished.

“The goal would be to really push for education, policy and legislation,” she said. “Let’s not talk about what we could do. We know what we could do. We know the future that we want: more walkable, bikeable, transit-friendly neighborhoods. Clean water, local food. We all know this.

The question is, how do we do it?”

Asked what she thought the region’s most pressing climaterelated issues were, Stachew mentioned insufficient stormwater systems, lack of trees, urban sprawl and public transit.

She said that young people have innovative, practical solutions to tackle many of these problems. The key for regional leaders and area organizations is listening to them.

“This could be a pie-in-the-sky idea,” she said, “but with the help of the Cleveland Hub of Global Shapers and other interested partners, I’m going to go for it.” — Sam Allard

The Ohio Legislature is Blowing Up Home Rule, but Cleveland Helped Build the Bomb Cleveland mayor Frank Jackson, city council president Kevin Kelley and leaders from the local construction trades held a press conference on the steps of City Hall last Tuesday blasting the Ohio Supreme Court for effectively overturning Cleveland’s Fannie Lewis Law. That law, named in honor of former councilwoman Fannie Lewis and passed in 2003, stipulates that on all local construction projects of more than $100,000, workers who reside in the city of Cleveland must be paid for at least 20 percent of the total hours. The law was designed, | clevescene.com | October 2 - 8, 2019

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Photo by Sam Allard

UPFRONT in part, as an anti-poverty measure and has helped ensure that residents get to participate in Cleveland’s physical development.

The state court’s 4-3 partisan decision that same day sided with state lawmakers, granting them the authority to enact legislation that nullifies Cleveland’s law. “[The decision] really just kind of obliterates the concept of home rule,” said Kelley, in comments reported by Cleveland.com.

Kelley and Jackson are right to condemn the decision, which is a stunning reversal of clear-cut rulings by both Cuyahoga County judge Michael Russo and by the Eighth District Court of Appeals, both of which correctly noted that the state’s law would violate cities’ “home rule” authority enshrined in the state constitution.

But the state couldn’t care less about home rule authority. And neither could Cleveland’s leaders.

Kelley and Jackson are peeved because a specific law that they know is popular with their supporters — especially the

politically powerful trades council — is being overturned. Kelley even told Cleveland.com that the ruling “took a shot” not only at home rule but at “the ability of cities to help lift people out of poverty and establish careers.”

This is the height of hypocrisy.

Back in 2016, Kelley and Jackson were themselves instrumental in obliterating Cleveland’s home rule authority as it pertained to another issue, one that also would have given cities the ability to help lift people out of poverty and establish careers: a minimum wage increase.

Thanks to the advocacy of Kelley and Jackson (Democrats in very

good standing, incidentally), the state banned Cleveland from setting a minimum wage higher than the state’s. Local leaders were doing the bidding of the business community at the time (obvs) and argued on its behalf that an increased minimum wage would “undermine the city’s economic recovery.” They pleaded with the Neanderthals at the state to help them out in any way they could, and the minimum wage ban was ultimately (and unconstitutionally) appended to an unrelated piece of legislation.

Cleveland.com and other state outlets now routinely wring their

hands over incursions upon the sanctity of home rule. Two weeks back, on the “This Week in the CLE” podcast, Cleveland.com editor Chris Quinn could scarcely believe that a state agency would grant a Cleveland residential development project a lengthy tax abatement. How could this stand in Ohio, he wondered, a home rule state? (Never mind the automatic abatements and incentives which shoot from City Hall like coins out of a busted slot machine.)

It happens all the time. And the fact is, guys like Jackson and Kelley are delighted to submit to pre-emptive laws when it suits their political ends.

But for the record: Every preemptive law that the state has passed which forbids cities from enacting specific regulations is an explicit violation of home rule authority.

Every single one.

Kent Scarrett, the executive director of the Ohio Municipal League, wrote in the Columbus Dispatch last week that pre-emptive laws are on the rise nationwide, and they are affecting a “dizzying array” of policy areas.

“Twenty-five states now bar local government from increasing the minimum wage,” he wrote. “Fifteen states prohibit local bans and/or fees

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on plastic bags and 10 states prohibit local regulation of e-cigarettes. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.�

In Ohio, in addition to a law that would forbid plastic bag regulations (a zombie bill that’s currently under consideration), we’ve got a law on the books that was passed in 2015 which forbids cities from taxing or regulating ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft. It was literally written by an Uber lobbyist.

This is absolute trash government. These are “lawsâ€? written purely in the interest of speciďŹ c companies who demand (and sometimes actually write) the legislation. In Ohio, the climate and ethos wherein this sort of government abides is known as “business-friendliness.â€? And in the Orwellian language of someone like Cavs CEO Len Komoroski, it’s known as “public-friendliness.â€?

All of these state laws, to reiterate, are direct constitutional violations.

Much more importantly, they are amboyant contraventions of democratic principles, namely that people must be allowed to participate in how they are governed.

Jackson and Kelley will never be taken seriously as champions of home rule. That ship has sailed.

But if they and other leaders across the state are beginning to coalesce

DIGIT WIDGET 50.5% Portion of children in the city of Cleveland who live below the poverty level, the highest rate in the country.

1.7 MILLION Final home attendance for the Indians in 2019, ranking 21st among all teams.

$8.70 Ohio’s new minimum wage for non-tipped employees, beginning Jan. 1, 2020, an increase from its current $ 8.55. (Tipped employees will go from $ 4.30 to $ 4.35).

16TH Ranking of Hopkins Airport, out of 17, in J.D. Power’s annual

around the idea that state lawmakers are going too far, they’ll have to stop standing on their constituents’ throats and start standing on principles. — Allard

Cleveland Reaches Settlements With More RNC Protesters, Total Payouts Approaching $1 Million The city of Cleveland has now settled with 12 of the protesters from the 2016 RNC whose activities in the “free speech zoneâ€? included Gregory “Joeyâ€? Johnson lighting an American ag on ďŹ re in an act of peaceful, protected speech.

The payouts total $925,000. Other lawsuits remain outstanding.

Johnson had barely lit the ag when riot police and ďŹ re department ofďŹ cials swooped in to arrest the protestors and extinguish the ag.

More than a dozen were arrested and eventually charged on a series of misdemeanor counts including failure to disperse, aggravated disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest. Cleveland Municipal Court judge Charles L. Patton dismissed all those charges in October 2017, citing the landmark 1989 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Texas v Gregory Johnson that established ag burning as protected speech.

The settlement with Johnson alone cost $225,000 after he ďŹ led a federal civil rights lawsuit. Each of the other cases have been settled for $50,000. “This massive payout of $925,000 is a stain on the integrity of the ofďŹ cers involved, Cleveland’s police division, and Cleveland itself.

OfďŹ cials’ blatant disregard for the Constitution at the 2016 RNC did not make us safer, but rather taught us to fear censorship and lawlessness from the very people sworn to protect our rights,â€? Subodh Chandra, the lead counsel in the case, said in a statement. “Cleveland ofďŹ cials may cling to the pathetic excuse, as they have before, that the settlements were paid from special RNC insurance money, but that just highlights their indifference to constitutional rights.

The video footage of the police attack on these protestors proves that Cleveland police lied to the public and in court under oath about what happened. They claimed Mr. Johnson had set himself on ďŹ re, but the videos (and the lack of any singes on anyone’s body or clothing) deďŹ nitively disprove that.â€? — Vince Grzegorek

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| clevescene.com | October 2 - 8, 2019

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| clevescene.com | October 2 - 8, 2019

– FEATURE –

C

Photo by Emanuel Wallace

LEVELAND’S HISPANIC community held its final La Placita event of the summer, La Gran Fiesta, on a humid mid-August day when the skies were threatening rain.

The Hispanic themed open-air summer market, which takes place every third Saturday in June, July and August at the corner of Clark Avenue and West 25th Street, had attracted a sizeable crowd by mid-afternoon. Local entrepreneurs sold empanadas, pina coladas and Latin Ice treats; neighborhood artists sold jewelry and artwork; dentists from MetroHealth provided free oral screenings; and hospital police provided gun safety information and gun locks. Eventually, several thousand people filled the U.S. Bank parking lot, eating, drinking and dancing the night away as the sounds of Latin music filled the air.

At one point, in typically capricious Cleveland fashion, the clouds opened up and rain poured down, but the mariachi band never missed a beat. As the weather cleared up, they kept right on playing and people kept dancing.

Given what the Clark-Fulton neighborhood has been through in the past decade — half of its houses have gone into foreclosure, neighborhood storefronts have remained empty and dark, and Ariel Castro held three women captive before their dramatic escape caught the world’s attention — La Placita is just one, although maybe the most public-facing, of the bright spots for the neighborhood.

“It was a joy to see the diversity of who was there,” says Jenice Contreras, director of the Northeast Ohio Hispanic Center for Economic Development (better known as the Hispanic Business Center or HBC), which started La Placita five years ago and has grown it through grit and perseverance against stiff headwinds. “We see families rolling their strollers down the street, folks from other neighborhoods coming in, and folks coming in from all over the place.”

La Placita’s success is just the beginning, community leaders say. In the next three to four years, MetroHealth will spend more than $1 billion on its campus transformation plan, including a new 10-story hospital tower and 12-acre green space. It will also spend an additional $60 million on 250 units of market-rate and affordable housing. Three new buildings that are slated to be built on West 25th will include first-floor restaurants, a grocery store, headquarters for Metro’s police department, and an economic opportunity center called the HOPE Institute that will offer job training and other services.

“This is a way for the campus to be a part of the neighborhood, and not just a place you can go when you get sick,” says Greg Zucca, MetroHealth’s director of community and economic transformation. “We’re hoping this is going to catalyze others to invest in the neighborhood, and do it in a way that really creates a mixed-income neighborhood, that creates

market opportunities so that as people move up, they don’t move out.”

Already that’s starting to happen. More than $60 million in additional development is planned or underway in Clark-Fulton, including the $14 million CentroVilla25 project, which will provide year-round incubator space for Latino entrepreneurs; the $13 million Astrup building renovation, a new westside arts and nonprofit hub for the Cleveland Museum of Art, Inlet Dance Theater, LatinUS Blackbox Theater, the Boys and Girls Club, and the Cleveland Center for Missing, Abducted and Exploited Children and Adults being launched by Castro survivor Gina DeJesus and her cousin Sylvia Colon; the new $10 million Tremont Animal Clinic; the revived $3 million Aragon Ballroom; the $18 million J. Spang Bakery apartment renovation; Platform’s Phunkenship sour beer making facility and event space; and several others.

“We didn’t have help, we didn’t have anybody giving us direction, we didn’t really have anything,” says Sylvia Colon, who kept looking for DeJesus when many others had given up hope. “It was all trial and error. When Gina came home, we talked about establishing a place for families. We want to be a soft place for a family to land, when they have an adult or child missing.”

And for the first time in the neighborhood’s history, young Latino leaders are in charge.

In 2017, Jasmin Santana ran against incumbent councilman Brian Cummins in what

| clevescene.com | October 2 - 8, 2019

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Scene called “Cleveland’s ugliest city council race,â€? ultimately becoming the ďŹ rst Latina councilperson in the city’s history. At the time, the area was being served by a CDC that was overseen by Detroit Shoreway Community Development. Santana has partnered with others to create a new CDC, Metro West CDC, that is now led by 27-year-old neighborhood resident Ricardo Leon . “I say it’s time,â€? says Santana, who grew up in the area and now lives on Marvin Avenue in the Jones Home Historic District. “We have new leadership that is passionate, energized, and from the neighborhood. It’s really about executing and making things happen.

We know that if things don’t happen, it will be our neighborhood that suffers.�

Given that Clark-Fulton is sandwiched between three developed neighborhoods, all of which are becoming more expensive and running out of developable land and property, and that it’s close to downtown and has good highway and RTA access, it makes sense that things will happen. Yet Santana is worried that Hispanics will get priced out of the neighborhood as it improves. Already, real estate speculators are buying up property, landlords are sitting on empty buildings, and prices and rents are going up. Santana says that equitable development is needed to create more home-ownership and business opportunities for existing residents and entrepreneurs. “With all of the development happening, this will be the next Ohio City or Tremont,â€? says Santana, making it clear that she welcomes development but is concerned about gentriďŹ cation. She is working with Metro West and others to create a master plan to help guide development activity. “If people are displaced, there will be nowhere else to go.â€?

Growing Entrepreneurs Despite being home to over 11,000 residents and the densest population of Hispanic and Latino residents in the state of Ohio, Clark-Fulton has for many years lacked the kind of visible Latino-owned businesses that thrive in many other cities. Go to Minneapolis and there’s the 20-yearold Mercado Central, which is home to more than 35 small businesses, including a tortilla maker that earns more than $1 million in revenue per year. Mercado Central operates

Ricardo Leon

as a cooperative, allowing Hispanic businesses to access training and funding. Yet Cleveland has nothing besides a few bakeries and hole-in-thewall restaurants, as good as they are once you stumble on them. A handful of food businesses are operated out of houses, sometimes because people have lacked guidance and loans to get started in a brick-and-mortar space, sometimes because they’re undocumented, and sometimes both. “It seems like a lot of people speed by the ward until they get to Old Brooklyn,â€? says Santana. “There’s so much blight, and many of the businesses we have are not beneďŹ cial to the neighborhood. We want places we can take our families to eat, where we can get Wi-Fi and coffee, where our youth can hang out. Oftentimes we have to leave the ward, and we don’t get a lot of outsiders visiting.â€?

Yet over the past few years, Hispanic businesses have been quietly growing in the neighborhood.

Caribe Bake Shop and Panaderia las Villas Bakery recently expanded on Fulton Road, while mainstays such as La Morenitas on West 25th and El Taino on Scranton dish up avorful cuisine. Las Tienditas del Mercado, a small business incubator run by HBC out of a former neighborhood store at West 25th and Seymour, houses business startups such as El Sabor de Ponce sandwich shop, Lara’s Cakes and Ortiz Art Drafts Design, which specializes in printing T-shirts and other merchandise.

Contreras and others want to build on this momentum to create La Villa Hispana, a Hispanic business district at West 25th and Clark. Its centerpiece will be CentroVilla25, a new marketplace, community center and ofďŹ ce building at Blatt Court and West 25th. CentroVilla25 will provide space for entrepreneurs, a commercial kitchen, year-round cultural arts programming, a health and wellness center, several retailers

and an anchor restaurant tenant. It will also provide office space for three neighborhood groups: the Hispanic Business Center, Metro West CDC, and Esperanza, a nonprofit that works to improve the academic achievement of Hispanic youth. The La Villa Hispana concept has been around since at least the late 1980s, but it’s gotten new life in the past five years with La Placita. Now Hispanic leaders hope to finally realize their dream with CentroVilla25, an ambitious project that is not yet fully funded.

Local entrepreneurs are sorely lacking affordable, ready space in the neighborhood, and Contreras says CentroVilla25 will fill that gap, allowing Hispanic businesses to access services and capital that will help them grow in the community — before they’re priced out. Ultimately, as properties are fixed up, they could expand into nearby storefronts. “The challenge is there’s no ready space,” she says. “It’s either a ton of money to fix up or it’s completely dilapidated.”

It seems worth noting that CentroVilla25 is less than a mile from the West Side Market, where a number of Hispanic entrepreneurs have started businesses but have never seemed to get more than a toehold in the local economy. In fact, with vacancies abounding in the produce

section of the West Side Market, upcoming vacancies in the main hall, controversy over hours and days of operation, and more and more calls for nonprofit ownership, one could argue that Ohio City’s success has not definitively translated into longterm success for the market, which is struggling even as the neighborhood thrives.

Because HBC will own the space as a nonprofit entity, they can afford to be selective and use it as a feeder to help grow local businesses. In the past year, HBC says it has served more than 500 clients, created nearly 200 jobs, retained 295 jobs, provided access to more than $8.3 million in capital, and contributed to 61 new business starts. CentroVilla25 is projected to create or expand 60 employment or business opportunities, according to marketing materials provided by HBC. Some local entrepreneurs are chomping at the bit to move into CentroVilla25, even though it’s not projected to be move-in ready for another year or two. Luis Cartagena, an accountant and business advisor on West 25th who works with Latino businesses, says that he would have already moved in if space was available. “It’s important that we help get more Latino businesses

started in the area,” he says. “There’s development to my right and development to my left.”

Herman Ortiz, who opened up Ortiz Art Drafts Design four years ago after moving here from Puerto Rico, also says he needs more space to grow his business. HBC recently installed a trailer in the adjacent lot to allow him to keep printing merchandise while he’s housed at Las Tienditas. Ultimately, he hopes to move into CentroVilla25 once the first phase is completed.

Lalo Rodriguez of the Latin American coffee shop Cafe Social LatinoAmericano hopes that CentroVilla25 will help draw a critical mass of businesses. He started in Las Tienditas before moving inside Las Dos Fronteras, a Mexican restaurant on Fulton, but so far, it’s been a struggle. “Being on West 25th in the right location would bring in walking traffic to your business,” he says.

CentroVilla25’s success is far from guaranteed. Although HBC currently only has about 40 percent of the $14 million it needs for the project, they took ownership of the buildings in September and hope to begin relocating existing tenants.

According to the budget, the group has raised $2.8 million in tax credit equity, $100,000 from the state

capital budget, $2,875 from the city of Cleveland, $500,000 from the Cleveland Foundation, $440,000 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and $100,000 from the Forest City Realty Trust.

Additionally, they’ve secured a $500,000 acquisition loan from Cleveland Development Advisors.

That’s about $6.5 million total, leaving a $7.5 million gap. Contreras says the group is working on raising the rest of the funds.

The HBC recently closed on a $939,000 acquisition of the project site, the former HJ Weber Building.

Groundbreaking is projected to take place in 2020, but it may need to be broken into phases. Contreras says the reason why plans for La Villa Hispana failed in the past is because of a lack of strong leadership and coordination among partners.

Previous planning efforts didn’t include the neighborhood, she said, but things have changed now that younger Latino leaders are in place.

“I feel the secret sauce is the level of collaboration,” she says, citing the fact that the councilperson, CDC, HBC, MetroHealth and private and institutional investors are all working together.

“The purpose of La Villa Hispana is to recognize that this is a vibrant

2019-2020

Tri-C

®

Performing Arts Series

World music and dance with

Gamelan Çudamani

Branford Marsalis Quartet

Paul Shaffer

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 2

THURSDAY, OCT. 10

SUNDAY, OCT. 13

and

David Ritz

PURCHASE TICKETS 216-987-4444 Or www.tri-c.edu/performingarts

19-1112

| clevescene.com | October 2 - 8, 2019

11

Photo courtesy RDL Architects

FEATURE community and we need opportunities to thrive,” she says. “This will be a hub of economic opportunity, a place to share our culture, food and art.”

Fostering Ownership Most people probably don’t realize how quickly real estate prices are going up in the Clark-Fulton neighborhood south of I-90, which for years was considered a no-go area for renters and homebuyers who were looking in Ohio City and Tremont.

Yet today, price appreciation in those areas is pushing some developers and would-be residents to cross the tracks, and that’s driving fairly rapid price appreciation in the area.

Even though the neighborhood has not yet seen highly visible changes, behind the scenes, some not-so-subtle shifts are occurring. For example, from 2016 to 2018, the median home sales price in the neighborhood went up by 20 percent, from $30,000 to $36,000, according to information obtained from Metro West CDC. Through June 2019, the latest data available, it’s already jumped up to $49,000. At the same time, the

Metro Health Apartment Plan

number of sales increased from 350 in 2017 to 680 in 2018.

That’s a far cry from when Ricardo Leon was growing up: “My intention was always to get out,” he says.

“That’s what people said growing up: ‘Get an education, get out as soon as you can, and get your mom out.’”

Instead, after graduating from John Hay High School and Baldwin Wallace University, Leon worked at several companies before pursuing a master’s degree at the Levin College of Urban Affairs. As managing director of Metro West, he now lives and works in the neighborhood.

“I’m the only person I know who’s

gone to school and stayed here,” says Leon. “Two of my friends are in L.A., another is in jail. Now my office is a half-mile from my house.”

Living in a neighborhood that didn’t believe it had a future pushed him to work in community development, though. Now, Leon says that for Clark-Fulton to be equitably revitalized, neighborhood residents must benefit from changes. “What happens in too many vulnerable communities is that development happens to people, not with people,” he says. “They just end up getting railroaded and run over. We want to make sure they have a voice in the

process, that whatever happens, it benefits them too.”

Oh, and another thing: He’s already over the neighborhood being called the next Ohio City, even though that moniker may be somewhat inevitable as development encroaches southward. “We’re the working-class holdout” sandwiched between Ohio City, Tremont and Old Brooklyn, he says. “People say, ‘Oh, aren’t you glad your community will finally be thriving?’ Our neighborhood’s been thriving for years. Just because you weren’t here doesn’t mean it wasn’t thriving.”

Unfortunately, Leon says,

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speculators interested in short-term profits are buying up many of the properties in Clark-Fulton, raising the stakes that the neighborhood could be subject to the kind of predatory development that inflates values without creating more homeownership or equity for residents. “A lot of the transfers were to LLCs, people buying to rent or to flip. We see people do the bare minimum to cash flow, cash flow till they’re dry, and then sell again.”

To counter this, Leon boasts of working with the councilperson and HBC to bring MetroHealth to the table to build more than 250 new housing units, the first phase of which will be affordable; lobbying to make the area the only westside neighborhood that is part of the mayor’s Neighborhood Transformation Initiative; and beating out six other city neighborhoods to win $3 million in affordable housing tax credits through the state’s FHAct50 program, named after the 50th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act. Metro West also has several programs aimed at boosting the area’s 40-percent homeownership rate, which is consistent with the city of Cleveland’s rate but much lower than Cuyahoga County’s 57.7 percent. In recent years, the CDC has transferred over 200 previously abandoned homes to new owners, many of them owneroccupants. The group also helps people rehab their homes and uses code enforcement to improve housing conditions for renters.

As activity ramps up in the neighborhood, Leon says the neighborhood master plan will help bring residents together and create a guidebook for development with equity in mind. Metro West has secured $250,000 in funding to complete the plan, which is expected to be completed by spring 2020. Given that much of the development activity in the neighborhood is currently planned but has not yet taken place, now is the time to influence its direction, he says.

Metro West is not the only one interested in equitable development — some private developers are too.

Another unique project, the Astrup building, aims to help arts groups stay in the neighborhood as it becomes redeveloped. Although artists often help improve poor, struggling neighborhoods like Clark-Fulton, building up the cool factor with their bootstrap, DIY ethos, they’re also often the first ones to get pushed out as rents inevitably go up. Astrup’s westside arts hub aims to provide critical services to the community and help tenants build equity at the same time.

Developer Rick Foran, who also developed the West 25th Street Lofts project at West 25th and Church, is passionate about the Astrup building in part because it abuts Castro’s former house of horrors. “Part of what we’re doing is taking arts and bringing them to the community, and we’re also taking back part of Seymour Avenue,” he says. “We want to reposition the reputation of Cleveland that was besmirched. When that happened, it drove me crazy to see the news media camped out at West 25th every time I got off the highway to go to work in the morning.”

Robin VanLear, head of the community arts department for Cleveland Museum of Art, says that her aim is to bring more programs to the Hispanic community. “The excitement could stretch all the way from the West Side Market to MetroHealth, and to me it’s exciting to be a part of that,” she says. “It would be nice if all parts of Cleveland had access to the same culture and energy.”

Contreras agrees, arguing that despite the fact that Latinos comprise an increasing share of the population and are starting businesses at a faster rate than their white counterparts, they often struggle to reach the $1 million sales mark, a key indicator for many lenders that a business is successful. With additional support, she says, they could realize their untapped potential.

“I’ve seen the community activate in a way I’ve never seen before,” she says. “We’re awake and we’re paying attention.”

One of those entrepreneurs is Lyz Otero, who together with her husband/business partner Gerson Velasquez is trying to open Half Moon Bakery on West 25th right across from MetroHealth. The couple, who have worked as pastry chefs for such luminaries as Michael Symon and Zach Bruell, have experienced every conceivable kind of delay while trying to start their new business, including bad landlords, unscrupulous contractors and speed bumps with their financing. Yet Otero says they’re nearing the finish line, and her avid customer base keeps her going.

“Every time I say we should just stop, and go live like normal people, I get emails from people saying, ‘I’ve been waiting so long for Half Moon Bakery to open’ and organizations like Metro West help us,” says Otero.

“That’s encouraged me to follow my dream.”

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Photo courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

GET OUT everything you should do this week

As part of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Performing Arts Series, Sarah Davachi performs at the Transformer Station. See: Sunday

WED

10/02

MUSIC

Chamber Music in the Galleries This monthly concert series at the Cleveland Museum of Art places young musicians from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Case Western Reserve University in the CMA galleries. The series features “mixed programs of chamber music” for “a unique and intimate experience.”

The performances often feature instruments from the museum’s keyboard collection. Tonight’s concert begins at 6 and lasts for about an hour. Admission is free. (Jeff Niesel) 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org.

SPOKEN WORD

Cleveland Stories Dinner Parties Cleveland Stories Dinner Party is a weekly series that pairs fine food with storytelling. Through it, the folks at Music Box Supper Club hope to raise awareness of the mission of the Western Reserve Historical Society’s Cleveland History Center. The goal of the Cleveland Stories Dinner Party is to “bring to life some of the fun, interesting stories about Cleveland’s past — from sports, to rock ’n’ roll,

to Millionaires’ Row,” as it’s put in a press release. Admission is free, with no cover charge, although a prix fixe dinner, designed to complement the night’s theme, is $20. Tonight, author D.M. Pulley talks about her latest novel, which centers on the “disturbing history of an old mansion haunted by family secrets, financial ruin and murder.” Doors open at 5 p.m., dinner is served at 6, and the storytelling starts at 7. (Niesel) 1148 Main Ave., 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com.

MUSIC

Gamelan Çudamani Gamelan Çudamani, a group out of Bali, features musicians and performers from the village of Pengosekan. The group makes use of instruments such as gongs and the flute. The semarandana instruments feature seven tones rather than the usual five, and dances performed by the group include the classic legong, a form of dance that originated in the 19th century as royal entertainment.

The ensemble will perform at 7:30 tonight at the Simon and Rose Mandel Theatre on the Tri-C East Campus. Tickets cost $22. (Niesel) 4250 Richmond Rd., Highland Hills, 216-987-4444. tri-c.edu/ performingarts.com.

THEATER

Into the Breeches!

Set in 1942, Into the Breeches! centers on a group of passionate yet inexperienced performers who rally together to produce an allfemale version of Shakespeare’s Henry IV and Henry V. The press release for the Cleveland Play House performance proclaims that it’s “a hilarious and moving story about what happens when we’re all in it together.” Tonight’s show takes place at 7:30 at the Allen Theatre, where performances continue through Oct. 6. Tickets start at $20. (Niesel) 1407 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

THU

10/03

FILM

At War French actor Vincent Lindon collaborates again with director Stéphane Brizé (Mademoiselle Chambon, The Measure of a Man) in At War. This time, he plays a fiery union leader who fights to save more than 1,000 jobs at his auto parts factory when management decides to close it despite record profits and worker sacrifices. The film screens

at 8:40 tonight and at 7 tomorrow night at the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque. Tickets cost $10, or $7 for Cinematheque members and students. (Niesel) 11610 Euclid Ave., 216-421-7450, cia.edu.

COMEDY

John Heffron After winning Season 2 of Last Comic Standing, comedian John Heffron has performed on The Tonight Show, Chelsea Lately, The Late Late Show, HBO, FX, VH1, A&E and CMT — and he’s taped two separate Comedy Central specials and did an hour-long special for Netflix. Heffron likes to joke about his upbringing and how his father would give him advice about putting the fear of god into his kids by kicking them all out of the house at 7 a.m. He performs tonight at 7:30 at Hilarities, where he has shows scheduled through Saturday.

Tickets start at $18. (Niesel) 2035 East Fourth St., 216-241-7425, pickwickandfrolic.com.

FAMILY FUN

Jurassic World In Jurassic World, a traveling show that comes to Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse tonight for a four-day | clevescene.com | October 2 - 8, 2019

15

COMEDY

GET OUT stand, you’ll find “captivating scenery” where dinosaurs from the iconic franchise roam, including the velociraptor Blue and a Tyrannosaurus Rex that is more than 40 feet in length. The production features more than 24 film-accurate, life-sized dinosaurs, each custom-built with the latest technology to look as lifelike as possible. With “scale, speed and ferocity,” the animatronic dinosaurs deliver “colossal, edge-ofyour-seat, live entertainment unlike any other dinosaur experience.” The arena will transform into the dense jungles of Isla Nublar, where real gyrospheres roll through the valley and scientists work to “unravel a corrupt plan and save an all-new dinosaur from a terrible fate.”

Performances continue through Sunday. Check the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse site for times and ticket prices. (Niesel) 1 Center Court, 216-420-2000, rocketmortgagefieldhouse.com.

Bill Bellamy If comic Bill Bellamy did nothing more than coin the phrase “booty call,” he’d go down in comic history.

But the guy has been a staple on the standup circuit for nearly 30 years now. His star power hasn’t diminished over that time, either. Currently the host of his own TV show, Who’s Got Jokes, he was also a regular on Chelsea Lately. His material tends to

Tickets are $25. (Niesel) 1148 Main Ave., 216-696-IMPROV, clevelandimprov.com.

MUSIC

Cleveland Pops: The Texas Tenors The Cleveland Pops Orchestra puts on concerts, youth programs and community events that “represent one of the most comprehensive and dedicated musical arts programs in Northeast Ohio.” Now in its 24th

FILM

Rojo In director Benjamin Naishtat’s Rojo, a respectable provincial lawyer in Argentina becomes complicit in the questionable, corrupt behavior that soon would define the country’s military coup. Shot in the style of ’70s action melodramas, the darkly comic political thriller has received wide acclaim. It screens at 6:30 tonight and at 9:15 tomorrow night at the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque. Tickets cost $10, or $7 for Cinematheque members and students. (Niesel) 11610 Euclid Ave., 216-421-7450, cia.edu.

FRI

Copenhagen Presented by Cesear’s Forum in a limited engagement, the Tony Awardwinning Copenhagen centers on an actual meeting that took place between the two great physicists, Germany’s Werner Heisenberg and Denmark’s Niels Bohr, in 1941, in occupied Denmark. The play is presented fictionally, “inside the heads” of three characters, as they relive their memories and speculate on the meaning, and consequences, of their actions. A deep dive into the difficulty of ever truly knowing oneself or others, Copenhagen is as much about philosophy as physics.

Tonight’s performance takes place at 8 in the intimate Kennedy’s Down Under, in Playhouse Square. Tickets cost $18, and the show continues through Oct. 26. (Niesel) 1501 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, cesearsforum.com.

Funan The Khmer Rouge tears apart a Cambodian family in Funan, an animated film that features the voices of Berenice Bejo and Louis Garrel.

The film makes its local debut tonight at 7 at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Tickets cost $10, or $7 for CMA members. (Niesel) 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org.

ALL NEW – Interactive Jam Space Live your dream of being a rock star inside the museum by making music with real instruments. Learn as a beginner or jam with friends and turn your trip up to 11.

THEATER

16

THEATER

FILM

10/04

The Addams Family Near West Theatre kicks off its new season with The Addams Family, a musical based on the comic strip that became a TV show and then a movie.

The play centers on how a grown-up Wednesday Addams has fallen in love with a “normal” man. Or so she thinks. Tonight and tomorrow night’s performances take place at 7:30 p.m.; additional performances continue through Oct. 6. Tickets start at $10 for adults and $8 for children 12 and under. (Niesel) 6702 Detroit Ave, 216-961-6391, nearwesttheatre.org.

act is celebrating its 10th anniversary; expect a blend of Broadway hits, American songbook classics and a little bit of country. The concert begins at 8 at Severance Hall. Tickets start at $31. (Niesel) 11001 Euclid Ave., 216-231-1111, clevelandpops.com.

Cleveland Rocks! Northeast Ohio residents receive exclusive offers on admission with a valid ID at the box office. Go to rockhall.com/letsrock and start planning your tour today.

stick to tried-and-true topics like the differences between men and women when it comes to romantic love, and surviving the trials and tribulations of getting through security at the airport. Still, this guy is a pro storyteller who knows how to work the room. He performs tonight at 7:30 and 10 at the Improv, where he has shows scheduled through Sunday.

| clevescene.com | October 2 - 8, 2019

year, the organization is renowned for its programs that feature American orchestral popular music, jazz, Broadway, and patriotic and light classics. Tonight, the Texas Tenors, a group that came to prominence after its appearance on America’s Got Talent, will be the special guest for its season opener. The most successful music group to come off the show, the

THEATER

The Member of the Wedding At the suggestion of her friend Tennessee Williams, Southern writer Carson McCullers adapted her novella, The Member of the Wedding, into a play that was an enormous success when it opened on Broadway in 1950.

It depicts the “intrinsically enmeshed lives of whites and blacks in the American South.” Regional talent Eric Schmiedl has directed this version of the play that’s at the Beck Center for the Arts through Nov. 3. The cast includes Lisa Louise Langford, Ellie Ritterbusch, Chase Oberhaus, Peter Lawson Jones, Corin B. Self and Fred Gloor. Tonight’s performance takes place at 8, and performances continue throughout the weekend. Tickets are $10 to $33. Group and student discounts are available. (Niesel) 17801 Detroit Ave., Lakewood, 216-521-2540, beckcenter.org.

ART

MIX: Anatomy At tonight’s Mix event at the Cleveland Museum of Art, you can check out the museum’s new exhibit featuring drawings by Michelangelo, who loved drawing the human body. Artists will sketch models and objects and DJ Mick will perform. Food is available at Provenance Cafe until 8:30 p.m.

Tickets cost $10 in advance, or $15 at the door. It’s free for CMA members.

(Niesel) 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org.

COMEDY

Larry Reeb Comedian Larry Reeb is creepy.

Dubbed “Uncle Lar,” this guy likes to talk about watching porn at the library and the unfairness of bestiality being illegal while hunting is not. His politically incorrect jokes and odd antics can be pretty funny though, and his insights on reality TV are golden. He performs tonight and tomorrow night at 7 and 9:30 at the Neon Room at MGM Northfield Park. Tickets are $10 and $15. (Liz Trenholme) 10705 Northfield Rd., Northfield, 330-908-7793, mgmnorthfieldpark. mgmresorts.com.

SAT

10/05

216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

FUNDRAISER

COMEDY

Lewis Black Comedian Lewis Black regularly touches on current events, social media, politics and anything else that “exposes the hypocrisy and madness in the world,” as he puts it.

Given the election of Donald Trump, Black’s analysis of the “hypocrisy and madness in the world” seems all the more relevant. The comedian brings his Joke’s on Us tour to MGM Northfield Park tonight at 8. Expect the man to rant. Consult the website for ticket prices. (Niesel) 10705 Northfield Rd., Northfield, 330-908-7793, mgmnorthfieldpark. mgmresorts.com.

THEATER

C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters This stage adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ satiric Screwtape Letters follows Screwtape, a guy who holds an administrative post in the bureaucracy of Hell and acts as a mentor to his nephew Wormwood.

Today’s performances take place at 4 and 8 p.m. at the Ohio Theatre.

Tickets cost $37.50 to $91.50. (Niesel) 1501 Euclid Ave.,

The Festival That Must Not Be Named Dave and Busters, A Special Wish Cleveland, and Brodies Good Vibe Tribe have teamed up to present the Festival That Must Not Be Named, a special Harry Potter-themed fundraiser that takes place from 9 a.m. to noon today.

It’ll include a “world of wizardly staples,” including butter beer and a hat sorting station. Live white owls will be on hand as well. There will also be wizardly games, activities, crafts, music, and themed food and beverages as well as Instagram-able props set up throughout Dave and Busters. The $10 ticket price includes one meal ticket per person. After noon, Dave and Busters will open back up to the public, and guests are invited to stay and play games. Proceeds will benefit both A Special Wish Cleveland and Brodie’s Good Vibe Tribe. (Niesel) 25735 First St., Westlake, 440-892-1415, daveandbusters.com.

FOOD

Fifth Annual Food Truck Challenge Today from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Northeast Ohio Food Truck Association (NEOFTA) presents Crocker Park’s

fifth annual Food Truck Challenge.

Cleveland’s best food trucks will line up on Crocker Park’s Main Street to compete. Billy Morris and the Sunset Strip will provide the music. Patrons will cast their votes for the various categories on the ballot, including Fan’s Best Overall, Best Looking Truck and Friendliest Truck. Winners will be crowned on the main stage at 3 p.m. by a panel of guest judges and local foodies including WKYC’s Austin Love, Channel 19’s Chris Tonka, Fox 8’s Todd Meany and Edible Cleveland’s Lisa Sands. Admission is free. (Niesel) 189 Crocker Park Blvd., Westlake, crockerpark.com.

FAMILY FUN

Goblins in the Garden Holden Arboretum’s annual Goblins in the Garden will take place today and tomorrow. During the event, families can trick-or-treat through decorated gardens, scramble through a hedge maze and see a scarecrow display. There will also be a petting zoo and pony rides. A press release states that “this weekend event encourages families to come out in their Halloween costumes and enjoy numerous outdoor activities, including wagon rides, a straw pyramid climb, games and crafts and professional face painting.”

“one of the great movers of modern dance” THE NEW YORK TIMES

Parsons Dance Tickets start at

presented by

$25!

Saturday, October 12 at 7:30 pm The University of Akron’s E. J. Thomas Hall, Akron D A N C E C L E V E L A N D I S G E N E R O U S LY F U N D E D B Y

Call 330.972.7570 or dancecleveland.org.

In collaboration with The University of Akron’s Dance Program

| clevescene.com | October 2 - 8, 2019

17

GET OUT There will also be a beer garden on Saturday. Tickets are $6 per member child, $10 per member adult, $12 per nonmember child, and $20 per nonmember adult. Tickets to the Murch Canopy Walk and Kalberer Family Emergent Tower are included with admission. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. Free parking and shuttles will be available at Lakeland Community College. (Niesel) 9500 Sperry Rd., Kirtland, 440-946-4400, holdenarb.org.

THEATER

Julius Caesar One of 40 professional theater companies across the nation selected to perform a Shakespeare play with a professional team of actors for middle- and high-schools and conduct related educational activities for the students, Great Lakes Theater tonight presents its take on Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. The show begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Hanna Theatre, where performances continue through Nov. 3. Tickets cost 15 to $80. (Niesel) 2067 East 14th St., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

again, so tonight the Cedar Lee Theatre hosts its usual midnight screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the 1975 cult classic that still draws an exuberant, costumed crowd that likes to throw rice and dry toast and sing along to the songs in the movie. In addition, locals act out a floor show that mimics the movie, turning the event into a veritable party. Tickets are $9.75.

(Niesel) 2163 Lee Rd., Cleveland Heights, 440-528-0355, clevelandcinemas.com.

FILM

Sea of Shadows Winner of the Audience Award in the World Cinema/Documentary competition at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Sea of Shadows comes off as a suspenseful documentary about the heroic efforts to save the vaquita porpoise from extinction.

Found mostly in the Gulf of California, the vaquita is the world’s smallest whale and most endangered sea mammal, and there may be fewer than 15 left. The movie screens at 9:20 tonight and at 6:30 tomorrow night at the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque. Tickets cost $10, or $7 for Cinematheque members and students. (Niesel) 11610 Euclid Ave., 216-421-7450, cia.edu.

NIGHTLIFE

INVITES YOU AND A GUEST TO AN ADVANCE SCREENING OF

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8 7:00 PM CINEMARK VALLEY VIEW FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A PAIR OF PASSES, VISIT: GOFOBO.COM/ GEMINIMAN THIS FILM HAS BEEN RATED PG-13.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Supply limited and available on a first-come first-served basis. Seating is not guaranteed.

Theater is overbooked to ensure capacity. One (admit-two) pass per person.

IN THEATRES OCTOBER 11 /GeminiManMovie |

18

@GeminiManMovie | #GeminiMan

| clevescene.com | October 2 - 8, 2019

Lava Lounge 20th Anniversary Party Established in 1999 as an alternative to the downtown nightlife scene, Tremont’s Lava Lounge, a self-described scratch kitchen and craft cocktail bar, became a go-to destination for young people looking for a place that wasn’t just a meat market. Chef-owned and operated

by Jack Anfang and Ricardo Sandoval, the bar/restaurant continues to have weekend DJs and late-night food. It also regularly shows the work of featured local artists. At 8 p.m. today, it hosts a party to celebrate its 20th anniversary.

There will be alumni bartenders, veteran DJs, and food and drink specials. The upstairs bar and outdoor patio will both be open as well. Local DJs Neil Chastain, Nate Paige, RA Washington, A-Live, Lawrence Daniel Caswell, Red I, Chris Pulse, Stanton Thatcher and Candi Fresca are slated to control the turntables. Ten former bartenders, including Will Hollingsworth (currently the proprietor of Spotted Owl) and Shelly Mayen (of Chicago’s Cabra), will be on hand. The club will also sell special T-shirts featuring artwork by local Jason Look. Admission is free. (Niesel) 1307 Auburn Ave., 216-589-9112, coolplacestoeat.com/lava.html.

FILM

Rocky Horror Picture Show It’s the first Saturday of the month

MUSIC

Speedbump Fest The fourth annual Speedbump Fest will be held at 7 tonight at Musica in Akron. Speedbump Fest is a memorial show for Garrett Janos, a victim of suicide. The annual raffle benefiting mental health and addiction services in Northeast Ohio will include prizes from Square Records, Magic City Brewing Company, Arkham Tattoo, and local artists and musicians.

Bands such as Autarch, Killer of Sheep, S.N.A.F.U., Pissmongrel, Hiraeth and Trash Cat will perform.

Tickets cost $10 in advance, or $12 at the door. (Niesel) 51 East Market St., Akron, 330-374-1114, akronmusica.com.

SUN

10/06

MUSIC

Cleveland Opera Theater Presents: Harp & Heels Harpist Calvin Stokes and soprano Laura Pedersen make up Harp & Heels, a classically trained duo that’s won international competitions and performed with top orchestras at Carnegie Hall and in famous opera houses. Their performance tonight in the Concert Hall of Music Box Supper

Club will feature opera, country, Broadway, jazz and pop tunes. A $35, three-course, prix-fixe meal precedes tonight’s performance.

Dinner begins at 5:30 p.m., and the concert will begin at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets range from $25 to $40.

(Niesel) 1148 Main Ave., 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com.

MUSIC

Sarah Davachi The Cleveland Museum of Art’s Performing Arts Series kicks off night at 7:30 with electronic music composer Sarah Davachi, who’ll perform in the intimate setting of the Transformer Station.

She’ll present a solo program that makes use of the “delicate psychoacoustics of intimate aural spaces, utilizing extended durations and simple harmonic structures that emphasize subtle variations in overtone complexity, temperament and intonation, and natural resonances.” Expect her to have some vintage synthesizers on hand for the concert. Check the Cleveland Museum of Art website for ticket prices. (Niesel) 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org.

FILM

Kid Flicks From the New York Int’l Children’s Film Festival Grab the kids and head to the Cleveland Art Museum this afternoon, where admission is free for this special screening of Kid Flicks From the New York Int’l Film Festival. The program includes eight films, both animated and live action, from eight countries. The program begins at 1:30 p.m. and concludes at 2:45. See the entire lineup of films on the museum website. The screening is recommended for youngsters 8 and older. (Niesel) 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org.

MON

10/07

NIGHTLIFE

Shit Show Karaoke Local rapper/promoter Dirty Jones and Scene’s own Manny Wallace host Shit Show Karaoke, a weekly event at the B-Side Liquor Lounge wherein patrons choose from “an unlimited selection of jams from hip-hop to hard rock,” and are encouraged to “be as bad as you want.” Fueled by drink and shot specials, it all goes down tonight at

10 p.m. (Niesel) 2785 Euclid Heights Blvd., Cleveland Heights, 216-932-1966, bsideliquorlounge.com.

TUE

10/08

FILM

And Life Goes On And Life Goes On, the second part of director Abbas Kiarostami’s Koker Trilogy, “celebrates survival and resiliency” as it follows a film director and his son as they drive to northern Iran to find out what happened to two children who starred in one of the director’s previous movies. The film screens at 1:45 p.m. today at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Tickets cost $10, or $7 for CMA students. (Niesel) 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org.

ART

Ron Campbell Ron Campbell, director of the 1960s Saturday-morning Beatles cartoon series and one of the animators on the Beatles’ film Yellow Submarine, will make a rare personal appearance today and tomorrow, from 4 to 8 p.m., at

Akrona Galleries. He’ll showcase his original Beatles cartoon paintings created specially for the show and paint original remarques for customers who purchase any of his art work. He’ll also bring with him other artwork from Scooby Doo, Rugrats, Smurfs, Flintstones, Jetsons and more. The exhibit is free, and all works are available for purchase. (Niesel) 1765 West Market St., Akron, 330-865-0909, akrona.com.

THEATER

Summer Summer, a musical about the life of pop singer Donna Summer, centers on how a girl from Boston with a “voice from heaven” went from singing gospel music to becoming a dance floor diva. The score features more than 20 of Summer’s classic hits, including “Love to Love You Baby,” “Bad Girls” and “Hot Stuff.”

Tonight’s performance takes place at 7:30 at Connor Palace, where performances continue through Oct. 27. Tickets start at $10. (Niesel) 1615 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

| clevescene.com | October 2 - 8, 2019

19

STAGE THE SEARCH FOR MEANING Will madness suffice when miracles are in short supply?

By Elaine T. Cicora Photo courtesy of None Too Fragile Theatre

THESE ARE DARK DAYS ROILED with calamity and ruin. The oceans, the Amazon, the very air we breathe — they are at risk, and us along with them. Toss into the mix re-emergent fascism, political corruption, unaffordable healthcare and the crippling price of higher education — and yeah, we could all use a good miracle or two to tide us over till the Apocalypse.

This appears to be the well of angst into which Eric Coble dips his pen in his 2017 one-act play, These Mortal Hosts, now being brilliantly performed in Akron by None Too Fragile Theatre. Born in Scotland, raised on Navajo and Ute reservations in the American Southwest and now residing in Cleveland Heights, Coble is a worldclass playwright whose myriad previous works — The Velocity of Autumn, My Barking Dog and Fairfield, among them — have been performed on and off Broadway, in all 50 states and on several continents. Along the way, Coble has garnered an armload of awards and recognitions, including an Emmy nomination, two Distinguished Play Awards for Best Adaptation from the American Alliance for Theatre and Education, and a 2007 Cleveland Arts Prize.

These Mortal Hosts — part magical realism, part sly critique of our faith in faith — made its world premiere at the Cleveland Play House in 2017 as part of the New Ground Theater Festival. Imaginative, haunting and bursting with dialog both funny and eloquent, the plot rides on the backs of three characters: the emotionally repressed butcher, Earl; the sexually repressed loan officer, Phyllis; and the gonzo, ragingly hormonal highschooler, Meaghan. In lesser hands, these three could come off as tired stereotypes; in Coble’s, however, they are imbued with little quirks, desires and backstories that turn them into fully realized human beings.

Of course, words only take us so far. The talent and artistic vision that inform those words is what makes this a play instead of a book. Happily, the cast in this production — Madison Ellis as the histrionic Meaghan, Mary Werntz as uptight Phyllis and, especially,

20

David Vegh, Mary Werntz and Madison Ellis are These Mortal Hosts.

David Vegh as the sweet, sad butcher Earl — deliver compelling performances that make their trials and tribulations tug at our hearts, even as we question the origins of their difficulties.

You see, each of these characters has come to believe they are possessed by something larger than themselves. Down-to-earth Earl, suffering from a crippling case of traditional masculinity, suddenly feels he has been inhabited by a force that is literally expanding his heart.

He marvels at the new intensity of color, sound and scent; he laughs uproariously at coworkers’ lame jokes; and the act of butchering a carcass now reduces him to tears.

friends’ death in an auto accident, believes she’s inhabited by an angel (who, among other miracles, helps her ace a Spanish test) and takes on the burden of proclaiming Phyllis’ upcoming “virgin” birth.

But are these miracles or are they medical conditions, repurposed by the sufferers into something more meaningful than mere heart disease, pathological guilt, or stress-sparked schizophrenia?

When crowds begin to gather to gawk at the “Virgin Mother,” and candle-lit vigils are set up on her lawn, it becomes clear that the urgent desire to find meaning in the essential meaninglessness of existence isn’t limited to this trio

THESE MORTAL HOSTS THROUGH OCT. 12 AT NONE TOO FRAGILE THEATRE 732 WEST EXCHANGE ST., AKRON, 330-962-5547 NONETOOFRAGILE.COM

Phyllis, an unmarried, middleaged, lapsed Catholic and owner of two cats — that she views not as children, she assures us, but as housemates; “I just happen to be the tallest” — doesn’t actually recall having sex in the past seven years … but finds herself pregnant, nevertheless.

And Meaghan, a distraught teen in the immediate aftermath of her

| clevescene.com | October 2 - 8, 2019

alone. And when the play’s powerful climax — prompted, tellingly, by a gun-toting preacher — leads to a limp denouement, Meaghan’s insistence that, “You just gotta have faith,” reinforces the folly of our continual struggle to make Something out of Nothing.

Under the direction of veteran Northeast Ohio actor and theater professor Bob Ellis, the cast gives

the audience plenty to work with.

As the uptight Phyllis, Mary Werntz is perfection, full of forced smiles, a straight spine, and a slimness that hints at anorexia.

As Meaghan, Madison Ellis gives us a thoroughly obnoxious teen — wild-eyed, loud and delusional — who has all the signs of mental illness. Hers is a highly physical performance, and she delivers it with often chilling results, rendering Meaghan’s fanaticism every bit as frightening as it is understandable.

And David Vegh, as the folksy, slowtalking Earl, turns in one of the most memorable performances of the year, conveying whole worlds of feeling in a smile, or a frown, or a gently raised eyebrow. Even the way he removes his soiled butcher’s apron seems important! And his speechless waltz with Earl’s invisible wife Helen, performed to Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon,” conveys all we will ever need to know about the wellspring of love that flows beneath Earl’s concretized exterior.

Speaking of music, technical director and sound designer Brian Kenneth Armour adds warmth and dimension to the otherwise minimalistic set with effects that range from the violent slamming of Earl’s butcher knife to gentle ocean waves and a humming chorus of “Amazing Grace.” And the use of Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic” as an opener felt both fitting and a little funny.

The action takes place on (and occasionally off) the small thrust stage at the heart of None Too Fragile’s new home in the former Coach House Theater on West Exchange Street in Akron. With a spacious lobby and comfortable auditorium seating, the small house is a pleasant, welcoming space for this notable company whose stated goals include the aim “to provoke and stir dialogue,” while giving “a voice to the great playwrights of this generation.”

Madness, miracles, or medical conditions, this first-rate production of These Mortal Hosts clearly fills the bill.

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

ART FULL FIGURED ARTneo focuses on the figure in Outside the Mainstream: Douglas Max Utter Selects

By Dott von Schneider Photo courtesy of ARTneo

FIGURATIVE PAINTING, specifically portraiture, is one of, if not the most, relatable style of art. It’s something we can identify with as a reflection of society and ourselves. Douglas Max Utter and Christopher L. Richards, the curator and collections manager for ARTneo, have combined forces to develop Outside the Mainstream, a group exhibition that peers into the various levels of figurative work and its interpretation. With so many excellent artists included in this show, we were hard pressed to choose which artworks to write about, but we left with a head full of contemplation.

Immediately upon walking into the gallery we are face to face with Anthony Van Rooy’s “Untitled,” which is perched above Patricia Zinmeister Parker’s “Sis and Nan.” Both artworks bring a suspended vulnerability to life with their melange of strong lines and architectural elements. Eric Rippert’s “When You Sleep” and Nikki Woods’ “Bed Lounger” seem to parallel each other. These two paintings almost wink at “The Nightmare” by Henry Fuseli, a painting that accurately depicts night terrors via a looming figure that sits on a sleeping woman’s chest.

Katy Richards’ “Painted Lips,” featuring lipstick-smeared teeth, is perfectly suspended above “31,” by Frank Oriti. These two paintings unpack voyeurism with perpendicular wrinkles that offer up wisdom beyond the artists’ young years.

August F. Biehle’s “Untitled, Seated Nude” delivers mark-making so directional that it gives movement to the figure that sits upon a candy coated cornucopia of pastels, a strong contrast to Clay Parker in-your-face “Happy Birthday to Me, How Full is My Cup,” a large painting that will not be denied. In graphic-novel style, Parker punches our optic nerve with deep black lines and even stronger contrasts in this near-violent piece.

“Branes and Braun” by Mike Meier zaps us back to the 1950s-era sci-fi flicks. A gray-scale spaceman

“Do You See Me Now” by Lauren McKenzie

(or spacewoman) stands before us with its ray gun. Its helmet seems way too heavy for its shoulders as a typical nuclear family watches on.

The stunning mixed media collage work by powerhouse artist

were delighted to view Lauren McKenzie’s “Do You See Me Now.” McKenzie’s work focuses on her relationship with being an artist of color. In this painting, McKenzie exercises her magical use of color

OUTSIDE THE MAINSTREAM THROUGH NOV. 15 AT ARTNEO 1305 WEST 80TH ST., 216-227-9507 ARTNEO.ORG

Dexter Davis, “Mental Circus I,” exposes invincibility as well as openness and quietude.

Hanging outside ARTneo, we

blocking in such a way as to pull a dialogue about race and identity.

Interestingly, we are ever so slightly reminded of German Expressionist

painter Karl Schmidt-Rotluff’s “Self Portrait with Hat.” Also along the exterior walls of the gallery are paintings by the mighty Rev. Albert Wagner, as well as one of our favorite pieces by Anna Arnold titled “The Warholic,” a deep dive into pop culture in both content and execution.

Back inside the space, perhaps the most subjective artwork in this figurative exhibition comes from Douglas Max Utter’s own collection.

Amy Casey’s “The Road Rises Up, Like a Wave” is a quiet painting, almost post-apocalyptic, with no actual personages in it. However, per our discussion with Christopher L. Richards, we heartily agreed that the absence of the figure is just as important as its presence. Casey wields a row of five sienna houses that seem to have been plucked from photographs from our collective lives. These wee structures surf an asphalt tsunami over a green lace grid. The black swish of oil paint oozes like tar and we wax nostalgic for the smell of rain on the wet pavement.

Also included in Outside the Mainstream are paintings by Utter, who was recently honored at ARTneo’s annual benefit. In his recent painting, “Nancy Malone as a Girl,” Utter employs his signature elan with color blocking and medium. His subject’s face is barely exposed as she peeps through her blue veil of self. “Deposition” sits on the far wall. This large oeuvre is almost graffiti-esque with the artist’s use of spray paint and latex. For sure, Utter’s paintings sit among these prominent Cleveland artists like hosts of the coolest party ever.

This is a strong exhibition and riddled with talent. It left us thinking about the various interpretations of the figure, thoughts which certainly stayed with us long after we left. In fact, it’s a show that, much like a finely crafted film, delivers more with each viewing.

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

| clevescene.com | October 2 - 8, 2019

21

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| clevescene.com | October 2 - 8, 2019

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MOVIES FAMILY MATTERS Two daughters reconnect with their mother in the dramedy Before You Know It

By Jeff Niesel Photo courtesy of Ball and Chain Productions

A KEY MOMENT HAPPENS early in Hannah Pearl Utt’s new dramedy Before You Know It. Rachel’s (Utt) eccentric playwright and actor father Mel (Mandy Patinkin) sabotages a grant application that would’ve allowed him to finish his new play, and Rachel loses her patience with the man.

“I don’t really care about your stupid fucking play; I just need you to have a life, so that I can have one,” she finally tells him in an outburst that’s both serious and funny. The dramatic exchange sets the tone for this indie flick about a dysfunctional family struggling to come to terms with a past that its father has hidden from them.

The movie opens on Friday at the Cedar Lee Theatre.

When Mel unexpectedly dies and leaves the theater he owns to a wife he told his daughters was dead, Rachel and her sister Jackie (Jen Tullock) try to sort things out, and in the process, they find out that their mother is still alive.

Turns out, their father had lied to Rachel and Jackie for much of their lives about the identity and death of their mother; their mother is really Sherrell (Judith Light), a soap opera star.

Rachel and Jackie sneak onto the set where Sherrell is filming

From left, Hannah Pearl Utt, Judith Light and Jen Tullock

and rather awkwardly introduce themselves without telling her that she’s inherited the theater they thought would be theirs. In a rather predictable fashion, the movie proceeds toward an ending in which Jackie and Rachel must confess to Sherrell that she owns the theater they thought their father would leave them. Though they inherit a good deal of debt (another thing their father hid from them), the daughters hope to stage their father’s final play there before losing control of the place.

While the movie proceeds at a snail’s pace, it does have some terrific moments that suggest Utt’s talent as a writer.

In one funny scene, Jackie’s daughter Doge (Oona Yaffe) attends a therapy session that doesn’t go very smoothly. When she begins fiddling with an ornament on the coffee table, the therapist (Alec Baldwin) cringes and stops her, saying, “That’s decorative. It’s from the 1920s. I don’t think it would be fun to play with anyway.”

In another scene, after Rachel rewrites one too many of Sherrell’s scenes in her soap opera, Sherrell tells the women that the show’s writers have decided to put her character into a coma. “That’s how they kill you off,” says Sherrell.

Before You Know It isn’t likely to draw a big audience, but it does establish Utt as an indie filmmaker to watch.

jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel

SPOTLIGHT: COMMON CREED – THE EPIDEMIC BECAUSE HE LOST SO MANY loved ones to drug abuse while growing up, local writer and rapper Javon Bates wrote Common Creed – The Epidemic, a book that details his firsthand experiences related to the opioid epidemic, particularly in Ohio.

The book has now become a film; it premieres at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 2, at Atlas Lakeshore in Euclid.

Prior to the viewing, Bates will be on location for a book signing and meet-and-greet.

“Writing this book and creating this movie has been an extremely personal thing for me, and I’m really looking forward to the

premiere to share my message and experiences with everyone,” says Bates, who also runs Tomahawk Entertainment Group, a marketing and promotional services company, in a press release. “So many people have been affected by this terrible trend, and I think the movie is really going to make a statement.

This epidemic can cost you your life as well as prison time being served.

I’ve found that while it might seem like easy money, sometimes your greed opens other doors. This movie is going to show what’s behind those doors.”

Prior to this film, Bates had held

more than 10 charity drives for various local causes, written five books and released three albums.

Cleveland’s Fox 8 News also recently recognized him for his philanthropy programs.

Bates plans to donate 10 percent of every movie premiere ticket sale back to the local nonprofit Recovery Resources for drug rehabilitation and programs.

“The whole idea behind the book and the movie is to raise awareness and take steps forward to suppress this terrible epidemic that haunts our community,” he says. “I’m passionate about this mission and

really wanted to also tie that into the movie premiere and give back to my local community that has been hit hard by this epidemic.

By partnering with Recovery Resources, that’s just one more step closer to helping solve the problem.”

Special pre-order ticket packages are also available; they include one ticket to the screening, the soundtrack to the movie and a copy of the book. For more information, visit tegmedia.org. — Niesel

jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel | clevescene.com | October 2 - 8, 2019

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| clevescene.com | October 2 - 8, 2019

EAT

Photo Courtesy Catanese Classic Seafood

BY LAND,

BY SEA, BIVALVE It’s clambake season, and Cleveland is ready as usual

By Douglas Trattner

“I DON’T THINK ANY OTHER PART of the country has a fall clambake season like ours,” says Bill Gullo, director of purchasing at Catanese Classic Seafood in the Flats. “I had a clam supplier tell me a couple years back that more clams were being shipped to Northeast Ohio during September and October than the rest of the country combined. I would think that that was still true today.”

It’s clear that Cleveland loves its clambakes. What’s less clear is why and how the typically New England feast became so entrenched in our regional foodways.

Some draw a straight line back to the well-heeled industrialists of the early 20th century who summered in Northeast Ohio, often hosting elaborate feasts with fresh seafood shipped directly from the East Coast. For decades, clambakes have served as the ideal vehicle for political fundraisers, a delicious way to replenish the campaign coffers on the backs of bivalves. Gullo, who’s been in the local fish business for 40 years, posits that the practice was promoted by retailers like him who were tasked with selling fish. Regardless how it began, the “Cleveland Clambake” is a beloved fall tradition.

While clams aren’t considered a seasonal food product as they are generally available year-round, there are other factors that make autumn ideal for bakes. Customary accompaniments like sweet corn and potatoes are seasonal, with their harvests lining up with the events. Those thick and creamy chowders are well suited to sweater

weather. And the act of wrangling a giant steamer pot over a roaring propane burner is made bearable by the cooler temps.

A traditional Cleveland clambake consists of a cup of chowder, a dozen clams, half a chicken, an ear of corn, one sweet or regular potato, coleslaw and rolls, but deviations abound. Some folks like to toss in links of kielbasa or andouille sausage, others opt to sub out the chicken for crab legs or whole lobster, and pretty much every single clam lover can easily devour an extra dozen or two of those briny bivalves.

“That’s what makes the Cleveland clambake so unique,” notes Gullo.

“You talk to 10 different people, you’ll get 10 different bakes.”

Seafood retailers like Catanese Classic (1600 Merwin Ave., 216696-0080) and Euclid Fish (7839 Enterprise Dr., Mentor, 440-9516448) offer effortless just-add-water clambake kits, steamer pots preloaded with all the ingredients. For big boils, it’s wise to rent, borrow or buy a propane-powered burner.

DIYers simply can purchase the components themselves, layer them into a large pot with a steamer insert, and cook it inside or out.

It’s prudent to cook the chicken separately so you don’t wind up with overcooked seafood or undercooked chicken. And for heaven’s sake, don’t overlook the broth, that flavorful elixir that forms below, which is delicious on its own or when used as a base for a future chowder or bisque Over the years, what customarily existed as a backyard affair has

been co-opted by shrewd restaurant operators, who understand that most home cooks prefer to leave the messy business to the pros. These days, you can hardly stumble into a bar, bistro or VFW hall without seeing an announcement for a clambake. Here are a few upcoming bakes that caught our attention.

Alley Cat 1056 Old River Rd., 216-574-9999, 2-7 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 6 Included: clam chowder, steamed clams, coleslaw, sweet corn, baked potato bar, pasta station Price: $25 Extras: dozen clams ($15), lobster tail ($55), chicken ($15), steak ($32) Great Lakes Brewing 2516 Market Ave., 216-771-4404, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 10 Included: dozen clams, clam chowder, herb-roasted chicken, corn, sweet potato, butter, first pint of beer Price: $25.95 Extras: dozen clams ($10.95), steak ($15) Tremont Taphouse 2572 Scranton Rd., 216- 298-4451, 2-6 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 12 Included: dozen clams, sweet potato casserole, half Cornish hen, corn, Spanish butter Price: $40 advance, $45 day of Extras: dozen clams ($12), clam chowder bread bowls ($9), ribeye ($19), whole lobster ($20) Forest City Brewery 2135 Columbus Rd., 216-228-9116, 2-7 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 12 Included: dozen clams, half smoked

chicken, sweet potato, corn, roll and butter Price: $40 Extras: dozen clams ($9), half smoked chicken ($9), whole lobster ($20) Jukebox 1404 West 29th St., 216-206-7699 5-9 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 24 Included: half-dozen clams, kielbasa, chicken thigh, corn, red potato, herb butter, baguette Price: $20 advance, $25 day of Extras: dozen clams ($15) Bruno’s Ristorante 2644 West 41st St., 216-961-7087, Friday and Saturday evenings through Oct. 26 Included: clam chowder, dozen clams, sweet corn, sweet potato, white clam pasta, dessert and choice of chicken ($29), Cornish hen ($29) or filet of beef ($37) Salmon Dave’s 19015 Old Lake Rd., Rocky River, 440-331-2739, daily through Dec. 1 Includes: half dozen clams, whole lobster, half chicken, sweet corn, redskins, drawn butter Price: $44.95 ($15 off on Sundays) Don’s Lighthouse 8905 Lake Ave., 216-961-6700, daily through Oct. 26 Included: half dozen clams, whole Maine lobster, redskin potatoes, corn Price: $45

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene | clevescene.com | October 2 - 8, 2019

25

EAT BITES Winning IPA from Platformâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s homebrew competition will help Heinenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s kick off Cleveland Beer Week

By Douglas Trattner ON FRIDAY, SEPT. 13, Platform Beer Co. held its fourth annual Bragging Rights homebrew competition in partnership with Heinenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. Judges (this writer included) were tasked with evaluating a number of entries in order to crown a winner, who would go on to have his or her recipe scaled up, brewed at Platform, canned, and sold at area Heinenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s grocery stores.

The winning entry was a red IPA from Doug Wiedemann, a homebrewer from Lyndhurst. Just moments after the panel of judges reached a consensus, Platform owner Paul Benner called Wiedemann to deliver the good news. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was shocked,â&#x20AC;? the winner said later on a call. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I had just dropped my beer off three hours earlier. It was kind of a last-minute decision; I had to use my lunch break to run the beer over there.â&#x20AC;?

Wiedemann says that heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been homebrewing for about three years, and recently made the personal commitment to enter his creations in more brewing competitions.

He selected that particular recipe because he believed it would stand out in the crowd. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m a hop-head,â&#x20AC;? he adds. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I love IPAs, but I also like amber ales, red ales and red IPAs, and I ďŹ gured it

would be good for fall. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m pretty proud of that beer.â&#x20AC;?

He calls the beer Red Giant Finality, a fruity but dry red ale that clocks in with an ABV of 7 percent and 75 IBUs. Last week, Wiedemann spent the day at Platformâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s production facility, where together they brewed a 30-barrel (900-gallon) batch of his beer. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was a long day, but I enjoyed it,â&#x20AC;? he says of his day at the brewhouse. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s deďŹ nitely a lot different from the homebrew scale.

I really hope it turns out, or else my name is going to be on a lot of bad beer.â&#x20AC;?

His beer will make its public debut at Heinenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s on Saturday, Oct. 19, during an unofďŹ cial kick-off to Cleveland Beer Week, the popular 10-year-old celebration of the local craft beer industry. â&#x20AC;&#x153;To win a brewing competition in Cleveland, I think thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a certain cache to that,â&#x20AC;? says Ed Thompkins, wine and beer buyer for Heinenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If you were a home winemaker, you would probably be intimidated to go to Napa and have people there evaluate your baby.â&#x20AC;?

The level of creativity and penchant for pushing boundaries that homebrewers typically possess often propels change among

commercial breweries, explains Benner of Platform. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The ďŹ rst hazy New England IPA that Platform ever brewed was the winning recipe from the ďŹ rst Bragging Rights competition,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;People who are homebrewing for a hobby are getting really good at it, so much more technical than 10 years ago. I think for most of the people who enter the competition, brewing is their hobby, they enjoy doing it but have no intention of doing it professionally.â&#x20AC;?

Only time will tell if that proves to be the case with this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s winner. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Right now itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just a hobby, but like most homebrewers, I have a dream of one day having a small brewery,â&#x20AC;? Wiedemann says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But I have a lot to learn yet.â&#x20AC;?

For now, he can simply savor his well-earned bragging rights.

Closed for Improvements, the Grocery OHC will Reopen in the Coming Months Fans and neighbors of the Grocery OHC (3815 Lorain Ave.), a green grocer and cafe in Ohio City dedicated to locally produced food, likely have noticed that the

shop has been closed. Owner Rachel Kingsbury shut the doors in late June â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and the assumption very well could have been that the shop would not reopen, with Kingsbury instead devoting her time and attention to the newer, larger location at the Quarter (2550 Detroit Ave.). That is not the case, she assures us. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Lorain is going through some renovations like getting AC and updated electrical,â&#x20AC;? says Kingsbury, adding that the work will allow for an addition to expand operations.

Kingsbury currently is converting a rear apartment into a new prep kitchen space with a walk-in cooler and plenty of work space. The improvements will facilitate the increased catering and box-lunch business the shop does, but also will permit the expansion of grab-and-go products for the retail space.

Kingsbury, who recently married Platform Beer boss Justin Carson, said that the new and improved Lorain Avenue Grocery will â&#x20AC;&#x153;reopen with a refreshed look and concept down the line.â&#x20AC;?

Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll let you know when it does.

dtrattner@clevescene.com t@dougtrattner

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27

VY WEINGRAM WAS working at the National Museum of American Jewish History (NMAJH) when she and the staff there began to think of a way to commemorate the centennial of the birth of composer and musician Leonard Bernstein.

The resulting exhibit, Leonard Bernstein: The Power of Music, the first large-scale museum exhibition to show the connections between the conductor and composer’s life, Jewish identity and social activism, opened at NMAJH last year.

A remarkable exhibit that centers on Bernstein’s lifelong search for a solution to the “crisis of faith,” it’s at the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage until March 1.

I

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| clevescene.com | October 2 - 8, 2019

“As the National Museum of Jewish History looked toward [Bernstein’s] centennial, we thought about a way in which we could honor his legacy and life and work in a new way for the special occasion,” says Weingram during a recent media day at the Maltz Museum. “The exhibit focuses on what Bernstein said was the central theme in his original compositions, which was the search for a solution to the 20th-century crisis of faith. We wanted to see how we would see that search play itself out in the choices he made as a conductor and in his work as an activist. We brought together the material culture and the films and the interactive opportunities to make the case for the crisis of

“There’s around 100 artifacts that come from public and private collections,” says Weingram. “The Library of Congress holds the Leonard Bernstein Papers. They have something like 400,000 objects, and we whittled that down to about 12 items. The Bernstein family lent us objects that have never been seen before as well as his piano. We had a number of diehard Bernstein fans come out of the woodwork and offer their mementoes too.”

The exhibit highlights Bernstein’s Jewish heritage and includes a number of artifacts, including the mezuzah that hung in his studio, the Hebrew

prayer book he carried with him when he traveled, his ketubah (Jewish marriage contact), his family’s Passover seder plate and the Talmud (book of Jewish law) his father gave him.

The exhibition also features a variety of films, sound installations and interactive media. One film puts contemporary West Side Story references (culled from sources as wide-ranging as Flight of the Conchords and a Gap ad) next to scenes from the original work.

A state-of-the-art multimedia interactive display allows visitors “to explore the many layers to Bernstein’s original compositions,” including how Bernstein the composer wove elements of synagogue music

A L L P H OTO S C O U R T E S Y T H E L E O N A R D B E R N S T E I N O F F I C E , I N C .

faith. This is the first exhibit to explore his work through that lens.”

The political and social crises of Bernstein’s day clearly informed his work. Bernstein, who was born in 1918 and died in 1990, used the arts to express the “restlessness, anxiety, fear and hope” of an American Jew living through things such as World War II, the Holocaust and the Vietnam War. “He lived through a period of the 20th century that would challenge every part of his identity — his political identity, his religious identity, his sexual orientation — and that led him to a real reckoning with his faith in the world,” says Weingram. “[He wanted to know] how could he use music and talents as a composer and a conductor and humanitarian and educator to guide himself and his world through the challenges of the 20th century.”

The exhibition shows how Bernstein broke racial barriers in his casting decisions for the musical On the Town and

addressed America’s changing ideas about race and ethnicity in West Side Story.

“In a clip in the exhibit, he refers to understanding what antiSemitism is because he grew up as a Jewish kid in Boston and would get beat up by the Irish kids,” Weingram says. “He understood outsider-ness in more than one way. He had questions about his own sexual orientation. He was Jewish. He attended Harvard as a Jewish student when there were quotas limiting the number of Jewish students.”

Bernstein wrote his Harvard thesis on how African-American music helped shape American music and was thinking about African-American culture and its influence on popular music from an early age.

The exhibition includes approximately 100 original artifacts and photographs, some never before exhibited in public.

Artifact highlights include Bernstein’s piano, an annotated copy of Romeo and Juliet used for the development of West Side Story, the program for his Carnegie Hall debut, his conducting suit, and the easel he used for studying scores and composing.

1.) b{ w z X{ { ~ ~ w { B `{ { w z iw { B yDGOHG © 2.) o } b{ w z X{ { © 3.) o } b{ w z X{ { w ~{ w © 4.) Bernstein as educator | clevescene.com | October 2 - 8, 2019

29

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MUSIC and his own familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s history into his works for ďŹ lm, Broadway and orchestra. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s custom-technology created for this exhibition,â&#x20AC;? Weingram says of the exhibitâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interactive element. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Visitors can unpack the many layers to nine of his original compositions, including his three symphonies and some of his Broadway work. A lot of it has it has to do with distilling the origins of pieces and the motifs from Jewish music that he adapted.â&#x20AC;?

To communicate the signiďŹ cance of Bernsteinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s visit to a displaced persons camp in Germany during Spring 1948, where he led an orchestra of Holocaust

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| clevescene.com | October 2 - 8, 2019

Symphony No.3 Kaddish, 1963

survivors, the exhibit features video testimonies from those who participated in that event.

An original ďŹ lm conveys the enduring impact of Bernsteinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s MASS, a piece Bernstein composed in the wake of President Kennedyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s assassination. Another original ďŹ lm features interviews with Bernstein mentees and fans, including Alec Baldwin (voice of the New York Philharmonic radio broadcasts and a classical music aďŹ cionado), actor Mandy Patinkin, playwright Tony Kushner and musician Wynton Marsalis.

As part of the Maltzâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ďŹ lm series, Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy, a ďŹ lm narrated by Clevelandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Joel Grey, examines the unique role of Jewish composers and lyricists in the creation of the modern American musical with a talk-back by the Musical Theater Projectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bill Rudman.

The screening and discussion takes place at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 2, at the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage.

In addition, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 24 at the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland, ďŹ lmmaker Howard

Concerts recorded July 1967 in Jerusalem & Tel Aviv

Rosenman will give a lecture on how a chance encounter with Bernstein led to a romantic relationship and kick-started a career in show business.

The centerpiece of the Maltz Museumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s public programming in celebration of Bernstein is a concert series during which the maestroâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s music will be played at venues throughout Cleveland, including the Bernstein Beat with the Cleveland Orchestra on the 50th anniversary of their Family Concert Series, featuring Leonard Bernsteinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s daughter Jamie Bernstein. That concert takes place at 2 p.m. on Feb. 2, at Severance Hall.

The exhibitâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wide appeal is designed to extend to people who arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even classical music fans. â&#x20AC;&#x153;First of all, I hope visitors understand you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need to know how to play an instrument or read sheet music or sing or dance to understand [the exhibit] as a human interest story about one manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s experience of some of the most tumultuous times of the 20th century and how music led

MASS: A Theatre Piece of Singers, Players & Dancers

him through those times,â&#x20AC;? says Weingram. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I hope visitors will come away from the exhibition understanding how one man from a modest home and upbringing was able to use his talents to negotiate the challenges that faced him and bring comfort and hope to others.â&#x20AC;?

jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel

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31

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Mat Kearney City of Black & White Revisited Acoustic Tour

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Richard Thompson Solo & Acoustic plus Eliza Gilkyson Mon October 21

Marti Jones and Don Dixon Tue October 22

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Sam Bush The Travelin’ McCourys Thu October 24

Joshua Radin & The Weepies Lily Kershaw Fri October 25

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| clevescene.com m | October 2 - 8, 2019

33

LIVEWIRE

all the live music you should see this week Photo by Taryn Dudley

WED

10/02

Disturbed/In This Moment: $29.50$89.50. Wolstein Center.

Steve Hackett: 7:30 p.m., $39-$125.

Masonic Auditorium.

In Real Life/Asher Angel: 8 p.m., $25-$79. House of Blues.

Melvins/Red Kross: 8:30 p.m., $26 ADV, $28 DOS. Grog Shop.

Priors/Red Devil Ryders/Self Taught No Lessons: 8 p.m., $5.

Now That’s Class.

John Raymond & Real Feels: 7 p.m., $15. Bop Stop.

Simply Saucer: 8:30 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Beachland Tavern.

THU

10/03 The L.A.-based band Moonchild comes to the Beachland Ballroom. See: Sunday.

Dressy Bessy/Forager: 8:30 p.m., $7. Happy Dog. Lily & Madeleine: 8 p.m., $12 ADV, $15 DOS. Beachland Tavern.

Pillars/Axioma/Wallcreeper/LMI: 8 p.m., $7. Now That’s Class.

Will Reagan & Andrea Marie: 8 p.m., $24 ADV, $29 DOS. House of Blues Cambridge Room.

Svetlana & Her New York Swing Collective CD Release: 7 p.m., $20. Bop Stop.

FRI

10/04

Ronnie Baker Brooks/Ben Miller Band: The son of Chicago blues legend Lonnie Brooks, Ronnie Baker Brooks has established himself as a prodigious talent and has performed with some of the greatest blues artists of our time, including BB King, Buddy Guy, Albert Collins and Koko Taylor, as well as blues rock legend Eric Clapton. He’s also been a special guest member of Big Head Todd & the Monsters on recordings and tours over the past few years. His latest album, 2017’s Times Have Changed, is a boisterous affair that commences with the high-energy rocker “Show Me” and never lets up. (Jeff Niesel) 8 p.m., $20. Beachland Ballroom.

Church of Cash (in the Supper Club): 8 p.m. Music Box Supper Club.

Dark Star Orchestra: 8 p.m., $28 ADV, $34 DOS. House of Blues.

De Rodillas/Pine Taar/Yambag: 9 p.m., $7. Now That’s Class.

DJ LDC’s Soul Music & Other

34

Music for the Soul: 6 p.m., free.

Happy Dog. Jazz Jam Session: 8 p.m., free. Bop Stop.

Miranovga/Ex-Astronaut/Key to the Mint: 9 p.m., $6. Happy Dog. Randy Napoleon Trio: CD Release: 8 p.m., $20. Bop Stop.

Now That’s What I Call Bass with Smash/Jimmy Mac/Wolftown/ RIIO/Chainsaw: 9:30 p.m., $12 ADV, $15 DOS. Grog Shop.

Kim Richey/Radney Foster: 8 p.m., $15-$30. The Kent Stage.

Jackie Warren: 10:30 p.m., free.

Nighttown.

SAT

10/05

Chandra/Teenager/Kiernan Paradise/Science Man: 9 p.m., $8.

Happy Dog. Martha Davis & the Motels: 8 p.m., $25-$35. The Kent Stage.

Electric Feels — Indie Rock + Indie Dance Night: 9:30 p.m., $15.

House of Blues.

Travis “Moonchild” Haddix: A staple on the Cleveland blues scene — and in the American music circuit writ large — Travis “Moonchild” Haddix has always brought the heat to the stage. He also surround himself with great musicians — like a tight, tight brass section. What he has always done so well has been his steady merger of classic blues structures with smooth R&B-style singing.

He makes the blues accessible to anyone willing to listen and, inevitably, dance. And having been playing guitar since he was 7, the

| clevescene.com | October 2 - 8, 2019

dude can tear it up quite nicely. He once told a music writer, “I am the best that I can be, and since no one else can be me, there’s none better.”

Right on. (Eric Sandy) 8:30 p.m., $15. Nighttown.

Joint Operation: 8:30 p.m., $8 ADV, $10 DOS. Beachland Tavern.

The Legendary Pink Dots — 40th Anniversary Tour/Orbit Sevice/ Golden Streets of Paradise: 9 p.m., $18 ADV, $20 DOS. Grog Shop.

Legends of Hip Hop with E-40, Mystical, Scarface, 8-Ball & MJG and Too Short: $62-$128.

Wolstein Center.

ProgNation/Cuda, Schief & Cuda: 8 p.m., $15. Bop Stop.

Skillet/Alter Bridge/Dirty Honey: 6 p.m. Agora Theatre.

Timmy’s Organism/Sex Tide/Jimbo Easter/Nai Sammon: 8 p.m., $8.

Now That’s Class.

Jackie Warren: 10:30 p.m., free.

Nighttown.

SUN

10/06

Electric, Eclectic Afi: Local bassist/keyboardist/songwriter Afi Scruggs learned to play piano before gravitating to other instruments. She plays a bit of everything, including blues, bluegrass, gospel and jazz.

The recipient of a songwriting commission from Chicago Public Media’s Race Out Loud program, she composes trap and hip-hop beats for students writing songs against bigotry and hatred and has performed with blues harpist

Wallace Coleman as well as local guitarists Michael J. Calhoun and Charlie Christopherson. Her single “Love Walked Out” has been featured on 107.3 FM the Wave.

Tonight, she’ll celebrate her 65th birthday with a special Electric Eclectic Afi concert at the Bop Stop.

She’ll play covers and originals, sharing her creative maturity in the name of a great time. (Niesel) 7 p.m., $15. Bop Stop.

Igor and the Red Elvises/Dark Water Rebellion: 8 p.m., $15 ADV, $17 DOS. Beachland Tavern.

Tom Knific Quartet featuring Jamey Haddad: 7 p.m., $20.

Nighttown.

Moonchild: This L.A.-based band returned earlier this year with its fourth studio album, Little Ghost. Songs such as “Too Much to Ask” and “The Other Side” blend electronic and organic instrumentation and feature soft, soulful vocals. After a year of performing at festivals and on tours with jazz heavyweight Kamasi Washington and the altR&B act the Internet, the band has embarked on a 30-date headlining run that includes tonight’s stop at the Beachland. (Niesel) 8 p.m., $23.50-$75. Beachland Ballroom.

Sonny Digital/Black Boe: 8 p.m., $15 ADV, $20 DOS. House of Blues Cambridge Room.

Grun Wasser/Knowso/Donkey Bugs/Nature: 8 p.m., $8. Now That’s Class.

Mike Watt + The Missingmen/ Lee Bains III & the Glory Fires/ Modem: 8:30 p.m., $20. Grog Shop.

MON

10/07

Earthless/Maggot Heart/Sacri Monti: 8:30 p.m., $20 ADV, $22 DOS. Grog Shop.

The Minks: 8 p.m., $10 ADV, $15 DOS. Beachland Tavern.

Sacred Reich/Toxic Holocaust/ Hammr: 7 p.m., $12 ADV, $15 DOS. Now That’s Class.

TUE

10/08

Griffin House (in the Supper Club): 7:30 p.m. Music Box Supper Club.

Operators: 8 p.m., $15. Beachland Tavern.

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

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THURSDAY 10.3 THE HOOK UP (10pm) Top 40 Club Night w/DJ MIKE FILLY FRIDAY 10.4 SAN WAV + FRIENDS (10pm) SATURDAY 10.5 THE THOUSANDS (10pm) DJ KNYCE +COREY GRAND SUNDAY 10.6 SERVICE INDUSTRY SUNDAY (7pm) MONDAY 10.7 SHITSHOW KRAROKE (9pm) w/WALLACE + MANNY TUESDAY 10.8 LYRICAL RHYTHMS (9pm) Live Band Open Mic Poetry Hip-Hop Soul Experience

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| clevescene.com | October 2 - 8, 2019

| clevescene.com | October 2 - 8, 2019

37

BAND OF THE WEEK OPERATORS

By Jeff Niesel 8&%/&4%": 0$50#&3 t 6:30P

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guitar), Devojka (keyboards), Sam Brown (drums) and Dustin Hawthorne (bass)

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AN INDIE ROCK SUPERGROUP OF SORTS:

When his indie rock band Handsome Furs broke up about seven or so years ago, Boeckner had written an entire album for the band that it didn’t have a chance to record. And since his other indie rock outfit, Wolf Parade, wasn’t active at the time, he felt like he needed another outlet. “I felt like I wasn’t tapping this part of myself,” he says. “Handsome Furs was an outlet for me to do electronic music mixed with punk. I felt like a real void in my output. I didn’t have any way to get that stuff out, so I started talking to [keyboardist] Devojka about doing something that was an extension of Handsome Furs. We wrote six or seven songs, and it’s evolved out of that. The last Handsome Furs album was veering toward intricate programming and boneheaded industrial drums [that sounds a little like Operators].” Boeckner then recruited Sam Brown of New Bomb Turks fame and Dustin Hawthorne of Hot Hot Heat to round out the Canadian group.

exponentially increased. You just have more shit coming into your life each day, and you’re forced to contend with that. It’s been an exponential ramp up.

It’s affected every single part of public and civic life. People are trying to figure out how to contend with that.

It’s hard to pin down what is true and not true. I took that as a premise and we talked about possible ways of living that have failed and hit upon an alternate timeline for a utopian society.” Mixed by Wolf Parade’s Arlen Thompson as well as up-and-coming Montreal engineer Napster Vertigo, who also produced the album, the album was mastered by the Lodge’s Emily Lazar, who just won a Grammy for her work on Beck’s latest effort.

AN EASTERN EUROPEAN CONNECTION:

The band just spent the past month touring Eastern Europe, where it has a strong following. “I started coming over here in 2006 or so with Handsome Furs after a handful of promoters reached out to me on MySpace, which was in the decline in North America but still going in Eastern Europe at the time,” says Boeckner. “Just yesterday, we drove from Moldova and took a mini-van to Transnistria, which is a breakaway from Moldova. It’s only recognized by four other countries. We went from there to Ukraine and Odessa and the show last night was completely crazy.”

WHY YOU SHOULD HEAR THEM: Radiant

Sun songs like “Days” and “I Feel Emotion” feature pulsating synthesizers and have a retro, Gary Numan-like feel to them. “When we did the mixdown, we wanted to know what pop music would sound like [in the future] and it’s soft and cloudy and disorienting,” says Boeckner, who adds that the band’s live show will be much more aggressive. “The live show will be much more savage and direct than the album,” he says. “You can’t get that immersive quality across in a live performance, where there has to be a connection between a performer and audience.”

SONGS ABOUT A “SPECULATIVE FUTURE”:

The band’s new album, Radiant Dawn, centers around the concept of a “speculative future,” an idea that came to Boeckner as he began to think about how much information people have to process on a daily basis. “I think at its most simple, [the album is] a way of processing how incomprehensible our lives have become,” he says. “Input has been

38

| clevescene.com | October 2 - 8, 2019

WHERE YOU CAN HEAR THEM:

operatorsmusic.com.

WHERE YOU CAN SEE THEM: Operators perform with Metrolight at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 8, at the Beachland Tavern.

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39

SAVAGE LOVE BAD GUYS

by Dan Savage I met a guy right around the time my boyfriend dumped me. I met him on a dating site, but he was really only interested in my boobs and me giving him head. I really like having him in my life and he’s very attractive, but he won’t do anything with me other than let me give him head while he watches porn. I’m very insecure, so I feel like part of the reason this has been going on for so long is because I’ve never had someone so attractive be into me. He asked me to sign a “contract” that requires me to drop everything and send him pictures whenever he asks.

I’m not allowed to have a boyfriend, but he can have as many girls as he likes. I do a lot of stuff for him, and he doesn’t do a single thing for me. I should have said no, but I was feeling very shitty about myself and thought I had nothing to lose.

Currently he lives a two-hour bus ride away and he won’t pick me up.

He’s also only available on weekdays.

He keeps telling me to come out to see him, but I can’t justify a twohour bus ride with nothing in it for me. I almost cut him out completely after an older coworker touched my butt — I confided in this guy, and he told me it would be hot if I showed my coworker a photo of my boobs.

That he would say something like that makes my blood boil, yet I still haven’t cut him off. Maybe I’m just overreacting and expecting too much of him, as he’s told me multiple times that he doesn’t like sex and he never wants to see my lower half.

— Don’t Understand My Behavior Stop seeing this guy — or stop servicing this asshole, I should say. This piece of shit swooped in when you were obviously feeling vulnerable (right after your boyfriend dumped you), and he’s been leveraging his good looks against you ever since. And it’s not just head he’s after, DUMB. He gets off on seeing you debase and degrade yourself — he wants to watch as you feed your selfesteem into a shredder — maybe because it affirms how attractive he is or maybe because he’s just that sadistic an asshole. And while you may think you have nothing to lose, this asshole clearly sees what you have to lose: your self-esteem,

40

| clevescene.com | October 2 - 8, 2019

which he is disassembling bit by bit.

I know people with similar blow-and-go arrangements; they provide what’s called “no recip” oral to selfish and sometimes sadistic tops. But they do it for the right reason — they do it because it turns them on. If being this guy’s on-call cocksucker turned you on and got you off, DUMB, if this was a thrilling adventure for you and a break from your regular routine, a brief/erotic escape from the person you knew yourself to be (sexy, attractive, valued, etc.), this could be a healthy and playful release.

The guys I know who do this — and they’re all guys — don’t have any illusions about the men they’re servicing catching feelings for them. And most importantly, they get off on it. It turns them on to be treated this way, to play this role, to have this kind of cocksuckeron-call arrangement with someone who plays the role of the selfish, domineering top.

But this doesn’t turn you on, DUMB, it makes you feel terrible about yourself. And I can tell you where this is headed: This guy’s assholery is going to escalate over time. Cut this guy off now.

*** I’m a 26-year-old woman in a twoyear relationship with a 32-year-old man. I love him and we live together.

He recently revealed that he thinks the word “vagina” is disgusting. He likes the word “pussy,” but “vagina” turns him off and he hates when he hears the word. I think this is ridiculous, immature, and, honestly, a bit insulting. I am proud of my vagina — I love it, and I love what we do with it together. I don’t have a hang-up with names for parts.

He assures me he loves my pussy, but vagina is a word that grosses him out. Am I crazy to be a bit upset about this terminology conflict?

— Vaginas Always Love Useful Erections “First of all, VALUE is correct,” said Dr. Jen Gunter, an ob-gyn and author. “There is nothing disgusting about the word vagina.

However, to many people, the word vagina has this connection because telling people that vaginas are dirty or gross or disgusting is a core tenet of the patriarchy. Vulva and clitoris have sadly been along for this societal shame-driven ride.

I can see how a heterosexual man might have trouble with the word vagina because he has received that messaging since birth.”

But just because we can see how your boyfriend might have developed a problem with the word, VALUE, doesn’t make your boyfriend actually having a problem with the word okay.

“There’s an issue when a grown man finds the word vagina disgusting,” said Dr. Gunter “I am curious if her boyfriend’s inability to say vagina is a ‘bedroom-only’ phenomenon or an ‘everywhere’ phenomenon. If it’s bedroom-only, maybe she can help him work up to using the word by introducing it more. Exposure therapy! However, if his disgust at the word is an ‘everywhere’ phenomenon, then I can appreciate how that is a sticking point for VALUE. I wrote a whole book, The Vagina Bible, for this very reason. If he read it and appreciated how not saying the word vagina has been oppressive

for women, maybe it might help?

Again, exposure therapy!”

Follow Dr. Jen Gunter on Twitter @DrJenGunter. The Vagina Bible is on sale now — and on the New York Times best-seller list!

Congrats, Dr. Gunter!

*** My husband likes to give and receive enemas during sex. I was very inexperienced sexually when

like anal play. The enemas began to feel physically and psychologically violating. He introduced anal plugs as an alternative, but I still felt violated and frightened whenever he put one in me. I went to a sex counselor who told me I had the right to say no. My husband began pursuing his anal interests alone.

Now we’re both 68. My sexual drive has waned, but his has not. I don’t want to give up on the experience of PIV intercourse, but he doesn’t seem to understand that at this

“There is an issue when a grown man finds the word vagina disgusting.”

we met in our early 20s and very much in love. He introduced me to enemas, and I went along at first and almost enjoyed the novelty. But in time, it started to feel less appealing.

After we had kids, there was less opportunity for this sort of thing, and I eventually realized I didn’t

stage of life, sex for me is more about closeness and feeling loved and being held than about intense sexual pleasure. He is disappointed that I am not receptive to his need for anal stimulation. I have told him he is free to find people online who will do this, or if it is so important to him to

have a partner who does this, we can separate. He would prefer that I be more accommodating.

— Absolutely No Anal Love You can and you should continue to say no to any and all sex play — anal or otherwise — that leaves you feeling violated and frightened, ANAL. You can also say, “I’d like a divorce,” to a man who has proven himself incapable of taking “no” for an answer decade after miserable decade. And while your offer to allow him to find anal playmates online falls under the “perfectly reasonable accommodation” header, ANAL, I’m more concerned with your unmet need for love and tenderness than I am with your husband’s unmet needs. To that end, I think you should go find a tender lover — right after you find yourself a kickass divorce lawyer.

On the Lovecast: Why are bi women blazing so hard? Listen at savagelovecast.com.

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