A Dogg’s Life
In Tha Doggfather, rap superstar Snoop Dogg (a.k.a. Calvin Broadus) registers more than a mild case of discomfort with his designation as (in his words) “spokesperson for the gangsta lifestyle,” stating in retrospect that “the truth is, I was never fully down with that role.” Cynics might suggest that his disenchantment with the whole gangsta…
Totally Tubular
Whales travel in pods. Birds fly in flocks. A group of tuba players — such as the 125 or so tuba family instrumentalists who will gather Saturday at the Palace Civic Center in Lorain for a Tubachristmas concert — play in what could best be described as a herd. “In music,” says Lorain’s Tubachristmas coordinator,…
The Last Big Thing
No, ska hasn’t gone away. A few years back, the No Doubts and Reel Big Fishes of the world propelled the genre to “Next Big Thing” status, earning it a prime spot in the alt-rock locker room, right between neo-swing and electronica. And of course, the craze promptly vanished from the mainstream, replaced by the…
Factory Fresh
Lissa Bockrath’s painted photographs reveal a side of Cleveland that might make the Chamber of Commerce wince. Urban clutter rusts and pollutes the land under dark skies parted by the light of industrial labor. “I have always been interested in landscapes, and when you live in Cleveland, the smokestacks and factories begin to emerge in…
Livewire
Ricky Martin Gund Arena December 6 A shriek rose from the depths of the cavernous Gund Arena as the house lights went down — an impossibly high-pitched, glass-shattering, estrogen-overloaded roar of thousands of sexually excited ladies. The curtains parted, and the shriek intensified. And then he rose from beneath the stage, resplendent upon the hood…
Uncommon Valor
I sincerely hope that Jodie Foster gets a chance to relax and unwind this holiday season, because the lady has obviously worked like a horse to instill her latest role with humanity and significance. As intrepid British widow Anna Leonowens, in the huge and poetic new Anna and the King, Foster channels so much emotional…
Playback
Various Artists Man on the Moon (Warner Bros.) It’s appropriate that the soundtrack to the Andy Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon is a jumbled affair. The comedian himself, who died in 1984 after a bout with cancer, was no stranger to oddball behavior. During the height of his fame as a regular on Taxi,…
Ghost in the Machine
If there’s anything that could make me believe in a cruel and vengeful God, it’s the incredible success of writer-turned-director Chris Columbus. Columbus is, in sheer dollar terms, the most successful comedy director of all time, having been at the helm of Mrs. Doubtfire and Home Alone and its first sequel. He has also been…
Soundbites
Last week, Soundbites was invited to a low-key grand opening of Revolution (3415 Brookpark Road, Parma), which was formerly a sports bar called the Goal Post. Co-owners Billy Morris, Jimmy Maler, and David Romweber have recently transformed the place into a hip live music venue. While the finishing touches are still being put on the…
The Ultimate Orphan
It is rare to find a movie that is as accomplished, multilayered, and rewarding as the novel from which it was adapted, but The Cider House Rules is such a film. Directed by Lasse Hallström (My Life as a Dog, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?), the film displays the kind of grace, compassion, and sensitivity that…
Saccharine Overdose
It’s too tempting to resist. You see, there’s a secret about Stuart Little that the fine folks at Sony don’t want to blow. It’s not that each one of the half-million computer-generated hairs on the mouse’s head is cute as the dickens. It isn’t that human stars Geena Davis and Hugh Laurie smile with such…
Good Grief!
At first glance, Pedro Almodovar’s All About My Mother seems uncharacteristically grim for a filmmaker with such a demonic sense of humor. Within 10 minutes, the heroine’s 17-year-old son is hit and killed by a car, which propels her and the events of the film into motion. In the next 90 minutes, we meet an…
Edge
Never mind! In a letter to Economic Development Director Chris Warren, Forest City Enterprises has formally rescinded its attempt to weasel out of a $9.2 million loan repayment to the city. Both Imperial Mayor Mike White and deposed City Council President Jay Westbrook were willing to settle for an early $3.9 million buyout, but after…
Magic Makeover
Before the basketball star and the balloons, before the marauding kids, the “near-riot,” the belligerent Easter bunny, and angry Santa’s elf, there was the shrimp — 1,200 pounds of the stuff. There was also crab and turkey, crepes filled with chicken and spinach, and trees trimmed with melon and cheese. And there was the guest…
The Healing Arts
Charles Yannopoulos can be reached at cyannopoulos@clevescene.com.
Fairy Tale for the Folks
Ignorance definitely has its advantages. Give the lowdown about A Kiss for Cinderella to your average theatergoer, describe it as a willfully bizarre Edwardian fantasy, and you’ll hear a distinct gulp. Talk about its enchanted drudge of a heroine nicknamed “Miss Thing,” who does good deeds for a penny, including curing her neighbor’s ills and…
Side Dish
Renaissance Man Boyishly charming Marco Klein, new executive chef for Sans Souci (24 Public Square; 216-696-5600) and head of catering operations at the Cleveland Renaissance Hotel, made his public debut earlier this month with an intimate “chef’s table” gathering for a few guests. Klein’s sophisticated five-course menu began with rosy Carpaccio of Beef and Veal…
Wards’ Rewards
There ought to be a law against what most of Cleveland’s commercial kitchens do to vegetables. Broccoli, carrots, green beans . . . those year-round market staples are either overcooked until they are limp and gray or — more commonly — undercooked and served hard and nearly cold in a puddle of tepid water. Even…
Papa Don’t Preach
The story of David Pajo starts predictably enough. In episode one, he discovers punk music and falls in love. Gets a guitar and thrashes. Once he gets really good at thrashing, he forms several peripheral punk bands with appropriately nasty names like the Genital Warts and the Fuck Shits. The bands break up, only to…
Christmas Kitsch
A collection of musicians specializing in holiday-themed product, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra is extraordinarily good at spreading its bloated words and music, purveying a pastiche of classical themes, kitschy bombast, and metalloid, guitar-god posturing. The New York-based group has been a smash since 1996, when Christmas Eve and Other Stories signaled its arrival on the theatrical…
