Cincinnati Pops season opener with Idina Menzel

Art is my number one connection with this city, and a huge part of my "re-adventure." While I love the new(-to-us) restaurants, shops and events that Dan and I take in, the easiest way for me to fall in love with Cincinnati over and over again is through art, art, art.


Through my much-beloved Enjoy the Arts* subscription, I managed to snag three tickets to the Cincinnati Pops season opener... on opening night... third row center... for half price. (Guh.) My mom, my guy and I were itching to get back to the symphony, especially as Idina Menzel was their guest performer.

The first act was Idina-free and super-short... which I lamented, a bit. The Pops began with a tribute to a symphony member they'd recently lost, which reduced my mom and me to tears within the first few notes. After a moment of silence, they transitioned into a selection of Broadway tunes, such as the overture from West Side Story, but it was over far too quickly. Yes, I was anxious to see Ms. Menzel, but this symphony is incredibly talented and I could have listened to them all night.

(I suppose there are plenty of opportunities for that, yes?)


And then there was Idina Menzel. Menzel's act was much longer, but it was over in the blink of an eye. Menzel is the kind of woman who owns a stage-- you can tell she grew up as an actress, not solely as a chanteuse. She was ribald and goofy at times, though she also displayed perfectly controlled moments of grace and charm. You could get whiplash watching her change character between pensive lounge singer and goofy new mother. (Idina Menzel has a one-year-old boy, Walker, and anecdotes and toddler-songs dominated my least favorite part of her set.)


The best moment in the night-- I'll say "for me" but I think it'd be hard for anyone to argue-- was toward the end, when Menzel set down her microphone and powered through "For Good" from Wicked, a capella and peering into the audience to make sure she was connecting with the people in the nosebleeds. It's moments like that which take a performance to a higher level, and I think it was more than just the Wicked fans who were touched by this moment of engagement.

My seats were so close to the stage that I could read the pianist's song book to see what she was going to sing next. I think I've been spoiled.

Cincinnati Pops website: http://cincinnatipops.org/Home.php
Idina Menzel's website: http://www.idinamenzel.com/
Enjoy the Arts website: http://www.enjoythearts.org/

*Enjoy the Arts, which I've mentioned over and over again, makes me feel like I am robbing the artists sometimes, because I get such insane deals (and frequent free tickets) to local venues. As I was explaining to my mom, I can't wait to grow into the artistic benefactor I hope to be some day, and be able to support programs like this so that people like me can get hooked on the arts at a young age.

Cincinnati Opera: Otello

Some days, I'm the luckiest girl alive.


I scored these tickets through my Enjoy the Arts subscription. I've had nothing but praise for this program; I earned my subscription price back with my first purchase, so tickets to Otello were essentially free.

"Would you like to see Toy Story 3 tonight? Or maybe go to the mother-flippin' opera?"


And the breathtaking Music Hall is now-- literally?-- in my backyard. We walked; it took maybe three minutes. Goodbye, anxiety over parking! Farewell, leaving an hour ahead of the event! Hello, an almost-too-short walk from my new home! (Also ran into our neighbor there. Hi John!)


I'd been to a few touring productions of operas in college-- tons of great acts come through Miami and students can get a great discount-- but I don't believe I'd ever been to the Cincinnati Opera. I grew up listening to my mom talk about the great arts in Cincinnati, including our much-lauded ballet and opera, but this was my first chance to partake.

I wasn't aware that the opera offers an educational preamble an hour before the show; I devoured that, and I'm so glad they open that to ticket-holders!

The show itself, I really liked. I learned in the preamble that our Otello was sick-- he's used to singing in Italy, and had an allergic reaction to our... wait for it... extreme air conditioning. That was a bit distracting, what with the coughing and snot-wiping he tried to hide during his performance. (Maybe not everyone could tell? Hello, fifth row!) However, I'd be an idiot not to tell you that his voice was astounding, and that's what we were really all there for, wasn't it?

Our Otello wasn't what I would have expected. Otello is a dashing war general with a passionate love life, yes? But Dan and I agreed that the Otello standing before us was more of the stereotypical "Italian opera singer" type... a rotund, red-faced Pavarotti, where I expected... hm, not sure. Not a white guy, that's for sure. (Moor of Venice?) I tried, but I also couldn't really pick up on the love connection between Otello and Dezzi. There was no spark there, especially not one worth stabbin' over.

But at the end of the day we're there to hear some world-famous arias, right? Isn't that why we see Verdi's version over the local high school's rendition? The singing did not disappoint, allergies and all. I'm not sure I could have asked for a better Cincinnati Opera initiation-- and if I weren't going to be out of town, I'd absolutely hit up La Boheme.


Cincinnati Opera: http://www.cincinnatiopera.com/

Krohn Conservatory tour

Enjoy the Arts put together another awesome behind-the-scenes tour: this time, Krohn Conservatory. I was particularly excited about this event because Dan had never been to Krohn. (Usually I'm the total newb when it comes to Cincinnati.)

We both ended up learning a ton at this tour. We had an incredible guide who had worked at Krohn for something like 30 years, and now occasionally gives tours of the facilities. He walked us through the main room where we were able to see a display being built, and they talked through the process of putting together a show and how far in advance they have to plan it. We saw all the rooms, including the desert room, which I'd never seen before. Ooh, also loved the orchid room and the bonsai room!

I was also eaten alive by bugs-- the differences between seeing Krohn in the daytime and in the nighttime are vast. (Bugs aside, I still preferred the nighttime walk-through.)

There's one more Enjoy the Arts tour this year: Taft Museum. It's a Saturday brunch event-- anyone considering going?


Krohn Conservatory website: http://www.cincinnatiparks.com/krohn-conservatory/index.shtml
Krohn's new iPod tours: http://krohntour.org/content/krohn-tour
More of Dan's pictures from our Krohn tour: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rrrrred/sets/72157622687482049/

Cincinnati Shakespeare Company: All's Well That Ends Well

Soon I'm going to write a post strictly about how much I love my Enjoy the Arts subscription, but suffice to say that's how I ended up downtown at the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company.

...For the first time. Another huge cryin' shame for an English major such as myself.

The current show is All's Well That Ends Well, which is one of the few popular Shakespearean plays that I haven't read or seen performed. As it turns out, I very much dislike the story. (A shock to me! I could have written this post as a perfect Elizabethan sonnet!)

But the CSC was wonderful. I adored the comfortable, intimate theater and the simple set work. The staff was helpful, the cast was wonderful-- one of the main characters was an understudy running script-in-hand due to a regular cast illness and I was still impressed by his performance.

Despite my distaste for All's Well, I'll definitely be making it back to Cincinnati Shakespeare Company soon. They have an upcoming one-man show about Edgar Allan Poe that I'd love to see, and a Christmas show that sounds like a lot of fun. Even after my ETA subscription expires, but it'd be worth it to pay full price for a ticket to see upcoming pieces in their series.

Cincinnati Shakespeare Company website: http://cincyshakes.com/
Enjoy the Arts website: https://www.enjoythearts.org/

Cincinnati Museum Center architecture tour

Well, I fell in love again.

Last night, Dan, Bradley and I schlepped to the Cincinnati Museum Center to take a more in-depth tour of Union Terminal's architecture than is commonly available. I've become more interested in architecture as a result of recent tours of Chicago's riverside buildings and Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, and when I saw a chance to tour my favorite building in Cincinnati, I jumped.


The tour was fantastic. As a kid, most kids tour Union Terminal... you focus on the gorgeous mosaics, the history of the train station, usually watch an Omnimax film. I remember those tours, and the weak-in-the-knees feeling I always got from looking straight up to the ceiling of the dome.

This tour engaged both that kid-like sense of wonder, and a more mature quest for history and education. Union Terminal has always fascinated me-- it was, after all, the source of inspiration for the Justice League's HQ-- but last night we were able to look behind the scenes.


I know more about the concept of art deco now... can point out pillars and colors, materials and indirect lighting. I know that there are wires under the seats of the original 1930s theater because men needed a place to put their hats while watching the newsreels. I know that the Rookwood Ice Cream Parlor is worth more than the entire rest of the building, because of its rare tiles. I know that the entire monstrosity was almost demolished, until they discovered it would cost more to tear it down than to turn it into something else. ...And thank gawd they did.


If you get a chance to take a similar tour, I highly recommend it. Ours was at night, which meant it was closed to the public, quiet, and with a completely different lighting than you normally get to see.

There is apparently a very rare tour coming up in February, during which you get to walk over the dome in the concrete infrastructure. We'll definitely pass along information about that if we hear more.

See my Flickr set (mostly taken by Dan) here: Union Terminal tour

Cincinnati Museum Center website: http://www.cincymuseum.org/