“Economy en Shambles” is not the name of a drag queen at Bounce — but it certainly would be appropriate in these times.
After all, variations on that were some of the dreary past year’s buzzwords, with “economic downturn,” “economic crisis” and “Imma be flailin’ in this economy,” becoming pretty hackneyed these days. (Okay, maybe not that last one.)
It’s no wonder, then, that when the high-brow yet hip Cleveland Museum of Art offers eight weeks of free events, most of us — even the most affluent guppies in the group — jump for joy.
Although the museum’s Opening Nights Festival series will feature some pretty interesting performances, the goal of these gratis — that means FREE! — events is to showcase the newly renovated Gartner Auditorium, a signature, stately performance hall if ever there was one.
Save the dates and get your cultural arts groove on. Just be gentle when you raise the roof of the Gartner; it reopened less than a month ago.
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Holding court like a nearly century-old institution should, the Cleveland Museum of Art knows just what we want in live entertainment: fabulous performances in a breathtaking venue that are fun, groovy and — best of all — free. (They go well with its mission of making its permanent galleries open to everyone at zero cost.) And the clever folks at the museum are delivering with the Opening Nights Festival, weekly events running from March 12 through April 30 to show off local talent and the majestic, recently reopened Gartner Auditorium in all its granite glory.
On deck is a diverse mix of high-caliber instrumental, dance and vocal artists, not to mention a couple of surprise screenings and performances. Although we certainly suggest you take the museum up on its most generous offer and check out as many of the festival’s entries as you can, we’d be worthless if we didn’t offer some hot Spangle picks (especially transgender alt-rocker Baby Dee’s April 14 gig) to help you choose:
Wednesday, March 17: Band together
The U.S. Coast Guard Band will fill the Gartner with the striking sounds of its brass quintet. I didn’t ask for photos of these military musicians and their proud, shiny instruments, and the museum’s publicist didn’t tell me many details other than what you see here (other than the fact that the Contemporary Youth Orchestra, the first and only of its kind in the country, will also perform), but there’s nothing like a tuba player in uniform.
Wednesday, March 31: World music strikes a chord
A hint of harpsichord, a dash of South Indian dance and a bit of Beethoven will make for a rather tasty musical melting pot. Karel Paukert and Sujatha Srinivasan bring the baroque and the Bharatanatyam, respectively, while the Cleveland Orchestra shows you how the Septet, Op. 20 is done.
Friday, April 2: Turn up the heat
Members of the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra will light up Gartner under the direction of Sean Jones, as the Flamenco! Fairmount Spanish Dancers bring the passion of flamenco guitar, singing and movement to the museum.
Saturday, April 10: Cleveland Museum of Ark
Get your rocks off with a youthful Harrison Ford — or at least, be wowed when you see the classic giant boulder chase scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark on the Gartner’s larger-than-life 37-foot screen during this special showing of the Spielberg classic.
Wednesday, April 14: A Dee-licious, don’t-miss-it night
Performance artist, songwriter, classically trained harpist, circus sideshow veteran, and transgender street legend Baby Dee was born in 1953 right here in Cleveland, where she launched a successful music career, making international headlines in the process. (Check out Spangle’s profile of her here.) In support of her new album and to kick off her latest tour, Dee will perform a fresh batch of insightfully left-of-center songs. The Opera Cleveland Chorus and a performance of Louis Andriessen’s “Workers Union” round out the night.
Tuesday, April 16: Bring the funk and kick it old school
The Roberto Ocasio Latin Jazz Project brings a finely honed mix of funk, fusion, salsa, mambo and R&B, while the Cleveland School of the Arts R. Nathaniel Dett Choir performs sacred and secular works.
The Details
Cleveland Museum of Art Opening Nights Festival
March 12 - April 30, 2010
Gartner Auditorium (11150 East Blvd., University Circle)
All performances begin at 7 p.m. (except for April 10, which begins at 1:30 p.m.)
Tickets are free but required. In the event of a sold-out performance (which some already are), you can still get in with stand-by tickets at the door. Limit four tickets per order.
Click here or call 216.421.7340 for tickets.
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