A & E

Watch What You Say

I spent an interesting 90 minutes the other evening watching an amusing independent film called Never Say Macbeth. The comedy is described by its producers as a cross between Waiting for Guffman and Beetlejuice — that is, it’s about goofy theater and even goofier supernatural phenomena. If you’ve watched the inspired Canadian miniseries Slings and Arrows, about the backstage antics of a classic theater company, you might recognize a kindred spirit there, too. The romantic comedy is inspired by the theater superstition that uttering the name of Shakespeare’s “Scottish play” (that’s an acceptable reference) brings all kinds of dire results.

Macbeth is considered unlucky because it’s full of witchcraft. If an actor mentions the show’s title in a theater, there is a ritual about spinning around three times, spitting over your shoulder and uttering a line from Hamlet (“Angels and ministers of grace, defend us”) to prevent bad things from happening. Those who have ignored the curse, so it goes, have regretted it — if they’ve lived long enough. There’s a litany of performers dating back to the play’s original production in 1606 who have suffered illness, injury and even death.

Oh, What a Night!

Last night CityBeat presented the 12th annual Cincinnati Entertainment Awards for theater before an enthusiastic crowd at Below Zero Lounge in Over-the-Rhine. John Fox, CityBeat's editor, and I were the emcees in a scaled-back event that was as much about socializing as it was about recognition.

We handed out two rounds of awards: A set of 12 voted on by the public (nearly 3,000 votes were cast, more than in any past year) and then eight decided by a group of Cincinnati-area critics. You can check out the winners on CityBeat's CEA micro-site here, but I will point out that New Stage Collective, in its second season, received seven awards, the most of any theater company. And those were for four different productions: Caroline, or Change (outstanding musical), Take Me Out (outstanding supporting actor), Bug (outstanding actress) and several for Jerry Springer: The Opera (including outstanding premiere).

But the CEAs, in my mind, are not about who picks up the trophies but rather how many nominees are presented — 99 this year, as we expanded the nominees per award from four to five. When I announced the year's outstanding play (Cincinnati Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream) and the outstanding musical (Springer at New Stage), I remarked that I preferred to think about the fact that we were recognizing 10 outstanding productions. The recipients were chosen by a set of critics, and if others had made the choices there might have been different results. What's the "best" is really a matter of taste, not some kind of objective judgment, so everyone should be proud to be part of the process.

And the CEA Goes to ...

For the 12th year in a row, CityBeat is hosting the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards, recognizing local theater artists and productions. It's happening Sunday night in a new venue — Below Zero (1120 Walnut St., Over-the-Rhine) — and you're invited to show up at 7 p.m. for the free event, which includes things to eat from nearby Lavomatic Cafe and piano cabaret entertainment by Terry LaBolt. Two rounds of awards will be announced: At 8 p.m., you can hear the results of public voting for categories involving actors in plays and musicals in addition to the year's outstanding community theater production. Following a break, around 9 p.m. the "critical achievement" awards will be made public — these are for technical categories and for the year's outstanding alternative production, premiere, play and musical.

Some pertinent facts: Almost 3,000 people voted for the public categories, the most ever cast for the CEAs. That's even more impressive because this year, for the first time, all the voting was online. That's a great indicator that a lot of people care about our local theater scene. They had more to choose from, too, since almost every category was expanded from four to five nominees — resulting in almost 100 options. The truth is that every nominee was noteworthy — that's the point, regardless of which one receives the award. Consider this a barometer of great theater.

Sunday evening is also a chance to honor Bill Hartnett and Ellie Shepherd, recipients of this year's award for continuing achievement from the League of Cincinnati Theatres. They'll be inducted into the CEA Hall of Fame on Sunday evening. If you'd like to read more about them, see the feature I wrote in this week's issue of CityBeat.

One more fact to get you to show up on Sunday evening: This might be your last chance to see Terry LaBolt at the keyboard for a while. He's headed off to Bloomington, Ind., where he'll be the musical director for the musical theater program at Indiana University. LaBolt, back to decent health after a kidney transplant, has been around for years — at CCM and with many theater companies as accompanist and music director. He's excited about his new gig. And this is not a total farewell, since it seems likely he'll make periodic treks back in our direction. But for now, we're extremely grateful to have him as part of the 2008 CEA show.

See you on Sunday evening!

— Rick Pender

Pollock Does Bookworm

Chillicothe-based author Donald Ray Pollock garnered an impressive array of reviews when his debut collection of short stories, Knockemstiff, was published back in March. Everyone from The New York Times to Chuck Palahniuk praised the book's dark humor and its unblinkingly genuine portrait of what it's like to live in a decaying, debaucherous Midwestern town. Yes, Pollock grew up in the true-life Knockemstiff, Ohio.

Now you can add a stop at Bookworm, Michael Silverblatt’s revered KCRW radio show. Pollock’s appearance is a rarity for a first-time author — long an oasis for incisive conversations, Silverblatt prefers to interview writers with a track record so that he can employ his wicked analytical skills, which often reveal previously undected or rarely discussed trends in an author’s work. To put it in simpler terms: dude is smart.

In other Pollock news, he will be taking part in the second annual Books by the Banks at the Duke Energy Center on Nov. 1.

— Jason Gargano

Beautiful Losers Revisited

Remember Beautiful Losers, the crafty, expansive, popular exhibition at the CAC in the spring of 2004? Well, the exhibition's co-curator, Aaron Rose, has created a documentary film in honor of such "loser" artists (aka those who favor rough-hewn, Punk, graffiti and skateboard culture-inspired art) and their now nearly mainstream movement entitled — what else? — Beautiful Losers.

(Christian Strike and Aaron Rose, co-curators of Beautiful Losers.)

I found Rose — who founded Alleged Gallery in NYC, an early venue for the aforementioned artists — a charming, well-informed guy. Yet Nathan Lee, who reviews the film in today's New York Times, apparently sees Rose as a bit too fawning in his praise of the doc's subjects and too self-serving in his role as a champion of their work.

Maybe, but I'll reserve judgment until I see it for myself, which will probably be on DVD unless the CAC decides to screen it.

— Jason Gargano

Stunts and Blunts

Filmmaker David Gordon Green is known for his minimalist visual aesthetic and intimate, atmosphere-drenched stories about normal people in normal places. (See George Washington (2000), All the Real Girls (2003), Undertow (2004) or Snow Angels (2008) for proof.)

None of the aforementioned adjectives describe the 33-year-old director's latest, the hilarious stoner action/comedy Pineapple Express. I talked to Green a few months back about Snow Angels — a small-town melodrama that finally hit theaters after debuting more than a year earlier at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival — and he gave me heads up about what was on the horizon.

(David Gordon Green)

Stage Door: Last Chances

I don't want to hear any whining about "there's nothing worth seeing onstage in the summertime in Cincinnati." This weekend, if you time your efforts correctly, you can see two excellent shows.

Tonight you should head to the recently opened Madisonville Arts Center for the final (of five) performances of Steven Dietz's Fiction by The Drama Workshop. Yes, it's a community theater — they usually perform in the Westwood Town Hall — and yes, it's great theater. Director Jeff Groh (who has worked with Cincinnati Shakespeare and various semiprofessional companies around the city) has assembled a sterling three-person cast: David A. Levy, Amy Faust and CEA nominee Aretta Baumgardner (she played the stepmother in New Stage Collective's production of Caroline, or Change last fall).

Dietz's script — about a pair of writers whose creative skills seep into their lives — is one that keeps you guessing and makes you uncertain who's the hero and who's the villain. But tonight's the last night to see it, so call now for tickets: 513-271-8600.

Then, on Saturday, try to score a ticket for New Stage's production of Jerry Springer: The Opera, which has been running to steady audiences since late June. It's audacious and offensive (just like Springer's infamous TV show), but I can't tell you how many people have told me they saw it once, loved it and went back again. (See Tom McElfresh's rave review here.)

This weekend is your last chance to see the show, which is nominated for numerous Cincinnati Entertainment Awards. Final performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. Tickets: 513-621-3700.

And while you have theater on the mind, cast your vote (if you haven't already) for the 2008 theater CEAs. Monday is the voting deadline.

— Rick Pender