Photo By Joan Marcus

Cabaret

Love, Italian Style
The common moniker for Frank Rich, one-time theater critic of The New York Times, was "the butcher of Broadway." Maybe he's mellowed a tad (now dispensing his vitriol at political targets from the Times' editorial page), but people certainly noticed when he described the title song of a new musical like this: "In its dramatic placement, melodic beauty and evocation of the sensation of sheer youthful yearning, there is not much in the American musical that can match it."

The show was Adam Guettel's THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA, which opens a two-week run Tuesday at the Aronoff Center, kicking off the 2006-07 Fifth Third Bank Broadway Across America season. Set in the summer of 1953, Piazza is about a mother and daughter traveling through Italy the daughter's romance with a handsome, high-spirited Italian, and the mother's efforts to keep them apart. Love eventually triumphs, and the mother escapes her own disappointments via her daughter's emerging emotions.

The show won Tony Awards in 2005 for Best Original Score and for Best Orchestration, and it picked up more for its gorgeous appearance, winning for its sets, costumes, lighting and sound.

Composer Guettel -- whose musical lineage derives from his grandfather, composer Richard Rodgers, half of the legendary musical theater team of Rodgers and Hammerstein -- says of Piazza, "I tried to write music that would sound like the experience of falling in love, to evoke the feeling of it, or memory, or wish. After all, there's a piazza in every American city, and I hope our show brings something genuinely romantic."

Rich described it this way: "It's as if Guettel were determined to capture the golden light of Tuscany in a bottle."

The show opened to rave reviews in April 2005 at New York's Lincoln Center and extended its run until June of this year; it was broadcast nationwide on PBS's Live From Lincoln Center in June. The Light in the Piazza's tour started with a four-week run in San Francisco during August; Cincinnati is its second stop, just in case you needed a reminder that we're an important theater town. 513-241-SHOW. (See Onstage.) -- RICK PENDER

WEDNESDAY 30
Combat those mid-week blues and head to the CINCINNATI ART MUSEUM for the last session in the series that highlights female contributions in the art world, "Looking and Learning: Women in Art." AMBER LUCERO-CRISWELL, associate curator of education for adult programs, leads the discussion, which focuses on the context of women in art -- their role as both subjects and master artists. Bring those provocative questions and expect some thought-provoking dialogue. Class runs 6-7:30 p.m.; cost is $20 for CAM members and $40 for the general public. Registration is required. 513-721-ARTS. (See Art.) -- JACQUELYN VAUGHN

FRIDAY 01
When the folks running Jersey Productions -- the new group performing regularly this summer at the nicely renovated Otto M. Budig Theater at Covington's Carnegie Center -- decided to do Kander and Ebb's legendary musical CABARET, they turned to a friend they'd known for a long time, Richard Amelius, to play the role of the lascivious, enigmatic Emcee. But this wasn't just an act of friendship: Amelius is a veteran of the role, having played it four times. In fact, he's received nominations for Barrymore Awards (that's Philadelphia's version of the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards) not only for playing the Emcee but also for overseeing choreography of a production of Cabaret there. He's taken on the same set of responsibilities for Carnegie's production, which opens Friday evening. $18-$25. 859-957-1940. (See Onstage.) -- RICK PENDER

SATURDAY 02 SUNDAY 03
The OHIO RENAISSANCE FESTIVAL's re-created 16th-century village puts you right in the middle of hundreds of costumed performers dedicated to suspending your disbelief as they put on hundreds of shows each day. You can watch knights in full armor joust for the Queen's honor. You can watch a live pirate show on an authentic maritime Galleon. You can walk the grounds with a 1-pound turkey leg and a cold, frothy ale as you encounter storytellers, strolling musicians, singers, dancers and the gossip of villagers, all while you fill your armor needs in the open-air marketplace that features more than 130 merchants and craftsman. Sound excitingly overwhelming? It is. It's "400 years of fun" crammed into a single day. $9.99-$16.99. 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday through Oct. 22 in Harveysburg, Ohio, located on State Route 73 just off I-71. 513-897-7000. (See Events.) -- MAIJA ZUMMO

SATURDAY 02
Currently on view at SIDEWINDER COFFEE & TEA (4181 Hamilton Ave., Northside) is a collection of rich watercolors by Carson Wasserman, the artist's first exhibition in Cincinnati. Wasserman drives home the versatility of the medium by going beyond simple washes and subtle color shifts. Much of the work is highly saturated and carries with it a complexity of tints, tones and shades; many pieces carry a degree of abstraction reminiscent of a dream sequences. While some of the work looks more advanced in its approach and technique, there is a maturity and confidence within the setup of the compositions, perfect for contemplating over a cup of coffee. Continues through Oct. 8. (See Art.) -- JACQUELYN VAUGHN

Photo By Matt Steffen

Cabaret

SUNDAY 03
Growing up in Cincinnati, Rock radio station WEBN's annual fireworks display on Labor Day weekend always coincided with my birthday (this year it falls exactly on it), so I've always pretended Riverfest and its pyrotechnics were in my honor. This year, Breenfest 2006 (aka the TOYOTA WEBN FIREWORKS) celebrates its 30th presentation (it's only its 29th year, meaning they snuck an extra fireworks show in there somewhere). Regularly one of the best displays of fireworks on the planet -- designed by the renowned Rozzi's Famous Fireworks team -- this year's theme is "30 Years in 30 Minutes." The pyro-musical event will once again feature EBN's mash of Classic and New Rock as its soundtrack, this time collecting the bits that worked best from years past. And they've even added an original piece of music to the collage, as sound design chief Joel Moss contacted Funk legend Bootsy Collins to craft a "score" for some of the fireworks. Collins obliged, offering a track featuring guitar work from frequent Bootsy cohort Buckethead and the vocal theme "I see rockets." Like the music, the city's traditional end-of-the-summer bash has changed slightly over the years; you can't drink down there anymore, meaning the nights no longer end with a drunken yahoo climbing up a light post (one of my favorite Riverfest memories). But the essence remains the same -- loud Rock & Roll, huge crowds and a big, big boom on the river. Happy birthday to me! (See Music and Events.) -- MIKE BREEN

TUESDAY 05
CHAD JOHNSON is a unique cat. Brash yet grounded, the All-Pro receiver is a contradiction in Bengal stripes. No one knows this better than Enquirer columnist PAUL DAUGHERTY, who spent every Tuesday morning during the 2005 season with Johnson, documenting their interactions in the just-published book Chad: I Can't Be Stopped. What did he find? I'm still wading through the biography's slender contents, but one thing's for sure: Daugherty can't stop Chad, especially when it comes to his diverse taste in music. (The guy likes 2 Live Crew's Luther Campbell and Tony Bennett.) Daugherty's spare, concise sentences are in direct contrast to the motor-mouthed Johnson, a dichotomy that works well on the page, never more so than during the book's surprisingly moving sections on Johnson's childhood in Miami, Fla. Several intriguing tidbits are revealed here -- Johnson apparently waited tables every Thursday night at a West Side LaRosa's a few years back -- all of which add up to a book as beguiling as its subject. Johnson and Daugherty sign Chad: I Can't Be Stopped 7 p.m. Tuesday at Joseph-Beth Booksellers. 513-396-8970. (See Literary.) -- JASON GARGANO