Photo By Tony Bailey

Cyclones

WEDNESDAY 3/19
ART: CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER and THE CINCINNATI ART MUSEUM combine forces for the Lewitt x 2 exhibition. See feature on page 35.

MUSIC: THE XYZ AFFAIR, a Prog Pop/Indie Rock/Glam-spiked Psychedelia band with a smart name, plays the Southgate House. See Sound Advice on here.

ONSTAGE: RADIO GOLF offers fresh insight into issues of class and race at the Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati. See cover story here.

ART: RED TREE GALLERY Red Tree Gallery is a hidden gem in Oakley. Sip on some of its fair-trade, organic coffee and check out the current exhibition, Evoke. It includes landscape, figurative and abstract paintings as well as unusual furniture. While the artists in this group exhibition have very distinct styles, the installation effectively accentuates each. Natalie PeGanÕs landscapes are soft and muddled by memory, while Joel BlazerÕs paintings and prints depict off-kilter kaleidoscopic figures in flat colors and forms. Scott StibichÕs furniture incorporates unexpected elements that invite a double-take, and Jim CrosserÕs glossy abstract paintings embrace a bold, bright palette of acrylics. The prices are reasonable and responsible for the impressive number of sold stickers already posted. Evoke is on display through April 3. 513-321-8733.

Photo By Library of Congress

The Universe of Dr. Einstein

ANGELA KILDUFF

SPORTS: CINCINNATI CYCLONES ItÕs been a long time since Cincinnati sports fans have had a winning team to follow (rumor has it that a local college is in some kind of basketball tournament this week, but weÕre not sure about the details). The Cincinnati Cyclones are currently cruising through the final month of their schedule at 48-10 and have already clinched their division. The team won 17 straight games at one point and looks to have a legitimate shot at the East Coast Hockey League title if the Montreal Canadiens donÕt steal all their good players for the NHL squad. With another couple weeks left before the Reds come north, the Cyclones are your only option for avoiding sketchy March weather and seeing live athletic competition. You probably already missed the only game this week as the ÕClones got bumped to a 10 a.m. slot at U.S. Bank Arena Wednesday (did the SmuckerÕs Stars on Ice Tour need extra ice time?), but theyÕre back at 7:30 p.m. March 26 and 28. $10-$22.50. 513-421-PUCK. DANNY CROSS

THURSDAY 3/20
COMEDY: GEOFF TATE ItÕs been a hectic few weeks for Cincinnati-based comedian Geoff Tate. In mid-March he flew to New York to film a segment for Comedy CentralÕs Live at Gotham series. This week he will open for Mike Birbiglia, the man who helped give him his first big break. Well, Birbiglia and an open slot from another stand-up comedian who didnÕt show up one night at Go Bananas. Tate had been doing stand-up for a little while and was working the door at the Montgomery comedy club. ¨About a year and a half ago Mike ... was coming in to do one night and the middle comic didnÕt show up, so I had to finish working the door, change clothes and go on stage.Ó So impressed was Birbiglia that he gave Tate other opportunities to open around the country, which eventually lead to the appearance on Live at Gotham. ¨It all comes from being in the right place at the right time,Ó Tate says. Tate will open for Birbiglia Thursday-Saturday at Go Bananas in Montgomery. $17-$20. (Friday is sold out.) 513-984-9288. P.F. WILSON

ONSTAGE: MOBY DICK REHEARSED Last year one of the most riveting evenings of theater I attended was Jane Eyre, a touring production by the Tony Award-winning The Acting Company that made a one-night stop at the Aronoff CenterÕs Jarson-Kaplan Theater. TheyÕre back for another show with Moby Dick Rehearsed. In the play a company of actors stop working on King Lear to explore a tale about another tyrannical man, Captain Ahab, obsessed with vengeance on a great white whale. ItÕs based on a script by legendary director Orson Welles, who loved to partner with audiences to create illusions onstage. 8 p.m. $30. 513-621-2787. RICK PENDER

Photo By Matt Steffen

Jim Stump and Lesley Hitch

ATTRACTIONS: MACY‘S FOUNTAIN PLACE In their shoes: While you canÕt walk in them, you can see the footwear worn by civil rights activists, including entertainer Sammy Davis Jr., activist Jesse Jackson, author Lerone Bennett Jr. and Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin at the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame Shoes Exhibit. These are the shoes used to create the footprint impressions in the cement at the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic site in Atlanta. The opening reception, 6Ð8 p.m. Thursday, kicks off the 10-day exhibit in the shoe department at MacyÕs Fountain Place. Store hours are 10 a.m.Ð 6 p.m. Monday and Saturday, 10 a.m.Ð8 p.m. TuesdayÐFriday. 513-361-4200. MARGO PIERCE

EVENTS: THE UNIVERSE OF DR. EINSTEIN HeÕs best known among the public as the prototypical mad scientist with the bushy white hair and mustache, but Albert Einstein fundamentally changed how people view the universe and reality with his special theory of relativity and other scientific works. Born into a Jewish family in Germany in 1879, Einstein became interested in physics at age 5. At the time, his father showed him a pocket compass and young Albert realized that something was moving the needle, an experience he described as making ¨a deep and lasting impression.Ó Drake Planetarium will celebrate his lifetime of brilliance with ¨The Universe of Dr. Einstein,Ó a presentation that will explore the bizarre consequences of the theories promulgated by Albert and what they teach us about the cosmos. The show reviews several concepts about time, space and motion in an understandable way while also including a personable look at the man himself. The presentation, suitable for anyone age 9 and older, will be held at 7 p.m. at Drake Planetarium (2020 Sherman Ave., Norwood). $6 in advance; $7 at the door. 513-396-5578. KEVIN OSBORNE

FRIDAY 3/21
ONSTAGE: THE BAKER‘S WIFE Stephen Schwartz began his musical theater career with Godspell, and heÕs had good luck along the way with Broadway hits like the blockbuster Wicked. One show not so often remembered is a his charming piece from 1976, The BakerÕs Wife, a musical about a middle-aged baker and his beautiful wife as they struggle to make their new marriage work when sheÕs wooed by a handsome lover. ItÕs getting a two-evening concert staging at the Carnegie Center in Covington this weekend. The show never made it to Broadway, but it did have a staging at the Cincinnati Playhouse in 1980. This weekendÕs performances are presented in conjunction with the CarnegieÕs month-long gallery exhibition, The Art of Food. Greg Procaccino, artistic director of New Edgecliff Theatre, has assembled a cast of eight local professional performers, including Jim Stump, who plays the baker Aimable Castagnet, Lesley Hitch as his wife Genevieve, Michael Shawn Starks as her lover Dominique and Jared D. Doren as the Marquis. Music Director Greg Dastillung accompanies the performance with a six-piece orchestra. ItÕs a rare opportunity to see a musical thatÕs become a cult favorite. LetÕs hope itÕs the first of many. 6:30 and 8 p.m. March 21 and 3 and 8 p.m. March 22. $18. ($28 with dinner on Friday.) 859-957-1940. RICK PENDER

Photo By Johan Johnson

The LK

MUSIC: TAPESTRY OF THE CITY 2 Greater Cincinnati bands that participated in the South by Southwest music festival/showcase/conference in Austin, Tex., last week canÕt be blamed for taking a really long nap and a little time off from the stage, what with the 20-hour drive home and all the drinking and carousing. But several of the now-SXSW veterans are getting right back into the saddle and playing shows this week. Wednesday, Bad Veins are playing the Southgate House with The High Strung and XYZ Affair (see Sound Advice, page 32). And you can catch two SXSWers at the 20th Century Theater this Friday. The Trojan Rabbit, Kim Taylor and The Chocolate Horse will also shake the Texas off their instruments and rock the ¨Tapestry of the City 2Ó event at the Oakley venue. The show is a benefit for the Lighthouse Youth Crisis Center and presented by BEAM, an organization of ¨young professionalsÓ dedicated to raising awareness and money for the Lighthouse Youth Services. LYS helps runaways and has expanded its services to the areas of foster care, adoption, homelessness, crisis intervention and other family assistance. Find out more about the cause at beam.lys.org. Showtime is 8 p.m. $15; $20 at the door. 513-731-8000. (See Music.) MIKE BREEN

SATURDAY 3/22
MUSIC: TERIBUS Your St. PaddyÕs Day hangover has subsided, but youÕve somehow changed. ThereÕs been a ringing in your ears ever since your late-night romp at the local Irish pub. But you kind of like it. ItÕs the sound of the Celtic lands serpentine bagpipe trills and primal, throbbing rhythms. You consider going to the doctor, but instead decide to ride it out. You want more of that sound. But, with St. PatrickÕs Day over, will you have to wait a whole year to hear it again? YouÕre in luck. Longtime Cincinnati musician Kevin Hartnell, who spends much of his time on the road with various World music ensembles, is bringing Teribus to town, offering up ¨Medieval and Renaissance European bagpipe music,Ó as well as modern Scottish and original music. The trio which features two experienced bagpipers and Hartnell on percussion brings its exotic sound to the Center for World Rhythms and Movement in St. Bernard this Saturday for an 8 p.m. show (like-minded local Medieval music boosters The Noyse Merchants also perform). Advanced tickets are available at gaiananda.net. $15. 513-312-9628.

(See Music.) MIKE BREEN

MUSIC: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, epic musician and magic man, brings some real American Rock to U.S. Bank Arena. See Music here.

Photo By Teribus

Teribus

MUSIC: THE LK Fresh off a highly coveted spot at SXSW, SwedenÕs The LK roll through Cincinnati, making a noteworthy stop at the CAC. The Love of Kevin, Colour, Chaos and the Sound of K, now The LK for short, play an addicting twist of atmospheric Synth Pop, complete with twinkling guitar lines, wintry noise loops and snappy rhythms. What could easily be confused for electronics is actually chunks of sampled voice, guitar, drums and other sounds chopped up and pieced together, making their style just as much Merzbow as it is Cornelius. The duoÕs synesthesia-inducing live show features avant-garde motion graphics projected to complement their equally obscure sound. Their current tour is in support of the recent U.S. release of their debut album, Vs. the Snow, on Kora Records. 8 p.m. $10; $7 members. 513-345-8400.

KEVIN BRUCE

ART: CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER Even pedestrians passing the windowed lobby space of the Contemporary Arts Center should be familiar with the delicious site-specific wall painting by Odili Donald Odita. This work that jumps from wall to wall is entitled FLOW and has been on display since last fall. This Saturday the artist will be returning to the CAC to present a lecture that should provide insight into his evocative work that can simultaneously embody sharp landscapes and shattered, stained-glass patterns. With the array of colorful and conceptual work by Sol LeWitt on view upstairs, Odita will also be discussing the context that both artists provide for one anotherÕs art. The lecture is free for members and will cost only the price of CAC admission for anyone else tempted by a lecture that strings together a series of bright and interesting exhibitions. 2 p.m. Saturday in the CACÕs Black Box in the performance space. 513-345-8400. MATT MORRIS

SUNDAY 3/23
MUSIC: STEPHEN MALKMUS, the Indie Rock icon, and JOHN VANDERSLICE, the off-kilter Pop musician, stop at the Southgate House. See feature here and Sound Advice here.

TUESDAY 3/25
FILM: NANKING, a harrowing documentary about the impact of war on civilians, screens at the Cincinnati Art Museum. See review here.