Pop Culture

As the curtain rises on Playhouse Square’s 2023-24 Broadway Series season, Joe Garry prepares to take center stage in the Upper Allen Theatre. Before each production, the Bratenahl resident presents a half-hour lecture to appreciative theater lovers who come early to hear him speak. Each of his “Broadway Buzz” talks is filled with engaging, behind-the-scenes tidbits and historical perspectives. ...

In Bill Starcher’s world, art is meant to be seen, touched, climbed on, and closely examined. He enjoys the delight and surprise when people recognize fork handles, tire strips and other found objects in his sculptures—the ordinary turned extraordinary. ...

Speakers from the visual arts, film, theater, music, architecture and food will share behind-the-scenes stories as part of the Fairmount Center for the Arts 'Pull Back the Curtain' Speaker Series. The founding of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the future of Cleveland's public spaces, and the history of musicals are the subjects from the first set of speakers. ...

Remember Austin Walkin' Cane from our May 2020 issue of Northeast Ohio Boomer magazine? The local blues singer would have been at the pinnacle of his performance career. Instead, the pandemic cancelled his big plans. Now, the blues man is back with a new album and a revived tour schedule. ...

If its worth noting, these newsworthy tidbits are in editor Marie Elium's Worth Noting—a collection of local news bites. ...

Morris Everett can take you on a trip through time, not with that machine from the 1960 film of the same name, although he’s well acquainted with it. His portal is a doorway in Chesterland that leads to the world’s most extensive collection of movie posters and photos on the market. ...

From handwritten lyrics to the earliest gear used to create a hip-hop beat; from moguls to social issues; from East Coast to West Coast and everything in between, the Rock Hall's new exhibit spotlights at a time when the world was undergoing massive social and economic changes. ...

This Mother's Day, Patrick O'Connor shares memories of his mother-in-law; a woman who was the last of a group of seven women who were friends, confidants, and support for each other for 60+ years. They called themselves the Dreamers, forming a bond in high school in the mid-1940s. Frances Mae Resek Rottman was the last living member of the group; the Last Dreamer. Her story of friendships, place and time, once very common, are now a memory. ...