Theater
Million Dollar Quartet
It was destined. On Dec. 4, 1956, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins collided for one epic jam session made possible by the father of rock 'n' roll himself, Sam Phillips, the owner of Sun Records in Memphis. The temporary super-group assembled that day was dubbed the Million Dollar Quartet and inspired this Broadway musical featuring hits such as "Hound Dog," "I Walk the Line" and "Great Balls of Fire."
The Life of Galileo
A 16th- and 17th-century astronomer may be the star of this drama, but the dilemma at its core — faith versus reason — still plagues the world of science today. Galileo's timelessness is why artistic director Michael Bloom chose it to kick off the Cleveland Play House's new era as a resident of PlayhouseSquare.
Race
Told through the eyes of two black lawyers and the white defending attorney for a white executive accused of raping a black woman, this edgy drama by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright David Mamet tackles the subject of race without holding back.
Scrooge!
Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is reproduced by companies nearly every year, but chairman of play selection Rollin DeVere thinks Scrooge! is the best because of Leslie Bricusse's "luscious orchestral score." Original songs add another dimension, but it's still the same classic you grew up with.
Music
VIVA! & GALA PERFORMING ART SERIES:
Natalie MacMaster
Cape Breton fiddler Natalie MacMaster is a one-woman concert — she step dances, fiddles and sings all at once. MacMaster plays to the season in this performance with a mix of secular Celtic classics and favorite Christmas carols, such as "Winter Wonderland" and "O Holy Night."
The Cleveland Orchestra: Stravinsky
Franz Welser-Möst kicks off his 10th season as the Cleveland Orchestra's music director with a program featuring Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky. Expressive strings highlight Stravinsky's Concerto in D, while the chamber chorus joins the orchestra for Mass.
The Cleveland Pops Orchestra: Motown & More
The Contours, the Motown group best known for the hit "Do You Love Me," perform with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra. The evening concludes with five additional selections from big band numbers to Broadway hits and movie scores voted on by past audiences.
CIM Opera Theater: Massenet's Cendrillon (Cinderella)
Decades of cartoons have led us to believe Cinderella lacks paternal protection, but a twist in the script brings her gentle father to life during CIM Opera Theater's two-act, fully staged version sung in French.
Mat Kearney
Mat Kearney's music has that heart-swelling, feel-good vibe to it. With recent hits such as "Closer to Love" and "Hey Mama," Kearney's style has shifted from piano-filled and epic to more upbeat and nonchalant. But despite the change in style, soul is ever-present in the Oregon native's sound.
The Lemonheads
The Lemonheads' summery, punk-pop made frontman Evan Dando a '90s indie icon. The band's finest moment was its 1992 release It's a Shame about Ray, and Dando and crew will bring the classic album to life ("Mrs. Robinson" cover and all) when they perform the record in its entirety at Musica this fall.
Cold War Kids
It's hard not to take notice of Cold War Kids' lead vocalist Nathan Willett. His raw, edgy voice first grabbed our attention in his band's bass-heavy breakthrough, "Hang Me Up to Dry." Now, the Long Beach, Calif., quartet is touring in support of its new album, Mine Is Yours.
Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons
With timeless hits such as "Sherry" and "Big Girls Don't Cry," the Four Seasons' popularity rivaled even that of the Beatles. Yet unlike its long-gone British counterpart, the pop group returns to bring its audience a blast from the past.
Dance
ASZURE BARTON AND ARTISTS:
Busk
If you're a fan of TLC's My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, you'll like the gypsy music by Lev 'Ljova' Zhurbin. Led by Mikhail Baryshniko protege Aszure Barton, the troupe of contemporary dancers takes on the roles of buskers, or street performers who dance and entertain in hopes of enchanting a passerby for a coin or two.
Groundworks Dance Theatre
Choreographers David Shimotakahara and Amy Miller tackle personal transformation in each of their world premieres with music created by Oberlin School of Music professor Peter Swendsen and student David Bird. The final piece of the evening, "Major to Minor," evokes the pursuit of love with music by jazz wonders.
Verb Ballets: American Lore
Verb Ballets hits the trail of American pioneers with two pieces highlighting Aaron Copland's iconic American tunes. "Billy the Kid" showcases the paradoxical rebel and folk hero, while the company follows Martha Graham's routine to Copland's "Appalachian Spring."
The Kings of Salsa
Havana's contemporary street salsa and hip-hop scene meets traditional Afro Caribbean tribal-dance movements and Cuban classics such as the mambo, rumba and cha-cha. Kings of Salsa is also backed by nine-piece band Cuba Ashire, whose rhythms will have you dancing in your seat.
Museums
LANDSCAPES FROM THE
Age of Impressionism
For Impressionists, it's all about the light and capturing "that fleeting moment" of whatever is right in front of them, explains curator Ellen Rudolph. Fifty-one paintings by French and American Impressionists are on display, including offerings from John Singer Sargent and Claude Monet.
Goose Bumps! The Science of Fear
FDR once said the "only thing we have to fear is fear itself," but clearly he forgot about spiders. Organized by the California Science Center, this traveling collection of 22 exhibits explores the science behind what gives us the heebie-jeebies.
Polar Obsession
National Geographic photographer Paul Nicklen grew up in Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada, so he knows a thing or two about Arctic and Antarctic wildlife. This exhibit of 60 images from his latest book offers a glimpse into a world threatened by climate change.
Chinese Art in an Age of
Revolution: Fu Baoshi (1904-1965)
Fu Baoshi is one of the most celebrated and revered artists in China, even 46 years after his death. This new retrospective exhibit includes more than 100 paintings, highlighting his landscapes.
Galleries
The Way of All Flesh:
A SHIRLEY ALEY CAMPBELL RETROSPECTIVE
Songs of the open road will come to mind during this exhibit honoring artist and Cleveland Arts Prize winner Shirley Aley Campbell. Known for her paintings of nudes and drag queens, Campbell's 1981 series Motorcycles of the Seventies will be shown for the first time in more than a decade.
Seeing Green Recycled Show
Satisfy Mother Nature and your artistic taste as you browse more than 21 works of art created by local artists entirely from recycled wood, metal and textiles. "The many artists' pieces reflect their commitment to sustainability," says executive director Kenneth Goerg.
Foreign Affairs
German-based artists Kerstin Franke-Gneub and Johannes Makolies participate in a foreign exchange program of sorts. Abstract aficionados will gravitate toward Makolies' pieces made from concrete slabs that channel a DIY aesthetic, while Franke-Gneub uses the Pollock-esque process of layering paint.
Barry Underwood: Installation
Barry Underwood is a sculptor and installation artist who loves toying with illusion. He will take an image of European Neoclassical theater, flip it upside down and construct a 3-D version so you can evaluate reality versus photographic illusion.
