This chair and ottoman are available at Wine & Design. SoBe, a dog owned by store owner Greg Morris, is the store’s mascot.
By Kim Crow
For us Average Joes and Josephines, the thought of hiring a decorator can be a little intimidating.
Evidence of the importance of interior design is all around us — entire TV networks have sprung up to support the idea in the past decade, for goodness’sake — but wanting an attractive, cozy home does not always translate into knowing how to achieve it.
“I can pick out my clothes perfectly well, but when it comes to picking out a chair or a couch, I just freeze up, ” admits Kristen Powell, 33, an insurance adjuster who lives in Cleveland’s Larchmere neighborhood. “It’s just such a big expenditure — and it’s not as easy to hide an ottoman in the back of the closet.”
But Powell says she’s never considered hiring an interior designer.
“It just seems sort of outside my budget, you know? That’s something that people with giant houses who can afford $1,000 curtains do, not me,” she says with a smile.
It’s exactly that kind of perception that a new breed of interior designers are hoping to combat. A handful of new home furnishing stores in the city of Cleveland have popped up that offer interior design services along with the usual scented candles and picture frames. Like-minded shops can be found across the region, but newer stores such as Wine & Design in Tremont and Duo Home in Gordon Square have joined longtime downtown stalwart Surroundings Home Decor in the Warehouse District in capturing the urban-chic market.
These glass designs reflect even more light when placed on a mirrored table. They can be found at DuoHome in the Gordon Square Arts District.
“Our goal has been to go against the stereotype of what people think an interior designer is,” says Tim Kempf, co-owner of DuoHome in Cleveland’s Gordon Square neighborhood. “The stereotype is that it is this fussy, expensive dictator rushing around, pushing you to spend thousands on custom upholstery. We’re happy to work with big budgets, of course. Who wouldn’t love that? But we’re all about good design at good prices.”
It was that same mind-set that Greg Morris embraced when he opened Wine & Design in Tremont in November 2009 in the first floor of a building he and his partner, Dan Rensel, spent months renovating into the ideal live/work property.
“We’re really trying to remove the intimidation factor of interior design,” says Morris. “It doesn’t have to cost a lot to have a professional guiding your choices. We can work with any budget. ”
As Powell, the insurance adjuster, puts it, “I really just want someone to tell me what to do, if this polka-dot chair I think is so fun now will look silly in 10 years. I don’t need a showplace, just a cool-looking apartment. Oh, and I need to know if painting a wall black is areally bad idea, too.”
Wine & Design Powell is exactly the kind of client Morris had in mind when he began dreaming of a retail space. The longtime interior designer wanted a showroom of sorts in which everything was affordable and available and exemplified his ideals of accessible design.
“We’re kind of a one-stop shop,” he says of his store, which packs high style into a compact space. “You can dash in and ask our opinion on anything from paint colors to throw pillows, look through our design books, or just buy a gift or a bottle of wine.”
Oh yes, the “wine” in the title of the shop is something theownerstake quite seriously. The well-traveled Morris and Rensel are ardent wine lovers, and knew that vino would have to play a part in whatever retail venture they came up with.
“We’ve just learned a lot about wine over the years, and we wanted to share that. Wine is another area that has this perception of being snobby and intimidating, but for us, it’s a way of life,completely intertwined with the way we live,” says Morris.
Along with a nicely edited selection of reds, whites, roses and sparkling wines, Wine & Design offers a terrific assortment of related home furnishings. From unusual cheeseboards to corkscrews to cool wine glasses with chalkboard bases (perfect for tastings or to just label which drink is yours), any hostess gift requirements are easily filled here.
“Wine brings people together,” says Morris simply.
To that end, Wine & Design hosts monthly wine tastings that include accompanying appetizers for only $10 per person. Sipping and shopping is encouraged here, among items such as Archipelago Botanicals candles and body-care items, Cucina home supplies and a selection of sustainable gift items from areaartists.
“We meet with our interior design clients here, to get a sense of what they respond to, then we go into their homes to really get to know them,” says Morris. “The whole process is designed to put people at ease. We’re bringing hard-to-find, unique furnishings to Cleveland in a way that won’t break the bank.”
Lisa DeJong, The PD
Unique chandeliers found at DuoHome are typical of items that can be worked into a decor by trained designers.
Duo Home DuoHome opened in November 2007, but Kempf and co-owner Scott Suskowicz nearly doubled the store’sfootprint by taking over a neighboring storefront earlier this summer. The expansion allows them to better display their sleek furniture selection and better share their design sensibilities with their clients in the chic 1,600-square-foot space.
“When we were crammed into a smaller space, the furniture seemed more like props than something you could actually buy,” explains Suskowicz. “It seemed more like our emphasis was home furnishings when, in reality, we offer complete design services. That’s the engine that drives us.”
And what a ride it is. DuoHome’s offerings may have always been available for order, but the drama of seeing a dozen striking Nuevo pendant lights and the sleek silhouettes from Younger Furniture is much more inclined to inspire the casual browser.
Contemporary stylings sit next to rustic pieces by Freddy Hill, a Cleveland-based artist who creates them from reclaimed wood from specific places in the city. Gift items are still plentiful, from cute cards to vases to glass platters, all “priced to impress, not depress,” chuckles Kempf.
“We offer boutique shopping without the boutique attitude,” he says. “Come in, have a drink, look through our design library and let’s start talking about your space.”
November 19- December 5, 2010 Auditions*: September 7-9, 2010 (Ages 7- up)
Music and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley
Adapted for the stage by Leslie Bricusse and Tim McDonald
Based on the book “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” by Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl’s timeless cautionary indictment of greed, the story of the world-famous candy man and his quest to find an heir comes to life in this musical stage adaptation of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory.
One evening, the village paper’s headline states that Wonka is holding a contest, in which five Golden Tickets are hidden under the wrappers of his candy bars. The contest becomes a worldwide mania, with people resorting to increasingly desperate and unscrupulous measures, to find the tickets. The first four are found by four hard-to-like children: the gluttonous Augustus Gloop, spoiled Veruca Salt, gum-addicted Violet Beauregarde, and television-obsessed Mike Teavee. Our hero, Charlie, one cold night in the snow, magically, finds the 5th! This tale is a frothy, thoughtful blend of scary and fun for children and adults.
Hit songs include “Pure Imagination” and “The Candy Man” and featured, of course, are those mysterious factory workers known as… the Oompa Loompas!
A two week winter Musical Theatre Camp
January 16-28, 2010
Ages 9-12 Fee: $50
Spring Older Teen & Adult Musical
May 6-22, 2011 Auditions*: February 22-24, 2011 (Ages 16 & Up)
Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by James Lapine
Originally directed on Broadway by James Lapine
Orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick
An ambivalent Cinderella? A blood-thirsty Little Red Riding Hood? A Prince Charming with a roving eye? A Witch…who raps? They’re all among the cockeyed characters in James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim’s fractured fairy tale. When a Baker and his Wife learn they’ve been cursed with childlessness by the Witch next door, they embark on a quest for the special objects required to break the spell, swindling, lying to and stealing from Cinderella, Little Red, Rapunzel and Jack (the one who climbed the beanstalk). Everyone’s wish is finally granted, but the consequences of their actions return to haunt them later, with disastrous results. What begins as a lively irreverent fantasy becomes a moving lesson about community responsibility and the stories we tell our children.
Summer Youth Theatre
July 22-August 7, 2011 Auditions*: May 24-26, 2011 (Ages 13 entering high school - 19) Music by Claude-Michel Schonberg Lyrics by Richard Maltby Jr. and Alain Boublil Adapted from the original French lyrics by Alain Boublil Additional material by Richard Maltby Jr. Orchestrations by William D. Brohn Originally produced on the stage by Cameron Mackintosh *This production licensed by Josef Weinberger Ltd. on behalf of Music Theatre International and Cameron Mackintosh Ltd.*
Miss Saigon brings Puccini’s Madame Butterfly to post-millennium America in a moving testament to the resiliency of the human spirit. In the final chaos of the Vietnam War, an American soldier and a Vietnamese girl fall in love, only to be separated during the fall of Saigon. This is an intimate story of love, war, loyalty, survival and a mother’s drive to give her child a future of promise. Raw and uncompromising, Miss Saigon is an intense experience of the losses suffered and the sacrifices made in a fearful world using violence to achieve peace. Songs include: “The Movie In My Mind,” “Sun & Moon” and “The Last Night of the World.”
*= Auditions for Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka & Miss Saigon will be held at
Near West Theatre’s performance location:
St. Patrick’s Club Building, 3606 Bridge Ave., 3rd Fl.** in Ohio City.
Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka, Into The Woods and Miss Saigon are presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. 421 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019 Phone: 212-541-4684 Fax: 212-397-4684 www.MTIShows.com
Restaurateur Marlin Kaplan insisted that his latest restaurant would open in July. Apparently, skepticism crept into my voice when I pressed the point — remodeling and openings are capricious undertakings — because Kaplan was all “No, no, watch me.” You win, Marlin. His Roseangel — the down-priced reinvention of partner Rosita Kutkut’s former La Boca, not only opened close to target, it pretty much hits the bull’s-eye. It’s at 5800 Detroit Ave., Cleveland, on the edge of Cleveland’s Gordon Square area, across from Happy Dog, if you need a cool landmark.
Tacos, salsas and a modest selection of sides are the big deals here. Order one of each and it’ll set you back under $11 (though you’ll probably want seconds, and maybe a beer; brews range from $2 to $5.50). Tacos, built on hand-shaped and griddled tortillas, are heaped with tasty fillings, including a hauntingly delicious seared tuna with artichoke hearts and a just-fiery-enough grilled hanger steak version topped with crisp onions and a smoky chipotle mayo — to name just two of the 17 varieties. They are small but hefty hand-to-mouth fare, $4.25 each, but bring along friends and order a platter of eight for $30. There are good chips and really good salsas (one evening a cunning cantaloupe-and-cucumber combo) plus fine guacamole (at $7, a splurge). Oh, and very seductive Sauza and triple sec margaritas.
The rooms are equally seductive, from the sexy bar to the center room tarted up in magenta croc-print wallpaper, and the expanded patio. Tacos, grandparents to today’s “wraps,” are eminently tactile, and Kaplan wanted to carry that sensuous style into the environment.
“I feel there should be a seamlessness between where you eat and what you eat,” he says. “And I was going for a way different feeling here. I wasn’t really building a restaurant, per se. This is a hybrid, a lot like Happy Dog isn’t your usual neighborhood bar.”
True on both counts. Here’s to fitting neighbors. Coolness now reigns at West 58th Street and Detroit Avenue. 216-961-5800.
Dale Omori, Plain Dealer file photographDancers rehearse at the Gordon Square Theatre in 2005. The Ohio Department of Development today said it was providing $200,000 for removal of asbestos from the theater's ceiling.
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Federal stimulus money will help with the continued renovation of the Cleveland Public Theatre, in Cleveland’s Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood.
The Ohio Department of Development said today that $200,000 from a new fund to clean up and revitalize historic sites is headed to the theater, for asbestos removal.
The theater is part of the historic Gordon Square Arts District, which has seen a multimillion-dollar redevelopment in recent years.
The new money should pay for asbestos removal in the ceiling of Gordon Square Theatre, one of three performance venues that constitute Cleveland Public Theatre, said general manager Denis Griesmer.
The work is scheduled from January to March, when the Gordon Square Theatre is typically closed, Griesmer said.
The project will not only make the building safer, but will also help in the job-generating restoration of the neighborhood, state development Director Lisa Patt-McDaniel said in a news release.
VINCENT SACCO This scene makes it look as though it might be called “Tony n’ Tina’s Shotgun Wedding,” but it’s actually “Conni’s Avant Garde Restaurant.” And even though it will be performed with a five-course meal next season at Cleveland Public Theatre, Miss Conni Convergence and the Avantgardists dare you to call it dinner theater.
Raymond Bobgan is cool. And five years into his executive artistic directorship of Cleveland Public Theatre, he just keeps getting cooler, mixing sound business decisions with risky artistry at the city’s leading dispenser of cool theater. After finishing the 2009-10 season with the strongest one-two programming punch of the year in Cleveland (“Open Mind Firmament” and “Wanderlust”), Bobgan has just announced the city’s most promising-sounding 2010-11 season. Dig all this:
• Four world premieres, including “Don’t Call Me Fat” by Turkish playwright Ozen Yula and “My Dog Barking” by Cleveland Heights scribe Eric Coble.
• Four Midwest premieres: The second production anywhere (after New York’s Public Theatre) of Pulitzer Prize-winning Suzan-Lori Parks’ latest; an avant-garde dinner-theater (!) offering; and a play co-authored by a creator of the upcoming Broadway musical “Spider-Man.”
• And a beefed-up new works development program to join CPT’s already strong Big Box and Little Box series, including a remount of Chris Seibert and Bobgan’s critically acclaimed one-woman tour de force,“Cut to Pieces,” which will then tour.
Bottom line: While most other theaters in the area are sticking to the reduced schedules and calculatedly mainstream productions instituted to cope with the recession, Bobgan and CPT are out at high noon on Detroit Avenue at West 65th Street with avant-garde guns blazing.
Meanwhile, in his spare time, Bobgan is also overseeing CPT’s partnership in developing the Gordon Square Arts District, including the ongoing renovation of CPT’s expansive campus.
So, take a breath and get a gander at what’s up next season at 6415 Detroit. If you want more information, go to cptonline.org or call 216-631-2727. Or you can catch Bobgan re-caffeinating himself several times a day next door to the theater at Gypsy Beans & Baking Co.
Shows open on a Thursday and close on a Saturday unless otherwise noted.
Saturday, Sept. 11:Pandemonium 10: The West Wild Side. CPT’s annual wacky arts, food and beverage fundraiser comes of age.
Sept. 30-Oct. 16: “The Book of Grace.” CPT regular Sheffia Randall Dooley directs Parks’ multilayered confrontation between Buddy, a veteran of the Iraq war, and his estranged father, a Desert Storm vet who now works as a border guard.
Oct. 7-30: “Don’t Call Me Fat.” Yula, who’s at CPT and Cleveland State University on a grant from the Cleveland Foundation, directs his satire about an obese man’s journey from sickbed to talk-show fame.
Oct. 14-30: “Kill Will.” Playing off the title of a Quentin Tarantino movie, husband-and-wife writers Josh Brown and Kelly Elliott edit the Shakespeare canon down to one evening of the Bard’s best fights and murders. Veteran CPT hand Alison Garrigan directs the world premiere.
Friday, Oct. 22 and Sunday, Oct. 24: “Il Tabarro.” CPT collaborates with Opera Per Tutti, a Northeast Ohio company whose name is Italian for “opera for all,” on Puccini’s tale of love, desperation and violent jealousy. Scott Skiba directs.
Nov. 5-7: Y-Haven Project. CPT stages the 11th annual collaboration with residents of an inner-city Cleveland center for homeless men in treatment for drug addiction.
Nov. 11-Sunday, Nov. 21: Little Box series. Staged readings of new plays by local playwrights are followed by audience discussions.
Wednesday, Dec. 1-18: “Conni’s Avant Garde Restaurant.” CPT presents an audience-participation dinner-theater show (a la “Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding,” but way weirder) served up by Miss Conni Convergence and the Avantgardists.
Friday, Jan. 14-Sunday, March 6: Big Box series. Eight weekends of new works as CPT opens its doors to area artists.
March 3-19: “Darwinii.” Glen Berger, now at work with “The Lion King’s” Julie Taymor and U2′s Bono on “Spider-Man,” collaborates with CPT regular Brett Keyser on a play about a thief who’s convinced he’s the great-great-great-bastard-grandson of Charles Darwin.
Friday, March 11-Sunday, March 27: NEOMFA Playwrights Festival. Three new works by students in the Northeast Ohio MFA Creative Writing Program, a collaboration of four area schools.
Thursday, March 24: Women’s Voices. The 12th annual female version of the Y-Haven Project, a collaboration with the Elyria YWCA’s Women’s Campus Project.
April 7-23: “Fever/Dream.” CPT staffer Beth Wood directs the Midwest premiere of Sheila Callaghan’s update of 17th-century Spanish playwright Pedro Calderon de la Barca’s “Life Is a Dream.”
April 7-23: “I Hate This” and “And Then You Die.” Local playwright, actor and director David Hansen presents his two previously produced one-man shows (one about personal loss and the other about personal victory) in repertory. Directed by Garrigan.
April 21-May 7: “Insomnia.” Holly Holsinger (Bobgan’s wife) collaborates with Karin Randoja and Seibert on a new play, starring Holsinger and Seibert and directed by Randoja, about a woman on the brink of something like death, mental collapse or self-discovery.
May 5-Sunday June 5: DanceWorks. Five companies perform world premieres in CPT’s 11th annual dance showcase.
May 12-28: “My Dog Barking.” Jeremy Paul, on loan from TheaterNinjas, directs the latest from Coble, about two lonely people’s lives taking a bizarre turn when a starving coyote appears at their doors.
May 26-June 4: “Cut to Pieces.” Bobgan and Seibert restage their shattering 2009 multimedia adaptation of the Persephone myth to lay bare Seibert’s soul.
Dates to be announced: Developing works. They include “My Hemisphere and Your Hemisphere Live Across the Street,” “People4Change” and Bobgan’s own “Rusted Heart Broadcast,” which he described as “a radical new play with an ensemble cast [that] re-examines religion, art and community in the heart of America.”
And, “I think it takes place in a tent and travels like a revival.”
Dee Perry welcomes friendly Gordon Square restaurant rivals Marlin Kaplan of Luxe and Eric Williams of Happy Dog for a special barbecue call-in show, as we get ready to grill for the 4th of July holiday. Listeners can call to either 216-578-0903 or toll-free 1-866-578-0903 or email our chefs with your cooking questions or suggestions.
Gus Chan, The Plain Dealer “Sex and the City 2″ Girls Night Out party at the Capitol Theatre– a one-time silent-film theater that was renovated and reopened in 2009 — is an example of the vitality of the Gordon Square neighborhood. The Gordon Square Arts District capital campaign is the recipient of a 2010 Cleveland Arts Prize.
It took a small village to raise the Gordon Square Arts District capital campaign from toddler to noisy, energetic adolescent. It’s appropriate that the village will be among those honored Saturday as winners of the 2010 Cleveland Arts Prize.
It’s the first time in recent memory that a Cleveland Arts Prize has been awarded not to a person or an organization but to a neighborhood.
“No one person could have done what Gordon Square Arts District is doing,” said the district’s executive director, Joy Roller. “To give it to one person would be totally unfair. I congratulate the Arts Prize for getting it.”
The Cleveland Arts Prizes — given to creative artists whose work enriches Northeast Ohio and whose accomplishments set a standard of excellence — were announced in May. Artists will be honored at the annual awards event Saturday at the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Gordon Square was awarded a Martha Joseph Prize for Distinguished Service to the Arts, given to an individual or organization whose vision or philanthropy has made a significant contribution to the arts in Northeast Ohio.
While only Cleveland City Councilman Matt Zone will go onstage to accept the prize on behalf of Gordon Square, nearly a dozen other civic leaders will receive an Arts Prize medal. They include Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization executive director Jeff Ramsey, Gordon Square Arts District executive director Joy Roller and Cleveland Public Theatre executive artistic director Raymond Bobgan.
The district is a collaboration among Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization, Cleveland Public Theatre and the Near West Theatre.
Its capital campaign has set a goal of raising $30 million for five projects in Cleveland’s Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood, involving the area’s theaters, streetscaping and parking, Roller said.
Gordon Square claims it has generated more than $500 million in economic development in the surrounding community near West 65th Street and Detroit Avenue.
“It’s using the arts for a catalyst for economic development,” Roller said. “The Gordon Square Arts District story is many layers deep.”
A ribbon-cutting for the first phase of Cleveland Public Theatre’s capital campaign was part of Gordon Square Arts District Day on June 12. The neighborhood celebrated with walking tours, music and classic cartoons at the Capitol Theatre.
Among the other prizes to be bestowed are the Robert P. Bergman Prize for leaders who are dedicated to a democratic vision of the arts as well as awards for emerging and midcareer artists, and lifetime achievement.
The Cleveland Arts Prize board of directors solicits nominations, and a jury chooses the winners, said executive director Marcie Bergman.
In Gordon Square’s case, the jury originally received a nomination for just two of the movers and shakers, but the jury felt more of the people involved also deserved recognition, Bergman said.
John Zayac, president of the Project Group, a Cleveland-based firm that manages capital projects, originally nominated Zone and Ramsey for their work with Gordon Square.
Zayac, who lives in Detroit-Shoreway, knew about the neighborhood’s transformation. The Project Group was project manager for the Capitol Theatre and Cleveland Public Theatre capitalprojects. The Project Group also served as fiscal agent for the district.
While serving as an arts-prize juror in 2009, Zayac noticed the nomination list was heavy with artists living or affiliated with organizations on the East Side. Determined to correct that, the following year he nominated Zone and Ramsey, and resigned as a juror to avoid conflict of interest.
As deliberations were under way, Zayac got a call from a jury chairman asking if Zayac would mind if the jury chose to honor Gordon Square instead of two individuals.
“It’s great the entire district is getting the award,” Zayac said. “Jeff and Matt are first among equals.”
CLEVELAND, Ohio — One cultural event is a cherished civic tradition. The other is trying to become one. Both had successful Saturdays. Partly because it never rained.
Though ominous clouds hung low in the Cleveland sky throughout the morning and early afternoon, both Parade the Circle on the East Side and the Gordon Square Arts District Day on the West Side were spared thunderstorms that had been promised by the National Weather Service the day before.
At 11:00 a.m. with the temperature at a muggy 85 degrees, cars were already parked halfway through Martin Luther King Blvd. A license plate read KRE8IVE, and you had to be creative just to find a place to park. Folks wearing T-shirts, tank tops and short shorts — some pushing baby strollers — made their way to Wade Oval for the 21st annual Parade the Circle celebration.
“We had 70,000 people last year, and this looks about the same,” said parade director Robin VanLear from atop her six-foot-high stilts as she directed costumed marchers. “We seem to have reached a critical mass with the parade, and it’s a good number without being too crowded.”
Though the humidity was oppressive, it didn’t dampen the crowd’s spirit as more than 50 parade entrants danced around the circle. Among them was a group called Books Open Doors to New Worlds featuring Amy Frank and Sean Hensley, who were married at 9 a.m. that morning at Holden Arboretum. The wedding party of 50 bused over to Cleveland to take part in the parade.
“This is our honeymoon,” said Hensley. “Next year we’re going to do something simple like go to Japan.”
Another entry in the parade was The Phoenix, a 10-foot-tall bird on wheels made entirely of the clear plastic packaging from medical supplies. The bird’s creator, is Sawson Alhaddad, an anesthesiologist from the Cleveland Clinic.
“It took a year to save all of these pieces of discarded plastic,” she said. “I work in a suite that has seven operating rooms, so everybody helped me collect them”.
Across town in Gordon Square, at West 65th Street and Detroit Avenue, Ryann Anderson squeezed out some acoustic folk jazz on a makeshift stage for a dozen onlookers. Gordon Square executive director Joy Roller said she expected the crowd to pick up at the first-time event as the East Side event wound down. A free shuttle took people back and forth.
“We had to add another vehicle because the one we had was packed,” Roller said. “We just want people from the East Side to find out that we’re here and that we have art and culture and theater music and great food. We want everyone to discover us.”
The hub of activity in the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood was a temporary store called Made In 216. The double storefront space offered clothing, jewelry, hats and furniture — all made in the Cleveland. The place was cooled with an industrial-sized fan, had a D. J. playing tunes and ice-cold beer on tap. Danielle Deboe organizes the bazaar twice a year to promote small Cleveland retail manufacturers.
“I live in the neighborhood and have another store across the street called Room Service,” said Deboe. “It’s an art-centric lifestyle boutique. We were packed in here last night. You couldn’t move. As soon as the parade is over, we expect everyone to come over to Gordon Square and party late into the night.”
Cleveland is alive with art. It’s one of our greatest strengths.
Would-be artists have been awed by The Cleveland Museum of Art with its world-renowned collection and free admission. Budding violinists have been inspired by the Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom or a Celtic band in a local pub. Thespians have taken to local school productions after witnessing Shakespeare performed on Playhouse Square.
Great art, when combined with opportunities to create it, breeds new ideas, new art, innovation. Nonprofit organizations and community organizations provide instruction and incubation takes place in studios and backstage rehearsals.
This week, you can experience “Discover Gordon Square Arts District Day” on Sat 6/12, from 10AM until 10PM. During what promises to be “a day-long celebration of Cleveland’s new, hottest neighborhood!” Lolly the Trolley will provide round trip shuttle trips between Parade the Circle! on University Circle (corner of Ford and Bellflower) and Gordon Square (corner of W. 65th and Detroit) http://www.GordonSquare.org. Shopping is encouraged at cool retail outlets such as Room Servicehttp://www.RoomServiceCleveland.com. The after party “MADE IN THE 216″ (love the name, don’t you?) takes place at the Happy Doghttp://www.happydogcleveland.com. Enjoy live music, art galleries, shopping, walking tours, and guided tours. Classic cartoons will be shown on Saturday morning (just like when you were a kid but on the big screen) at the paitla Theatre at 10. Performance by Near West Theatre at 5 p.m. and Cleveland Public Theatre’s “End-of-Season Party” at Gordon Square. Theatre: Music & dancing! happens from 7PM – Midnight.
In Cleveland, arts districts invigorate our neighborhoods. Gordon Square Arts District was born when $20 Million was spent to renovate the near west side surrounding the Capitol Theatre. Restoration of the Capitol Theatre, a throwback to the era of classic movies like “Gone with the Wind,” was just the beginning. The Cleveland Public Theatre got a facelift and the Near West Theatre was constructed, making Gordon Square a destination for film and live theatre http://gordonsquare.org/capitol.html. You can watch a video of CoolCleveland.com’s Thomas Mulready interviewing Joy Roller of the Gordon Square Arts District by clicking the image below or here. Also pictured are Gordon Square Arts District Executive Director Jeff Ramsey and Cleveland City Councilman Matt Zone.
The streets were enhanced by new street lights, wider sidewalks, cool bus shelters [pictured] and accessible parking in the highway-accessible Detroit Shoreway neighborhood. Long underutilized and not-so-well maintained, Detroit Shoreway now enjoys great restaurants, musicals, galleries, films, and dance, in a clean and comfortable urban environment.
I headed out there on a Sunday afternoon to catch “Alice in Wonderland” at the Capitol Theatre. Others had the same idea– there was a line. Inside the theater’s lobby, the shadowy wall-sconce light and dark wood against light walls created the feel of the 1920s, the time of silent movies. The old Vaudeville stage (yes, it IS that old) remains amongst the three screens with digital projection foreign and independent, and the latest pop-culture, films, like Alice. Check out their Classic Brunch and Movie Series: a classic movie followed brunch in the adjacent restaurant, for $25 (call 440-349-3306, ext. 111 for your reservation). Late Friday Shift Schedule includes films like “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “The Room,” 6515 Detroit http://www.clevelandcinemas.com.
Cleveland Public Theatre has become the west side’s incubator for new talent. Dancers, choreographers, playwrights, musicians, and directors are encouraged to seek their muse and create art with the support of art professionals. Although students create raw material from inexperience, that doesn’t mean the show is deficient. The theatre has drawn a large audience from around the greater Cleveland area since 1983 http://www.cptonline.org. Check out an evening with W.B. Yeats at Cleveland Public Theatre sometime between May 13 and June 5.
Visual arts and design, including fashion, brighten 78th Street Studios a few blocks north on Lake Avenue. The Creative Arts Open House is the best way to see what the West Side’s art community has to offer. Check it out every third Friday, not the same weekend as the Tremont or Little Italy walks, which means you can walk and look at art on lots of Fridays. The hunger and thirst are staved off by light food and beverage every third weekend quarterly when the exhibits change, making it a happy hour experience from 5 until 9 http://www.78thstreetstudios.com. Music stirs in the Lava Room recording studios, and print media is alive and well at the Alternative Press.
After all that exploring, you’ll be hungry, and although Gypsy Beans & Baking Companyhttp://www.GypsyBeans.com is great for coffee and pastries, and pasta at Luxehttp://www.luxecleveland.comwill taste heavenly after all that walking.
Next up at Near West Theatre is “Rent School Edition,” opening Fri 7/23 and running through Sun 8/8. The Near West Theatre is a grassroots theatre with a focus on educating the public and strengthening people of all ages, with an emphasis on youth. Its philosophy is rooted in the transformative power of theatrical arts http://nearwesttheatre.org.
Discover Gordon Square Arts District Day, Sat 6/12, from 10AM until 10PM near West 65th and Detroit. http://www.GordonSquare.org.
From Cool Cleveland contributor Claudia Taller, whose passion for words has led to creation of the Lakeside Word Lover’s Retreats, an outgrowth of her work with Skyline Writers.
Her favorite foods are red wine, salmon, ice cream, and chocolate. She loves to read, write, tour wineries, ride her bike, ease into yoga, and cook gourmet meals for friends. Find her at http://www.claudiatallermusings.blogspot.com.
Score one for the Detroit Shoreway area, and minus-one for downtown Cleveland.
One Walnut, the nationally acclaimed restaurant and longtime watering hole for Cleveland’s powerbrokers, is closing later this month. Owner Marlin Kaplan, who also operates the highly successful Luxe Kitchen and Lounge in the Gordon Square neighborhood, will shift even greater attention to the emerging West Side arts district when he opens a second restaurant a few blocks down the street from Luxe.
Kaplan has formed a partnership with restaurateur Rosita Kutkut to transform her recently shuttered spot La Boca, 5800 Detroit Road, into an upscale taqueria.
“My wife, Melissa, and I decided to close One Walnut after a lot of heartfelt thought,” Kaplan said. “Times have changed since we opened nearly 11 years ago.”
The couple’s move had long been under consideration, as a growing number of vacancies in neighboring office buildings steadily eroded the restaurant’s core customer base. Meanwhile, the air of dressy sophistication that characterized One Walnut and earned it the praise of publications such as Esquire and Gourmet seemed increasingly detached from the far more casual tone of modern dining — the very style that has drawn droves of dinner guests to Luxe.
“[One Walnut] had its heyday, and at a time when Cleveland didn’t have a lot going on in terms of restaurants,” says Kaplan. “It’s lasted 10 years; there aren’t a lot of restaurants downtown that can say that.”
Josh Taylor, a spokesman for the Downtown Cleveland Alliance, regrets the departure of a prestigious name on the city’s landscape. But he points to the recent opening of Chinato on East Fourth Street and the soon-to-debut Zinc around the corner on Euclid Avenue as indications of downtown’s continuing revitalization.
“That’s not to diminish Kaplan,” Taylor says. “And just because one opportunity closes doesn’t mean another won’t open. We hope he can be a part of downtown again in the near future.”
The restaurateur won’t be too far away — certainly not for fans of his cuisine. When the new spot, Roseangel, opens sometime in early July, they will find house-made margaritas, more than a dozen moderately priced tacos and a variety of a la carte menu items.
“It’s a good change, I think,” says Kutkut, who will lend her behind-scenes expertise. “This is the direction I’ve wanted to take, going smaller and making the corner even better.”
These glass designs reflect even more light when placed on a mirrored table. They can be found at DuoHome in the Gordon Square Arts District. 
Lisa DeJong, The PD
VINCENT SACCO This scene makes it look as though it might be called “Tony n’ Tina’s Shotgun Wedding,” but it’s actually “Conni’s Avant Garde Restaurant.” And even though it will be performed with a five-course meal next season at Cleveland Public Theatre, Miss Conni Convergence and the Avantgardists dare you to call it dinner theater.
Gus Chan, The Plain Dealer “Sex and the City 2″ Girls Night Out party at the Capitol Theatre– a one-time silent-film theater that was renovated and reopened in 2009 — is an example of the vitality of the Gordon Square neighborhood. The Gordon Square Arts District capital campaign is the recipient of a 2010 Cleveland Arts Prize.
I headed out there on a Sunday afternoon to catch “Alice in Wonderland” at the Capitol Theatre. Others had the same idea– there was a line. Inside the theater’s lobby, the shadowy wall-sconce light and dark wood against light walls created the feel of the 1920s, the time of silent movies. The old Vaudeville stage (yes, it IS that old) remains amongst the three screens with digital projection foreign and independent, and the latest pop-culture, films, like Alice. Check out their Classic Brunch and Movie Series: a classic movie followed brunch in the adjacent restaurant, for $25 (call 440-349-3306, ext. 111 for your reservation). Late Friday Shift Schedule includes films like “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “The Room,” 6515 Detroit 
From Cool Cleveland contributor Claudia Taller, whose passion for words has led to creation of the Lakeside Word Lover’s Retreats, an outgrowth of her work with Skyline Writers. 
