Cover Story
Louisville Story Program’s New Book: ‘No Single Sparrow Makes A Summer’
At age 11, Katherin Socias Báez was crying as she climbed onto a plane, leaving Communist-controlled Cuba to live with her father and stepmother in Louisville. At age 12, A’lea Marie Smith was confused, as no adults could adequately explain the mysteries of her changing body, which was carrying a child. At age 14, Mehwish…
Six high school arts journalists review the musical ‘Aladdin’
The world of Disney musicals is a world that allows adults and teenagers a chance to revisit their childhoods. Last week, the musical “Aladdin” opened at the Kentucky Center, and Arts Bureau Edge, a youth arts journalism initiative brought six young critics to the press opening with the help of PNC Broadway in Louisville. These…
10 Under $5 – What To Do This Week In Louisville (10/15)
MONDAY – Oct. 15 Louisville Mandolin Orchestra Iroquois Branch of Louisville Free Public Library Free | 6:30-8:30 p.m. The mandolin has gained new popularity over the past several years thanks to its use in indie folk. But the musicians with the Louisville Mandolin Orchestra have been playing their stringed instruments together since the ‘80s. Check…
A review of the The Louisville Ballet’s ambitious “Mozart”
Light and darkness defined the settings of the works in Louisville Ballet’s “Mozart” program that debuted Friday at The Brown Theatre, with George Balanchine’s opulent “Divertimento No. 15” providing the former and a new work by the company’s artistic and executive director Robert Curran working with local Cambodian-American visual artist Vinhay Keo. Also, company member…
Reviews of the first two beers offered by False Idol
Louisville’s newest brewery, False Idol, has paired with V-Grits to open at 1025 Barret Ave., the building that once housed The Monkey Wrench. The brewery/vegan restaurant has been transformed into a bright, open space by Shawn Steele, a former brewer at Akasha Brewing Co., as well as Kristina Addington and Jeff Tennis, co-owners of V-Grits.…
5 Things To Do This Weekend In Louisville (10/12)
FRIDAY Eat, Drink and Do Science! Kentucky Science Center $15-$20 | 6:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m. The Kentucky Science Center is finally free of those pesky kids, and it’s time for you, a mature adult, to have free reign over the museum. Yep, once a month, the science center opens up to us oldo-s for an evening…
Despite change, Fleewood Mac still shines at the Yum Center
Going to see a blockbuster band that hasn’t had a hit in a few decades on an arena tour is a tricky thing. Every time it happens, we all have our own personal algorithm for it. It’s something like: your disposable income combined with personal nostalgia combined with a how-well-can-they-still-perform sort of thing. And, while…
New tree project targets private land
Where others see parking lots, streets and sidewalks, Valerie Magnuson sees plains, meadows and grasses. And under the six inches of concrete that make up the parking lot where East Chestnut Street turns into Baxter Avenue (and where The Flea Off Market and the Phoenix Hill NuLu Farmer’s Market are held), Magnuson imagines a forest.…
Thorns & Roses: The Worst, Best and Most Absurd (10/10)
The cursed council district | Absurd Poor residents of South End council District 21. First, it gets pants-dropping Dan Johnson. Now, Metro Councilman Vitalis Lanshima denies that he has ignored the district while running for office in… Nigeria. You, know — on another continent. He had missed all council meetings since Aug. 14, the Democratic…
Fleetwood Mac’s career arc in five songs
Before Fleetwood Mac performs at the KFC Yum Center on Wednesday, we combed through their discography, searching for the songs that define the growth, change, anger, turmoil, brilliance and pivotal moments scattered throughout the legendary band’s career. From early blues instrumentals to pop mega-hits, and through numerous lineup changes, Fleetwood Mac has been a durable…
Cat Power returns to Louisville with ‘Wanderer’
Seconds into our conversation Chan Marshall begins to chant: “Louisville! Louisville! Louisville!” It’s a jocular introduction I wasn’t expecting, considering I was talking to the troubadour wizard known as Cat Power, a singer-songwriter responsible for some of the most forthright, melancholy songs this side of Karen Dalton. I take it as a notable sign that…
A Whole New Jasmine for Disney’s ‘Aladdin’ Touring Cast
Like so many in her generation, Lissa deGuzman grew up watching “Aladdin,” among other Disney movies. For her, it was more than just a fun movie. It was a family experience. “We’re a big family, and we would always drive down to Florida for Easter vacation,” she recounted. “We’d stack our pillows up and put…
‘A Doll’s House 2,’ the return of Nora
The Nora of Henrik Ibsen’s 1879 play “A Doll’s House” is among the most startling characters in all of Western literature. She is an adroit, undercover strategist who plays a long game to protect her husband and family until she can no longer bear the cost of trading her own humanity for what she sees…
Ballet director’s dance, a story of loss, identity
Robert Curran, the Louisville Ballet’s artistic and executive director, looked down at his outfit — a white T-shirt, khaki pants and white sneakers. “Why am I wearing this tonight?” he said, as he leaned forward on the granite countertop in his Germantown loft. “I find myself questioning when I’m getting dressed.” After ending a long…
Comedian Brad Sativa: ‘Ninja Turtles were my thing!’
“Redneck” might not be the first word that comes to mind when you hear comedian Brad Sativa’s material, but growing up in west Tennessee made an impression on him. “I still piss outside,” Sativa said of his lingering redneck eccentricities. “If the urge comes on, man — I’m looking for a bush.” In August, Sativa…
Mai’s Thai still delivers the flavor
Some of you young’uns may not believe this, but there was a time, not all that long ago, when there was not a single Thai restaurant in the Louisville area. We might have read about the stuff or even, if we were lucky, tasted it in trips to more sophisticated cities or to the Far…
Stop Sucking: Use fewer plastic straws
I have this polite, easy strategy in an effort to lessen plastic straw use on my bar shifts. I simply ask my guests, “Do you need a straw?” Or, I give them just one that they can reuse for each cocktail. It’s not a strategy that’s going to save the planet from the approximately 500…
Regret and the ?cheesesteak hoagie
I regret not playing high school football. I doubt I would have been any good, but I’ll never know, having quit playing my favorite sport after middle school. I regret the fact I didn’t learn to play a musical instrument when I was younger. I’m not a good musician, but I feel sure I would…
Savage Love: Quickies
Q: I was involved with a straight man who enjoys cross-dressing and taking explicit photos. The problem is that the props he uses belong to his three children, all under age 12. For example, he dressed up as a slutty schoolgirl and wore his daughter’s backpack. He dressed up as a slutty cowgirl and posed…
Two brits’ awards… Mitch’s shrunken raisins
You bore me, and I guarantee you also bore our readers. Uhm, I haven’t said anything yet. A preemptive strike just in case you decide to bang on about your agency winning a LEO Readers’ Choice award — while I had yet another maiden over. I sometimes wonder if this city’s sophisticated enough for my…
Topgolf must happen
What would you say if a company was interested in coming to Louisville, bringing 500 jobs and $264 million over the next 10 years? Not only that, but it would occupy a massive, vacant department store space. Oh, and it isn’t asking the local or state governments for a single penny in tax-incentives or assistance.…
