2024 is ending much better than it started for Spirit of the Bear. The band, which formed a decade ago in Boardman and currently is based in Columbus, spent 2023 working on a new album and playing Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium and other prestigious venues as an opening act for ...

“La traviata” is Opera Western Reserve’s 2024 production Under the stage direction of Scott Skiba and music direction of Susan Davenny Wyner, Opera Western Reserve will present the Giuseppe Verdi opera at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Powers Auditorium. Composed by Verdi with a libretto by ...

The big first act finale in the musical “Wicked” is “Defying Gravity.” For the skeptics out there — myself included — the big screen adaptation of “Wicked” could be described as defying cynicism. And for those who’ve been awaiting a film version of Stephen Schwartz and ...

Assorted ramblings from the world of entertainment: • Cynthia Erivo will be in movie theaters locally and nationwide this weekend as Elphaba in part one of the big-screen adaptation of the musical “Wicked.” Northeast Ohio fans will have a chance to see Erivo in person before part two ...

Michael Anthony Forney likes to see how his work plays in front of a hometown crowd. That’s why his latest stage play, “The Family Reunion” premieres Saturday at DeYor Performing Arts Center’s Ford Family Recital Hall. “Youngstown, they gonna let you know from the beginning,” ...

Art BUTLER INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN ART, 524 Wick Ave., Youngstown: “Richard Hahn: Facades,” throughSunday; “Mateo Blanco: My United States of America,” through Dec. 1; “Entangled Attraction, 2022,” through Feb. 16, 2025. Hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and noon ...