Dayton937

Things to do in Dayton | Restaurants, Theatre, Music and More

Miami Valley

Little Art Theatre Brings London’s National Theatre Live to the Miami Valley

By Leave a Comment

littleart-reopen-mThe Little Art Theatre, which completed a half-million dollar renovation in 2013, will present productions from London’s National Theatre beginning this month. National Theatre Live is a groundbreaking project that broadcasts the best of British theatre from the London stage to cinemas around the world. Each broadcast is filmed in front of a live audience in the theatre, with cameras positioned throughout the auditorium to ensure that cinema audiences get the “best seat in the house” view of each production.

Shakespeare’s Coriolanus will open the series, with screenings on Saturday, February 22, at 2 p.m. and Wednesday, February 26, at 7 p.m. The hit production War Horse will be shown on March 22 and 26, followed by King Lear on May 24 and 28 and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time on May 31 and June 4.

Coriolanus, Shakespeare’s searing tragedy of political manipulation and revenge, stars Tom Hiddleston (The Avengers, War Horse, Thor) in the title role and Mark Gatiss (BBC’s Sherlock) as Menenius. Variety offered this praise: “Making enthralling theater out of one of Shakespeare’s best-known titles is one thing. It’s an achievement of an altogether higher order to take the austerely forbidding ‘Coriolanus’—an argumentative tragedy discussing the demands of politics and the power of the people—and turn it into a theatrical triumph. But that’s exactly what [director] Josie Rourke has done. Thanks to an ideally dovetailed ensemble led by a scorching Tom Hiddleston, tension builds, fills the theater and never flags throughout an all-consuming evening.” Coriolanus has a running time of 180 minutes.

Tickets for the National Theatre Live presentations are $20 for everyone and are available in advance online at www.littleart.com (under the Calendar tab) and at the door. The Little Art Theatre is located at 247 Xenia Avenue in downtown Yellow Springs, Ohio. Information and directions are available at www.littleart.com or by calling 937-767-7671.

Six Pack: Top 6 DRUNK DINING SPOTS in the Dayton Area

By 9 Comments

Intoxicated royalty: The “Awful Waffle”

Here is another original food story that you won’t see anywhere else.  However, it is a part of Miami Valley eating that is worth mentioning.  Behold the dreaded DRUNK DINING.

We have all been there, or at least helped a friend through a night of inebriation.  What’s the best fix?  Answer: Soak up that alcohol up with a full blown Food Adventure.   We are here to help you, not unlike Betty Ford, but our expertise is more on the caloric end.  The Big Ragu, Chef House and Hungry Jax have compiled Dayton’s first ever  TOP 6 DRUNK DINING SPOTS.  These are just our six pack.   We would love your comments below on who made your list.

1) THE WAFFLE HOUSE – The greasy spoon, the unruly crowd.  Simply put, the ‘awful waffle.’   The only time that the Waffle House sounds good is when you are too drunk to know what you are getting yourself into.  Go in this place at 2:30 a.m. and not a sober person is to be found.  It is a land where diets are blown and the key words are smothered and covered.  We are talking about hash browns, covered with cheese and another assortment of ingredients.  The rest of the food isn’t worth mentioning and the good thing is that you won’t remember anyhow.  We also recommend not going into the bathrooms after 3 a.m, it looks like a war zone in there.  This restaurant gets extra points for the sheer entertainment factor of other drunks in the dining room.  It is like a 3D movie, but without those annoying glasses.

The sign is like a beacon, calling all buzzed

2) PERKINS – Pound for pound, their waitresses are the biggest bad asses.  Some have even been seen chasing drunk patrons in the parking lot.  But alas, the wonderful, green neon sign is a beacon.  It calls to inebriated souls to come in and sober up with some pancakes.  In fact, they have some of our the pancakes around.  But don’t mess around with the Sugar Free Syrup, we learned the hard way that it screws up a perfectly done pancake.  Perkins also offers many fried foods such as  cheese sticks, green beans, chicken tenders.  If that won’t sober you up, at the front counter is a bakery display with muffins the size of your head.  Those should surely soak up the booze.  A full breakfast and dinner menu offers plenty of choices that will act as a sponge in your stomach, sucking you back into sobriety.

 

3) TACO BELL – If your vision is blurry then a  ‘run for the border’ is in order.  The late night drive thru makes life simple.  This might be everyone’s “Go To” drunk dining place.  The food is cheap, the meat and tastes so damn good when you are a bit hammered.  The worst part of  Taco ‘Hell’ is that the drive thru that takes forever.  That would be because every other drunk person has the same idea as you.  What do we recommend here?  Does it really matter?  It is all the same.  Flour Tortilla, Melted Cheese, & that questionable ‘meat product’ loaded with fillers.   For you healthy drunks out there, there is the Cantina Collection of lower calorie options.  Like it matters at this point!  Drawbacks like ‘early morning gas’ kept this restaurant out of the number 2 spot.

Mexican Pizza – because red sauce & bean paste is a good idea to mix into a volatile stomach

4) WHITE CASTLE – Oh, how we love our White Castle!  It is one of greatest dining experiences a person can have either drunk or sober.  First, the strong smell of the onions will start to sober you up immediately.  Secondly, the first one tastes so damn good, you just keep stuffing yourself until you don’t know any better.  Want a side dish? Splurge on a get a large sack of onion chips and go to town on these.  When your friends are drunky pants, White Castle will make them dance.   Get a crave case, that way you won’t crave em for a while.  We particularly love  when our friends launch into philosophical drunk conversations about why there are 5 hole punches in the meat patty.  The bad news is the 24hour White Castle Restaurants are only in Cincinnati these days.  You’re buzzed and happy and then all of a sudden it happens.  A belch and then the stomach cramps.  It is pretty much all over from here.  Our advice:  Roll the windows down on the way home so you don’t create a “Rolling Dutch Oven” (you might have to google that term).  It is the gift that keeps on giving because the next morning, you can be assured that you will be doing a lot of sitting.  You know why they call them sliders?  Because they slide in and slide out.  Unfortunately, only 2 White Castles are nearby.  One is on Salem Ave and the other is in Franklin off I-75.

 

Onion chips soak up the alcohol

5) STEAK N SHAKE – This restaurant is the only late night choice for drive thru OR dining alongside other corralled patrons.  The slick floors offer an obstacle course like dining room for some of the more drunk guests.  It is like Russian roulette to see who gets squeezed into a booth next to the Big Ragu for an elbow filled eating experience.  Great prices and decent drunk food make this a stellar choice, probably one of the greatest drunk dining spots in America!  The burgers and shakes are incredible.  The staff are used to drunk bastards, and they will even give your drunk ass one of those little white Steak n Shake paper hats to wear while dining.  This place has food that mixes well with alcohol like chili cheese dogs, steak burgers & milk shakes.  Plus it is open 24 hours and serves breakfast.

 

6) DENNY’S – This is one of the more interesting places that you can visit after 3am.  There is only one remaining in Dayton, on S. Main St. near the fairgrounds.  The food isn’t the greatest but does the trick.  We actually love the onion rings.  The choices from dinner to breakfast give you a good variety, if you can read the menu at this point.  Denny’s is the best spot to see an unusual variety of people from all walks of life.    Nothing says drunk dining like eating a Grand Slam Breakfast next to a drag queen.

The Steakburger : a dream on a bun if you’re drunk

Honorable mention, we give a tipsy nod to the following:

SMOKIN’ BAR-B-QUE – The place to stumble after a night of drinking at the Oregon District

AL’S SMOKEHOUSE – Ribs downtown at 4am?  Yes !

BILLS DONUTS – It is fascinating to watch people with bloodshot-eyes trying to concentrate and pick out donuts from a glass case at 3am.

COUSIN VINNY’S – Open til 4am, these guys will deliver to trashed patrons.  Don’t pass out while waiting for your pie.

**Remember Food Adventure fans,  always drink responsibly and get a designated driver***

For more fun from these “foodies in their forties,”  like FOOD ADVENTURES on Facebook HERE.

What are your favorite spots for a late night drunk bite???  Please comment below !

[flagallery gid=49]

 

Welcoming the movies to Dayton – and your house!

By Leave a Comment

Production companies reach out to the local nonprofit FilmDayton for help in securing the best locations for commercials, films and television program. Now FilmDayton is reaching out to the Miami Valley for help in learning about more film-friendly homes, businesses and locations.

Are you excited by all the buzz about the growing film industry in Ohio? Do you want to support it without FilmDayton launched the Reel Treasures of the Miami Valley contest for you!

You don’t have to be a glamorous movie star or an award-winning filmmaker to get in on the growing film industry in Ohio. The old cliché that “Everything in life is location, location, location” is true for those in the business of film making. Setting the scene is an early step in projects from television series to a critically-acclaimed indie film to a major summer blockbuster.  FilmDayton wants that step to be taken in the Miami Valley, and you can help make it happen.

“Our region has so many possibilities – cozy houses to large mansions, unique restaurants and shops, great classic cars and antique farm equipment, interesting warehouse districts and cutting-edge medical centers, and urban, suburban and rural treasures. This diversity of locations can help our region attract film productions and put money in the pockets of some property owners,” says Megan Cooper, Director of FilmDayton.

FilmDayton, a regional non-profit organization seeking to foster the local film making community, has announced a competition to find the varied locations in the greater Dayton area.  The competition is open through November 17.  If you are the owner of a home, business, property or facility and like the possibility of seeing your location in a movie, this is the contest for you.

FilmDayton serves the entire Miami Valley; submissions from Montgomery, Darke, Miami, Shelby, Clark, Champaign, Greene, Warren, Preble and Butler Counties are encouraged. It’s vital that the locations database be able to accurately reflect the diverse landscape across our region to be competitive and give all people across the Miami Valley a shot to be considered.

How important is the right location? Multiple reality shows seeking businesses, restaurants, exotic pools, interesting homes, and haunted locations are interested in filming in the Miami Valley – but they need to find the right spot. Feature filmmakers are currently in conversation with FilmDayton and looking for the perfect location.

We’re Doing Fine, by acclaimed New York-based filmmaker Djuna Wahlrab, will film in the Dayton area in Spring of 2013 and the team has begun the search for the right locations. A furnished side-by-side double and a hospital setting are high on their list of location needs.

Helping build up the region’s locations database is a vital step for our growing film community. Cooper says, “When FilmDayton gets the call that a production is looking for a farm house near a stream, an office in a high-rise, or a thriving local business – having a photo to get to the director immediately will make us more competitive with our colleagues across the state.”

Often requested locations include furnished houses of all sizes, medical centers and schools. But Cooper says that being prepared for anything requires a complete database of photos from all people willing to welcome a film production to their property.

When True Nature, the drama and supernatural thriller written and directed by Patrick Steele, filmed in Dayton familiar locations like a beautiful historic mansion, a downtown office building and a local restaurant were featured.

There’s benefit in it for the property owner, too. Typically, productions pay for use of the house, property, land or object. But beyond the financial benefit – you may get to see your place on the big screen.

Reel Treasures of the Miami Valley – How to Submit

The process is simple, but please note that ONLY the owner (and the person who grants permission) of the property, item or location has the authority to submit to the contest.

First, take a clear, low-resolution photo from a solid angle.  Include your name, physical address of location and contact information with the photos. Here are some photo taking tips!

To encourage some friendly competition, FilmDayton will invite industry insiders to review the submissions and select top submission from the following categories. Top photos may be featured on the FilmDayton web site. Categories include:

  • Industrial/Warehouse
  • Arts (galleries, theaters, auditoriums, etc)
  • Open Spaces (parks, gardens, farms, water, etc)
  • Residential (homes of all sorts – include a second shot of special features)
  • Businesses (offices, storefronts, restaurants/bars, etc)
  • Medical/Hospital
  • Era Location Shots – Examples include office from the 70s with authentic furniture and shag carpet, a fully-furnished kitchen from the 50s, etc
  • Special Props – antique cars/farm equipment, unique kitchen items, etc…

Thanks to partner Dodd Camera, two overall winners will get our top prize of a digital camera. In addition to their many Dayton stores, Dodd Camera is now open in Cincinnati near the Kenwood Mall with a gigantic selection of cameras, lenses and accessories plus a rental department including a rental studio.

More information can be found at www.FilmDayton.com. The contest ends on November 17, so grab your camera today and show the rest of the country that locations all across the Miami Valley are worth immortalizing on film.

Submit your photo to:

FilmDaytonLocations@gmail.com

Include your name, physical address of location, and contact information.

Play for Change in the Miami Valley

By Leave a Comment

A CALL FOR MUSICIANS, FILMMAKERS, AND VOLUNTEERS!

Wright State University calls for community partners, musicians, filmmakers and volunteers to participate in the worldwide music initiative, “Playing for Change.”

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us-TVg40ExM’] Launched by a multi-media group; Playing for Change is a social movement that captures the voices of musicians across the globe. A dedicated film crew crosses the globe to seek music’s most creative talent. Individual stories were woven into a single story about humanity, sung and played by some of the world’s most inspiring artists. For more information, visit http://playingforchange.com/.

Wright State University will add the voice of the Miami Valley to this growing initiative. The Miami Valley Playing for Change project is in need of local filmmakers, musicians, and other volunteers to participate in creating a video, featuring a blend of positive songs to uplift and showcase our region. Like the video above – a diverse collection of musicians of all different backgrounds, genres and instruments are invited to share their talents on a song that will become greater than the sum of its parts.

Heading up the program is Dr. Robert J. Sweeney, Executive Vice President for Planning at Wright State University. Sweeney was drawn to this project based on the great cultural impact it has demonstrated; the music program is bringing together communities that would have never otherwise worked together and crossing barriers across the globe. Regarding why he’s bringing it to the Miami Valley, he says, “We had Mark Johnson speak as a part of our Presidential Lecture Series and the response from the community to his message was overwhelming.  I know our musicians, filmmakers and community of volunteers rival any region in the world.”

Musicians may be soloists or bands/groups/choirs that use voice and/or instruments; the project seeks to highlight many different genres of locally connected musicians. Participating bands/artists will perform one or more of the featured songs while filmmakers shoot the performances at locations throughout the Miami Valley between July 14 and August 3.

The featured songs include:

“Nothing Can Stop Us Now” by Starship

“Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow” by Fleetwood Mac

“I Can See Clearly Now” by Johnny Nash

“We Are” by Sweet Honey in the Rock

The final product will be a video montage of the performances uploaded early September for a worldwide audience with a possible special reception to feature the songs/videos.

 

Miami Valley ‘Playing for Change’ Submission Guidelines:

Deadline: July 14, 2012

Please email submission information to Dr. Robert J. Sweeney, Executive Vice President for Planning and Secretary to the Board of Trustees, at robert.sweeney@wright.edu. In the subject of your email, please type “Playing for Change.”

Musicians: Participating musicians will need to learn one or up to all of the featured songs to participate. If interested, please submit your information including:

(1) The name of your band (or you as an individual artist),

(2) Musical Genre

(3) Instrument(s)

(4) Number of performers (soloists and groups welcome)

(5) Video, audio recording, Web site, additional information, etc

(5) Contact information, including your name, email and phone number

Filmmakers: Please submit the following information:

(1) What type of experience you have (camera, sound, edit, etc.),

(2) Length of time in industry

(3) Special equipment you may have,

(4) Reel, resume, additional information, etc.

(5) Contact information, including your name, email and phone number

 Other Volunteers: For any music lovers or champions of the Miami Valley who would like to participate in this event (i.e. donating bottled water or other snacks for shooting days, being an extra hand on set, etc.), please contact us with:

(1) What area you would like help with and

(2) Your contact information, including your name, email and phone number