The new album, called “Magna Carta Holy Grail,” will be free for the first 1 million android phone owners who download an app for the album. Those who do so will get the album on July 4, three days before its official release, according to a Sunday statement.

Samsung is a leader in the mobile phone market and has been steadily chipping away at Apple’s share of the market with its Galaxy phones. The deal with Jay-Z is yet another example of how mobile companies are using music to lure new consumers.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Netflix Inc. says the multi-year agreement is its biggest deal ever for original first-run content and includes more than 300 hours of new programming. It expands on an existing relationship between the companies.

For Dreamworks, the transaction announced Monday is part of a major initiative to expand its television production and distribution worldwide.

Netflix has been adding original programming to its roster of movies, and debuted the original series “House of Cards” on Feb. 1. It has also increased its focus on children’s programming in a move seen as taking a different tack than traditional premium pay TV channels such as HBO, Starz and Showtime, whose original shows are tailored more to adults.

In December Netflix announced it will offer Disney movies, starting with films released in 2016. It declined to make a similar deal for the rights to Sony movies starting in 2016, which was kept by Starz.

The new Dreamworks shows will be inspired by characters from its hit franchises like “Shrek” and “Kung Fu Panda” and upcoming feature films as well as the Classic Media library that Dreamworks Animation SKG Inc. bought last year. The television shows will be commercial free.

The first series is expected to begin airing in 2014 and will be shown in the 40 countries in which Netflix operates.

In February the companies announced their first ever Netflix original series for kids based on the film “Turbo” that is coming out in movie theaters next month. The original series, called “Turbo F.A.S.T.,” will be shown starting in December.

Next year Netflix customers in the U.S. and Latin America will also have access to some of Dreamworks’ newest films, including “The Croods” and “Turbo.”

Netflix shares rose $12.29, or 5.7 percent, to $226.28 in morning trading. Dreamworks shares rose $1.69, or 7.4 percent, to $24.50.

Kardashian and her rapper boyfriend Kanye West were keeping silent in the wake of multiple reports that Kardashian gave birth over the weekend — about a month premature.

But Jenner told E! at the Daytime Emmys on Sunday that Kim is “extremely happy and thrilled for the new baby and she’s doing great and she’s beautiful.”

Kardashian’s sister Khloe appeared to have let a rather cryptic cat out of the bag on Twitter.

“I can not even begin 2describe the miracle that is now apart of our family. Mommy/baby are healthy &resting. We appreciate all of the love,” she tweeted Sunday.

She quickly followed with a second tweet: “More info will come when the time is right! Thank you all for understanding! We love you all dearly! Overwhelmed with love right now.”

Jenner linked to both tweets on her Twitter account, then wished West a Happy Father’s Day.

Asked for comment on the red carpet at the Daytime Emmys, where she was a presenter, Jenner said, “She’s in charge,” pointing at her publicist who whisked her away from print reporters after doing TV interviews.

The reality TV star’s pregnancy was almost as anticipated as the royal pregnancy of Kate Middleton, who is due in mid-July. That’s about the time the Kardashian baby had been due.

The 32-year-old has often been photographed since announcing she was pregnant, opting to continue to wear designer clothing. She told The Associated Press in April that she eventually embraced being an expecting mom after getting past “the awkward phases and stages.”

The couple had initially kept the baby’s gender a secret, but the sex was revealed earlier this month during one of Kardashian’s doctor appointments on “Keeping up with the Kardashians.”

News of the birth has been swaddled in secrecy. Representatives for West and Kim Kardashian didn’t respond to emails and calls from The Associated Press, nor did any representatives for family members, friends and professional associates. And all of the weekend media reports on the birth were attributed to anonymous sources.

In a recent interview with The New York Times, West said he didn’t like talking about his family or the arrival of his child.

“Like, this is my baby. This isn’t America’s baby,” he said.

Davidson earned his first career trophy for a role he’s played since 1978. Tom, who previously was on Y&R, repeated her win from last year.

Davidson had been nominated seven times in various categories for playing Detective Paul Williams on the CBS soap before winning.

Tom plays Katie Logan on B&B. Last year, she became the first person to win Daytime Emmys in the younger, supporting and lead categories.

Days of Our Lives won drama series honors for just the second time in 40 years. The NBC soap opera that began airing in 1965 beat out defending champion General Hospital and three-time winner The Bold and the Beautiful.

The category included the only four remaining soaps still airing on the broadcast networks against One Life to Live, which has found new life on the Internet after being canceled.

The only other drama series win for Days was in 1978.

The show had its unexpected moments, including Corbin Bernsen uttering two expletives during the in memoriam tribute that included his late mother Jeanne Cooper of The Young and the Restless.

The women of The Talk presented outstanding talk show informative, and when Aisha Tyler opened the envelope she quickly realized it was the wrong one.

“Oh, this is interesting,” she said. “This winner is not in this category.”

The audience in the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton gasped at the error.

Tyler then announced The Dr. Oz Show as the winner.

“I was having heart palpitations, real ones,” Dr. Mehmet Oz said onstage.

In another surprise, there was a tie for supporting actor in a drama series. Scott Clifton of The Bold and the Beautiful and Billy Miller of The Young and the Restless both won.

Julie Marie Berman of General Hospital won supporting actress honors.

Ben Bailey of Cash Cab picked up his third win as outstanding game show host, beating out five-time winner Alex Trebek of Jeopardy! Cash Cab is no longer in production after eight years of shows that took place in a cab as Bailey plied the streets of New York.

“I’ve got some great hood ornaments for the cab I now have in my garage,” he said.

The Ellen DeGeneres Show earned its seventh trophy as outstanding talk show entertainment.

Now with the convenience of the Internet, you can have incredible wildlife images delivered to your digital mailbox.

Nothing beats the presence of the physical image, however, and through Sept. 15 the Cleveland Museum of Natural History is exhibiting Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2012, 100 of the best photos of wildlife submitted to the British Natural History Museum, London, and BBC Wildlife magazine.

Chosen from among more than 48,000 photos submitted, the images were selected by an international jury chaired by Jim Brandenburg, a highly respected nature photographer and a past winner of the competition.

Now in its 48th year, the competition has drawn entries from 98 countries over its history, both amateur and professional photographers. Judges choose the best based on creativity, artistry and technical complexity.

BBC Wildlife Magazine founded Wildlife Photographer of the Year in 1965. The Natural History Museum joined forces in 1984 to create the competition as it is today.

This year’s winning photos were chosen from a record number of entries representing 28 countries. Age is no limit; categories range from photographers 10 years old and younger to mature professionals.

“It amazes me to discover new and startling moments that have never been seen before,” said Brandenburg. “Secret moments in nature combined with a talented eye have given us rare photographs that will truly be enjoyed forever.”

Actually, Brandenburg’s statement is only partially true, and this may be good or bad, according to your relationship to the convenience of the digital age.

There is in this exhibit a photo of a Japanese macaque soaking itself in one of the hot springs that pepper the Jigokudani Valley of central Japan.

Images of these macaques in the steamy waters have been the subject of innumerable images shared around the Internet. If you Google “Japanese snow monkeys hot springs” you will get tens of thousands of hits.

There’s also Snow Pounce, which shows a fox jumping in hot pursuit of his prey, which has dived into the snow. Googling “fox jump” results in millions of hits.

So not all of these images are utterly rare and dissimilar to what’s already available. Nevertheless, they are beautiful, breathtaking, beguiling and, thanks to the thoroughness of those who put this exhibit together, incredibly informative.

The stated aim of the competition is to select images not only for their aesthetic qualities, but also for their “extraordinary, often technically amazing and sometimes shocking reflections of events in the natural world.”

Below the description of each image is a line or two of information on the technical aspects of the image: camera used; lens settings; whether flash and tripod was used; type of film, if any; and the digital programs used to bring the image to print.

I mention this because there are still artists who refuse to divulge such information for fear of losing their “secret” methods. One look at the disclosures published in this exhibit should clue them in that people who use the technology can figure it out.

As to the “shocking” images, be forewarned, there are images of rhino horn poaching that are disturbing, as are images of wild animals in pursuit of prey, such as a pride of cheetah cubs learning to kill.

One of the most beguiling images in the exhibit is Caught in the Act, a photograph by Hannah Bedford of the UK, whose photograph, taken with a Canon PowerShot A11100 IS, was “commended” in the Young Wildlife Photographers 10 years and under category.

“There was a commotion in the garden” said Hannah, “and this was what was causing it.” The fox had killed all four of the Bedfords’ hens in the chicken run and was in the act of eating one. Hannah ran to get her camera and caught the fox on top of the hen house, mouth full of feathers, a deer-in-the-headlights expression on its face.

“I loved seeing a fox so close up,” added Hannah, “but we don’t keep chickens any more.”

The winner in that category was Bartek Kosinski of Poland for Dawn Flight, his ghostly, hand-focused image taken with a Nikon D300 of common cranes preparing to take flight one misty morning at Milicz Fishponds Nature Reserve in western Poland.

Dorothy Shinn writes about art and architecture for the Akron Beacon Journal. Send information to her at the Akron Beacon Journal, P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309-0640 or dtgshinn@att.net.

Evanovich is author of the best-selling Stephanie Plum novels (One for the Money, Two for the Dough and so on), among other works. Goldberg, meanwhile, has been a successful TV producer and writer (Diagnosis Murder) as well as penning a series of books, including 15 novels inspired by the Monk TV show.

Both will be at the Barnes & Noble Crocker Park in Westlake at 6 p.m. Tuesday to sign copies of their new collaboration, The Heist, about con artist Nicolas Fox; Kate O’Hare, an FBI agent who has doggedly pursued Fox for years; and a complicated series of scams and schemes that includes stops in Las Vegas and Indonesia. Goldberg said the first book resembled a TV pilot in setting up the premise for a series of stories about the devil-may-care Fox and work-fixated O’Hare. Indeed, there’s already a short e-book prequel, Pros and Cons, and Goldberg is deep into the draft of a second full novel.

And it all started when the longtime friends were talking over dinner about a year ago.

“I was saying how I loved being in the world of Plum but I was itching to go out to more exotic locations,” Evanovich said in a telephone interview. “Everyone wants Stephanie to stay in New Jersey and I wanted to go to New Zealand. I wanted to go to Pakistan. So the more we talked, the more we realized we were thinking about the same book.

“Lee had been wanting to do a book that had really compelling characters, that had romance — not the romance of a romance novel but the romance of exotic locations, of Rio, of the South Seas. And we wanted to go after criminals on a more global scale. Stephanie Plum is sort of like writing a crime novel in a phone booth. It’s very self-contained. And I wanted to do something that was little bit bigger. … And every time I said I wanted to do something, Lee would say, ‘I want to do that, too!’ ”

Goldberg, in a separate interview, also thought “this was something that hasn’t been done in a while.” He sees it in terms of things like the original, Steve McQueen-starring Thomas Crown Affair, or TV shows like Remington Steele and It Takes a Thief: “Sexy, smart characters, international locales and a lot of fun. Real energy, and an escapist adventure.”

“So, by the time the pizza was done,” Evanovich said, “we had decided that, why don’t we write this together?”

Goldberg was delighted. “I am working with a superstar,” he said. “She is amazing.” Indeed, Pros and Cons recently hit ninth place on the New York Times list of best-selling e-book fiction (and ranked 17th among all print and e-book fiction), which Goldberg credited to Evanovich’s following.

Still, considering their respective busy lives, Evanovich said it was unlikely that either would write the book solo. “We figured together we could actually make a whole person,” she said.

But with two halves miles apart. Evanovich lives and works in Florida, while Goldberg is based in Los Angeles. So there were phone calls, and some visits to Florida by Goldberg, and help from Evanovich’s daughter Alex and son Peter, both of whom work for her company Evanovich Inc.

“We spent a lot of time talking at first, and coming up with the characters, and making sure they were the characters we had been dreaming about, and who they were, what were their aspirations. We made long lists of character analysis,” Evanovich said.

But — surprising in a crime-novel writer — Evanovich said, “I suck at plotting out a book. It’s just not my thing. And Lee is brilliant at it. So, after we set up our characters and our mission statement, Lee went off and set up the plot.” A world traveler, he also knew most of the locations firsthand. (“The only place in this book I haven’t been, and Janet hasn’t been, is Indonesia,” Goldberg said. “So I called people I know who have been there, and did a lot of research.”) But there’s an Evanovich touch in the romantic-sexual tension between Fox and O’Hare.

Since Evanovich was busy with a new Plum novel, Goldberg wrote the first draft of The Heist. Along the way, he sent pages to Evanovich, who made comments before Goldberg continued.

When the first draft was done, “by that time I was done with my Plum, and I took it over,” Evanovich said. “I did a very extensive editing of it … because we wanted a product that would satisfy my readers as well as his audience.… My job was to take all of the good stuff he did and put it into my voice” — while retaining a sense of Goldberg’s style.

“I learned so much from her about writing, and about telling stories, and about humor,” Goldberg said of their work together. “She has raised my game enormously. I’m learning all sorts of new things. … There’s a humor that only Janet does. She can take something that I’ve written, for instance, and just by deleting a line or two, or twisting the phrasing, suddenly raises it 1,000 percent. Or she will put in a female point of view that I never would have thought of in a million years.”

Evanovich also has some things she always does in her books. “I have rules, right?” she said. “Like we don’t kill any cats and dogs. …. And we write about good people. They’re flawed. But they’re people like me. To some extent I think I’m writing about myself, because I think that I’m pretty average, and that’s just what interests me — the average person doing something extraordinary.”

An average author of dozens of popular books?

“I work very hard at [writing] … and I’ve been very lucky and very successful,” she said. “But when you strip that away, I’m sitting here in Pilates pants covered in dog hair. I get up and start work at 5 o’clock (in the morning) so I haven’t had a shower yet. And I’ve got cold coffee sitting here ... and I actually like eating at McDonald’s. I think I’m still the person who was born into a blue-collar family.”

Goldberg, who has spent a long career both writing and dealing with writers, thinks Evanovich understates her accomplishments. He has nothing but praise for his new writing partner.

“I’m very much used to collaboration,” said Goldberg. “I enjoy collaboration. And I think Janet and I are bringing out the best in each other. It’s not me writing Janet, or Janet writing me. It’s an Evanoberg!”

Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and for Ohio.com, including the HeldenFiles Online blog, www.ohio.com/blogs/heldenfiles. He is also on Facebook and Twitter. You can contact him at 330-996-3582 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.

Jazz at Lincoln Center started as three “Classical Jazz” concerts in 1987 and has grown into a $43 million operation that produces more than 100 concerts, offers a free online jazz curriculum for educators that is being used in all 50 states, and stages Jazz for Young People concerts throughout the New York school system. It has held master classes and clinics in more than 100 cities around the globe, and has as many as 1,700 different educational programs designed not just to share jazz with young folks, but to show how music and the arts can help enrich people’s lives.

In 2013, the band’s home base, the nonprofit Jazz at Lincoln Center organization, is celebrating 25 years of upholding and building on the tradition, sharing the music of legendary musicians and composers such as Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Wayne Shorter, and commissioning and performing new music by contemporary artists and composers to share with music lovers to uplift the role of jazz in American culture.

Here are a few questions with JALCO’s bandleader and recently named Managing Director Wynton Marsalis.

Q: Jazz at Lincoln Center has been going for a quarter of a century. Have you kicked back and contemplated all of the band’s and organization’s accomplishments?

A: Every year, when we start to program for the next year, we always go through all of our programming so we have an opportunity to look over all the different things we’ve done and talk about it, so we can consolidate our objectives for next year.

Q: So, is it just another year in the grand mission?

A: It’s a blessing to be out here. So it always feels more than special just to have the opportunity to do as much education as we’ve done, to fill our own halls, to put together a coalition of citizens to get behind jazz as an art form, to be invited into the Lincoln Center family, to have the opportunity to develop an orchestra with surviving members of the Duke Ellington Orchestra … to be able to travel around the country and around the world doing master classes and teaching and to have our students come up and also become teachers, to have a national jazz festival and competition that touches and changes people’s kids’ and parents’ lives. It goes on and on and it’s all been a blessing.

Q: This all started with three “Classical Jazz” concerts in 1987. Did you have any idea or dream that it could grow into JALCO?

A: In those times, I was doing close to 200 concerts a year, so I didn’t really think that much about three concerts. So no, I had no idea that citizens that weren’t even musicians would get behind the music, would form a board and raise money for the organization, or that we would end up doing what we ended up doing.

Q: When did you begin to realize that Jazz at Lincoln Center could become more than just a great band playing in a great room?

A: Yeah, I figured that out early in the process when I saw how people got around it. Because being a jazz musicians who grew up in jazz, I’d never seen anybody really give anything to the music. Some club owners open up in New Orleans, but it’s kind of a contradiction of having a city that’s kind of named and known for jazz, but my father’s a jazz musician and he could barely survive.

So, I thought it could be a kind of movement around the art, something deeper than what you are playing. But all of the music: what Duke Ellington played, or what Benny Goodman played, or what Dave Brubeck was trying to do or what Louis Armstrong wanted. We could incorporate the aspirations of all the musicians into an institution and make sure that it takes a lasting form, and it also realizes many of the larger objectives they had that a lifetime was not enough to achieve.

I feel we’re like that. There’s things we want to do, and there’s no way we can achieve all of them in our lifetime, but now we have an institution. If we build it sturdy enough, then the work of the institution is able to go on and on and on, like universities and orchestras and other things that have been institutionalized.

Q: Pop music tends to be ephemeral — songs, artists, trends and styles come and go — but in your mind, jazz the art form must continue?

A: It’s the blues ethos. Because music is also a popular art form. There’s no achievement if you’re playing music that nobody wants to hear.

The question is to consolidate the audience enough, so there’s a commonality so that they can understand what you’re playing, and that’s always been what we strive for. That’s why people still love the music of Duke Ellington. We played some Ellington concerts last week, and people loved it. There were a lot of pieces that nobody heard of, “oh, we didn’t know Duke wrote this music,” and that’s what we strive to do when we write our original music, is to find a kind of common ground where the audience can enjoy the music but also be enriched by it.

Q: So the longstanding anti-jazz trope that the musicians play to impress each other isn’t true?

A: Yeah, we don’t want to do that, that’s not an achievement and that’s not the spirit of the best of our music.

Q: In a similar vein, pianist/composer Robert Glasper recently won a Grammy for Best R&B album for his jazz-inflected album “Black Radio,” and he’s said in the press that jazz needs a kick in the ass. I’m guessing you don’t subscribe to that theory.

A: I taught him in my class when he was a kid. I don’t really deal with the musicians individually, especially after a certain year; with the younger musicians, I don’t really comment on them. But I don’t think the art form is going to receive anything by being R&B. That’s already been done. The art form has so much great music in it, with jazz and education, we never give up the battle to present the best of it to the public.

A lot of it is like the type of cheap populism we find in politics a lot of times. Then you start to lose faith in people’s ability to choose what is best for them. Then you don’t put it in front of them because you think, well, people don’t want this. There’s a cynicism in it and the best of our music has never had that. It’s always been optimistic in the belief that with a little bit of education, something that is of a high level of quality can be embraced, and I think Jazz at Lincoln Center has proven that.

So, no matter what an individual person says in the afterglow of awards they’ve won, whether it’s Robert or whoever, the objectives of an institution are always much greater than that. And if your institution has fleeting objectives, it can allow itself to get dragged down into the kind of stuff that’s good in a barbershop, and it’s fun, but it’s not really institutional thinking. It’s like a team that starts taunting another team. You’re already playing, you’re wasting your time with all of that. Just execute your offense, don’t stand on the field talking.

Q: In some other countries and cultures the arts are still held in high esteem as an important part of growth as a person. Not so much in the States. Do you find that to be a difficult mindset to combat?

A: It’s an uphill struggle in our country because we tend to be so commercial minded. Since Sputnik, you know, we’ve believed that math and science are the best way to compete with other cultures, and we’ve never been centered in our own culture because a lot of our culture came from slaves … we could never reconcile it and it’s unfortunate, because the rest of the world has embraced a lot of American culture and we’ve never felt it was something we should teach to our kids with the type of intensity we have taught other things, or not taught anything.

And one day, we’ll have the conscience to embrace a total vision of the American arts because there are some great artists in America that come from everywhere in the culture … There are great poets, artists and many great achievements that have not been allowed to have the type of positive impact it would have on our way of life if we were to know what they were.

But the one thing about the arts is, they are still there. Walt Whitman’s stuff is available … I could go on and on. All these things are still available and there will come a time when the national conscience will turn itself to that kind of nourishment and they will be there.

Q: So if you listen to the media and recent studies and even casual observation, our attention spans are shortening and our ability to concentrate is floundering. Is that something you feel you must combat?

A: There’s always something to combat. You and I are old enough to know that there’s something to combat. Before that it was something else. I don’t think of it in those terms.

We have a great art form. We want to be part of the ascendancy of people and there are people who do have an attention span, people who want their kids to be more educated and are trying to educate themselves. It’s like the whole bad news syndrome. Somebody commits a crime, everybody talks about it, but what about all the people who didn’t commit a crime? [chuckles] … I see a lot of people who are dedicated, I see a lot of people with their kids, I see a lot of directors and young people who are looking for other things.

The question for us is how to be more effective in letting them know how jazz can lift their lives. That’s our job and I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to have that job. I would look at an NFL offense walking on the field and looking at the defense and saying, “man, look how big they are.” Well, they’re the defense, that’s what they’re there to do. Just execute your offense and you’ll be OK.

Q: Speaking of which, your New Orleans Saints had a rough season last year …

A: Yeah, we did, but we didn’t have as rough a time as those Browns [laughs]. Yeah we struggled, we lost our coach and offense, but you watch this year. We still got Drew Brees and we’re coming back. We shored up on the defense. What are y’all gonna be talking about? Tell me, what are those Browns gonna be doing this year? [laughs heartily]

Q: Touché, moving on. You’ve played Northeast Ohio many times over the years and you’ve had several sons of Ohio in the band. Any recollections, memories of the area?

A: I used to play E.J. Thomas Hall. This was years ago. I love the whole Midwest vibe. There’s a lot of great trumpet players and musicians in the region. The great trumpet player [former JALCO band member] Sean Jones is from there too, I met him in Ohio.

So there’s some good jam sessions there. Good late-night jam sessions. I just need to know where cats are playing. I always ask where they’re playing, and some of the cats in the band will go out.

Malcolm X Abram can be reached at mabram@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3758. Read his blog, Sound Check Online, at www.ohio.com/blogs/sound-check, or follow him on Twitter @malcolmxabram.

Movie: Before Midnight

Cast: Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke

Directed by: Richard Linklater

Studio: Sony Pictures Classics

Running time: 1 hour, 48 minutes

Rating: R for sexual content/nudity and language

Theaters: Capitol Theatre, Cedar Lee, Montrose 12, Valley View 24

HHHH

What: Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2012.

When: Through Sept. 15.

Where: Cleveland Museum of Natural History, 1 Wade Oval Drive, University Circle, Cleveland.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday; noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Admission: $12; $10 youth (ages 3-18), college students with ID, seniors (60 and over); toddlers (2 and younger) free. Shafran Planetarium shows are $4 with admission.

Information: 216-231-4600, www.cmnh.org.

What: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra: 25th Anniversary Tour

When: 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Where: Akron Civic Theatre, 182 S. Main St., Akron.

Tickets: $45-$75.

Information: 330-253-2488, www.akroncivic.com.

No film. No tape. No retakes. Excellent opportunities for on-air bloopers, unscheduled bursts of actors’ laughter, and maybe a curse or two. Just look at blooper reels from the show, especially those times when Betty White’s reactions set off other performers.

But that’s part of the potential fun, isn’t it? Even though the days of mostly live presentations of scripted shows are long gone, shows still dip into the process to amp up excitement and bring in viewers. For example, ER started its 1997-98 season with a live show. Two years later, The Drew Carey Show — like Hot, a show set in Cleveland — went live. 30 Rock did two live episodes, in 2010 and again in 2012.

The live format allows for considerable spontaneity; 30 Rock in particular made whimsical changes between its East and West Coast versions of live shows. (Hot in Cleveland will go live just once, for a 10 p.m. airing, with a taped replay three hours later for prime time out west.) It still has to work on a basic level, including whether it gets on and off in time. So for Hot in Cleveland, there is ample pressure on Andy Cadiff, director of Wednesday’s episode, Buying the Pharmacy.

Cadiff is long and comfortably experienced with directing comedies. He has done hundreds of episodes of My Two Dads, According to Jim, Home Improvement and other shows, including 36 Hot telecasts along with many recent installments of The Exes (also returning to TV Land on Wednesday, at 10:30 p.m.) and Anger Management. And doing a live show, he said, takes a little different mental approach from taped efforts.

With regular tapings, he said, “We always have the sense that there’s a live audience there, but we have two, three hours to tape our show. We have fun with the audience. If we screw up, we have fun with it. We can always go back.” For the live show, he said, “We’re doing a play. The curtain goes up at 7 p.m. [West Coast time] and we’re doing the play straight through.”

Still, he said, “These ladies are so talented, that once they set their mind to what the goal is, they’re going to accomplish it.”

The ladies are, of course, Valerie Bertinelli, Wendie Malick and Jane Leeves as three West Coast women who have relocated to Cleveland, and White as a local resident with a smart mouth and a colorful past. The regular cast certainly knows its way around comedy; Bertinelli’s career includes One Day at Time, Malick’s Just Shoot Me, Leeves’ Frasier and White’s The Golden Girls and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, not to mention her starting in TV when it was still mostly live.

Wednesday’s episode, which also includes William Shatner and The Office’s Brian Baumgartner as guest stars, continues a previous story about an illegal business Elka (White) and her friend Mamie (recurring player Georgia Engel) have been running. And extra care was taken in preparation.

“We’re going to rehearse a little bit differently,” Cadiff said during a June 5 telephone interview. “We’ll probably do more rehearsal than we usually do. We’ll do the kind of rehearsal you do with a play when you’re preparing for an opening-night performance. Which means we’ll do run-throughs straight through.”

That’s an extension of something Cadiff said began a few years ago, “which we call the A-scene mentality. Usually there’s a 7- or 8-page scene which kind of sets the stage for the whole episode, and I said, from now on, we do perfect A scenes, we get out in front of the audience, no one screws up, and we’ll go through it once clean. That says to the audience we know what we’re doing. … And everyone rose to the occasion.”

Now, it will be as if the entire episode is an A scene. But the production on the episode is also structured for live TV, and Cadiff thinks the logistics are more of a challenge than seeing if the performers remember their lines.

“Everything has to be possible in terms of transitioning from one set to the next, one costume change to the next,” he said. If, for instance, Malick is in the living-room set and then, 40 seconds later, enters the pharmacy set, something has to be happening in the pharmacy scene for those 40 seconds. And, unlike in a taped episode, where the cameras would move between takes, for the live show “we’ll have four cameras in the living room — and another four cameras waiting in the pharmacy. We go right from one set to the next. We don’t have to [reposition] our equipment.”

It is, after all, the logistics that work against some shows going live. 30 Rock, for one, had to make radical changes from its usual single-camera approach to shooting for its live shows. With something like Anger Management, the cast would be up to the challenge but, Cadiff said, “the way they’re set up right now, the rhythm that they’re in, they couldn’t do it.

“They use a lot of sets … they have two different stages, They’re shooting all day long — I don’t want to say in a relaxed way, but time is not of the essence. They don’t even shoot in front of a live audience at all.”

But live or not, Hot has been a special experience for Cadiff.

“I’ve been very, very lucky in my career to work on some really great shows with great people. But this show is kind of an embarrassing luxury of riches. The four ladies are as talented as any women in television. … It seems like a cliche to say that they love each other, but they’re the most generous of women. They truly like each other, sincerely. They have each other’s back. They’re so skilled that, for me, it’s like, stand back and stay out of the way.

“People who guest-star on the show always comment that … it’s so much fun, it’s a very welcoming show. And we have a cast that trusts our writers. If there are some bumps along the road, something doesn’t seem to be working, nobody panics. They always trust the writers to fix the problems in the script.”

What, then, makes an unhappy set? Without naming names, Cadiff said, “The problems come from various places, I’ve been in situations where the writers have no regard for the opinions of the actor or director. It’s almost dictatorial blindness. … And the worst situation is usually when the star is the kind of person who is not a team player. Not a generous person, and so wrapped up in themselves that everybody has to adjust their rhythm to this person’s quirks, personalities and just basic selfish behavior. It hasn’t happened a lot, but when it has happened, it’s something I’ve extricated myself from very quickly.”

Yet he said the audience rarely picks up on when there is a lack of off-camera chemistry. “When the bell goes off, everybody shows up and does their job,” he said. “But I would like to think that the real chemistry between the ladies on Hot in Cleveland just makes the show that much better, that the real chemistry I saw on shows like Cheers or Friends made the shows that much better.”

Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and Ohio.com, including in the HeldenFiles Online blog, www.ohio.com/blogs/heldenfiles. He is also on Facebook and Twitter. You can contact him at 330-996-3582 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.

Looking for something special for Dad to do today? Celebrate Father’s Day at the 56th annual Father’s Day Car Show at Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens.

On display are more than 350 vehicles and the special “Inner Circle” cars, along with “Future Classics,” showcasing high-end contemporary cars. New this year is the vendor area for car aficionados.

The show runs from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Cost for nonmembers is $12 for adults, $5 for children ages 6 through 17. Members pay $9 for adults, $4 for children ages 6 through 17. Children 5 and younger are free. Stan Hywet is at 714 N. Portage Path, Akron.

Take a garden stroll

Visit some of the area’s best private landscapes Saturday during the Tour of Gardens, sponsored by the Summit County Master Gardeners.

The self-guided tour will stop at seven gardens that carry out the theme, “Garden Spaces for Everyday Living.” Tour hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Tickets are $15 and are available only until Friday or until they’re sold out. You can buy them at Donzell’s Flower and Garden Center in Akron, Graf Growers Garden Center in Copley Township and Suncrest Gardens in Boston Township.

For more information, visit www.summitmastergardeners.org or call 330-861-6678.

Raise a glass to Dad

June is Ohio Wine Month. It’s the perfect time to explore one of the state’s many wineries.

When the Ohio Wine Producers Association formed in 1975, there were just 13 Ohio wineries. They started celebrating an Ohio Wine Week every June in 1978, and by 1980, the celebration had expanded to Ohio Wine Month.

Now, there are more than 175 Ohio wineries and more open every year, giving us plenty of choices when we toast Dad, or Friday’s official start of summer.

Father’s Day flicks

Remember all the times that Dad leaned back in his chair to relax with some TV? What better day is there for him to chill than this one? Turner Classic Movies offers some fatherly features tonight, with To Kill a Mockingbird at 8 p.m., Life With Father at 10:15 and Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid slipping into Monday at 12:30 a.m.

Shakin’ in Shaker Heights

Music, local food, a juried art show and the privilege of walking around bucolic Shaker Heights are a few reasons to attend the Shaker Heights Arts & Music Festival happening Saturday and next Sunday in (obviously) Shaker Heights.

The festival is located on Farnsleigh Road between Warrensville Center Road and Van Aken Boulevard. Farnsleigh will be closed to traffic, so you can legally walk in the street and check out the more than 135 artists and their wide variety of work.

Festival hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on June 23, and admission is free.

High speed wooden roller coasters? Thrilling, sense-assaulting rides? Penguins?

Yes, yes and most definitely.

In Orlando, Fla. alone, four of the area’s big parks — Disney, Universal, Legoland and SeaWorld — have opened, or are about to open, new attractions. Cedar Point in Sandusky unveiled a new roller coaster, and in Las Vegas a $50 million water park debuted on Memorial Day weekend. In California, visitors to Disneyland can meet all of the Disney Princesses in one place. Elsewhere in the Golden State, four different parks boast new roller coasters.

“Wherever you live, that park is likely to have something new,” said Jeremy Schoolfield, the senior editor of Funworld Magazine, the trade publication for the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA). “There’s lots of innovations — what we call immersive experiences.”

There’s been an onslaught of new attractions in Orlando in recent months.

Back in December, Disney World opened a newly expanded Fantasyland, the largest project in the park’s 41-year history. There are two sections: Enchanted Forest, where visitors will find Belle from Beauty and the Beast and Ariel from The Little Mermaid, and Storybook Circus, which is inspired by Dumbo.

A new ride called Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid and Enchanted Tales with Belle, a walk-through experience that features a magical mirror and costumed characters, will impress movie lovers. And the popular Dumbo attraction is now a little less crowded, because Disney built a second, identical ride.

George Kalogridis, president of the Walt Disney World Resort, said that if he were bringing his family to the park on a summer day, he would begin with the Enchanted Tales with Belle experience, then check out the new Doc McStuffins segment at Disney Junior: Live on Stage at Hollywood Studios.

Hollywood Studios is also the place to find costumed characters from the Disney-Pixar movie Monsters University.

Over at Universal Orlando, a 3-D theme park ride based on the Transformers toy and film brand will open Thursday; a similar ride is already open at Universal’s parks in California and Singapore.

The park describes the ride as an interactive, “larger than life battle” between the Autobots and Decepticons. It uses flight simulator technology, along with wind, heat and smoke to make the riders feel immersed in the experience.

At SeaWorld Orlando, the Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin attraction opened on May 24. With a ride, restaurants and the penguin habitat, it’s the largest expansion in the park’s history.

The ride takes visitors through a queue themed around a fictional penguin named Puck. As visitors make their way through the queue and ride, the temperature keeps dropping — until visitors are in 30-degree temperatures.

The ride ends at the penguin habitat, where more than 250 birds live. Visitors can watch the birds frolic on shore or underwater.

“As we developed this attraction, we found that adults like penguins just as much as kids, and we’ve seen adults act just like kids when they’re around them,” said Terry Prather, the vice president of park operations at SeaWorld Orlando.

Busch Gardens in Tampa has two new offerings: the Madagascar Live show and three just-born rare Malayan tiger cubs.

At Legoland Florida, the park is expanding to include a new ride and interactive play area based on the company’s popular Legends of Chima product line.

The section, which is scheduled to open July 3, will include an interactive water ride called the Quest for Chi, a Lego-building challenge, a 4-D movie and a meet-and-greet with costumed characters.

Legoland also has a Carlsbad, Calif. outpost, and in April opened a 250-room Legoland hotel there. Visitors are greeted by a fire-breathing dragon made of 400,000 Lego bricks. Guest rooms are decorated in pirate, adventure or kingdom themes, and most items in the rooms appear as if they are built of Legos.

Not to be outdone by Florida, California’s theme parks also have new offerings — mostly in the form of thrill rides.

At Disneyland, the new Fantasy Faire offers all of the Disney Princesses in one place — the intricately detailed Royal Hall. Also at Disneyland, Mickey and the Magical Map is the new show at the Fantasyland Theater this summer.

Great America in Santa Clara will have the Gold Striker, a wooden coaster that soars to 108 feet at 54 mph, opening this summer. The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk’s new Undertow roller coaster will replace the Hurricane coaster in June; it’s described a spinning roller coaster. At Six Flags Magic Mountain, the Full Throttle is billed as “the world’s tallest vertical loop” at 160 feet; that coaster will open later in the summer. Knotts Berry Farm debuts the Coast Rider this summer — with 1,339 feet of track, the company says it “gives guests the feeling of riding the California coast.”

In other parts of the country, Dollywood in Tennessee has opened RiverRush in the Splash Country part of the park.

A water park called Wet ‘n’ Wild has opened in Las Vegas. A Wet ‘n’ Wild had been on the Strip for 20 years but shut down in 2004. The new, $50 million park has 25 water slides.

And close to home, at Cedar Point in Sandusky, thrill-seekers will be treated to a new, $30 million roller coaster. Called the GateKeeper, the 4,164-foot track soars over the park’s entrance and winds through the park. It’s the longest winged coaster in the world, industry analysts say — which means that riders sit on either side of the track, with nothing above their heads or below their feet.

The two-minute, 40-second ride features rolling flyover maneuvers, 360-degree flips, drops, spirals and a gut-churning 170-foot drop.

“Each vehicle has four riders and each one can move independently and snake through elements,” said Schoolfield, the Funworld editor. “What’s exciting about this coaster is that it’s very maneuver­able.”

Black Sabbath

Hey, it’s not easy being Beelzebub’s sidekick. Just ask Ozzy Osbourne. Though he will always be best known for his work in Black Sabbath, he hasn’t recorded a new studio album with fellow founding members Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler since the ’70s — until now. 13 is the first Sabbath album with Osbourne, Butler and Iommi in 35 years.

In between, Ozzy’s solo career has been mostly about self-parody, aside from his collaborations with the late guitarist Randy Rhoades. Now back where he belongs, Ozzy is showing the effects of drug abuse, his once-cutting voice reduced in range and power.

Iommi also has had his share of health problems, undergoing cancer treatment in recent years. More bad news: Sabbath drummer Bill Ward is sitting this one out due to a contractual dispute. His replacement, Rage Against the Machine’s Brad Wilk, hits with appropriate authority, but lacks Ward’s swing.

And yet, that dark backdrop may have contributed to this album’s brooding authority. The early Sabbath was steeped in blues and jazz, and with the encouragement of producer Rick Rubin, the quartet tries to reinvigorate that spirit on 13, with five of the eight tracks stretching past seven minutes.

Wilk does an adequate job on these extended tracks, but it’s the vitality of Iommi on guitar and Butler on bass that impresses. They evoke the band’s classic sound on End of Beginning, Live Forever, Dear Father, God is Dead? and the blues-saturated Damaged Soul, which could’ve been lifted from Sabbath’s sludge-metal tar pit, circa 1970-71. Iommi reconfigures his classic N.I.B. riff on Loner, stretches out with a menacing solo on Age of Reason and provides a jazzy, acoustic change of pace on Zeitgeist.

As for Ozzy, he goes for numbed-out desolation rather than the mighty, double-tracked roar of old, singing like a medieval hunchback locked in a dungeon. “When will this nightmare be over?” he moans, perhaps flashing back to his reality-TV show.

Butler’s lyrics find their perfect match in Osbourne. In these songs, the singer wrestles with demons — psychosis, self-abuse, existential dread — with which he’s had considerable personal experience. It makes 13 something a bit more credible than just a souvenir for a reunion tour.

1. Inferno, Dan Brown. The symbologist Robert Langdon, on the run in Florence, must decipher a series of codes created by a Dante-loving scientist.

2. And the Mountains Echoed, Khaled Hosseini. A multigenerational family saga centers on a brother and sister born in Afghanistan; from the author of The Kite Runner.

3. Deeply Odd, Dean Koontz. Odd Thomas, who can communicate with the dead, must forestall a crime by discovering the three innocent people who have been targeted by an evil killer.

4. Zero Hour, Clive Cussler and Graham Brown. Kurt Austin, Joe Zavala and the rest of the Numa team search for a physicist’s machine, buried in an ocean trench, that can cause deadly earthquakes in the 11th Numa Files novel.

5. The Hit, David Baldacci. Government hitman Will Robie uncovers a serious threat as he attempts to take out a fellow assassin who has gone rogue.

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg with Nell Scovell. The chief operating officer of Facebook urges women to pursue their careers without ambivalence.

2. Happy, Happy, Happy, Phil Robertson with Mark Schlabach. The Duck Commander pays tribute to “faith, family and ducks.”

3. Eleven Rings, Phil Jackson and Hugh Delehanty. An autobiography by the successful coach, who led his teams — the Chicago Bulls six times, and the Los Angeles Lakers five — to NBA championships.

4. Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls, David Sedaris. Essays from the humorist on subjects like French dentistry and a North Carolina Costco.

5. The Guns at Last Light, Rick Atkinson. The final volume of the Liberation Trilogy describes the Allied victory in Europe, from D-Day in June 1944 to the German surrender 11 months later.

MASS-MARKET PAPER FICTION

1. A Wanted Man, Lee Child. A carload of people involved in a conspiracy pick up a disheveled hitchhiker, Child’s vigilante hero Jack Reacher.

2. Sea Glass Island, Sherryl Woods. With her two sisters heading for the altar, Samantha is finding it hard to ignore her feelings for Ethan, the tormented local war hero.

3. Leopard’s Prey, Christine Feehan. A serial killer is on the loose in New Orleans, and a sultry jazz singer draws homicide detective and leopard-shifter Remy Boudreaux deeper into the shadows than he ever imagined.

4. Big Sky Summer, Linda Lael Miller. Country singer Casey Elder is back in Parable, Mont., and to hold her family together she’ll need the help of the rancher Walker Parrish.

5. Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card. To develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race’s next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers.

— New York Times

REDBOX TOP DVD RENTALS

1. Warm Bodies

2. Mama

3. Safe Haven

4. Escape from Planet Earth

5. Broken City

— McClatchy-Tribune

News Service

ITUNES TOP SONGS

1. Blurred Lines, Robin Thicke (featuring T.I. and Pharrell)

2. We Can’t Stop, Miley Cyrus

3. Get Lucky, Daft Punk (featuring Pharrell Williams)

4. Radioactive, Imagine Dragons

4. Can’t Hold Us, Ryan Lewis, Macklemore (featuring Ray Dalton)

— Associated Press

ITUNES TOP ALBUMS

1. Random Access Memories, Daft Punk

2. … Like Clockwork, Queens of the Stone Age

3. Night Visions, Imagine Dragons

4. The Great Gatsby (Music from Baz Luhrmann’s film), various artists

5. Feel, Sleeping With Sirens

— Associated Press

One of the problems with the form has been making it accessible both to kids for whom such stories are still new, and older folks who will have to pay for the tickets — and, in some cases, fork over the premium for 3-D showings. Snow White and the Huntsman in 2012 solved the problem with an unabashedly PG-13 approach that essentially warned kids off but promised thrills for older children and adults.

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, which came to DVD and Blu-ray a week ago, pushed even further, taking an R rating. The result was bashed by critics (14 percent positive on Rotten Tomatoes) and tepidly received by U.S. audiences but did do well overseas — and did so with a budget that according to Box Office Mojo was about a third of Snow White and the Huntsman’s.

Arriving Tuesday is another addition to the form, the much-discussed dud Jack the Giant Slayer (Warner, $28.98 DVD/digital set, $35.99 Blu-ray/DVD/digital combo, $44.95 for combo with 3-D Blu-ray added). The director, Bryan Singer, had an impressive pedigree (The Usual Suspects, X-Men, Superman Returns). The ads promised a big, exciting variation on the story of Jack and the Beanstalk.

But reviews were about evenly divided, and even with global revenues added it was a money-loser. Such a bad one, in fact, that it prompted stories like Vulture.com’s one asking, “Why did Jack the Giant Slayer bomb?”

The answer, it turns out, goes back to the notion that the makers of a movie should have a clear idea of what they are doing and whom they are doing it for. Fast & Furious 6 knows exactly what it is, and that its audience expects fast cars and big stunts more than deep themes and subtle performances. The new Man of Steel knows that, whatever may be the flaws in Batman or Iron Man, Superman needs to be more straightforwardly heroic; it also recognizes that a story with so much death of loved ones is best told PG-13.

Jack the Giant Slayer, according to Vulture, started out as an R-rated action epic, then was reconsidered as a family film, and ended up PG-13. With a story that is even more kid-focused than the more fundamentally scary Snow White or Hansel & Gretel, the rating probably drove away younger moviegoers while, as one executive told Vulture, “it certainly wasn’t a film that an adult would have any interest in seeing.”

Yet, for all that, Jack still did better with audiences than the unfortunate, low-budget, here-and-gone Movie 43 (Fox, $29.98 DVD, $39.99 Blu-ray/DVD combo). You have to be pretty special to end up with a single-digit rating on Rotten Tomatoes, let alone a 4. Richard Roeper, for one, called it “the Citizen Kane of awful.” And this for a movie whose cast included Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Halle Berry, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts, Liev Schreiber and more, working with more than a dozen directors. Around the time it was released, as Entertainment Weekly noted, it had two actors, Jackman and Watts, who were up for Academy Awards as well as the Oscar host, Seth MacFarlane.

But all were put in service of a series of loosely connected comedy sketches shot over four years when directors and cast were available. Winslet and Jackman were caught first, as Catherine Shoard reported in the Guardian newspaper, then that deal was used to woo other actors — although some managed to get out once they realized what the film was. Which is, to put it as tastefully as possible, a lot of very gross jokes.

Indeed, what may be the funniest thing about Movie 43 is that it was done so cheaply, it appears to have turned a profit. And people wanting a glimpse of all the stars in odd circumstances will help it draw even more bucks on Blu-ray and DVD.

Also of note this week: Dustin Hoffman made his directing debut with Quartet (Starz/Anchor Bay, $29.98 DVD, $39.99 Blu-ray), a well-received film about a group of musicians in a retirement home thrown into upheaval when a former partner joins them. The cast includes Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Tom Courtenay and Billy Connolly.

Down video road: Amour, the Oscar-winning foreign film, will be on DVD and Blu-ray on Aug. 20. The first season of DaVinci’s Demons comes to DVD and Blu-ray on Sept. 3.

Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and Ohio.com, including the HeldenFiles Online blog, www.ohio.com/blogs/heldenfiles. He is also on Facebook and Twitter. You can contact him at 330-996-3582 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.

Movies — Dino King* (also 3-D Blu-ray); Jack the Giant Slayer* (also 3-D Blu-ray); Justin Bieber: Always Believing; The Last Exorcism Part II*; Lifeforce: Collector’s Edition*; Movie 43*; Quartet*; Stoker*; Upside Down* (also 3-D Blu-ray).

TV shows — Body of Proof: The Complete Third Season; Call the Midwife: Season Two*; Drop Dead Diva: Season 4; Rectify: The Complete First Season; Web Therapy: The Complete Second Season; Wilfred: The Complete Season 2* (FX version).

Kids/family — The Jungle Book: Adventures of Mowgli: Complete Collection (animated); Slugterra: Slugs Unleashed.

Sources include www.joblo.com and www.tvshowson
dvd.com. Consult those sites for more titles and information.

Officials say Friday marks the final day of a two-week shutdown of the West Shoreway, a key commuter route into downtown Cleveland.

The resulting traffic jams combined with construction led to blocked intersections, delays and angry motorists. The city responded by posting police officers to direct traffic at numerous intersections at rush hour.

The closed highway is scheduled to reopen Saturday.

City officials hope the gridlock pays off in polishing Cleveland’s movie-friendly image.

Cleveland streets will play a role in the film “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” starring Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson and Robert Redford.

Heather Denno took her 1½-year-old son Jaxson to watch filming for the movie “The Judge,” starring Downey, in her hometown of Sunderland this week.

Downey, star of the “Iron Man” movies, spotted the little boy and went over to say hello.

Heather Denno told Jaxson that Downey was “Iron Man.”

Confused because of the lack of the trademark metallic red-and-gold suit, Jaxson burst into tears.

Downey put a comforting hand on the boy and calmed him.

Heather Denno tells The Boston Globe that Downey was “sweet and nurturing,” and she could tell he’s a dad.

“I find that you have to emote a little bigger, but you can reach all the way up to the top,” she said. “Eye contact is important, even if it’s from 500 yards away.”

Swift said she’s never worried about the sound being lost in a massive space. With a few shows already under her belt, she feels they’ve gone pretty well.

“Everyone who comes to these shows seems so engaged,” she said. “They come to the show. They know the words. I’m singing the words. We’re singing them at the same time, and therein lies the connection. It goes beyond what size the venue is.”

She recently embarked on her RED tour of North America. Later this fall, she’ll perform in Australia and New Zealand.

Swift, who writes her own songs, has sold more than 75 million albums. She recently appeared on the Fox sitcom “New Girl.” And while she likes acting, she has no plans to put aside her guitar and pen — unless something really impresses her.

“I love to write music. And I love to put an album together and take two years to do it and put everything I have into it. (Except) if there was something, some script that came along that was so enticing that I couldn’t walk away from it, that I became obsessed with that the way I obsess over music,” she said. “If you see me commit to a film, it’s only because I couldn’t focus on anything else.”

Swift was honored as Fragrance Celebrity of the Year at the Fragrance Awards, presented Wednesday night at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center.

“Getting this award is such an honor,” she said on the red carpet before the event.

But before the smashing and punching get too monotonous, there is a marvelous movie at work here, one that deals directly and touchingly with what it really means to have powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men — how such powers are not only strange, but frightening to people who neither possess them nor know what to do with someone who does. And the movie filters that idea through the lens of Superman himself. He not only knows the good he can do for others but also that, if people can put aside their fears, they really want and need someone to do that good.

Directed by Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) and written by the Dark Knight team of David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan, Man of Steel combines elements of the classic Superman origin story, and scenarios from the first two of Christopher Reeve’s films, but the creators make it their own solemn meditation on heroism.

The planet Krypton is on the verge of destruction. While its leaders ignore the warnings, both Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and General Zod (Michael Shannon) see a need for desperate measures to save their people; Zod’s violent approach leads to his imprisonment, while Jor-El’s is simply to send his infant son Kal-El to a safer world, Earth.

On Earth, Kal-El lands in Kansas and becomes Clark Kent, the son of Jonathan (Kevin Costner) and Martha (Diane Lane), and a special boy whose very specialness is kept hidden. Clark is taught not to fight back when threatened, since he could do too much harm to his opponent; his father believes that Clark is meant for something grander. But now and then, Clark cannot repress his urge to help others, even if it means giving away his secret. So, as an adult, he wanders, settling in out-of-the-way places for a time, until circumstances force his heroic hand — and he moves on.

Only one day, he crosses paths with Lois Lane (Amy Adams), a tough reporter who begins to piece together Clark’s whole story. He asks her to keep his secret. But there is no way it can be kept when Zod and his band arrive on Earth, determined to get a secret Jor-El left with Kal-El — and to build a new Krypton.

The movie jumps around a bit in Superman’s timeline, flashing back to the memories of his childhood, various incidents and the lessons he received from Jonathan. But in doing so it works better than the first of the Christopher Reeve films, which was more linear in its narrative; here, the integration of the past and present gives the moments from the past more emotional power. The most touching moment in the movie may be a bus accident when Clark is a boy; he does what is needed but with the knowledge that he may be sacrificing something in his own life.

Indeed, there is a constant sense of sacrifice in what characters do and do not do. Jonathan’s final moments are loaded with it. Zod, in his mad way, has sacrificed much for his people, and the climactic moment in the film puts Superman in a place where he has no choice but to accept horrible consequences for however he acts.

Henry Cavill, as the adult Clark and Superman, fits the role well. He is a courtly sort, filled with the manners and values of a Kent (and a Kansan) even if other people focus on his muscles and his suit. Adams makes a fine match for him, her Lois who sees her story is not so much about what this man has done as about who he is. Crowe is at his muscular, deep-voiced, authoritative peak, while Costner is once again the thoughtful Middle American.

Man of Steel is as good a Superman movie as there has been. As effective as the first two Reeve films could be, they had their flaws, and so does this one. Again, the action sequences capping the movie go on a bit too long, too intent perhaps on making sure that 3D audiences get their premium-priced-ticket’s worth.

Man of Steel does offer a hint for a sequel — a passing acknowledgment that Lex Luthor is also in this Superman’s world. But the reason to see more of this Superman is that he is such a well-drawn character, proof of the ongoing vigor in the creation that Clevelanders Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster put on a page 75 years ago.

Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and Ohio.com, including the HeldenFiles Online blog, www.ohio.com/blogs/heldenfiles. He is also on Facebook and Twitter. You can contact him at 330-996-3582 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.

- June 15th Matt Horowitz

- June 22nd Juke Hounds

- June 29th Blues Rockers

- July 5th Sterlie Brothers

- July 12th/13th Jazz & Blues Weekend

Friday-Blues Rockers

Saturday- Matt Horowitz

- July 20th Carson Barnes Quartet

- July 27th Dan Wilson Trio

- August 10th Blues Rockers

- August 24th Dan Wilson Trio

The addition of the light grille in the lower level this year is perfect for those in search of a less formal setting. The grille offers a variety of sandwiches and beverages, while maintaining Chef Glenn’s award winning unique blends, resulting in smoked bliss! This is the perfect setting to pause and enjoy the sunset while winding down the workweek and stepping into the weekend.

Edgar’s atmosphere offers both a unique and diverse intermix within its clientele, from locals to business leaders and politicos and is a very comfortable environment to enjoy friends or transact business. The enchanting sounds of this lineup follows the modest creative genius Chef Glenn has become known for throughout professional circles around town, which is why Edgar’s has been commonly referred to as “the best kept secret in Akron.” Each week Chef Glenn creates a weekly feature menu including foods from various cultures and countries ranging from fresh seafood to delectable steaks!

The Edgar’s experience is one that clearly establishes that this guy clearly understands the pulse of the community, has expansive knowledge in providing consistent quality, and is sure to have longevity in our community. Gillespie does an excellent job engaging patrons while Amber, the Front House Manager, is brilliant in her management of both the staff and ensuring your order is made to satisfy! Every aspect of your dining experience at Edgar’s is met with tremendous attention to detail. Chef Glenn may be on a mission to bring a Renaissance to Akron, but for certain it is a MUST TRY!

Edgar’s Restaurant also offers complimentary hors d’oeuvres from 4-6pm Tuesday through Friday, as well as $5.00 appetizers Tuesday and Wednesday, while every Tuesday imported draft beer is only $3.00! Valet parking is offered Tuesday through Friday. Check out Edgar’s Restaurant at:

Edgar’s Restaurant

530 Nome Ave.

Akron, OH 44320

Ph.330.869.3000

www.edgarsrestaurant.com

The series follows members of the family involved in Cutter Oil, a firm located midway between West Salem and Wooster, with wells in Summit, Portage and other counties. (The show puts the company in Wooster; the mailing address is West Salem.) As the series begins, the business is starting to recover from the death of founder and patriarch Charles “Chuck” Cutter in 2010 and the presence in Ohio of big companies taking advantage of the statewide oil boom. Chuck’s son C.J. — who has run the company since 2007 — enlists the family in relaunching the oil-drilling side of their business, hoping their company can overcome the encroachment of what is almost always referred to as Big Oil.

Other family members — including C.J.’s mother Beth, sister Kristin Cutter Anthony and brother Josh — also appear in the show, (Kristin is listed as Kristin Anthony Cutter in the show, which C.J. attributed to more people knowing her as Kristin Cutter.) But C.J. is by far the main character in the premiere.

He is the one, for example, who decides to drill the first new well in Kristin’s yard without telling her; he does get Kristin’s husband, Ray, to agree but still waits until his sister is on vacation to start drilling. It is also C.J. who chases intruders on family land, and in one case smashes the truck left behind by fleeing scrap-metal thieves.

C.J. said recently that he had not seen the show yet. But, when reminded of those incidents, acknowledged that “I am very intense” — and the show “pretty much followed my everyday life.” With the drilling at Kristin’s, he said, “She would have told me no. If you know my sister and I, that’s how we kind of roll.” And the scrap thieves were “trespassing and stealing.”

But the family did agree to having the cameras follow them in late 2012 and early 2013, he said. “We looked at it, sat down in a family meeting, which we do pretty regular, and went over different things … [and] made the decision as a family to go forward with it.”

And why do it?

“The benefit I look at, and we all sat down on, is that everybody has dealt with the big business” in oil and it is the small businesses like Cutter that have taken a hit. “The shale boom went crazy, and I went from drilling a number of wells a year to one. … It hit our industry right smack on the face. This country has been built on small business, and still is, except these [big] companies are trying to run you out of it.”

Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and Ohio.com, including in the HeldenFiles Online blog, www.ohio.com/blogs/heldenfiles. He is also on Facebook and Twitter. You can contact him at 330-996-3582 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.

It takes place as the world is coming to an end and stars Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jonah Hill and about a dozen other young celebrities playing themselves, in roles big and small. That’s the hitch, that whole playing-themselves thing. In the last 10 years or so, it has become a cliché for celebrities to portray themselves on screen as vain, ridiculous and obnoxious, in fake gestures of self-deprecation that really are designed to say the opposite: “Obviously, to send myself up as a jerk, I couldn’t possibly be a jerk. I’m really a wonderful person, at least as wonderful as we both think I am.”

Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who wrote and directed This Is the End, don’t subvert this recent tendency. Rather, they overcome it by diving deep into it. And so Michael Cera, for example, appears as a coked-out, sexually rapacious version of himself, who stands in a bathroom unfazed as two young women perform two different kinds of oral sex on him simultaneously. (We’ll leave the explanation at that.) Rogen and Goldberg go bigger and wilder throughout, until their willingness to keep going to extremes becomes the opposite of obnoxious. It feels more like goodwill, a generous effort to entertain the audience at every turn.

This Is the End takes place in the near future, maybe tomorrow, or later today: Rogen picks up his childhood friend, Jay Baruchel, at the airport, and they go back to his house, where they smoke so much pot that they don’t even register the latest news, that a sinkhole has opened up and swallowed half of Guatemala. Instead they go off to a party at the house of James Franco, who presents himself here as someone without a thought in his head.

Everybody who is young and famous is partying at Franco’s, including Emma Watson from Harry Potter (in a very funny cameo), singer Rihanna and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Kick-Ass), who worries about contamination after Cera blows a handful of cocaine in his face.

Then bad things start happening to not-very-nice people. The righteous are swooped up into the sky in a celestial ray of love, while everybody at Franco’s house keeps celebrating like it’s 1999. If only it were. But no, it’s 2013, and time has run out.

At least 85 minutes of the movie’s 107-minute run time takes place after the end-times countdown has begun, and looking back on the movie it’s rather surprising to realize how Rogen and Goldberg succeed in maintaining freshness in what easily might have been a static situation: It’s just a handful of guys at Franco’s house, conserving food and water, while hoping to be rescued.

The filmmakers keep it interesting by making the personal relationships dynamic and uneasy: Andy McBride shows up, and he’s high-handed and oblivious. Meanwhile, there is a running tension between the forthright Jay and Jonah Hill, who is presented as the most secretly hostile and passive-aggressive figure since Anne Baxter in All About Eve.

Though This Is the End drags slightly here and there, it always comes back strong, and the movie redeems all that is self-referential and self-congratulatory about it with a warmth of spirit. Rogen, who became very famous at an early age, really should be a monster by now, but — knock on wood — that doesn’t seem to be happening.

O’Neill, part of a two-man comedy duo originally from Stamford, Conn., now plays the insecure, overweight, incredibly nerdy Elder Cunningham in the first national tour of the musical, which is coming to PlayhouseSquare’s Palace Theatre Tuesday through July 7. The musical, conceived by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone as well as Robert Lopez of Avenue Q fame, won nine 2011 Tony Awards.

Still playing on Broadway, the musical follows two naïve young Mormon missionaries as they attempt to share the Book of Mormon with villagers in northern Uganda who are stricken by war, poverty and AIDS.

O’Neill plays the yang to Mark Evans’ yin as Elder Price — a confident, focused, all-American quarterback type. Cunningham thinks Price is the coolest, and is thrilled when they’re paired up as a missionary team to Africa.

Cunningham, who has a problem with lying, has never read the Book of Mormon. He decides to chuck it and fabricate his own imaginative stories for the Ugandans.

“So far it’s like a dream role to play. You get to play this crazy character … He’s such a lovable guy but he’s such a dork,” O’Neill said.

The tour has been running since last July, with O’Neill and co-star Evans coming on board in December. In a stroke of unexpected luck, O’Neill was discovered by a Book of Mormon casting director last summer while he was performing his comedy routine at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

O’Neill, who was asked to audition for the part of Elder Cunningham, is now making his professional debut in The Book of Mormon. What caught the casting director’s attention? O’Neill said he and longtime comedy partner Paul Valenti are two stocky guys whose routine includes a lot of taxing physical comedy, much like The Book of Mormon does.

“It’s like a marathon. There’s just a lot of running around. It takes a lot out of you,” O’Neill said of the musical.

His reaction to being asked to audition for a Broadway musical?

“I started laughing. I thought it was hilarious,” he said. “I went into the audition process totally in disbelief and I think that helped me out. I didn’t have any pressure on me because it was too surreal, and I just didn’t think it was going to happen.”

The relaxed, fun-loving audition worked out for O’Neill, 38, who has been doing comedy for 15 years and toiled to establish himself in New York. A love of performing has always been what’s driven him.

“It was just, ‘appreciate everything you get,’ ” he said. “I just take this show day to day. I’m not looking towards the future.’’

Elder Cunningham continually puts his foot in his mouth and allows his imagination to take over. Yet the audience sees him grow.

“He’s a mess with a heart of gold,” O’Neill said. “He stumbles throughout the show and by the end of the show, you’re rootin’ for him.”

O’Neill, who did musical theater in high school, is now singing a demanding high tenor part.

“Both Price and Cunningham are singing throughout at the top of their lungs, and way up there, and it doesn’t come down,” explained the actor.

He and Evans study weekly via Skype with vocal coach Liz Caplan, a New York icon.

“She’s the reason my voice is surviving this whole thing,” he said. “The hardest part is trying to preserve your voice and make sure you get stronger and stronger without blowing it out.”

The comedian appreciates the The Book of Mormon’s famously profane humor but said that’s not what the show’s all about. The missionary element of the story is just a jumping-off point, and midway through the show, it’s irrelevant that the characters are Mormon.

“It’s more about faith in general,” O’Neill said.

He recommends that audiences approach the show with open minds: “It really is about being a good person … I think the most surprising thing about the show is how heartfelt it is. It has such a positive message. The idea of the show isn’t to offend people or pick on anyone or try to say as many bad words as you can to shock anyone.’’

Audiences can expect a smart show with a solid musical theater structure.

“Matt Stone and Trey Parker, they love musical theater, and they know the craft of it. They know how to write a musical, which is the most surprising, cool thing about it,” O’Neill said.

Although the story presents struggles that African nations deal with today concerning AIDS and the violence of warlords, The Book of Mormon isn’t trying to be preachy or political, the actor stressed.

“The only message they really want to get across is like a pro-faith thing. You can believe in something, but if it makes you happy and makes you a good person, then that’s what you should do.”

The cultural disconnect between the glass-is-half-full Mormons and the Ugandans — who are living a hellish life — is key to the story.

“They [the Ugandans] want to believe in something great. They need faith because their life is stricken with a lot of bad things,” O’Neill said.

Six months into the tour, the actor is still pinching himself about co-starring in this smash Broadway hit.

“It’s still surreal. I’m just having a great time and I don’t think it’s ever gonna sink in,” he said.

Arts writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.

Musical: The Book of Mormon.

When: Tuesday through July 7.

Where: Palace Theatre, 1615 Euclid Ave., PlayhouseSquare, Cleveland.

Onstage: Starring Christopher John O’Neill, Mark Evans, Samantha Marie Ware, Grey Henson, Kevin Mambo, Mike McGowan, Derrick Williams.

Offstage: Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, Matt Stone, book, music and lyrics; Casey Nicholaw, choreographer; Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker, directors; Scott Pask, sets; Ann Roth, costumes; Brian MacDevitt, lighting; Brian Ronan, sound; Larry Hochman and Stephen Oremus, orchestrations; Stephen Oremus, music direction/vocal arrangements.

Tickets: Limited seats remain from $35 to $130.

Lottery: A pre-show lottery for 16 tickets will be held two hours before curtain. Entries will be accepted at the box office beginning 2½ hours before each performance. Names will be drawn at random for $20 tickets. Each entrant may request one or two tickets. Only one entry is allowed per person.

Information: 216-241-6000 or www.playhousesquare.org.

African Safari Wildlife Park — 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, 267 Lightner Road, Port Clinton. Admission: $21.95, $12.95 ages 4-6; 3 or younger free. 800-521-2660. See and feed animals in a drive-through area. www.africansafariwildlifepark.com.

Akron Zoo — 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, 500 Edgewood Ave. Admission: $10; $8.50, seniors; $7, ages 2-14. 330-375-2550. www.akronzoo.org.

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo — 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, 3900 Wildlife Way. Father’s Day, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., half-price admission for all dads. Regular admission: $12.25; kids 2-11, $8.25. www.clemetzoo.com.

Rolling Ridge Ranch Animal Park — 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 3961 Weaver Ridge Road, between Berlin and Walnut Creek. Feed animals from a guided horse-drawn wagon, $16.95, children and seniors, $11.95; or from your car, $10, $8 seniors, and $7 children 3-12. 330-893-3777 or visit www.visitrollingridge.com.

This members-only event is open to the public, and nonmembers may attend by purchasing a membership at the door. Parking is at the south end of the building.

Dedicated in 1920, the Gothic Revival-style building was designed by Cleveland architects Walker and Weeks. It housed educational, entertainment and physical recreation facilities for the employees of Goodyear.

Diana Wellman is a qualified historic preservation consultant with 15 years experience in historic preservation. Michael Wellman is a registered architect at TDA Architecture in Willoughby and a qualified historic preservation architect and consultant.

An optional pre-paid dinner in the hall will be served at 5:30. Cost is $15 and reservations must be made online at www.preservationakron.org, or at 330-671-4991 by Wednesday.

Senate increases budget

On June 6 the Ohio Senate passed its version of the budget and increased the budget of the Ohio Arts Council by $1.8 million, bringing its overall budget to $22.7 million, an increase over the $17.3 million in the current biennium. On April 18 the state House of Representatives, in its version of the budget, had added $1.7 million into subsidies.

The Committee on Conference will aim to resolve the differences between the House and Senate versions into one budget that can pass both the House and Senate and be signed into law by Gov. John Kasich by July 1.

Ohio Citizens for the Arts is asking that Ohioans interested in the arts contact their legislators and the governor to express gratitude for helping to make up for previous deep cuts to the arts budget, and to ask them to consider the largest possible appropriation for the OAC. Go to https://www.votervoice.net/link/target/oharts/q5cr6iqf.aspx to contact the governor, and House and Senate members.

Friday

Box Gallery Opening — Opening reception will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. for two exhibits, Millinery as Sculpture: Sculptural Hats by Members of The Millinery Arts Coalition, and Crayon Batik: Lawrence A. Walke, at Box Gallery, third floor, Summit Artspace, 140 E. Market St., Akron. On view through July 27. Hours are noon to 5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and during the Artwalk July 6. 330-376-8480.

Artists’ Reception — Summit Artspace, 140 E. Market St., Akron, holds a 5-8 p.m. reception for the eight artists whose work can be seen in Converging Visions: New Works in Fiber through July 27. 330-376-8480.

Opening — An opening reception will be held from 5:30-8 p.m. at Harris-Stanton Gallery, 2301 W. Market St., Akron, for Unveilings: Terry Klausman, Kristin Kowalski and Joe Vankerkhove, on view through July 13. 330-867-7600 or www.HarrisStantonGallery.com.

Joseph O’Sickey — The Bonfoey Gallery, 1710 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, opens Joseph O’Sickey! Travels: Provence & Maine with a 5-8 p.m. reception. The show is on view through July 13 and runs concurrent to the O’Sickey exhibit at the Canton Museum of Art through July 21. 216-621-0178 or www.bonfoey.com/OSickey.html.

Saturday-Sunday

M.D. Garage — M.D. Garage, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, exhibits Art @ M.D. Garage: Down on the Farm 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The M.D. Garage is next to Boston Store Visitor Center, 1548 Boston Mills Road, east of Riverview Road, Peninsula. 330-657-2909 or www.nps.gov/cuva/planyourvisit/cultural-arts.htm.

Worth Noting

Hot Glass Class — Akron Glass Works, 106 N. Main St., Akron, has openings in its 6-8 p.m. glass fusing workshops on June 28, July 10 and 19, $55 per session. Registration and payment are required in advance. Call 330-253-5888, noon to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday.

Drawing Class — A July drawing class, taught by professional artist Jim Gill, will be the third of a series sponsored by the Medina County Arts Council. Four class sessions of two hours each will meet at the Medina Library, 210 S. Broadway in Medina, from 10 a.m. to noon on July 9, 11, 16 and 18. $60. The class covers the fundamentals of drawing and cartooning for students in fourth grade next fall and older. All supplies will be provided. Registration forms at http://medinaartbuzz.blogspot.com or call 330-725-6443.

Dorothy Shinn writes about art and architecture for the Akron Beacon Journal. Send information to her at the Akron Beacon Journal, P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309-0640 or dtgshinn@att.net.

Family campfire — The National Park Service is staging a family campfire with ghost stories at 7 p.m. in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Meet at the Ledges Shelter off Truxell Road in Boston Township. Family games at 6 p.m. No alcohol.

Worm fun — Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, is holding a program on worms for youngsters at 11 a.m. at Furnace Run Metro Park. Meet in the Brushwood Area off Townsend Road in Richfield Township. 330-865-8065 or www.summitmetroparks.org.

Water in backyards — Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, is presenting a program on adding a water feature to your backyard for wildlife at 7 p.m. at the Seiberling Nature Realm, 1828 Smith Road, Akron. Bring a one-gallon plastic milk jug. 330-865-8065 or www.summitmetroparks.org.

Contra dance — Join Hu$hmoney with its jigs and reels and caller Carol Kopp in a contra dance from 8 to 10:30 p.m. at the Boston Township School House at state Route 303 and Riverview Road in Peninsula. Instruction at 7 p.m. Wear comfortable clothing and shoes. $6.

Junior Rangers — The Cuyahoga Valley National Park is presenting a Junior Rangers program to explore the Ledges and use a GPS for youngsters 7 to 12 years old. It will be held from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. $8. Adults must attend with participating children at no charge. Call 800-642-3297, ext. 100, for reservations and location.

Junior Rangers Jr. — The Cuyahoga Valley National Park is presenting a Junior Rangers program on the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? for youngsters 4 to 6 years old. It will be held from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. $8. Adults must attend with participating children at no charge. Call 800-642-3297, ext. 100, for reservations and location.

Habitat restoration — The National Park Service is seeking volunteers to restore habitat from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Cuyahoga Valley. To register, go to www.nps.gov/cuva and click on Volunteer.

Summit hike — The Akron Metro Parks Hiking Club will meet at 7 p.m. at the trailhead on state Route 303 west of state Route 8 in Boston Heights for a five-mile hike on the Bike & Hike Trail. 330-923-6371.

Fitness ride — The Medina County Park District and Century Cycles are co-sponsoring a fitness bike ride at 6:30 p.m. at Buckeye Woods Park off state Route 162 in Lafayette Township. It will be a ride of six to 10 miles. Helmets required. For ages 16 and older. Advance sign-up is requested. 330-722-9364.

Wood Walkers — The University of Mount Union’s John T. Huston-Dr. John D. Brumbaugh Nature Center is hosting a Wood Walkers program for 6- and 7-year-olds from 10 to 11:30 a.m. The center is on Dan Street in Washington Township. Advance sign-up is requested. 330-823-7487.

Friday

Park concert — The city of Akron will present music by Greased Lightning at 7 p.m. at Goodyear Heights Metro Park off Newton Street in East Akron. Free. 330-375-2804.

Firestone Friday — Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, is holding a campfire program with dulcimer music by Jan Hammond at 7 p.m. at Firestone Metro Park. Meet at the Tuscarawas Meadows Area off Harrington Road in South Akron. 330-865-8065 or www.summitmetroparks.org.

Wine train — The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad is holding a wine-tasting run with Ohio wines at 7 p.m. Meet at Rockside Station in Independence. For 21 and older only. Tickets $57 to $92. Advance registration is required. 800-468-4070 or www.cvsr.com.

Under logs — The Medina County Park District is holding a walk-in nature program on life under logs from noon to 5 p.m. at the Susan Hambley Nature Center, 4173 Parschen Blvd., Brunswick. It will also offered from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For all ages. 330-722-9364.

Saturday

Morning hike — Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, is holding a morning hike on the Buttonbush Trail at 8 a.m. at Liberty Park. Meet at the Pond Brook Conservation Area, 3973 E. Aurora Road (state Route 82), Twinsburg Township. 330-865-8065 or www.summitmetroparks.org.

Tai chi — Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, is sponsoring a program on tai chi by instructor Nancy Gardner at 8 a.m. at Goodyear Heights Metro Park. Meet in the Pioneer Area off Frazier Avenue in East Akron. Wear comfortable clothes and bring water. For all ages and abilities. 330-865-8065 or www.summitmetroparks.org.

Kids’ fishing — Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, is conducting a kids’ fishing program for youngsters 15 and under from 10 a.m. to noon at Firestone Metro Park. Meet at Little Turtle Pond off Harrington Road in South Akron. Bait will be provided. A few rods and reels will be available. Adults must supervise their children but cannot fish. 330-865-8065 or www.summitmetroparks.org.

Project Nestwatch — Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, is presenting a program on Project Nestwatch to track breeding birds at 2 p.m. at the Seiberling Nature Realm, 1828 Smith Road, Akron. 330-865-8065 or www.summitmetroparks.org.

Down on farm — Down on the Farm, artwork by the Crooked River Gang, a group of local artists, will be featured at the M.D. Garage in the Cuyahoga Valley park. Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 1556 Boston Mills Road, Boston Township. The show continues from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Towpath hike — Join a Cleveland Clinic doctor and hike the Towpath Trail in the Cuyahoga Valley park. Meet at 8:30 a.m. at the Station Road Bridge Trailhead off Riverview Road in Brecksville.

Hanging at Hunt — The National Park Service is offering family fun from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Hunt Farm Visitor Information center off Bolanz Road in Cuyahoga Falls. The activities continue from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday.

Trail work — The Cuyahoga Valley Trails Council is seeking volunteers to work on the Salt Run Trail in the Cuyahoga Valley from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Meet at the Pine Hollow Trailhead off Quick Road in Boston Township. www.cvtrailscouncil.org.

Big Year birder — Birder Greg Miller of Sugarcreek, a Big Year veteran, will lead a bird walk at 8:30 a.m. to help the Wild Bird Center of Akron celebrate its 20th anniversary. Meet at the store, 117 Merz Blvd., Fairlawn. Advance reservations are required. 330-869-9453.

Birds of prey — Wingfoot Lake State Park in Suffield Township will host a walk-in look at live birds of prey from 1 to 3 p.m. Meet in the park’s Canteen Visitor Center. Talk on Ohio’s birds of prey at 2 p.m. 330-877-6652.

Healthy hike — The Medina County Park District is staging a healthy hike in the Cuyahoga Valley park. Meet at 8 a.m. at the north parking lot at the Happy Days Lodge off state Route 303 in Boston Heights to hike the Boston Run Trail. For ages 10 to adult. Wear appropriate footwear. 330-722-9364.

Starry night — The Medina County Park District and the Cuyahoga Astronomical Association are holding a star watch party at 9 p.m. at Letha House Park West, 5800 Richman Road, Chatham Township. All ages welcome. 330-722-9364.

Stow hike — The Akron Metro Parks Hiking Club will meet at 9 a.m. at Stow’s Silver Springs Park for a six-mile hike. The park is off Stow Road. 330-923-6371.

Valley hike — The Portage Trail Walkers hiking club will meet at 8:30 a.m. at the Ira Trailhead in the Cuyahoga Valley for a Towpath Trail hike. That’s off Riverview Road near Ira Road. 330-673-6896.

Wild doings — The Wilderness Center at 9877 Alabama Ave. SW in Sugar Creek Township is offering a bird walk at 8 a.m. and a nature walk at its Foxfield Preserve at 10 a.m. 877-359-5235.

Kids’ fishing — The Ohio Department of Natural Resources is opening its ponds for fishing for youngsters 15 and under. Hours: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Also open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday at 8912 Portage Lakes Dr., Coventry Township. Youth anglers must be accompanied by adults, but adults are not allowed to fish in the youth area. 330-644-2293.

Fiber workshops — The Spicy Lamb Farm near Peninsula is offering fiber workshops. Fees and times vary. Reservations are required. 330-657-2012 or www.thespicylambfarm.com.

Sunday

Fun Days — The National Park Service is offering Family Sunday Fun Days with games and activities from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Cuyahoga Valley. Meet at the Octagon Shelter off Truxell Road in Boston Township.

Cardio hike — Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, is staging a cardio hike of three miles on the tough Deer Run and Buckeye trails at O’Neil Woods Metro Park. Meet at 10 a.m. at 2550 Martin Road, Bath Township. 330-865-8065 or www.summitmetroparks.org.

Family orienteering — Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, is holding a family orienteering scavenger hunt using a map and compass at 1 p.m. at Firestone Metro Park. Meet at Little Turtle Pond at 2400 Harrington Road, South Akron. Beginners are welcome. 330-865-8065 or www.summitmetroparks.org.

Towpath hike — The Akron Metro Parks Hiking Club will meet at 2:30 p.m. at the Manchester Road Trailhead on the Towpath Trail for a five-mile hike. 330-923-6371.

Monday

Nature for kids — Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, is holding a nature walk for children of all ages at 11 a.m. at Firestone Metro Park. Meet at the Tuscarawas Meadows Area off Harrington Road in South Akron. Adults must accompany children. 330-865-8065 or www.summitmetroparks.org.

Wildflowers, history — Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, the Cascade Locks Park Association and the Summit County Historical Society are teaming up on a wildflower-history walk at 7 p.m. Meet at the Mustill Store off West North Street near downtown Akron. 330-865-8065 or www.summitmetroparks.org.

Junior Rangers — The Cuyahoga Valley park is presenting a Junior Rangers program on beavers for youngsters 7 to 12 years old from 6 to 8 p.m. $8. Adults must attend with participating children at no charge. Call 800-642-3297, ext. 100, for reservations and location.

Mill tours — The Stark County Park District is offering tours of the historic Magnolia Flouring Mills at 2 p.m. 330-409-8096.

Tuesday

Nature art club — Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, is holding an organization meeting for a nature art club for teens from 13 to 17. Meet from 10 a.m. to noon at the Seiberling Nature Realm, 1828 Smith Road, Akron. Wear clothes that can get dirty and bring a water bottle. 330-865-8065 or www.summitmetroparks.org.

Nature for kids — Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, is holding a nature walk for children of all ages at 11 a.m. at Cascade Valley Metro Park. Meet at the Oxbow Area off Cuyahoga Street in North Akron. Adults must accompany children. 330-865-8065 or www.summitmetroparks.org.

Music by lake — The Metro Parks Ensemble will perform at 6:30 p.m. at the Lake Area at Munroe Falls Metro Park off South River Road in Munroe Falls. Free swimming 5 to 8 p.m. Dessert from Acme Fresh Market. The concert will be canceled if it rains. Call 330-865-8065 after 4 p.m. for a weather update.

Wednesday

Tree fun — Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, is holding a tree identification program for families at 10 a.m. at Cascade Valley Metro Park. Meet at the Oxbow Area off Cuyahoga Street in North Akron. 330-865-8065 or www.summitmetroparks.org.

Park yoga — Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, is hosting a yoga program at 7 p.m. in the Brushwood Area of Furnace Run Metro Park. That’s off Townsend Road in Richfield Township. Wear comfortable clothes and bring a yoga mat or large towel and water. Advance registration is required. 330-865-8065 or www.summitmetroparks.org.

Junior Rangers — The Cuyahoga Valley park is presenting a Junior Rangers program on outdoor skills for youngsters 7 to 12 years old from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. $8. Adults must attend with participating children at no charge. Call 800-642-3297, ext. 100, for reservations and location.

Shadow Lake hike — The Akron Metro Parks Hiking Club will meet at 9:30 a.m. for a five-mile hike at Shadow Lake in Cleveland Metroparks’ South Chagrin Reservation. The trailhead is off Hawthorne Parkway near Bentleyville. 330-923-6371.

Trail cleanup — The Massillon Area Greenways is conducting a trail cleanup along the Towpath and Sippo Valley trails from 6 to 9 p.m. Meet at the Lake Avenue Trailhead in Massillon. 330-832-5111.

From honeybees — The University of Mount Union’s John T. Huston-Dr. John D. Brumbaugh Nature Center is hosting a program on honeybees for youngsters 8 to 11 years old. It will run from 9 a.m. to noon. The center is on Dan Street in Washington Township. Advance sign-up is requested. 330-823-7487.

Fish fun — The Wilderness Center at 9877 Alabama Ave. SW in Sugar Creek Township is presenting a story program on fish for 3- and 4-year-olds at 11 a.m. 877-359-5235.

Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning at the beaconjournal.com.

Cuyahoga Falls Wading Pools — Open through Aug. 25. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays, noon to 6 p.m. Sundays. Supervised pools for ages 9 or younger. Swim diapers required for diaper-age children. Pools are at Lions Park, Linden Park, Indian Mountain Park, Quirk Cultural Center, Valley Vista and Oak Park. 330-971-8225.

Great Lake Science Center Steamship William G. Mather — Open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday June-August and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. September and October. Located at Great Lakes Science Center, 601 Erieside Ave., Cleveland. $8, $7 seniors, $6 ages 5-12 and free under age 5. www.GreatScience.com.

Hale Farm & Village — 2686 Oak Hill Road, Bath Township. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays, June through August. $10, $5 ages 3-12. Western Reserve Historical Society members and children 2 or younger are free. 330-666-3711, www.halefarm.org.

Lady of the House: Life in the Mansion Through the Years — Noon to 3:30 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays June 26 through Sept. 14 at Hower House, 60 Fir Hill, University of Akron. $8, $6 seniors, $2 students. 330-972-6909, www.uakron.edu/howerhse.

J.E. Reeves Victorian Home and Carriage House Museum — Guided tours noon to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays through Oct. 31 at 325 E. Iron Ave., Dover. $8, $7 seniors, $3 school-age children. 330-343-7040, www.doverhistory.org.

LaDue Reservoir Boathouse and Marina — Open sunrise to sunset through Labor Day at 17759 Valley Road, Auburn. Rowboat only: $20 per two hours, $40 all day; add an electric motor for $35 per two hours, $75 all day. Live bait, tackle, snacks and more. 440-834-0045.

Mogadore Boathouse and Marina — Open sunrise to sunset through Labor Day, at 2578 State Route 43 in Mogadore. Boat rentals daily. Rowboat only: $20 per two hours, $40 all day; add an electric motor for $35 per two hours, $75 all day. Live bait, tackle, snacks and more. 330-628-3343.

Oldies & Goodies Diner Car and Truck Cruise In — 641 Massillon Road, Akron. 1-5 p.m. Sundays throughout the summer. Music from the ’50s and ’60s with DJ Steve Kyer. 330-733-3878.

Portage Lakes Cruises — Pontoon charter service. Tour departure is from Craftsman Park, 4450 Rex Lake Road, New Franklin, unless otherwise arranged. Free parking inside the park. Golf cart available if needed. Each excursion is customized to suit the passengers, and can accommodate up to eight passengers. Fees start at $35 per person. 330-760-0270, www.portagelakescruises.com.

Water Works Family Aquatic Center — 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, weather permitting, at 2025 Munroe Falls Ave., Cuyahoga Falls. Zero-depth pool for young swimmers; drop slides and water slides for older kids. Inner tubes available for rides down lazy river and cabanas can be rented. Daily rates: $12, $8 for seniors 60 plus and children 3-12; $7, $5 for residents with proof of residency. Free for all children 2 or younger. 330-971-8433 or 330-971-8299.

Winery Tours — Noon to 2 p.m. Saturdays through Sept. 28 at Gervasi Vineyard, 1700 55th St. NE, Canton. Tours are about 40 minutes long and start on the hour. Free. 330-497-1000 or www.gervasivineyard.com.

Akron Pops Orchestra — Seeking musicians, especially strings and keyboards, for the volunteer orchestra. Rehearsals are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays at Quirk Cultural Center, 1201 Grant Ave., Cuyahoga Falls. Most concerts are on Thursday evenings, with a few weekend concerts. Contact Kristan Crane at 330-203-1926 or www.akronpops.org.

ANTIC — Auditions for Auntie Mame will be 7:30-9:30 p.m. Friday and 2:30-4:30 p.m. Saturday at the Newell Theater in Quirk Cultural Center, 1201 Grant Ave., Cuyahoga Falls. Looking for 25 men, 15 women and three young boys. All parts open. For more information, email Anticdirector@aol.com.

Canal Fulton Players — Auditions for Dot’s Journey will be 7-9 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday at Canal Fulton United Methodist Church, 363 W. Cherry St. The play will be performed on the St. Helena II canalboat. 330-494-1022 or 330-854-4387.

City of Flags Chorus — Seeking women who enjoy singing a cappella, four-part harmony. Rehearsals are at 7 p.m. Mondays at Greenwood Christian Church, 44th Street Northwest and Frazer Avenue, Canton. 800-793-3805.

Cuyahoga Falls Community Chorus — Openings for all voice parts for adults of all ages from Cuyahoga Falls and surrounding communities. Rehearsals are at 7 p.m. Mondays at Summit Christian School at Newberry Park, 2800 13th St., Cuyahoga Falls. Email info@cfchorus.com, call Ted Shure at 330-920-8598 or visit www.leonardshure.com.

Derbytown A Cappella Men’s Chorus — Seeking new members to sing four-part harmony. Practices are at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays at the Fellowship Hall of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 50 N. Prospect St., Akron. Enter through Park Street Cloister entrance. 330-849-3372.

First Night Akron — Applications for performers for First Night Akron 2014 are online. Proposals include, but are not limited to: music, dance, theater, puppetry, film, visual art/installation art, interactive/participatory activities, strolling entertainers, literary/storytelling/poetry activities and make and take activities. Deadline for applications is July 26. www.firstnightakron.org/entertainment/artist-proposals.

Forever Harmony Singers of the Akron Area — Seeking women 16 or older to sing a cappella, four-part harmony from 7-9 p.m. Mondays at the Tallmadge Oaks Club House, 120 North Ave. 330-784-2756 or 330-923-7438.

Friends Community Chorus — Rehearsals are 7-9 p.m. Tuesdays at Brewster Friends Church, 139 W. Main St. Contact conductor Steven Tharp Jr. or secretary Brandy Vanegas at 330-418-4006 or email friendschorale@gmail.com.

Laurel Lake Encore Chorale — Seeking adults age 55 or older to join the 50-member chorale that performs a large range of musical styles. Participation is open to the public. Rehearsals are at 3 p.m. Tuesdays at Laurel Lake Retirement Community, 200 Laurel Lake Drive, Hudson. Call director Donna Anderson at 330-655-1436.

Stage Left Theatre Company — Auditions for Taming of the Shrew, 7-9 p.m. June 25-26 at St. Matthew’s Church, 400 N. Broadway St., Medina. Character descriptions can be found at www.stagelefttheatrecompany.org/auditions.html. Appointments are suggested; walk-ins will be seen when time allows. 330-635-8690.

Wadsworth Community Band — Seeking new members on all instruments. No audition required. Rehearsals are 7-9:15 p.m. Thursdays in the Wadsworth Middle School band room. http://wadsworthcommunityband.com or 330-336-1290.

Need performers or behind-the scenes specialists? Send details — two weeks before the date — to Auditions, Features Department, Akron Beacon Journal, P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309-0640; fax 330-996-3033 or email newsroomemail@thebeaconjournal.com.

“One Hundred Years of Joy” — 7:30 p.m. Friday, Spiritual Life Society, 1 E. Main St., Hudson. An evening of Ca tru music from Hanoi, Vietnam, featuring Pham Thi Hue and Nguyen Hue Phuong. $10. www.facebook.com/events/281958725252693.

Movie: This Is the End

Cast: Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill

Directed by: Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg

Studio: Sony/Columbia

Running time: 1 hour, 47 minutes

Rating: R for crude and sexual content throughout, brief graphic nudity, pervasive language, drug use and some violence

Theaters: Carnation Cinema, Cinemark Aurora 10, Hudson Cinema 10, Independence 10, Interstate Park 18, Lake Cinemas 8, Macedonia 15, Massillon 12, Montrose 12, Regal Medina 16, Shaker Square Cinemas, Tinseltown USA, Tower City Cinemas, Valley View 24, Wooster 10

HHH

All-City Musical — (Akron Civic Theatre, 182 S. Main St., Akron; 330-253-2488, www.akroncivic.com) Ragtime at 7:30 p.m. Friday and 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday. $10, $20 and $25.

Beck Center for the Arts — (Studio Theater, 17801 Detroit Ave., Lakewood; 216-521-2540, ext. 10, www.beckcenter.org) The Pitman Painters continues through July 7. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays. $28, $25 seniors, $15 students.

Broadway in Akron — (E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall, 198 Hill St., University of Akron; 330-972-7570) The Addams Family at 7:30 tonight. $34-$54.

E.J. Thomas Hall — (198 Hill St., Akron; 800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com) 50 Shades! The Musical at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Tickets start at $26.50.

Karamu House — (2355 E. 89th St., Cleveland; 216-795-7077) Final performances of Crowns, 3 and 8 p.m. Thursdays and Sundays; 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. $25, $22 seniors, $21 students on Thursdays and Sundays; $30, $27 seniors, $26 students on Friday and Saturdays.

Largely Literary Theater Company — (St. Bernard/St. Mary Church Social Hall, 44 University Ave., Akron; www.forafricalibrary.org) One-woman show Mythology: Heroes, Beasts & Gods at 7:15 p.m. Saturday. Free. Monetary donations for the Books for Africa Library Project will be accepted.

North Canton Playhouse — (525 7th St. NE, North Canton; 330-494-1613, www.northcantonplayhouse.com) Evil Dead The Musical opens Thursday and continues through June 30. 8 p.m. Thursdays-Sundays. $15.

PlayhouseSquare Hanna Theatre — (2067 E. 14th St., Cleveland; 216-241-6000) Guys & Dolls continues through June 30. 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays; 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays; 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays. $10-$67.

PlayhouseSquare Palace Theatre — (1615 Euclid Ave., Cleveland; 216-241-6000) The Book of Mormon opens Tuesday and continues through July 7. 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays. Tickets start at $35.

Weathervane Playhouse — (Founders Theater stage, 1301 Weathervane Lane, Akron; 330-836-2626, www.weathervaneplayhouse.com) The Music Man continues through June 30. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays. Regular tickets are $25, with $21 senior tickets Thursdays and Sundays.

Bill Burr — 8 p.m. Friday, Playhouse
Square Palace Theatre, 1615 Euclid Ave., Cleveland. $35. 216-241-6000 or www.playhousesquare.org.

Funny Stop Comedy Club — Bill Squire, 8:30 tonight, 8 and 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday; Kirk Bogus, 8:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 1757 State Road, Cuyahoga Falls. $5 and up. Mike Conley, June 20. Angel Salazar, June 21-22. Tim Kidd, June 25-29. 330-923-4700.

Hilarities 4th Street Theatre — Rocky Laporte, 8 tonight, 7:30 and 10 p.m. Friday, 7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, 7 p.m. Sunday; Michael Somerville, 8 p.m. Wednesday, 2035 E. Fourth St., Cleveland. Michael Somerville, June 20 and 23. Frank Caliendo, June 21-22. Tom Briscoe, June 26 and 30. $8 and up. All shows 21 or older. www.pickwickandfrolic.com or 216-241-7425.

Improv — Jim Florentine, 7:30 tonight, 7:30 and 10:15 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m. Sunday, Sugar Warehouse, 1148 Main Ave., Cleveland Flats. $8 and up. DeRay Davis, June 21-23. Pete Correale, June 27-30. Reservations: 216-696-4677.

Point of No Return Improv — 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Quirk Cultural Center, 1201 Grant Ave., Cuyahoga Falls. Suggested donation $5 at the door. www.pnrimprov.org.

Tank — Sunday’s concert at the Akron Civic Theatre has been canceled. Refunds are available at point of purchase. 330-253-2488 or www.akroncivic.com.

BG Bree’s — Lori emcees karaoke at 9 tonight and Monday at 451 N. Main St.

Chuck’s Steakhouse — The Lost Boys play at 9 Friday; Unbroken and Entrande at 9 Saturday at 456 E. South St.

Corky’s Thomastown Cafe — DJ Glide emcees karaoke at 9:30 tonight, Friday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday; Don’t Know, But They’re Good plays at 9:30 Saturday at 1131 S. Arlington St.

Getaway Pub — Karma plays at 9 tonight; Susan Mitten Project at 9 Friday; Swizzle Stix at 9 Saturday; Vince Ruby at 7 Sunday; Charlie and the Poor Boys at 9 Wednesday at 1462 N. Portage Path.

KC’s Nashville Nights — Train of Thought plays at 9 Friday; Idle Wild at 9 Saturday; Barb emcees karaoke at 9 Wednesday at 88 W. Wilbeth Road.

Kevin O’Bryan’s Irish Pub — Dave Cordi emcees karaoke at 9:30 tonight at 1761 S. Main St.

Mickey’s in the Valley — Ahi-Nama plays at 10 Friday at 1310 Weathervane Lane.

Square Night Club — DJ Robyn at 11 Friday; DJ Darren at 11 Saturday; Kyle Jazz Trio plays at 8 Sunday; Gina emcees karaoke at 10 Wednesday at 820 W. Market St.

Tap House Concert Venue — Jam Night at 9 Wednesday at 2215 E. Waterloo Road.

Tasty Jones — Steelheaders play at 9 tonight; Irv & Friends/open mic at 8:30 Wednesday at 1714 Merriman Road.

Varsity O Bar & Grill — Dave Cordi emcees karaoke at 8 Tuesday at 1895 Triplett Blvd.

EAST

Brew House — Cassie emcees karaoke at 10 tonight at 244 N. Water St., Kent.

Outpost — Mastermind Presents: King Corporation, T.M.F., Ambassador Power, Saint Dank, Family Over Everything and Young Flames at 8 Friday; 17 Steps, Stale Mate and Ashes of the Damned play at 8 Saturday; On My Honor, Far From Proper, Playoff Run, Short Side Shot, Halfway Home and Hello Weekend at 7 Wednesday at 4962 State Route 43, Kent.

Rico’s Restaurant Patio Bar — Corn Holes play at 7 tonight; Bongo Joe & Little Steve-O play at 9 Friday; DJ Flipper at 9 Saturday at 1332 Tallmadge Road, Brimfield Township.

Town Centre Sports Bar & Grill — Ziggy and Joann emcee karaoke at 8:30 tonight, Friday and Saturday; Jam Session and Open Mic at 4 Sunday at 4112 Brimfield Plaza, Brimfield Township.

NORTH

The Basement — Sonic Anthem plays at 9 Saturday; Jonah Koslen at 3 Sunday at 480 W. Sagamore Road, Sagamore Hills.

Blue Rock Cafe — Pat Vaughn plays at 6 tonight; Open Mic at 7:30 tonight; Joe Rollin Porter at 6 Friday; MoJo Honey at 8 Friday; Colin John at 6 Saturday; Denison Radio at 8 Saturday; jazz jam with Sam Blakeslee at 6 Sunday; open stage at 6 Wednesday; rock jam with Drive-By Saints at 9 Wednesday at 5827 Darrow Road, Hudson.

Domenic’s Pub — Tommytune emcees karaoke at 9 Friday; Monopoly plays at 9 Saturday at 2467 State Road, Cuyahoga Falls.

Novo Lounge at the Sheraton Suites — John Gragg plays at 8 tonight; Kim Karam & the Gene Fiocca Band at 8 Friday; Art Work at 8 Saturday at 1989 Front St., Cuyahoga Falls.

On Tap — Bobby Martin emcees karaoke at 9:30 Friday and Saturday; Walt Wise plays at 7 Wednesday at 4396 Kent Road, Stow.

Sto-Kent Lanes Beach Club — Mark Shaffer emcees karaoke at 9 Friday and Saturday at 3870 Fishcreek Road, Stow.

Streets Tavern — DJ Roger emcees karaoke at 8 tonight at 9107 State Route 14, Streetsboro.

SOUTH

Dietz’s Landing — PooBah plays at 6 tonight; Riverhawk at 8 Saturday; Westside Steve at 3 Sunday at 401 W. Turkeyfoot Lake Road, New Franklin.

Jimmy’s Restaurant & Lounge — Teddy Tunes emcees karaoke at 7 Wednesday at 4262 Portage St. NW, Jackson Township.

Menches Brothers — Dave Cordi emcees karaoke at 7 Friday at 3700 Massillon Road, Green.

On Tap at the Harbor — Bobby Martin emcees karaoke at 9 tonight; O-Zone plays at 9 Saturday at 562 Portage Lakes Drive, Coventry Township.

Prime 93 — Artwerk plays at 6:30 Friday; John Perry at 6:30 Saturday; Max at 6 Wednesday at 4315 Manchester Road, New Franklin.

356th Fighter Group — LaFlavour plays at 9 Friday and Saturday at 4919 Mount Pleasant Road, Green.

Upper Deck — Extremes play at 6 Friday at 357 Turkeyfoot Lake Road, New Franklin.

WEST

Galaxy Restaurant — Denny & Todd play at 7 tonight; Highway 61 at 9:30 Friday; Hot Wings at 9:30 Saturday; Rock Radio Band at 8 Wednesday at 201 Park Centre Drive, Wadsworth.

Houston Pub — Open mic with Tom Ball at 7 Tuesday at 3069 Houston Road, Norton.

On Tap — Chris Martin emcees karaoke at 9:30 Friday and Saturday; Super Monea Bro’s play at 8:30 Wednesday at Acme Plaza, 3997 Medina Road, Bath Township.

On Tap — Travlin’ Johnsons play at 7 tonight; Bobby Martin emcees karaoke at 9 Friday; Donny Thompson at 8 Saturday at 2905 Medina Road, Medina.

Sweet Pea Cafe — Dale Galgozy plays at 7 Friday; Ed Amann at 7 Saturday at 117 Merz Blvd., Fairlawn.

CLEVELAND AREA

Barking Spider Tavern — Love Muffin Palooza at 8 tonight; George Foley & Friends at 5:30 Friday; Martin & Marshall at 8 Friday; Hollywood Slim at 10 Friday; No Money Down at 8 Saturday; Dream Circuit at 10 Saturday; Hot Jazz Seven at 3 Sunday; George Lee & Friends at 7:30 Sunday; Rocket 88’s at 9 Sunday; B.C. Hudson at 8:30 Monday; Pete Cavano & Friends at 10 Monday; Addictive Stranger at 7 Tuesday; Jonn Ones at 8:30 Tuesday; Ray McNiece & Tongue & Groove at 10 Tuesday; John Keugler Memorial at 8:30 Wednesday at 11310 Juniper Road, Cleveland.

Cowboys — The Day Trippers play at 9 Friday at 8586 E. Washington St., Bainbridge.

Nighttown — Nicole Henry plays at 8 tonight; Jiggs Whigham at 8:30 Friday; Chip Stephens/Glenn Wilson Quartet at 8:30 Saturday; Harmonia at 7 Sunday; Moutin Reunion at 7 Wednesday at 12387 Cedar Road, Cleveland Heights.

Wilbert’s Food & Music — Duke Robillard plays at 8 tonight; Sheela and the Others at 9 Friday; the Lauren Wolf Band at 9 Saturday; Eliot Lewis at 4 Sunday; Deadstring Brothers at 8 Tuesday; Jennifer Hall, Nick Wilkinson and Amanda Ake at 8 Wednesday at 812 Huron Road E., Cleveland.

Opera Circle presents Rigoletto — 7:30 p.m. Saturday, PlayhouseSquare Ohio Theatre, 1515 Euclid Ave., Cleveland. $20-$65. 216-241-6000 or www.playhousesquare.org.

Northcoast Men’s Chorus 25th Anniversary Concert — 8 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday, Waetjen Auditorium, 2001 Euclid Ave., Cleveland. Emceed by Leslie Jordan. $10-$40 in advance, $15-$45 at the door. 216-556-0590 or email Tickets@ncmchorus.org.

AudioKinetic — 7 p.m. Friday, PlayhouseSquare Westfield Insurance Studio Theatre, 1375 Euclid Ave., Cleveland. Free. 216-241-6000 or www.playhousesquare.org.

IndieFest Filmmaker’s Workshop — 6-8 tonight at Creative House Studios, 1490 E. 40th St., Cleveland. For independent filmmakers and enthusiasts. To register, call 216-589-9444 or go to www.ingenuityfest-indiefest.eventbrite.com.

Author Visit — 1-3 p.m. Friday at Learned Owl Book Shop, 204 N. Main St., Hudson. Nathan and Stephanie Szerdy will sign Nelly the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse Cat and Lola & The 11 Secrets. 330-653-2252.

Polish American Club Fish Fry — 4:30-8 p.m. Friday at Polish American Club, 472 E. Glenwood Ave., Akron. Starting at $7.95. 330-253-0496.

A New Adventure Widows & Widowers social group — 7:30 a.m. Saturday at Eat’n Park, 200 Howe Ave., Cuyahoga Falls. 330-929-5430 or 330-630-9275.

Unattached Seniors— 9 a.m. Saturday at Waterloo Restaurant, 423 E. Waterloo Road, Akron. 330-644-6624.

A New Beginning Social Group for Widows and Widowers — 9 a.m. Saturday at Thano’s Restaurant, 71 Fifth St. SE, Barberton. 330-745-6239.

Strawberry Festival Craft Bazaar — 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday at Jefferson Depot Village, 147 E. Jefferson St., Jefferson. 440-576-0496 or www.jeffersondepotvillage.org.

Summit County Historical Society Civil War 150th Commemorative Event — 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday on the grounds of Perkins Stone Mansion, 550 Copley Road, Akron. The 29th O.V.I. will host a Civil War Encampment on the front lawn, a living history demonstration with marching and other camp activities. Free. 330-535-1120 or www.summithistory.org.

Author Visit — 11 a.m. Saturday at Learned Owl Book Shop, 204 N. Main St., Hudson. Betsy Snyder will sign It’s Firefly Night and I Haiku You. 330-653-2252.

Book Signings — 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Sparrow Christian Bookshop, 14962 S. State Ave., Middlefield. Kathleen Fuller, Letters to Katie; Mary Ellis, Living In Harmony; and Amanda Flower, Appleseed Creek Mystery Series.

Cruise-On-In & Dance Party — 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday in downtown Massillon. Live entertainment including Journey tribute Escape, the Pop Tarts (’50s/’60s girl group tribute), Vince Rudy Trio, Gary “Elvis” Shreve and the Memphis Prowlers, Big Chuck and Lil’ John. Food vendors, fireworks and hundreds of classic and antique cars, trucks and motorcycles. Free. 330-837-9900, ext. 25, or www.espn990.com/cruise2013/cruise.html.

Akron Hungarian-American Club 90th Anniversary — Noon to 7 p.m. Saturday at the Hungarian-American Club, 694 E. Waterloo Road, Akron. Food, music by the Hungarians, raffles and more. Admission $2; food prices vary. 330-923-5538 or www.akronhungarianamericanclub.com.

Author Visit — 1 p.m. Saturday at Learned Owl Book Shop, 204 N. Main St., Hudson. Matt Lupica will sign The Baseball Stadium Insider: A Comprehensive Dissection of All Thirty Ballparks, the Legendary Players and the Memorable Moments. 330-653-2252.

Hoover-Price Planetarium Shows — 1 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays at McKinley Presidential Library & Museum, 800 McKinley Monument Drive NW, Canton. Citizen Science, May 4 through July 7. 330-455-7043.

56th annual Car Show — 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday at Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens, 714 N. Portage Path, Akron. Featuring classic, antique and collector cars on view in 27 classes, other features for car enthusiasts. $12, $5 ages 6-17. 330-836-5533 or www.stanhywet.org.

Hudson Stamp Show — 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at Clarion Inn, 6625 Dean Memorial Parkway, Hudson. Free. 330-832-5992.

Getting Ready for Medicare — 6-8 p.m. Monday at Peninsula Library, 6105 Riverview Road. Laura Mutsko, certified senior adviser and Medicare supplement accredited adviser, will highlight when and where to apply, what decisions people will need to make, what Medicare covers, costs, and the difference between plans. Free. Reservations required, call 330-657-2291.

KAKR-Summit Air FBO Classic Car Cruise-In — 2-8 p.m. Tuesday at 1600 Triplett Blvd., Akron. Featured aircraft: B-29 Superfortress Fifi, P-51 Mustang Brat III, C-45 Expediter Bucket of Bolts, T-6 Texan and Stearman Speedmail. $10.

Carovillese Club Spaghetti Dinner — 4-7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Carovillese Club, 570 E. Cuyahoga Falls Ave., Akron. $6 to $8.25. 330-929-6767.

Author Visit — 6 p.m. Tuesday at Barnes & Noble, 198 Crocker Park Blvd., Westlake. Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg, authors of The Heist. 440-250-9233.

Widows & Widowers (SOS) Starting Over Socially Dinner/Meeting — 6 p.m. Tuesday at Primavera’s, 5382 Fulton Road NW, Jackson Township. Participants pay for their meals. Reservations required. Call Norma at 330-452-5889 or Bernie at 330-477-5325.

Old Time, Celtic and Bluegrass Music Jam — 7-10 p.m. Tuesday at College of Wooster, in the college snack bar, Mom’s Truck Stop, Lowry Center, Wooster. The College of Wooster Scottish Arts Society along with local community players sponsor musical jam sessions where guests may sit in. Call Kim Tapie, 330-345-5208, or Charlene Adzima, 330-263-6504.

Summit County Historical Society Perkins Stone Mansion Tours — 1-3 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at Perkins Stone Mansion, 550 Copley Road, Akron. $6, $4 seniors, $2 students. 330-535-1120 or go to www.summithistory.org.

Greater Cleveland Aquarium — 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, last admission is at 5 p.m., Nautica Entertainment Complex, 2000 Sycamore St., Cleveland. Features more than 40 tanks of all sizes, which are home to thousands of living creatures including the Ohio-native brook trout, ferocious piranhas and sand tiger sharks that measure more than seven feet. $21.95, $15.95 ages 2-12. www.GreaterClevelandAquarium.com.

Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition — Through Jan. 5 at Great Lakes Science Center, 601 Erieside Ave., Cleveland. Authentic artifacts and re-creations of the ship’s interior. All tickets are timed; be prepared to select a specific date and time when ordering. $24, $23 for seniors and college students with ID, $22 for children 2-12; $10 members. www.greatsciencecom.

Cleveland Museum of Natural History — Exhibits on display through Sept. 1 are Megalodon: Largest Shark that Ever Lived; and Sharkabet: A Sea of Sharks from A to Z. Museum is at 1 Wade Oval Drive. Admission is $12 adults, $10 ages 3-18, college students and seniors, and free for children 2 or younger. www.cmnh.org.

Jazz at the Park with Michael Austin — 6 p.m. Friday, Firestone VFW Park, 690 W. Waterloo Road, Akron. $20 in advance, $25 at the gate. Call Carla at 330-554-3481 or go to www.livemusic
sets.com.

Bobby Selvaggio Hendectet Jazz Collective — 7:30 p.m. Friday, PlayhouseSquare Kennedy’s Theatre, 1501 Euclid Ave., Cleveland. $15. 216-241-6000 or www.playhousesquare.org.

Jazz at Lincoln Center with Wynton Marsalis — 8 p.m. Tuesday, Akron Civic Theatre, 182 S. Main St., Akron. $45, $55 and $75. 330-253-2488 or www.akroncivic.com.

Helen Welch — 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Pub Bricco, 1841 Merriman Road, Akron. 330-869-0035.

2. Fast & Furious 6, $19,626,885, 3,771 locations, $5,205 average, $202,812,580, three weeks.

3. Now You See Me, $19,040,890, 3,020 locations, $6,305 average, $60,914,914, two weeks.

4. The Internship, $17,325,307, 3,366 locations, $5,147 average, $17,325,307, one week.

5. Epic, $11,876,003, 3,594 locations, $3,304 average, $83,930,559, three weeks.

6. Star Trek Into Darkness, $11,425,755, 3,152 locations, $3,625 average, $199,866,194, four weeks.

7. After Earth, $10,712,240, 3,401 locations, $3,150 average, $46,103,809, two weeks.

8. The Hangover Part III, $7,343,414, 3,242 locations, $2,265 average, $102,337,370, three weeks.

9. Iron Man 3, $5,753,661, 2,351 locations, $2,447 average, $394,283,326, six weeks.

10. The Great Gatsby, $4,222,409, 2,160 locations, $1,955 average, $136,167,527, five weeks.

The listing is ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters and total box office receipts, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com.

Movie: Man of Steel

Cast: Henry Cavill, Michael Shannon, Amy Adams.

Directed by: Zack Snyder .

Studio: Warner Bros.

Running time: 2 hours, 24 minutes.

Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence, action and destruction, and for some language.

Theaters: Capitol Theatre, Carnation Cinema, Cinemark Aurora 10, Garrettsville Cinemas, Great Oaks Cinema, Highland Theatre, Hudson Cinema 10, Independence 10, Interstate Park 18, Lake Cinemas 8, Macedonia 15, Massillon 12, Montrose 12, Regal Medina 16, Shaker Square Cinemas, Tinseltown USA, Tower City Cinemas, Valley View 24, Wooster 10, Magic City Drive-In, Midway Twin Drive-In.

HHH›

THIS IS THE END — HHH

(R — crude, sexual content throughout, brief graphic nudity, pervasive language, drug use, some violence) While attending a party at James Franco’s house, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel and many other celebrities are faced with the apocalypse. 1 hour, 47 minutes.

Carnation Cinema, Cinemark Aurora 10, Hudson Cinema 10, Independence 10, Interstate Park 18, Lake Cinemas 8, Macedonia 15, Massillon 12, Montrose 12, Regal Medina 16, Shaker Square Cinemas, Tinseltown USA, Tower City Cinemas, Valley View 24, Wooster 10

Opening Friday

BEFORE MIDNIGHT — HHHH

(R — sexual content/nudity and language) Nine years after a fateful rendezvous in Paris and nearly two decades since their first meeting, an American writer and a French environmentalist once again spend an evening discussing life and love. 1 hour, 48 minutes.

Capitol Theatre, Cedar Lee, Montrose 12, Valley View 24

LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED — Not rated

(R for brief sexuality, nudity and some language) A hairdresser who has lost her hair to cancer finds out her husband is having an affair, travels to Italy and meets a widower who still blames the world for the loss of his wife. Subtitled. 1 hour, 56 minutes.

Cedar Lee

MAN OF STEEL — HHH½

(PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence, action and destruction, and for some language) A young man with miraculous powers discovers he is not of this Earth and becomes a hero in this adaptation of the Superman mythos. 2 hours, 24 minutes.

Capitol Theatre, Carnation Cinema, Cinemark Aurora 10, Garrettsville Cinemas, Great Oaks Cinema, Highland Theatre, Hudson Cinema 10, Independence 10, Interstate Park 18, Lake Cinemas 8, Macedonia 15, Massillon 12, Montrose 12, Regal Medina 16, Shaker Square Cinemas, Tinseltown USA, Tower City Cinemas, Valley View 24, Wooster 10, Magic City Drive-In, Midway Twin Drive-In

Playing through 
next week

42 — HHH

(PG-13 — thematic elements including language) The life story of Jackie Robinson, the first black player in Major League Baseball, and his history-making signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers under the guidance of Branch Rickey. 2 hours, 8 minutes.

AFTER EARTH — H½

(PG-13 — sci-fi action violence, some disturbing images) M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense) directs this science-fiction thriller about a father and son (played by Will Smith and his son, Jaden) who crash land on Earth 1,000 years after it was abandoned by mankind. 1 hour, 40 minutes.

THE BIG WEDDING — Not rated

(R — strong language, adult themes and brief nudity) A divorced couple (Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton) pretend to still be married for their adopted son’s wedding. 1 hour, 30 minutes. Showing only at Cinemark Movies 10, Jackson Township. 330-497-9118.

THE COMPANY YOU KEEP — HH½

(R — language) Robert Redford plays a former 1970s radical who now has an 11-year-old daughter and is living a quiet life under an assumed name when his past comes back to haunt him. 2 hours, 5 minutes. Showing only at Cinemark Movies 10, Jackson Township. 330-497-9118.

THE CROODS — HH½

(PG — some scary action) In this animated film, a prehistoric family embarks on a journey to find a new home after their cave is destroyed. It has a strong, star-studded cast and dazzles visually in wondrously colorful, vibrant 3-D, but the script doesn’t pop off the screen quite so effectively. With the voices of Nicolas Cage, Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone and Catherine Keener. 1 hour, 32 minutes. Showing only at Cinemark Movies 10, Jackson Township. 330-497-9118.

EPIC — HH

(PG — mild action, some scary images, brief rude language) Amanda Seyfried, Beyonce Knowles, Colin Farrell, Christoph Waltz and Josh Hutcherson provide the voices for this 3-D animated fable about a teenage girl who is magically transported into an alternate universe. 1 hour, 42 minutes.

FAST & FURIOUS 6 — HHH

(PG-13 — intense sequences of violence and action and mayhem throughout, some sexuality, language) Justin Lin returns for a fourth time to direct Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson and the rest of the rubber-burning crew. 2 hours, 10 minutes.

FRANCES HA — Not rated

(R — sexual references, language) Director Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale, Greenberg) goes low-budget, black-and-white French New Wave with this whimsical study of a young woman (Greta Gerwig) trying to survive in New York. 1 hour, 26 minutes. Showing only at Cedar Lee, Cleveland Heights. 440-349-3306.

G.I. JOE: RETALIATION — HH

(PG-13 — intense sequences of combat violence and martial arts action throughout, and for brief sensuality and language) The G.I. Joes are not only fighting their mortal enemy Cobra; they are forced to contend with threats from within their own government after they are framed for crimes against the country. 1 hour, 50 minutes. Showing only at Cinemark Movies 10, Jackson Township. 330-497-9118.

THE GREAT GATSBY — HHH

(PG-13 — some violent images, sexual content, smoking, partying, brief language) Leonardo DiCaprio stars as the party-loving millionaire living the high life in 1920s New York. Tobey Maguire is the aspiring author from the Midwest who starts hanging out with the rich crowd. 2 hours, 23 minutes.

THE HANGOVER PART III — HH

(R — pervasive language including sexual references, some violence and drug content, brief graphic nudity) For the final chapter in his hugely successful trilogy about guys behaving badly, director Todd Phillips shakes things up by doing away with weddings and bachelor parties altogether. Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis and Justin Bartha are all back for more punishment. 1 hour, 40 minutes.

THE INTERNSHIP — HH½

(PG-13 — sexuality, some crude humor, partying, language) Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson play obsolete salesmen trying to compete in the digital age who take internships at Google and try to outdo their college-age peers. 1 hour. 59 minutes.

IRON MAN 3 — HHH

(PG-13 — sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence throughout, brief suggestive content) Playboy industrialist and armored superhero Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, is brought to the brink of destruction by a new enemy known as the Mandarin. With Robert Downey Jr., Ben Kingsley, Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle. 2 hours, 10 minutes.

KINGS OF SUMMER — HHH½

(R — language, some teen drinking) Three teenage friends spend their summer building a house in the woods and living off the land. With Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso and Moises Arias. 1 hour, 33 minutes.

KON TIKI — Not rated

(PG-13 — violence, adult themes) Norse explorer Thor Heyerdahl’s historic 1947 voyage across the Pacific on a balsa raft is re-enacted with stunning visual effects. 1 hour, 41 minutes. Showing only at Cedar Lee, Cleveland Heights. 440-349-3306.

MUD — Not rated

(PG-13 — some violence, sexual references, language, thematic elements and smoking) Two boys find a fugitive hiding out on an island in the Mississippi River and pledge to help him reunite with his girl and escape. 2 hours, 10 minutes. Showing only at Cedar Lee, Cleveland Heights. 440-349-3306.

NOW YOU SEE ME — HH

(PG-13 — language, some action, sexual content) Morgan Freeman, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson and Dave Franco are a team of bank-robbing magicians. Mark Ruffalo is the FBI agent trying to anticipate their next move. 1 hour, 42 minutes.

OBLIVION — HH½

(PG-13 for sci-fi action violence, brief strong language, and some sensuality) A man living on a post-apocalyptic Earth rescues a woman from a spacecraft crash and begins to question the official history he has been told all this time. 2 hours, 4 minutes. Showing only at Cinemark Movies 10, Jackson Township. 330-497-9118.

OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN — Not rated

(R — strong violence and language throughout) A disgraced Secret Service agent (Gerard Butler) finds himself trapped inside the White House in the wake of a terrorist attack; using his inside knowledge, he works with national security to rescue the president from his kidnappers. 1 hour, 59 minutes. Showing only at Cinemark Movies 10, Jackson Township. 330-497-9118.

OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL — HHH

(PG — sequences of action, scary images, brief mild language) A small-time circus magician finds himself hurled from Kansas to the fantastical land of Oz, where he tries to transform himself into a great wizard. With James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams. 2 hours, 10 minutes. Showing only at Cinemark Movies 10, Jackson Township. 330-497-9118.

PEEPLES — HH

(PG-13 — sexual content, drug material, language) Craig Robinson (TV’s The Office) crashes the eponymous family’s annual gathering in the Hamptons to propose to their daughter (Kerry Washington). 1 hour, 35 minutes. Showing only at Cinemark Movies 10, Jackson Township. 330-497-9118.

THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES — HH

(R — language throughout, some violence, teen drug and alcohol use and a sexual reference) Three overlapping stories that center on the legacies — voluntary or not — fathers leave their sons, the split-second decisions that can shape them, and ripple effects of responsibility, regret, limited resources and guilt. 2 hours, 20 minutes. Showing only at Cinemark Movies 10, Jackson Township. 330-497-9118.

THE PURGE — H½

(R — strong disturbing violence, some language) Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey are a couple trying to protect their children from intruders during a 12-hour period in which the government has deemed everything legal, including murder. 1 hour, 25 minutes.

RENOIR — HHH

(R — sequences of art-related nudity, brief language) Set on the French Riviera in the summer of 1915, Jean Renoir — son of the Impressionist painter, Pierre-Auguste — returns home to convalesce after being wounded in World War I. At his side is Andree, a young woman who rejuvenates, enchants, and inspires both father and son. In French and Italian with subtitles. 1 hour, 41 minutes.

SCARY MOVIE V — Not rated

(PG-13 — crude and sexual content throughout, language, some drug material, partial nudity, comic violence and gore) A couple experience paranormal activity after bringing their newborn son home from the hospital. With the help of home-surveillance cameras and a team of experts, they learn they’re being stalked by a demon. 1 hour, 25 minutes. Showing only at Cinemark Movies 10, Jackson Township. 330-497-9118.

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS — HHH

(PG-13 — intense sequences of sci-fi action, violence) The action is grander, the stakes are higher and the camaraderie funnier in director J.J. Abrams’ second outing into Star Trek territory. The story sends Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), First Officer Spock (Zachary Quinto) and the rest of the crew of the USS Enterprise on the trail of a terrorist (Benedict Cumberbatch) who has declared war on the Federation. 2 hours, 12 minutes.

Akron-Summit County Main Library — (Auditorium, 60 S. High St., Akron; 330-643-9015) The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, 6 tonight. Free.

Capitol Theatre — (1390 W. 65th St., Cleveland; 440-528-0355) Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, midnight Saturday. $5. The Magnificent Seven, 10 a.m. Sunday. $5.

Cedar Lee Theatre — (2163 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights; 440-564-2030) Opera de Paris Ballet: La Sylphide, 11 a.m. Sunday and 7 p.m. Wednesday. $25.

Cinemark Movies 10 — (6284 Dressler Road NW, North Canton; 330-497-9118) Horton Hears a Who, 10 a.m. Tuesday. $1.

Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque — (Aitken Auditorium, 11141 East Blvd.; 216-421-7450) Tabu, 7:30 tonight, 9:25 p.m. Saturday; Hors Satan (Outside Satan), 5 p.m. Friday, 7:15 p.m. Saturday; Buster Keaton’s Two-Reel Comedies Program 3, 5:45 p.m. today, 7:10 p.m. Friday; Yoyo, 8:55 p.m. Friday, 5:15 p.m. Saturday. $8; $13 for two films a day.

Cleveland Museum of Art — (11150 East Blvd.; 888-262-0033) Greenwich Village: Music That Defined a Generation, 7 p.m. Friday; In Bed with Ulysses, 1:30 p.m. Sunday; Our School, 7 p.m. Wednesday. $8; $6 members; $5 seniors; $4 students.

Flicks on the Falls — (Falls River Square Auditorium, Cuyahoga Falls; www.flicksonthefalls.com) Rise of the Guardians, 7 tonight. Free.

Omnimax Theater at the Great Lakes Science Center — (601 Erieside Ave., Cleveland; 216-694-2000) The Living Sea, noon, 2 and 4 p.m. today-Wednesday; Titanica, 11 a.m., 1 and 3 p.m. today-Wednesday. $9.50; $7.50 under 18. Center/theater combination tickets, $12.95 and $8.95.

Palace Theatre — (605 Market Ave. N., Canton; 330-454-8172) Summer Kids Movie: Escape From Planet Earth, 1 p.m. Monday. $1.

Shaker Square Cinema — (13116 Shaker Square, Cleveland; 440-564-2032) Family Films Series: The Muppet Movie (1979), 10 a.m. Wednesday. $1.

Tower City Cinemas — (230 Huron Road, Cleveland; 330-487-0486) Fatherhood 101, 7 tonight, 2 and 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. $10, children under 12 $5.

Cyphert Album Release, 7:30 p.m. Friday, with Cody Martin.

Paper Lions, 8 p.m. Monday, with the Ladderbacks, $8-$10.

Beachland Ballroom and Tavern — (15711 Waterloo Road, Cleveland; 216-383-1124, www.beachlandball
room.com)

Dangermuffin, 8:30 tonight, with Splitroot and Syrup, $10.

Boettler Park, Freda Hunter Bates Pavilion— (5300 Massillon Road, Green; 330-896-6621, www.cityofgreen.org)

Children’s Concert Series presents Outback Ray’s Amazing Animal Show, 11 a.m. today, free.

Canton Cultural Center — (1001 Market Ave. N., Canton; 330-489-3090, www.cantonciviccenter.com)

J-Jam presents Pat Masalko, noon Wednesday, free.

Central Intermediate School — (151 Main St., Wadsworth)

Wadsworth Community Band, 7 p.m. Sunday, free.

Copley Bandstand — (Copley Road and Cleveland-Massillon Road, Copley; 330-666-9047)

Sierra Hull, 7 p.m. Sunday, free.

E.J. Thomas Hall — (198 Hill St., University of Akron; 330-972-8301)

Lyfe Jennings, 7:30 p.m. Friday, with Conya Doss and Antoine Dunn, $29.50, $39.50, $49.50 and $61.50.

Firestone Park — (1480 Girard St., Akron)

Rudy & the Professionals, 7 p.m. Tuesday, free.

Firestone Metro Park, Tuscarawas Shelter — (2620 Harrington Road, Akron)

Jan Hammond, 7 p.m. Friday, free.

Brick Road Ramblers, 7 p.m. June 28.

Goodyear Heights Metro Park — (2077 Newton St., Akron)

Greased Lightning, 7 p.m. Friday, free.

Grog Shop — (2785 Euclid Heights Blvd., Cleveland Heights; 216-321-5588)

The Whitest Kids You Know, 10 tonight, $20. (8 p.m. show sold out)

Sweet Talk, 9 p.m. Friday, with Little Bighorn and the Lawton Bros., $6.

Scrawl, 9 p.m. Saturday, with Obnox, Goldmines, Ma Holos and DJ Party Sweat, $10.

Spitalfield “Remember Right Now” 10-Year Anniversary Tour, 8 p.m. Sunday, with Shane Henderson and the Future Perfect, Jon Walker and My Mouth Is the Speaker, $13 in advance, $15 day of show.

The Next New Nothings, 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, with SeXtuppleX, Vince Ruby and Eddie Doldrum, $5.

HARDESTY Park — (1615 W. Market St., Akron)

Twist, 7 p.m. Monday, free.

House of Blues Cleveland — (308 Euclid Ave., Cleveland; 800-598-8703, www.livenation.com)

Queensryche starring Geoff Tate, doors open 7:30 p.m. Sunday, $25 in advance; four-pack $75.

Marianas Trench, doors open 8 p.m. Tuesday, with Air Dubai, the Good Natured and Projector, $20 in advance; four-pack $60.

Jacobs pavilion at Nautica — (West Bank of the Flats, 2014 Sycamore St., Cleveland; 800-745-3000, www.livenation.com)

Alice Cooper and Marilyn Manson, 7 tonight, $45 and $60.

Jupiter Studios — (346 E. Main St., Alliance; 330-581-5272)

Street Lighters, 8 p.m. Friday, with Jesse Kalhoun and Black Tooth Grin, $5.

Jenny Dalton, 8 p.m. Saturday, with Root Doctor’s Revenge, $5.

The Kent Stage — (175 E. Main St., Kent; 330-677-5005, www.thekent
stage.com)

Leon Russell, 8 tonight, $31-$36.

Bill Payne of Little Feat, 8 p.m. Friday, $25.

Keyser Park Barn — (851 W. Bath Road, Cuyahoga Falls; 330-971-8225)

The Pantastics Steel Drum Band, 6 p.m. Sunday, free.

Lock 3 — (200 S. Main St., Akron; www.lock3live.com)

Thunderbox: The All Girl Tribute to the Best of Metal, 7 p.m. Friday, with Mouth Wired Shut.

Medina’s uptown park square — (Broadway Street and Liberty Street, Medina; www.medinacommunityband.org)

Medina Community Band, 8:30 p.m. Friday, free.

Munroe Falls Metro Park — (521 S. River Road, Munroe Falls)

Metro Park Ensemble, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, free.

Musica — (51 E. Market St., Akron; 330-374-1114)

Caveman, 8 tonight, with the Houses, $9.99.

Not a Planet, 9 p.m. Friday, with the Zou, $7.

Cute Is What We Aim For, 7 p.m. Tuesday, with the Dangerous Summer, Made Violent and Promise Me Scarlet, $13.

Hey Marseilles, 8 p.m. Wednesday, with PHOX Bethesda, $9.99.

Peabody’s — (2045 E. 21st St., Cleveland; 216-776-9999; www.peabodys.com)

Along Came a Spider, doors open 6 p.m. Friday, with Forever in Terror, Fallen Captive, Below the Tide, the Convalescance, Erasing Never, Elysium, Trust Me I’m a Doctor, Here Lies Another, Among the Fallen, Psyclosrin, Youth Forgotten and Lower 13, $10 in advance, $12 day of show.

Mustard Plug, doors open 7 p.m. Saturday, with the Independents, $10 in advance, $13 day of show.

Face to Face, doors open 7 p.m. Sunday, with Teenage Bottlerocket, Blacklist Royals and Joshua Black Wilkins, $20 in advance, $23 day of show.

PlayhouseSquare PALACE Theatre — (1615 Euclid Ave., Cleveland; 216-241-6000, www.playhousesquare.org)

The Tenors, 7 p.m. Sunday, $10-$49.50.

Quicken loans arena — (Ontario Street and Huron Road, Cleveland; 888-894-9424, www.theQarena.com)

Fleetwood Mac, 8 p.m. Saturday, $49.50, $79.50 and $149.50.

Rockin’ on the River — (Falls River Square Amphitheater, 2020 Front St., Cuyahoga Falls; http://rockinontheriver.com)

7 Bridges: Eagles tribute, 5 p.m. Friday, with Kerosene.

Shadyside Park — (1235 Kenmore Blvd, Akron)

Funkology, 7 p.m. Wednesday, free.

Valley Vista Park — (290 Portage Trail Extension W., Cuyahoga Falls)

Akron Pops Orchestra, 7:30 tonight, free.

Wade Oval — (10820 East Blvd, Cleveland; www.universitycircle.org)

Lost State of Franklin, 6-9 p.m. Wednesday, Free.

Winchester Music Hall — (12112 Madison Ave., Lakewood; 216-226-5681)

Derek DePrator, 9 p.m. Friday, free.

Aliver Hall — 9 p.m. June 21, Grog Shop, 2785 Euclid Heights Blvd., Cleveland Heights. With the Heavy Pets and Gypsydaze. $8-$10. 216-321-5588.

Scars on 45 & Brendan James — 7:30 p.m. June 22, Musica, 51 E. Market St., Akron. With A Band Named Ashes and Jesse Ruben. $9.99. 330-374-1114.

Man Man — 8 p.m. June 23, Musica, 51 E. Market St., Akron. $13. 330-374-1114.

Jason Isbell — 8 p.m. June 25, Musica, 51 E. Market St., Akron. With Widowspeak. $20. 330-374-1114.

Filmstrip — 9 p.m. June 27, Grog Shop, 2785 Euclid Heights Blvd., Cleveland Heights. With Beach Stav and Extra Medium Pony. $6. 216-321-5588.

Project 86 — 7:30 p.m. June 29, the Auricle, 601 Cleveland Ave. NW, Canton. 330-353-8694 or http://theauricle.net.

The Front Bottoms — 8 p.m. June 29, Musica, 51 E. Market St., Akron. With A Great Big Pile of Leaves and The Big Sweet. $9.99. 330-374-1114.

Hydra Melody — 8 p.m. June 30, The Auricle, 601 Cleveland Ave. NW, Canton. 330-353-8694 or http://theauricle.net.

Post Stock — 8 p.m. July 6, the Auricle, 601 Cleveland Ave. NW, Canton. With Time Columns, Cavallo, From Borealis, Nomads and Mount Ratz. $8 in advance, $10 at the door. 330-353-8694 or http://theauricle.net.

Margot & The Nuclear So and So’s — 8 p.m. July 7, Musica, 51 E. Market St., Akron. With Peter James & His Flapping Wings. $13. 330-374-1114.

Empires — 8 p.m. July 11, Musica, 51 E. Market St., Akron. With Stiletto, Forties and Townhouse. $8. 330-374-1114.

Austin Craig Homecoming Show — 9 p.m. July 13, Musica, 51 E. Market St., Akron. $8. 330-374-1114.

Over The Rhine — 8 p.m. July 20, Musica, 51 E. Market St., Akron. $20. 330-374-1114.

Mickey Hart Band — 8 p.m. Aug. 10, the Kent Stage, 175 E. Main St., Kent. With Tea Leaf Trio. $35 in advance, $41 at the door. 330-677-5005 or www.thekentstage.com.

CMT on Tour: Hunter Hayes’ Let’s Be Crazy Tour — 7:30 p.m. Nov. 9, PlayhouseSquare State Theatre, 1519 Euclid Ave., Cleveland. Tickets go on sale at 11 a.m. June 21. $32.50 and $39.50. 216-241-6000 or www.playhousesquare.org.

Q: We loved “Vegas” with Dennis Quaid and would like to know how the story played out. We saw a blurb suggesting it would not be renewed, but did not see a final resolution.

A: The first-season finale, made before CBS decided not to renew the show, left some story lines open in case the series continued. In brief: Ralph (Quaid) and Vincent (Michael Chiklis) defeat the vicious Porter Gainsley (Michael Ironside) and Ralph turns him over to the FBI. Ralph gets back his job as sheriff, while Vincent is still planning to rule Las Vegas, so their conflict is not over. And the romance between Jack (Jason O’Mara) and Mia (Sarah Jones) hits another rocky patch when he tries to propose to her, only to find her in a compromising situation with Tommy (Enver Gjokaj).

Q: I missed the last episode or two of “Bates Motel” and wondered if A&E will repeat them, or if they can be obtained anywhere.

A: Remember when the only way to catch a missed show was to wait for reruns? Then consider this: A&E has some Bates episodes, including the finale of the 10-episode first season, on its website, www.aetv.com. You need to access them via your cable or satellite provider; the site has instructions. The episodes are also available through Amazon Instant Video and on iTunes, including in HD, for a fee.

You might want to check the On Demand channels in your program provider; Time Warner’s On Demand listings did include the ninth and 10th episodes. And you can keep an eye out for reruns via the A&E schedule at aetv.com.

Q: Why, oh why, was the wonderful show “Golden Boy” canceled? It had a terrific ensemble cast, smart and entertaining episodes and a unique theme. We were really looking forward to next season. What happened?

A: What always happens when shows are not renewed? They have not met their networks’ expectations. Golden Boy was given a good shot, put in the Tuesday 10 p.m. slot following the very successful NCIS and NCIS: LA. In fact, CBS kept the police drama in that slot longer than at first planned, bumping former occupant Vegas to Friday nights.

But as the Hollywood Reporter noted, its ratings were “solid but not the breakout critical hit the network had hoped for.” Indeed, HitFix.com added that the other networks would have been happy with Golden Boy’s numbers while CBS, which ended up winning the prime-time season on the strength of its returning shows, could afford to be choosy. In fact, of its much-touted new shows in 2012-13, only Elementary will be back for a second season.

Q: Every time I hear the commercial for Nasonex, the bumblebee doing the voiceover sounds exactly like Antonio Banderas. Am I right? Dying to know.

A: You get an A on your bee question. Banderas has indeed given voice to those commercials — nor are they the only place he is heard but not seen. He has voiced Puss in Boots in various Shrek productions as well as the companion Puss in Boots film.

Q: I think a new update of “This Is Your Life” would be a ratings hit. Do you agree?

A: Possibly. For those of you tuning in late, the series would trick guests into coming to a studio where host (and show creator) Ralph Edwards would announce “This is your life!” and the surprised guest would then hear recaps of biographical moments and meet old acquaintances again. It first ran on NBC from 1952 to 1961, with short-lived syndicated revivals in the ’70s (with Edwards again hosting) and the ’80s (with Joseph Campanella as host). Edwards, who died in 2005, also had a successful production company that licensed the This Is Your Life format to other countries. And a DVD set of 18 Life episodes was released in 2005.

In recent years, there has been talk about another Life revival, and Survivor mastermind Mark Burnett made a deal to do one in 2008. But a new version has not yet appeared.

Q: What happened to Allie LaForce, who did sports reporting for Fox 8?

A: She left the station in 2012 to join the CBS Sports Network, a 24-hour sports channel. She co-hosts the late-night Lead Off show with Doug Gottlieb. On Time Warner Cable in the Akron area, you can find that at Channels 322 or (for HD) 1322.

•

Do you have a question or comment for the mailbag? Write to the Akron Beacon Journal, 44 E. Exchange St., Akron, OH 44309 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com. Please mark the email or envelope with “mailbag.” Letters may be edited for publication. Please do not phone in questions. Individual replies cannot be guaranteed.

Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and Ohio.com, including the HeldenFiles Online, www.ohio.com/blogs/heldenfiles. He is also on Facebook and Twitter.

Twice.

Jennings, known professionally as Lyfe Jennings, will headline E.J. Thomas Hall at the University of Akron on Friday, with an all-Ohio bill featuring Cleveland neo-soul songstress Conya Doss, Cleveland Heights singer/songwriter Antoine Dunn and Akron artist Damon Leon.

While many of his counterparts invent their rap sheets, Jennings has one that is all too real.

In 1992 at the age of 19, Jennings, a Toledo native, went to prison for a decade for arson. While incarcerated, Jennings, who grew up singing in church and had a music group with some relatives as a teen, reconnected with his God and his music, drawing heavy inspiration from Erykah Badu.

Upon his release Jennings quickly recorded a demo CD and made his way to New York City, where he competed on the historically unforgiving stage at Harlem’s Apollo Theatre. Jennings was initially booed simply for having a guitar strapped to his back (and stepping onstage), but quickly won the crowd over with his rough, slightly nasal tenor and honest singing. He went on to win Showtime at the Apollo five times in a row.

Two years later he released his debut album, Lyfe 268-192, the numbers he was assigned while a ward of the state. Musically, the album was fairly standard contemporary R&B with welcome splashes of real guitar and other analog instruments, but what set it apart was his lyrical honesty and plainspoken, often first-person, always vivid narratives of real life, found in tunes such as the baby-mama drama song Greedy: “Like it’s my fault that she got on welfare / I told her we can go half on the Similac and the daycare / But no, she got comfortable at the bottom and wanted to stay there.”

On his second album, 2006’s The Phoenix, Jennings went even deeper into his life experience, offering spoken intros to nearly every song and having a No. 1 R&B hit with S.E.X., on which he and guest singer LaLa Brown advise a young girl growing up too fast not to give herself to the first guy whispering empty promises in her ear. The album hit No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart and Jennings was hailed by critics and R&B fans as a socially conscious singer/songwriter, telling it like it is.

The streak continued on Lyfe Change, a more upbeat collection made with outside production help, but still uniquely Lyfe, with songs about the vagaries of fame, growing up and other topics that seldom make it to “blazing hip-hop and R&B radio.”

All seemed right in his world until a 2008 altercation with the mother of three of his children (he has three boys and a girl) involving a gun led to a police chase, landing him back in prison for another three-plus years.

During that second stint, he released his fourth album I Still Believe in 2010, showing that musically he was at the top of his game. It was another Top 5 R&B and Top 10 album, with hits including Statistics, a skeletal ballad using percentages to help ladies (a huge part of his audience) understand why a good man is so hard to find: “15 percent of all men got a complex / 15 percent of all men don’t practice safe sex / 20 percent of them come from homes without a father / So there’s a 50-50 chance that you’ll marry a coward,” he sings.

Released from prison in early 2012, Jennings has taken his time coming back, performing spot dates with other artists (including his hero Badu) and at festivals, where he found his audience eager for his return.

“It feels good. Music is so fickle and it changes, so that you actually wonder what your reception is going to be, so it was definitely a great thing for me,” Jennings said by phone while walking with sons Elijah and Phoenix.

Last month Jennings released a new single, Boomerang, another plain-spoken tale of what can happen to a man when he does his woman wrong. And lest folks think Jennings doesn’t understand irony, it was not happenstance that Boomerang was the first single.

“Well, with my situation and now coming home, we just thought it was a very relevant song to my life, and personally I try to keep it as close to my life as I can,” he said.

While he has had a successful career, there is always the nagging notion that he could be a crossover smash if he just wrote a few more strip-club-ready songs about partying and/or his sexual prowess, and spent a bit more of his album budget on getting verses from the hot emcees of the moment. But Jennings knows better.

“I hear that sometimes. But one thing for sure is that everybody is going to gravitate back to the truth,” he said.

“That stuff is cool, but it’s fly-by-night. Yeah, you’ll have a hit record but a year or two later you can’t even tour. But no matter how much radio presence you have, or strip club presence you have, that doesn’t necessarily mean you have a career. So I keep on writing for a career,” he said.

Jennings’ career and life certainly seem to be back on track. Aside from his freedom and the new single making its way onto radio, he was approached by VH1 to be the subject of a reality show to be called Our Lyfe, which began shooting last week and may hit airwaves in the fall.

“Chaos. Just chaos,” Jennings said of the shoot. “It’s extremely weird and extremely stressful because I’m not a drama kind of guy. Definitely these days I try to stay out of drama’s way. It’s being shot with my three children’s mother [ex-manager Joy Bounds] and those guys are characters.”

Last week Jennings turned 40, and though now he says he doesn’t think about it much, when pressed he does admit there was a time in his life when turning 40 seemed as likely as turning 140. Now he says he’s just trying to keep looking and moving forward.

“Yeah, where I grew up it was hell making to 30, let alone 40. So I’m blessed and try to dwell on those blessings, because I think you get more blessings when you focus on those than when you focus on the negative.”

Porch Rokr rocked

I spent a few hours walking the route for the first Highland Square Porch Rokr Festival on Saturday, and I have to say it was pretty awesome. I’m sure folks have their nitpicks — such as a few canceled shows — but hopefully constructive feedback (as opposed to whining and yelling) will make next year’s festival even better.

I saw a few thousand folks of all ages, backgrounds and groupings wandering Highland Square, going from porch to porch, checking out the impressive variety of locally grown talent (though the lone hip-hop act, Trackblazas, unfortunately canceled their late performance). Neighborhood denizens cleaned out their attics with yard sales, kids sold pop and lemonade on their front lawns, and reasonably friendly Akron police officers made their presence known without making it unnecessarily felt.

I saw The Bizzarros (“Original Akron Music Since 1976!”) play a hot set to a packed lawn, and got my first glimpse of the intriguing ladies of Light of the Loon, their dark piano-driven indie cabaret tunes laced with a smart, macabre sense of humor (“Whatever we do, we’re all gonna die,” went the chorus of one song).

I saw the fun, acoustic “sardonic string band” the Cuyahoga Valley Frackers draw random folks off the street to their porch (“Oh, look honey, they have banjos, that sounds interesting,” the better half of an older couple walking behind me said before they headed toward the music.) The young trio Assassin Broadcast got some toes tapping with their tuneful, vaguely proggy indie rock, and the Bleeding Feathers wrapped up the day with their grooving “rusty barn rock blues.”

A Highland Square Neighborhood Association official told me they sold out of Square Cards, the fundraising component of the festival, and by all accounts the event was an unqualified success.

Kudos to the association, participating bands, artists, vendors, neighbors, porch hosts and all the folks who came through Highland Square and enjoyed themselves without incident and without leaving garbage all over the neighborhood.

Malcolm X Abram can be reached at mabram@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3758. Read his blog, Sound Check Online, at www.ohio.com/blogs/sound-check, or follow him on Twitter @malcolmxabram.