Cincinnati: A Place for Music, Theater and Fine Cuisine

If you are from the American Midwest, this popular and ever-growing cultural city is already on your radar. Cincinnati is a leader in technology, business and professional services, bio-health, manufacturing, and yes, arts and food. With a strong economy, this town attracts some of the best minds in the workforce, and with them comes the demand for the finest restaurants and entertainment. 

I had the opportunity to work in Cincinnati at two different periods of my life, first in 2012 at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, and recently in January of this year at the Cincinnati Music Hall with the symphony orchestra. I loved exploring the city’s neighborhoods, museums, the waterfront developments and of course, the food.

Cincinnati’s famous Music Hall was built in 1878 by architect Samuel Hannaford and is now a National Historic Landmark and an excellent example of the Victorian Gothic revival style. The venue’s opening performances included Gluck’s opera Alceste and Beethoven’s Eroica symphony. It was just the beginning of a long history with the orchestra that is now in its 126th season. Conductor Louis Langree is the 13th Music Director for the orchestra, following some of the greatest conductors in classical music including Leopold Stokwski, Fritz Reiner, Max Rudolf, Paavo Jarvi, to name a few. The orchestra was also the first American orchestra to embark on a world tour sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and still tours to this day.

Cincinnati’s Playhouse in the Park has brought the best actors, singers, directors, and creative teams to local audiences for more than 60 years. When the original Playhouse building proved to be too small for the theater company’s success, the Marx Theater was constructed to fill this void, opening in 1968, this time showcasing two separate performance spaces. Theater favorites to play there were: Anthony Perkins, Estelle Parsons, Kathleen Turner, Cicely Tyson, Patty Duke, and so many more!  I was fortunate to be cast in a production of Merrily We Roll Along in the 2012 season, directed by Tony Award winner John Doyle. It was an incredible experience, and it was obvious to me and the cast that the community was so supportive and appreciative of the theater and of the arts in Cincinnati.

If you haven’t had Cincinnati’s local chili, served at Skyline Chili, you haven’t paid a proper visit. It has been a mainstay favorite of locals and visitors for 100 years. Served on top of spaghetti, with an almost Mediterranean flare with spices like cumin, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, it’s a dish essential to the city experience. There is a love/hate relationship with this chili amongst the population, but it is a rite-of-passage for those passing through. Also famous is the ice cream first served by Louis Charles Graeter in 1870. It is a fabulous ice cream parlor now and offers so many wonderful flavor combinations and other desserts. Lastly, no foodie can skip a trip to the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood with deep German roots. Full of boutiques, coffee shops and restaurants, such as Taste of Belgium, Abigail Street, Bakersfield and Kreuger’s Tavern, this neighborhood is a fantastic place to visit.

For more information: https://www.visitcincy.com/; https://www.cincinnatisymphony.org/; https://www.cincyplay.com/