Posts by Erie Culture Guru
Where Are You, Jimmy B?
Margarita King Bar & Grill A Restaurant Review Call it kismet? No? Then just call it the urge to eat and knock back a drink. Or maybe two. While driving through downtown Meadville to jump through red tape to get a new job, this old gal happened to pass Margarita King Bar & Grill several…
Read MoreYou Are Cordially Invited…
Martin Poole’s “Places to See” at Kada Gallery & Frame shop An Art Review With an exhibition entitled “Places to See” it reads like an invitation. As if artist Martin Poole has created 20-plus oil-on-panel travelogues he welcomes us to visit.If only currently at Kada Gallery & Frame Shop. “Memories color each other, blend together…
Read MoreGood to the Bone
“All That Remains” at PennWest Edinboro An Art Review Usually art shows at universities feature fine art creations either from their enrolled students or traveling exhibits. However, PennWest Edinboro’s current display, “All That Remains,” showcases the work of noted forensic artists with imagery from several high-profile cases. What’s “forensics?” Google says forensics is “scientific…
Read MoreDeath and Life
A “Guru” Contributor Explores Life After (His Father’s) Death Okay, here’s the thing: You don’t have to read this long essay, but I have to write it—and get it out of my head. My father died March 18, 2024. It was unexpected. Yes, my father was 87 and slowing down. But who knew that after…
Read MoreStart Fiddling Around
Fiddler on the Roof A Theater Review “If I Were a Rich Man,” “Sunrise, Sunset,” “Matchmaker, Matchmaker.” Though I never seen “Fiddler on the Roof” before its current incarnation at Meadville’s Academy Theatre, I was certainly aware of the hummable tunes this musical produced. Largely, in part because of WKHR, 91.5 Bainbridge, OH, a noncommercial…
Read MoreTotal Eclipse of My Heart
or, Here Comes the Moon (Sorry, Beatles!) Our Erie-Area Eclipse “Review” It was simply magical, wasn’t it? Erie weather did its best to hold out and provide us with a decent day to see the most recent solar eclipse since 2017. (But that one didn’t occur near Erie, so to me, it doesn’t count.) It…
Read MoreToo Much Monkey Business?
Inherit the Wind at the Erie Playhouse A Theater Review Relevant as it was when it was first debuted in 1955, “Inherit the Wind” offers up a battle between Man’s enlightened principles versus mob mores veiled in darkness. Written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee, “Inherit,” currently at Erie Playhouse, relates the struggles of…
Read MoreMeadville’s “French” Connection
Downtown Mall Bistro A Restaurant Review A bistro in Meadville? Yep. My taste buds were intrigued, but my mind was puzzled. What exactly is a “bistro,” it asked? Too lazy and too pressed for deadline time to find a dictionary, I turned to Google. It describes a bistro as “a small informal restaurant or bar,…
Read MoreCry and the Family Stoned
Long Day’s Journey Into Night A Theater Review Leave it to the Performing Artists Collective Alliance to be the only Erie theater have the chutzpah to mount a landmark tragedy. Unlike some local theatrical venues that peddle Disney retreads or staged treacle for the Sunday brunch geriatric crowd, PACA offers a gut punch to the…
Read MoreThe Sounds of Silence
A “Guru” Reviewer Considers Life at Home, Alone An Essay Last Saturday morning, I found my father on the kitchen floor. He was conscious, but he couldn’t recall how or when he fell, but I have the horrible feeling he was there all night. For some reason, he almost always waits until I go to bed…
Read More