Entertainment Digest | Week of Sept. 9, 2019

Oktoberfest on the Square Returns

WARREN, Ohio — The fourth annual Oktoberfest on the Square will take place Saturday, Sept. 14, from 4 to 8 p.m. on Courthouse Square, downtown.

The event, which supports the Trumbull County Historical Society, will feature 22 local businesses, eight restaurants and five breweries.

“This year we focused on increased food choices, children’s activities, and also bringing in more locally produced beer,” said Meghan Reed, director of the historical society. 

Food options will include brats, beer-braised pork, sauerkraut, spaetzle, German potato salad, beer-themed donuts and more.

Activities will include the annual grape-stomping competition, the tapping of the keg, an alp horn blowing competition and music by the Youngstown Saxon Brass Band. Children’s activities will include pony rides from 4 to 6 p.m., and a junior grape-stomping game early in the evening.

Presale tickets are available for $25 Thursday, and include all you can eat and two drink tickets ($15 for ages 12-20; free for children under 12). To purchase, go to TrumbullCountyHistory.org.

Tickets will be sold at the gate for $30.

Jewish Film Festival Features Six Movies

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The 2019 Youngstown Area Jewish Film Festival will feature six films that show the spectrum of Jewish life. Tickets are $10 ($7 in advance, $5 for students) per movie, or $40 for a subscription to all films. “The Women’s Balcony” will be shown Oct. 13 for free.

To register, go to JCCYoungstown.org or call 330-746-3250, ext. 195.
Here is the schedule:

• “Who Will Write Our History,” 7 p.m., Sept. 16, at Jewish Community Center, 505 Gypsy Lane. After the film, which is about an underground movement of Jewish intellectuals during World War II, a live video conference with the producer will take place.
• “The Unorthodox,” 4 p.m. Sept. 22, Encore Cinema, Niles: Tired of being pushed around, a disenfranchised Sephardic father launches an improvised campaign to establish influence in 1980s Israeli society.
• “The Samuel Project,” 7 p.m., Sept. 24, Movies 8, Boardman. While making a film project for his high school class, a student gets to know his grandfather, who was rescued during World War II.
• “If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast,” 7 p.m., Sept. 26, Encore Cinema, Niles: Written by Carl Reiner, this film tracks down several celebrated nonagenarians, and a few others over 100, to show how the twilight years can be the happiest and most rewarding.
• “Look at Us Now, Mother!,” 4 p.m., Oct. 3, Jewish Community Center: A humorous, moving and intimate film following the transformation of an abusive mother and her tumultuous relationship with her daughter. A reception with the filmmaker will follow the screening.
• “The Women’s Balcony,” 4 p.m., Oct. 13, Temple Ohev Tzedek, 5245 Glenwood Ave., Boardman. An accident during a bar mitzvah celebration leads to a gender rift in a devout Orthodox community in this tale about women speaking truth to patriarchal power
   

Mahoning Avenue Fest Returns Saturday

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The fifth annual Mahoning Avenue Fall Fest will take place Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Mahoning Avenue, between Steel Street and McKinley Avenue, on the West Side.

The event will include many family-friendly activities, including a farmer’s market with produce and baked goods, an art sale, pumpkins for children to paint, live music, and a trash and treasure sale.

Kelly’s Bar and Casa Ramirez restaurant will give away commemorative pint glasses with a beverage purchase.

New this year will be a corn roast and a sale of Mill Creek maple syrup, offered by the Rocky Ridge Neighborhood Association.

Best-selling Author Coming to Library

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Andrew Gross, bestselling author of “No Way Back,” “Everything to Lose” and “One Mile Under,” will be the guest a the annual Literary Society event at 7 p.m. Sept. 26 at the Main Library, 305 Wick Ave.

Doors open at 6 p.m. for cocktails and appetizers as part of a reception with the author. Tickets are $65, and include membership in the Literary Society, an autographed copy of “The Fifth Column” and a complimentary glass of wine.

For information, call 330 740 6086. To attend, send a check payable to the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County Literary Society, to Mark Mrofchak, Main Branch Library, 305 Wick Ave., Youngstown, Ohio 44503.

Pictured at top: Library Literary Society Planning Committee include Donna Bricker, Amy Chismar, Library Development Director Deborah Liptak, Beth Lenzi, Ruth Nabb, Betty Cmil and Doris Layfield.

Opera Receives Grant to Fund ‘Macbeth’

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Opera Western Reserve has received a $3,000  contribution from the Kennedy Family Fund, a component fund of the Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley.

The grant will help fund OWR’s Nov. 15 production of Verdi’s opera “Macbeth.”

Tickets for the performance, which will take place at 7 p.m. at Stambaugh Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., range from $25 to $75. For reservations, call the box office at 330 259 0555 or go to OperaWesternReserve.org.

Professor to Lecture on Islamic Call to Prayer

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Eve McPherson will give a free lecture on the Islamic call to prayer at 4 p.m. Sept. 13 in Room 3036 of Bliss Hall, on the Youngstown State University campus. McPherson is a professor of music at Kent State University.

Tickets Available for Mad About the Arts

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The 24th annual Mad About the Arts will take place from 7-10 p.m. Sept. 27 at the McDonough Museum, on the campus of Youngstown State University. Tickets are $75 ($50 for McDonough Museum and WYSU members, staff and students 21 and over). To purchase, go to WYSU.org or call 330-941-3363.

The fundraiser event will feature fine art, food, wine and live music.

Theater Plans Auditions for ‘Addams Family’

SALEM, Ohio — Auditions for Salem Community Theatre’s production of “The Addams Family” will take place at 7 p.m. Sept 15, and 6 p.m. Sept. 16 at the theater, 490 E. State St.

The musical is being directed by Justin Steele. All roles are open.

Auditionees should prepare a short section of a song, preferably one from the show. Accompanist will not be provided; auditionees must sing a capella or with a phone or instrumental CD.

Auditionees will also be asked to read from the script, and must be 14 or older (with the exception of Pugsley).

For information, call 330 332 9688 ext. 3.

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