'Orchids Forever' at the Botanical Garden, Great Big Home + Garden Show at I-X Center, Lunar New Year celebrations, 'Pam & Tommy' & more

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Entertainment | Music | Events

THIS WEEK'S TOP PICKS

Orchids Forever at Cleveland Botanical Garden

Get a whiff of spring at the Cleveland Botanical Garden at the organization’s 16th annual Orchids Forever show. Check out varieties of the flowering plant, along with workshops and classes offered for gardeners and photographers. Tickets $12-$16. 11030 East Blvd., Cleveland. Through March 13. DETAIL

The Great Big Home + Garden Show

The Great Big Home + Garden Show is back in Cleveland this weekend, more than two years since it last rolled through town. The annual showcase of the latest home and garden trends runs Feb. 4-13 at the I-X Center. Visitors will find more than 400 exhibits designed to inspire them for their next home-improvement project. The show also features appearances by home improvement celebrities “Trading Spaces” star Ty Pennington and Matt Fox from HGTV’s “Room by Room.” READ MORE

Lunar New Year celebration in Asia Plaza

Head to Asia Plaza in Cleveland to celebrate the year of the tiger. The space will feature acrobatic and kung fu performances, along with dancing, drum performances and children’s activities. A highlight of the day will be the Kwan Lion Dance inside Li Wah and Asia Plaza at 11 and 11:30 a.m. Face masks are recommended and required by some shops. Free. 2999 Payne Ave., Cleveland. 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Feb. 5. DETAILS

'Jesus Christ Superstar'

The 50th anniversary tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's groundbreaking rock opera returns for a three-week run to the Connor Palace Theatre next week, nearly two years after its 2020 stop here was interrupted by the COVID-19 shutdown. More rock concert than traditional musical, this revival focuses on the raw power of the original album, while modernizing the story of Jesus Christ's final days. An added bonus: 22 local strings players will join the 11-piece traveling ensemble to create an exclusive audio experience described as "live theatrical surround sound." “Jesus Christ Superstar” runs through Feb. 20. Tickets start at $59. 1615 Euclid Ave., Cleveland. DETAILS

Cleveland Monsters at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

Watch the Cleveland Monsters take on the Hershey Bears this weekend, at back-to-back home games at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Tickets start at $10. 1 Center Court, Cleveland. 7 p.m., Feb. 4 and 3 p.m., Feb. 5. DETAILS

Cleveland Public Theatre presents 'Panther Women'

Local playwright India Nicole Burton will debut her play “Panther Women” at Cleveland Public Theatre. Inspired by the stories of prominent women in the Black Panther party, the artsy performance will feature poetry, choreography and music. Tickets are available on a “choose-what-you-pay” basis. 6415 Detroit Ave., Cleveland. Feb. 4-26. DETAILS

'Hurricane Diane' at Dobama Theatre

Pulitzer Prize finalist playwright Madeleine George confronts the climate crisis in this comedy, which premiered Off-Broadway in 2019 and has been described as a cross between a Greek tragedy and “Desperate Housewives.” Tickets, $22-$38. 2340 Lee Rd, Cleveland Heights. Through Feb. 13. DETAILS

GlamGore at Grog Shop

The alternative drag show GlamGore will follow the theme “Love is a Drag,” inspired by Valentine’s Day. Watch performances from Chicago’s Miss Toto, Akron’s Lady Inferno Diamond, Cleveland’s Agata Why, Columbus’ Maja Jera and Shawty West. Tickets $12-$20. 2785 Euclid Heights Blvd., Cleveland Heights. 9 p.m., Feb. 4. DETAILS

Cleveland Bazaar Valentine market

Pick up a gift for your special someone at Cleveland Bazaar’s series of Valentine markets, first at 78th Street Studios on Feb. 5, and again at Lake Affect Studios on Feb. 12. Pick up yummy bites to eat, crafts and other special goods at the seasonal market. Free. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. DETAILS

Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition

You don’t have to go to the Vatican to experience the wonder of Michelangelo’s famous frescos. This traveling showcase, featuring more than 30 life-sized reproductions of the artist’s Sistine Chapel paintings, is open for a few more weeks at Great Lakes Mall. Tickets start at $19.20. 7850 Mentor Ave., Mentor. Through Feb. 20. DETAILS

'Stories of Survival: Object. Image. Memory'
This powerful exhibit at the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage features 60 never-before-seen personal items brought to the United States by survivors of the Holocaust and genocide. Tickets, $5-$12. 2929 Richmond Road, Beachwood. Through Feb. 27. DETAILS

Hit the slopes

Unleash your inner Lindsey Vonn or Shaun White at Vail Resorts’ trio of ski areas in Northeast Ohio. Combined, Boston Mills, Brandywine and Alpine Valley offer 25 slopes and 20 lifts for skiers and snowboarders of all ages and skill levels. Lift tickets start at $50. Days and hours vary. Check websites for info.

Free Sundays at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History

Residents of Cleveland and East Cleveland can enjoy free admission every Sunday for the next three years thanks to a $3 million grant from the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation. Currently featured is “100 Years of Discovery,” an exhibit that celebrates the museum’s centennial and looks ahead to its future. Regular admission, $14-$17. 1 Wade Oval Dr., Cleveland. Sunday hours, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. DETAILS

The Rink at Wade Oval

Skate around the ice at Wade Oval’s ice rink this season, under starry lights in Cleveland’s University Circle neighborhood. Beyond the ice skating, hot cocoa, coffee and snacks will be available for purchase from a concession stand. Admission and rentals $1-$5. 10820 East Blvd., Cleveland. Through Feb. 27. DETAILS

Cleveland Metroparks Toboggan Chutes

Find your thrill in the chill at the Chalet in Strongsville, whooshing down 700-foot refrigerated ice chutes on an old-timey toboggan. Reservations required. Tickets, $11-$13. 16200 Valley Pkwy, Strongsville. Through March 6. DETAILS

Immersive Van Gogh

This popular art experience at the new Lighthouse ArtSpace offers a unique way to experience Vincent Van Gogh’s post-Impressionist works. The projection-based displays unfold on the walls around you, showcasing the Dutch master painter’s iconic works, including his most famous, “Starry Night.” Tickets $39.99-$49.99. Through March 6. 850 E. 72nd St., Cleveland. DETAILS

EAT & DRINK

Upscale sushi anyone? Sora expands in Cleveland

Sora, the upscale sushi ghost kitchen that has evolved into a seasonal pop-up restaurant in Cleveland, began limited dine-in seating this week. The restaurant, on W. 10th Street in Cleveland’s Flats East Bank, is located next to its sister restaurant, Lago East Bank. Sora features a staple sushi box among other offerings. It’s at 1121 W. 10th St. DETAILS

Brewsology Beer Fest

Stay at the Great Lakes Science Center into the evening hours Saturday for the Brewsology Beer Fest, featuring dozens of local breweries. A ticket costs $50 and it includes samples from more than 40 breweries, along with entry to the museum and exclusive beer tastings. 601 Erieside Ave., Cleveland. 7-11 p.m., Feb. 5. DETAILS

Swensons opens in Brooklyn

Swensons, the classic Akron-based eatery, has opened in Brooklyn. If you haven’t had a Galley Boy, you’re missing out. That double-cheeseburger with speared olive awaits. The chain must be doing something right; it’s been around since 1934. The drive-up, curb-service restaurant is at 7414 Brookpark Road, in front of Best Buy. Hours: 11 a.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday. DETAILS

TV & MOVIES

‘Pam & Tommy’

A sex tape that rocked the nascent online world is the real-life grist for "Pam & Tommy," Hulu's eight-part series about the private bedroom activities of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee going public. Lily James and Sebastian Stan play the then-married actor and musician in what the streaming service describes as a "love story, crime caper and cautionary tale." The stolen video of the couple ended up a sensation and a sign of things to come. Seth Rogan and Nick Offerman are among the co-stars in the show, which debuted Wednesday with three episodes. The rest come out weekly on Wednesdays. DETAILS

‘House of Gucci’

If you missed Ridley Scott's "House of Gucci" in theaters, you can bask in all the gaudy decadence from the comfort of your own home starting this week, when it becomes available on VOD. Lady Gaga gives a committed performance as Patrizia Reggiani, a local beauty who married into the Gucci family and helped her husband, Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver), wield power and influence in the family business. Subtlety is beside the point in "House of Gucci," which has everyone doing over-the-top Italian accents, and Jared Leto, unrecognizable in prosthetics, doing his best to out-act Al Pacino, who plays his father. Scott and his collaborators decided to go for operatic artificiality to tell the story of how the "family" dropped out of this family business. It goes best with a martini. DETAILS

'Moonfall'

Director Roland Emmerich is up to his usual disaster-film tricks in this flick about a group of astronauts trying to save Earth from a threat posed by its own moon. The ingenious schlockmeister behind “The Day After Tomorrow” and many others co-writes and directs the tale, best described by the production company’s marketing materials: “A mysterious force knocks the Moon from its orbit around Earth and sends it hurtling on a collision course with life as we know it.” Simple, succinct, apocalyptic. Starring Halley Barry, John Bradley and Patrick Wilson. Opens Friday in area theaters. REVIEW

‘Jackass Forever’

The Jackass crew is back after all these years for another round of pranks, pratfalls and sublimely silly (and painful) stunts. “Sublimely stupid” is what the “Jackass” crew does best, and their formula (thankfully) hasn’t wavered since the prank/stunt reality comedy show debuted on MTV in October 2000, and evolved into a film franchise spanning two decades. There’s something comforting about the phrase, “I’m Johnny Knoxville, welcome to Jackass,” even, no, especially, if what comes next is a display of pure human agony and humiliation. Rated R for strong crude material and dangerous stunts, graphic nudity and language throughout. Opens Friday in area theaters. REVIEW

Winter Olympics

Got about 2,800 hours on your hands this month? NBCUniversal is promising to provide that and more as part of coverage of the Winter Olympics from Beijing on its TV platforms. The NBC broadcast network and Peacock streaming service will carry the Friday opening ceremony at 6:30 a.m. and televise a three-hour version of the event at 8 p.m. With the competition underway, NBC will devote most of prime-time to the Olympics, Peacock's premium tier will live-stream coverage, and USA Network with an assist from CNBC will handle the cable side. The Olympics, held amid China's strict pandemic rules, conclude on Feb. 20. DETAILS

‘Nightmare Alley’

Guillermo del Toro's lavish noir "Nightmare Alley" was one of many adult-skewing dramas that got unjustly lost at the box office last year (blame Omicron and Spider-Man), but it could have a robust second life on streaming. Bradley Cooper stars as the ambitious and charming Stanton Carlisle, who rises quickly from low- level carnival man to highly paid performer — though things get dicey at the top. Del Toro's cast is stacked with excellence, from Willem Dafoe, Toni Collette and David Strathairn to Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett, resplendent in 1940s suits and gowns. "Nightmare Alley" arrived on HBO Max and Hulu this week. DETAILS

‘Torn’

In 1999, Alex Lowe, a famous mountain climber was lost with cameraman and climber David Bridges in an avalanche in Tibet. Somehow Lowe's climbing partner Conrad Anker survived, and went on to marry Lowe's widow and raise his sons. The documentary "Torn," the feature debut of one of those sons, Max Lowe, explores the tragedy and the aftermath. Make sure to have the tissues ready when this hits Disney+ on Friday. DETAILS

‘Murderville’

Will Arnett plays a homicide detective with cases to solve and clueless partners to help in "Murderville," a six-part Netflix crime-comedy series that debuts Thursday. Each episode has a different sleuth teaming up with Arnett's Senior Detective Terry Seattle, which is novel, but here's the real twist: The succession of guest stars haven't seen the scripts. Annie Murphy, Conan O'Brien, Ken Jeong, Kumail Nanjiani, Marshawn Lynch and Sharon Stone are the in-the-dark detectives, with Haneefah Wood, Lilan Bowden and Philip Smithey in the cast. DETAILS

MUSIC

Mitski

Pop singer-songwriter Mitski's last record, "Be the Cowboy," landed on several best albums of 2018 year-end lists. But it's been a long few years for fans without new music from the cult favorite as she took time off social media and away from touring. Her new record, "Laurel Hell," out on Friday, comes as Mitski hits the road again for a tour starting in February and you can also catch her opening for Harry Styles on some of his UK stadium dates. One of the record's new singles, "The Only Heartbreaker," has her singing about being the bad guy in the relationship to a synthy, New Wave pop melody. DETAILS

Bastille

British band Bastille had enough songs saved up during the pandemic for three albums, so they enlisted producer and artist Ryan Tedder to whittle down the collection into a futuristic concept album. The 13-track "Give Me the Future," out on Friday, has science fiction influences as the songs explore technological escapism, a timely theme as the pop rock band wrote and recorded virtually during the pandemic. Their music videos share the same theme, including "No Bad Days," in which a lover is reanimated as an android. DETAILS

The Temptations

The Temptations, led by co-founder Otis Williams, have released a new album, “Temptations 60,” to celebrate their six decades in the music business. Williams talks with music writer Gary Graff about the new album and the group’s impact on music and pop culture. The Temptations and longtime manager Shelly Berger will also sit for a virtual interview with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at 4 p.m. on Friday, via the Rock Hall’s SiriusXM channel (310) and then at 7 p.m. on the Rock Hall and Motown Museum’s YouTube channels. READ MORE

Matthew Alec and The Soul Electric at Bop Stop

Local jazz band Matthew Alec and The Soul Electric will be joined by special guest Tom “Bones” Malone, a trombonist featured on “Saturday Night Live” and in “The Blues Brothers,” at a Bop Stop show on Friday. The crew will celebrate the release of its 2021 debut album “Cleveland Time,” which also features Malone. Tickets are $15. 2920 Detroit Ave., Cleveland 7 p.m., Feb. 4. DETAILS

Want more concert & music picks?
Cleveland.com's weekly virtual concert guide is HERE
Cleveland.com's weekly new music guide is HERE

David Bowie and Cleveland

On Sept. 22, 1972, David Bowie touched down in the United States for his first-ever tour in North America. And it kicked off in Cleveland. Public Auditorium’s Music Hall was, perhaps, the most fitting location for Bowie’s first show in the States, as Cleveland played an integral part in Bowie’s rise. The Starman’s relationship with Northeast Ohio will be the subject of cleveland.com’s FREE "CLE Rocks" event at Music Box Supper Club on Wednesday, Feb. 9. Entertainment reporter Troy L. Smith will host the panel discussion, which will be taped live for a CLE Rocks podcast. RESERVATIONS

Listen to the latest episodes of CLE Rocks podcast, with Troy L. Smith

Entertainment | Music | Events

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