"In my book tour, I find that about half the people who talk with me have some direct connection to New Orleans," he says, "and the other half are teachers. There are not two more maligned groups than New Orleanians and public school teachers." Tisserand and family recently spent the month of July in New Orleans, enrolling the kids in local camps and reconnecting with friends and with the city.
Life on the ground there is markedly different from what the national media portray. "Two competing feelings are present in New Orleans," he says. "There's a real atmosphere of fear there, fear of the breakdown of social order.
Everyone knows the city is one bad storm away from total destruction. ..
. At the same time, there's an incredible amount of energy and activity being thrown into rebuilding the city, the neighborhoods and the schools. People know they have to do it themselves.
" While in town in July, Tisserand says he and the kids looked in on their Sugarcane Academy teacher, Paul Reynaud. He was getting his first grade classroom ready for the upcoming school year. It was almost like Katrina had never happened.
Almost. Tisserand signs his book at 7 p.m.
Friday at Joseph-Beth. 513-396-8960. (See Literary.
) -- JOHN FOX WEDNESDAY12 Playwright David Lindsay-Abaire's reputation is based on several surreal, comic scripts. So when RABBIT HOLE , his story about a family overwhelmed by the death of a child, debuted in 2005, many wondered what had changed. "I noticed that my name started to creep up in other people's reviews to describe a very specific kind of play," he says.
"Instead of 'wacky' or 'absurd,' they would say 'like a David Lindsay-Abaire play.' Of course, it was very flattering to be summoned as an adjective, but it was a little bit limiting. I wondered what it would be like to write a naturalistic play.
Could I even do it?" The simple answer is "yes." Rabbit Hole won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for drama, and it's the season opener this week for Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati featuring two of Cincinnati's best professional actors, Annie Fitzpatrick and Drew Fracher, as the grieving parents.
(See more conversation with the playwright here .) Lindsay-Abaire warns directors, "It's a sad play. Don't make it any sadder than it needs to be.
" Rest assured that ETC's D. Lynn Meyers will find the right balance. $27-$35.
513-421-3555. (See Onstage.) -- RICK PENDER THURSDAY13 SUNDAY16 JO KOY is a patient man.
After 10 years in stand-up comedy, his career got a sudden boost after he appeared on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno in 2005 . The 34-year-old became only the third comedian in the show's history to receive a standing ovation. His steady rise continues, and later this year Comedy Central will present his half-hour special.
"My son's 2," he tells the audience. "It's like living with a crazy midget. Crazy people talk to themselves, laugh at their own jokes.
They poop on themselves for no reason. That's my son." In reality, the younger Koy has quite an influence on his old man.
"A lot of people ask me who my inspiration is," he recently posted on his blog, "and I always tell them the same thing: It's my son. He's the reason why I am who I am and do the things I do." Koy performs at The Funny Bone on the Levee Thursday through Sunday.
$15. 859-957-2000. (See Onstage.
) -- P.F. WILSON THURSDAY13 SATURDAY22 Wars never end -- not so long as the people touched by them live on.
Their remembering and telling make history accessible. Few filmmakers have mastered the art of history as successfully as Ken Burns, whose seven-part series, THE WAR , debuts Sept. 23 on WCET (Channel 48).
The film tells the story of World War II through the personal accounts of a handful of people from four American towns. Branches of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County are showing previews: 12:30 p.m.
Thursday in Monfort Heights, 2 p.m. Saturday in Blue Ash, 6:30 p.
m. Tuesday in Northside, 12:30 p.m.
Sept. 22 in Madeira and 2:30 p.m.
Sept. 22 in Cheviot. The program includes a 15-minute video about the library's Veterans History Project in conjunction with the Library of Congress.
Free. www2.cincinnatilibrary.
org/vets . (See Events.) -- GREGORY FLANNERY FRIDAY14 SATURDAY15 The CINCINNATI SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 's opening weekend promises to set the bar incredibly high for the remainder of the 2007-08 season.
The CSO kicks off its amazing 113th season with Maestro Paavo Jarvi conducting a powerful program of Wagner and Beethoven, with stellar accompaniment from renowned pianist AWADAGIN PRATT and our own spectacular May Festival Chorus under the skilled direction of Robert Porco. Pratt's credentials include his 1992 win at the prestigious Naumburg Competition -- the first African-American instrumentalist to take first prize in the international challenge -- and being awarded the Avery Fisher Career Grant two years later. Pratt has five CDs in his catalog, has performed internationally and collaborated with symphonies and chamber groups around the country.
For the past three years, he's been assistant professor of piano and artist-in-residence at UC's College-Conservatory of Music. Opening weekend festivities include complimentary champagne cocktails before both concerts and CD signings with Jarvi and Pratt after, plus a beer-themed pre-show event Friday. $19-$97.
75. 513-381-3300. (See Onstage.
) -- BRIAN BAKER FRIDAY14 SATURDAY15 BALLET TECH CINCINNATI gives an old classic new rhythm by setting the traditional ballet, Sleeping Beauty , with Tchaikovsky's famous score to the jazzy sounds of the Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy Electric Jazz and Student Orchestra. The storyline of THE JAZZY SLEEPING BEAUTY is the same, but choreographer Waverly Lucas II of Atlanta's Ballethnic Dance Company has changed the moves, grabbing inspiration from everything from classical ballet to modern dance. Best known for his work on The Urban Nutcracker (seen in Atlanta) , an adaptation of a holiday tradition, his style meshes well with ballet tech's goal to entertain and inspire through diverse and innovative performances.
And the music isn't the only thing getting an update. Ballet tech is joined by guest dancers from the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company and the Ballethnic Dance Company, though hometown dancer Epiphany Davis plays the title character. "While the core of the story is universal, how it's told is not and we felt that making the story relevant to a larger, ethnically diverse community was important," says Nena Gilreath, co-founder and co-artistic director of Ballenthic Dance Company.
8 p.m.
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