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Wise Up!! at Nighttown 10/4/09

50 writers and a hand full of artists and arts advocates walk into a pub…. That was the story on November 4th when Wise Up: A Literary Fest and Fundraiser to Benefit the Friends of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library, took to the Nighttown stage.

Instead of a musical act, the number one ranked jazz club in Ohio (and top 100 in the nation) hosted writers as diverse as most of the remaining staff of the Plain Dealer, as well as local authors such as Dan Chaon, Les Roberts, Mike Ruhlman, Kristin Ohlson, 2009 Cleveland Arts Prize Winner Thrity Umrigar and all three of Cleveland Heights’ Poet Laureates. Cleveland Heights Mayor Ed Kelly and Nighttown owner Brendan Ring also shared poetry.

The event was the brainchild of actress Derdriu Ring and Plain Dealer columnist Regina Brett. Said Brett, “Derdriu walked into Starbucks one day bitching about library cuts and we decided we needed to do something about it besides bitch.” So the two formed the “Nighttown Academy of Poets and Letters” and with all the “let’s put on a show” energy of a Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland pic, they put on quite the show.

Both the 5pm and the 7pm shows were at times moving, bawdy, uproarious and sold out. Says Ring, “It looks like it is going to be an annual event thanks to all the great feedback. I feel so good about living where I do.”

Christine McBurney has written for three now defunct publications: InTheater magazine, The Free Times, and Northern Ohio Live. She’s also been published in the Plain Dealer, CWRU Magazine, and The Heights Observer. In her spare time she’s a mom, a theatre educator, and an actor. She is co-author of the ever evolving screenplay Venus' Looking Glass which was a semi-finalist in Writemovies.com International Writing Competition. She lives in Cleveland Heights.