Stomp was already a wall-rattling, floor-shaking experience. So imagine the damage it can do when blown up to Omnimax size. The trash-can-bangin' dance-and-percussion troupe is the star of the super-huge theater's latest flick, Pulse: A Stomp Odyssey. Its members also serve as guides on a musical journey that spans the globe, from Brazil to Japan to New York City. It's one of the few Omnimax productions that wows the ears as much as the eyes. It's at the Great Lakes Science Center's Omnimax Theater (601 Erieside Avenue) through March 15. Show times are 11 a.m., noon, 2, and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon, 1, 2, and 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $8.95, $6.95 for kids; call 216-241-5555.
Friday, January 21
Sue is queen of the dinosaurs. The ginormous Tyrannosaurus rex -- discovered 15 years ago in South Dakota -- is the world's largest and most complete specimen of the ferocious dino to be displayed (her skeleton is housed at Chicago's Field Museum). Darin Croft was there when Sue was discovered, and he's going to share some memories and stories at tonight's "Sue the T. rex: From the Field to 'The Field'" lecture at the history museum. In addition to talking about the 13-foot-high, 42-foot-long Sue, Croft will discuss his paleontological exploits in South America, Madagascar, and other parts of the world, and dish on his tomb-raiding daughter, Lara (though we can't vouch for that last item). It starts at 5:30 p.m. at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, 1 Wade Oval Drive. Admission is $9, $8 for kids; call 216-231-1177.
Performance art, the avant-garde dance style butoh, and astrological signs figure into Aaron Rapljenovic and Zoe Schultz's duet, GemINi, which plays this weekend at Cleveland Public Theatre as part of its Big [Box] series. The co-creators' backgrounds include photography, sculpture, modern dance, and improvisation, and this collaboration sprinkles in a little bit of each. The narrative has something to do with the signs of the zodiac, but we won't hold them to that. GemINi is at CPT's James Levin Theatre (6415 Detroit Avenue) at 8 p.m. tonight and tomorrow and 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $10, available by calling 216-631-2727.
Saturday, January 22
Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade queried such disparate pop-culture icons and government officials as Jon Stewart, John Tesh, Henry Kissinger, and plus-size model Emme on what sports mean to them for his best-selling book, The Games Do Count. "And I couldn't believe the vividness in which the memories came back," he says. "There's a lot of really major things that happen to people when they're competing. There's more to sports than Michael Jordan and John Elway." Whether it's Gerald Ford musing on his gridiron critics or Bernie Mac rhapsodizing on basketball, baseball, football, and boxing, Kilmeade's 70-some subjects find common ground in their spirit of play. "No one talked about titles," says Kilmeade. "They talked about the journey. You don't always win. Nobody said, I wish I didn't play.' They all cared and [didn't worry] about results. Nobody regretted losing or being benched." Kilmeade signs copies of his book at 1 today at Joseph-Beth Booksellers, 24519 Cedar Road in Lyndhurst. Admission is free; call 216-691-7000.
Sunday, January 23
Today's Family Weekend Wonders program at the Lakewood Library celebrates the Stories of Eric Carle, the master collage artist/children's author who's created such classics as Mister Seahorse, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and The Very Quiet Cricket. Several Carle books will be read to little ones, who then get to make colorful collages. They may even be inspired to create their own tomes. The Very Crunchy Cockroach, anyone? It starts at 2 p.m. at the Lakewood Public Library, 15425 Detroit Avenue in Lakewood. Admission is free; call 216-226-8275.
Monday, January 24
After Orson Welles's splendid commercial flop Citizen Kane, his bosses gave him a period piece to direct, in hopes of suppressing the all-too-contemporary controversies that swelled around his first film. But RKO ended up taking back The Magnificent Ambersons, recutting it, and in the process sullying Welles' reputation forever (he was deemed difficult and costly). Still, it's a marvelous movie (based on Booth Tarkington's equally marvelous novel) about a midwestern family in a slow decline. And not even the studio's inept tweaking can tarnish Welles's fluid direction. The Cinematheque kicks off its new biweekly Classics Illustrated series with a screening of 1942's Ambersons and an introduction by college prof Sheldon Wigod, who'll also lead a post-film discussion. It starts at 7 p.m. at the Cleveland Cinematheque, 11141 East Boulevard. Admission is $10, $5 for students; call 216-421-7450.
Tuesday, January 25
With the NHL locked out, the AHL is the best hockey in North America right now. The Barons and the Rochester Americans duke it out at the Gund tonight, Best part: Two-for-one tickets are available to every Tuesday home game -- which means you can take your sweetie and hang out in the cheap seats for less than $20 tonight. A month after the holidays, it sure sounds like a great deal. Game time is 7 p.m. at Gund Arena, 100 Gateway Plaza. Tickets are $9 to $21; call 216-420-0000.
Wednesday, January 26
Spaces' Topographic and Julian Montague: Stray Shopping Cart System sift through modern culture's remnants to examine urban and suburban life. The former, a multimedia display, explores mountaintops and shopping malls; the latter features the photographer's look at abandoned carts found on Cleveland's streets. They're on view at Spaces (2220 Superior Viaduct) through March 11. The gallery's open from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free; call 216-621-2314.
