24 fun things to do in Cleveland through Jan. 15 – Crain’s Cleveland Business

Try to figure out what's real at "The Illusionists" at Playhouse Square's Connor Palace. The show "dazzles audiences of all ages with a powerful mix" of "outrageous and astonishing acts," according to promotional material. The performers in this family-friendly show promise an evening "packed with thrilling and sophisticated magic." (Now through Saturday, Jan. 11)

Celebrate a singular talent during David Bowie Month, featuring events in five venues throughout the region. It's a project from Cool Cleveland publisher and Bowie fanatic Thomas Mulready that commemorates the birthday, death anniversary, music and life of Bowie, one of the most influential cultural figures of the past century. Each show includes a live music set featuring Bowie favorites, deep cuts and originals by Cleveland band Vanity Crash. If you want to explore the entirety of Bowie's life and work, organizers suggest attending one of two remaining shows titled "A Friday Night With(out) David Bowie." The first was last Friday, Jan. 3, at the Winchester Music Tavern in Lakewood, but you still can see shows this Friday, Jan. 10, at the Bop Stop in Cleveland, and on Jan. 17 at CLE Urban Winery in Cleveland Heights. Both are at 8 p.m. The shows "will include newly released details and previously unreleased materials, including rare video, demo tracks and rare photos of Bowie in Cleveland by photographers Anastasia Pantsios and Janet Macoska," according to promotional materials. Each of the Friday shows has slightly different content. There's also a "Brunch With Bowie" event on Sunday, Jan. 12, at the Bop Stop, at noon, focused on "the much-overlooked but always interesting second half of David Bowie's life and music." On Bowie's birthday, Wednesday, Jan. 8, at The Brothers Lounge in Cleveland, there's a "Big Bowie Birthday Bash" with party favors, giveaways, door prizes and trivia. There's also a "Bowie Benefit for Bop Stop" on Saturday, Jan. 11, where organizers will "take requests all night long, honoring the audience's wishes as we explore the artist's life and music and raise money for a good cause." (Now through Friday, Jan. 17)

Check out two concurrent exhibitions at Transformer Station that respond to today's environmental, social, economic and cultural issues. "Tabitha Soren: Surface Tension" meditates on the science of touch and how reliance on technology is eroding our attention span. "Undercurrents" is an immersive exhibition of photobooks from around the world that explores the imperceptible and often chaotic forces shaping our environment. (Now through Sunday, Jan. 19)

Spend quality time at the Cleveland Museum of Art at "Liu Wei: Invisible Cities," a collaboration with moCa Cleveland to mount the first solo U.S. museum exhibition by the internationally renowned Chinese artist. Works by Liu Wei have been presented at both institutions, "offering an expansive view of the artist's diverse artistic practice." (The moCa exhibit closed on Jan. 5.) CMA's presentation centers on "Panorama No. 2" (2015-16), a recent gift to the museum by Richard Jeschelnig and Michelle Shan Jeschelnig. "The monumental diptych exemplifies a technical shift the artist introduced into his work in 2010, when he began using computer software to generate patterns of pixels that are converted onto canvas and subsequently filled with color," the museum says. (Now through Sunday, Feb. 16)

Explore a remarkable life in "Leonard Bernstein: The Power of Music" at the Maltz Museum of Jewish History in Beachwood. It's billed as the first large-scale museum exhibition to illustrate Bernstein's life, Jewish identity and social activism. From the museum: "Audiences may be familiar with many of Bernstein's works, notably 'West Side Story,' but not necessarily with how he responded to the political and social crises of his day. Visitors will find an individual who expressed the restlessness, anxiety, fear and hope of an American Jew living through World War II and the Holocaust, Vietnam and turbulent social change what Bernstein referred to as his 'search for a solution to the 20thcentury crisis of faith.' " (Now through Sunday, March 1)

Pick up speed at The Chalet in Mill Stream Run Reservation in Strongsville on the venue's thrilling toboggan ride. Twin, 700-foot refrigerated ice chutes operate with or without snow for the next few months. (Now through about the first weekend in March, depending on the weather)

Learn some history, and see where things might be going, at "Electric, Steam or Gasoline: The Past, Present and Future of Alternative Power," a Western Reserve Historical Society exhibition at the Cleveland History Center. "Modern cars like the Chrysler Portal concept will be juxtaposed alongside its early 1900 counterpart, when electric cars had their first real heyday. ... Explore how companies like Chrysler and Tesla are using technologies from our past to try and rewrite our future." (Now through April)

Return to party mode at "Flanagan's Wake," a comedic, interactive Irish wake at Kennedy's Theatre at Playhouse Square. "The audience is transported to Graplin, County Sligo, Ireland, where they participate with the villagers in the telling of tales, singing of songs, and mourn the passing of one of their own: Flanagan," Playhouse Square says. (Weekends through Saturday, April 25)

Go back in time way back at "Ultimate Dinosaurs" at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Here's what the museum says you'll see: "Explore the dinosaurs of the Southern Hemisphere that evolved in isolation from the dinosaurs we know and love. Meet Giganotosaurus, the bigger, badder cousin of T. rex, or Ouranosaurus, bearing huge spines on its back. See these creatures brought to life like never before in an exhibit that includes full-size reconstructions, real touchable fossils and augmented reality. (Now through Sunday, April 26)

Turn up at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for "Play It Loud: Instruments of Rock & Roll," an exhibit celebrating the tools that give rock its signature sound. The exhibition has come to Cleveland following a blockbuster engagement at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, where it attracted more than 600,000 visitors. "Play It Loud," spread over four floors, will be the largest single exhibit the Rock Hall has ever displayed. Instruments showcased in the exhibit date as far back as 1939; many "have never been displayed outside of their original concert performance settings," the Rock Hall says. Among the items you'll see: Chuck Berry's early hollow-body Gibson guitar; Eric Clapton's Martin acoustic guitar model 000-42 used during his famous MTV Unplugged concert; Jerry Garcia's "Wolf" guitar; Jimi Hendrix's hand-decorated electric guitar, dubbed "Love Drops," made in 1967; Steve Miller's electric guitar painted with psychedelic designs, from 1972; Keith Richards' handpainted Gibson Les Paul guitar used to record "Beggars Banquet;" St. Vincent's electric guitar, which Annie "St. Vincent" Clark designed in collaboration with Ernie Ball Music Man in 2015; and Tina Weymouth's "headless" Steinberger bass guitar that she used extensively with Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club through the late 1990s. (Now through Sunday, Sept. 13)

Have an arts/culture/entertainment event that you think Clevelanders should know about? Send information to managing editor Scott Suttell at [emailprotected].

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24 fun things to do in Cleveland through Jan. 15 - Crain's Cleveland Business