One of the strengths of The Plain Dealer is its photography staff. No matter how much you may gnash your teeth at its excessive American Idol and Dancing with the Stars coverage and relegation of local arts and music to tiny articles buried in inconspicuous locations, you'll often find your bored scanning arrested by a striking image taken by one of the paper's talented lensmen and women. So a collected show of their work, titled In Plain View, should be a real treat, to see in one place the work of such gifted eyes (and frequent award-winners) as Gus Chan, Scott Shaw, Brynne Shaw, Chris Stephens, Dale Omori, David I. Anderson ("Fire Rainbow," pictured) and more. They bring real insight to what in lesser hands is a hack job. The show opens with a free reception from 6-9 tonight at the Heights Arts Gallery (2173 Lee Rd., 216.371.3457). Gallery hours: noon-9 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays. The show hangs through July 26. — Anastasia Pantsios

THURSDAY, JUNE 5

Fear, Death & Fascination

Wedding photographers can have artistic aspirations, too. Freed from the restrictions of pleasing a stressed-out bridezilla, such photographers can show off their creative intuition and personal statements as well as their technical skills. Terry Michelle is showing the work she does when she's not shooting weddings in her exhibition Fear, Death & Fascination, which opens at the Loganberry Annex Gallery (13015 Larchmere Blvd.) with a free reception from 6-8 p.m. today. Among the things she plays with on her own time are abstractions, collages and digital enhancement. The show runs through June 30, and you can do some book-browsing in Loganberry's incredibly expansive stock of new and used books after you're through looking at the show. — AP

FRIDAY, JUNE 6

Cut to Pieces

One of the great things about Cleveland Public Theatre is that it gives theater lovers an opportunity to follow the development process of a stage work. The in-progress works that make up its annual Big [BOX] series often appear later as full-blown productions, This weekend, CPT Artistic Director Raymond Bobgan and CPT Education Director Chris Seibert are workshopping a new script they've written called Cut to Pieces, which will feature Seibert in performance. It's described as a merging of "intense physical theater, a cappella singing, electronic music and complex video interaction to tell an archetypal tale of intrigue." It'll run at 7:30 p.m. tonight through Monday only at Parish Hall (6205 Detroit Ave.). Tickets are $10 and there's limited seating so reservations are urged. Call 216.631.2727. — AP

On a Pedestal and Off the Wall

Twenty-six works by 19 artists from the Great Lakes region were chosen for the fourth annual exhibition of small sculpture titled On a Pedestal and Off the Wall, opening today at the Sculpture Center (1834 E. 123rd St., 216.229.6527). Juror Gregory Amenoff, chair of Columbia University's Visual Arts Division, chose the works without reference to resumes, resulting in works by artists ranging from the highly trained and professional to an electrical engineer self-trained in art. There's a free reception from 5:30-8:30 p.m. today with a director's talk at 6:30. — AP

Adventures of a Comic Book Artist

Here's something for the kids, as well as any grown-up who still harbors a secret love for the comics of his/her childhood: a lively, colorful story of superheroes come to life before their eyes on stage. No, the production of Adventures of a Comic Book Artist, opening at the North Canton Playhouse's Youth Theatre (1210 N. Main St.) at 7:30 tonight, doesn't have any CGI, but it does have singing and dancing and an action-packed story of comic-book heroes and villains coming to life at the offices of Wonder Comics, thanks to a magic pen, and a would-be artist/janitor at the office who turns into Eraser Man to make things right. It runs at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through June 22. Tickets: $8. Call 330.494.1613. — AP

Disney's High School Musical

Seeing a live production of Disney's High School Musical may get its target pre-teen audience even more excited about participating in theater than watching it on TV or listening to the album. Kids that can't get enough of the fantasy world that high school always seems to be when you're 10 or 11 years old can see the familiar story of the disparate cliques that come together to put on a show at the Fine Arts Association's Corning Auditorium (38660 Euclid Ave., Willoughby) starting at 7:30 tonight and running through June 29. Tickets: $20-$22. Call 440.951.7500. — AP

The Seven Year Itch

Alas, Marilyn Monroe won't be on stage, reprising her unforgettable turn in the 1955 movie. But the 1952 Broadway play The Seven Year Itch still makes for an entertaining evening of lightweight theater, with its story of the publisher whose work on a book about cheating spouses starts to prey on his imagination as he contemplates an affair with a sexy neighbor and imagines his own wife being unfaithful to him. It opens at 8 tonight at the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre (40 River St., Chagrin Falls) and runs at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through June 28. Box office: 440.247.8955. — AP

Public Art Installation: Year of the Rat

Again, this year, for the third time, the St. Clair Superior Development Corporation, whose neighborhood encompasses Asiatown, honors the symbol of the Chinese year by installing artist-decorated fiberglass statues around the neighborhood. This year it's the Year of the Rat so fiberglass rats designed by noted local artists such as Anna Arnold, JoAnn Polo, Bily Naininger, George Kocar, Krisztina Lazar and the Free Times' own Douglas Max Utter will be appearing today at locations in the neighborhood just east of downtown. Go to stclairsuperior.org for a complete list of artists and statue locations. — AP

A Nervous Smile

The latest entry in the Bang and the Clatter Theatre Company's breathtakingly crammed schedule of shows, now in two venues, is John Belluso's A Nervous Smile. Originally premiered at Louisville, Kentucky's Humana Festival of New Plays, it's a typical BNC pick, dealing with challenge-fraught relationships (in this case a struggling couple dealing with a seriously handicapped daughter) and choices with a cutting satirical edge. That the play doesn't deal with disability issues in a facile manner is a consequence of the playwright's own disability: He had a bone disorder that kept him wheelchair-bound from age 13 until his death in 2006 at age 36. A Nervous Smile opens at BNC's Akron branch (140 E. Market St., 330. 606.5317) at 8 tonight and runs at 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays through June 28. Tickets: $15. — AP

Spring into Shakespeare

More than a dozen students from the Spotlight program at the Solon Center for the Arts (6315 SOM Center Rd.) will be showing off their newly honed skills in a pastiche of scenes and monologues from various Shakespeare plays that they're calling Spring into Shakespeare. Performed outdoors on the center's patio at 7:30 tonight, it's a chance to see some eager kids bring their fresh eyes and ears to the Bard and enjoy the (hopefully) nice spring weather. It's free; bring blankets and chairs. Call 440.337.1400 for more info. — AP

SATURDAY, JUNE 7

Pangs of the Messiah

The Mandel Jewish Community Center will certainly be providing fodder for thought and spirited discussion when it presents a staged reading of Pangs of the Messiah by Israeli playwright Motti Lerner. The play deals with one of the more controversial aspects of Israeli-Palestinian relations: Jewish settlements in the theoretically Palestinian West Bank territory and the passionate refusal of Israeli settlers to leave settlements on land set aside for Palestinians. So the post-show discussions following each of the performances at 8:30 tonight and 2 p.m. tomorrow may be the best part of the evening! Tomorrow's performance is also preceded at 1 by a presentation on the history of the Jewish settler movement by Jewish history professor Alan Levinson and a short documentary featuring Lerner. It takes place at the Mandel's Stonehill Auditorium (26001 Woodhill Rd., Beachwood). Tickets: $8-$12. Call 216.593.6258. — AP

Art in the Village

With Legacy Village less than five years old, some people might be wondering how it could be celebrating the 18th annual Art in the Village art fair. Those in the know will of course recognize that this was formerly the Beachwood Arts Fest that once took place at Beachwood Place, and has now moved across the street to Lyndhurst's Legacy Village at the corner of Cedar and Richmond roads. From 10 a.m.-8 p.m. today and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. tomorrow, the grounds of the open-air shopping center will be crammed with tents featuring 200 artists in a multitude of media from around the country, selected by a jury for quality-control for this, the first major outdoor art fair of the Northeast Ohio summer season. Go to artfestival.com for more info. — AP

MONDAY, JUNE 9

Les Roberts signing

Fans of Les Roberts' Cleveland-set novels featuring detective Milan Jacovich, rejoice. He's just released an addition to the series, which now numbers 14. Titled King of the Holly Hop, its events are triggered when Jacovich attends the 40th reunion of his fictional St. Clair High School. One of his classmates is murdered and he finds himself investigating former friends and acquaintances. He'll be signing the book at 7 p.m. today at Joseph-Beth Booksellers (24519 Cedar Rd., Legacy Village, Lyndhurst, 216.691.7000). It's free. — AP