Going out

New show: Playhouse in the Park's Ohio University/M.F.A. Acting Company has just opened a production of David Ive's offbeat collection of time-space-reality stretching one-acts Time Flies in the clever little performance space below the Robert S. Marx Theatre at the Playhouse. Performances are 8 p.m. Wednesdays-Fridays, 9 p.m. Saturday and 7 p.m. Sunday through June 8. $6-$10. 421-3888.

Comedy: The wild and edgy Southern comedian Vic Henley begins four nights of stand-up at Go Bananas Comedy Club, 8:30 p.m. today, 8410 Marketplace Lane, Montgomery. Show includes featured comic Scott Dunn and host Charles Eggerton. $4-$14. 984-9288.

Wind Symphony: The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music Wind Symphony under the direction of Rodney Winther performs its final concert of the season, 8 p.m. today, Corbett Auditorium, UC. Free. 556-4183.

Bluegrass: Local favorite Taylor Farley and his band Blue Rock play BarrelHouse Brewing Company at 10 p.m. today, 22 E. 12th St., Over-the-Rhine. No cover. 421-2337.

On TV

Top pick: A dozen two-person teams - including Monica Ambrose and Sheree Buchanan, a pair of moms whose husbands play in the NFL, and Debra and Steve Carmody from Louisville - make their way from Dodger Stadium to Milan, Italy, in the fourth season premiere of CBS' gripping globe-trotting reality series, The Amazing Race (8-9:30 p.m., Channels 12, 7).

• Critic John Kiesewetter also says tonight's best rerun is Surviving Everest, a two-hour special about scaling the world's tallest mountain on the 50th anniversary of the first successful climb (8 p.m., National Geographic Channel).

The goods

Let freedom ring: The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and Musuem may not be ready to open its doors on the banks of the Ohio River until 2004, but the Underground Railroad's Flame to Freedom is burning bright on hats, jackets, shirts, backpacks, mugs and bottles at vwww.freedomsflame.org. Just click on the Gift Shop heading.

Planning ahead

24 hours out: The Otto M. Budig Academy of Cincinnati Ballet opens a brand new production of Beauty and the Beast with choreography by Daniel R. Simmons, 7 p.m. Friday, Jarson-Kaplan Theater, Aronoff Center. $18-$25. 241-7469.

48 hours out: Barbecue master Steven Raichlen is at Books & Co. in Dayton to introduce and provide samples from his new book, BBQ USA, featuring 450 recipes from around the country, 2-3:30 p.m. Saturday, 350 E. Stroop Road, Kettering. (800) 777-4881.

72 hours till Sunday: Country superstar Kenny Chesney is at Riverbend Music Center with opening acts Keith Urban and Deanna Carter, starting at 7:30 p.m. $22.50-$52.50. 562-4949.

E-mail jnebel@enquirer.com