Jerri Shafer - Page 30

Play On! is the hilarious story of a theater group trying desperately to put on a play in spite of maddening interference from a haughty author who keeps revising the script. Through dreadful rehearsals, including a near disastrous dress rehearsal, the audience is treated to a madcap climax to a thoroughly hilarious romp.

Short North Stage held it's first Cabaret Contest Night on Wednesday June 15th in Ethel's Bar. All acts were welcome; singers, dancers, poets, comedians, improv troupes, burlesque- performers of any kind though most people gave vocal performances. Winner was determined based on the audience vote after the conclusion of all the performances. The winner received 50% of the entry fees collected with the balance along with spinning wheel games to raise additional funds for Short North Stage's 'Make Our Garden Grow' campaign working to raise $10,000 for bathroom renovations.

It's 1985. Reagan is backing a culture of ruthless self-interest. The cold war is ending. The ozone layer is melting. New Yorkers are learning how to survive a plague. It's at this tipping point that the great work begins.

Join us for Robin Hood in the park this summer in Westerville! Sword fights, secret identities, love, betrayal, and redemption: history and legend collide in this new tale of Robin Hood. 800 years ago, when the Brothers Huntingdon lost their parents to the treachery of the Plantagenets, their lives took very different paths. When they cross again in Sherwood Forest, they find a maiden on a quest, a queen fighting for freedom, and the King who destroyed their family. Divided by their past and united by a family secret, the brothers' feud puts the fate of England at stake. One brother must choose whether to put law before kin, while the other must choose between being a noble and being an outlaw; which it turns out, might just be in his blood.

The 2016 Columbus Arts Festival was held along the beautiful downtown Riverfront in Columbus, Ohio on June 10, 11 & 12. Along with all the display of work from over 300 nationally acclaimed artists, several stages were set up for performances by local artists, poets, dancers and theatre!

The Ohio Community Theatre Association (OCTA) held its Central Region Festival on Saturday June 4th at Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio. This is a juried festival where the community theaters perform a portion from one of their shows from the past season. Excerpts were by MTV Arts' The Miracle Worker, Out of the Box Productions' Drinking Habits, Little Theatre Off Broadway's Escanaba in Da Moonlight, Licking County Players' The Taffetas, Alcove Dinner Theatre's Saving Up For Saturday Night, Chillicothe Civic Theatre's Steel Magnolias, and Star Players' The 25th Annual Putnum County Spelling Bee.

Evolution Theatre Company's LOCAL PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL in association with CATCO is Theatre! Presents the world premiere of Sticks & Stones by Cory Skurdal. Winner of the 2014 GCAC / CATCO Playwrights Fellowship Award, this play tells the moving and timely story of the struggles experienced by the transgender community.

A farewell reception was held at the Short North Stage for Geoff Nelson and wife Ann Hall, following Sunday's matinee performance of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. Geoff and Jon Putnam are cast members of the show, which continues through June 19. More than 60 old and new friends of Geoff and Ann's were there, many from the early days of CATCO, and from Geoff's newly-formed group, A Portable Theatre. Dana Miller, owner of Dana Lee's, provided wonderful hors d'oeuvres; Rick Hole prepared a slide show with lots of photographic memories from Geoff's many directorial and acting productions, and a HUGE cake topped off the fun event.

State of the Art's Production Theater Company presents the award winning Broadway musical 'The 1940's Radio Hour,' by Walton Jones. 'The 1940's Radio Hour' is full of music, dancing, live commercials and old-time sound effects. Centered around a troupe of radio performers, 'The 1940's Radio Hour' presents the final holiday broadcast of the Mutual Manhattan Variety Cavalcade on the New York radio station WOV in December 1942. One part 'A Prairie Home Companion,' and one part USO SHOW, 'The 1940's Radio Hour,' promises to be a fun-filled evening of musical comedy featuring time honored classics, like, 'Love Is Here To Stay,' 'That Old Black Magic,' 'Blues In The Night,' 'The 5 O'Clock Whistle,' and many more!!

production of this searing drama. The play is set in a run-down recording studio in Chicago in 1927. The legendary 'Mother of Blues,' Ma Rainey, is due to arrive to record a new take on a favorite song. Ma uses every trick she can muster to fight her white record producer for control of her music. Hardened by years of ill-treatment and bad deals, she's determined that 'Black Bottom', the song that bears her name, will be recorded her way. But one of her band members, a swaggering young trumpet player, tries to manipulate the producer to record instead his new hip version of the song. A battle ensues. This masterpiece is a riveting portrayal of racism, of the self-hate that racism breeds, and of racial exploitation.

Four Shorts by local playwrights all with a 'LGBTQQIA in Politics' theme:

'Daddy Sang Bass.' 'A Boy Named Sue.' 'I've Been Everywhere.' 'Folsom Prison Blues.' The music of Johnny Cash performed by five actor/musicians explains why we do what we do.

When the formidable and revered war general Othello falls in love with the beautiful Desdemona he marries her, and welcomes the pleasures of a domestic life. Unknown to him, his trusted officer and friend, Iago, outraged for being passed over by Othello for a promotion, engineers an insidious campaign of lies and deceit to convince Othello that his new bride has been unfaithful to him. Othello becomes consumed with suspicions of Desdemona's infidelity. Now he must wage war not only with an unseen enemy, but also his own tragic jealousy.

Television and theater star Kristin Chenoweth was joined onstage by eight ?Otterbein University students to sing back-up on a few songs, during Chenoweth's performance at the Palace Theatre in Columbus.

Based on the classic 1989 film, Westerberg High is ruled by a shoulder-padded, scrunchie-wearing junta: Heather, Heather and Heather, the hottest and cruelest girls in all of Ohio. But misfit Veronica Sawyer rejects their evil regime for a new boyfriend, the dark and sexy stranger J.D., who plans to put the Heathers in their place - six feet under.

To help celebrate the start of Short North Stage's fifth year, we present the contemporary hit musical The Last Five Years. A cult favorite, especially among young audiences, this musical by Robert Jason Brown tells the story of a twenty-something novelist Jamie Wellerstein and Cathy Hiatt, a struggling actress. The musical explores their five-year relationship through a novel device: Cathy's story is told in the reverse chronological order-beginning at the end of their marriage-while Jamie's begins just after they've met. The characters never directly interact except for a wedding song in the middle, when their timelines intersect.

New Vision Dance Co. presented 'Up Close and Personal', a contemporary program of intimate solo choreography both created and performed by the company. Artistic director, Melissa Gould will also revealed works in progress inspired by the challenges of confined space. Audience members will experienced inventive movement in the immersive Green Room at the Garden Theater in six hour-long performances. Proceeds will support the company's upcoming 2016-2017 season.

WHAT: Twain's timeless classic sweeps us down the mighty Mississippi as the irrepressible Huck Finn helps his friend Jim, a slave, escape to freedom at the mouth of the Ohio River. Their adventures along the way are hilarious, suspenseful and heartwarming, bringing to life your favorite characters from the novel-the Widow Douglas and her stern sister, Miss Watson; the uproarious King and Duke, who may or may not be as harmless as they seem; Huck's partner in crime, Tom Sawyer, and their rowdy gang of pals; Huck's drunken father, the sinister Pap Finn; the lovely Mary Jane Wilkes and her trusting family. Propelled by an award winning score from Roger Miller, the king of country music, this jaunty journey provides a brilliantly theatrical celebration of pure Americana.

Nina West celebrated 15 years performing by featuring some of the favorite performances over the last 15 years from shows produced by Nina during 10 performances of SUPERcalidragaliciousNINAWESTadocious!

A musical, non-stop laugh-fest with plot twists and turns, cases of mistaken identity, slamming doors, and a showgirl or two in which Pseudolus, a crafty slave, struggles to win the hand of a beautiful but slow-witted courtesan named Philia, for his young master, Hero, in exchange for his freedom.