Brian Zoldessy

Cleveland Music Theatre (CMT), the brainchild of native Clevelanders Miles Sternfeld and Sean Patrick, was created to provide Northeast Ohio with high quality, engaging, locally produced musical theater by uniting Cleveland's most talented artists with Broadway/national talent, while creating educational opportunities for rising professional actors.

Caffe Cino, which was founded in 1958, is noted as the site that gave birth to off-off Broadway theatre. It was the invention of retired dancer Joe Cino, who offered a place to do inexpensive creative works in New York City and not have to conform to Equity rules. Cino bankrolled the adventure. The shows were staged on a make-shift small platform.

Akron's Professional theater, is pleased to announce the opening of Christian O'Reilly's new Irish play Chapatti.  The show will have a preview performance on Thursday Feb. 25th at 8 PM. The show runs until March 13th, 2016.

Happy Holidays! It's the last week to vote for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Cleveland Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 18. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31!

Time is running out to vote for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Cleveland Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 18. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31!

Voting is fully underway for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Cleveland Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 11. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31.

Voting has opened for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Cleveland Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of November 27th. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31.

Tracy Letts, the author of SUPERIOR DONUTS, now on stage at Dobama, is an accomplished playwright, actor, and screenwriter. He was awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for his play AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY. He won a Tony Award for his portrayal of George in the recent Broadway revival of WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?. He wrote screen adaptations for his plays: BUG and KILLER JOE, as well as AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY and has been nominated for two Screen Actors Guild Awards for his portrayal of Andrew Lockhart in Showtime's HOMELAND.

Brian Zoldessy, one of the area's most awarded actors, seems to be making a career of bringing real people to life. He was Ned Weeks, the AIDS activist in Ensemble's THE NORMAL HEART, Sigmund Freud, the recognized father of Psychoanalysis in Actors' Summit's FREUD'S LAST SESSION, and now he's reincarnating the renowned physicist, Albert Einstein. He won both Cleveland Critics Circle and Times Tribute Theatre awards for the former two roles, and the odds are he'll be receiving similar recognition for his most recent portrayal.

ENSEMBLE THEATRE continues it's 2013-2014 Season with the 3rd Annual Colombi New Plays Festival! Dedicated to the memories of Christopher, Lucia, & Licia Colombi, the New Plays Festival brings you new works by Cleveland playwrights all March long!

ENSEMBLE THEATRE continues it's 2013-2014 Season with the 3rd Annual Colombi New Plays Festival! Dedicated to the memories of Christopher, Lucia, & Licia Colombi, the New Plays Festival brings you new works by Cleveland playwrights all March long!

Greater Cleveland is blessed with a vital theatre scene. It is the purpose of the TIMES THEATRE TRIBUTES to recognize theatrical experiences that, in the view of this reviewer, were excellent and deserve recognition.

Farce is light comedy which contains exaggerated, extravagant and improbable situations. It often contains slapstick incidents and lots of people ducking in and out of slamming doors. Though farce was supposedly started in the 13th century, the modern tone for this format, which is highlighted by the works of the likes of The Three Stooges, The Marx Brothers, The Keystone Cops, Lucille Ball, Tim Conway and Carol Burnett, was etched by Moliere, a Frenchman, and is best represented by his TARTUFFE.

FREUD'S LAST SESSION is must-see, fascinating theatre for anyone who is interested in a philosophical, thought laced drama, with laughter and fine acting.

Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, William Inge, Arthur Miller, Stephen Dietz. What do these playwrights have in common? They are on the list of the top ten American writers who have the most produced plays. Never heard of Dietz? You are not alone. He is a regional playwright who makes a living as a college professor and writing scripts that are done in mid-America.

It is the purpose of THE CLEVELAND CRITICS CIRCLE AWARDS to recognize outstanding Cleveland area productions, performers, directors and others who were involved in those offerings during the 2012 year. Awards are considered for those theatres which the members review and the categories agreed upon by the members of the organization. (For a listing of these theatres go to: clevelandtheaterawards.com)

Ensemble Theatre opens its 33rd consecutive season in Cleveland Heights with Larry Kramer's Tony Award Winning THE NORMAL HEART, running now through October 21st. Get a first look at the production in the photos below!

Each night during the 2011 Broadway revival of THE NORMAL HEART, Larry Kramer, the author of the script, stood outside the theatre to distribute a letter to members of the audience.