Roy Berko

What did our critic think of BACH AT LEIPZIG at Seat Of Pants?

Sir John Falstaff is at it again!  Yes, the chubby delightful bumbler, who was in the Bard’s HENRY IV, Parts 1 and 2, is now lighting up the stage in Great Lakes Theater’s THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR, thanks to Elizabeth I.  The Queen was so infatuated with the character that, according to rumor, she asked Shakespeare to write another play with Falstaff, this time depicting the rogue in love.  

What did our critic think of REQUIEM at Cleveland Public Theatre?

What did our critic think of ORDINARY DAYS at BWU Musical Theatre Program In Collaboration With Playhouse Square/Cleveland? Adam Gwon, who wrote the music and lyrics for ORDINARY DAYS, which recently finished its run as part of the Playhouse Square/Baldwin Wallace  annual collaboration, was in attendance at the brief 3-day run.

What did our critic think of SOMETHING CLEAN at Dobama?

 Fania Borch was one of early 20th century vaudeville’s greatest stars.  Fania??  Oh, Fanny Brice, as she was known on the Ziegfeld Follies circuit, and is the nominal subject of FUNNY GIRL, now on stage at the Connor Palace as part of the Key Bank Broadway Series. 

What did our critic think of ALTER at CLEVELAND PUBLIC THEATRE& Teatro PUBLICO De Cleveland? Developing an original new play script is a daunting task.  The writer must have an idea, topic, or belief that they want to present in dramatic form. 

What did our critic think of MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN at Ensemble?

What did our critic think of RIDE THE CYCLONE THE MUSICAL at Beck Center For The Arts?

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. 

Lisa Langford, the author of THE BREAKFAST AT THE BOOKSTORE, which is getting its world premiere at Karamu, the nation’s oldest African American theater, is a Cleveland based actress and playwright.  

What did our critic think of AT THE WAKE OF A DEAD DRAG QUEEN at Dobama? Dobama bills itself as the area’s Off-Broadway theatre.  It is “dedicated to premiering important new plays by established and emerging playwrights in professional productions of the highest quality.

Every once in a while a theater-goer sees a production in which it becomes apparent that the lead actor was born to play a role.  Julie Andrews as Eliza in MY FAIR LADY, Zero Mostel in FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM and Marlon Brando in STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, come to mind.  

Broadwayworld Cleveland's Roy Berko recognizes each year local theaters, performances, writers, performers and technicians of plays staged by area professional theaters during the January 1-December 31 year. 

What did our critic think of JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT at Beck Center?

What did our critic think of A LIGHT IN THE NIGHT: A HANUKKAH PLAY at Tailspinner?

What did our critic think of HAIRSPRAY at Connor Palace? The farcical, yet message-loaded HAIRSPRAY, is the type of musical that in a bad production falls flat, but in a good production the audience gets all-kinds of involved.

What did our critic think of BLACK NATIVITY at Karma In Partnership With Cleveland Play House? Langston Hughes, the author of BLACK NATIVITY, now on stage at the Allen Theatre, in a joint production between Karamu, the country’s oldest black producing theater and the Cleveland Play House, the nation’s first resident company, was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist.

What did our critic think of LITTLE WOMEN at Dobama?

What did our critic think of PIPPIN at BW Musical Theatre Program? In the Fall of 1971, while chaperoning a group of college students to New York, I saw PIPPIN, the Stephen Schwartz (music and lyrics), Roger Hirson (book), Bob Fosse (director/choreographer) musical.  I had an instant love affair with the show!