Roy Berko

What did our critic think of SHREK THE MUSICAL at Chagrin Valley Little Theatre?

Normally, in a who-done-it, the question facing the audience is to figure out who the killer is.  In DIAL M FOR MURDER, which is now on-stage at Great Lakes Theater, Jeffrey Hatcher, who rewrote the present play version of the epic, doesn’t leave us in the air.

Normally, juke-box musicals, which are scripts created from pre-conceived music, have songs shoe-horned into what is generally an acceptable, but less-than well-written story (think MOULIN ROUGE! and MAMMA MIA!).

“The universal themes of transformation, belonging, and resistance found in [Jen] Silverman's work resonates with diverse audiences.  Her use of magical realism and inventive storytelling techniques invites viewers to reconsider familiar narratives, fostering empathy and reflection.” 

George Pierre Seurat was a French post-Impressionist artist best known for devising a painting technique entitled Pointillism, “a series of paint or crayon dots of multi-colored paint which allows the viewer's eye to blend colors optically, rather than having the colors physically blended on the canvas.”

When one thinks of seeing experimental or area premieres of new contemporary scripts at local theaters, one normally doesn’t think of Beck Center for the Arts.  Those kinds of plays are for the likes of Cleveland Public Theatre, Dobama (the self-proclaimed Cleveland’s Off-Broadway theater) or even Ensemble.  Beck is usually the home of ELF, JOSEPH AND THE TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT and LITTLE MERMAID.

What did our critic think of NATASHA, PIERRE & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812 at Oberlin Music Theater Program?

The Notebook the Musical tells the heart warming, and often heartbreaking life-long love story, of Allie and Noah. See here for more details on the show!

What did our critic think of OBERLIN COLLEGE ADDS MUSICAL THEATER PROGRAM TO ITS CONSERVATORY OFFERINGS at Oberlin College?

A CHORUS LINE is considered by many theatre experts to be one of the shows that set the pattern for what is labeled the American Musical Theater. 

What happens when a musical film earns over $131-million on a $35-million-dollar investment?  If you are Andrew Lloyd Webber, you buy the rights and turn it into the stage musical, SCHOOL OF ROCK, with lyrics by Glenn Slater and book by Julian Fellowes. 

Offerings of the musical theater cover a vast array of topics.  There is the tale of the young prince who wants to find his “Corner of the sky” (PIPPIN), the flower girl who wants to be a lady (MY FAIR LADY), and the dairy man who has a life ruled by tradition (FIDDLER ON THE ROOF).

Few realize that when reading a Peanuts comic strip, watching a television show based on the writings of Charles M. Schulz, or seeing the theatrical YOU’RE A GOOD MAN CHARLIE BROWN, a version of which is now on stage at Porthouse Theatre, that they are being exposed to the author’s religious sensibility.

The intimate Beck’s Studio Theatre is a perfect venue for meeting and greeting THE ROBBER BRIDEGROOM a blue-grass, farcical musical with a book and lyrics by Alfred Uhry and music by Robert Waldman. 

At the age of fifteen Solomon Rabinovich adopted the pseudonym  “Sholem Aleichem,” a Yiddish variant of the Hebrew expression meaning 'peace be with you' and used as a greeting.

Gretchen Cryer (Book and Lyrics) and Nancy Ford (Composer), whose I’M GETTING MY ACT TOGETHER AND TAKING IT ON THE ROAD which will soon be locally staged by The Musical Theater Project, are known for their “firsts.”  They were the first female writing team in the history of American musical theater and the duo’s NOW IS THE TIME FOR ALL GOOD MEN (1967) was the first anti-war musical of the Vietnam era.  

Two aspects are important in understanding why people often react diametrically to the play.   First is that it is a British farce.  It is not intended to carry a social message.  It is not a Shakespeare drama or tragedy.  

Cob County loves its corn.  Or, so we are told by the storytellers in SHUCKED, the Tony nominated musical, now on stage at the Connor Palace Theatre, as part of the Key Bank Broadway series.