Roy Berko - Page 16

The Shaw Festival, located in Niagara-on-the Lake, is often like being in downtown Cleveland on game day. Lots of 216/440 residents migrate North for a day, days or a week to visit 'the most beautiful little city in Canada,' as Niagara-on-the Lake is often called. They purchase peaches, cherries, and nectarines, tour the wine country and attend plays at The Shaw. It also doesn't hurt that the present exchange rate is $ .77 American for the Canadian dollar. (For the non- mathematical-Americans get a little over 20-cents back for every dollar they spend. Use credit cards to get the highest exchange rate.)

Before the opening night performance a representative of Actors' Equity presented the theatre with a proclamation in honor of their 50thanniversary which included praise for not only Porthouse and Kent State University, but for Terri Kent, who has been leading the endeavor for 18 successful years. The words praised the venue for not only setting high professional theatrical goals, but for being a place where support, encouragement and respect is stressed.

The story goes that while on vacation from performing in his hit Broadway show 'In the Heights,' Lin-Manuel Miranda read a copy of the biography, 'Alexander Hamilton' by Ron Chernow.

On April 15, 2009, 'Next to Normal' opened on Broadway. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize, the Tony for Best Musical and to become part of a small group of musicals including 'Rent,' 'Spring Awakening,' 'Dear Evan Hansen,' 'Come From Away,' 'The Band's Visit' and 'Hamilton' which would change the nature of the American musical from pure entertainment to 'message musicals,' which tell tales of significant social relevance including examining such topics as mental and physical illness, rape, political intrigue, historical conflicts and suicide.

In September of 2015, when Tony F. Sias was appointed as President and CEO of Karamu, the country's oldest African-American theatre, the organization was at its lowest point. In financial trouble, having slipped in the quality of its arts programs and seemingly rudderless, the future looked bleak.

The 1950s was a period of racial stress in much of the south. Lynchings, school segregation, separate lunch counters and drinking fountains, blacks to the back of the bus, laws against black and white mixing. Even separate black and white radio stations was the custom, as were black and white musical styles. Patty Page, Perry Como and 'nice music' was the white style. Rock and Roll was for blacks.

Miles J. Sternfeld is in a big rush for theatrical success. The 23-year old, who graduated from Orange in 2013, is not the regular theatre nerd. He's not interested in being the next big star. Instead, he has set his sights on being a successful producer and director.

The mission of Playwrights Local is to support dramatists of Northeast Ohio by presenting locally written works, with the vision of increasing original theater and raising the profile of area playwrights.

Backstage.com's recent listing of the top Musical Theater Programs in the U.S. included such schools as Carnegie Mellon University, Conservatory of Music at University of Cincinnati, University of Michigan, Penn State University and Syracuse University.

Mark Stewart, better known as 'Stew,' is noted for being a member of the band, The Negro Problem. He is also the author of the book and lyrics for 'Passing Strange,' a semi-autobiographical musical, co-written with Heidi Rodewald in collaboration with Annie Dorsen. The script is presently rocking Karamu.

Jukebox musicals contain a story, wrapped around a series of pre-written songs. Think 'Mama Mia,' 'Jersey Boys,' 'Buddy-The Buddy Holly Story,' 'On Your Feet,' and the present Broadway hit, 'Escape to Margaritaville.'

The story of Jonathan Larson's death before the first scheduled preview of the off-Broadway performance of his 'Rent' has become theater history.

Tony Kushner, the award winning author of 'Angels In America Parts One and Two,' says of his work, 'The question I am trying to ask is how broad is a community's embrace? How wide does it reach?'

Many know Cantor Kathy Wolfe Sebo as a superlative cantor. Few know, however, that she didn't start out to make the religious life her career.

Several times a year I go to review some of what's on stage on Broadway. This year, I expanded the experience by accompanying the Baldwin Wallace University Musical Theatre program's fifteen seniors.