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Roy Berko - Page 2

Roy Berko

Roy Berko, a life-long Clevelander, holds degrees, through the doctorate from Kent State, University of Michigan and The Pennsylvania State University. Roy was an actor for many years, appearing in more than 16 plays, 8 TV commercials, and 3 films. He has directed more than 30 productions. A member of the American Critics Association and The Cleveland Critics Circle, he has been an entertainment reviewer for more than fifty years. For three years he was a regular on Channel 5, ABC-Cleveland's "Morning Exchange" and "Live on 5," serving as the stations communication consultant. He has also appeared on "Good Morning America." Roy served as the Director of Public Relations for the Volunteer Office in the White House during the first Clinton Administration. He was a professor of communication and psychology who taught at George Washington University, University of Maryland, Notre Dame College of Ohio and Towson University. Roy is the author of 38 books. He was selected by Cleveland Magazine as one of the most interesting people in Cleveland.




LEARN MORE ABOUT Roy Berko

First Show:

Wonderful Town

Favorite Show:

Chorus Line, Fiddler on The Roof, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, West Side Story, Something Rotten, Pippin



Review: A DOLL'S HOUSE: PART II at Beck Center
Review: A DOLL'S HOUSE: PART II at Beck Center
June 11, 2024

Western culture was struck by numerous changes in the late twentieth century.  Many monarchs fell, Socialism, Communism and Democracy made in-roads, the social sciences developed the concepts of psychology and sociology, the industrial revolution changed manufacturing, and the way the middle class would live was drastically altered. 

Review: THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM SPELLING BEE at Cain Park Alma Theater
Review: THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM SPELLING BEE at Cain Park Alma Theater
June 7, 2024

 It is only appropriate, since the National Spelling Bee wound down last week, that Cain Park, the Cleveland Heights outdoor entertainment venue, has mounted THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE.

Review: THE PROSPECT OF EQUALITY at Ensemble
Review: THE PROSPECT OF EQUALITY at Ensemble
May 28, 2024

What did our critic think of THE PROSPECT OF EQUALITY at Ensemble?

Review: SIGNIFICANT OTHER at Dobama
Review: SIGNIFICANT OTHER at Dobama
May 7, 2024

What did our critic think of SIGNIFICANT OTHER at Dobama?

Review: COMPANY at Connor Palace
Review: COMPANY at Connor Palace
May 3, 2024

What did our critic think of COMPANY at Connor Palace? Stephen Sondheim is generally considered the most important composer/lyricist of the 20th century American musical theater.  Many consider him to be the person who reinvented the genre.

Review: ALWAYS...PATSY CLINE at Great Lakes Theater
Review: ALWAYS...PATSY CLINE at Great Lakes Theater
April 29, 2024

Juke box musicals are stage theatrical presentations in which a majority of the compositions were written before the presentation was conceived, rather than being original music conceived for that show.  They tend to be long on songs and short on a well-conceived plot.

Review: 9 TO 5: THE MUSICAL at Chagrin Valley Little Theatre
Review: 9 TO 5: THE MUSICAL at Chagrin Valley Little Theatre
April 17, 2024

9 to 5:  The Musical is a theatre piece based on the 1980 hit film, with music and lyrics by Dolly Parton and a book by Patricia Resnick.  It is now on stage at Chagrin Valley Little Theatre.

Review: BACH AT LEIPZIG at Seat Of Pants
Review: BACH AT LEIPZIG at Seat Of Pants
March 25, 2024

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

Review: THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR at GREAT LAKES THEATER
Review: THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR at GREAT LAKES THEATER
March 25, 2024

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.  

Review: REQUIEM at Cleveland Public Theatre
Review: REQUIEM at Cleveland Public Theatre
March 19, 2024

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

Review: ORDINARY DAYS at BWU Musical Theatre Program
Review: ORDINARY DAYS at BWU Musical Theatre Program
March 19, 2024

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.

Review: SOMETHING CLEAN at Dobama
Review: SOMETHING CLEAN at Dobama
March 10, 2024

What did our critic think of SOMETHING CLEAN at Dobama?

Review: FUNNY GIRL at Cleveland's Connor Palace
Review: FUNNY GIRL at Cleveland's Connor Palace
February 22, 2024

 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. 

Review: ALTER at Cleveland Public Theatre & Teatro Publico De Cleveland
Review: ALTER at Cleveland Public Theatre & Teatro Publico De Cleveland
February 20, 2024

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. 

Review: MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN at Ensemble
Review: MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN at Ensemble
February 17, 2024

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

Review: RIDE THE CYCLONE THE MUSICAL at Beck Center For The Arts
Review: RIDE THE CYCLONE THE MUSICAL at Beck Center For The Arts
February 13, 2024

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

Review: AGATHA CHRISTIE'S MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS at Great Lakes Theater
Review: AGATHA CHRISTIE'S MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS at Great Lakes Theater
February 12, 2024

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. 

Review: THE BREAKFAST AT THE BOOKSTORE at KARAMU
Review: THE BREAKFAST AT THE BOOKSTORE at KARAMU
February 2, 2024

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.  

Review: AT THE WAKE OF A DEAD DRAG QUEEN at Dobama
Review: AT THE WAKE OF A DEAD DRAG QUEEN at Dobama
January 29, 2024

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.

Review: MRS. DOUBTFIRE (TOURING COMPANY) at Key Bank Broadway Series (Connor Palace)
Review: MRS. DOUBTFIRE (TOURING COMPANY) at Key Bank Broadway Series (Connor Palace)
January 11, 2024

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.  






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