Roy Berko - Page 5

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: WEST SIDE STORY at Porthouse/Kent State University
Review: WEST SIDE STORY at Porthouse/Kent State University
August 12, 2022

What did our critic think of WEST SIDE STORY at Porthouse/Kent State University? In the fall of 1957, I had a mind-blowing experience. I saw the newly opened Broadway production of WEST SIDE STORY. At the time, all I knew about the show was that it was based on ROMEO AND JULIET and it had opened to positive reviews two days before.

Review: OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD at The Seat Of The Pants Productions
Review: OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD at The Seat Of The Pants Productions
August 8, 2022

What did our critic think of OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD at The Seat Of The Pants Productions? The Seat of the Pants Productions' mission states that 'Our hope is to create theater that challenges minds, moves hearts, and mobilizes hands and feet - in both performers and patrons.'

Review: SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM at Cain Park--Alma Theatre
Review: SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM at Cain Park--Alma Theatre
August 7, 2022

What did our critic think of SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM at Cain Park--Alma Theatre?

Review: FOR GOOD: THE NEW GENERATION OF MUSICALS at The Musical Theatre Project
Review: FOR GOOD: THE NEW GENERATION OF MUSICALS at The Musical Theatre Project
August 5, 2022

What did our critic think of For Good: The New Generation of Musicals at The Musical Theatre Project?

Review: ANGRY FAGS at Convergence-continuum
Review: ANGRY FAGS at Convergence-continuum
July 17, 2022

What did our critic think of ANGRY FAGS at Convergence-continuum? A catalog description of ANGRY FAGS, the Topher Payne play, now on stage at convergence- continuum, cautions that the script contains 'alcohol, gunshots, intense adult themes, strong language, nudity/partial nudity and smoking.' What it doesn't alert you to is the unexpected and shocking ending!

Review: AIN'T TOO PROUD at Key Bank Palace
Review: AIN'T TOO PROUD at Key Bank Palace
July 15, 2022

What did our critic think of AIN'T TOO PROUD at Key Bank Palace? AIN'T TOO PROUD: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE TEMPTATIONS, which is now on stage at the State Theatre as part of the Key Bank Broadway Series, is a 2018 jukebox musical with music and lyrics by The Temptations and book by Dominique Morisseau.

Review: GODSPELL at Porthouse (Kent State University)
Review: GODSPELL at Porthouse (Kent State University)
July 18, 2022

What did our critic think of GODSPELL at Porthouse (Kent State University)? GODSPELL, which is now on stage at Porthouse Theatre, is based on 'The Gospel According to St. Matthew.' The musical tells the story of the last seven days of Christ's life. The parables have been contemporized, and Christ's followers are free spirits who sing the likes of 'Day by Day', 'All Good Gifts', and 'Turn Back, O Man.'

Review: SOMETHING ROTTEN at Beck Center For The Arts
Review: SOMETHING ROTTEN at Beck Center For The Arts
July 10, 2022

What did our critic think of SOMETHING ROTTEN at Beck Center For The Arts?

Review: LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS at Porthouse Theatre--KSU School Of Theatre And Dance
Review: LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS at Porthouse Theatre--KSU School Of Theatre And Dance
June 22, 2022

What did our critic think of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS at Porthouse Theatre--KSU School Of Theatre And Dance?

Review: ELLIOT & ME at Chagrin Valley Little Theatre
Review: ELLIOT & ME at Chagrin Valley Little Theatre
June 20, 2022

What did our critic think of ELLIOT & ME at Chagrin Valley Little Theatre? There's a lot of brotherly love, some good songs, professional actors, and an appealing story going on at Chagrin Valley Little Theatre!

BWW Review: SCHOOL OF ROCK at Cain Park
BWW Review: SCHOOL OF ROCK at Cain Park
June 12, 2022

What did our critic think of SCHOOL OF ROCK at Cain Park?

BWW Review: THE SPARKS FLY UPWARD at Maltzee Perforing Arts Center
BWW Review: THE SPARKS FLY UPWARD at Maltzee Perforing Arts Center
June 12, 2022

What did BroadwayWorld's critic think of THE SPARKS FLY UPWARD at Maltzee Perforing Arts Center?

BWW Review: Lincoln Center Theatre's MY FAIR LADY at Key Bank State Theatre
BWW Review: Lincoln Center Theatre's MY FAIR LADY at Key Bank State Theatre
June 9, 2022

What did our critic think of My Fair Lady at Connor Palace? What do Rogers and Hammerstein, Irving Berlin, Frank Loesser and Cole Porter all have in common? Yes, they are all composers of American musicals, but they are also just some of those who attempted, and failed, to make George Bernard Shaw's classical PYGMALION into a musical.

BWW Review: WAITRESS at Hanna (Huntington Featured Performance)
BWW Review: WAITRESS at Hanna (Huntington Featured Performance)
June 2, 2022

WAITRESS, which features an all-original score of music and lyrics by singer-songwriter-actress Sara Bareilles, which is now on stage at the Hanna Theatre, in a month-long Huntington featured performance, is unique in that, when it opened on Broadway, it featured an all-female production team.  

BWW Review: THE LEGEND OF GEORGIA MCBRIDE at Beck
BWW Review: THE LEGEND OF GEORGIA MCBRIDE at Beck
May 31, 2022

Mathew Lopez, the author of THE LEGEND OF GEORGIA MCBRIDE, which is now on stage in the Studio Theatre at Beck Center, also wrote THE INHERITANCE, which, in 2018 was the most honored American play in a generation, sweeping the 'Best Play' awards in both London and New York including the Tony Award, Olivier Award, and Drama Desk Award. He is also the writer of THE WHIPPING MAN, which also won numerous awards.

BWW Review: AMERICAN MOOR at Karamu
BWW Review: AMERICAN MOOR at Karamu
May 8, 2022

AMERICAN MOOR, which is now on stage at Karamu, America's oldest Black Theatre, is a compelling exploration of Shakespeare, race, and America. It is brilliantly performed by Keith Hamilton Cobb, who is also the play's author.

BWW Review: ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S THE 39 STEPS at Great Lakes Theater
BWW Review: ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S THE 39 STEPS at Great Lakes Theater
May 1, 2022

Read our critic's review of THE 39 STEPS - the new production of the farce at the Great Lakes Theater.

BWW Review: LIFE SUCKS at DOBAMA!
BWW Review: LIFE SUCKS at DOBAMA!
April 30, 2022

Anton Chekov, along with Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg, were three late nineteenth and early twentieth century European playwrights who were the seminal figures in the birth of theatrical modernism. They turned their backs on the escapist romantic stories and took on real issues, and presented real people with real problems.

BWW Review: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD at Connor Palace
BWW Review: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD at Connor Palace
April 29, 2022

The mockingbird is noted for its ability to duplicate the sounds they hear. The bird's reference in the title of Harper Lee's epic novel, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD supposedly refers to the statements of prejudice that are repeated over and over in the book's famous trial. Statements about Blacks, Jews, the more and less educated, the economic class of a person. The only way to stop the sounds is to destroy the source.

BWW Review: THE ABSOLUTELY AMAZING AND TRUE ADVENTURES OF MS. JOAN EVELYN SOUTHGATE at Cleveland Public Theatre
BWW Review: THE ABSOLUTELY AMAZING AND TRUE ADVENTURES OF MS. JOAN EVELYN SOUTHGATE at Cleveland Public Theatre
April 26, 2022

In 2002, Seventy-year-old Joan Evelyn Southgate, a Cleveland area retired social worker and activist, left Ripley, Ohio, on foot, with the goal of highlighting the courage and resourcefulness of freedom seekers and conductor families who risked everything on the Underground Railroad.






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