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BWW Review: Women-Centric JULIUS CAESAR at GLT is Bloody-Good
Sara Bruner has proven once again that she is the queen of Shakespeare staging. As she did last season with her 'The Taming of the Shrew,' her women-centric version of 'Julius Caesar,' which is now on stage at Great Lakes Theater, is creative, well-formulated and long on clear message development....
BWW Review: MEMBER OF THE WEDDING is Less Than it Should Be at Beck Center for the Arts
The play 'Member of the Wedding' is based on Carson McCullers 1946 novel of the same name. The author also penned the script for the 1950 Broadway stage production which starred Ethel Waters, Julie Harris and Brandon DeWilde....
BWW Review: THE MUSIC MAN Gets Fresh, Dynamic, Engaging Production at GLT
We are in the midst of 'The Music Man' blizzard. In the last year, Porthouse Theatre and The Shaw Festival have done the show, and a Broadway production starring Hugh Jackman as Harold Hill, will begin performances on October 15, 2020. Two-time Tony Award-winning superstar, Sutton Foster, will co-st...
BWW Review: Finely Written, Creatively Directed, Well-Acted, Funny, INTO THE BREECHES! at CPH
As the lights come up on the Tony Winning Cleveland Play House's opening production of its 104thseason, it's 1942 and the Oberon Play House (a stand-in name for CPH), is about to open its season. There is a major problem, however. The plays scheduled are all Shakespeare, the company's males are all ...
BWW Review: STUPID FU***ING BIRD Takes Glorious Flight at Dobama
The lights dim. Joseph Lyle Dunn, who we later learn is portraying Conrad, the play's protagonist, comes stage center and says, 'The play will begin when someone says: 'Start the fucking play.'' As if on cue, a member of the audience yells, 'Start the fucking play,' and it does!...
BWW Review: Hello! BOOK OF MORMON Delights Once Again in its Return to Connor Palace
How many times can you see 'Book of Mormon' and continue to be delighted? I'm at #8 and counting! Yes, the Huntington Bank Series touring production of the irreverent look at religion, racism, Mormon up-tight piety and all things ridiculous, is back again, and, if you can believe it, better than eve...
BWW Review: BWU's Musical Theatre Program And The Cleveland Orchestra Create An Enchanted Evening
What happens when you meld together performers from the 'top destination for any student who wants to study musical theatre,' one of the leading orchestras in the world, and a recognized classic of the American theater lexicon? You get a production starring past and present Baldwin Wallace Universit...
BWW Review: LOBBY HERO at Blank Canvas Asks, 'What is the Moral Thing to Do?”
Kenneth Lonergan is noted for writing about decent people who are unexpectedly challenged by issues of ethics. In his 'Lobby Hero,' now on stage at Blank Canvas, the 2016 Oscar winner for 'Manchester by the Sea' specifically asks, 'What happens when emotions come in conflict with principles.'...
BWW Review: THE LION KING at State Theatre, Cleveland
There is an old adage in the theater that an audience should not leave a musical theater production whistling sets and costumes. In other words, it should be the music and story-line that are most important....
BWW Review: THE MUSIC MAN at Porthouse (Kent State University)
Meredith Wilson's 'The Music Man' is one of American musical theatre's most produced shows. Professional, community and educational theatres stage the show on a regular basis. The songfest, which is as American as apple pie and a Fourth of July fireworks display, is now on stage at Porthouse Theatre...
BWW Review: Nicely Conceived CHESS Production Enhances A Weak Script at Near West Theatre
Most musicals follow the tried and true pattern of being written in a format that it is expected to be examined and redone through a series of readings, rewrites, staged readings, rewrites, previews, more rewrites, and, if lucky, a full-staged production. As the process continues the script and scor...
BWW Review: Kids And Choreography Enhance MATILDA At The Beck Center
What do 'James and the Giant Peach,' 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' and 'George's Marvelous Medicine' all have in common? They were all written by Roald Dahl....
BWW Review: THE TOXIC AVENGER is a Slapstick, Double Entendre Farcical Delight at Blank Canvas
Blank Canvas has a niche audience. They love slasher, off-the-wall, ridiculous plotted plays, especially musicals....
BWW Review: Emotional, Humorous, Heroic COME FROM AWAY At Connor Palace/Playhouse Square
'Come From Away' is a special musical that creatively tells a heart-wrenching story of compassion, caring and a display of the best of humanity with humor and pathos. It makes for one of those special moments in the theater. The touring production is beyond excellent and is an absolutely must see!!...
BWW Review: Alice Ripley, Tony Yazbeck, Kate Shindle, Betsy Wolfe Star in Cleveland Musical Theatre's INTO THE WOODS Concert
Despite an oeuvre that includes a questioning of the sanity of American social conventions and an exploration into the motivations of presidential assassins, INTO THE WOODS might be regarded as the most subversive of Stephen Sondheim's musicals....
BWW Review: TINTYPES Plays a Patriotic Tune at Porthouse Theatre/Kent State University
It is reasonable, with the Cleveland Orchestra playing its annual 'Salute to America' at Blossom, just yards away, and POTUS going through what appears to be his childhood dream of having tanks, planes and fireworks light up the nation's capital for its birthday, that Porthouse Theatre get into the ...
BWW Review: World Premiere of '33 1/3' at Dobama
Viewing a new theatrical production is always an intriguing experience. This is especially true if the offering is a musical and has not had many workshops or readings. It is in these venues that the material is tested and adjusted based on reviewer and audience reactions....
BWW Review: RAGTIME Tells A Story That Must Be Heard At Cain Park
It is entirely appropriate in this era of rising anti-immigrant feelings, the re-emergence of the White Supremacy movement, increased anti-Semitism, and having a President who believes in nationalism and Eugenics, that Cain Park revisit the historical foundations of this country via the musical 'Rag...
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