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BWW Review: Insightful, Thought Stimulating WRESTLING JERUSALEM at CPT
Shortly into WRESTLING JERUSALEM, Aaron Davidman's self-written and performed one-man play, now on stage at the newly remodeled James Levin Theatre at Cleveland Public Theatre, Davidman tells a joke. A joke which is, in actuality, not funny, but very sad and prophetic....
BWW Review: MATILDA, Not Everything It is Cracked Up To Be at State Theatre
Matilda Wormwood is a precocious five-year old who loves to read and has the ability to perform telekinesis. She also likes to meet life's obstacles. She comes from a family in which her father wanted a male child, so he calls her 'boy,' has a mother who didn't know she was pregnant and when Matilda...
BWW Review: Superb THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEEANE at none too fragile
The Irish are a unique brand of people. Living in a land of rocks, hills, harsh weather, poverty and isolation, they have developed attitudes toward life that lend themselves to dark thoughts and bleak tales....
BWW Review: Award winning JERUSALEM Misses the Mark at Ensemble
If you go to see JERUSALEM, now on stage at Ensemble Theatre, don't expect it to be about people living in the Israeli city of that name, or of the 2013 film of the same name concerning a group of messianic pilgrims abandoning their native Sweden to emigrate to Palestine....
BWW Review: MARIE ANTOINETTE - History with a Modern Twist and Potential Relevance at Dobama
The subject of David Adjmi's play, MARIE ANTOINETTE, was a delicate beauty, with gray-blue eyes and ash-blond hair, who following the Seven Years War, was used by her scheming mother, Empress Maria Theresa, to cement an alliance between Austria and France by arranging a marriage to Louis-Auguste....
BWW Review: TALLEY'S FOLLY, a Tale of Love Overcoming Prejudices and Uncertainty, at Actors' Summit
Theatre, as do all of the arts, represents the era from which it comes or is written about. For example, Lanford Wilson's TALLEY'S FOLLY places the spotlight on Missouri in 1944, the border state that, until this day, is noted for its laws and customs regarding prejudice against Jews, Catholics and ...
BWW Review: LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST - Lesser Script Done with Extended Farce at Great Lakes Theater
LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST, a production of which is now on stage at Great Lakes Theater, is one of Shakespeare's earliest plays. As such, some critics believe that it is the 'work of a playwright just learning his art.' Though many of Shakespeare's plays are brilliant and have effected the course of West...
BWW Review: Cleveland Orchestra and Joffrey Ballet Combine for a Thrilling Evening
What happens when you bring together the music of composer Bela Bartok, noted for developing new sounds for a new century, The Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of Franz Welser-Most, and The Joffrey Ballet, under the creative vision of Ashley Wheater, and the sounds of two well-trained opera s...
BWW Review: MR. WOLF is Thought-provoking, Dark, Confounding at Cleveland Play House
Over the last several years much attention has been drawn to the abduction of children and, in rare cases, their return. A short time ago, the Cleveland area had the spotlight placed on it when three young ladies, Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus, were freed after their many years of c...
BWW Review: BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROL KING MUSICAL delight at Conner Palace
King is being portrayed by the very talented Abby Mueller. Mueller. Sound familiar? Her sister, Jessie Mueller, won the Tony Award for her portrayal of Carol in the original Broadway production of the show....
BWW Review: Well Written SHINING CITY on Stage at Beck Center
SHINING CITY, Conor McPherson's script now on stage at Beck Center, is a play about people who are in a search for 'self.' Each of the four characters has an unclear image of who they are, and are in a quest for clarity, love, and the need to emotionally and physically touch someone....
BWW Review: BOOTY CANDY Pushes the Envelope at convergence-continuum
Both Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT) and convergence-continuum (con-con) are noted for producing 'on the edge' theatre. Ironically, both are now featuring plays that examine the human experience from the viewpoint of sexual orientation and race/ethnicity....
BWW Review: Groundworks Dance Theater Stresses Imagination You Can See at Breen Center
The reconfigured Groundworks Dance Theater, with two new dancers this season, again proved that they are one of the area's premiere dance companies in their presentation of 'Falling Awake,' in its world premiere, and Artistic Director David Shimotakahara's spellbinding, 'Ghost Opera.'...
BWW Review: Devised SEXCURITY Probes for Sense-of-self and Identity at Cleveland Public Theatre
Native Clevelander Darren Katz and Israeli born, Yuval Boim, have many things in common. The duo are gay, Jewish, have an intense interest in probing into the psyche of self-identity, security of identification, and victimhood. As revealed in a face-to-face interview, they both seem to thrive on p...
BWW Review: A KID LIKE JAKE Explores the Effects of Heredity and Environment at none too fragile
In their catalog, Dramatists Play Service, which owns the production rights to Daniel Pearle's A KID LIKE JAKE, states, 'On the eve of the admissions cycle for Manhattan's most exclusive private schools, Alex and Greg have high hopes for their son Jake, a precocious four-year old who happens to pref...
BWW Review: THE 39 STEPS, British Farcical Fun, at Blank Canvas
What do you do if you are bored? If you are Richard Hannay, the major character in Patrick Barlow's THE 39 STEPS, now on stage at Blank Canvas, you go to the theater to see 'something mindless and trivial.' If you, personally are bored and looking for something to fill your time, THE 39 STEPS should...
BWW Review: LUNA GALE Expertly Places the Spotlight on the Child Welfare System at the Cleveland Play House
As revealed in the CPH program: 43 percent of children placed in the child welfare system in Ohio are eventually returned to their families, 24 percent are taken in by relatives ('kinship care'), 15 percent are adopted and 14 percent stay in the system until they become adults....
BWW Review: THE REVISIONIST Exposes the Need for Connectedness at Dobama
Social anthropologists offer that humans have four basic needs-survival, pleasure, security and territoriality. They also propose that we need to belong to some group or groups. Most commonly that of a family. Jesse Eisenberg in his play THE REVISIONIST hits on the needs and the desire for connected...
BWW Review: New Ending Adds a Twist to AND THEN THERE WERE NONE at Great Lakes Theater
Agatha Christie is one of the world's best-selling authors. Her 66 detective novellas and fourteen short story collections have sold over a billion copies. She is also credited with writing the play and movie scripts for some of her works....
BWW Review: MR. BURNS: 'The Simpsons,' 'Cape Feare' and Gilbert and Sullivan at CPT
It should come as no surprise to anyone who has seen Anne Washburn's MR. BURNS A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY, now in production at Cleveland Public Theatre, that when the show opened in Washington, DC in 2012 and then in New York in 2013, it received mixed reviews that ranged from 'passionate dissent' to rav...
BWW Review: IN THE HEIGHTS Explodes with Latino Verve at Beck Center
At the start of IN THE HEIGHTS, now in its locally produced premiere at Beck Center, Usnavi chases away Graffiti Pete, a graffiti artist, from in front of his Washington Heights 'bodega' (Spanish for a small neighbor grocery store). As the young owner raps, the lyrics and music set the mood for what...
BWW Review: Slight GOLDEN LEAF RAG TIME BLUES at Ensemble
Director Ian Wolfgang Hinz's program notes state, 'GOLDEN LEAF RAG TIME BLUES is an exploration of prejudice and humanism.' He continues, 'Their prejudice blinds them to the humanity in each other and the potential shared love of music, comedy and the need to have someone listen.' He further states,...
BWW Review: IF/THEN, In Spite of Wonderful Score and Strong Cast, Confuses Some at Connor Palace
I happened to be in D.C. on November 5, 2013 when IF/THEN opened its preview run. I was fortunate enough to get tickets to opening night....
BWW Review: DETROIT '67 at Karamu Looks at the Riots in the Motor City
February 1, 1960--North Carolina State University students protested when the administration wouldn't let a black male's name appear on the ballot for student body president. May 15, 1962-Students at the University of Mississippi rioted over the lack of equal rights for black students. April 13, 196...
BWW Review: Lakeland Civic Theatre Journeys INTO THE WOODS for Wishes, Choices and Consequences
Most fairy tales start with 'Once upon a time,' and end with 'And they lived happily ever after.' Ever wonder if 'happily ever after' is really true?...
Videos
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La Malasangre ( Bad Blood) LatinUs Theater Compay (5/22-6/07) |
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Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer Richie Furay bringing the hits to The Kent Stage July 16th The Kent Stage (7/16-7/16) |
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Sweeney Todd Short North Stage - Garden Theater (9/26-10/17) |
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The Dinner Detective Murder Mystery Dinner Show The Dinner Detective Cleveland (6/13-6/13) |
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Dear Evan Hansen Short North Stage - Garden Theater (1/23-2/14) |
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The Fray & Dashboard Confessional Jacobs Pavilion (8/12-8/12) |
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Elijah: Prophet of Fire Ohio Star Theater (5/15-11/05) |
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Mean Girls Beck Center for the Arts (7/10-8/09) |
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Speech & Debate Studio Theater (5/29-6/28) |
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The Rocky Horror Show Short North Stage - Garden Theater (10/22-10/31) |
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