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BWW Review: PURE SHOCK VALUE, absurd farce confounds at None Too Fragile
Sean Derry and Alanna Romansky, Co-Artistic Directors of none too fragile have, since its founding in 2010, established the venue as a major theater in the Akron-Cleveland area. Dedicated to being an 'adventurously-bold theatrical voice,' they choose 'modern and relevant' scripts, that are 'thought-...
BWW Review: CPH's Compelling THE MOUNTAINTOP Places Spotlight on Martin Luther King, Jr.
Katori Hall, who wrote the award winning play THE MOUNTAINTOP, which is in production at Cleveland Play House, in her script attempts to answer such questions as: What was Martin Luther King, Jr. like as a person? With all the death threats that King received, what was his last night alive like? Wha...
BWW Review: SAME TIME NEXT YEAR - Delightful 'Old Time' Comedy at Actors' Summit
Bernard Slade. Name sound familiar? Probably not. How about 'Bewitched,' 'The Flying Nun,' 'The Partridge Family,' 'Bridget Loves Bernie?' Slade and all of those mid-1900 television shows do have a connection. He developed, authored or worked on all of them!...
BWW Review: Funny, Throught-provoking THE REALISTIC JONESES at Dobama
What do Tracy Letts (SUPERIOR DONUTS), Yasmina Reza (GOD OF CARNAGE), Amy Herzog (4000 MILES), and David Adjmi (MARIE ANTOINETTE) have in common. Their names all appear on the best new contemporary playwrights' lists. Many also are names which, if you have been to Dobama during the past couple of ye...
BWW Review: FRANKENSTEIN'S WAKE at CPT - A Thought-Provoking Reimagining of the Shelly Legend
When the mention of the name Frankenstein is made, the common visual reference is that of Boris Karloff, who was a large green monster with screws in his head, as featured in the 1931 horror film. Karloff, in fact, played Frankenstein's monster, not Henry Frankenstein, the young scientist who create...
BWW Review: Apollo's Fire, Cleveland's 'Other' Internationally Recognized Orchestra Presents 'Sephardic Journey'
Apollo's Fire, Cleveland's 'other' orchestra is credited with having built the largest audience in the nation for 'early-music' (Renaissance, Baroque and early Classical). Headed by Jeannette Sorrell, the orchestra is forging 'a vibrant approach to the re-making of authenticity.'...
BWW Review: Musical Black Comedy Delights and Could Incite Thinking at Cleveland Play House
How does the musical black comedy LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS fit into the Cleveland Play House's 100th anniversary theme of paying homage to their history? To find the answer requires going back to May, 1916, when the theatre staged THE DEATH OF TINTAGILES. The avant-garde play starred marionettes creat...
BWW Review: CPT's INCENDIARIES HOUGH 1966 - Thought-provoking but Problematic
July 18, 1966 is a day that will long be noted in the Cleveland community. That hot, muggy day festered into what is now called 'The Hough Riots.'...
BWW Review: Cleveland Orchestra Plays All Beethoven Concert with Yefim Bronfman
A recent trip to New York included a tour of Carnegie Hall. As we entered the famous auditorium someone asked, 'How are the acoustics?' The seasoned tour guide answered, 'they are good, but not as good as Cleveland's Severance Hall.' He went on to say, 'Though this is a beautiful setting, it doesn't...
BWW Review: Delightful ELF THE BROADWAY MUSICAL Tours into the Connor Palace
Last month the Cleveland area played host to what was a hoped for new Christmas musical that would go to Broadway and be holiday entertainment. Unfortunately, KRIS KRINGLE, with book by Maria Ciampi and music by Tim Janis, lacked clear structure, emotional-generating glee, and joyous songs. It's lea...
BWW Review: Delightful REEFER MADNESS at Blank Canvas induces Giggles and Munchies
Even though the movement may have been slowed down by the recent Ohio election, the march toward legalization of marijuana seems on its way in this country....
BWW Review: KRIS KRINGLE (World Premiere) - A Work in Progress
World premiere of KRIS KRINGLE THE MUSICAL proves show is a work in progress....
BWW Review: Creative PETER AND THE STARCATCHER at Dobama
Mention author J. M. Barrie, and the immediate thought is Peter Pan. Peter Pan, the tale of a boy who refused to grow up, has become a cottage industry. Dolls, movies, a musical play, coloring books, cartoons, Halloween costumes, a non-musical play, and books are all available. There is even a psych...
BWW Review: It's Back...A CHRISTMAS STORY at the Cleveland Play House
Yes, A CHRISTMAS STORY is again lighting up the stage at the Cleveland Play House. It's a new production, which incites new comments, but the history and my unexpected involvement in the tale is still the same!...
BWW Review: Wonderful Reimagined WIZARD OF OZ at State Theatre
Little did Frank Baum realize in 1900 when he wrote the book, THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ, that he was creating a cottage industry. 'Chachkas' such as snow globes, stuffed Toto dogs and figurines of the characters dot many a household. Clothing, including red crystal shoes, checkered gingham 'Dorothy...
BWW Review: GUYS ON ICE: THE ICE FISHING MUSICAL Drops Bait at Actors' Summit
The American Folklore Theatre (AFT), located in Door County, Wisconsin, is a theater company that creates musicals and plays which are based on the populist culture and heritage of the United States. They have developed such works as MULE FOR BREAKFAST AGAIN, LUMBERJACKS IN LOVE, LOOSE LIPS SINK SHI...
BWW Review: THE LOUSH SISTERS LOVE DICK'NS: GREAT EXPECTATIONS at Cleveland Public Theatre
It's that time of year when local theatre offerings center on 'peace on earth' and how each of us should be kind and better (e.g., Great Lakes Theater's A CHRISTMAS CAROL), family holiday memories (Cleveland Play House's A CHRISTMAS STORY), and musical escapes (Beck Center's MARY POPPINS and Playhou...
BWW Review: Production Outperforms Script at convergence-continuum
Geoffrey Hoffman, in his directorial notes in the convergence-continuum program for BOB: A LIFE IN FIVE ACTS, states, 'Bob is an everyman . . .He is born with nothing and becomes a passionate adventurer-part myth, part reality, and completely legendary. . . For better or worse, he is the most memora...
BWW Review: KRIS KRINGLE THE MUSICAL Gets World Premiere at Olmsted Falls Performing Arts
It's that time of year when local theatres fill their stages with holiday cheer. Yes, it's the season of A CHRISTMAS CAROL, A CHRISTMAS STORY, A CHRISTMAS STORY: THE MUSICAL, WHITE CHRISTMAS, and ELF THE MUSICAL....
BWW Review: Existential AGE OF MAN at Ensemble
Sam Shepard, the author of AGES OF THE MOON, now on stage at Ensemble Theatre, is noted for writing plays that are frank and often absurd. His language choice is gritty, the setting is the American west, and his characters usually self-destruct. He sometimes includes in his stage directions the requ...
BWW Feature: There's a Cleveland Atmosphere to Broadway Theatre
Last season over twenty performers with Cleveland area connections played on Broadway. So far this season, the trend continues. Chris McCarrell is in LES MISERABLES, Cassie Okenka will be in SCHOOL OF ROCK, Steel Burkhart appears in ALADDIN, Jill Paice stars in AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, Kyle Post kicks ...
BWW Review: TALL SKINNY CRUEL CRUEL BOYS - Theater Ninja Offers a Thought-Provoking Scare-Treat
Theater Ninjas, which bills itself as 'the Food Truck of Cleveland Theater' due to its having no permanent home, but relishes its nomadic pattern of trying out 'new and exciting spaces to perform,' is noted for rethinking what theater can be. According to its Artistic Director, Jeremy Paul, the thea...
BWW Review: Meticulously Written, Directed and Performed THE CALL at Dobama
Tanya Barfield, author of THE CALL, which is now on stage at Dobama Theatre, didn't want to write the play. She stated in a December, 2012 interview, 'Without realizing what I was doing, I pointedly and stubbornly refused. . . What I knew-what I was known for-were plays about the African-American ex...
BWW Review: What is THE HAPPY SAD at Convergence-Continuum
Tyson Douglas Rand, director of THE HAPPY SAD now in production at convergence-continuum, in his program notes for the show, states, 'What is THE HAPPY SAD? Well...it's a play with music - but it's not a musical. It's a funny play about romance and relationships - but it's NOT a romantic comedy.' He...
Videos
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La Malasangre ( Bad Blood) LatinUs Theater Compay (5/22-6/07) |
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C.S. Lewis On Stage: Further Up & Further In Playhouse Square (6/20-6/21) |
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Walk On: The Power of Carousel Cleveland Museum of Art, Gartner Auditorium (6/14-6/14) |
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Elijah: Prophet of Fire Ohio Star Theater (5/15-11/05) |
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A Beautiful Noise – The Neil Diamond Musical The Stranahan Theater (6/16-6/21) |
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The Producers Short North Stage - Garden Theater (3/12-4/11) |
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'Alex Bevan And Friends' bringing his Surfing The Edge Of Legacy tour to The Kent Stage June 6th The Kent Stage (6/06-6/06) |
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My Dear Aunt Flow Starcatcher Theater (8/07-8/09) |
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A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum Near West Theatre (4/16-5/02) |
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C.S. Lewis On Stage: Further Up and Further In Playhouse Square (6/20-6/21) |
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