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BWW Reviews: Chris Howey Reveals All in the Funny, Often Sad, Always Compelling EXACT CHANGE
In her book, 'Dress Codes: of three girlhoods-my mother's, my father's and mine,' Noelle Howey writes, 'I have a dad who is a woman much like me, but with better legs. And when he was still male, I had a dad possibly like yours: sullen, sporadically hostile, frequently vacant. I had a dad who became...
BWW Reviews: Honky Tonk, Nashville, Pop Music Sounds Invades Actor's Summit
ALWAYS...PATSY CLINE, now on stage at Actors' Summit, is a well formed musical review in which a Patsy Cline-imitator wails away Cline's signature songs, including 'Walkin' After Midnight,' 'I Fall to Pieces,' 'She's Got You,' 'Anytime,' 'Stupid Cupid,' 'Lovesick Blues, 'Faded Love,' and 'Crazy.' Th...
BWW Reviews: Pulitzer Prize winning THE YOUNG MAN FROM ATLANTA at Beck Center
On the surface, Horton Foote's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, THE YOUNG MAN FROM ATLANTA, now in production at Beck Center, tells the tale of the Kidders (Will and Lily Dale), a Houston, Texas couple who, in 1950, take different paths in coping with the death of Bill, their only son....
BWW Reviews: Disappointing DONTRELL, WHO KISSED THE SEA at Cleveland Public Theatre
About fifteen years ago, an African American student on a Semester at Sea around the world educational cruise jumped overboard. The ship was sailing toward the Suez Canal, with Africa on the port side. The ship turned in the Gulf of Suez, and miraculously found the college student. The young man, af...
A View of Broadway from the North Coast
New York is about 500 miles from Cleveland. Several times a year I wander forth to see the bright lights of Broadway and venture into some theatres. This spring, during a period of a rash of show openings, I had the chance to see some excellent offerings....
BWW Reviews: WOLVES, a Supposed Modern Fairy Tale, Frustating at Convergence Continuum
Steve Yockey's WOLVES: AN URBAN FABLE, now on stage at convergence-continuum, centers on three people, Ben and Jack, ex-lovers who still live in the same apartment, and Wolf, a trick that Jack picks up one night at a bar....
BWW Reviews: FAIRFIELD Delights and Challenges Beliefs at CPH
Cleveland Heights School Board member, Eric Coble, has an inside track on understanding the way schools work. In his play, FAIRFIELD, he starts with the premise of an elementary school whose motto is, 'Peace. Love. Respect for all.' And then asks, 'What could possibly go wrong?'...
BWW Reviews: BENGAL TIGER - A Mental and Emotional Challenge at Ensemble
In BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO, Cleveland Heights native Rajiv Joseph's, surreal dark play, ghosts roam the streets of Baghdad in 2003. Ghosts of soldiers, citizens, zoo animals, a son of the former ruler of the country. These ghosts are part of the vivid display of the madness of war, and what ...
BWW Reviews: Dobama's SUPERIOR DONUTS, Dessert for Both the Laughers and the Thinkers
Tracy Letts, the author of SUPERIOR DONUTS, now on stage at Dobama, is an accomplished playwright, actor, and screenwriter. He was awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for his play AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY. He won a Tony Award for his portrayal of George in the recent Broadway revival of WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRG...
BWW Reviews: Brilliant IN A WORD at Cleveland Public Theatre
What are the feelings of a husband and wife when they want to conceive a child, but can't? What are the ramifications for that childless family when they are given the opportunity to adopt the 'perfect' child? What is it like when that family becomes aware that their child is autistic? How do parent...
BWW Reviews: BAD JEWS, Bad Title, Bad Script at Actors' Summit
Shortly into Actors' Summit's production of BAD JEWS, several things become obvious. The off-setting title was not only a turn-off for many, but was misleading. Secondly, author Joshua Harmon, self-admitted stumbler into the world of playwriting, may need a re-thinking about his career....
BWW Reviews: THE TEMPEST Brews Up a Storm at GLT
William Shakespeare is considered by most experts on English language theatre as being the greatest of all writers. His vast folio of plays, consisting of tragedies, comedies, histories and dramas have lasted for over four hundred years. He is one of the few writers who has theatres, let alone festi...
BWW Reviews: CPH'S VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE Entertains, But...
As the lights came up at the start of Cleveland Play House's VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE, the audience is exposed to a comfortable large morning room, backed up by a piano area, and stairs to an upstairs. On stage left is a patio, on stage right the house's entrance. Were in Bucks County, Pe...
BWW Reviews: KINKY BOOTS will 'Raise You Up' at the Conner Palace Theatre
o resounding applause, Gina Vernaci, the Executive Producer of Playhouse Square, the woman responsible for cobbling together each year's Key Bank Broadway Series, announced at the local KINKY BOOTS' press opening, that Cleveland's 32,000 subscribers constituted the largest body of audience for any o...
BWW Reviews: Beck's LEND ME A TENOR - Farce at its Funny Best!
Some people go to the theatre to be educated. Some go to see/listen to a pleasing combination of music and lyrics enclosed in a story. Others go to just have a good time. The latter group should run to their phones or computers right now and make reservations for LEND ME A TENOR. Beck's production i...
BWW Reviews: Sir Isaac Newton Wonderfully Unmasked at Convergence-continuum
One of the major issues in watching a historidrama is figuring out what is real, what is fiction, and what is fantasy. This is especially the case in Lucas Hnath's ISAAC'S EYE, now on stage at convergence-continuum. Between the laughs and mumbles of 'I didn't know that,' 'wow,' and, 'no way,' it's e...
BWW Reviews: Plays About Gay Marriage Have a Successful Return Visit to Cleveland Public Theatre
In October of 2012, when Cleveland Public Theatre first staged, STANDING ON CEREMONY THE GAY MARRIAGE PLAYS, 'same sex marriage was legal in nine states (Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and Washington and the District of Columbia).' At the same tim...
BWW Reviews: BECKY SHAW, Comedy of Bad Manners, Splendid at Dobama
Gina Gionfriddo, the author of BECKY SHAW, now on stage at Dobama Theatre, is one of the new breed of playwrights who reflect topics relevant to today, cleverly construct their writings, and uses language that shimmers with naturalism. They don't use stage language or formats like Arthur Miller or E...
BWW Reviews: Compelling THE PIANIST OF WILLESDEN LANE at Cleveland Play House
It is the intent of theater to educate and entertain, and, in the case of some special offerings, enrapture. Such a piece of theater is THE PIANIST OF WILLESDEN LANE, now on stage at Cleveland Play House....
BWW Reviews: DIRTY DANCING Disappoints at the Connor Palace
DIRTY DANCING, THE CLASSIC STORY ON STAGE, which is now in production at the Connor Palace transports the audience back to the summer of 1963. As is the custom of many well-to-do Jewish New York City families of that time, the Housemans have escaped for the summer to the Catskill Mountains, home of ...
BWW Reviews: DIAL 'M' FOR MURDER - Another Exciting Murder Mystery at GLT
Mystery books are the second highest money-making genre in literature, only exceeded by Romance/Erotica. They are the highest rated television demand topic....
BWW Reviews: MY HEART IS THE DRUM Gets Staged Premiere at Kent State University
One of the major purposes of collegiate musical theater programs, besides teaching acting, singing and dancing skills, is to expand student knowledge of not only traditional, but new scripts. Kent State is offering its students such an opportunity by presenting MY HEART IS THE DRUM....
BWW Reviews: DOGFIGHT Fails to Live Up to Beck-Baldwin Wallace Past Productions
Beck Center for the Arts and Baldwin Wallace's Musical Theatre Program have, for the past four years, collaborated to produce some outstanding productions. CARRIE, SPRING AWAKENING and NEXT TO NORMAL all received Cleveland Critic Circle and Times Tribute recognitions....
BWW Reviews: Magical PIPPIN Almost Finds Its 'Corner of the Sky,' at the Connor Palace
PIPPIN, the Stephen Schwartz (music and lyrics) and Roger O. Hirson (book) magical show is now on stage at The Palace Theatre. It tells a modern version of the mythical tale of Pippin, the oldest son of King Charlemagne, and his search for purpose and identity....
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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