Cleveland Theater Reviews
View the latest BroadwayWorld reviews of live + streaming theatre in Cleveland.
BWW Review: CLEVELAND THEATRE IN THE PANDEMIC
by Roy Berko - December 15, 2020
With pop, gospel, and reimagined classics, The First Noel tells the story of a family that must confront the grief of the past in order to reunite and celebrate the joy of the present. Join Tony Award winner Jason Michael Webb and CWRU/CPH MFA alum Lelund Durond Thompson for a special behind-the-sce...
BWW Review: LOUSH SISTERS at Cleveland Public Theatre
by Roy Berko - December 05, 2020
Separated by a pane of plastic to protect themselves from spreading Covid, the Loush sisters referred to their sexual antics and skills, referred to the political and social world around them, sang with vitality, and tried to take their viewers on an escape from reality. Part of it worked, part didn...
BWW Review: BUILDING BRIDGES TOGETHER at Verb Ballt And BlueWater Chamber Orchestra
by Roy Berko - November 24, 2020
In this pandemic era, where the best we can hope for are performances in Brady family-like shadow boxes, it is exciting to find arts companies going beyond the norm to bring about entertainment while still following the Covid protocols. ...
BWW Review: SPRING AWAKENING at Baldwin Wallace Musical Theater Program
by Roy Berko - November 22, 2020
In 2012, when Baldwin Wallace's number one nationally ranked musical theater program, in conjunction with Beck Center for the Arts, produced SPRING AWAKENING, my capsule judgement read: 'SPRING AWAKENING is an emotionally stirring, relevant, and well-staged production.'...
BWW Review: FULLY COMMITTED at Beck Center (Virtual)
by Roy Berko - November 14, 2020
Becky Mode, the co-creator of Fully Committed, the one-person play which was selected by Time Magazine as one of the top plays of 2000, is a producer, actor and playwright. The play's co-creator, Mark Setlock, is a native Clevelander and graduate of Kent State, who won the 2000 Outer Critics Circle ...
BWW Review: ...OR DOES IS EXPLODE? at Cleveland Public Theatre
by Roy Berko - November 10, 2020
In this age of Black Lives Matter movement and other civil rights unrest, a performance piece such as, ...OR DOES IT EXPLODE?, is both relevant and fulfills the obligation of the arts to produce works that reflect that era from which is comes. ...
BWW Review: Relevant PLAYGROUND FESTIVAL OF NEW WORKS places spotlight on Black Americans
by Roy Berko - June 09, 2020
The PLAYGROUND FESTIVAL OF NEW WORKS is a leading showcase of new plays and new playwrights. This year, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival marks its 25th anniversary, by presenting its offerings on-line. The resulting fest is a 25-event covering 5-weeks, all live-streamed via Zoom, and l...
BWW Review: Impressive WHEN WE WERE YOUNG AND UNAFRAID at Seat of Pants Productions
by Roy Berko - March 09, 2020
It is appropriate that on March 8, National Women's Day, which contends to end exploitation and increase equality for females, I saw Seat of the Pants production of Sarah Treem's 'WHEN WE WERE YOUNG AND UNAFRAID.'...
BWW Review: DANCE NATION at Dobama
by Roy Berko - March 09, 2020
Clare Barron, one of the new superstars of contemporary theater, who has been called an 'insanely talented playwright,' was awarded the 2019 Pulitzer Prize and Obie Award for 'DANCE NATION,' now on stage at Dobama....
BWW Review: Relevant Yet Unfulfilling BREAKOUT SESSION at Cleveland Public Theatre
by Roy Berko - February 29, 2020
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BWW Review: PARADE Showcases Southern Anti-Semitism and Political Corruption on Stage at Kent State
by Roy Berko - February 24, 2020
It is totally appropriate in this era of increased activity by White Supremist groups and rising anti-Semitism, that Kent State University's Musical Theatre program stage 'PARADE,' with book by Alfred Uhry and music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown....
BWW Review: SLEUTH - a Mystery With Lots of Twists, Turns and Humor, Intrigues at Great Lakes Theater
by Roy Berko - February 16, 2020
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BWW Review: BW/Beck's THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS is Both Compelling and Uneven
by Roy Berko - February 09, 2020
The Scottsboro Boys were nine African American teenagers, ages 13 to 20, falsely accused in Alabama of raping two white-women on a train in 1931....
BWW Review: IF/THEN, In Spite Of Wonderful Score Is Frustrating At Lakeland Civic Theatre
by Roy Berko - February 04, 2020
IF/THEN is a musical with score by Tom Kitt and libretto by Brian Yorkey who also collaborated on the multi-award winning NEXT TO NORMAL, which laid the foundation for a major change in the American musical theatre-the development of musical dramas. IF/THEN is now on stage at Lakeland Civic Theatre....
BWW Review: Compelling INTIMATE APPAREL at Ensemble
by Roy Berko - February 03, 2020
Lynn Nottage is an African American multi-prize-winning playwright. A rare and important theatrical voice, she is noted for her lyric and powerfully expressive use of language and her examining the plight of marginalized people....
BWW Review: “CLUE” is a farcical delight at Cleveland Play House
by Roy Berko - February 03, 2020
'CLUE' is a stage play of murder and blackmail, based broadly on the Hasbro board game, and the Paramount motion picture of the same name, has gone through several adaptations. The latest, by Sandy Rustin, with additional material by Hunter Foster and Eric Price, is now on stage at Cleveland Public ...
BWW Review: “JERSEY BOYS” --“Oh, What a Night,” once again, at the Connor Palace
by Roy Berko - January 22, 2020
It's back! 'JERSEY BOYS,' the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, is back in residence at the Connor Palace in Playhouse Square for a short run....
BWW Review: THE ILLUSIONISTS LIVE FROM BROADWAY at Connor Palace
by Roy Berko - January 09, 2020
Sword swallowing, escape from a vat of sand while being handcuffed, inserting a needle through the tongue, the shell game of trying to figure out which cup contains a hidden pea, card tricks, changing water to wine, putting a sword through a trunk while a woman contortionist is inside and remains un...
BWW Review: Pleasant IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE at Theatre in the Circle
by Roy Berko - December 14, 2019
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BWW Review: “THE OLD MAN AND THE OLD MOON,” an adult fantasy at Dobama
by Roy Berko - December 08, 2019
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