Monday, August 19, 2013

GROUNDWORKS DANCE, 8/13


Dance has long been perceived as an art entertainment for the wealthy, educated and performance trained.  Terms such as “fifth position,” “adagio,” “camber,” “shag,” and “pirouette” are foreign to most people.   Dance styles such as hip hop, Tango, jazz, Samba, and Broadway may be terms that have been heard, but not known as a specific type of dance.  This combination has made attending dance programs a “no go” activity for many.

This perception seems to have changed lately with the advent of such television shows as DANCING WITH THE STARS, but most importantly, SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE.  The latter takes unknown dancers trained in a multitude of styles, and puts them into an “American Idol” competition with dance  judges explaining what the contestants are doing and why they are proficient in specific styles.  Thus, the vocabulary of dance, and the appreciation of the athletic nature of this form of the arts, has made the art form more popular.

An awareness for the role of choreographers also has been nurtured, and names like Mia Michaels, Sonya Tayeh, Mandy Moore, Travis Wall and Tyce Diorio have become known, and their talents highlighted.

This new awareness places additional pressure on local dance companies to produce higher quality performances and more creative and broader classifications of dances as audiences understand what us happening on stage.

As overheard between several people at intermission of the recent GROUNWORKS DANCE Cain Park concert, a question arose as to why local companies, some of whom are short on proficient male dancers, don’t tap into the SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE performers, not only the finalists but even some of the more proficient cast offs.  Also discussed was, “how about doing some of the works of the program’s innovative choreographers, which are often seen only once and then thrown onto the choreographic junk pile.”

This is not to say that GROUNDWORKS, David Shimotakahara’s little troupe of 5 needs overhauling, but realistically Damien Highfield should be getting near the end of his long dance career, and though Gary Lenington is moving more easily since he has adjusted his body size, the artistic director may soon be needing to search for some new males.  As for the females, he is in good shape.  Felise Bagley is still the best female dancer in town, adorable and dynamic Noelle Cotler has nicely replaced Amy Miller, and Annika Sheaff is a strong soloist, but her height and movement profile sometimes make it difficult for her to blend with the petite Cotler and Bagley.

Performing before an appreciative opening night house in Cain Park’s Alma Theatre, Groundworks’ performance was a nicely balanced program.

BEFORE WITH AFTER, a 2003 piece by Shimotakahara, with composed music by J. S. Bach, found the dancers flowing to the classical sounds, with the movements clearly paralleling the rhythm.   The piece acknowledged life’s encounters, crossed and re-crossed relationships in what might be termed “physical poetic responses to Bach’s compositions.” Highlights included classic movements by Bagley, appealing facial expressions and body creations by Cotler, and athletic actions by Sheaff.

WAY LEADS TO WAY (2013) was signature Amy Miller.  The company’s Associate Artistic Director was a powerful, controlled, compelling dancer.  Her choreography mirrors those traits.  Writhing, extended gestures, strong springs, running, and body thrusts combined to illuminate “Lusine,” a sound piece described as “down tempo, placid, abstract hip-hop, haunting ambient bipping/skipping techno.”  Danced in shadows, the mood was enhanced by Dennis Dugan’s lighting.

Award winning choreographer Doug Elkins started his dance career as a B-Boy, a break dancer, is noted for combining “modern dance, hip hop, martial arts and ballet with a touch of [Buster] Keaton and [Charlie] Chaplin”  His dance creations are filled with humor and challenging movement.

The very entertaining six part, MY HUMMINGBIRD AT THE HIGH LINE (2012), was set to musical pieces on the themes of love and creativity. The dance composition was inspired by writer  Jarod Kintz’s “If my love could be represented by a blur, it would be the beating of a hummingbird’s wings.  Did you know my love is the only love that can fly backwards?”

Songs such as “A Lot of Living to Do,” “Sway,” “I Got You Under My Skin,” and ”Dis Quand Reviendra Tu,” were blended to make for a jive, rumba, modern ballet mélange of classic, modern and contemporary moods.  The amalgamation worked well.  Two highlights were the coupling of Lenington and Sheaff to create a fascinating and well-conceived segment proficiently danced to Handel’s ”Acis and Galatea,” and Bagley and Cotler creating a delightful contemporary vibe while moving to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, “Beggin’.”

Capsule judgement: GROUNDWORKS DANCE presented another pleasing concert before an appreciative audience on opening night of their August 16-18, 2013 Cain Park presentation.  SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL DANCE COMPANIES!

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Cleveland Orchestra superb, Joffrey Ballet disappoints

What happens when The Cleveland Orchestra, considered to be one of the world’s great ensemble of musical performers, couples with the Joffrey Ballet, hailed as “America’s Ballet Company of Firsts?” After their well-received five sold-out performance of THE NUTCRACER last winter at PlayhouseSquare, and their past linking at Blossom, the very large opening night audience was filled with high expectations.

The orchestra, under the baton of Tito Muñoz, held up its end of the coupling by beautifully interpreting both modern and symphonic music with proficiency.  On the other hand, Joffrey, though it reached brilliance in one segment of the evening, did not deliver on its expected luminosity.

The evening opened with INTERPLAY, originally choreographed by Jerome Robbins, and danced to sprightly music by Morton Gould.  Robbins, mostly known for his Broadway creations, including THE KING AND I, WEST SIDE STORY and FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, conceived INTERPLAY to be an interaction of music and dance, filled with humor and jazzy influences.  This is a dynamic all-American piece.  

Unfortunately, the Joffrey company seemed incapable of producing the intended joy.  The dancers, especially the male corps, were consistently out of sync, with jagged lines and missteps highlighting the number.  They had difficulty producing many of the classic and contemporary moves. In contrast to the orchestra’s creation of joyful sounds, the dancers failed to produce the parallel energy and proficiency.   This was definitely a second string group of young dancers who started off the evening on a less than positive note.

SON OF CHAMBER SYMPHONY, danced to deconstructionist music by John Adams, who composes in the minimalist tradition of Philip Glass and Steve Reich, allowed choreographer, Stanton Welch, to probe standard ballet traditions and invent ways to look at them through a different lens.  The purpose was not storytelling awareness, but emotional reaction.

The three movement composition, was well danced.  The highlight was a pas de deux by April Daly and Dylan Gutierrez, which contained fluid movements, fine partnering, exquisite toe work, and an excellent parallel between musical sounds and dancing.  The piece ended with not only strong positive audience reaction, but the dancers applauding the orchestra.

The highlight of the evening was a superb, fluid performance of ADAGIO by Victoria Jaiani and Temur Suluashivili.  The duo was perfectly matched in dancing skills and played well off each other.

ADAGIO, as choreographed by Yuri Possokhov, and set to music from SPARTACUS by Soviet Armenian composer, Aram Kachaturian, was effectively lit by Jack Hehler.

Possokhov, a Russian born and trained former member of the Bolshoi Ballet, has created a dance that is full of movement, which flows to the ebbs and tides of the lush music.  The orchestra created the perfect sounds for enhancing the proficiency of the dancers.

Now considered one of the great works of balletic music, reviews of Russian composer Igor Stravinsky’s THE RITE OF SPRING, tagged the work as “The work of a madman.” Those comments heralded the May 29, 1913 ballet and orchestral concert, performed at Paris’s Theatre des Champs-Elysees.  The piece  was choreographed by the legendary Vaslav Nijinsky.

The reviewers were not alone in their evaluation.  The avant guard music, which is often atonal, with non-traditional meter and rhythm, and dissonant stress, and the sensational choreography, resulted in vocal and physical riots by the audience.

Bowing to the reviews and reaction, the piece did not get another major performance for many years.  The 1980 reconstruction of the Najinsky original choreography by the Joffrey Ballet brought the work back of life.

The ballet and its music may have incited strong reaction in its early days, but, based on the comments by those exiting the Saturday night’s performance, there was neither positive excitement nor strong praise for THE RITE OF SPRING.

The piece, which mainly consisted of performers walking and shuffling in circles, sliding across the stage by small groups in straight lines, and an extended self-induced death by an emotionally reserved female dancer, did not develop the strong feelings needed.  It may have been the repetitious movements, the lack of emotional involvement, the minimal actual dancing, or the years of audiences hearing what were once unusual musical sounds, but the overall effect was not strongly positive. 

The strongest reaction at the end of the concert was the irritation of those waiting in endless lines to get on the trams to go to the parking lots.  Long waits and what appeared to be poor organization, did not endear the crowd to Blossom.

Capsule judgement:  The much anticipated reunion of The Cleveland Orchestra and the Joffrey Ballet resulted in an evening that was less than expected. The orchestra was superb, the ballet company, though there were two highlight segments, failed to live up to its reputation.  Too bad.  Cleveland has no permanent ballet company and the appearance of the world renowned Joffrey should have given ballet aficionados a chance for a fulfilling experience.

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Reviewer of the Reviewer's Reviews--James. W. Wood

Roy,

Thank you, sir.

Best write-up on Winsor, yet.
You're a very fast study.

And my inbox proves you have a large readership.

Jim [James M. Wood, author of OUT & ABOUT WITH WINSOR FRENCH]

Review of the Reviewer's Review--Greg Caeser

Roy:

This [Berko:  Fall 2013 theater calendar] looks great!  I'm so pleased someone has
taken this on in a cohesive fashion. 

Best,
Greg [Caeser]

Friday, August 09, 2013

Cleveland area theatre calendar--Fall, 2013

CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE
216-241-6000 or go to www.clevelandplayhouse.com
Sept 13-Oct 6
WOODY SEZ:  THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF WOODY GUTHRIE
A musical that uses over 25 legendary songs in an examination of Woody Guthrie’s life.

Nov 1-24
VENUS IN FUR
The award winning script, which is based on a novel by the man who named sado-masochism, is a  two-person comedy which acts out power games in a play within a play blurring reality and fantasy.

Nov 29-Dec 22
A CHRISTMAS STORY
In honor of the 30th anniversary of the Cleveland based film, CPH reinvents one of its previous “must see” shows.

DOBAMA
216-932-3396 or dobama.org
Sept 6-Oct 6
TIME STANDS STILL
Focuses on a photojournalist and a foreign correspondent who return to Brooklyn and find themselves trying to find balance and happiness after being physically and emotionally scarred while covering conflicts in the Middle East.

Oct 25-Nov 23
COCK
A drama which takes a playful, candid look at hetero-, bi- and homo sexuality and the difficulties that arise when people realize they have a choice

Dec 6-Jan 5, 2014
THE BIG MEAL
Set at a single restaurant table and spanning over 80 years, it tells the story of five generations of a family through one unending metaphoric meal, starting from a young couple’s first meeting and ending with a visit from their great-grandchild.

PLAYHOUSESQUARE
216-241-6000 or go to www.playhousesquare.org.
Oct 1-13
SLEEPING BEAUTY, A GOTHIC ROMANCE
Michael Bourne’s record breaking West End London production of the classic ballet with a gothic twist.

Nov 12-24
ONCE
A tale of living your dreams rather than your fears, this winner of eight Tony Awards tells the tale of a Dublin street musician who’s about to give up on his dreams when a young woman takes an interest in his haunting love songs.

Dec 4-Jan 5, 2014
WICKED
Broadway’s blockbuster is back by popular demand!  Long before that girl from Kansas arrived in Munchkinland, two girls met in the land of OZ….the rest is theatrical and fantasy history!

Sept. 7; Oct. 5; Nov. 2      
FREE PLAYHOUSESQUARE TOURS
90-minute backstage and on the stage tours which relate not only the visual aspects of PlayhouseSquare’s 10 theatres, but facts and anecdotes. No reservations are needed for individual participants, but groups of 10-or-more are asked to call ahead at 216-771-4444.

BECK CENTER
216-521-2540 or http://www.beckcenter.org
Sept 7-8
MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG IN CONCERT
A Sondheim provocative musical about the friendship of three young artists and what happens when the composer’s idealism is challenged by temptations.
Songs include;  “Not a Day Goes By,” “Good Thing Going” and “Our Time.”

Sept 20-Oct 20
SHE LOVES ME
Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock’s romantic musical about a pair of feuding clerks in a 1930s European parfumerie who secretly find romance in an unexpected way.

Oct 11-Nov 17
33 VARIATIONS
Written by the author of THE LARAMIE PROJECT, concurrently examines the creative process behind Beethoven’s DIABELLI VARIATIONS and the journey of musicologist Katherine Brandt to discover why Beethoven was compelled to write thirty-three distinct variations on a simple theme.  It features Stuart Raleigh on piano.

Dec 6-Jan 5, 2014
ANNIE
Leapin’ Lizards! The sun will come out tomorrow, and Miss Hannigan, the orphans, Sandy, Daddy Warbucks and the schemes of the comic book characters, are reprised once again!  It’s back on Broadway, why not at Beck?

ACTOR'S SUMMIT
330-374-7568 or go to www.actorssummit.org
Oct 10-Nov 3
A GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING
A tribute to Rogers and Hammerstein with songs from CAROUSEL, OKLAHOMA!, THE KING AND I, SOUTH PACIFIC and SOUND OF MUSIC.

Nov 27-Dec 22
THE FARMDALE AVENUE HOUSING ESTATE TOWNSWOMEN’S GUILD DRAMATIC SOCIETY  PRESENTS “A CHRISTMAS CAROL”
A holiday farce, in the tradition of Monty Python, when the ladies of TFAHETGDS tackle Dickens for a loss.

CLEVELAND PUBLIC THEATRE
216-631-2727 or go on line to www.cptonline.org
Sept 26-Oct 6
SPRINGBOARD
Presentations of new scripts by local artists with post-show discussions.

Oct10-26
INSOMNIA:  THE WAKING OF HERSELVES
A woman joined onstage by two other parts of herself fighting for some cohesive identity.  (A revival of CPT’s 2010 production.)

Oct 17-19
LEAP/CONCEIVE
A showcase which features short segments from larger works-in-progress and asks for audience feedback.

Nov 8-9
TEATRO PUBLICO DE CLEVELAND
CPT’s new program to create original theatre with artists from the local Latin American community.

Nov 14-17
Y-HAVEN PROJECT
CPT artists and the residents of Y-Haven, a program for homeless men with drug and alcohol problems, collaborate to create an original lay.

Nov 29-Dec 14
DOUG IS A D-BAG
An interactive work that asks the audience to turn ON their cell phones and join the trials and tribulations of Lorie & Doug as they fall out of love.

Nov 29-Dec 21
THE LOUSH SISTERS DO THE NUTCRACKER
Singing siblings Jolly and Butter Rum are back with more booze, bawdy fun and Christmas memories.  World premiere.

ENSEMBLE THEATRE
216-321-2930 or http://www.ensemble-theatre.com
Sept. 27-Oct 20
ANIMALS OUT OF PAPER
Clevelander Rajiv Joseph’s play about a world-renowned origami artist who, when she opens her studio to a teenage prodigy and his school teacher, discovers that life and love can’t be arranged as neatly as finding the perfect fold!

Nov 21-Dec 15
PRELUDE TO A KISS
At Peter and Rita’s wedding, a mysterious old man insists on kissing the bride with fascinating consequences!

GREAT LAKES THEATRE
http://www.greatlakestheater.org or 216-241-6000
Sept 27-Nov 3
RICHARD III
The rise and fall of Shakespeare’s most diabolical villain – a homicidal hunchback--on a bloody campaign to seize the English crown.

Oct 4-Nov 2
SWEENEY TODD
Stephen Sondheim’s Tony Award-winning musical tells the tale of an unjustly exiled barber’s quest to avenge the wrongs done to him and his family by a lecherous judge.

none-too-fragile
www.nonetoofragile.com or 330-671-4563
Sept 13-28
NERVE
Adam Szymkowicz’s romantic comedy about on-line dating, which alludes to the author’s idea that sociopaths also deserve love.

Nov 15-30
LAST OF THE BOYS
Steven Dietz’s dark comedy about two soldiers who were on a road outside Dak To, Vietnam, in 1967, and then find each other thirty years later in a trailer park in California and celebrate one last hurrah.

convergence continuum
convergence-continuum.org or 216-687-0074
Aug 23-Sept 12
BASED ON A TOTALLY TRUE STORY
Ethan’s world is turned comically upside down when a Hollywood producer wants to turn one of his plays into a big-budget horror movie.

Oct  11-Nov 2
LILIES, OR THE REVIVAL OF ROMANTIC DRAMA
A drama, which takes place in 1952 in the church of a prison where the jailed Simon Doucet makes a confession to his old friend, Bishop Bilodeau.

Nov 29-Dec 21
FOOL FOR LOVE
Sam Shepard’s classic humorous study of love, hate and the dying myths of the Old West.

BLANK CANVAS

440-941-0458 or www.blankcanvastheatre.com
Aug 23-Sept 7
FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIRE de LUNE
Terence McNally’s Broadway hit illuminates how two people navigate the insecurities of modern romance. Their journey is as timely as a tweet and as timeless as the full moon spilling through a window.

Oct 11-Nov 2, midnight show Oct 26 and 31
TEXAS CHAINSAW MUSICAL
A return engagement of this theatre’s award winning musical relates the coming of age story about a handsome serial killer, his overly affectionate Momma, the woman he loves, and the pantywaist runt that ruins everything.  If you don’t want to get covered in the over 15 gallons of blood spilled each night, ask to be seated in the “splatter free zone.”

Dec 6-21
GODSPELL
A contemporary rock musical centering on THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW, and featuring a score by Stephen Schwartz, which includes Day By Day.

To see a composite of the reviews of members of the Cleveland Critics Circle, go to www.clevelandtheaterreviews.com

Wednesday, August 07, 2013

Winsor French, Cleveland legend, to come to alive at Beck Center

On Friday, August 23 and Saturday, August 24, WINSOR! A FEISTY CABARET, will be produced by The Musical Theatre Project and performed at the Studio Theater in the Beck Center for the Arts.  The cabaret, with the performers seated on stools, will star Scott Plate and be directed by Victoria Bussert.  The topic of the cabaret will be Winsor French.

Who is Winsor French?   From the early 1930s until the late 1960s, Winsor French, an about-town columnist for the Cleveland News and later the Cleveland Press, and founder of PARADE magazine, was the darling of Cleveland society.

French was friends with the likes of Marlene Dietrich, Carole Lombard, Noel Coward, Somerset Maugham, Alfred Lunt, Lynn Fontanne and John Steinbeck. He was a constant house guest of Cole and Linda Porter.  He travelled with them, and wrote articles about his world adventures, and the people he hobnobbed with, in the local newspapers.

The person most influential in getting French accepted by Cleveland’s elite was
Leonard Hanna, Junior.  Hanna was a philanthropist, art collector, theatergoer, patron of the arts, director of the M. A. Hanna Company, and one of the most powerful movers and shakers in Cleveland until his death in 1957.

Hanna, like French, was gay, but not as openly out.  French often stayed at the Hanna farm in Mentor, accompanied by Roger Stearns, a well-known local pianist, his long time companion.

In a time rampant against homosexuality, French was liked and respected.  He had good looks, a remarkable ability to tell stories in his resonant Baritone voice, most commonly starting his oral tales with his column’s opening phrase, “You won’t believe this . . . ”.

French, though not a member of their religious faith, was “in” with the “Jewish Jolly Set,” the most influential Jews in Cleveland.  It was that group which is credited with showing French the value of philanthropy.  Here was another instance that, in an era of strong anti-Semitism, French was able to breach the gap, hold his influential position, espouse Jewish causes due to his connections not only with Hanna, but with Cleveland Indian’s owner Bill Veeck.

In an era of racism, French often wrote about local Black night clubs and, in the age of prohibition, told about illegal speakeasies, and even commented on the cost of their booze.

French was born in Saratoga Springs, NY.  His father, a military man, died when he was five.  His mother remarried and Winsor became the step-son of Joseph O. Eaton, founder of Cleveland’s Eaton Corporation.  He was, for a short time, married to Margaret Frueauff, whose stage name was Margaret Perry.  The Tony Awards, given for professional theatrical merit, are named after her mother,  Antoinette Perry, who was the co-founder of the Theatre Wing, which originated the awards.

The bon vivant French will long be remembered, not only for his writing about “’sepia’ entertainers, Jewish socialites, school children in wheelchairs, and men who found males more exciting than females,” but for tooling around the city in a Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud.

How did James Wood, the author of four books on the social history of Cleveland, and a long time CLEVELAND MAGAZINE columnist, come to write a book about French?

He credits the idea for OUT AND ABOUT WITH WINSOR FRENCH to “Margaret Halle Sherwin, who loved Winsor French and for a short time—not more than an hour or two—was engaged to marry this remarkable man.”

As Wood related in a conference call interview, “long time friend, Margaret, met me for lunch.”  She said, “After you finish the Halle book [HALLE’S: MEMOIRS OF A FAMILY DEPARTMENT STORE] you need to do Winsor French.  She kept after me.  The task was daunting.  There appeared to be no correspondence and archival materials.  One of his sisters eventually produced a letter file.”  Wood then related that he went back into the many years of columns and found a treasure-trove of information.  He realized that what he had was information about “a clever guy, writing with gay subtext.”  He was fascinated by “what French could do when, as a homosexual man he should have been in the closet.”

Though the suggestion for the book came in 1985, it took Wood until 2011 to get it published.

How did the staged version come into existence?  While Wood was interviewing Winsor’s sister, Martha Hickox, she said, “I wish you were writing a play, rather than a book.  An actor could portray Winsor better than a biographer.”

“Eventually, I gave a list of Winsor’s favorite songs to Bill Rudman, contemporary Cleveland’s connoisseur of musical theatre and cabaret.  I asked him if he thought they might be the basis for a show.  He said, ‘Maybe, if you would write the script.’”

Though there are no definite plans for anything other than the local staged readings, Wood, who will be in attendance at all three performances, and available for post-production talk backs, is interested in hearing how audiences react.  After that, he states, “Who knows?”

Only time will tell whether Wood, Rudman, Bussert and Plate will “fulfill Martha’s observation and give life to Winsor through a live theatrical performance of his favorite music.”

You can be part of history by attending one of the performances.  For $22 tickets call 216-245-8687 or visit musicaltheaterproject.org.

Post note:  My appreciation to James M. Wood and Bill Rudman for participating in a conference call on August 4, 2013, which is the basis for much of this article.  RMB

Monday, August 05, 2013

Cleveland theatre calendar--Fall, 2013

CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE
216-241-6000 or go to www.clevelandplayhouse.com
Sept 13-Oct 6
WOODY SEZ:  THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF WOODY GUTHRIE
A musical that uses over 25 legendary songs in an examination of Woody Guthrie’s life.

Nov 1-24
VENUS IN FUR
The award winning script, which is based on a novel by the man who named sado-masochism, is a  two-person comedy which acts out power games in a play within a play blurring reality and fantasy.

Nov 29-Dec 22
A CHRISTMAS STORY
In honor of the 30th anniversary of the Cleveland based film, CPH reinvents one of its previous “must see” shows.

DOBAMA
216-932-3396 or dobama.org
Sept 6-Oct 6
TIME STANDS STILL
Focuses on a photojournalist and a foreign correspondent who return to Brooklyn and find themselves trying to find balance and happiness after being physically and emotionally scarred while covering conflicts in the Middle East.

Oct 25-Nov 23
COCK
A drama which takes a playful, candid look at hetero-, bi- and homo sexuality and the difficulties that arise when people realize they have a choice

Dec 6-Jan 5, 2014
THE BIG MEAL
Set at a single restaurant table and spanning over 80 years, it tells the story of five generations of a family through one unending metaphoric meal, starting from a young couple’s first meeting and ending with a visit from their great-grandchild.

PLAYHOUSESQUARE
216-241-6000 or go to www.playhousesquare.org.
Oct 1-13
SLEEPING BEAUTY, A GOTHIC ROMANCE
Michael Bourne’s record breaking West End London production of the classic ballet with a gothic twist.

Nov 12-24
ONCE
A tale of living your dreams rather than your fears, this winner of eight Tony Awards tells the tale of a Dublin street musician who’s about to give up on his dreams when a young woman takes an interest in his haunting love songs.

Dec 4-Jan 5, 2014
WICKED
Broadway’s blockbuster is back by popular demand!  Long before that girl from Kansas arrived in Munchkinland, two girls met in the land of OZ….the rest is theatrical and fantasy history!

Sept. 7; Oct. 5; Nov. 2      
FREE PLAYHOUSESQUARE TOURS
90-minute backstage and on the stage tours which relate not only the visual aspects of PlayhouseSquare’s 10 theatres, but facts and anecdotes. No reservations are needed for individual participants, but groups of 10-or-more are asked to call ahead at 216-771-4444.

Beck Center
216-521-2540 or http://www.beckcenter.org
Sept 7-8
MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG IN CONCERT
A Sondheim provocative musical about the friendship of three young artists and what happens when the composer’s idealism is challenged by temptations.
Songs include;  “Not a Day Goes By,” “Good Thing Going” and “Our Time.”

Sept 20-Oct 20
SHE LOVES ME
Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock’s romantic musical about a pair of feuding clerks in a 1930s European parfumerie who secretly find romance in an unexpected way.

Oct 11-Nov 17
33 VARIATIONS
Written by the author of THE LARAMIE PROJECT, concurrently examines the creative process behind Beethoven’s DIABELLI VARIATIONS and the journey of musicologist Katherine Brandt to discover why Beethoven was compelled to write thirty-three distinct variations on a simple theme.  It features Stuart Raleigh on piano.

Dec 6-Jan 5, 2014
ANNIE
Leapin’ Lizards! The sun will come out tomorrow, and Miss Hannigan, the orphans, Sandy, Daddy Warbucks and the schemes of the comic book characters, are reprised once again!  It’s back on Broadway, why not at Beck?

Actor’s Summit
330-374-7568 or go to www.actorssummit.org
Oct 10-Nov 3
A GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING
A tribute to Rogers and Hammerstein with songs from CAROUSEL, OKLAHOMA!, THE KING AND I, SOUTH PACIFIC and SOUND OF MUSIC.

Nov 27-Dec 22
THE FARMDALE AVENUE HOUSING ESTATE TOWNSWOMEN’S GUILD DRAMATIC SOCIETY  PRESENTS “A CHRISTMAS CAROL”
A holiday farce, in the tradition of Monty Python, when the ladies of TFAHETGDS tackle Dickens for a loss.
CLEVELAND PUBLIC THEATRE
216-631-2727 or go on line to www.cptonline.org
Sept 26-Oct 6
SPRINGBOARD
Presentations of new scripts by local artists with post-show discussions.

Oct10-26
INSOMNIA:  THE WAKING OF HERSELVES
A woman joined onstage by two other parts of herself fighting for some cohesive identity.  (A revival of CPT’s 2010 production.)

Oct 17-19
LEAP/CONCEIVE
A showcase which features short segments from larger works-in-progress and asks for audience feedback.

Nov 8-9
TEATRO PUBLICO DE CLEVELAND
CPT’s new program to create original theatre with artists from the local Latin American community.

Nov 14-17
Y-HAVEN PROJECT
CPT artists and the residents of Y-Haven, a program for homeless men with drug and alcohol problems, collaborate to create an original lay.

Nov 29-Dec 14
DOUG IS A D-BAG
An interactive work that asks the audience to turn ON their cell phones and join the trials and tribulations of Lorie & Doug as they fall out of love.

Nov 29-Dec 21
THE LOUSH SISTERS DO THE NUTCRACKER
Singing siblings Jolly and Butter Rum are back with more booze, bawdy fun and Christmas memories.  World premiere.

ENSEMBLE THEATRE
216-321-2930 or http://www.ensemble-theatre.com
Sept. 27-Oct 20
ANIMALS OUT OF PAPER
Clevelander Rajiv Joseph’s play about a world-renowned origami artist who, when she opens her studio to a teenage prodigy and his school teacher, discovers that life and love can’t be arranged as neatly as finding the perfect fold!

Nov 21-Dec 15
PRELUDE TO A KISS
At Peter and Rita’s wedding, a mysterious old man insists on kissing the bride with fascinating consequences!

GREAT LAKES THEATRE
http://www.greatlakestheater.org or 216-241-6000
Sept 27-Nov 3
RICHARD III
The rise and fall of Shakespeare’s most diabolical villain – a homicidal hunchback--on a bloody campaign to seize the English crown.

Oct 4-Nov 2
SWEENEY TODD
Stephen Sondheim’s Tony Award-winning musical tells the tale of an unjustly exiled barber’s quest to avenge the wrongs done to him and his family by a lecherous judge.

none-too-fragile
www.nonetoofragile.com or 330-671-4563
Sept 13-28
NERVE
Adam Szymkowicz’s romantic comedy about on-line dating, which alludes to the author’s idea that sociopaths also deserve love.

Nov 15-30
LAST OF THE BOYS
Steven Dietz’s dark comedy about two soldiers who were on a road outside Dak To, Vietnam, in 1967, and then find each other thirty years later in a trailer park in California and celebrate one last hurrah.

convergence continuum
convergence-continuum.org or 216-687-0074
Aug 23-Sept 12
BASED ON A TOTALLY TRUE STORY
Ethan’s world is turned comically upside down when a Hollywood producer wants to turn one of his plays into a big-budget horror movie.

Oct  11-Nov 2
LILIES, OR THE REVIVAL OF ROMANTIC DRAMA
A drama, which takes place in 1952 in the church of a prison where the jailed Simon Doucet makes a confession to his old friend, Bishop Bilodeau.
Nov 29-Dec 21
LOVE FOR LOVE
Sam Shepard’s classic humorous study of love, hate and the dying myths of the Old West.

BLANK CANVAS
440-941-0458 or www.blankcanvastheatre.com
Aug 23-Sept 7
FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIRE de LUNE
Terence McNally’s Broadway hit illuminates how two people navigate the insecurities of modern romance. Their journey is as timely as a tweet and as timeless as the full moon spilling through a window.

Oct 11-Nov 2, midnight show Oct 26 and 31
TEXAS CHAINSAW MUSICAL
A return engagement of this theatre’s award winning musical relates the coming of age story about a handsome serial killer, his overly affectionate Momma, the woman he loves, and the pantywaist runt that ruins everything.  If you don’t want to get covered in the over 15 gallons of blood spilled each night, ask to be seated in the “splatter free zone.”

Dec 6-21
GODSPELL
A contemporary rock musical centering on THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW, and featuring a score by Stephen Schwartz, which includes Day By Day.

To see a composite of the reviews of members of the Cleveland Critics Circle, go to www.clevelandtheaterreviews.com


Verb Ballets presents uneven evening of dance; dance preview

Verb Ballets’ SUMMER SERIES, recently danced on the stage of the Evans Amphitheatre at Cain Park, was a mélange of dance styles.  Salsa, traditional ballet, and contemporary dance forms were features of the evening.

MOZEL TOV MI AMIGOS, choreographed by Hollywood’s Daryl Gray, opened the program.  Supposedly intertwining the influences of Jewish and South American cultures, it featured the music of Larry Harlow, known for fusing jazz and Puerto Rican salsa.  It was billed as an exploration of sounds that evolved from the Jews who fled the expulsions of Spain and Portugal to the New World.

The concept appears to be a take-off on “Mazeltov, Mi Amigos,” which was a strong 1960s movement by a group of young Latinos, mainly Ray Barreto and Charlie Palmieri,  which combined traditional Yiddish and Hebrew music with a Latin infusion.  It fell out of favor, but has recently had a rebirth in the Jewish-Hispanic areas in Florida.

The Gray-Harlow dance version was missing the Jewish influence both in dance style and musical sound.

The dancers, especially the male members, showed little understanding of the language of the Salsa dance form.   Salsa dancers move with an 8-count rhythm, shifting weight while keeping the upper body level which causes the hips to gyrate, while incorporating distinct arm and shoulder movements in time to fast, heavily accented music.   Many of these dancers tended to sway and move their arms in flowing balletic motions, rather than quick snap of Salsa.

The circle formations, which may have been Gray’s attempt to duplicate the Hora, were generally ragged, with unequal spacing between the dancers and lacked the footwork that would have separated it from the Salsa moves.  Even if well executed, the Hora is Israeli and Eastern European, not Hispanic Jewish.

Harlow’s music, though well conceived in the Latin beat, was missing the cantorial and Sephardic Jewish sounds.

The overall effect was more “oy vey” (“woe, is me”) than Mazeltov (“congratulations”).

ANDANTE SOSTENUTO was an excellent Heinz Poll classic ballet.  Brian Murphy, the strongest male dancer in the company, has strong balletic skills.  Having danced with Poll’s Ohio Ballet, he is familiar with the nuances that makes Poll’s choreography compelling and uniquely his.

Murphy exquisitely partnered Stephanie Krise, who showcased excellent point-work and body control.  Danced to Mendelssohn’s “Second Movement Piano Concerto #2, in D minor,” the lush sounds of the music were accented by the dancers smooth movements.

DARK MATTER, a contemporary piece choreographed by Tommie-Waheed Evans, was danced to the sounds of Greg Smith, as designed by Jordan Shannon. 

The dynamic athletic choreography mirrored the atonal sounds.  Movement patterns were often complicated, and seemed beyond the abilities of some of the male dancers, who had difficulty forming parallel lines and co-ordinate moving both hands and bodies as a unit.  Though overly long, the overall effect of the controlled chaotic piece overshadowed some of the dancers’ weaknesses.  

Trad Burns’ lighting highlighted the movement and sound textures.   Leslie Miller’s featured dancing was extremely well executed.

PASSING, by Cleveland dancer and choreographer Antonio Brown, was a contemporary dance piece combining modern, classical, gymnastic, and jazz styles of movement.

The movements were nicely lit by Trad Burns who painted rectangular spots of light on the floor into which the dancers moved in and out with creative results.

Brown is maturing as a choreographer as can be noted by his increased use of a variety of movements and texturing of action, though he still has too much walking, almost like he can’t figure out to do with the dancers between their action segments.

Verb has a consistently excellent women’s corps.  It needs to reexamine its stable of male dancers.  Besides Brian Murphy, who is reaching the upper age level of dancers, the males are generally not consistent and often show performance weaknesses.

Capsule judgement:  Verb Ballets’ SUMMER SERIES was, with the exception of the opening number, a pleasant, if not compelling evening of dance.

Dance previews:

GROUNDWORKS DANCE, presents Cain Park Summer Series, August 16, 17 @ 7 p.m., August 18 @ 2 p.m., Alma Theatre.  Program includes a world premiere of an Amy Miller piece, and “My Hummingbird on the High Line,” a commissioned work by Doug Elkins and “Before with After” by Artistic Director David Shimotakahara. (http://www.groundworksdance.org)

VERB BALLETS, September 28, 2013, “Highlights from the summer repertory and previews of works by Verb Dancers, Akron Civic Theatre; October 11-12, @ 7 p.m. World Premiere, SOLDIER’S PROJECT FRESH INVENTIONS @ Dobama Theatre @8.  (http://www.verballets.org)

DANCE CLEVELAND, presents BALLET X on October 5 @ E. J. Thomas Hall, University of Akron @ 8 p.m.  “Ballet X .  . . captures the push and pull of relationships in sweeping partnered phrases.”  (http://www.dancecleveland.org)