Artistic Director Nathan Motta says of Joshua Harmon’s SIGNIFICANT OTHER, which is having its regional premiere at Dobama, “This play is both a fun night out at the theatre to share with friends and a thought-provoking examination of adult relationships, emotional wellness, and the ways we connect with the people in the world around us.” | |
Tuesday, May 07, 2024
Angst-filled, laugh-centric SIGNIFICANT OTHER gets outstanding production at Dobama
Friday, May 03, 2024
Reimagined COMPANY lights up Connor Palace as part of Key Bank Broadway Series
His musicals introduced the “darker elements” of human experiences. “His music and lyrics were tinged with complexity, sophistication, and ambivalence about various aspects of life.”
He opened the door to “serious” topics that emerged in such musicals as RENT, NEXT TO NORMAL, DEAR EVAN HANSEN and HAMILTON.
He won eight Tony Awards, an Academy Award, eight Grammy Awards and the Pulitzer Prize.
“A theater is named after him both on Broadway and in the West End of London.”
His works include GYPSY, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET, INTO THE WOODS and WEST SIDE STORY.
Included in his lexicon is COMPANY, an adaptation of which is now on stage at the Connor Palace, as part of the Key Bank Broadway Series. He wrote the music and lyrics, with a book by George Furth, which deals with “contemporary dating, marriage, and divorce.”
As Sondheim wrote, COMPANY is about "the challenge of maintaining relationships in a society becoming increasingly depersonalized. As the musical points out, it is the key to "being alive."
The original 1970 production was nominated for a record-setting 14 Tony Awards, winning six.
In the early 1990s, Furth and Sondheim revised the libretto, cutting and altering dialogue that had become dated and rewriting the end of act one.
COMPANY tells the story of Robbie, a confirmed bachelor who, on the night of his 35th birthday, contemplates his unmarried status with the “help” of his married, divorced, happy, frustrated, gay and straight friends.
In 2020 there was a 3rd Broadway revival of the show, based on the 2018 West End production. It opened December 9, 2021, to broad acclaim. It featured a Bobbie who was a female, rather than the original male lead character. In addition, the very delightful, “Getting married today,” sung by a prospective bride who is on the verge of a nervous breakdown caused by pre-marriage fears, is now sung by a gay male.
“Five days before he died, Sondheim discussed the revival's change of the lead character's gender. He expressed how theater is distinguished from film and video because "you can do it in different ways from generation to generation…What keeps theater alive is the chance always to do it differently, with not only fresh casts, but fresh viewpoints. It's not just a matter of changing pronouns, but attitudes."
The newest version became the most nominated musical revival of the season, receiving nine Tony Award nominations and winning five including Best Revival of a Musical. It is this version of the script that is in on tour in Cleveland.
The production well-develops the original, along with the adjusted story changes. The female Bobbie has the additional angst of her ticking body clock, as well as taking a more assertive gender role.
The technical approach is modern, using many electronic graphics rather than traditional set pieces. The orchestrations have also been modernized, as have been the costumes and the language.
The score, filled with musical theater classics including the title song, “You Could Drive a Person Crazy,” “Another Hundred People,” “Marry Me A Little,” “Side by Side,” “Barcelona,” and “Being Alive,” are all well-presented.
Matt Rodin (Jamie), gives a show-stopping, rapid patter delightful dynamism to “Getting Married Today,” while, Judy McLane (Joanne), hits all the emotional levels in “Ladies Who Lunch.”
Though well-versed theater-goers, who have grown-up with a male Bobbie, may have some trouble adjusting to a female Bobbie, Britney Coleman should be able to win most of them over. She develops a clear character, sings well, and is generally convincing.
The show is well-conceived and staged by director Marianne Elliot.
Capsule judgment: The “new” gender-bender, reconceptualized COMPANY, nicely displays how a script can grow and become relevant, once again, in the hands of the right writing and production crew. It makes for a feeling of “Being Alive” while you are “Side by Side by Side” with other joyous theater-goers.
COMPANY runs through May 19, 2024 at the Connor Palace. For tickets: 216-241-6000 or www.playhousesquare.org
Monday, April 29, 2024
ALWAYS...PATSY CLINE
Hall facially resembles Cline, but It is difficult to accept her as being the right age image for the role. As the man sitting next to me, who was obviously well-versed in his “Patsy Cline,” emphatically stated, “She’s too long-in-tooth for the role!” I also wish she had emotionally “let loose” in some of her songs. After a while, they all sounded the same. Capsule judgment: Hey, “Stupid Cupid,” if you have “True Love” for country music, you’ll have “Sweet Dreams” and feel “True Love” when you think back to having seen ALWAYS…PATSY CLINE. For the rest of us, “Come on In and Make Yourself at Home” and realize that you are not “Crazy” for being a semi-fan and not echoing the Patsyites yelling, “How Great Thou Art.” ALWAYS…PATSY CLINE runs at Great Lakes Theater from April 26 through May 19, 2024. For tickets go to https://www.greatlakestheater.org or call (216) 241-6000. | |
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
Audience-pleasing 9 to 5: The Musical at CVLT
9 to 5: The Musical is a theatre piece based on the 1980 hit film, with music and lyrics by Dolly Parton and a book by Patricia Resnick. It is now on stage at Chagrin Valley Little Theatre.
In spite of many awards, and positive audience reaction, the show’s Broadway production was brief. After 24 previews, it only ran for 148 performances. The 2010 national tour, in spite of a very shallow and predictable story, was generally well received.
The rock musical tells the story of three women, who have finally had it with their overbearing, sexual abusive and egotistical boss. They kidnap him, reform their office, and, as in all good farcical fantasies, revenge the male-dominated business, and, much to the delight of the women’s lib movement lovers, take over the operation.
At the end of the “regular” storytelling, The characters deliver epilogues about what happened after the events of the story. The boss, Hart, we are told, “was captured by natives in the jungles of Bolivia and was never seen or heard from again.” One of our heroines, Roz, found a new love - Hart's wife. Violet and Joe, the plays young lovers, “have been together for the past 30 years and are very happy together.” Doralee, the second of our winners, went to Nashville and became a successful country and western singer. Judy, the remaining female avenger, stayed single and became a regular guest on “The View” after writing a bestselling book, Life Without Dick.
Though there are no songs from the score, besides the title tune, which became hits, several get strong performances in the CVT production. “I Just Might” gets a fine interpretation by Violet (Tara Corkery), Judy (Stephanie Malfara), Doralee (Marybeth Knode) and the Ensemble. “Portion Notion” is cutely presented by Corkery, while “Let Love Grow” is presented as a fine duet by Joe (Isaac Siemer) and, Violet, his lady love. “Get Out and Stay Out” is a fine solo by Stephanie Malfara.
Director Brenton Cochran, seems to know his audience well, stressing the comic aspects of the show and giving the amateur performers the opportunity to over-act, pull-off many overdone double-takes, play with the audience and perform over-done actions, to the delight of those in attendance. There are few shticks and gimmicks that Cochran doesn’t pull of out his bag of tricks.
Music Director David W. Coxe has his musicians well-tuned. Jennifer Justice’s often over-enthusiastic choreography, which mainly consisting of straight line, synchronized movements, is a challenge for some of the cast. In spite of that, the audience met every dance number with enthusiastic applause.
The crew deserves a special hurrah for their smoothly moving set pieces and furniture so smoothy and effectively.
Capsule judgment: 9 to 5 is not a great script nor does it have sublime music, but it is a fine vehicle for a community theatre. It has many opportunities for actors to let loose and delight the audience, and, delight the audience is exactly what the CVLT cast, crew and musicians do!
9 to 5 runs through April 13, 2024 at Chagrin Valley Little Theatre, 40 River Street, Chagrin Falls. For tickets go to CVLT.org or call 440-247-8955.
Monday, March 25, 2024
Seat Of The Pants Productions examines BACH AT LEIPZIG
BACH AT LEIPZIG, which was first presented at Hangar Theatre in Ithaca, NY, in 2002, was subsequently presented Off Broadway. It is a tale of aging, betrayal, death, politics, and religion.
The two-act, over two-hour long historical comedy is, according to the author, based on a 1722 true story, set in Leipzig, Germany, precipitated by the death of Johannn Kuhnau, the local cathedral’s revered organist. This is a prestigious position and questions arise as to not only who will replace him and but the kind of antics the candidates will undertake, including blackmail, bribery, and lying, to win the position.
Written in a fugue-like, structured format, though he never speaks a line, and we never see him, per se, Bach is the play’s central character.
Interestingly, though he was finally hired, in an interview the play’s author, states, “Absurd that anyone was hired over Bach for a musician’s job, but, in reality, he was the 3rd choice.” Some of this may be due to the fact that “Bach's St. John Passion was considered controversial and rarely performed because its libretto — the words Bach set to music — come from Martin Luther's idiosyncratic translation of the Gospel of John, which characterizes Jews as enemies of Jesus (conveniently overlooking that Jesus was a Jew).”
The Seat of the Pants production has moments of humor, though not as fun-filled as reviews from other productions advertise. Filled with some overacting, and farce rather than comedic line interpretations, the cast at times didn’t seem completely sure how to interpret some of the lines.
Though written for an all-male cast, this production is composed of five females and 2 males.
Interestingly, the word “he” is used to describe all the candidates in dialogue. In reality, though by societal prescription of the time required it, there would be no reason for all the candidates be male.
The cast, Heidi Harris, (Cleveland Critics Circle and Broadwayworld.com-Cleveland Outstanding Actor) Scott Esposito, Kadijah Wingo, Luke Wehner, Molly McFadden and Carolyn Demanelis each develops a consistent character.
Director Michael Glavan has added some creative staging touches. George McCarty II’s costumes are era correct.
Franklin Circle Christian Church’s facility adds an intimacy and “holy” presence to the production.
Capsule judgment: Seat of the Pants Productions has a purpose of “selecting plays which raise potent questions - some specific to today and others that speak to human nature across the ages.” BACH AT LEIPZIG fulfills that mission. Though it makes for a long sit, the play will be of interest for those interested in historical biographies, classic music and unusual play scripts.
March 22 - April 7, 2024
Fridays and Saturdays--7:30 PM / Sundays-2:30 PM
NO PERFORMANCE on Sunday, March 31st Additional 2:30 PM Matinee on April 6th
Franklin Circle Christian Church
1688 Fulton Road
Cleveland, OH 44113
For tickets go to www.seatofthepants.org.
THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR is a farcical delight at Great Lakes Theater
THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR was first published in 1602. It takes place in the town of Windsor, the location of the famed Windsor Castle in Berkshire, England, thus the title.
“Key themes of Merry Wives include love and marriage, jealousy and revenge, social class and wealth.”
In brief, we watch as “Falstaff arrives in Windsor very short on money. He decides that, to obtain financial advantage, he will court two wealthy married women, Mistress Ford and Mistress Page. Falstaff decides to send the women identical love letters and asks his servants to deliver them to the wives. When they refuse, Falstaff sacks them, and, in revenge, the men tell the husbands Ford and Page of Falstaff's intentions. Page is not concerned, but the jealous Ford persuades the Host of the Garter Inn to introduce him to Falstaff as a 'Master Brook' so that he can find out Falstaff's plans.”
Thus, we are off on a merry farce with lots of pratfalls, double-takes, over-acting, bad accents, misguided love, jealousy, revenge, blackmail, mayhem and a happy ending!
Every aspect of the GLT production is sublime.
Farce is hard to perform…the timing, the controlled overacting, the unrealistic realism must be precise. In this production, it is!
The playful set (a Jeff Hermann conception) of lime green outlined houses of Tudor design, creative costumes (Daniele Tyler Mathews creations) with hand-painted flower patterns that mimic the vertical stage curtains, sprightly music (Matthew Webb compositions) and attempts at dancing, all add to this smile-along.
GLT newcomer, Daniel T. Parker, was seemingly born to play Falstaff, the knight of mischief. He is delightful and perfectly villain-light, making us cheer each time he gets embarrassed and maimed!
Jessie Cope Miller (Mrs. Ford) and Jodi Dominick (Mrs. Page) cavort with glee as Falstaff’s tormentors.
Jeffrey C. Hawkins, over-acts with positive effect as the up-tight Mr. Ford. Anthony Michael Martinez (Dr. Caius) and Nick Steen (Sir Hugh Evans), use overdone accents to enhance their over-blown characterizations.
The rest of the cast walks the difficult rail of being farcical without over doing it.
Congrats to director Terri McMahon for keeping the whole production light and fun and engaging.
Capsule judgment: Though generally described as a lesser work, with the right production, the tale of Falstaff, the rotund rascal who attempts, unsuccessfully, to woo and con the two wealthiest married ladies in the town of Windsor, can be a delight. GLT’s staging, with its glorious set, entrancing costumes, and wonderful acting is so good, that even if you aren’t a Bardophile, it’s a must-see
Next up at GLT: ALWAYS PATSY CLINE, a musical celebration of the country legend, April 26-May 19, 2024.
For tickets https://www.greatlakestheater.org (216) 241-6000.
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Existential REQUIEM probes the meaning of life at Cleveland Public Theatre
Hanoch Levin is considered by many to be the most successful of Israeli playwrights. REQUIEM, which is now on stage at Cleveland Public Theatre, with support from Cleveland-Israel Arts Connection and the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation, is one of the most well-known of Levin’s plays. He wrote the script after receiving a diagnosis of terminal cancer. The work premiered at the Cameri Theatre of Tel Aviv in 1999 and is the longest running play for adults in Israel. Based on three short stories by Anton Chekhov, REQUIEM (“ASHKAVA” in Hebrew) was woven by Levin into one story. As is true of existential plays, yes, Levin, as was Edward Albee, Samuel Becket and Jean-Paul Sartre, a question-asker. His play asks such questions as why do we exist?, what is the purpose of life?, and what is the best way to live that life? As perceived by Levin, the tale centers on an elderly couple, a mother trying to save her dying baby, as well as wagon drivers, drunks and prostitutes, all of whom are seeking answers to the reasons for their existence. Ironically, that is probably the same question that Levin asked himself when he received his death sentence diagnosis. Shimrit Ron, the Director of the Hanoch Levin Institute of Israeli Drama, in his CPT program notes, indicates that the script has been translated into twenty-seven languages, toured all over the world, yet this is the first production of REQUIEM in the US. As excited as it is to have a national premiere of an important script, the question as to why has it taken almost 25 years for this masterpiece to land in America, must be asked. Ron states, regarding this era and this production, “I hope that all the elderly couple, all the mothers who carried their babies and all who have traveled on life’s wagons (including the 134 hostages who were transported in white pickup trucks on October 7 [the date the Hamas terrorists invaded Israel] will return safely to their homes very soon.” The CPT production, under the adept direction of Raymond Bobgan, the theatre’s Executive Artistic Director, is creatively staged. Using the philosophical view that Levin’s “plays spring from a wild imagination and prioritized theatricality over realism,” Bobgan demands the audience use their imaginations to not only understand the play’s inner message, but accept that what is taking place is symbolic, not realistic. Bobgan comes to the play well prepared. He travelled to Israeli to research the project and availed himself of the Cleveland Israel Arts Connection and the Cleveland Jewish Community Federation to gain understanding of the playwright, as well as the religious and ethnic foundation on which the script was written. The cast, headed by Peter Lawson Jones as the Old Man, the fulcrum of the story, is excellent. It is difficult to create characters whose lines are not always not easily understood by the audience, and which are often symbolic, not literal in meaning. Lawson clearly develops a character struggling to understand life and death. He confronts his wives and his impending death asking questions, getting no answers, yet continuing on. He is aptly accompanied on the journey by Venetia Whatley, as the Old Lady. Underlying meanings have been keyed by Ryan Charles Ramer’s original compositions. Catherine Anne Pace’s video scenery help create the proper moods. Cameron Caley Michalak has created scenery that allows for the breaking of the realistic third wall centering on a center-stage turntable and abstract set pieces. Capsule judgment: REQUIEM is a play that is neither easy to understand nor to immediately grasp its meaning. It takes a while of after-thought and some mulling over what one has just experienced to gain self-awareness. It is not a play for anyone who goes to the theatre for pure entertainment. This script and production are not entertaining in the normal sense. As with all existential theatrical experiences, it takes work to not only sit through the production, but allow yourself time to gain its message. REQUIEM continues at CPT, in the Gordon Square neighborhood, through April 6, 2024. For tickets call 216.631.2727 ext. 501 or go to https://www.cptonline.org/get-tickets/ For other Cleveland-Israel Arts Connection activities go to https://www.accessjewishcleveland.org/programs/jewish-federation-of-cleveland-israel-arts-connection/ | |
Monday, March 18, 2024
ORDINARY DAYS--Creative script, inventive staging and impressive performances
Adam Gwon, who wrote the music and lyrics for ORDINARY DAYS, which recently finished its run as part of the Playhouse Square/Baldwin Wallace annual collaboration, was in attendance at the brief 3-day run. In fact, he has been a part of the production since an early rehearsal when he visited with the cast and creative team. He also did a talkback after the Saturday evening performance.
Gwon was selected as one of The Dramatist magazine's "50 to Watch" and praised by The New York Timesas "a promising newcomer to our talent-hungry musical theater with songs that are funny, urbane, with a sweetness that doesn't cloy."
ORDINARY DAYS is a 1 hour 25-minute original musical, that “follows the contemporary and intimate experiences of four young New Yorkers as they navigate the complexities of love, loss, and self-discovery in the bustling city. The characters grapple with personal challenges, relationships, and the pursuit of meaning and love, creating a touching and relatable narrative.”
The play, much like the new trend in dramatic musicals, doesn’t follow the traditional format of two-act, Golden Age of the American scripts. It is a series of interconnected scenes, in which the characters and plot unfold through songs and no dialogue. Think of it as an opera without the arias, overblown characters or overly dramatic plots.
In ORDINARY DAYS we meet two young New York couples, Warren and Deb and Jason and Claire. The former become acquainted when Claire, a college student loses her diary, which contains notes for her dissertation. Jason, a free-spirited artist, with a secret to hide, who distributes square pieces of colored-paper adorned with affirmation phrases on the streets of the Big Apple.
After an exhausting search through the galleries of the New York Museum of Art, the duo finally gets-together to exchange the diary. The meeting is in front of Warren’s favorite painting, a piece of art that Deb doesn’t appreciate. Conflictual attraction takes place. We all know where this storyline is going to go!
Danny BÓ, he of owl eyes, mobile face and Shirley Temple curls, is delightful as Warren. The diminutive BW senior, who has been seen on-stage at such venues as Great Lakes Theater, Beck Center and The Idaho Shakespeare Center, has a wonderful touch for comedy and farce, and his magnetism lights up the stage. He is definitely Broadway ready and we should see him on NY stages in a short time.
Jaedynn Latter, who portrays Deb, is a charming Southern California BW Musical Arts student, and a perfect match for BÓ. She, too, knows how to play comedy and captivate an audience. She has a fine singing voice, as evidenced in “Calm,” one of the shows highlights. “Beautiful,” a Warren and Deb duo was captivating.
In contrast to the quirky Warren and Deb, Jason (Dario Alvarez) and Claire (Maggie Solimine) are the tales serious duo. He is in love and carries an engagement ring, just waiting for the opportune moment to pop the question. She has a deep secret that is stopping her from making a complete commitment to Jason or, as it turns out, anyone. Their “Fine” is cute and a score standout.
Both Alvarez and Solimine, as should be expected from students enrolled in one of the finest musical theater programs in the country and being trained by the likes of Victoria Bussert, the multi-Cleveland Critics Circle and BroadwayWorld-Cleveland best director awards winner and the Director of the BW Musical Theatre program, have fine singing voices and performed well.
The Helen’s black box intimate theatre, Matthew Webb’s music (though I would have preferred a small orchestra to soften sound of the harshness of a single piano), and Russ Borski’s scenic, costume and lighting designs, all added to the quality of the production.
Gwon, says of Bussert and Baldwin Wallace, “I've always admired Vicky, for being really invested and investing her students in the process of new work...one of the things I love about writing shows is that you're really you…let other people bring their point of view and put their own stamp on it, and that to me is something that's so exciting about theatre is that every production is going to be different, because every team of people is bringing something new to the piece.
He continues, “The show is built to have that kind of openness to interpretation. It's not meant to be replicated exactly the same way every time. The script is the same, the songs are the same, but the interpretation is always so different, so, I'm particularly excited to see how Vicky's interpretation and my reaction to it will have evolved as we've evolved as people since the show came into our lives.”
He also stated, “One of the reasons I find Baldwin Wallace's Music Theater program so exciting is that they are…invested in what's coming down the pike, the new writers, the new musicals, which I think is such a vital part of not only the theatre community that the students are going to enter…but just the lifeblood of theatre as an art form. If we're not introducing audiences and introducing new artists to new work, we're just recycling the same old thing, and that's not how art moves forward.”
Capsule judgement: It’s a shame that the show only ran four performances. It is the type of production that develops a cult following and could have run on and on in an open-ended -format. Personally, I was enamored by the script, found the members of the Downtown cast wonderful (the show is double cast, with Anthony Maja, Kenna Wilson, Luke Henson and Jessi Kirtey being the Uptown cast), and not only would I have liked to see that cast, but would have excitedly encouraged everyone to see the show!
To experience the BW Musical Theatre program students, consider attending:
Baldwin Wallace Music Theatre –A benefit in memory of Kyle Jean Baptiste
Thursday March 21, 7:30 pm
$20 Tickets HERE
Baldwin Wallace Music Theatre - Junior Class—A Sondheim Celebration!!
Thursday March 28 @ 7:30 pm
$20 Tickets HERE
Both of these programs will be @ Market Garden Brewery
1947 W. 25th Street. (In Ohio City immediately north of West Side Market)
www.marketgardenbrewery.com
Baldwin Wallace Music Theatre - Senior Showcase (the performances that students did in New Yorkfor casting directors and agents)
Monday April 29@ 7:00 pm
$20 Tickets HERE
@ Beaumont School Theater in Cleveland Heights
Sunday, March 10, 2024
SOMETHING CLEAN is compelling in its Regional Premiere at Dobama!
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Thursday, February 22, 2024
People who enjoy musicals may love FUNNY GIRL at Connor Palace!
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Tuesday, February 20, 2024
ALTER—impressive new play gets strong production at Cleveland Public Theatre
Developing an original new play script is a daunting task. The writer must have an idea, topic, or belief that they want to present in dramatic form. The script gets written, usually rewritten and then rewritten a number of times. Table readings or workshops allow the writer to “hear” the effect of the language choice and whether the intent of the script is achieved. Ideally, this “tryout” process continues until the writer is satisfied that they have achieved their intent.
ALTER, which is now in production at Cleveland Public Theatre has had extensive vetting. It’s journey to its present state started in 2017, when as author Tania Benites relates in her program notes, that she “started to explore playwriting in a workshop offered by Teatro Püblico de Cleveland. “
In 2018 the manuscript had a staged reading. An excerpt was performed in 2019 and in 2023 the play, as a whole, was presented as part of Test Flight. This led, as Benites states, “allowed me to deepen my understanding of my own story and prepare for this main stage production. “
All that work was worth the effort!
The play examines what happens when our wishes for what we want to be takes form as we work to achieve our supposed goals. Sometimes, as Benites shares with us, what we wish for alters us so much that we lose who we are and it is replaced by a “new” person. The end result may not be what we had envisioned.
As the author also states, “While I believe self-improvement is important and good, the self-help world can often become toxic and encourage the myth that you must always be optimizing and leveling up to be successful, no matter what.”
The official description calls ALTER a workplace dramedy, but the playwright sees it as more of a dark comedy with thriller and horror elements.
For the viewer this can be both a cautionary tale and a lesson in the adage “be careful what you wish for.”
The story, which is told in English with Spanish supertitles, centers on customer service representative Maria, who, using a self-help book entitled Hypnosis for Self Confidence, follows the dictates of the book in her attempt to succeed in the corporate world, as well as in her personal and family relationships. She becomes wildly successful in her job, but destroys the life of a co-worker, sends a dating relationship into a tail-spin, stumbles in her role as daughter and, eventually, eliminates her sense of self.
Director Kari Barclay keeps the actions moving along so smoothly that the 90-minute production, with no intermission, speeds right by.
The scenes are well staged, the character development clear, and the humor and tensions well honed.
Andrea de la Fuenta doesn’t act Maria, she understands the motivations of the character and develops them. She is Maria.
She is nicely balanced by Rajah Morales, M/Figure, Maria’s “alter” self.
The rest of cast, Alisha Caraballo, Mónica A. Cerpa Zúñiga, Sylka Edmonson, Lionel Morales, David L. Munnell give excellent supporting performances.
Benjamin Gantose’s set and light designs work well.
Capsule judgment: It is always interesting to see a new script in its first full production. With ALTER, the viewer not only gets to see the birth, but also experience a fine staging values. Congrats to Tania Benites for developing a meaningful play and to Cleveland Public Theatre for giving the audience a fine experience.
ALTER is playing at Cleveland Public Theatre’s James Levin Theatre, 6415 Detroit Ave., February 8-24. Tickets are choose-what-you-pay with a suggested price of $1 to $80. Visit cptonline.org for more information and to purchase.
Saturday, February 17, 2024
MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN
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