ROY BERKO HERE AND THERE:  DOBAMA, THE MUSICAL THEATRE PROJECT, MILLENNIUM THEATRE PROJECT, GREAT LAKES THEATER, CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA ALL SET TO PERFORM

 

ROY BERKO (CLEVELAND CRITICS CIRCLE, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF THEATRE CRITICS)

 

DOBAMA LOOKS AT 2020-21 SEASON

 

Nathan Motta, the Artistic Director of Cleveland’s Dobama Theater states, “Needless to say, the 20/21 season is going to look different. However, while the Dobama stage will be dark, there are many opportunities for extraordinary engagement. First, we will be collaborating with Resident Filmmaker Brian Devers and Endeavors Productions to create high-quality, filmed theatre performances that will reach a broad online audience. Second, we are leaning in to our mission of producing important new scripts through the commission and development of three world premiere plays. Finally, Dobama staff and artists will use this time of suspended in-person productions for expanded engagement with members, supporters, and the larger community through masterclasses, Q&As, happy hours, and more.”

 

For information on the theater’s plans, go to:

http://www.dobama.org/2021-season

 

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THE MUSICAL THEATRE PROJECT TAKES ON BYE, BYE BIRDIE

 

Stream Bye Bye Birdie available on Amazon Prime, iTunes, and YouTube (some fees may apply).

 

Join TMTP Thursday, October 1st at 7 PM on Zoom* for a LIVE streamed post-film discussion complete with Q&A. The link for our discussion is: https://zoom.us/j/98060526330?pwd=eFBjVTBvZnVMT0pmUisyT0M4bHBXUT09

 

Can't watch live? Email us your questions and comments ahead of time to Bill@MusicalTheaterProject.org and we'll do our best to get them in the conversation and share the video of the Q&A with you soon!

 

*Zoom is a FREE online video conferencing platform. No account is necessary to participate in this conversation.

 

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FAME THE MUSICAL STREAMS

The YouTube channel The Shows Must Go On!, which has aired several free full-length recordings of Andrew Lloyd Webber shows and NBC's live musicals, returns from its summer hiatus September 25 with Fame the Musical. 

The performance will be available to watch at 2 PM ET and will remain online for 48 hours.

Based on the 1980 film, the musical follows the lives of students at New York City’s High School of the Performing Arts (now known as La Guardia High) from auditions to their senior years. 

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MILLENNIALTHEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD

The Millennial Theatre Company, originally based out of the Akron Civic Theatre and now based in Warren, was formed four and a half years ago to engage younger people as both performers and audiences. Like all theater groups, it’s been forced to punt to delivering its work virtually. It’s currently preparing an online production of Songs for A New World, featuring a large cast of vocalists.

They wanted to do something special to mark this period of time, so the production will feature a song in memory of those who have lost their lives to Covid-19. They’re asking people to send them the names of their friends and relatives who have died, whom they will honor by showing their names and photos during this song. They’re hoping to make people more aware of the impact that the pandemic has had and drive home the fact that, far from being a “hoax,” it’s impacted the lives of people we know. Send names and photos to millennialtheatrecompany@gmail.com by Thursday October 1.

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GREAT LAKES THEATER TO STREAM GHOST LIGHT – A VIRTUAL CABARET

Great Lakes Theater (GLT) will present Ghost Light – A Virtual Cabaret Fundraiser on Saturday, October 24, 2020 at 7:30 PM. The event will afford participants an opportunity to see their favorite Great Lakes Theater artists performing Broadway showstoppers and more from the comfort of their own home. Featuring a mix of songs and stories, the event will entertain and explore “things that haunt” – including “spooky” bits of Hanna Theatre history.

 

Complete details and ticket purchasing options are available online at: www.greatlakestheater.org/ghostlightcabaret

 

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CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS STREAM ODE TO JOY

 

More than 100 musicians of The Cleveland Orchestra and Cleveland Orchestra Chorus performed Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” from his Ninth Symphony in 16 iconic public spaces across Greater Cleveland this summer. The Beethoven 9 Project, a video featuring Ode to Joy, shares the beauty of Cleveland and the joy of music during this challenging time brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic. It was posted on The Cleveland Orchestra’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube channels on September 24.

 

Local locations used for the filming include the steps of Severance Hall, Blossom Music Center, Cleveland Botanical Garden and Holden Arboretum, Lake Erie shore, historic League Park, Progressive Field, the Cleveland Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland Metroparks’s polo fields, Soldiers and Sailors memorial at Public Square, and President Garfield’s tomb in Lake View Cemetery.

 

The project can be seen at:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8eZHh9wkSw

HERE AND THERE: BLANK CANVAS’S LIVE THEATRE, CPH PLANS FOR 20-21, DR. FAUCI’S THEATRE MESSAGE and more….

BLANK CANVAS’S STILL STANDING BRINGS LIVE THEATER TO CLE

On September 11 and 12, Blank Canvas Theatre held a live multimedia drive-in theater experience in the parking lot of their 78th Street Studios’ home.  

Using a series of windows in the building, accented with spotlights and special effects, director Pat Ciamacco cobbled together 16 songs that were intended to be “catchy, memorable and entertaining,” into a one-hour audience pleasing performance.  

Both showings were sold out.

The cast (Tasha Brandt, Eric Fancher, Madeline Krucek, Kate Leight Michaleski, Pat Miller, Julie Penzvalto, Danny Simpson, Michael Snider, Ned Spear and Darius Stubs) presented songs including “Pinball Wizard,” “We Beseech Thee,” “Where Do I Go,” “I’m Going Home” and “Beautiful City.”  The evening concluded with the affirming “I’m Still Standing.” 

The band included musical director Bradley Wyner, Matthew Dolan, Rachel Woods, Jesse Hodgson, Joe Parker, Jason Stebleton and Pat Boland.   

Ryan Wolf was the stage manager, Luke Scattergood designed the costumes, Richard Ingraham designed the sound and Monica Marie Salopeck designed the projections.

The audience, seated in their cars, which were appropriately distanced 6-feet apart, honked appreciation (2 beeps max) following each song and at the conclusion of the program.

Ciamacco’s message: “Tonight’s production isn’t a traditional revue.  Hell, it’s more like therapy.  Everyone involved in making this show happen needs this. We need to create and shout into the void.  While performing through windows isn’t normal, or ideal, we cannot be more thankful to be doing LIVE THEATRE!” 

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CPH HAS ZOOM MEET AND GREET

The Tony Award winning Cleveland Play House, along with the rest of the theater world, has experienced an angst-filled existence since March 13, 2020, when theatres went black.  

It was the purpose of the CPH Donor Meet and Greet to explain that while they are not able to present productions on their stages, they are finding creative ways to continue their work, albeit virtual for now.

Artistic Director Laura Kepley and a number of her staff spent an hour sharing the latest news about the on-going artistic and educational programs and those planned for the organization’s 105^thseason.

Since, the show must go on, as of now, the 2020-2021 season will be all digital.  That might change if the pandemic is contained and Actors Equity, the union for professional actors, can relax its restrictions on under what conditions actors may perform.  

The organization’s educational theater programs, though curtailed, continue.  

Starting September 17, the theatre will be presenting THIRD WEDNESDAY, a 90 virtual session featuring guest stars, performances and conversations.  For information and tickets go to:https://www.clevelandplayhouse.com/shows/2020/theatre-thursday-sep-17  

On 10-10-2020, Cluebaret (A COMEDIC MUSICAL CABARET), will go on-line.  The cast of CPH’s box-office hit, Clue: A New Comedy ,reunites in a hilarious musical broadcast to perform their favorite showtunes from Broadway musicals. Join us for a raucous night of singing, laughs, and hijinx!  For tickets and information go to:  https://www.clevelandplayhouse.com/shows/2020/cluebaret/media
 

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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI:  WE WON'T BE ABLE TO SIT IN THEATERS UNTIL A YEAR AFTER AN EFFECTIVE CORONAVIRUS VACCINE IS CREATED.

Read more at:
https://www.businessinsider.in/science/news/fauci-we-wont-be-able-to-sit-in-theaters-until-a-year-after-an-effective-coronavirus-vaccine-is-created/articleshow/78049700.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

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 ¡VIVA BROADWAY! CONCERT

Tony, Emmy, and Oscar nominee, Antonio Banderas, has joined the all-star line-up of Playbill and The Broadway League’s upcoming ¡VIVA Broadway! concert. Banderas will perform as part of the cast of his Spanish production of A Chorus Line. Anthony Ramos (Hamilton), will lead the reunion of the original Broadway cast of the Tony-winning musical. 

¡VIVA Broadway! Hear Our Voices is a digital concert in celebration of Latinx Heritage Month as well as Latinx milestones on Broadway and in theatre writ large, featuring an extraordinary roster of award-winning stage and screen Latinx talent. Hosted by Drama Desk Award winner Andréa Burns (In the Heights, On Your Feet!), the concert will premiere on Playbill.com and Playbill’s YouTube Channel October 1 at 8PM ET and remain available for viewing until October 5 at 8PM ET.

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TOO MANY CHEFS SPOIL THE SOUP!

The Jovialities Entertainment Company of Elyria will be presenting an online murder mystery, “Too Many Chefs Spoil the Soup!,” via Zoom, on Saturday, September 26, 2020 at 7PM.  To get tickets link to  https://bit.ly/3aMsN58 

Tickets are $15 each, space is limited to 90 tickets, but each ticket is a GROUP ticket, so you can purchase one ticket and invite as many people as you are comfortable inviting into your home to view the event.  After purchasing your ticket, you will be provided a Zoom meeting link code and a password to enter the event. Guessing forms will be sent out in advance and collected at the end of the mystery via a Google Form and tabulated the night of the event for a prize valued at $25.

BERKO: HERE AND THERE—TOUR PLAYHOUSE SQUARE THEATRES, OHIOSHAKES RADIO PLAY, DOBAMA OFFERINGS, KARAMU & CPT GET GRANTS

 

SEE CLEVELAND’S PLAYHOUSE SQUARE LIKE YOU'VE NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE! Playhouse Square is excited to be in the planning stages to offer affordable and unprecedented tours inside the historic Playhouse Square theaters. With attention to an extremely safe and socially-distanced approach, we will give participants rare access to spaces "behind the curtain" and experiences perfect for theater lovers and those curious to understand how the magic happens.  We will follow health and safety protocols and consult with the Ohio Department of Health to ensure these private, guided tours are a safe and enjoyable experience. As they make their plans, your input is very important. Please take a few minutes to complete this brief survey to let them know your thoughts by Monday, September 7, 2020.

 

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OHIO SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL RADIO PLAY
 
The next in our Ohio Shakespeare Festival Radio Play is a classic thriller.  Series—this time, another brand-new script based on a classic thriller.
“Rainsford is a world renowned big-game hunter who doesn't give much thought to his prey. In a three-day struggle for his life, Rainsford finds out exactly what it's like to become the hunted.”
Tune in live on September 19 at 7pm to our Facebook page, and we'll "see" you there.  Not a Facebook person? You’ll be able to watch it anytime thereafter at this link.

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DOBAMA TO PREPARE VIRTUAL PROGRAMS

Dobama staff have been hard at work preparing and organizing a multitude of offerings to keep our members and supporters engaged with virtual programs, videos, and more! This unique programming will allow audience and artists to stay connected in a variety of ways. More information will be available this coming September. 
 
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KARAMU HOUSE AND CLEVELAND PUBLIC THEATRE RECEIVE MUCH-NEEDED GRANTS
 
Karamu House and Cleveland Public Theatre are among four Ohio arts and culture organizations to receive much-needed grants to help them get through the COVID19 pandemic. Both received $50,000 from Arts Midwest’s share of the United States Regional Arts Resilience Fund. 
 
Founded in 1915, Karamu House is the oldest producing African American theatre in the nation. Cleveland Public Theatre, recently named winner of the National Theatre Conference’s 2020 Outstanding Theatre Award, is home to Teatro Público de Cleveland, a local Latino theatre company.