How I Learned to Drive

None Too Fragile theatre company premieres with compelling production

For about four years, Bang and Clatter Theatre performed like the little engine that could. Run by the two Seans (McConaha and Derry), possessing little money, but lots of chutzpa, the company performed before nice-sized and appreciative audiences in Akron. True to its mission, the theatre presented innovative and challenging works. The atmosphere was relaxed, free wine flowed, and the performances were generally of high quality.

Several years ago they added a Cleveland theatre, opening a new space in the former Cole’s Shoe Store on public square in downtown Cleveland. That venue, due to poor parking availability, little publicity and the competition of the crowded Cleveland theatre market, never caught on. Then the economic crash finished off both theatres.

Now, growing out of the smoldering ashes, a new theatre company, None Too Fragile, has been formed by Sean Derry and former B&C actress, Alanna Romansky. Housed in the CityArt Indie Box Center on Front Street in downtown Cuyahoga Falls, the company’s first play is Paula Vogel’s 1998 Pulitzer Prize chilling drama, ‘HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE.’

The story follows the strained, sexual relationship between Li'l Bit and her aunt's husband, Uncle Peck, from her adolescence through her teenage years and beyond. Using the metaphor of driving and the issues of pedophilia, incest, and misogyny, the play explores the ideas of control and manipulation.

The None Too Fragile production is exceptionally well done. Alanna Romansky is mesmerizing in the role of Li’l Bit. She presents a multi-textured character that displays maturity, while being a teen and then an adult. It’s worth going just to see Romansky weave her magic.

Jeffrey Grover shows a nice balance between predator and caring uncle. Though his accent comes and goes, he makes Uncle Peck a real person, complete with complex feelings ,who clearly is a sick and conflicted being.

In an interesting directing twist, Derry does the show with only two actors on stage, while six people actually appear in the production. Clever use of video and projections makes this possible.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: ‘HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE’ is a complex play that is emotionally difficult to sit through, yet, it is so well directed and performed that it is fascinating theatre. Let’s hope that the audiences who found Bang and Clatter such a rewarding experience show up at the company’s new home, and the word spreads quickly so that Derry and Romansky can make this new venture thrive.

Kimberly Akimbo

‘KIMBERLY AKIMBO’—dysfunctionality at convergence continuum

What’s it like to be a sixteen-year old and have already gone through menopause? Sound impossible, or at least improbable? Well, as displayed in Pulitzer Prize winning David Lindsay-Abaire’s play, ‘KIMBERLY AKIMBO,’ now getting a staging at convergence-continuum, such an anomaly is not impossible.

Progeria is a rare, fatal, genetic childhood condition characterized by an appearance of accelerated aging. Signs of the hereditary illness include growth failure, aged-looking skin, and stiffness of joints. Those with Progeria die at an average age of thirteen.

Don’t get the idea that this play is a downer because it deals with illness. There are a lot of laugh lines and situations. The experience may be a downer, but it’s not because of the illness…it’s a reaction to sharing time with this neurotic and dysfunctional group of characters. If anything, the person with the illness is probably the most psychologically healthy person on stage.

‘KIMBERLY AKIMBO’ concerns a lonely teenager who is a victim of progeria. She is trapped inside the frail physical body of an elderly woman. Jeff, one of her classmates, escapes from his hellish life, which includes living with a widowed drunken father and a drug addicted brother, by doing anagrams. He is a social misfit who wants to use the topic of Kimberly’s disease for his science report. The two form an attachment that allows each to have someone in their lives other than the members of their dysfunctional families, thus, gaining a sense of normalcy.

Kimberly’s father, Buddy, is an alcoholic who works at a gas station. Her insensitive and selfish mother, Pattie, is a pregnant hypochondriac with a foul mouth and a deep secret. Pattie's sister, Debra, is a homeless lesbian whose get-rich schemes get her in constant trouble with the law.

The play is well-written and the concept and the plot development lead to a high level of audience interest.

Convergence-continuum’s production, under the direction of Clyde Simon, doesn’t quite get all the empathy of the words, but works on its own level. The acting doesn’t always accent the characters’ psychological underpinnings. The lines and story concepts give us hints, but neither Tom Kondilas (Buddy), whose words often sound flat and memorized, nor Amy Bistok-Bunce, who screams almost every one of her lines, helps us to understand their underlying pain. It’s a simple rule of acting…if the actors feign and don’t really feel, the audience doesn’t empathize.

Marcia Mandell has the difficult task of making Kimberly both human and a victim of circumstances. She doesn’t always succeed. There is too much “old” lady and too little, 16-year old.

On the other hand, Scott Gorbach, he of slight body and sensitive nature, is right on-target as Jeff. Lauren Smith gives the right angry tone and physicality to the macho-lesbo aunt.

Clyde Simon and Jim Valore’s set design is excellent, creating five different settings on the tiny convergence stage.

Capsule Judgement: ‘KIMBERLY AKIMBO’ is a thought provoking play which gets an acceptable, but not a fully developed production, at convergence-continuum. It’s worth seeing.

Cloud Nine

Caryl Churchill’s thought provoking gender bender ‘CLOUD 9’ well performed by CWRU/CPHMFAAP

That theatre group with the impossible name is at it again. The Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Play House Master of Fine Arts Acting Program is presenting Caryl Churchill’s ‘CLOUD NINE,’ a play about colonial and gender oppression in CPH’s Brooks Theatre. The play itself is a thought provoking, often humorous, often psychological mind twister, as is the company’s moniker. Why, oh why, can’t the program’s powers that be come up with an insignia that isn’t mind and mouth rattling?

‘CLOUD NINE’ is a two-act play which was first performed in 1979. It is as relevant today as it was back then. Yes, colonialism and western world feminine gender suppression are not as clear in the present time. However, inequality for homosexuals, opposition to equal rights for all, verbal and physical aggression by the older white males in the United States who are afraid they are loosing control of “their country,” female “inferiority” in the Muslim world, and resistance to a flat world concept, are still present.

The play uses melodrama and controversial portrayals of sexuality and obscene language to establish a parallel between colonial and sexual oppression. It is filled with incongruity and “shock” language to convey Churchill's political message about accepting people who are different and not dominating them or forcing them into particular roles.

Churchill has stated that during the development of ‘CLOUD NINE,’ she was influenced by Kate Millet’s Sexual Politics and Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks. Millett’s book was the bible for the women’s movement. It awakened many American and European women to the nature of the patriarchal society in which they lived.

Fanon’s book explained the feelings of dependency and inadequacy that Black people experience in a White world. This is well brought out in ‘CLOUD NINE,’ through the character of Joshua, the Black servant, who has chosen to “turn white” rather than disappear. Those who choose the opposite are either flogged or run the risk of being the victims of punitive raids by British soldiers, as their lives are considered of no importance. Joshua’s words, “My skin is black but oh my soul is white” are an allusion to “The Little Black Boy,” a poem by William Blake.

The two acts of the play form a contrapuntal structure. Act 1 is set in British colonial Africa in Victorian times, and Act 2 is set in a London park in 1979. Interestingly, each actor plays one role in Act 1 and a different role in Act 2, often of another gender.
Churchill’s creative approach makes it necessary for the viewer to make a mental switch from seeing a rag doll “child” in the first act being portrayed by a real adult in the second act, and a white male with an accent who in the first act is a Black male servant, playing a female child in the second act. It’s all part of Churchill’s well-honed attempt to make the story present-day relevant and not an illusion of “then” and “them.”

The CWRU/CPHMFAAP’s production, under the creative directorial eye of Ron Wilson, is excellent. From the creative pop modern art set of Jill Davis, to Michael Boll’s insightful lighting, to Tiffany Goff’s music, to the clear development of each character, the entire production works. The intimate Brooks Theatre adds immediate presence to the message…you can’t escape from being involved.

The entire cast is excellent. Special performances include Andrew Gorell’s interpretation of Betty, the mistress of the African plantation. Gorell, does not play the role as a cross dresser, but as a “real” woman. Yan Tual’s use of his natural accent adds an interesting dimension of white man playing Black man in the first act, while his transformation to a female child in the second act is startling considering his over six-foot height. Kelli Ruttle’s transformation from first act nanny to second act recently divorced mother, in search of who she really is, is excellent.

CAPSULE JUDGMENT: ‘CLOUD 9’ is a thought provoking play that gets an excellent production by the ill-named CWRU/CPH acting program.

Speech & Debate

‘SPEECH AND DEBATE’—script exceeds production at Dobama

As a former speech and debate coach at the high school and college levels, I appreciated the device that author Stephen Karam used naming the scenes of his play ‘SPEECH AND DEBATE’ after the various events of the verbal competitions (e.g., duo interpretation, impromptu speaking, Lincoln-Douglas Debate). I also identified with some of the machinations of the competitors. Yes, members of speech competitions are often outsiders, the nerds, and the more academic members of the school community, looking for validation in other things than sports. They also often go on to be life-long superstars. Some of my former competitors have pleaded cases before the Supreme Court. There are a couple of college professors, a number of doctors, the head a major NY public relations firm and a WKSU-FM newscaster

Karam’s 2006 play, which is getting its area premiere at Dobama, concerns Howie, Solomon and Diwata, three teenagers in Salem, Oregon who discover they are linked by a sex scandal that’s rocked their town and another exposé which has been kept under wraps. When one of them sets out to reveal the “truth,” secrets become currency, the stakes get higher, and the trio’s connection grows deeper in this quirky comedy with dark overtones.

A New York review of the original production termed the show a "…savvy comedy…bristling with vitality, wicked humor, terrific dialogue and a direct pipeline into the zeitgeist of contemporary youth…Karam has a keen ear for how teens talk, move and think, how they view each other and the adult world…and uses both the advantages and perils of cyberspace to make amusing, original points…" Another stated, “Stephen Karam's dark comedy seems to be about a frumpy girl, a nerdy guy and an openly gay guy who band together to disclose the truth about a teacher who preys on his male students. But that topical plot is almost window dressing. The play's real accomplishment is its picture of the borderland between late adolescence and adulthood, where grown-up ideas and ambition coexist with childish will and bravado."

Though the script contains what the Big Apple reviewers saw, the Dobama production doesn’t live up to the hype. The trio of Baldwin Wallace College actors, under the direction of Scott Plate, are adequate, but, except for Nick Pankuch, miss the mark. There is a lot of acting, rather than reacting going on. Much of what we see is characterizing, not characters.

While Pankuch, as Howie, the new “blonde” gay kid in town, who searches for hook-ups on the Internet, seems to identify with his character, Shelby Bartelstein gives us a goth video version of Diwata, the quirky drama queen. She’s not real, she’s an illusion of what Bartelstein envisions Diwata to be. Nicholas Varricchio is also not totally real. He tries too hard to think his way through how the uptight Solomon should be portrayed. If the duo had just let Karam’s lines flow and react to their meanings, the entire evening would have worked better. Plate needed to guide his actors with more care.

Elizabeth Ann Townsend, one of my favorite local actresses, also misses the mark as the teacher. She just doesn’t ring true, “feigning” not “being.”

Laura Carlson’s set design works well. The creative use of PowerPoint visuals to illuminate the title of each segment also are effective.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: Many aspects of Dobama’s SPEECH AND DEBATE work, but the overall effect is not what should have been the outcome of producing Karam’s contemporary and meaningful script.

Review of the Reviewer: Fred Sternfeld

Thanks again for coming out to TrueNorth [to see BABY]and giving them their first review ever - literally. You are the first critic to attend one of their shows. New venues in town need the support of people like you to succeed.

Fred

Baby

‘BABY’ gets rebirth at True North Cultural Arts

“It’s March, snow covers a college campus. And miracles are taking place. Unseen, sperm are reaching eggs. Life is beginning.” Thus starts the story of ‘BABY The New Musical.’

‘BABY,’ which has been one of my favorite small musicals since I saw it in New York in 1983, is now having a rebirth at True North Cultural Arts Center. Rebirth since the Sybille Pearson, David Shire, Richard Maltby, Jr musical has been rewritten since its initial production.

The New York staging was met with favorable reviews including one which stated, “Baby is a modestly scaled entertainment that woos us with such basic commodities as warm feelings and a lovely score.” The show ran 241 performances. Having seen the show in the Great White Way venue, I thought it was physically misplaced. It should have been produced in an intimate off-Broadway theatre, a space similar to that of True North.

The story centers on three couples who live in a university town and are involved in the excitement and the problems that accompany the experience of conceiving and giving birth to a child. One of these couples is composed of two 20-year olds, Danny and Lizzie. Another duo is Alan and Arlene who have been married for 20 years and are empty-nesters with three grown children. The final pair is Nick and Pam, 30-year-olds who want a child, but have been having trouble conceiving. Each couple feels they are on the verge of great changes.

The authors thought the show should be reformatted and, in 2004, an altered version of the script, complete with new plot twists, a new song and some alterations in the order of the music, was presented at The Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey. The second-ever presentation of the new script is presently being staged at True North Cultural Center.

The new version transforms the musical from being a very pleasant experience, to becoming an emotional roller coaster. The additional song, “The End of Summer,” adds pathos not previously present.

The True North production, under the direction of Fred Sternfeld, is excellent. The six leads are extremely well cast. Their singing and acting are right on target.

Shane Joseph Siniscalchi, who has a nice singing voice, creates in Danny a real person who we see grow from an immature fun-centered musician into a soon-to-be responsible dad. His duet with the beautiful, sparkling-eyed, talented. American Idol semi-finalist Natalie Green (Lizzie), “What Could Be Better?” is delightful, filled with a clever interpretation and an intriguing musical arrangement. “I Chose Right” and “Two People in Love, are also show highlights. Green’s “The Story Goes On” is mesmerizing.

Bernadette Hisey (Arlene) and Michael Dempsey (Alan) match well as the older couple questioning whether life will be better with a new child. Their “And What If We Had Loved Like That,” is the emotional highlight. Each develops a clearly etched and textured character.

Maggie Stahl-Floriano (Pam) and David Robeano (Nick) are yet another balanced duo. Their scenes are filled with emotional highs and lows as they traverse the world of trying to conceive. “Romance” and ‘With You” are well sung and nicely textured.

Doug Bill does a nice shtick as the fertility Doctor with new contact lenses.

Rick Fortney’s musical direction adds much to the production, underscoring rather than competing with the cast. Bebe Weinberg Katz’s choreography also adds to the quality of the show.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: The new concept for the musical ‘BABY’ adds to what has always been a fine musical theatre experience. Sternfeld’s direction and the superb cast make this a very special evening of theatre. Hopefully he will consider taking this cast to his Fairmount Performing Arts Conservatory so east siders can experience this wonderful production.

EMMA

‘EMMA’ enchants at Cleveland Play House

Jane Austen is considered one of the best authors of English language romantic comedies. Her book ‘EMMA’ which has been adapted by Cleveland Play House’s Artistic Director, Michael Bloom, into a play format, is now on stage at CPH.

Director Peter Amster, who so brilliantly staged last year’s CPH production of ‘PRIDE AND PREJUDICE,’ has again configured a charming version of a classic tale. He seems to have a magical touch with making good scripts visually attractive and purposeful.

Many know ‘EMMA’ by the author’s explanation of the plot’s title character: “I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will like much.” In that statement she introduces Emma Woodhouse, a beautiful, clever, spoiled and self-centered know-it-all. Emma is an expert on matchmaking, at least she thinks she is an expert. As we find out, she misses out on the most important matchmaking, her own! We watch as many of her schemes go awry, leading to both humor and awe.

‘EMMA’ is more character than plot driven. This made Bloom’s task of whittling down the interweavings of persons difficult. How can so many people each be developed so that the audience keeps them all in mind? Bloom nicely succeeds.

Characters abound. Besides Emma, there is Mr. George Knightley, a close friend of the lead character, and seemingly, her only critic. In reality, as we find out, he cares deeply for her. Then there is Frank Churchill, whom at one point Emma thinks she may love, and Jane Fairfax, a very beautiful, clever, and elegant woman, with the best of manners. She is the sole person that Emma envies. Next, Harriet Smith, a young friend of Emma's, is a very pretty but unsophisticated girl who is too easily led by others, especially Emma. And, the list goes on and on.

In order for this play to succeed, all of the characterizations need to be well honed. And, fortunately, in the CPH production, the performers are up to the task. Scene after scene is charming and witty. The movements and machinations are well formatted by Amster.

Though she could have made a more transparent transition from know-it-all to woman-in-love, Sarah Nealis is charming as Emma. The scene where she runs and leaps through the garden, squealing like a freed animal, while Mr. Knightley asks her father for her hand in marriage, is a delight.

Mark Montgomery is properly aloof as Knightley. Patrick Clear is wonderful as Emma’s hypochondriac father. This is one talented and meaningful cast.

Robert Mark Morgan’s classic set is beautiful and Kristine Kearney’s costumes are era perfect.

CAPSULE JUDGMENT: CPH’s ‘EMMA’ is a classic production of a classic book. Michael Bloom’s adaptation works well. Peter Amster’s direction is spot on. The acting is universally excellent. For anyone who appreciates good theatre, ‘EMMA’ is a must see.

'Til Death Do Us Part--Late Night Catechism

Yet another Catechism at the 14th Street Theatre

She’s back. Yes, a “Catholic” nun is again castigating, teaching the heathens, making attendees who are errant—chewing gum, wearing low cut blouses or short skirts, not showing respect, or are believers in Scientology--all pay the price. The “good” ones in the audience get religious “baseball” cards with pictures of various saints on them.

Created in 1993 by Vicki Quade & Maripat Donovan, ‘LATE NIGHT CATECHISM,’ as the first version was named, was based on their experiences growing up Catholic in Chicago and the stories and experiences they've heard through the years from friends and family members. Part catechism class, part stand-up routine, it has brought its nostalgic kick to every state in the U.S. as well as to Canada, the U.K., and Australia.

The present edition, entitled ‘TIL DEATH DO US PART—LATE NIGHT CATECHISM 3,’ takes those who have gone through Catholic schooling back to their days as students who need to be taught the “right way of leading their lives,” so they can get to heaven. Heaven, is defined by Sister as “A spectacular concert with the presence of God.” She slips in zingers such as referring to Lutheranism being “Catholic Light,” and telling the assembled that “There is no marriage in heaven, only happiness,” explaining her attendance at a nudist wedding, what is meant by Irish Alzheimer’s (“being drunk”), and showing surprise that a newly engaged couple met on Match.com. That duo got the “privilege” of participating in a quiz which showed how incompatible they were.

The various Catechism productions star six different actresses. In the Cleveland showing, Mary Zentmyer does a nice job of ad-libbing, using audience responses and situations, to develop a humorous evening.

A show highlight centered on Sister taking on the Vice President of Theatricals at Playhouse Square, for wearing a short skirt and “Nancy Sinatra” boots after the PHS administrator made the mistake of volunteering an answer to one of Sister’s questions. She wound up on stage on several occasions, having to cover her exposed knees with a napkin while keeping score during the couples’ quiz section of the show. Sister also took on the public relations director of several local theatre and dance companies, who was obedient in giving answers to Sister’s probes. Who gets picked on other nights is up for grabs. If you want to be a victim of Sister’s taunts, sit up close or be silly enough to volunteer to answer one of her questions. If not, do as I did, and hide in the back section of the theatre, sit up straight and keep your mouth shut and hand down.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: Those who went through Catholic schooling will certainly have flashbacks as they stand erect, have chewing gum put on their noses, rest against the blackboard with their noses in a chalked circle, and hear the sound of “the clicker.” Non-Catholics should also be amused.

Alex Berko appears with Verb Ballets

Alex Berko, the kid reviewer, to appear with Verb Ballets playing one of his compositions

Many of you know Alex Berko as the “kid reviewer” who accompanies me to theatre productions and gives his views on whether the play is kid friendly. What you may not know is that besides his theatre insights, he is an accomplished pianist and composer.

Alex will be one of the featured performers in Verb Ballets’ Fresh Inventions Series of New Works which pairs a composer with a choreographer who uses the members of Verb Ballets company to create a piece of dance.

Alex, who is 14 years old, fell in love with music very early and has been playing piano since the age of 4. He has had many musical accomplishments throughout the years. Alex was awarded 1st place in the 2009 Scholastic Composer’s Contest. He was selected as a young composer (2009) and as a performer (2008) for the Cleveland Composer’s Guild project, “Creativity; Learning through Experience.” Alex was chosen from over 100 students to receive the Samantha Richardson Award for outstanding leadership and musicianship at Orchard Middle School (Solon, OH). He was selected to train and perform with the Cleveland Chamber Music Camp in 2008. Alex has received consistent Superior ratings in the National Federation of Music Clubs annual piano competition. He currently studies composition with Dr. Stephen Stanziano, piano with Mrs. Sandra Shapiro (Cleveland Institute of Music, Cleveland, OH), and music theory with Mrs. Monica Houghton (Cleveland Institute of Music, Cleveland, OH). An honor roll student, Alex was a member of the Solon Middle School soccer team last fall.

Alex will be appearing on stage, playing his composition, Volcano Rhapsody.

Choreographers include Richard Dickinson, Kay Eichman, Diane Gray, Terence Greene, Lisa K. Lock, Troy McCarty, and Sara Whale. Besides Alex, the other composers are Larry Baker, Loris Chobanian, Ty Alan Emerson, Richard Rinehart, Nicholas Underhill, and Eric Ziolek.

The program will be presented at the Cleveland Public Theatre in the Gordon Square Theatre from April 8 to the 11th. CPT is located at 6415 Detroit Avenue in Cleveland. Performances are at 7 p.m. on the 8, 9 and 10 and at 3 p.m. on the 11th. Tickets, which are $10 on the 8th, and $21 on the other dates ($2 discount for students and seniors), may be obtained by calling 216-631-2727 or going on-line to www.cptonline.org.

The Great White Hope

Karamu, Weathervane and Ensemble Theatre collaborate on ‘THE GREAT WHITE HOPE’

In a display of multi-theatre cooperation, Howard Sackler’s award winning play, ‘THE GREAT WHITE HOPE’ is being staged as a joint production of Karamu, Weathervane and Ensemble theatres.

‘THE GREAT WHITE HOPE’ is a fictional account of the real life of Jack Johnson, an African American who wins the world boxing championship just before World War I, an era of strong segregation. His defeat of the Caucasian champion stirs up prejudices. The desire of the boxing community to find the “great white hope,” a white man who can gain back the championship, is the core of the play. It is not, however the heart of the play.

The viewer watches as the boxer, named Jack Jefferson in the script, who, instead of being honored for his athletic prowess, is psychologically tortured, convicted under the Mann Act for illegally transporting a white woman across state lines for “immoral purposes.” Eventually he must flee the country.

Sackler once said of his play, "What interested me was not the topicality but the combination of circumstances, the destiny of a man pitted against society. It's a metaphor of struggle between man and the outside world."

Boxer Muhammad Ali once commented about the play, "That's my story. You take out the issue of white women and replace it with the issue of religion. That's my story!" Ali was fighting being drafted into the army at the time on grounds of being a conscientious objector.

The play opened on Broadway in 1968, ran 546 performances and starred James Earl Jones and Jane Alexander in the lead roles. Both won Tony Awards for their performances. In 1970 Sackler adapted the script into a film which also starred Jones and Alexander.

Producing ‘THE GREAT WHITE HOPE’ is a daunting task. The script has numerous scenes requiring many sets and numerous costumes. The cast is immense and must speak multiple languages. The leading performers must be masters of their trade.

Anthony Elfonzia Nickson-El is excellent as Jack Jefferson. He develops a clear and textured characterization, which displays the many moods and psychological conflicts of a man caught in the crosshairs of a prejudiced society.

Ursula Cataan is his equal as Eleanor Bachman, a white woman who falls in love with Jefferson, and is the fulcrum for many of his problems. This is a very well developed performance.

Peter Lawson Jones leaves behind his daytime role of Cuyahoga County Commissioner, and effectively transforms himself into Tick, Jefferson’s trainer and friend. This may be your only chance to see Jones as a cross dresser.

Colston Corris is excellent as Cap’n Dan.

Director Terrence Spivey needed to work with many of the supporting ensemble for the creation of reality, thus being the person being portrayed rather than acting like the person.

Richard Morris, Junior’s scenic and lighting designs are appropriate, Jasen Smith’s women’s costumes work well. Why Spivey has music underscoring much of the actions and drowning out lines, is to be questioned.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: In spite of excellent performances, the over-all effect of ‘THE GREAT WHITE HOPE’ is not up to the quality of the writing. Sometimes theatres have to be realistic. Picking a script like ‘THE GREAT WHITE HOPE,’ in spite of its relevance and historical truth, creates a daunting task. If it’s too herculean, maybe some other script choice should be made.

Is He Dead

Twain’s “new comedy,” ‘IS HE DEAD?” on stage at Beck

The question anyone looking at the heading of this review should ask is, “How did Mark Twain write a new comedy. Isn’t he dead?”

Well, Twain didn’t just write ‘IS HE DEAD?’ He scribbled the piece in 1898. He had previously written ‘COLONEL SELLERS,’ which became a box-office success. But, before his newest work opened, London’s Bram Stoker Theatre, where ’DEAD’was to be staged, burned down. And, that was the end of that.

Well, not quite. In 2002, Dr. Shelley Fisher Fishkin, a Twain expert who is a professor at Stanford University, discovered the long-forgotten script in the Twain archives amidst a dusty collection of inferior theatrical attempts.

The script was given to David Ives to do an adaptation, which had a Broadway opening in 2007. That production had some positive critical reactions, but was generally viewed as being out of date with references and cornpone humor that were not for modern audiences.

The story is set in 1840s Paris, and fictionalizes the non-death of real-life painter Jean-Francois Millet. To help himself and his debt-ridden friends, Millet fakes his passing to inflate the value of his paintings. He impersonates his imaginary sister, a widow named Daisy Tillou. Millet's contrivances grow more absurd until the moment he's caught dancing in drag on his own coffin.

Besides the datedness of the material, it is a melodrama. Melodrama requires just the right attitude in staging. It is a theatrical form which calls for double identities, physical exaggeration, lots of slamming of doors as characters run on and off stage while often returning momentarily in different clothing and even as members of the opposite sex. There are stock characters: the pretty heroine, the stud hero, the villain (complete with a mustache and dressed in black) and some cartoon characters who add to the laughter. This is the non-talky ‘PERILS OF PAULINE’ and the Mark Brothers comedies.

‘IS HE DEAD’ contains all the requisite melodrama pieces parts.

Under the direction of Matthew Earnest, the Beck production reaches an acceptable, if not a highlight level. Many in the cast just don’t seem to understand the need to be over-the-top and to exaggerate all their actions, not just the asides, affronts and preplanned gestures. This is surprising, because Earnest is a superb director, as was proven with his productions of ‘OUR TOWN’ and ‘PETER PAN’ at Porthouse Theatres.

Nick Koesters knows melodrama and has the ability to play with characterizations. As both Jean-FrancoisMillet and Widow DaisyTillou, Koesters does his thing and does it well. It’s worth seeing the show just to see his cross-dressing charade. The rest of cast ranged from good to almost acceptable.

Don McBride’s set worked well, Melissa Owens’ costumes were era correct, Joseph Carmola’s lighting was appropriate, and Richard Ingraham’s sound effects were on-target.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: ‘IS HE DEAD?’ is one of those plays that I have difficulty figuring out why a theatre would pick to stage. But, pick it Beck did. Even with the low level of the script, the production could have been a lot more fun.

13

Teen angst musical gets Ohio premiere at Fairmount Conservatory

Jason Robert Brown, Dan Elish and Rob Horn’s ’13,’ a musical centering on teenage angst, is getting it’s Ohio premiere at the Fairmount Performing Arts Conservatory (FPAC).

‘13’ finds Evan Goldman, a happy Jewish kid from New York City, closing in on his bar mitzvah. His big dream is to have a great party with all his friends. Evan’s parents suddenly announce that they are getting divorced and Evan and his mother are going to move to Indiana. Specifically, Appleton, Indiana. How is that kid, with no friends, going to have a bar mitzvah blast? Is that a place to hold what Even refers to as, “the event that defines you, the Jewish super bowl!”

But, as is the case with this type of story, all is not lost. Evan meets his new neighbor, Patrice, a quirky girl who is as much of an outcast in this Midwestern burg as Evan. They jointly sing, “The Lamest Place in the World.” The rest of the predictable story concerns Evan trying to be popular and get lots of kids to come to his party. In the process he goes head to head with Brett, the football hero at Dan Quayle Junior High (I did not make this up!), and Brett’s attempt to “do the tongue” with Kendra, the head cheerleader. Throw in a quirky crippled kid, a dozen or so hormone and gossip producing tweens and teens, and you’ve got the story. A story which would make a great afternoon TV special, and, of course, has a happy ending!

Okay, this is not a great script. Not a story that adults, except in remembering their own teen years, will get involved in. But that’s okay. It’s not aimed at adults. It’s specifically aimed at a generation of kids addicted to gadgets, who have short attention spans, and are in the midst of those “junior high years.” The years of feeling like a freak, wanting to fit in. The age of gossip, mortifying nicknames, and peer pressure. The unrelenting peer pressure to be someone smarter, prettier, hipper, and better than who you are. The years of the hierarchy of your status determined by at which lunch table you were allowed to sit. (“Oh, please don’t make me sit with the Geeks!”)

The FPAC show, under the direction of Sean Szaller, has many high and low points. The cast is enthusiastic, and in the main quite talented. The blocking is often awkward. The choreography, which has some cute gimmicks built in, tends to be more dynamic than disciplined. The music is well played. The sound system squealed with regularity which was very distracting. The character development is not always clear. Too bad Szaller didn’t work more on teaching the cast to portray reality. These are teenagers playing teenagers, rather than actors acting how teenagers are supposed to be.

The cast highlights included Dani Apple as Patrice, the outcast girl. Apple, who has a long record of local and national successes, continues to mature as a singer and actress. Her very strong musical abilities, at least at this point in her career, are ahead of her acting skills. She, along with Alexis Floyd, are the most mature performers on stage. Floyd rocks, rolls, wails, and dances up a storm in the dynamic after-curtain call. This is the highlight of the show.

Miles Sternfeld has a nice presence as Evan. He has a pleasant singing voice and develops a clear character. Aric Floyd and Daniel Sovich, as the shrimp-sized sidekicks of the football hero, are totally delightful. The duo sing and dance with spirit and are fun to watch.

Jordan Brown nails the characterization of Archie, the “cripple,” who plays his illness for all it’s worth. “Terminal Illness,” his duet with Evan, is a joy.

Other strong songs and production numbers are: “Hey Kendra,” “Get Me What I Need,” “What It Means to be a Friend,” and “Tell Her.”

“Being a Geek,” performed by Evan and the “Rabbis,” was mocking and offensive. As a tween sitting next to me whispered to her friend, “Why are they making fun of rabbis and Jewish people?”

Be aware that this is not the “junior” version of the show. The presentation includes language and sexual innuendos which some parents will find objectionable.

The opening night audience, consisting of relatives and friends of the cast and crew, loved all the goings on and gave the performance a screaming standing ovation. It was a bit much, an example of bias goes wild, but, in reality, their reactions were justified. They came, they saw, they enjoyed.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: ‘13’ is a slight script, which will have strong appeal to tweens and teens. It is being performed by teenagers, not theatre professionals, and it does itself proud on its own level. Adults should will themselves back to the age of teen angst. Teens should revel in life as they know it. And they should go and enjoy a group of kids who are having a wonderful time, making their personal dreams of being “stars” come true.

Peter Pan--A Musical Adventure

You’ve never seen Peter Pan like this before!

Peter Pan, the boy who refuses to grow up, has been seen in various versions: book, film, television and on stage. But he’s never been seen locally in the form being performed by Mercury Summer Stock for their “Just Beyond the Stars” gala.

Peter first appeared in a section of The Little White Bird, a 1902 novel written, ironically, for adults. A play about the boy and his fellow “lost” boys, debuted in 1904. A stage musical came forth in 1950, with music and lyrics by Leonard Bernstein. That version starred Jean Arthur as Peter Pan and Boris Karloff in the dual roles of George Darling and Captain Hook. It was initially intended as a full-blown musical, with Bernstein composing a complete score, but was staged with only five songs – "Who Am I?", "Pirate's Song", "Plank Round", "Build My House", and "Peter Peter," to accommodate the limited vocal ranges of the principal actors.

The boy really took off when, in 1953, Walt Disney’s animated version of ‘PETER PAN’ was released.

In 1954, the popular, and often produced stage version, most recently performed locally at the Beck Center, was conceived. With music by Mark "Moose" Charlap, additional music by Jule Styne, and lyrics written by Carolyn Leigh, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, it starred Mary Martin as Peter and Cyril Ritchard as Captain Hook, and earned Tony Awards for both stars. A major new stage production was performed in Summer 2009 in Kensington Gardens.

Entitled ‘PETER PAN--A MUSICAL ADVENTURE,’ it is this new British version, complete with a totally different score and book, that will be presented by Mercury Summer Stock on February 20 at 7:30 at the Breen Center, on the campus of St. Ignatius High School. It has music by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, composers of the Broadway hit ‘MARY POPPINS,’ which was a smash hit in its recent Cleveland showing as part of the Broadway Series, and book by Willis Hall.

The Mercury production, only the second time the musical will be performed in the United States, will be a staged reading. The cast includes Matthew Wright as Captain Hook, Maria Thomas Lister as The Storyteller, Natalie Green as Tiger Lily, Jeff Grover as Mr. Darling, Jen Myor as Mrs. Darling, Kelly Monaghan as Wendy and Brian Marshall as Peter Pan. The show will be staged by Pierre-Jacques Brault. Musical director is Bill Corcoran.

“My First Musical” program, is the educational arm of Mercury’s programming. Through it, children under the age of twelve from the Parma City School District and other educational institutions of the Greater Cleveland community, are given access to experiencing live musical theatre by attending, free of charge, each show of the Mercury season. They have interactive pre- and post-performance workshops to foster an interest in, and appreciation of the theatre.

In the Heights

‘IN THE HEIGHTS’ reaches the heights the Palace

There may have been a snowstorm raging outside, but inside the Palace Theatre, where the touring production of the Tony Award winning musical, ‘IN THE HEIGHTS,’ was having its opening night, the place was sizzling! The salsa, hip-hop , meringue and soul music, the dancers who were zooming all over the stage, and the well tuned voices of the singers, all blended to make ‘IN THE HEIGHTS’ reach the heights of an involving show.

The musical gives a glimpse of Washington Heights, an uptown New York City area, which has been the home to many immigrant groups. Though now becoming gentrified, it has a predominantly Latino essence.

‘IN THE HEIGHTS,’ with music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and book by Quiara Alegría Hudes, is both an artistic and financial success. In an unusual Broadway story, in less than one year, it recouped its $10 million dollar investment.

In the pre-dawn darkness, alarm clock radios ring from scattered windows announcing a record-breaking heat wave today, July 3. The sun rises, revealing a silhouette of the George Washington Bridge above the apartment buildings.
In the shadows, a young man sprays graffiti onto the awning of a bodega, but his artistic reverie is interrupted when Usnavi, the young store owner, enters and chases him away. Usnavi opens the store, which supplies neighbors with their morning coffee and papers. We meet Abuela Claudia, who raised Usnavi, and Sonny, his young cousin who helps with the store. Everyone's stories and dreams pass through this modest store front: his friend Benny wants a promotion, the ladies who work at the salon want some gossip, and Vanessa, Usnavi's love interest, wants an apartment in a different part of town. Usnavi has a dream of his own: to one day return to the island of his roots, the Dominican Republic.

As we watch the story of a neighborhood unfolds. Not unlike the opening number of ‘FIDDLER ON THE ROOF,’ the traditions of a culture are revealed as the title song curtain opener proceeds. By the time it’s over, the audience is informed and hooked.

Though the story line is trite, often soap opera-like, it matters little. What’s important is the music, the dancing and the singing. Such numbers as “Carnaval del Barrio,” “Enough,” “Breathe,” “The Club/Fireworks” explode on the stage.

Andy Balkenbuehler’s choreography and Thomas Kail’s staging are enveloping. The dancers are such an integral part of the action and the staging is so well developed, that wonderful stage picture after wonderful stage picture evolves.

The cast is universally excellent. All the characterizations are well developed and every voice is solid and on-key, and the dancers are fine, so very fine.
To highlight anyone is unfair to every one else, but a couple of special hurrahs to: Shaun Taylor-Corbett (as the delightful Sonny), Elise Santora (Abuela Claudia, the earth mother), and Kyle Beltran (the appealing Usnavi).

If there is a flaw in the production it’s the over-zealous, over-microphoned orchestra. Sometimes they forget that they are supposed to be playing back-up and drown out the singers/speakers. In a show that contains much hip-hop lyrics, the meanings of which are important to understand the show, the music needed to be underplayed during the speaking segments.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: If you like dynamic dancing and music, and want to be swept along to a different musical theatre experience, ‘IN THE HEIGHTS’ is a production for you to see. But, be aware the music is very loud.

Death of Salesman

“DEATH OF A SALESMAN’ gets a thoughtful production at Lakeland

Arthur Miller’s ‘DEATH OF A SALEMAN,’ is one of the greatest American plays. True to Miller’s form, the script probes his theme of the workings of society and asks his perennial question, “Is this the best way to live?”

On the surface, the play concerns Willy Loman, a traveling salesman who has worked for the same company for thirty-four years. He is now sixty-one years old, has lost his clients and has to borrow money from Charlie, his neighbor and only friend, in order to pay his bills. Neither of Willy's sons, who were brought up with Willy’s philosophy that to be “well liked” is the most important thing in life, have become the “heroes” he dreamed they would become. Willy has been plagued by illusions as he disintegrates into a state of failed dreams. He dies, as he lived, in a state of unrealistic expectations.
Oh, but how much more Miller is saying! It is almost impossible for one to leave the theatre without asking personal questions about the values by which you live your life and your affect on not only yourself, but the significant others in your life.

‘DEATH OF A SALESMAN’ opened on Broadway in 1949. It ran only 742 performances, but won both the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize for drama. The original production was directed by Elia Kazan with Lee J. Cobb starring in the leading role of Willy Loman.
The play made both Arthur Miller and the character, Willy Loman, household names. Classified as a modern tragedy, it illustrates the downfall of a man, an everyman in this case, because of a tragic flaw. The misguided Loman ( the proverbial "low man"), has the flaws of a misguided image of self and ill-conceived values. As in the traditional tragedy, the hero’s downfall not only affects him, but those who surround him.

The play’s requiem is one the most emotionally moving scenes in modern theatre. Linda (Willy’s wife) and Happy (youngest son), stand in shock after Willy’s poorly attended funeral. Biff (the oldest son) states that Willy had the wrong dreams. (Thus, he has a denouement, an awakening, a requirement for the development of a modern tragedy, which, in this case, acknowledges that he has learned from Willy’s mistakes.) Biff invites Happy to flee the city and Willy’s influence. Happy, having not learned the lesson of ill-placed values, declares that he will stick it out in New York to validate Willy’s death. Linda stands at the grave looking downward and asks Willy for forgiveness for being unable to cry. She begins to sob, repeating “I don’t know why you did it. We’re free, we are finally free and clear. . . .” All exit, and a flute melody is heard as the curtain falls.

‘DEATH OF A SALESMAN’ is very difficult to perform to it’s highest level of effectiveness. This is especially true for amateurs, which basically is what is appearing on the Lakeland Civic Theatre’s stage. Under Martin Friedman’s direction, the cast does an acceptable job.

Mark Cipra gives a creditable performance as Willy. We feel his pain, observe his lack of ability to create reality as he escapes into a fantasy world. We, appropriately, want to scream at him, “Wake up and realize you are living a life of lies and misjudgments.”

Maryann Elder is excellent as the enabler wife who knows what Willy is doing is wrong, but her misspent love causes her to hide the truth from him. Unfortunately, Elder fails to completely develop the emotional impact of the requiem.

Though he tries hard, Christopher Richards doesn’t have the maturity to develop the frustration needed to fully flesh out Biff. Christopher Richards comes closer to exploring the underpinnings of Happy.

Michael Green gives a good spin on the character of Charley. The rest of the cast is quite acceptable.

Friedman has taken several liberties with the script that must be questioned. For example, he has given us actors who portray younger versions of Biff, Happy and Linda. Their reason is questionable. Since much of the play is illusionary, if well conceived the same actors who play the grown up trio would have made for less confusion. Miller didn’t include them in the original script. Why tinker with brilliance?

He has also added music throughout the play. The music does nothing to enhance the actions, often leading to underscoring confusion, and in some instances drowns out the quieter speeches.

Why was the sound of the car starting, followed by the straining engine, and then the crash, eliminated before the final scene? This is needed to clarify the way Willy misguidedly died.

Trad Burns lighting is excellent, but his set design, doesn’t work. The playing area of the house is not well conceived causing awkward blocking. Why are Biff and Happy sleeping on the floor, not in beds? What is the purpose of the anti-room that is on the second level? The supposed “flash back area” is often misused as scenes from the present invade the space.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: Lakeland’s ‘DEATH OF A SALSMAN’ will allow its audiences to experience one of America’s great plays. Those attending, in spite of some questionable aspects of the production, will leave having the basic impact of Miller’s message. And, gaining that understanding is the essence of the reason for producing the script.

Ain't Misbehavin'

‘AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’ jazzes up the Cleveland Play House

‘AIN’T MISBEHAVIN,’ the musical now on stage at the Cleveland Play House, is a tribute to the late great “Fats” Waller. Waller, who was known for his musical style of dynamics, tension and release, wrote hit after hit in the 1920s and 30s. In all, he penned over 400 songs.

‘AIN'T MISBEHAVIN' is a review of Waller’s’ songs as conceived by Murray Horowitz and Richard Maltby Jr. It opened on Broadway in 1978 and ran 1,604 performances, The show won three Tony’s, including the Best Featured Actress citation for Nell Carter.

Waller wrote during the heyday of Harlem clubs, often referred to as the Harlem Renaissance. Included in the score are such standards as ''I've Got a Feeling I'm Falling,'' ''Honeysuckle Rose'' and ''Two Sleepy People'.'

Waller wasn’t known for his Broadway tunes. In fact, the title song of this review was one of his few Great White Way contributions. It was first sung in the 1929 ‘HOT CHOCOLATES.’

As with many reviews, there is no plot, just song after song. This makes grabbing and holding an audience’s attention difficult. Each director must develop an entertainment format. In this case, director Kent Gash decided, rather than letting the songs’ natural humor and dramatic overtones create the attention, he would use an extra heavy dose of shticks and begging-for-laughs gimmicks.

From my perspective, the overdone shaking of boobs and booties, the repeated dance routines and over-stylized concepts became redundant. If Gash had allowed the Waller music to prove itself, like he did with the “Black and Blue” segment, ironically, the last song of the script, where the singers sat on stools and beautifully sang a great arrangement, the entire evening would have worked better.

Highlights of the show were the finale, Ken Robinson’s “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter” and his version of “Your Feet’s Too Big;” Christopher L. Morgan’s “The Reefer Song;” Rebecca Covington’s “I’ve Got My Fingers Crossed;” and the company productions of “Handful of Keys,” “Lookin’ Good But Feeling Bad,” and “Off Time.”

The great sounding band sat stoically during the show, in stark contrast to the ever exploding stage images.

Emily Beck’s proscenium set was vibrant and added to the visual excitement of the show as did the very stylized costumes of Austin Sanderson.

CAPSULE JUDGMENT: CPH’s ‘AINT MISBEHAVING’ is entertaining, especially in the second act, but is overdone, often bombarding the senses. Director Kent Gash and choreographer Byron Easley might have done better by heeding the adage, “sometimes, less is more!”

Anna Bella Eema

Theater Ninjas confuses, confounds and fascinates with ‘ANNA BELLA EEMA’

Theatre Ninja’s talented Artistic Director, Jeremy Paul, has a knack for picking plays which are challenging. Challenging to the cast, who must find the performance devices to portray characters which are usually extremely non-traditional, often edging on the insane. Also challenging to the audience who must figure out what is going on with these people.

Paul’s latest mind boggler is ‘ANNA BELLA EEMA,’ a play by Lisa D’Amour.

Reviews of the script in other venues reveal explanations such as, “the script is part fairy tale and part creepy campfire,” “it is an intriguing, beguiling tale of creation, womanhood, anima, loss and survival. “ Other views were: “it is far-fetched, ridiculous and silly,” and “it drags and disengages.”

For the sake of discussion, let’s say that this is a ghost story with three bodies with three voices. The three voices belong to Actress # 1: a mother who is a thick sturdy woman who we eventually discover is agoraphobic, obsessive and paranoid. Actress #2 is an impish young girl “whose eyes sparkle and whose voice reaches toward the sky.” Actress #3 is also impish, sometimes appearing to be Actress #2's twin sister. She has a supernatural soul.

The characters generally don't speak to each other, but to the audience. They tell improbable story after improbable story relating to how their household is the last holdout in a trailer park being displaced by a highway project. These stories include how Actress 2 created Actress 3 out of clay. According to the playwright, the script “asks us to listen and listen carefully’ as the characters “explore the human and particularly the female experience.”

The Theatre Ninjas production, under the guidance of Paul, is both confounding and compelling. It is well staged, well acted and in spite of its obtuseness, is captivating.

All three cast members are strong. Elizabeth R. Wood, Actress One, the mother, demands attention. Wood develops a neurotic being who is out and out scary. Why is this mother like she is? What has driven her into her state of insanity? I don’t know, but Wood makes her live with impassioned frustration.

Faye Hargate is properly child-like as the basically “normal” young girl, mature beyond her years. Well, as normal as a child could be living in solitude, in a decaying trailer, surrounded by miles of nothingness, with bulldozers at the front door.

Cassie Neumann, Actress 3, may be the most bizarre of all. What is she? Is she really a creation of mud? Whatever, she is properly spooky.

Curtis Young’s set, Alison Garrigan’s costumes, and Jeremy Paul’s lighting all enhance the bizarre experience.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: ‘ANNA BELL EEMA’ is a quirky Goth play that will not be to everyone’s liking. It’s worth going to see three fine performances. The ride home should be a setting for trying to figure out what you just saw and what, if anything, it means.

Blue Door

Thought provoking, well conceived ‘BLUE DOOR’ at Dobama

Tanya Barfield, the author of ‘BLUE DOOR,’ which is now in production at Dobama, is one of the new breed of African American playwrights. She, along with such writers as Dael Orlandersmith, who wrote ‘YELLOWMAN,’ which got such a wonderful production at Karamu last year, have helped to transition the focus of plays about the Black experience in the United States.

Early African American playwrights such as Lorraine Hansberry (‘RAISIN IN THE SUN’ and ‘THE SIGN IN SIDNEY BRUSTEIN’S WINDOW,” and James Baldwin (‘BLUES FOR MR. CHARLIE’ and ‘ONE DAY WHEN I WAS LOST’) probed into the Black-white relationships, while looking at racism and integration.

Barfield and Orlandersmith have transitioned into looking at Black on Black issues. While recognizing that it’s still difficult to Black in “white America,” they appear to feel free to expose audiences to issues that African Americans experience intrapersonally, within themselves, and interpersonally, with other members of the Black, as well as the white community.

‘YELLOWMAN’ examined the conflict between light-skinned African Americans which sometimes causes social level distinctions, with their darker brethren. ‘BLUE DOOR’ looks at the crisis of a Black man’s self-identity and his cultural history.

Neither playwright is afraid to break the “rules” of political and semantic “correctness.” They use language that traditionally has been shunned and ideas that were hidden by historical avoidance. Barfield refers several times to the role of the ‘house nigger” (Blacks who worked in the houses of plantation owners) and uses language like ‘the white devil in black skin.” She draws attention to the concept that both whites and Blacks must realize that “you can’t look at the present without looking at the past.” And that look requires using authentic language, even if it jars the ears.

‘BLUE DOOR’ is a moving and searing script. It grabs and holds the viewer’s attention. We get on intimate terms with Lewis, an African American professor of mathematics at a prestigious university, who finds himself grappling with his personal devils, in the form of his ancestors and their roles on his present day life. He struggles with the effect of these people’s histories on who he is, or perceives himself to be. We watch as Lewis’s personal and professional life spins into turmoil as his “demons” emerge. His wife leaves him. He is suspended for calling one of his students a “nigger.” His ancestors come forth during his fits of insomnia. He struggles with the story of how his family, as is true of many African Americans, were transplanted, becoming the only major cultural group who were brought to the U.S. against their wills, rather than emigrating on their own.

The Dobama production, under the sure handed direction of Scott Plate, is both upsetting and mesmerizing. The pacing allows ideas to clearly develop, even with a script that is a little too long.

Rod Lawrence, who claims he is “stoked” to be in his first production at Dobama, is compelling in each of his enactments. Playing three of Lewis’s ancestors, he develops each as a distinct character. The multi-talented Baldwin Wallace College junior gives a top notch performance in which his acting, singing and dancing are all on target. He’s impressive, very impressive.

Though he had some focus and consistency problems on opening night, Geoff Short is properly torn as Lewis. His is a difficult task. He must walk the fine line between reality and illusion, sanity and depression. He basically succeeds.

Jeff Herrmann’s set design and Richard Ingraham’s sound design both enhance the production.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: ‘BLUE DOOR,’ is theatre of the mind. In this case, theatre of a Black man’s mind. It is a thought provoking script, given a fine production, that is a must see for local audiences.

‘BLUE DOOR’ runs through February 21 at Dobama. For tickets call 216-932-3396.

Dobama’s next production is ‘SPEECH AND DEBATE’ by Stephen Karma, directed by Plate.

Roy Berko's blog, which contains theatre and dance reviews from 2001 through 2010, as well as his consulting and publications information, can be found at http://royberko.info

His reviews can also be found on www.coolcleveland.com and NeOHIOpal (to subscribe visit http://mailman.listserve.com/listmanager/listinfo/neohiopal.)Thought provoking, well conceived ‘BLUE DOOR’ at Dobama

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times

Tanya Barfield, the author of ‘BLUE DOOR,’ which is now in production at Dobama, is one of the new breed of African American playwrights. She, along with such writers as Dael Orlandersmith, who wrote ‘YELLOWMAN,’ which got such a wonderful production at Karamu last year, have helped to transition the focus of plays about the Black experience in the United States.

Early African American playwrights such as Lorraine Hansberry (‘RAISIN IN THE SUN’ and ‘THE SIGN IN SIDNEY BRUSTEIN’S WINDOW,” and James Baldwin (‘BLUES FOR MR. CHARLIE’ and ‘ONE DAY WHEN I WAS LOST’) probed into the Black-white relationships, while looking at racism and integration.

Barfield and Orlandersmith have transitioned into looking at Black on Black issues. While recognizing that it’s still difficult to Black in “white America,” they appear to feel free to expose audiences to issues that African Americans experience intrapersonally, within themselves, and interpersonally, with other members of the Black, as well as the white community.

‘YELLOWMAN’ examined the conflict between light-skinned African Americans which sometimes causes social level distinctions, with their darker brethren. ‘BLUE DOOR’ looks at the crisis of a Black man’s self-identity and his cultural history.

Neither playwright is afraid to break the “rules” of political and semantic “correctness.” They use language that traditionally has been shunned and ideas that were hidden by historical avoidance. Barfield refers several times to the role of the ‘house nigger” (Blacks who worked in the houses of plantation owners) and uses language like ‘the white devil in black skin.” She draws attention to the concept that both whites and Blacks must realize that “you can’t look at the present without looking at the past.” And that look requires using authentic language, even if it jars the ears.

‘BLUE DOOR’ is a moving and searing script. It grabs and holds the viewer’s attention. We get on intimate terms with Lewis, an African American professor of mathematics at a prestigious university, who finds himself grappling with his personal devils, in the form of his ancestors and their roles on his present day life. He struggles with the effect of these people’s histories on who he is, or perceives himself to be. We watch as Lewis’s personal and professional life spins into turmoil as his “demons” emerge. His wife leaves him. He is suspended for calling one of his students a “nigger.” His ancestors come forth during his fits of insomnia. He struggles with the story of how his family, as is true of many African Americans, were transplanted, becoming the only major cultural group who were brought to the U.S. against their wills, rather than emigrating on their own.

The Dobama production, under the sure handed direction of Scott Plate, is both upsetting and mesmerizing. The pacing allows ideas to clearly develop, even with a script that is a little too long.

Rod Lawrence, who claims he is “stoked” to be in his first production at Dobama, is compelling in each of his enactments. Playing three of Lewis’s ancestors, he develops each as a distinct character. The multi-talented Baldwin Wallace College junior gives a top notch performance in which his acting, singing and dancing are all on target. He’s impressive, very impressive.

Though he had some focus and consistency problems on opening night, Geoff Short is properly torn as Lewis. His is a difficult task. He must walk the fine line between reality and illusion, sanity and depression. He basically succeeds.

Jeff Herrmann’s set design and Richard Ingraham’s sound design both enhance the production.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: ‘BLUE DOOR,’ is theatre of the mind. In this case, theatre of a Black man’s mind. It is a thought provoking script, given a fine production, that is a must see for local audiences.

Dance (Verb), Dance (Groundworks), Dance (Aspen Santa Fe Ballet)

DANCE (Verbs), DANCE (Groundworks), DANCE (Aspen Santa Fe Ballet)

There’s been a lot of dancing going on in Cleveland, with a lot more to come.

VERB BALLETS’ ‘HOMEGROWN” leads to audience enjoyment

Verb Ballets, performing before a Sunday afternoon family audience at the new Breen Center, on the campus of St. Ignatius High School, went back into their repertoire and pulled out some of their most audience friendly pieces. No premiers here, just tried and true pleasers.

The well selected program included an opening mini-lecture by Dr. Margaret Carlson, the company’s Chief Executive Officer and Artistic Officer, who gave a capsule summary of each piece. It was an excellent device for this audience, who, it appears, were mostly dance neophytes.

‘LADY BE GOOD,’ a ballroom theatre piece, was a reminder of the new rage of dance shows on TV. The jazz and scat music of George Gershwin was well interpreted by choreographer Gary Pierce, and the dancers.

‘LE CORSAIRE PAS DE DEUX’ exposed the audience to classical ballet. Beautifully performed by Brian Murphy and Jennifer Moll Safanovs, its highlights included excellent toe work, proficient leaps, strong coupling, and sprightly music and movement.

The music to ‘SPEED, THE ICARUS PROJECT’ brought squeals of delight from the children in the audience, familiar with the character of Speed Racer. A little static in movement, complete with some stumbles by Antwon Duncan, the piece did not hold the same fun power as previous enactments by the company. Katie Gnagy and Danielle Brickman were fine as the Wings.

‘VESPERS,’ with music by Mikel Rouse, was a visual enactment of passion and spirituality. The dancers stood and sat on, moved under, crawled beneath, and used chairs as the center point for their emotional feelings. A tribute to Martin Luther King, Ulysses Dove’s intricate choreography, as restaged by Dawn Carter, was filled with symbolism. This is one of the company’s signature pieces, and justifiably so.

The program ended with Pamela Pribisco’s ‘PETER AND THE WOLF. It was charmingly danced to the music of Sergei Prokofiev. The children in the audience verbally reacted to the familiar story and actions.

Verb’s next offering will be ‘CLEVELAND COMPOSERS, CLEVELAND CHOREOGRAPHERS, which is part of Dance Works 2020 at Cleveland Public Theatre from April 8 to the 11th. For information go to cptonline.org or call 216-631-2727.

GROUNDWORKS presents world premiere as part of Breen Center program

The Breen Center was the home to Groundworks DanceTheatre’s most recent concert. Made up of three pieces, the program again highlighted the uniform dancing excellence of the company. The six company members were nearly flawless in interpreting the works of three different choreographers.

‘POLARITY,’ staged by David Shimotakahara to atonal music composed and recorded by Gustavo Aguilar, created an abstract work centering on the internal and external impulses and forces of the performers. Though a little long, the dancers, dressed in striking orange costumes, used angular body moves, straight and bent arms and intertwining of bodies to create visual images of connections and disconnections of thought and action. Highlights of the piece included a mesmerizing solo by Kelly Brunk, who has developed into a premiere dancer since he joined the company 2008, and a duet coupling Brunk and powerhouse Amy Miller.

‘DELAYED,’ another abstract piece, was performed to the atonal sounds of Terry Riley. Supposedly developed as a movement piece which created a distinctive dance vocabulary. The dancing was well performed, but the repetition of movement and theme became somewhat tedious.

‘JUST YESTERDAY’ was an unusual piece for Danceworks. A combination of speaking, singing and dancing, with an excellent concept, some of the impact was lost because the vocalizations by the dancers were not always easy to hear. Too bad there wasn’t a way to individually mic the performers. The general idea came across, but with better audio, the effect could have been greater. Choreographer Dianne McIntyre did an excellent job of creating movement to parallel to the recollection and lasting family impressions of the dancers.

A benefit for Groundworks will be held on Saturday, March 13, at Windows on the River. The company will at the Philomethian Center in Chagrin Falls on February 20 at 8 p.m. and will be at the Cleveland Play House as part of Fusion Fest from April 22 to the 25th. For information go to www.groundworksdance.org or call 216-691-3180.

ASPEN SANTA FE BALLET to perform at the Ohio Theatre

Dance Cleveland and Playhouse Square Center presents the ASPEN SANTA FE BALLET on Saturday, February 27 at 8 PM and Sunday, February 28 at the Ohio Theatre. This fresh young company has established itself as one of America's leading contemporary ballet companies with their eclectic repertoire, musicality, athleticism and all-out dancing. For tickets and information call 216-241-6000 or go to playhousesquare.org.

Jerry's Girls

‘JERRY’S GIRLS’ gets serviceable proudction at Ensemble

‘JERRY’S GIRLS,’ which is now being performed by Ensemble Theatre, is a tribute to Jerry Herman and the women he wrote about. Herman penned such Broadway musical gems as ‘HELLO, DOLLY!,’ ‘MAME, ‘ and ‘LA CAGE AUX FOLLES.’ He also wrote such lesser works as ‘MACK AND MABEL,’ ‘MILK AND HONEY,’ ‘DEAR WORLD,’ and ‘THE GRAND TOUR.’ He has been nominated for the Tony Award five times, and won twice. Last year Herman received the Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre.

‘JERRY’S GIRLS,’ originated 1981 as a night club act. It was called a “brilliantly lively and scintillating evening of cabaret.” In 1984, the script was expanded and premiered at the Royal Poinciana Playhouse in Palm Beach, Florida, with Carol Channing, Andrea McArdle, and Leslie Uggams, backed by an all-female chorus. You can only imagine how the stage sizzled with that combo.

When the show was brought to Broadway in 1985, the cast included Uggams, Dorothy Loudon and Chita Rivera. It was not well received. None of the Big Apple cast was associated with any of Herman’s original shows and some of the songs were given questionable interpretations.

The conceiver’s choice of the songs seems strange. The review supposedly centers on Herman’s women, yet at least half a dozen of the songs were written for men to sing, and don’t lend themselves to a female view. “I Won’t Send You Roses” or “I Am What I Am” which has become the symbolic gay/transgender unofficial national anthem, aren’t female songs. Putting a fedora on a woman does not transition the gender of a lyric.

Many believe that a review is an easy theatrical piece to stage. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is no story to hold the attention. There is just a series of songs which have to be creatively staged. In the case of ‘JERRY’S GIRLS,’ the requirements, besides a very inventive director who is blessed with choreographic skills, is a necessity to frame the songs in a concept that grabs and holds the audience. It also needs five divas with broad vocal ranges and the ability to suck the emotions out of many of the songs’ lyrics. This is a score which includes such gems as “It Takes a Woman,” “Bosom Buddies,” “Hello Dolly,” and “The Best of Times.”

Don’t go to the Ensemble production expecting “a scintillating evening of cabaret.” The production, under the direction of Frank Lucas, is serviceable. The show has no clear concept. Fun songs, such as “Bosom Buddies,” “The Man in the Moon,” and Gooch’s Song,” aren’t much fun, and some of the big emotion songs lack power.

The singers vary from possessing voices that are good to acceptable. Some don’t have the range to belt or give the pathos needed to fit Herman’s style. The vocal blendings don’t generally work.

There are some good individual vocal presentations. Kudos to: (one of the area’s best female performers) Adina Bloom, “If He Walked Into My Life,” and “I Don’t Want to Know;” Lindsay Pier, “It’s Today,” and “Before the Parade Passes By;” Jamie Finkenthaler-Has, “I Am What I Am; ” and Holly Feiler, “Mame” and “Look What Happened to Mabel.”

The band, Herczeg on piano, Mark Bussinger, percussion, and Tim Keo, bass, are very good. Martin Cosentino’s black and white set, complete with piano key risers, is very creative.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: Ensemble’s ‘JERRY’S GIRLS’ gets a serviceable production at Ensemble. If you like Jerry Herman’s songs, you probably will find the evening/afternoon pleasant.

Lost In Yonkers

Neil Simon’s LOST IN YONKERS’ is a find at CPH

Neil Simon is the crown prince of theatrical comedy. His plays are generally delightful. Some of his works, including ‘LOST IN YONKERS,’ which is now being staged at the Cleveland Play House, also serve as message scripts. This added element makes ‘LOST IN YONKERS’ a multi-dimensional winner.

In 1966, Simon became a Broadway superstar when he had four shows running at the same time: ‘SWEET CHARITY,’ ‘THE STAR-SPANGLED GIRL,’ ‘THE ODD COUPLE,’ and ‘BAREFOOT IN THE PARK.’.

‘LOST IN YONKERS’, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1991, was also the recipient of that year’s Tony Award for best play. It focuses on Arty and Jay, teenage brothers who are left in Yonkers, New York, in the care of their stern, Germanic Grandma Kurnitz and their Aunt Bella, a woman-child. Their father, Eddie, has to abandon the boys as he needs to become a traveling salesman in order to pay off debts incurred during the illness of his now deceased wife. Grandma, who is herself a mental and physical invalid as a result of a horrific childhood and miserable adulthood, has damaged each of her children, to varying degrees. Will she succeed in ruining her grandsons?

The Broadway production ran 780 performances with a cast that included Irene Worth as Grandma, Mercedes Ruehl as Bella, and Kevin Spacey as Louie, the gangster son.

The Play House presentation is co-produced with Florida’s Maltz Jupiter Theatre and Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey. By tripling up, the theatres save money on conceiving individual shows and the actors get a long run. It’s a device more and more theatres will be using in these times of economic problems.

CPH’s Michael Bloom, who directed all three stagings, has done a nice job of pacing the action. The casts hits almost all the laugh lines right on. The pathos is not short changed, allowing the audience to experience a full gamut of emotions.

Rosemary Prinz, who is probably best known as Penny Hughes on television’s As the World Turns, is no newcomer to the legitimate stage. She made her Broadway debut in 1952 and has appeared in such shows as ‘CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF,’ ‘MASTER CLASS,’ ‘MAME,’ and ‘ANNIE GET YOUR GUN.’ She is nothing short of perfection as the stern grandmother whose hair, according to Arty, “could be sold as barbed wire.”

Maxwell Beer nearly steals the show as Arty, the youngest boy. This kid is a total professional. He knows how to set up a joke, present the line, and sustain the mood. His accent is right on. His mobile face and delightful vocalics are refreshing in one so young.

Beachwood native Alex Wyse, who cut his acting teeth on local stages, is excellent as Jay, the more uptight of the two boys. Welcome home Alex!

Though at times Sara Surrey is not childlike enough as Aunt Bella, her second act monologue is right on target, as is her final speech.

Anthony Crane is “gangsta” right as Uncle Louie. Patricia Buckley, is fine as the daughter who is so traumatized that she literally gasps for air in her mother’s presence.

John Plumpis fails on two levels as Eddie, the boys’ father. His performance stays on the surface. He feigns emotional weakness, he is not experiencing it. And, to add to his problems, even though the script specifically refers to his New York accent, he has none.

Michael Schweikhardt’s period correct set and David Kay Mickelsen’s costumes add to the quality of the production, as does lighting designer Paul Miller’s “hot” lighting, which had the audience sweating in the middle of a Cleveland winter night.

CAPSULE JUDGMENT: Cleveland Play House’s ‘LOST IN YONKERS’ is a winner. It’s an evening of theatre that will delight and enlighten. It’s hard to believe that anyone wouldn’t appreciate this Neil Simon gem.

Chicago

‘CHICAGO’ jazzes up the Palace

The multi-award winning musical ‘CHICAGO,’ a touring company presentation of which is now appearing at the Palace Theatre, has been running on Broadway for thirteen years. As of January 12, it is the 6th longest running musical in the history of the Great White Way. The longest running show? ‘THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA.’

‘CHICAGO,’ the John Kander (music), Fred Ebb (lyrics and book) and Bob Fosse (book) show, is set in the razzle-dazzle decadent era of the 1920s, when “gangstas” and corruption ran wild. It centers on a Windy City story of Roxie Hart, a married free-love housewife and nightclub dancer who murders her lover after he threatens to walk out on her. She, along with fellow inmate Velma Kelly, both long for attention and turn to Billy Flynn, Chicago’s slickest criminal lawyer, to get them out of jail and into show business through a series of publicity charades.

The original 1975 staging highlighted the dynamic choreography of Bob Fosse. The dancing in the touring production is staged in the style of Fosse by Ann Reinking, who played Roxie in the show’s 1996 revival. That production also stared Bebe Neuwirth as Velma and Cleveland’s Joel Grey as Amos, Roxie’s husband.

The wonderful jazz score, lends itself to blockbuster production numbers. Outstanding are “All That Jazz,” “Roxie” and “Razzle Dazzle.”

The touring show is audience pleasing, but doesn’t reach the excitement level of some other versions, including the 2002 Academy Award-winning film directed by Rob Marshall, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renee Zellweger, Richard Gere, and Queen Latifah.

On the plus side are the dance numbers, especially the performances of the male corps. These guys can really dance! Having the orchestra on stage adds to the flamboyance of the show as do the black, sensual costumes and the glitzy set. The mostly local orchestra is excellent, supporting but not drowning out the singing. Tom Riis Farrell wins the audience over as Roxie’s nebbish husband, whose rendition of “Mister Cellophane” is tenderly appealing. D. Micciche, as the reporter, Mary Sunshine, does a fun bait-and-switch, that fooled many members of the audience.

Brenda Braxton (Velma), Bianca Marroquin (Roxie) , Tom Wopat (Billy Flynn) and Carol Woods (Matron “Mama” Morton) are quite acceptable in their performances, but all lack the dynamics needed to make them compelling. Maybe it’s the long run of the touring show which often wears out a cast. They are good, just not great!

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: The touring company of ‘CHICAGO’ presents an audience pleasing production. It may not completely “razzle dazzle you,” but it will give you the feeling that you’ve seen “all that jazz.”

Nobody Don't Like Yogi

Yogi-isms flow forth at Actors’ Summit

Yogi Berra, the subject of ‘NOBODY DON’T LIKE YOGI,’ now in production at Actors’ Summit, is a baseball legend. But, he may be best know for his “Yogi-isms.” He is responsible for numerous American English malapropisms. Classics include: "This is like deja vu all over again," ""You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there." "If you come to a fork in the road, take it." And, the logically illogical, "It was impossible to get a conversation going; everybody was talking too much."

‘NOBODY DON’T LIKE YOGI’ is Tom Lysaght’s tribute to Berra , a Hall of Fame catcher and World Series manager, who was known as a warm and fuzzy guy devoted to his family and baseball. He is also noted as one of the few people who stood up to legendary tyrant, George Steinbrenner, renowned owner of the New York Yankees.

Steinbrenner was born in 1930 in Rocky River. His father, Henry Steinbrenner, owned a Great Lakes shipping company, which George operated for many years. His years of success as owner of the Yankees was balanced by his twice being suspended by baseball for legal and ethical violations. His run-in with Berra, which resulted in Yogi’s firing, centered on Steinbrenner questioning not only Berra’s managerial choices, but making accusations against his son.

The play is set on the afternoon of the Old Timer's Game in 1999, when Yogi returned to Yankee Stadium after staying away for 14 years, since vowing never to return after Steinbrenner fired him. Berra, concerned about his lack of education and public speaking abilities, centering on his belief that “I’m not inwardly outgoing," wanders the manager’s office and locker room telling stories about baseball, the players, and his own life. (His narration is backed up by slides of the people about whom he is speaking.)

The play reaches its logical climax as Yogi gives a heartfelt speech to a sold out Yankee Stadium. But, then, Lysaght decides that, as Yogi might say, “The end is not the end if you don’t stop when the end ends at the end.” The writer tacks on another fifteen minutes of repeating himself, drawing a moral to a story that has already moralized. The night I saw the show, the audience became restless during the tacked-on segment.

The New York production starred Ben Gazzara. Reviews reveal that Gazzara showed an inner strength of a man who, while deferential, was unyielding.

It is ironic that the guy of misplaced words is being portrayed locally by George Roth, a Yale graduate who was a two-time Jeopardy champ. Though maybe a little too intellectual, Roth’s characterization has a clear focus. It may surprise many who have never heard Berra speak that he did not have a New York accent. Born in St. Louis, his articulation was Midwestern, with a slight Italian intonation. Roth’s task is daunting. He holds sway for almost two hours, alone on stage, speaking line after line. As the woman in front of me asked at the end of the show, “How can any person remember all those lines?” I guess a Yale and Central School of Speech and Drama in London graduate can, and make sense of them.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: Though a little overly long and a bit languidly paced, ‘NOBODY DON’T LIKE YOGI’ is well worth seeing. It’s fun and interesting. The story is an eye opener, the acting excellent, and it’s nice to think about baseball’s opening day being only three-and –a- half months away.

Times Theatre Tributes--2009

TIMES THEATRE TRIBUTES--2009

Greater Cleveland is blessed with a vital theatre scene. It is the purpose of the TIMES THEATRE TRIBUTES to recognize theatrical experiences that, in the mind of this reviewer, were excellent and deserve special recognition.

Only shows performed in 2009 which I reviewed were considered. Selections were limited to locally produced stagings, so none of the professional touring shows are recognized, though actors, directors and technicians who were imported by local theatres were considered. Actors are not separated by gender or leading or supporting roles.

If there are any spelling errors on the list please let me know so I can change the permanent record on my blog.

If you would like to read any of my reviews for the year, please go to www.royberko.info, enter the blog and click on “2009 Reviews” or click on the name of the producing theatre and scroll through their performances. Reviews from previous years may also be accessed.

NOTE: THOSE WHO WOULD LIKE A CERTIFICATE OF THEIR RECOGNITION SHOULD E-MAIL ROY BERKO ( royberko@yahoo.com). PLEASE INCLUDE THE ADDRESS TO WHICH THE CERTIFICATE(S) SHOULD BE MAILED!

2009 BEST OF THE BEST DRAMAS:
BLACKBIRD (Dobama)
CRAVE (Theatre Ninjas)
no CHILD (Cleveland Public Theatre)
YELLOWMAN (Karamu)

2009 BEST OF THE BEST MUSICALS:
I LOVE YOU BECAUSE (Playhouse Square)
PIPPIN (Cain Park)

2009 BEST OF THE BEST PERFORMANCES:
Dominguez, Nina, no CHILD (CPT)
Folino, Dan, SWEENEY TODD (Lakeland)
Hammer, Joel, BLACKBIRD (Dobama)
Koesters, Nick, A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM (Porthouse)
Little, Kristi, YELLOWMAN (Karamu)
Mach, Corey, PIPPIN (Cain Park)
Nottage, Mary Jane Nottage, WHY TORTURE IS WRONG AND THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE THEM (CPT)
Primous, Kyle, YELLOWMAN (Karamu)

Also, thanks to the following for making the 2009 theatre scene in the Cleveland area stimulating and memorable:

PLAY
A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM (Porthouse)
AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (CPH)
BLACKBIRD (Dobama)
CRAVE (Theatre Ninjas)
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT (CPH)
DREAM/HOME (Dobama)
EVIL DEAD THE MUSICAL (Beck)
FOR BETTER (Actors’ Summit)
I LOVE YOU BECAUSE (Playhouse Square)
INHERIT THE WIND (CPH)
MAHALIA ( CPH)
no CHILD (Cleveland Public Theatre)
OPTIMUM PRIME FOR PRESIDENT (Fourth Wall)
PANGS OF THE MESSIAH (JCC)
PIPPIN (Cain Park)
RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET (CSU-Summer Stages)
WHY TORTURE IS WRONG AND THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE THEM (CPT)
YELLOWMAN (Karamu)

DIRECTOR
Bussert, Victoria, A LOVE YOU BECAUSE (Playhouse Square)
Bussert, Victoria, PIPPIN (Cain Park)
DeLorenzo, Bart, AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (CPH)
Gordon, Seth, INHERIT THE WIND (CPH)
Kent, Terri, A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM (Porthouse)
Maudlin, Michael, RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET (CSU-Summer Stages)
Messina, Jenna, OPTIMUM FOR PRESIDENT (Fourth Wall)
Ortenzi, Lisa, no CHILD (Cleveland Public Theatre)
Paul, Jeremy, CRAVE (Theatre Ninjas)
Plate, Scott, BLACKBIRD (Dobama)
Robbins, Sonya, DREAM/HOME (Dobama)
Spence, Scott, EVIL DEAD THE MUSICAL (Beck)
Sternfeld, Fred, YELLOWMAN (Karamu)
Thackaberry, A. Neil, FOR BETTER (Actors’ Summit)
Thomas, Rohn, ODD COUPLE, Porthouse
Verciglio, Joe, H.R. (Dobama)
Woods, Beth, WHY TORTURE IS WRONG AND THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE THEM (CPT)

PERFORMER
Bredeson-Smith, Lucy, CRAVE (Theatre Ninjas)
Bredeson-Smith, Lucy, BIG LOVE (convergence-continuum)
Bruno, J. R., [title of show], (BW/PLAYHOUSE SQUARE)
Busser, John, THE GOOD DOCTOR (Ensemble)
Cataan, Ursula, THE SHADOW BOX (CSU-Summer Stages)
Chanenka, Lydia, THE SHADOW BOX (CSU-Summer Stages)
Cranendonk, Terence, CRAVE (Theatre Ninjas)
Crouch, Kevin, THE SEAGULL (GLTF)
Cummins, Jackie, THE ALICE SEED (CPT)
Dixon, Ed, INHERIT THE WIND (CPH)
Domingue, Nina, no CHILD (CPT)
Farley, Keythe, AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (CPH)
Felder, Hershey, BEETHOVEN, AS I KNEW HIM (CPH)
Folino, Dan, EVIL DEAD THE MUSICAL (Beck)
Folino, Dan, HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY ITCH (Hi Fi Concert Club)
Folino, Dan, SWEENEY TODD (Lakeland)
Foust, Joe, AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (CPH)
Garrigan, Alison, SWEENEY TODD (Lakeland)
Germany, Carly, TEN MORE MINUTES FROM CLEVELAND (Dobama)
Halling, Michael, HEAVEN’S MY DESTINATION (CPH)
Hammer, Joel, BLACKBIRD (Dobama)
Harper, Ciara, THE WILD PARTY (BW)
Hawkes, Robert WHY TORTURE IS WRONG AND THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE THEM (CPT)
Jaeck, Scott, INHERIT THE WIND (CPH)
Kennedy, Mimi, THE LADY WITH ALL THE ANSWERS (CPH)
Koester, Nick, BLASTED (B&C)
Koesters, Nick, A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM (Porthouse)
Koesters, Nick, TEN MORE MINUTES FROM CLEVELAND (Dobama)
Kozlenko, Val, CRAVE (Theatre Ninjas)
Little, Kristi, YELLOWMAN (Karamu)
Mach, Corey, I LOVE YOU BECAUSE (Playhouse Square)
Mach, Corey, PIPPIN (Cain Park)
May, Andrew, THE COMEDY OF ERRORS (GLTF)
May, Andrew, TWELFTH NIGHT (GLTF)
May, Michael, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM (Beck)
May, Michael, MILITANT LANGUAGE (B&C)
Myor, Jennifer, ME AND MY GIRL (Mercury)
Nagel, Maryann, GREY GARDENS (Beck)
Nottage, Mary Jane, WHY TORTURE IS WRONG AND THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE THEM (CPT)
Patterson, Tracee, RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET (CSU-Summer Stages)
Prentice, Christian, OUROBOROS (convergence-continuum)
Primous, Kyle, YELLOWMAN (Karamu)
Rosenfeld, Ethan, PANGS OF THE MESSIAH (JCC)
Roth, George, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (Beck Center)
Schwartz, Layla, CRAVE (Theatre Ninjas)
Seman, Larry, FOR BETTER (Actors’ Summit)
Sills, Brian, AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (CPH)
Smith Kelly, PETER PAN (Beck)
Smith, David Anthony, TWELFTH NIGHT (GLTF)
Soto, John Paul, RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET (CSU-Summer Stages)
Stewart, Paul Anthony, CRIME AND PUNISHMENT (CPH)
Thomas, Scott, MILITANT LANGUAGE (B&C)
Van Baars, Eric, 14 (Kent State University Theatre)
Van Baars, Eric, ODD COUPLE (Porthouse)
Violand, Greg, THE SHADOW BOX (CSU-Summer Stages)
Weldon, Alyssa, BLACKBIRD (Dobama)
White, Tom AUTOBAHN (CWRU MFA ACTING PROGRAM)
Williams, Leigh AUTOBAHN (CWRU MFA ACTING PROGRAM)
Williams, Natasha Yvette, MAHLIA (CPH)
Zoldessy, Brian, CLEVELAND HEIGHTS (JCC/CCC)
Zoldessy, Brian, THE ODD COUPLE (Fairmount)

Composite cast
AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (CPH)
BLACKBIRD (Dobama)
CRAVE (Theatre Ninjas)
DREAM/HOME (Dobama)
FOR BETTER (Actors’ Summit)
HEAVEN’S MY DESTINATION (Cleveland Play House)
I LOVE YOU BECAUSE (Playhouse Square)
LADY (Bang and Clatter)
ODD COUPLE (Porthouse)
OPTIMUM FOR PRESIDENT (Fourth Wall)
RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET (CSU-Summer Stages)
THE RECEPTIMNIST & HR (Dobama)

TECHNICIANS
Borski, Russ, set and costume design, GREY GARDENS (BECK)
Borski, Russ, set design, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (Beck Center)
Burch, Ted, THE LADY WITH ALL THE ANSWERS (CPH)
Burns, Trad, scenic and lighting design, THE FARNSWORTH INVENTION (Beck)
Couture, Francois-Pierre, BEETHOVEN, A I KNEW HIM (CPH)
Davis, Jeff, lighting design, CRIME AND PUNISHMENT (CPH)
Davis, Jill, set design, ALL’S WELL THAT END’S WELL, CWRU MFA Acting Company
Folino, Dan and PJ Toomey, special effects, EVIL DEAD THE MUSICAL (Beck)
Gould, Richard, set design, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM (BECK)
Herrmann, Jeff, set design, THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD (GLTF)
Herrmann, Jeff, set design, THE WILD PARTY (BW)
Hu, Tiffany, costume design, CINDERELLA, Mercury Summerstock
Karpinski, Todd, set design, DREAM/HOME (Dobama)
Kata, Takeshi, set design, AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (CPH)
Kondilas, Tom, video designer, BIG LOVE, convergence-continuum
McBride, Don, set design, EVIL DEAD THE MUSICAL (Beck)
Metheny, Russell, THE COMEDY OF ERRORS, (GLTF)
Michalak, Amber, painting of the set, PANGS OF THE MESSIAH (JCC)
Middleton, Rayna, costume design, A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM (Porthouse)
Needhanm, Ben, scenic design, PETER PAN (Beck)
Roech, Michael, scenic design, THE RECEPTIONIST & H.R. (Dobama)
Savage, Lee, set design, CRIME AND PUNISHMENT (CPH)
Smith, Jim, set design, BIG LOVE, convergence-continuum
Sparano, Jenniver, costume design, EVIL DEAD THE MUSICAL (Beck)
Tarantowski, Laura Carlson, set design, PANGS OF THE MESSIAH (JCC)
VanCurtis, Jeffrey, costume design, ALL’S WELL THAT END’S WELL, CWRU MFA Acting Company
Williams,, Gage, set design, TWELFTH NIGHT (GLTF)
Yetman, Charlotte, costume design, THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROO (GLTF)
Yetman, Charlotte, costumes, THE WILD PARTY (BW)

MUSICAL DIRECTION
Carney, Eddie, GOODSPELL (Mercury Summer Stock)
Carney, Eddie, ME AND MY GIRL (Mercury Summer Stock)
Garrett, Ryan, musical accompaniment, [title of show] (BW, PLAYHOUSE SQ)
Goodpaster, Larry, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (Beck Center)
Goodpaster, Larry, PETER PAN (Beck)
Krol, John, RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET (CSU-Summer Stages)
Maier, Nancy, PIPPIN (Cain Park)
Taylor, Brian, THE WILD PARTY (BW)
Webb, Matthew, I LOVE YOU BECAUSE (Playhouse Square)
Yurich, Dennis, HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH (Hi Fi Concert Club)

CHOREOGRAPHY
Brault, Pierre-Jacques, CINDERELLA (Mercury Summer Stock)
Brault, Pierre-Jacques, GODSPELL (Mercury Summer Stock)
Céspedes, Martin PETER PAN (Beck)
Céspedes, Martin, THE COMEDY OF ERRORS (GLTF)
Céspedes, Martin, EVIL DEAD THE MUSICAL (Beck)
Céspedes, Martin, I LOVE YOU BECAUSE (Playhouse Square)
Céspedes, Martin, PIPPIN (Cain Park)
Céspedes, Martin, THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD (GLTF)
Céspedes, Martin, THE WILD PARTY (BW)
Deering, Lynn, RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET (CSU-Summer Stages)
Van Baars, Eric, A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM (Porthouse)

SPECIAL RECOGNITION
Michael Bloom, Fusion Fest, CPH
Jewish Community Center for their good intentions in commissioning a play that would commemorate the Cleveland Jewish Community
Eric Coble for his authorship of ‘H.R.’ and ‘FOR BETTER’
Margi Herwald Zitelli for her authorship of ‘OPTIMUS PRIME FOR PRESIDENT’
Sarah Morton for her authorship of ‘DREAM/HOME’
Mercury Summerstock for the initiation of “My First Musical Program,” a program which makes available performances to children who would otherwise not have the opportunity to attend live theatre.
Roe Green, for her financial backing of the JCC Arts program, as well as her contributions to the Kent State University Theatre and Dance programs
John Cameron for his authorship of ‘14’