| Theater Reviews |
| | Janis Joplin’ rocks its way to heaven
08/10/2012
When in the presence of great art or a great artist, there is a tendency – an irrepressible urge, really – to get as close as possible, to see what genius sees, to fill the space that genius occupies and to share the same rarified air.
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| | CVLT's 'Hairspray'simply a perfect 'do
07/26/2012
From the very moment "Hairspray" begins and a magnificent Lindsay Simon, as Tracey Turnblad, belts out the corny opening number "Good Morning Baltimore," you know you're in for a good time.
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 | 'Mamma Mia!' musical: silly, yes, but much loved
07/18/2012
In 1943, when Rodgers and Hammerstein created "Oklahoma," they changed the musical comedy world forever, or so we thought. For the first time, songs sprung from the plot rather than holding up the plot. Musical comedies have followed this unique formula s
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| Musical 'Legally Blonde' filled with laughs
07/11/2012
Long after the 2001 film "Legally Blonde" spawned the movie career of Reese Witherspoon, a trio of Broadway show makers thought turning the girly comedy into a musical might attract some attention.
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| 'Rain' steady, even riveting, yet predictable
07/09/2012
The rain continues to fall throughout Keith Huff's soggy drama, "A Steady Rain." The constantly wet Chicago streets keep the very sadness of his play in the same form throughout.
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| | Risk pays off for maverick musical
06/27/2012
The musical "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson" - a raucous mix of subversive political satire, emo rock rhythm and Jello-shots of audacity - has been given an extended run at the Beck Center for the Arts in Lakewood.
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| | 'Drowsy Chaperone' delightful in Akron
06/21/2012
When Lisa Lambert, Greg Morrison, Bob Martin and Don McKellar put "The Drowsy Chaperone" together back in 1997, they could not have known the stir it would cause in the world of Broadway musical comedy.
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| | Play House offers wide variety for new season
06/13/2012
Every year at this time, the Cleveland Play House announces its new season. From September 2012 to May 2013, the theater will continue to show off its new digs, the Allen Theatre in Playhouse Square.
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| CVLT's 'Provence' turns fun into funny
06/06/2012
British farce writer Robin Hawdon surely knows how to make people laugh. In his most recent sex comedy, "A Night in Provence," now at Chagrin Valley Little Theatre, he proves once again he just might be the king of the one-line gags.
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| Over-the-top 'Bloody' is loud, musical mess
05/30/2012
A slice of American history can be found in the offensive little rock musical being staged at Beck Center in Lakewood these late spring nights.
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| Frankly, dancers stir soul in Sinatra salute
05/16/2012
Frank Sinatra is known to have made nearly 1,500 recordings in his 50-plus years in the pop music spotlight. No wonder some Sinatra fans are somewhat disappointed with "Come Fly Away," the Twyla Tharpe dance show saluting the legendary singer.
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 | 'Cinderella' more for kids than family fare
05/09/2012
Of all the social revolutions of the last century, one of the least significant but among the most appreciated is Walt Disney making it acceptable for adults to watch and enjoy fairy tales.
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| Bile, bad behavior season up 'Carnage'
05/03/2012
It is surprising how infrequently projectile vomiting works its way into a theatrical production. Rarer still is it serving a significant role, as it does in Yasmina Reza's 90-minute comedy of conflict, "God of Carnage," currently on stage at Dobama Theat
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| Losing hand played out with folding 'Gin Game'
04/25/2012
On the surface, D.L. Coburn's "The Gin Game" is a simple, four-scene play about two people in their twilight years playing cards at a rundown nursing home. There is, of course, so much more to this Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, but none of it is realize
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| Comedy mixes strangely with 'Romeo and Juliet'
04/18/2012
The Montagues and the Capulets are at it again, continuing their long-lasting feud while creating havoc and death. "Romeo and Juliet," on stage at the Hanna Theatre, continues the messy feuding in bullish fashion.
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 | Solon grad rocking and rolling in internship
04/13/2012
When the 27th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum induction ceremony takes place Saturday (April 14), a Solon High School graduate will have played an integral role.
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| | ‘Velocity of Autumn’ hits brakes in ending
04/05/2012
Listen carefully.
That’s the sound of time passing us by, of life being lived and then reverting to a distant memory.
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| Art expressed well in psychodrama 'Red'
03/28/2012
"Wait," says Mark Rothko, the eminent abstract expressionist painter, to his young assistant. "Stand closer. You've got to get close. Let it pulsate. Let it work on you. Closer. Too close."
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| | 'Drowsy Chaperone' is lively awakening
03/21/2012
"The Drowsy Chaperone," currently on stage at the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre, opens in the dark, where a voice says out loud what those dragged to the CVLT by their spouses have been murmuring in their heads: "I hate theater."
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| Profundity runs deep through 'Middletown'
03/14/2012
Will Eno's "Middletown" is about an average American community where regular people live ordinary lives and conduct their normal business in run-of-the-mill fashion.
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| | Profundity runs deep through 'Middletown'
03/08/2012
Will Eno's "Middletown" is about an average American community where regular people live ordinary lives and conduct their normal business in run-of-the-mill fashion.
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| | 'Memphis' does rock, despite shallow story
03/08/2012
The Broadway musical "Memphis," on tour and currently on stage at Playhouse Square, earned the 2010 Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for best musical.
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| Brilliant concept is gone with the wind
02/29/2012
Early in Robert O'Hara's "Antebellum," a Southern belle attempts to explain the epic novel she is reading but fails miserably.
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| Singing talents shoot for stars in 'Annie'
02/22/2012
Garfield Players' "Annie Get Your Gun" is loaded with talent. Like the larger-than-life, full-color posters that were used to promote the Wild West Shows of the 1880s, "Annie Get Your Gun" is a big, broadly painted musical comedy relic from the 1940s.
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| Conspiracy, intrigue set on tavern table
02/15/2012
All good conspiracies are a delicate balance of undeniable fact and plausible fabrication, creating dynamic tension between the two.
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| Passionate portrayal reawakens teen angst
02/08/2012
Teenage angst is no stranger to the stage. In fact, there is no better, more universal and less time-sensitive source of dramatic "Sturm und Drang" than raging hormones hitting the wall of societal norms while under strict parental supervision.
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| | Short form is worthy of audience's attention
02/01/2012
The credible sources at Sparknotes tell us that "Hamlet," Shakespeare's longest play, has 4,042 lines, 29,551 words (apparently some are used more than once) and, uncut, requires three to four hours to perform.
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| | Horror is revisited in 'Chainsaw' parody
01/25/2012
Patrick Ciamacco's plan was to open his brand new Blank Canvas Theatre, located in the 78th Street Studios in Cleveland, with something local audiences have not seen before. Mission partially accomplished.
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| | Girls' night out going back to 'Rat Pack' era
01/11/2012
It will be girls' night out with the musical duo Rick and Sharona Jan. 24 at the Chagrin Valley Athletic Club in Bainbridge.
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| Memorable moments captured in spotlights
01/05/2012
Every year, local theaters devote themselves to putting on the best productions possible. While many productions are consistently good, truly great work is most often revealed in memorable moments.
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| Much is in store for theaters
01/04/2012
Now that the holiday theater season is behind us, it's time to look forward and to make plans for the winter and spring seasons. Theatergoers who like to plan ahead will find some real gems coming up soon.
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| | Musical to drama, it was exceptional year
12/28/2011
Can I look back at the cavernous Porthouse Theatre and the staging of a blockbuster revival, then judge it alongside a dark one-man drama at Chagrin Valley Little Theatre's tiny River Street Playhouse? Actually, I can, but not on the same level.
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| | 'Internationalist' delightfully confusing
12/22/2011
Lowell has had a rough trip. Flying from the United States then stuck in Istanbul for five hours, he finally arrives in a fictional foreign country that could be practically anywhere.
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| | Elementary students aid Jingle Bell Alley
12/07/2011
Duct-tape purses looked shiny and fashionable when crafted by Abigail Morgan, a second-grader at Timmons Elementary School in the Kenston School District.
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| | West G class officers lead 'Senior Soiree'
11/30/2011
At 17, Arianna Korting, a senior at West Geauga High School, has performed on piano throughout the world. She has played in recitals and with orchestras, on radio and television, winning top prizes in regional, national and international competitions.
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| | 'Scrooge' is great fun for kids
11/23/2011
Getting the Christmas season off to an early start, Chagrin Valley Little Theatre is staging the Leslie Bricusse musical "Scrooge." This bubbly production is the staged version originally performed in 1992 and a copy of the 1970 film.
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| Great beginning fizzles in 'La Cage'
11/17/2011
With so much going for it in Act 1, it is difficult to understand how director Terry Johnson has allowed the second act of "La Cage Aux Folles" to collapse so completely later on. The national company of the revival is playing Playhouse Square.
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| Friends land on 'Lonely Planet'
11/11/2011
As we step into Chagrin Valley Little Theatre's River Street Playhouse, we find the walls of the stage covered with maps. The sign on the counter explains, "Jody's Map Store." And there he is, Jody, alone in the store he never leaves.
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| Love prevails in romantic musical
11/03/2011
In early 20th-century literature, stories of young, strong-willed teenage girls began to blossom. The most-often revived, aside from Jane Eyre, is Jean Webster's 1912 curious romantic novel, "Daddy Long Legs."
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| Characters are riveting in 'Tigers'
10/26/2011
A tiger has escaped from a nearby zoo. Joseph makes the announcement at a middle school assembly. And though this dangerous beast may be anywhere, the characters in Kim Rosenstock's "Tigers be Still" pay little attention.
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| Age catches up with 'Boys in Band'
10/19/2011
I suppose, when "The Boys in the Band" first opened Off Broadway in 1968, it was thought Mart Crowley's stunner would go on to be an American classic. Though the play held on for over 1,000 performances, a lot has changed in 43 years.
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| | Enthralling 'Cabaret' thoroughly entertains
10/05/2011
There are many instances when art reflects life and the result, while enthralling, is far from entertaining. See, for example, Cleveland Play House's "The Life of Galileo."
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| | Italian heritage featured in pictures
09/28/2011
The Solon Italian Club is coordinating several special events with Solon Center for the Arts to celebrate Italian Heritage Month in October.
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| | Opera takes wing with seasoned cast
09/22/2011
Favorites of the opera circle in Northeast Ohio will come together Sept. 30 for the opening of "Madama Butterfly" at Solon Center for the Arts.
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| | Up With People group to perform in Orange
09/14/2011
When former Orange School board member Chuck Jarrett was a kid just out of high school in New Jersey, he, along with a cast of young people, performed for dignitaries and traveled to Belfast and Casablanca. He became business manager for an international
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| Bold director finds niche on west side
08/31/2011
Since its very beginning, Convergence-Continuum started attracting attention.
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| | 'Five Flights' is highly entertaining
08/25/2011
Adam Bock has a habit of writing comedies that veer off in several directions. Take "Five Flights," now being staged by Convergence-Continuum at the Liminis on Scranton Road.
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| 'Lend Me a Tenor' is slam-dunk farce
08/17/2011
As soon as you see all those doors on Ray Beach's elegant set, you know right off each one of them will be slammed many times over.
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| 'Cinderella' tale taken to heart
08/11/2011
When Rodgers and Hammerstein were given the opportunity to work with Julie Andrews, they jumped at the chance.
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| Sun shines on veteran actors
08/03/2011
We are in Willie Clark's rundown, one-room apartment somewhere in the heart of New York City. Willie is an old-time vaudevillian still looking for work.
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| CVLT sets stage for another entertaining year
07/21/2011
As amazing as it may seem, the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre is heading into year No. 82 of bringing live plays to Chagrin Falls. The past 63 of these years have been spent in CVLT's present home on River Street.
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 | 'Great Brad' sets magic, theater camps
07/15/2011
Magic has captivated Brad Schreiber since he was a child. Now, he entertains others with magic and teaches children in classes and camps.
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| | CVLT play fest produces a mixed bag
07/06/2011
In order to create a plot and develop characters a playwright needs time, certainly a lot more time than ten minutes.
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| Early 1960s relived in 'Jersey Boys'
06/29/2011
Scores of baby boomers are flocking to the cavernous State Theatre these summer nights to relive their youth and their love of the Four Seasons, the singing sensations of the 1960s, more often remembered as Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.
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| 'Chicago' production is as good as it gets
06/22/2011
From the very moment the trumpet whines the opening number, "All That Jazz," be assured "Chicago" will carry you into a time when life was raucous and roaring. Those who have witnessed this terrific Kander and Ebb musical at any time will find the Porthou
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| 'Next to Normal' is gripping rock musical
06/15/2011
"Next to Normal" doesn't waste time before it begins tearing you to shreds. The high-volume, gripping rock musical left Broadway on Jan. 16 and hit the road, landing at the Palace Theatre in Playhouse Square this past week before it moves on.
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| 'Here we go again' with nutty farce
06/09/2011
Somewhere in the early portions of Act 2 in Marc Camoletti's sex farce "Don't Dress for Dinner," one of his characters is given the line, "Oh, here we go again."
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| Cleveland Play House doesn't need 'rebirth'
06/01/2011
For reasons not quite clear, the Cleveland Play House has dropped the "the" from its name, along with the theater's move from midtown Euclid Avenue to the Allen Theater in Playhouse Square. Artistic director Michael Bloom calls the move "the rebirth of Cl
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| One-woman show does one-night stand
05/25/2011
Vicki's master plan is to marry young, have two children and finally own a house. We learn about Vicki's plans and the outcome which never quite match through her telephone conversations with best friend Madge.
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| 'Museum Play' falls short of trifecta
05/18/2011
Convergence-Continuum has performed two Jordan Harrison plays in two successive seasons.
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| 'West Side Story' is showing its age
05/12/2011
Arthur Laurents died last week. He was 93. His death came just as "West Side Story," the classic 1957 Broadway musical for which Mr. Laurents wrote the book, just entered its second week at the Palace Theatre in Playhouse Square.
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 | Ursuline students study the art of fashion
04/28/2011
Fashion collections, including "Midnight Monet," "City Lights," "Secret Harmony," "Charming" and "Olive Women," will be highlighted May 1 at Ursuline College's annual Innovations fashion show.
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| Theater moves on with 'Legacy'
04/25/2011
Many important plays ask you to stay alert and to use your senses. Not so when it comes to "Legacy of Light," the final offering ever at the Cleveland Play House Drury Theatre. Karen Zacarias' light-hearted play washes over you as a pleasantly packaged
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| 'Underpants' has ups and downs
04/14/2011
If there was any doubt about Steve Martin being "a wild and crazy guy," he proves it once again in his adaptation of "The Underpants," the farcical melodrama now on stage at Beck Center for the Arts.
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| | 'West Side Story' has love and war
04/07/2011
The Jets and Sharks gangs and their girlfriends will rumble, dance and sing some of Broadway's familiar melodies when the Solon High School drama club performs "West Side Story" April 14 to 17 in the school auditorium.
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| Gems can come in different colors
03/31/2011
Playhouse Square occasionally fills the gaps between its high-end Broadway series shows with other, often lesser touring company.
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| CVLT turns 'Rotten Scoundrels' around
03/24/2011
When the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre announced it was about to stage "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," veteran theatergoers must have wondered why. I did.
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| 'Shakespeare' comedy loses sense of humor
03/17/2011
"The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged)," by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield, has been making the rounds of theaters all over this country and abroad since it first opened in 1987 at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Audiences generally fin
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| Likable 'Fair Lady' lovable, understood?
03/11/2011
"My Fair Lady" is most remembered as a thoroughly delightful 1964 film, made during an era when many Broadway musicals were turned into elaborate Hollywood productions.
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| 'Jerry Springer' opera is four-letter shocker
02/23/2011
The Beck Center in Lakewood is doing the British version of the Jerry Springer show. Richard Thomas and Stewart Lee call their show "Jerry Springer: The Opera."
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| | 'Bountiful' cast makes trip worthwhile
02/17/2011
As years go by, it seems that most everyone wants to go home just one last time. Americans move around a lot. Chances are our fondest memories are the ones from the place where we grew up. That place is usually somewhere else.
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| Major train wreck is on track after all
02/03/2011
Alan Ayckbourn's "Communicating Doors," currently on stage at the Aurora Community Theatre, has all the makings of a major train wreck.
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| | Solon hosts concert with LA trombonist
01/26/2011
At 18, jazz trombonist Andy Martin landed his first full-time job, playing for a band at Disneyworld in Anaheim, Calif.
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| | Singers invited to join Voices of Solon chorus
01/12/2011
People who love to sing, whether they have lots of experience doing so or none at all, are invited to join a new community ensemble called Voices of Solon at Solon Center for the Arts.
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| Theater fare warms to Florida
01/05/2011
It's hard to tell exactly how many Northern Ohio playgoers head south for the winter or part of the winter.
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| | Hamlet hears harps or holiday season
01/03/2011
For Jody Guinn, a harpist from Newbury, a musical performance can be a way of giving back to the community.
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| Dobama heats up with laughter
12/22/2010
Don't look too closely into "The New Century," Paul Rudnick's hilarious quartet of one acts now playing at Dobama Theatre on Lee Road in Cleveland Heights.
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| 'Wonderful Life' is retold singularly
12/15/2010
When James Leaming strolls onto the Drury Theatre stage at the Cleveland Play House, he appears to be the stage manager making sure the sound and lighting effects are all in working order.
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| Dickens tale keeps entertaining
12/09/2010
It's hard to imagine how, after 22 consecutive years, "A Christmas Carol" can still draw audiences to the Great Lakes Theater Festival. By the looks of things, there's no end in sight. Children who came to see the show the first season are now bringing th
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| | 'Hillary' is historical and hysterical
12/03/2010
In a season when theater becomes a series of Christmas plays we've come to know almost by heart, it's good to see that Chagrin Valley Little Theatre has something far different in store.
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| | 'Annie' is good and getting better
11/29/2010
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Neighbors are stringing up their lights and artificial icicles with care.
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| 'Brainpeople' is crazy times three
11/17/2010
Jose Rivera's sizzling successes make it difficult to tear apart his latest effort, "Brainpeople," when Clyde Simon's Convergence-Continuum recently gave it a wild swing.
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| Performers make play go right
11/11/2010
It is easier to see what is wrong with "The Last Five Years" than what is right. You can spend a lot of time picking apart this latest offering at Chagrin Valley Little Theatre's River Street Playhouse without much trouble.
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| Quirky comedy calls for laughter
11/03/2010
Jean, a 40ish, timid, childlike, lost soul, sits quietly alone in a nearly empty cafe. The ring of a cell phone breaks the silence.
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| 'Kite Runner' doesn't fly so high
10/27/2010
It was 2007, and Khaled Hosseini's best-selling novel "The Kite Runner" was adapted into the surprise hit movie of the year. The simple telling of kite-flying children in 1970s Afghanistan and its surprising and chilling complex story left movie audiences
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| CVLT tells choppy but riveting tale
10/20/2010
Don't let the first act of the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre's production of "Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" send you to the exits. Once you get the hang of Jeffrey Hatcher's adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
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| 'Blue Man Group' like noisy circus
10/13/2010
You either love it or hate it, but somehow "Blue Man Group" has a following that has drawn throngs of people to theaters for over 20 years.
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| 'An Ideal Husband' will touch everyone
10/07/2010
The Great Lakes Theater Festival's impeccable production of one of Mr. Wilde's seldom-performed plays is having a spectacular debut at the Hanna Theatre. The play is performed in revolving repertoire with Shakespeare's "Othello."
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| | '39 Steps' runs away with laughter
09/30/2010
From the very first gag to the very last, "The 39 Steps," performed with magnificent hilarity at the Cleveland Play House, is the most joyful evening of theater to come this way in a very long time.
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 | With roots at CVLT, performer returns
09/23/2010
Her husband is driving, trying to avoid cellular dead zones, while Lydian Devere is on her mobile phone talking about finding that perfect "Audrey Hepburn dress, black of course."
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 | River Day features experts on outdoors
09/15/2010
While Chagrin Falls has planned and staged a variety of celebrations, until now, it has missed applauding one of its obvious treasures, the Chagrin River.
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| Story from hell finds love in son of Satan
09/09/2010
It's your typical love story: Boy meets son of the antichrist, boy falls in love with son of the antichrist, boy draws the wrath of son of the antichrist.
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| Chagrin Film Festival preparation is on roll
09/02/2010
A small army of volunteers is being assembled to organize and run the first-ever Chagrin Documentary Film Fest, which will run from open Oct. 12 through 16.
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| Busy theater season lies just ahead
08/25/2010
The annual lull between the summer and fall theater seasons can make local playgoers wonder what might be going on. Has theater died?
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| CVLT season opens with 'Jekyll, Hyde'
08/18/2010
The fall theater season approaches, and Chagrin Valley Little Theatre has announced a full slate from October right through August of 2011. Six productions will appear on the main stage, with four additional productions scheduled for the smaller River Str
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| Silly 'Pimpernel' gets sillier yet
08/11/2010
Just over 100 years ago, Baroness Orczy wrote the novel "The Scarlet Pimpernel.
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| 'Phantom' crashes a bit weakly
08/05/2010
In the cozy confines of the Allen Theatre, the centerpiece of Cleveland's Playhouse Square, a return engagement of "The Phantom of the Opera" is again drawing crowds.
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| CVLT produces flop terrifically
07/28/2010
Can the comic genius found in Mel Brooks' musical "The Producers" survive in Chagrin Falls?
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| 'Gatherers' hunt grizzly comedy
07/21/2010
Richard and Pam are preparing for their annual dinner celebration with longtime friends Wendy and Tom. Seems civilized enough. The two couples, now in their mid-30s, have shared this once-a-year get-together since high school.
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| Humor never in doubt with Durang
07/14/2010
Christopher Durang has been making fun of some very successful playwrights for a couple of decades. He claims to have written well over 100 short plays. Mr. Durang claims a lot of things. One thing is sure -- he is a very funny man. His parodies, spoofs
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| | 'Swim Club' makes splash with laughter
06/09/2010
Jesse Jones, Nicolas Hope and Jamie Wooten are not exactly household names.
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 | Chagrin actress has Annie part down pat
06/02/2010
A year ago, the Times profiled the Welch family, Chagrin Falls residents with a passion for performing. The article offered a day in the life of aspiring actors Sam and Natalie, then 12 and 10 years old, respectively, as they were chauffeured from auditio
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| 'Dark Ride' is tangled journey
05/27/2010
Several decades ago, Euclid Beach Park, a well-known Cleveland landmark, disappeared only to be replaced by apartment buildings. The park had a popular boat ride called the Tunnel of Love and another walk-through attraction labeled the Fun House
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| 'Humble Boy' is full of surprises
05/20/2010
Charlotte Jones' memorable "Humble Boy," so densely plotted in contrivances, spews British farce without actually being a farce at all. Her complex comedy is given a nimble turn at Dobama Theatre, now in its first season on Lee Road.
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| With nothing to hide, he faces naked truth
05/12/2010
Everyone has had that frightening dream.
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| Great acting makes this 'Dream' hip
05/06/2010
Those who like their Shakespeare pure will be disappointed in the Great Lakes Theater Festival's 1960s-style of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." But director Charles Fee thinks far differently.
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| Two drunks stumble but prevail
04/29/2010
Bill Wilson had not had a drink for five months. But in the lobby of an Akron hotel, he was suddenly desperate for one, knowing full well once he started drinking again he might never stop.
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| 'Forever Plaid' is pure entertainment
04/21/2010
To find Chagrin Valley Little Theatre finally getting around to doing "Forever Plaid" is a joy. While the show joins the great and not-so-great songs of the '50s, it can't be beat for pure entertainment.
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| | Actors get to fly on Kenston stage
04/14/2010
Sophomore Christian Carter has been flying high in his upcoming lead role on the Kenston High School stage.
As a newcomer to Kenston Center Stage, the school's performing group, Christian said he never expected to be chosen for the title role in "Peter P
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 | Love story on stage blossoms in real life
04/07/2010
"For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."
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| THEATER, BY HERB HAMMER
03/31/2010
Don't let the title scare you away. "Kimberly Akimbo," the dramatic farce by David Lindsay-Abaire, as staged by Convergence-Continuum is a one-of-a-kind play in which you cringe and laugh, often both at the same time.
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| Dark comedy is taken to heart
03/25/2010
Stephen Karam appears to be a bit young to write a highly successful play. He was only 27 when his "Speech & Debate" opened at New York's Roundabout Theater in 2007.
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| THEATER, BY HERB HAMMER
03/24/2010
Stephen Karam appears to be a bit young to write a highly successful play. He was only 27 when his "Speech & Debate" opened at New York's Roundabout Theater in 2007.
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| 'Secret Affairs' goes wild at CVLT
03/17/2010
Roy Wild's life is about to literally crash in on him. The wrecking ball is ready to destroy his Greenwich Village candy store, along with the tiny living quarters he shares with his screwball wife, Mildred.
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| Not enough twists, turns to save 'Emma'
03/11/2010
Jane Austen's classic romantic comedy takes on a new look in the hands of Cleveland Play House Director Michael Bloom. Mr. Bloom has adapted "Emma" for the stage and has turned over the directorial reigns to Peter Amster. Whether this team works well toge
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| Give 'Great White Hope' an opportunity
03/03/2010
When Jack Johnson broke the color barrier of heavyweight championship boxing, the world became a different place. We have come a long way since. But that doesn't make Howard Sackler's 1967 play "The Great White Hope" any more relevant than it is today.
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| Music, dance soar to great 'Heights'
02/25/2010
The more you pay attention to the fresh choreography, the pulsating music and the incomparable singing, the more you will fall in love with the 2008 Tony Award-winning "In the Heights" at the Palace Theatre in Playhouse Square.
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| Old West fable is as good as dead
02/17/2010
When "The Rider on the Pale Horse" first appeared in a 1950 issue of the Saturday Evening Post, the clever little folk tale was thought to be soon forgotten.
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| Old West fable is as good as dead
02/17/2010
When "The Rider on the Pale Horse" first appeared in a 1950 issue of the Saturday Evening Post, the clever little folk tale was thought to be soon forgotten.
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| Old West fable is as good as dead
02/17/2010
When "The Rider on the Pale Horse" first appeared in a 1950 issue of the Saturday Evening Post, the clever little folk tale was thought to be soon forgotten.
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| 'Fats' Waller revival is jumping
02/10/2010
"The Joint is Jumpin'," a song from "Ain't Misbehavin'," the award-winning, jazzed-up revival of "Fats" Waller songs, best describes the exciting production staged at the Bolton Theatre of the Cleveland Play House. The Bolton is truly jumping.
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| Adapted children's fable premieres on local stage
02/03/2010
On the main stage of the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre is a play that merges Shakespearian tragedies with film noir crime dramas to create a comedic murder mystery. Judging from the title of the play opening Feb. 12 at the smaller River Street Playhouse,
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| | School musical leaps back to flapper era
01/28/2010
Kenston Middle School will perform the musical "Thoroughly Modern Millie" at 7 p.m. Friday (Jan. 29) and 4 p.m. Jan. 30 in the Kenston High School auditorium.
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| | School musical leaps back to flapper era
01/28/2010
Kenston Middle School will perform the musical "Thoroughly Modern Millie" at 7 p.m. Friday (Jan. 29) and 4 p.m. Jan. 30 in the Kenston High School auditorium.
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| | Merger of genres is tough act for CVLT
01/21/2010
It's Sherlock meets Shylock in Chagrin Valley Little Theater's production of "The Maltese Bodkin." On stage in Chagrin Falls through Feb. 6, it is a Labradoodle of a play.
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| There's much to like about 'Yogi'
01/13/2010
This has been a difficult year to be a Cleveland Indians fan. In addition to finishing the season with an embarrassing 65-97 record, the team and its fans had to witness the dreaded New York Yankees win yet another World Series, the 27th championship in t
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| Lincoln's legacy memorialized in dance
01/07/2010
Abraham Lincoln's legacy has been memorialized in marble and on Mount Rushmore.
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| Two shows at CVLT stood out in 2009
12/30/2009
Looking back over all the plays this reviewer has covered is an annual task that began 35 years ago when I first started writing for the Times. Sifting through the dozens of these stage experiences every year is a labor of love. Deciding on which producti
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| Local theaters warm up winter
12/23/2009
In last week's edition, this corner offered a schedule of the south Florida winter theater season. But most of us are staying here in the frigid northland.
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| Twisted 'Wicked' is serious, funny
12/09/2009
The battle of the witches continues at the State Theatre in Playhouse Square. Yes, "Wicked," the smash Broadway hit, has returned to Cleveland for the third time, and again audiences are packing the place.
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| 'Maria' envisions favorite things
12/02/2009
When a Broadway musical makes the transition to the big screen, it is impossible to see any subsequent stage production of that musical and not have the now-iconic cinematic images pop into one's head.
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| 'Willy Wonka' is holiday delight
11/25/2009
During the holiday season, there isn't anything you would consider to be too cute. This is certainly the reason to forgive the stage play with clumsy directing, cheap sets and awkward dances.
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| Darkness sheds light in 'Yellowman'
11/18/2009
In a recent interview with American Theatre magazine, contemporary playwright Dael Orlandersmith was asked to comment on her propensity for portraying lives torn apart by poverty, racism and substance abuse.
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 | Theater guild widens its mission in Geauga
11/12/2009
When the Geauga Lyric Theater Guild was founded in 1954, its mission was to produce musical theater using local talent for the entertainment of Geauga County residents. Fifty-five years later, the guild continues to do that, while setting its course on an
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| Evolution debate worth the sweat
11/04/2009
Some political arguments just won't go away. Take for instance the 1925 "Scopes Monkey Trial," where a Tennessee school teacher was tried for teaching Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species." The trial drew national attention and turned out to be a ba
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| 'Mystery' sends audience home happy
10/29/2009
Charles Dickens died suddenly after he had finished half of his 12-part novel "Mystery." After several attempts by various writers over the years to complete the work had failed, Rupert Holmes, giving full credit to Mr. Dickens, did the job with enormou
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| 'Scarecrows' puts chills on thriller
10/21/2009
"The Wizard of Oz did a great disservice to the scarecrow by depicting him as a brainless bundle of good intentions. Pat Cook's mystery comedy thriller "A Murder of Scarecrows," which opened last weekend at the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre, sets things r
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| 'Twelfth Night' sorts out confusion
10/14/2009
In order to avoid the confusion brought by the many farcical elements in Shakespeare's romantic comedy "Twelfth Night," it's best to read the synopsis first. If this is accomplished, the sheer joy of the Great Lakes Theater Festival's production can truly
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| 'Cleveland,' the play, is real loser
10/08/2009
Dobama Theatre has finally settled into a permanent home. That's the good news.
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| 'Private Lives' mixes in laughter
10/01/2009
The world in romantic comedies tends to be seen through rose-colored glasses. It is an affable place with warm hues, poetic prose and endless optimism radiating from the soul mates who occupy it.
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| | 'Man of La Mancha' has history at CVLT
09/24/2009
This time last year, the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre produced "Guys and Dolls: In Concert," a stripped-down version of the 1951 Tony Award-winning musical performed with a full 25-piece orchestra on stage.
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| All ends well for 'problem play'
09/16/2009
If "All's Well That Ends Well" is "a problem play," as the Case Western Reserve MFA Acting Program proclaims, then why are they performing this 1623 seldom-seen Shakespearian relic?
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| Wandering Dobama gets ready to settle in
09/10/2009
Dobama has a new home.
After leaving its underground converted bowling alley on Coventry Road in 2005, Cleveland's much-loved theater is about to settle into its long-awaited permanent residence.
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| 'Perfect Crime' is brutally terrible
09/03/2009
Before leaving New York, there is always the urge to see at least one Off Broadway play. With scores to choose from, the choice isn't so hard after all.
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| Big and 'Wicked,' it's good and bad
08/27/2009
The Gershwin Theatre on 50th Street just north of Times Square is a massive spectacle of a place. Its enormous stage and wide, deep auditorium make it the perfect New York place for "Wicked," the prequel musical to the 1939 classic movie "The Wizard of Oz
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| Children's eyes open to theater
08/19/2009
There are few gifts as rewarding as introducing the next generation to the wonders of the performing arts. There are even fewer that are as affordable and accessible as the children's theater series offered by the folks at Playhouse Square.
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| 'My Girl' hijinks get high Marx
08/13/2009
Those familiar with the Marx Brothers movies from the 1930s and 1940s will take particular pleasure in the version of "Me and My Girl" playing on the Mercury Summer Stock stage in Parma.
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| 'Grease' and fun mix it up at CVLT
07/29/2009
Here we are back at Rydell High taking still another nostalgic look at Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey's satire of high school life in the 1950s.
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| Aurora's 'Joseph' just amazing
07/22/2009
The very first collaboration of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice was the 1968 comic musical "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." Starting as a small-scaled, staged musical choral show, it grew into a full-scale popular musical opera.
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| Sometimes, 10 minutes is too long
07/15/2009
Chagrin Valley Little Theatre has gone out on a limb.
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| | Actor has that voice but didn't get crunch
07/09/2009
"Stays sugar sweet and crunchy, even in milk."
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| 'Fall to Earth' comes down heavy
07/02/2009
What are Fay and her daughter Rachel doing in a motel room? Why did they fly to this city far from their Chicago home? Well, playwright Joel Drake Johnson won't tell you just yet.
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| Drama gets displaced with 'Pangs'
06/24/2009
Unless you've been following the historical events in Israel the past 60 years or so, you would barely have a clue as to what's going on in Motti Lerner's high-pitched drama "Pangs of the Messiah."
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| Funny really happens in 'Forum'
06/17/2009
While it's always a pleasant evening of playgoing at the outdoor Porthouse Theatre on a summer night, it's even more pleasant when director Terri Kent has something special in store.
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| | Tolerance is lesson for 'Laramie Project'
06/11/2009
A senior project has become a production for Jenn Grobe, an upcoming Chagrin Falls High School graduate.
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| Naughty musical isn't that nice
06/04/2009
Ancient Chinese philosophers believed that everything in the universe operates in balance, where seemingly opposing forces -- a yin and a yang --complement each other.
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| Shaw Festival has Noel Coward treats
05/28/2009
The Shaw Festival has an extra treat in store this year for those who annually take the trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake.
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| Summer stock takes theater into open air
05/21/2009
If you prefer your entertainment within the comfortable confines of a 19th-century barn, in a charming open-air arena or smack in the middle of a scenic park, then you have no doubt been counting the days for the seasonal opening of the area's summer-stoc
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| Musical is bloody good for laughs
05/13/2009
Cult horror movies have had their day. The intent when they were popular was to scare the bejabbers out of teens. They loved it and came back for more. Now, these movies are mostly gone.
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| 'My Destination' reaches for clouds
05/06/2009
Eight years after Thornton Wilder's 1927 breakthrough novel "The Bridge at San Luis Rey" and three years prior to his 1938 Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Our Town," his novel "Heaven's My Destination" made its debut. Surely not as highly regarded as some of
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 | Silliness swamps 'Duck Hunter'
04/29/2009
Sandy is a reporter for the Weekly World and Globe, a New York-based supermarket tabloid. We're told early on the paper is circulated nationally twice a week. Calling this rag the biweekly World and Globe might get people thinking the paper to be a gay pu
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| 'Almost, Maine' does come close
04/22/2009
The River Street Playhouse, originally referred to as the Annex until this reviewer began calling the place the name the theater has carried for decades, is at it again. Once again, the tiny, 60-seat theater is outdoing its big brother, the Chagrin Valley
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| Play House has diverse lineup
04/15/2009
Now that the Cleveland Play House is winding down the 2008-2009 theater season, the theater, as in past years, has announced the 2009-2010 lineup of plays. Here it is April, and the first play won't open for five months. There's nothing like getting subsc
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| 'Answers' better in second act
04/09/2009
Through a confusion of dates and names, there's a biography of sorts concerning legendary columnist Ann Landers being staged at the Cleveland Play House Bolton Theatre.
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 | Second-grader gets onstage with Figaro
04/02/2009
A tourist walks into a New York City bar. He orders a beer and says, "Excuse me, bartender. How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" The bartender replies, "Practice."
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| CVLT digs in with dark comedy 'Incorruptible'
03/26/2009
A monastery in 13th-century France sets the stage for Michael Hollinger's witty farce "Incorruptible." It opened last Friday at Chagrin Valley Little Theatre.
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| 'Receptionist' surely does have answers
03/18/2009
That vagabond professional theater company is at it again, this time performing Adam Bock's disturbing comedy "The Receptionist."
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| Dreary play is guilty as charged
03/12/2009
How can you take Fyodor Dostoevsky's 700-page Russian novel and boil it down to a 90-minute play where all the parts are played by three actors? Well, you can't, actually, although it is surely easier to manage than reading the book.
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| Diverse acting roles suit longtime gorilla
03/04/2009
Eric Oswald vowed that he would no longer be dressing up as a gorilla by the time he turned 40. Just two weeks shy of his birthday, he quit cold turkey. Since then, he has been donning women's apparel, a clerical collar, a camouflage outfit and nothing bu
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| Teen actors keep up with 'Rent'
02/25/2009
"When we teach our students," noted Tom Fulton, executive director of the Fairmount Center for the Arts in Russell, "they learn about the power of reaching -- reaching for something beyond themselves, something greater than any single one of them can be."
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| | Old Russell School lives in horror film
02/18/2009
Russell School is long gone, now the site of a new police station. But it will live on in a new movie that was made by 5-2-9 Films at the school before it was torn down.
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| Broadway comes, goes too fast
02/11/2009
Like a spritz of aerosol in the wind, the touring company of the Broadway musical "Hairspray" blew into Playhouse Square last Friday night and, a
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| Lightweight musical is predictable
02/04/2009
A poorly crafted, lightweight musical comedy has come to the 14th Street Theatre in downtown Cleveland. It's not the first, nor will it be the last we'll see of these fly-by-night shows in the smaller venues in Playhouse Square.
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| Two actors made for 'Blackbird'
01/29/2009
Where do we go from here? "Blackbird," by Scottish playwright David Harrower, delivers a gripping, fast-paced, in-your-face drama that leaves you paralyzed.
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| Reasonable 'Doubt' cast by CVLT cast
01/21/2009
The 1960s was a time of discord and confusion. The comfortably conservative traditions of one decade were conflicting with the liberalism of the next, leaving two generations in a state of disarray. Opposition to a war divided the nation.
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| Near or far, 'Rent' is great destination
01/15/2009
Local theatergoers have several opportunities to buy into "Rent," the Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical that took Broadway by storm in the late-1990s.
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| Year of theater had mostly good, some bad
01/07/2009
Many years ago, I sat in the audience of a horrible play at the Cleveland Play House. Next to me sat Bill Doll, the theater critic at the time for the Cleveland daily newspaper.
The play was so terrible (I don't remember the title), I didn't quite know w
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 | Movie premiere is close to home for local actress
12/23/2008
True to her hometown roots, former Bainbridge resident Haley Higgins, who has a speaking role in the upcoming movie "Marley and Me" starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston, will watch the premiere this Christmas Day when it opens nationwide right alongs
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| 'Boom' is world-changing comedy
12/17/2008
We're in Jules' basement lab. There's a bed surrounded by several cabinets. Jules is a marine biologist who has placed an ad in an online hookup promising "sex to change the course of the world."
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| Video creations take off for Chagrin grad
12/10/2008
Chagrin Falls High School graduate Michael Cappetta, now a freshman at Ohio State University, is more likely to have his nose behind a camera on location than buried in a book at the library.
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| 'The Eight' is naughty holiday alternative
12/04/2008
Eggnog laced with grain alcohol. Grotesquely misshapen sugar cookies garnished with bittersweet chocolate. These are the sorts of treats that will be left for
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| 'Wizard of Oz' is enormous task
11/26/2008
There have been several adaptations of L. Frank Baum's book "The Wizard of Oz." The most highly regarded, of course, is the 1939 movie musical that starred Judy Garland.
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| 'Raisin in Sun' is relevant as ever
11/19/2008
The Cleveland Play House decided to do "A Raisin in the Sun" long before Barack Obama was elected president. Yet the opening night performance occurred just days after Election Day.
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| One-man show is one continuous laugh
11/12/2008
Robert Dubac asks the old question that comes up from time to time. He asks, "What do women want?" And then he tells you. When you walk into the 14th Street Theatre to catch Robert Dubac's "Male Intellect: The Second Coming," don't expect to see a play. W
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| Hamburgers flip as this play flops
11/05/2008
Al spends most of his day shredding lettuce, while Matthew, the kitchen manager, flips burgers on the grill. Not so bad for starters, but playwright Cliff Hershman loses his way early and never finds his
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| Drama lacking for history on stage
10/29/2008
The Dobama Theatre is close to having a new home. Until that happens, and it will happen, the popular 50-year-old production company must continue to find places to perform.
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 | Young piper crosses gender, age barriers
10/22/2008
When Gates Mills resident Ruth Chapman had her first encounter with a bagpipe, she was just 8 years old. At the time, the bass drum, the tallest of the three drums that comprise the instrument and rest on one's shoulder, was up to her chin, she said.
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| CVLT reunion earns its ovation
10/15/2008
Is there any better escape from the heated battles between good and evil on Wall Street, in Washington and in the Middle East than an evening with the sinners and saints in the Frank Loesser musical "Guys and Dolls"?
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| 'Buried Child' is mesmerizing
10/09/2008
We are in the living room of a dilapidated Illinois farmhouse. The old man on the sofa wheezes and coughs and appears to be choking. This is the opening scene in Sam Shepard's 1979 Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Buried Child."
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| Blood, humor flow in 'Inishmore'
10/01/2008
The locals of downtown Cleveland may not even know there is a professional theater company on Euclid Avenue near Public Square. But as a matter of fact, there is. The Bang and the Clatter Theatre Company, a spinoff of the Akron company with the same name,
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| Stellar cast shines in 'Glass Menagerie'
09/24/2008
It's been some time since Tom Wingfield escaped from his cramped St. Louis apartment. He never looked back, but he hasn't been able to escape the sad memories with his shy, limping sister Laura and his overbearing mother, Amanda.
"The Glass Menagerie,"
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| 'Master Class' puts actors to tough test
09/18/2008
Before Celine Dion, Whitney Houston and Cher, there was Maria Callas -- an internationally renowned singer with diva status whose turbulent, high-profile personal life drew as much attention as her stellar on-stage performances. Ms. Callas' career as an o
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 | 'Murder' mystery is another hit in Chagrin
09/11/2008
Just minutes before curtain time Saturday at the Chagrin Valley Little Theater, where a sold-out crowd awaited the second night of the 23rd annual "Murder by the Falls," writer and director Donald Edelman joked that "the third time is a charm."
Mr. Ede
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| 'Picnic' has few bright moments
09/03/2008
The Fine Arts Association in Willoughby has brought to its stage William Inge's classic play "Picnic." Fine Arts has a reputation for good plays and excellent performers.
But something went awry on opening night this past Friday. The intent was to delive
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| Play House to warm up season
08/27/2008
Northeast Ohioans suffer each year when fall is just around the corner. We suffer, because we know what's coming. Winter.
But fear not, dear reader, for this is the time when the Cleveland Play House opens its doors to another new season. If anyt
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| Sam Shepard play isn't for squeamish
08/20/2008
Frank and Emma live a quite existence in a shabby Wisconsin farmhouse. Frank tends to his heifers, and Emma her plants. She waters them continuously. Their quiet world explodes around them from a simple knock on the door.
The Bang and Clatter Sometimes i
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| 'Freakshow' is oddly beautiful
08/13/2008
You can't help yourself. Once you've been to Convergence-Continuum and have felt part of one of its edgy, often bizarre productions, you go back again. Like it or not, you're bound to see the next offering.
"Freakshow," C-C's latest endeavor, is merely w
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| Unlikely duo 'Harold, Maude' shine on stage
08/07/2008
A rope with a noose hangs center stage. A very tall, very young man places a bench beneath the noose. He proceeds to stand on the bench, place the noose around his neck, and kick away the bench falling into the air, dead.
That's the very beginning of "Ha
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| 'Urinetown' in line for good comedy
07/30/2008
A lot of thought and hand wringing must have gone on before Chagrin Valley Little Theatre decided to go ahead and stage the wild and wacky Broadway musical "Urinetown."
What are they doing talking about urine right here in sophisticated Chagrin Falls? We
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| 'Blood Brothers' is riveting drama
07/23/2008
There are many reasons not to spend these lovely July evenings indoors. The Mercury Summer Stock Theatre trumps each and every one of them by offering a superb, must-see production of the musical �Blood Brothers.�
�Blood Brot
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