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CVLT sets stage for another entertaining year
(by Herb Hammer - July 21, 2011)
THEATER, BY HERB HAMMER
CVLT sets stage for another entertaining year
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.
The new 2011-2012 season has been announced even before the 2010-2011 season has finished its work. The dedicated company does not appear to ever take a break.
On Sept. 9 and 10, the season opens with the annual murder mystery fund-raiser, "Murder by the Falls." This year's guessing game is titled "Dead Again ... And Again." The audience, as always, is asked to help solve the crime.
"The 39 Steps" follows on Oct. 7 and runs through Oct. 22. This Patrick Barlow adaptation of the 1915 spy novel and the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film spins its own comic web. This spy story uses just four actors to play all of the many roles. The play closed on Broadway this past January after 1,135 performances and two Tony Awards.
River Street Playhouse, the 60-seat annex just a few steps away from the CVLT main stage, will host "Lonely Planet" on Oct. 28. The two-character play centers on Jody, a gay man who owns a map store. He hasn't left the store in ages. A younger man, Carl, befriends Jody, telling lies about his life. Soon chairs begin appearing in the store brought by Carl. The chairs, once owned by AIDS victims, begin to litter the store. The play, by Steven Dietz, was written during the AIDS epidemic. "Lonely Planet" runs through Nov. 12.
"Scrooge," the 1970 movie musical starring Albert Finney, was adapted to the stage in 1992 by Leslie Bricusse, who, by the way, also wrote the music and lyrics for the film. The theater brings the show to the main stage on Nov. 18. Like the film, the musical closely follows the plot of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," in which the miserly Ebeneezer Scrooge undergoes an experience of redemption over the course of a Christmas Eve night. Eighteen songs bring the show a jolly holiday spirit. It closes on Dec. 18.
On Nov. 25, River Street will stage "A Tuna Christmas," the second in a series of nutty comedies by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard. The plays -- there have been four of them -- are an affectionate comment on small-town Southern life set in the town of Tuna, Texas. Two men play the entire cast of over 20 eccentric characters. "A Tuna Christmas" runs through Dec. 10.
"Enchanted April," the Tony Award-nominated play by Matthew Barber, is based a 1922 novel. It is the story of four unlikely companions who share a secluded castle in Italy. The show plays from Jan. 13 to Feb. 4, 2012.
"Yankee Tavern," by Steven Dietz, plays River Street from Feb. 10 to the 25. The play is a strange thriller set in a crumbling bar not far from Ground Zero in New York City.
Tony Award winner "The Drowsy Chaperone," by Bob Martin and Don McKellar with songs by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, plays CVLT from March 16 to April 14. This riotous musical must not be missed.
River Street Playhouse will stage the famed two-character play "The Gin Game" from April 20 through May 5. D.L. Coburn's comedy about two retirement-home residents centers on a continuing game of gin rummy where she always wins and he nearly boils over.
"A Night in Provence" follows on the main stage. Written by well-known farce writer Robin Hawdon, the play centers on three couples who find they are all booked into the same villa on the French Riviera. It runs from June 1 to 23.
"A Steady Rain," by Keith Huff, received rave reviews when it played last season at Dobama Theatre. The CVLT production will play from June 29 to July 14 at River Street Playhouse. Two police officers find their lifelong friendship threatened when one of them inadvertently hands a small child over to a serial killer.
"Hairspray," based on the Johns Waters film, will play the main stage from July 20 to Aug. 18, 2012. With songs by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, this Tony Award winner tells the story of a chubby high school girl who saves the day at a teen dance television show.
Finally, "Belles" will play the River Street Playhouse Aug. 10 through 25, 2012. Mark Dunn's endearing comedy is about six Tennessee sisters who are now spread around the country. Their only contact is by telephone calls, 39 of them.
And then expect another "Murder by the Falls" when it starts all over again.
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