Roy Berko - Page 22

Comedian Steve Martin has written a thought-provoking, clever script which gets a less than stellar production at Cleveland's Blank Canvas. It's not bad, just not what it could be.

If you are a fanatic for rock and roll, especially from the genre's golden age, you will absolutely love "Rock of Ages." "Oh Sherrie," "The Search is Over," as you'll think it's "Just like Paradise" and believe that you are in "Heaven," having "Nothin' But a Good Time," which is pretty darn good!

"Really Really" is "murder" mystery without a dead body, but still asks, "Who did it?" It's a must see for anyone interested in thoughtful and well-conceived theater.

"Massacre (Sing to Your Children)" is an abstract play whose meaning will depend on an individual's views of the world, and their willingness to search for the author's intent and purpose. This is a script and production for playgoers who like to probe for ideas with no need for clarity of ideas or outcomes.

Cleveland talent on stage and producers help enlighten Broadway season!

As a play in process, "Things As They Are" needs to be reexamined with an eye for sharpening and tightening the dialogue and ascertaining whether all the visual and audio stimuli are necessary to tell the tale. For those who like to see new works, to discuss and add in-put into the development process, Playwrights Local and this play offer that opportunity.

"Forever Plaid "is an escapist evening of theater, which is a pleasant trip back to yesterday, when clean-scrubbed boy singers waxed beautifully about the angst of young love, trips of fantasy and the mini-stresses of life. If you like that kind of thing, this is a show for you.

'Salvage,' continues none-too-fragile's history of outstanding theatrical presentations as it takes George Brant's well-crafted script from page to stage, with clarity and vividness.

While the production is well-conceived and holds attention, "The North Pool" is somewhat unsatisfying as a thoughtful piece of play crafting. The script leaves us wanting more, a clearer message to carry from the theatre.

"Lizzie," the rock musical, based on the Lizzie Borden murder mystery, is as much rock concert as theatre, represents the movement in musicals to take on modern trends in music, e.g., rock and rap, and appeal to a younger, modish audience.

"Something Rotten" is a theatrical treat…a wonderfully conceived and performed musical farce. Anyone who wants to go to the theater and have a great time, unburdened by a complicated plot, listen to fun lyrics, see dynamic dancing and experience two acts of non-stop laughter…this is the must see musical!

"Hand to God" is a brilliant production, and places a spotlight on lost people caught up in their inabilities to cope with grief and abandonment. In fascination, we watch as these people lose healthy reality, replace it with abject pain, interspersing horror with laughter. This must-see staging, has to be one of the highlights of this theater season!

If you go to the theater for enjoyment, Cleveland Play House's "Freaky Friday" is your thing. If you go to the theater to see marvelous talent, in a well-directed, well-conceived show, "Freaky Friday" is your thing. If you don't go to theater but have always wondered what a Broadway show is like, "Freaky Friday" is your thing. Yes, if you don't go see "Freaky Friday" you are going to miss out on a special event!

During the late 1920s and into the 1940s, the United States went through the great depression. Unemployment in the U. S. rose to 25%. These were drab times and, as is the case, since the arts represent the era from which they come, the theatre of that time period represented two extremes: heavy drama reflecting the negative mood of the nation and escapism to make people feel better by hiding from their angst-filled reality.

Pulitzer Prize Winner and Steinberg Distinguished Playwright, Stephen Adly Guirgis, whose script 'Between Riverside and Crazy,' is now on stage at Cleveland Play House, is noted for writing plays that feature racial discord and the definition of family, while examining 'self-interest, self-delusion, self-recriminating, greed and amorality.'

Those nice people from the North who are getting ready to create great theater are beaconing people from CLE to be their guests.

Having been summoned home to Denmark from school in Germany to attend his father's funeral, he is shocked to find his mother Gertrude already remarried to his Uncle Claudius, the dead king's brother, who has declared himself the king, though young Hamlet is the actual heir to the crown. Hamlet, rightly, suspects foul play.

Cleveland is in the midst of 'The Mac Wellman Homecoming Festival,' presented by Playwrights Local, in partnership with Cleveland State University Department of English, the NEOMFA Creative Writing Program, and the Michael Schwartz Library, with performances by Playwrights Local, Theater Ninjas, convergence-continuum, CSU Department of Theatre & Dance, Baldwin Wallace University Department of Theatre and Dance, and The Manhattan Project-Cleveland Lab.

Partake in the free shot of Jamison, which is the hallmark of the pre-show ritual at none-too-fragile, sit back, and allow yourself to be immersed in an Irish black comedy, complete with skull battering, blunt language and a wee bit of fun.

When the 2016-17 Key Bank Broadway series was announced, I was ecstatic. Three of my favorite recent Broadway shows were listed: 'Something Rotten,' 'An American in Paris,' and 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.'