Roy Berko - Page 23

"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.'

Ensemble Theatre's 'Playwrights' was established in the early 1990's by Don Bianchi, one of the founders of Dobama, and Park Goist, a professor of American Studies at Case Western Reserve. It was started with the hope of creating an opportunity for local playwrights to have their works staged.

Yes, the jukebox musical 'Mamma Mia!' is back in Cleveland. And, as has consistently happened in the past, the audience was on its feet dancing and singing in the rows and aisles during the extended curtain call.

'Floyd Collins,' now on stage at Blank Canvas Theatre, isn't your typical musical. There is no dancing, no show-stopper production numbers, no intentional humor, no subplot, no 'I wish for' numbers. It's a tale of simple folks, a story focused on a man with an obsession to spelunker (explore caves), the power of sensationalism in the press, and the role of family and faith.

The mission of the Cleveland Play House is to produce plays that 'inspire stimulate and entertain.' It further intends to bring bold, necessary, personal stories told in imaginative ways to the public.

Nancy Maier left New York and a budding career to move to Cleveland. Yes, she traded the Big Apple for Cle!

Annie Baker, who deservedly won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for her play The Flick, was perceived by the awarding committee as one of 'the most impressive dramatists of her generation.' They went on to say she, 'writes with tenderness and keen insight.'

It was an exciting evening at the State Theatre, where a capacity crowd heard Gina Vernaci, architect of the Key Bank Broadway series, announce the 2017-2018 season.

It's no wonder in this age of xenophobia, racial profiling and baiting, irrational interpretation of regulations, police brutality and alternate facts being spewed, that when a car bomb goes off in the center of a large American metropolis, a Muslim young man would become paranoid.

Addiction, whether it's alcohol, drugs, sex, racism, obsessive compulsion or eating, is no funny matter. That is unless it's in a play written by playwright Robert O'Hara.