Roy Berko - Page 28

What happens when you bring together the music of composer Bela Bartok, noted for developing new sounds for a new century, The Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of Franz Welser-Most, and The Joffrey Ballet, under the creative vision of Ashley Wheater, and the sounds of two well-trained opera singers? The result is a creative, spell-binding visual and musical concert of high audience pleasing quality.

Over the last several years much attention has been drawn to the abduction of children and, in rare cases, their return. A short time ago, the Cleveland area had the spotlight placed on it when three young ladies, Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus, were freed after their many years of captivity in the Tremont home of Ariel Castro. This event makes one of the basic tenets of MR. WOLF, now on stage at Cleveland Play House's Outcalt Theatre, quite inciting to local audiences.

King is being portrayed by the very talented Abby Mueller. Mueller. Sound familiar? Her sister, Jessie Mueller, won the Tony Award for her portrayal of Carol in the original Broadway production of the show.

SHINING CITY, Conor McPherson's script now on stage at Beck Center, is a play about people who are in a search for 'self.' Each of the four characters has an unclear image of who they are, and are in a quest for clarity, love, and the need to emotionally and physically touch someone.

Both Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT) and convergence-continuum (con-con) are noted for producing 'on the edge' theatre. Ironically, both are now featuring plays that examine the human experience from the viewpoint of sexual orientation and race/ethnicity.

The reconfigured Groundworks Dance Theater, with two new dancers this season, again proved that they are one of the area's premiere dance companies in their presentation of 'Falling Awake,' in its world premiere, and Artistic Director David Shimotakahara's spellbinding, 'Ghost Opera.'

Native Clevelander Darren Katz and Israeli born, Yuval Boim, have many things in common. The duo are gay, Jewish, have an intense interest in probing into the psyche of self-identity, security of identification, and victimhood. As revealed in a face-to-face interview, they both seem to thrive on probing psychological barriers and delving into the layers of personal development as an artist.

In their catalog, Dramatists Play Service, which owns the production rights to Daniel Pearle's A KID LIKE JAKE, states, 'On the eve of the admissions cycle for Manhattan's most exclusive private schools, Alex and Greg have high hopes for their son Jake, a precocious four-year old who happens to prefer Cinderella to G. I. Joe. But as the process continues, Jake's behavior becomes erratic and perplexing, and other adults in his life start to wonder whether his fondness for dress-up might be cause for concern.'

When my wife and I walked into many an opening night performance, it was our pleasure to find David and Joe Garry, David's partner for 40 years and husband for two, and schmooze about the theatre scene in Cleveland and New York, and the many places all of us had visited.

What do you do if you are bored? If you are Richard Hannay, the major character in Patrick Barlow's THE 39 STEPS, now on stage at Blank Canvas, you go to the theater to see 'something mindless and trivial.' If you, personally are bored and looking for something to fill your time, THE 39 STEPS should fill the bill!

As revealed in the CPH program: 43 percent of children placed in the child welfare system in Ohio are eventually returned to their families, 24 percent are taken in by relatives ('kinship care'), 15 percent are adopted and 14 percent stay in the system until they become adults.

Social anthropologists offer that humans have four basic needs-survival, pleasure, security and territoriality. They also propose that we need to belong to some group or groups. Most commonly that of a family. Jesse Eisenberg in his play THE REVISIONIST hits on the needs and the desire for connectedness in his thought-provoking script.

Agatha Christie is one of the world's best-selling authors. Her 66 detective novellas and fourteen short story collections have sold over a billion copies. She is also credited with writing the play and movie scripts for some of her works.

It should come as no surprise to anyone who has seen Anne Washburn's MR. BURNS A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY, now in production at Cleveland Public Theatre, that when the show opened in Washington, DC in 2012 and then in New York in 2013, it received mixed reviews that ranged from 'passionate dissent' to raves.

At the start of IN THE HEIGHTS, now in its locally produced premiere at Beck Center, Usnavi chases away Graffiti Pete, a graffiti artist, from in front of his Washington Heights 'bodega' (Spanish for a small neighbor grocery store). As the young owner raps, the lyrics and music set the mood for what is a three-day visit to the largely Hispanic/Latino neighborhood on the brink of change. It's a place where families bond, neighborhood ties are strong, and the George Washington Bridge casts its shadow across the hopes and dreams of the residents.

Director Ian Wolfgang Hinz's program notes state, 'GOLDEN LEAF RAG TIME BLUES is an exploration of prejudice and humanism.' He continues, 'Their prejudice blinds them to the humanity in each other and the potential shared love of music, comedy and the need to have someone listen.' He further states, 'GLTRF asks us to confront our human capacity for seeing the 'content of character' present in all of us.'

I happened to be in D.C. on November 5, 2013 when IF/THEN opened its preview run. I was fortunate enough to get tickets to opening night.

February 1, 1960--North Carolina State University students protested when the administration wouldn't let a black male's name appear on the ballot for student body president. May 15, 1962-Students at the University of Mississippi rioted over the lack of equal rights for black students. April 13, 1964-Riots erupted in Los Angeles regarding discriminatory ways of how police treated African Americans.

Most fairy tales start with 'Once upon a time,' and end with 'And they lived happily ever after.' Ever wonder if 'happily ever after' is really true?

Sean Derry and Alanna Romansky, Co-Artistic Directors of none too fragile have, since its founding in 2010, established the venue as a major theater in the Akron-Cleveland area. Dedicated to being an 'adventurously-bold theatrical voice,' they choose 'modern and relevant' scripts, that are 'thought-provoking, heart-touching, and, at time, principle-challenging, character-drive stories.' In other words, as they state on their blog-site, their goal is to do 'Award winning Kick-a** Theatre!'