Roy Berko - Page 28

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!'

Katori Hall, who wrote the award winning play THE MOUNTAINTOP, which is in production at Cleveland Play House, in her script attempts to answer such questions as: What was Martin Luther King, Jr. like as a person? With all the death threats that King received, what was his last night alive like? What did he believe was going to be his ultimate role in the Black rights movement?

Bernard Slade. Name sound familiar? Probably not. How about 'Bewitched,' 'The Flying Nun,' 'The Partridge Family,' 'Bridget Loves Bernie?' Slade and all of those mid-1900 television shows do have a connection. He developed, authored or worked on all of them!

What do Tracy Letts (SUPERIOR DONUTS), Yasmina Reza (GOD OF CARNAGE), Amy Herzog (4000 MILES), and David Adjmi (MARIE ANTOINETTE) have in common. Their names all appear on the best new contemporary playwrights' lists. Many also are names which, if you have been to Dobama during the past couple of years, you have seen their plays produced.

The Canadian winds are whipping across Lake Erie! Yes, the snow is on the ground, the weather is miserable, but soon the cold winds will subside and many Clevelanders will start their trek to the land of the maple leaf and cross one of the many bridges in their treks north to Canada for wonderful theater.

When the mention of the name Frankenstein is made, the common visual reference is that of Boris Karloff, who was a large green monster with screws in his head, as featured in the 1931 horror film. Karloff, in fact, played Frankenstein's monster, not Henry Frankenstein, the young scientist who created the being from parts collected from various sources, including the brain of a criminal, which was brought to life through electrical devices.

Apollo's Fire, Cleveland's 'other' orchestra is credited with having built the largest audience in the nation for 'early-music' (Renaissance, Baroque and early Classical). Headed by Jeannette Sorrell, the orchestra is forging 'a vibrant approach to the re-making of authenticity.'

How does the musical black comedy LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS fit into the Cleveland Play House's 100th anniversary theme of paying homage to their history? To find the answer requires going back to May, 1916, when the theatre staged THE DEATH OF TINTAGILES. The avant-garde play starred marionettes created by Helen Haiman Joseph, who created The Puppet Players Theatre at CPH in the mid-1920s.

July 18, 1966 is a day that will long be noted in the Cleveland community. That hot, muggy day festered into what is now called 'The Hough Riots.'