Roy Berko - Page 8

As the story goes, 'In 1991, Jeannette Sorrell was invited to interview for the position of Assistant Conductor with The Cleveland Orchestra. Sorrell met with Music Director Christoph von Dohnányi who told her that there was no point in trying to find time in the orchestra's schedule for an audition because the audience in Cleveland would never accept a woman as a conductor. Sorrell replied that she had actually not sought this post and she really wanted to work with period instruments. Following this interview, the orchestra's artistic administrator, Roger Wright, offered to help Sorrell launch a period-instrument orchestra in Cleveland.'

Cleveland native, Michael Cavanaugh, has been called the 'New Voice of the American Rock and Roll Songbook.' He came to national fame when he was handpicked by Billy Joel to star in his Broadway musical MOVIN' OUT.

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, now on stage at the Connor Palace as part of the Key Bank Series, is a show with a history of controversy. It has been condemned by some religious groups, as well as sectarians.

HURRICANE DIANE, a 90-minute play without intermission, now on stage at Dobama, has been described as 'An astonishing new play which whirls ancient myth, lesbian pulp, ecological thriller and The Real Housewives of Monmouth County into a perfect storm of timely tragicomedy.'

It's that time of year again. Yes, stores are all decked out in holiday decorations, the Allen Theatre lobby is filled with Christmas Trees, and local theatres are strutting their stuff doing holiday productions. Many of the venues have run out of fresh material so they are remounting scripts from the past or trying to conceive some new holiday cheer and eliminate mid-Covid angst.

California is noted as the home of liberal beliefs and a relaxed attitude toward sex. That wasn't always the case.

Each holiday season Beck Center presents a child-centric show. The scripts are the likes of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, THE LITTLE MERMAID, and SHREK. These are selections that have audience involving stories, well-known music and lyrics, show-stoppers, farcical humor or dramatic intrigue, and the opportunity for choreographic creativity.

INTO THE WOODS is a musical with a book by James Lapine and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

In 2010 a gay Mississippi high school student was banned from coming to her senior prom by the school’s Board of Education because she wanted to bring her girlfriend as her date.  She challenged the ruling, which resulted in the cancellation of the prom.  The student and the ACLU sued the district.  The federal court found the school district guilty of violating the student’s first amendment rights and said the prom must be held.  

Air guitar is a form of dance and movement in which performers pretend to play an imaginary electric guitar. Performances include exaggerated strumming motions and recorded rock music often coupled with loud singing or lip-synching.

For the last several years more and more attention has been placed on The Black Lives Matter and Me-Too movements, woke language, microaggression, radical feminism, transgenderism, Critical Race Theory and aggression against Asians. They have become issues for laws, politics, education, media and the arts.

THE TEMPEST, now on stage at Great Lakes Theatre, is thought to be Shakespeare's last known play. The script almost defies classification as it contains both tragic and comic themes, as well as romance. It explores many themes, including magic, betrayal, revenge, and family.

The return to a live performance program, 'New Beginnings,' staged on October 14 and 17, just reinforced the orchestra's masterful sound and ability to captivate an audience.

Written in 1982, the play is set in a recording studio in Chicago in 1920. It deals with issues of race, the attitudes of Blacks regarding Whites, religion, and the historic exploitation of Black recording artists by white producers.

The death penalty carries the inherent risk of executing an innocent person.

THE LION KING, whose North American touring company, which recently opened in CLE's Playhouse Square's Key Bank State Theatre, has an enviable record. It is the third longest running show in Broadway history, clocking a little over 9,300 curtain raisers. Only THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (12,370) and the revival of CHICAGO (9,692) have had longer Great White way runs.

A native New Yorker, Neil Simon is recognized as Broadway's King of Comedy. Following his very successful 1961 production of COME BLOW YOUR HORN, Simon's name on a script basically meant instant box office sell-outs during the era from 1960-1980, the Great White Way's era of comic plays.

Clyde Simon, the artistic director and one-man-band who founded convergence-continuum, CLE's Tremont-housed theatre, has an affinity for choosing challenging shows. Scripts that no other local performance venue will stage.

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