“God of Carnage” at Dobama Theatre

Image courtesy of www.dobama.org

God of Carnage, the 2009 Tony Award winner for Best Play and 2009 Olivier Award winner for Best New Play, is now playing at Dobama Theatre in Cleveland Heights.  A humorous and all-to-real look at modern day suburban life, God of Carnage offers a delightful romp at the theatre.

Written by French playwright Yasmina Reza, and translated by Christopher Hampton, God of Carnage presents a “slice of life” to which many parents can relate.  Alan and Annette Raleigh visit Michael and Veronica Novak to discuss an altercation that has occurred between their sons at a community park.  Soon the altercation transfers from the sons and the park to the parents and the Novak’s living room, resulting in trivial chaos.  God of Carnage provides for a thoroughly entertaining night at the theatre with a great deal of bickering and a hell of a lot of laughs.  Theatre goers haven’t had this much fun in someone’s living room since Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Not only is God of Carnage a well written play, which has enjoyed much success in its original French and English-translated incarnations, but this rendition is a very well acted production, too.  Scott Miller and Derdriu Ring play the more “corporate-minded” Raleighs while John Hedges and Tracee Patterson give us the more “grounded” Novaks.  In their respective roles, all four actors take a rather simple everyday situation (after all, what child hasn’t been in a playground fight at some point in his life?) and take it to new heights.  They all present the epitome of a “crazy” and irrational parent while still remaining completely believable.

Joel Hammer, Dobama’s Artistic Director, is the director of this production.  I had seen Mr. Hammer’s wonderful performance in Dobama’s stellar production of Conor McPherson’s The Seafarer.  He is an excellent actor, but now that I have seen his work as a director, it is quite obvious that he is a multi-talented force in Cleveland’s theatre scene.

The black box space where Dobama Theatre is located is perfect for the edgy and non-conventional productions that the company offers.  It is a very warm and inviting space that provides for a very intimate theatrical experience.  I had not seen a Dobama Theatre production until last December when I attended The Seafarer.  And following that and God of Carnage, I realize that I have been missing out!  God of Carnage runs through May 13.

Dobama Theatre is located in the Lee Road Branch of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Library at 2340 Lee Road in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.  Convenient, free on-site parking is available.  For more information on Dobama Theatre or God of Carnage, please visit the theatre’s website at www.Dobama.org.

- Christopher S. Musselman

2012-2013 Broadway Series at PlayhouseSquare

The 2012-2013 KeyBank Broadway Series at PlayhouseSquare has been announced. As always, PlayhouseSquare will offer some of the very best shows from the Broadway stage for theatre patrons of all ages.

The spectacular 2012-2013 KeyBank Broadway Series includes:

Anything Goes: Winner of the 2011 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical. Cole Porter’s classic and madcap voyage on the high seas. October 2-14, 2012 in the Palace Theatre.

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast: The story of Belle and her beastly prince, based upon Disney’s 1991 animated classic. November 6-18, 2012 in the Palace Theatre.

Pricilla, Queen of the Desert: Put on your platform heels! Produced by the Divine Miss M, herself, Bette Midler brings us this fun and colorful musical, based upon the 1994 Australian film and featuring popular hits of the 70’s and 80’s. January 15-27, 2013 in the Palace Theatre.

Sister Act: Whoopi Goldberg is the producer of this high-spirited musical, based upon the 1992 comedy film in which she starred. March 5-17, 2013 in the Palace Theatre.

War Horse: Winner of the 2011 Tony Award for Best Play. The touching story of a boy’s search for his horse during the turmoil of World War I. April 9-21, 2013 in the Palace Theatre.

Guys and Dolls: Produced by Cleveland’s very own Great Lakes Theater, a resident company of PlayhouseSquare, Guys and Dolls is a Frank Loesser classic. May 1 – June 23, 2013 in the Hanna Theatre.

The Book of Mormon: Winner of the 2011 Tony Award for Best Musical. A raucous new musical from the creators of television’s South Park. June 18 – July 7, 2013 in the Palace Theatre.

And the 2012-2013 U.S. Bank Star Performance Series includes:

Les Misérables: The spectacular 25th Anniversary production of theatre’s longest-running musical, still playing in London’s West End for nearly 27 years. February 5-10, 2013 in the Palace Theatre.

Blue Man Group: The blue men return! If you did not catch them during last season’s Broadway Series, now is your chance. February 12-17, 2013 in the Palace Theatre.

More shows will be added to the U.S. Bank Star Performance Series, at a later date. And with PlayhouseSquare’s “Swap-a-Show” program, if you do not care for one of the shows in the KeyBank Broadway Series, you can “swap” that show with other eligible shows, including those in the U.S. Bank Star Performance Series.

And do not forget all the great shows at Cleveland Play House and Great Lakes Theater! Both are resident companies of PlayhouseSquare, and both have announced their 2012-2013 show schedules. And as always, CPH and GLT will offer another great line-up for the 2012-2013 theatre season.

Cleveland Play House presents Lombardi (September 14 – October 7), The Whipping Man (November 2-25), A Carol for Cleveland (November 30 – December 23), Bell, Book and Candle (January 11 – February 3), The Devil’s Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith (February 15 – March 10), Good  People (March 22 – April 14) and Rich Girl (April 12 – May 5).

Great Lakes Theater presents Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale (September 28 – November 4) in repertory with Molière’s The Imaginary Invalid (October 5 – November 3), the annual holiday production of Dicken’s A Christmas Carol (November 30 – December 23), Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit (February 22 – March 10), Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing (March 29 – April 14) and Frank Loesser’s Guys and Dolls (May 1–19).

With ten theatres, PlayhouseSquare is the nation’s second largest performing arts center, after Lincoln Center in New York. The five oldest theatres (the Allen, Hanna, Ohio, Palace, and State) date back to 1921-1922, and all have been gloriously restored.

The other theatres are the 14th Street Theatre, the Allen Second Stage, the Allen (Helen Rosenfeld Lewis Bialosky) Lab Theatre, Kennedy’s Cabaret and the Westfield Insurance Studio Theatre, located in the Idea Center. With the addition of Cleveland Play House this season, Cleveland’s Theatre District has become even busier and more vibrant than ever.

For more information about the KeyBank Broadway Series, the U.S. Bank Star Performance Series, or PlayhouseSquare, in general, please visit www.PlayhouseSquare.org. Information on the Cleveland Play House can be found at www.ClevelandPlayHouse.com, and Great Lakes Theater’s website is www.GreatLakesTheater.org.

- Christopher S. Musselman

“Hamlet” at Baldwin Wallace College

“To see or not to see, that is the question”… or something like that, anyway. Regardless, the answer is a resounding to see! Hamlet, Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy, and one of the world’s most quoted and most translated works of literature, is coming to Baldwin-Wallace College this April.

Hamlet is the prince of Denmark, and he is having one hell of a bad day. His uncle Claudius has murdered his father, the king; his girlfriend Ophelia has gone mad; and his mother Gertrude, the queen, has married his uncle… the very same uncle who murdered his father! Although this might sound like an old episode of One Life to Live or All My Children, this twisted “soap opera” is much, much older. After all, Shakespeare lived during the Elizabethan Age and many of his plays were performed before the Virgin Queen, herself.

The Mousetrap at PlayhouseSquare

A little bit of murder, a great deal of mystery, one of the world’s most celebrated writers and one of the nation’s greatest professional theatre companies make for an exciting night of entertainment in downtown Cleveland.

Great Lakes Theater celebrates its 50th Anniversary Season with a play marking its 60th. Celebrating 60 years in London’s West End, Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap is one of the stage’s most famous murder mysteries and the longest-running play in theatre history. The Mousetrap runs from March 9 to March 25 in the Hanna Theatre at PlayhouseSquare.

Based upon Christie’s 1947 radio play, Three Blind Mice, and its subsequent short story, The Mousetrap takes place in the Great Hall of Monkswell Manor, during a snowstorm in 1952. A woman has been murdered in London. Meanwhile, Mollie and Giles Ralston have started a guest house at Monkswell Manor and are patiently awaiting their very first guests. How are these two events connected? You’ll see. A wide array of characters soon arrives, some invited and some not, and then the fun really begins. Will you figure out the identity of the murderer before the curtain falls? Come see The Mousetrap, and find out.

Cut To Pieces

The Cleveland Public Theatre’s last main stage performance of the season will premiere this Thursday in the James Levin Theatre. Cut to Pieces, Chris Seibert’s haunting, tour-de-force, one-woman show, has returned for a limited run to end CPT’s 2010-2011 Season. Cut to Pieces will run through June 11.

Directed by Raymond Bobgan, CPT’s Executive Artistic Director, Cut to Pieces is “an ambitious theatrical experience that begins as a classic ‘whodunit’ and quickly takes a nose dive into the psyche of a fragmented individual. Blending live video, film and animation, Cut to Pieces is a poignant glimpse into one woman’s journey as she reconstructs her shattered life after a violent rape.”

Written by Bobgan and Seibert, Cut to Pieces is yet another CPT original that is sure to satisfy even the most critical theatre aficionado. The show originally premiered during the 2008-2009 Season to critical acclaim, and it is set to tour throughout 2011-2013.

Cut to Pieces will play June 2-4, 6, and 9-11 at 7pm with a 3pm Sunday matinée June 5. As with most CPT performances, tickets are a very reasonable $10 to $25. If you have the chance this weekend or next, be sure to take in a performance of Cut to Pieces.

And if you have not had the opportunity to see a DanceWorks 2011 performance, you still have time. Mikaela Clark & Mackenzie Clevenger: Without Words… Moving Against the Sex Trade will run Thursday through Saturday at 7:30pm with a 3pm Sunday matinée in the Gordon Square Theatre. Tickets are $10 on Thursday and $25 Friday through Sunday.

The Cleveland Public Theatre is located in the Gordon Square Arts District of the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood on Cleveland’s West Side. Although this season is coming to a close, stay tuned for CPT’s 2011-2012 Season announcement later this summer. And you can always find more information and a full schedule of CPT performances and events at www.cptonline.org.

– Submitted by Christopher S. Musselman. guest blogger

My Barking Dog

What would you do if a wild coyote suddenly appeared on the stoop of your apartment building? Although this may sound like a very strange, far-fetched scenario, this is exactly what happens in My Barking Dog, now playing in the Cleveland Public Theatre’s Storefront Studio. My Barking Dog will run through May 28.

What begins as a “simple” story of two lonely, introverted people and a starving coyote takes a bizarre turn and becomes a social commentary on nature and the environment. And this is no Wile E. Coyote of the Looney Tunes series of cartoons. The coyote in this story, although never seen, is a real, living, breathing animal. And as the play progresses, we begin to see how animal behavior and that of humans are not all that different. My Barking Dog is a psychological drama of alienation, obsession, and environmental consciousness.

The Storefront Studio is the perfect venue for this show. It is a small and very intimate space, and this allows for the audience to feel as if it is right there, in the action, with the performers. The play, itself, is very entertaining, full of twists and turns and lots of surprises. And the performances are engaging, drawing the audience into the story as it unfolds.

Written by local playwright Eric Coble and directed by Jeremy Paul, My Barking Dog is yet another CPT production that pushes the limits of a conventional theatrical experience. And for those who enjoy pushing those limits, My Barking Dog comes highly recommended.

2011-2012 Broadway Series

The 2011-2012 KeyBank Broadway Series at PlayhouseSquare has been announced. As always, PlayhouseSquare will offer some of the best shows on Broadway for theatre patrons of all ages.

The spectacular 2011-2012 KeyBank Broadway Series will include:

Million Dollar Quartet: Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins together on stage for one night in history. October 11-23, 2011 in the Palace Theatre.

La Cage aux Folles: The 2010 Tony Award Winner for Best Musical Revival, La Cage aux Folles has become a modern Broadway classic. November 8-20, 2011 in the Palace Theatre.

Hair: The 2009 Tony Award Winner for Best Musical Revival, Hair was the very first rock musical. January 17-29, 2012 in the Palace Theatre.

Memphis: The 2010 Tony Award Winner for Best Musical, Memphis is one of Broadway’s hottest shows. February 28 – March 11, 2012 in the Palace Theatre.

The Addams Family: They’re creepy and they’re kooky… they’re the Addams Family! April 10-22, 2012 in the Palace Theatre.

Come Fly Away: The music of Frank Sinatra and the choreography of Twyla Tharp come together in this enchanting musical. May 8-20, 2012 in the Palace Theatre.

Sondheim on Sondheim: Produced by Cleveland’s very own Great Lakes Theater Festival, a resident company of PlayhouseSquare, Sondheim on Sondheim is an evening of Broadway classics from the incomparable Stephen Sondheim, master of the American musical. May 30 – July 22, 2012 in the Hanna Theatre.

And the 2011-2012 U.S. Bank Star Performance Series will include:

The Wizard of Oz: The spectacular new national tour of a classic favorite. October 28-30, 2011.

Mamma Mia!: One of Broadway’s biggest hits and longest-running shows returns. Dates to be determined.

Tao: East meets West in this unique martial arts experience. March 29, 2012.

Lord of the Dance: Michael Flatley’s homage to Celtic culture and dance is back. March 30-31, 2012.

With eight theatres, PlayhouseSquare is the nation’s second largest performing arts center, after Lincoln Center in New York. The five oldest theatres (the Allen, Hanna, Ohio, Palace, and State) date back to 1921-1922, and all have been gloriously restored. The other theatres are the 14th Street Theatre, Kennedy’s Cabaret, and the Westfield Insurance Studio Theatre, located in the Idea Center. In 2011, another important Cleveland institution, the Cleveland Play House, will move to PlayhouseSquare in a renovated and reconfigured Allen Theatre.

The new Allen Theatre Complex will be comprised of three theatres: A 500 seat Main Stage, a 300 seat Second Stage, and a 150 seat Lab Theatre. The two additional theatres will bring PlayhouseSquare’s theatre count to ten. As a resident company of PlayhouseSquare, the Cleveland Play House will join Great Lakes Theater Festival, Opera Cleveland, Dance Cleveland, and other companies, making Cleveland’s Theatre District busier and more vibrant than ever.

For more information about the KeyBank Broadway Series, the U.S. Bank Star Performance Series, or PlayhouseSquare, in general, please visit its website at www.PlayhouseSquare.org. Information on the Cleveland Play House can be found at www.ClevelandPlayHouse.com, and Great Lakes Theater Festival’s website is www.GreatLakesTheater.org.

– Submitted by Christopher S. Musselman, guest blogger

Insomnia: The Waking of Herselves

Take a trip into the mind of an insomniac. Insomnia: The Waking of Herselves is now playing, through May 7, in the James Levin Theatre of the Cleveland Public Theatre. And this is a trip worth taking.

Insomnia: The Waking of Herselves explores the connection between dreams and the conscious state, reality and the imagination. What is real and what is unreal? What is concrete and what is imagined? For Ev, Zelda, and Evelyn, these questions are answered on one fateful night.

Written by Holly Holsinger, Chris Seibert, and Raymond Bobgan, Insomnia: The Waking of Herselves is a product of both CPT staff and long-time collaborators. The play stars Holsinger as Ev, Seibert as Zelda, and Anne McEvoy as Evelyn, with Bobgan serving as director. It is one of those “quirky” plays in which the audience is questioning the events both during the performance and long after it has ended. In short, it makes you think… but that is a good thing. And for those who enjoy some good “exercise for the mind,” this play comes highly recommended.

Miss Elizabeth Bennet

(c)Ben Meadors

Miss Elizabeth Bennet, a 1936 A.A. Milne stage adaptation of Jane Austen’s most famous work, Pride and Prejudice, is now playing in the William Allman Theatre at Baldwin-Wallace College. Miss Elizabeth Bennet is yet another first for Baldwin-Wallace, as this is the first U.S. staging of this play. Miss Elizabeth Bennet will be performed Tuesday-Saturday, April 12-16 at 7:30 pm with a matinée performance Sunday, April 17 at 2:00 pm.

Elizabeth Bennet is one of Jane Austen’s most famous and most endearing heroines. Mr. Darcy has become a literary model for the perfect gentleman. Put the two together, and you get the humor, passion, and romance that are Pride and Prejudice. The play opens in 18th century England. Mrs. Bennet is adamant that she will find husbands for her five daughters. The family has found a suitor for Jane, the oldest. Elizabeth, the second of the five, is next on the list. Finding a husband for her, however, will prove a more difficult task. Elizabeth rejects Mr. Collins, the family’s choice. And although, at first, she is not impressed with the dashing Mr. Darcy, she eventually comes around, looks within, and begins to take an interest in him, as Mr. Darcy does her. The rest is history.

There have been numerous adaptations of Pride and Prejudice. From stage to film to various reinterpretations, Pride and Prejudice prevails as one of the most popular novels ever written. And it is, perhaps, one of the most adapted works in English Literature. To date, the novel has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. And Pride and Prejudice continues to be read by people of all ages, all languages, and all backgrounds.

Jane Austen was born in 1775 in Hampshire, England, the seventh of eight children. And although she had a different upbringing and lived a different life from those of Elizabeth, she lived comfortably on the lower fringes of English gentry. Among her many writings, are six completed novels, all classics of English Literature. The first was Sense and Sensibility, published in 1811, followed by Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1815). Northanger Abbey, her second novel, and Persuasion, her last, were not published until 1817, the year of her death. With such timeless stories and such memorable characters, it is no wonder that people are still captivated by Jane Austen and are still reading her works nearly 200 years after her death.

For me, Miss Elizabeth Bennet is very reminiscent of the Cleveland Play House’s superb rendering of Emma last season. The play is well performed and executed on all levels. And the intimate William Allman Theatre is the perfect venue for the staging of this play with its arena-style seating and thrust stage. Above all, Miss Elizabeth Bennet is an absolutely delightful production. For those who are fans of Jane Austen and her novels, this is a perfect play for you. For those who are not familiar with one of England’s most famous and beloved authors, this is a good time to familiarize yourself with a great classic. And at a very reasonable ticket price of only $10 ($5 for students and seniors), it makes for an affordable night of wonderful theatre.

If you cannot make it to this performance, be sure to keep up with Baldwin-Wallace’s calendar of events (link provided below) and take in another great performance at one of Northeast Ohio’s premier educational institutions. And for those who enjoy classical music, the 79th Annual Bach Festival will take place this weekend, April 15-17, 2011.

Baldwin-Wallace College was founded in 1845 as one of the first colleges in Ohio to admit students regardless of race or gender. Presently, the college has more than 50 areas of academic study that lead to a bachelor’s degree. And it offers master’s programs in both business and education. Miss Elizabeth Bennet is presented through the college’s Department of Theatre and Dance.

The William Allman Theatre is located at 95 East Bagley Road in the Kleist Center for Art & Drama on the campus of Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio. For more information on Baldwin-Wallace College and for its calendar of events, please visit the college’s website at www.bw.edu/news/calendars.

– Submitted by Christopher Musselman, guest blogger

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

Valentine and Proteus have arrived in Cleveland! Great Lakes Theater Festival has done it again with William Shakespeare’s The Two Gentlemen of Verona. A delightful romantic comedy from the world’s most famous playwright, The Two Gentlemen of Verona will run from April 8 to April 23 in the Hanna Theatre at PlayhouseSquare.

Valentine and Proteus are the two gentlemen of Verona who travel to Milan and become embroiled in a farcical scenario involving Julia and Silvia, the objects of their desire. As in many of Shakespeare’s comedies, The Two Gentlemen of Verona presents themes of friendship, infidelity, betrayal, and the foolish behavior of people in love. In fact, we see in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, the foundations for many of Shakespeare’s later comedies.

The Two Gentlemen of Verona is believed to have been written in 1590 or 1591. It is considered by some scholars to be Shakespeare’s very first play. And William Shakespeare is considered by many to be the greatest playwright in the history of English-language literature. His 37 plays are divided into four categories: Comedies, tragedies, histories, and romances (or tragicomedies). They continue to be performed all over the world, and many of them have been adapted into numerous film and stage incarnations. It would appear that Shakespeare’s works are just as popular today as they were when they were first written and performed more than 400 years ago.