Sunday, April 29, 2018

ANGELS IN AMERICA PART II: PERESTROIKA @ ENSEMBLE THEATRE


Through May 20, 2018
(216) 321-2930

Bob Abelman


“We’re not going away.  We won’t die slow, secret deaths anymore,” cries Prior to all who will listen at the end of the play. “More life!” This declaration of choosing life, despite all the suffering and ugliness he has encountered in the world, is the play’s most poignant moment and Kushner’s most stunning accomplishment with “Angels in America,” considering the time in which it was written.  

But it is just one of many moments that shows the immense compassion with which Ensemble Theatre approached this play. 

To see a full review of this show, go to: www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/bob_abelman/

Roy Berko


“Perestroika” completes the “Angels In America” tale. Though overly long, the strong cast, creative staging, effective projections, and vivid writing make for a challenging but fulfilling theatrical experience that is well-worth seeing for those who like “thinking” theater.

To see a full review of this show, read Roy Berko's blog here.

Monday, April 23, 2018

APPROPRIATE @ DOBAMA THEATRE



Through May 20, 2018
(216) 932-3396

Bob Abelman

Dobama’s ‘Appropriate’ offers another of Jacobs-Jenkins’ provocative shades of gray

To see a full review of this show, go to: 
www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/bob_abelman/

Roy Berko


Everything from the foundation of the ill-kept, once grand plantation home, to the very souls of every member of the Arkansas-bred family, is weak and crumbling.  This must see Dobama production gives clear insight into effects of family dysfunction and repercussions of long-held secrets.

To see a full review of this show, read Roy Berko's blog here.

Mark Horning

As the various pungent layers of this theatrical onion are peeled away the sins of the father and various family members are brought out at last into the light of day as the acrid fumes bring tears for what has passed and been lost forever. Intense…Topical…Hard Hitting…Life Altering.

To see a full review of this show, read Mark Horning's Review here.


Christine Howey

The usually splendid director Nathan Motta leads his cast into multiple dead-ends that finally become as exhausting as the over-amped cicada sound effects that accompany each scene change.

To see a full review of this show, read Christine Howey's blog Rave and Pan
To see a full review of this show, read Christine Howey's review at  Cleveland Scene

Andrea Simakis

It's too long, its characters  and language too flat--but it's also thought-provoking and intriguing, one of those plasy  you can't get out of your head.
 
To see a full review of this show, read Andrea Simakis' blog or visit Cleveland.com here.

Saturday, April 21, 2018

THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE @ CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE



Through May 6, 2018
(216) 241-6000

Bob Abelman


The word is d-i-v-e-r-t-i-s-s-e-m-e-n-t (a pleasant escape).

To see a full review of this show, go to: 
www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/bob_abelman/

Roy Berko

Sometimes it’s fun to just sit in the theatre and laugh.  If that is your kind of entertainment, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” is your thing and will spell “d-e-l-i-g-h-t” for you. 

To see a full review of this show, read Roy Berko's blog here

Mark Horning

The comedic timing of this cast is exquisite as one hilarious line after another comes spilling forth from the stage. It is a coming of age story about children learning who they are by striving to better themselves which in some cases may not include as much winning as giving. This is must see comedy theater.

To see a full review of this show, read Mark Horning's Review here.

Howard Gollop

An enterprise such as this — with six of the adults playing grade-school overachieving geeks and nerds — might easily result in the tiresome mugging and overplaying of a bad fraternity skit. But each character was lovingly and assiduously concocted with seamless originality between the show's creators and performers. What’s more, the orchestra conducted by Jordan Cooper, the convincing and stylish gym-cafetorium set by Michael Schweikardt and the choreography and direction by Marcia Mildgrom Dodge are of a caliber that makes this show such a solid progeny of Broadway.


Laura Kennelly

BOTTOM LINE: It’s a show that’s full of itself — most often in a good way — and offers cute songs, such as “Magic Foot” in which Barfee reveals his spelling trick.

For a full review go here or to Cool Cleveland

Friday, April 13, 2018

SIDE SHOW @ BLANK CANVAS THEATRE



Through April 28, 2018
(440) 941-0458

Bob Abelman


Blank Canvas’ walks the precarious tightrope that is ‘Side Show’

To see a full review of this show, go to: 

www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/bob_abelman/

Mark Horning


If your taste in theater tends towards the more avant guarde and whimsical, you will love this newest offering by Blank Canvas. While the sit time is a bit long, the endearing cast fills the time with rather brilliant orchestrations and songs. Well worth seeing.

To see a full review of this show, read Mark Horning's Review here.

Christine Howey

The conclusion of the show is bracingly realistic, and Ciamacco and Harden carry it off well. As for the rest of the cast, they need to find their characters’ individual freak flags and give the lead duo the support they deserve.

To see a full review of this show, read Christine Howey's blog Rave and Pan
To see a full review of this show, read Christine Howey's review at  Cleveland Scene





Thursday, April 12, 2018

THE HUMANS @ PLAYHOUSE SQUARE



Through April 29, 2018
(216) 241-6000

Bob Abelman

There’s a wonderful cartoon by The New Yorker’s Bob Mankoff that depicts a corporate executive reporting to his board.  “And so,” he says, “while the end-of-the-world scenario will be rife with unimaginable horrors, we believe that the pre-end period will be filled with unprecedented opportunities for profit.”

Stephen Karam’s “The Humans” also calls attention to the admirable if highly irrational human tendency to be enterprising in the face of imminent demise.  

To see a full review of this show, go to: 

www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/bob_abelman/

Roy Berko

Key Bank subscribers may be thrown off by the fact that “The Humans’” is not a musical.  But it, like last season’s “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night,” and “War Horse,” the marvelous hit of several seasons ago, is a straight play that has special appeal.  Unlike those shows, it lacks the outstanding technical and special effects to grab and hold attention.  What it does have is a finely-written story that gets an outstanding performance that is well worth experiencing.

To see a full review of this show, read Roy Berko's blog here.


Kerry Clawson

All six characters in the drama "The Humans" at Playhouse Square’s Connor Palace are flawed, disillusioned and broken.  The basic truth to this meticulously wrought, heartbreakingly realistic play by Stephen Karam is this: Who among us isn’t, in some way?

To see a full review of this show, read Kerry Clawson's review at  http://www.ohio.com/akron/entertainment. 

Howard Gollop

The rich soulful song ("The Parting Glass") a centerpiece in Stephen Karam’s masterwork, is a grim reminder of the lost Irish soul of the family — not to mention lost hope, lost jobs, lost youth, lost health and lost romance.  It’s all uncovered in two acts of biting comedy, mournful pathos and chilling visual and audio imagery — the latter brilliantly conceived by director Joe Mantello in the deceptively realistic guise of a thunderously clumping upstairs neighbor, an ominous roar of a washing machine from an adjacent wall and bad lightbulbs and electric circuitry that provide punctuating blackouts.

Mark Horning

For many this wincingly honest portrayal of family life will feel as if it is hitting too close to home but good theater is not always puppies and daffodils. If nothing else, by the end of the play you will realize that your family may not be as bad as you thought and could indeed be worthy of your affection…now if they could only do something to fix the sound system. 

To see a full review of this show, read Mark Horning's Review here.

Christine Howey


As amusing as the play often is, there is a forlorn melancholy at its heart that Edward Hopper would recognize. And it’s why The Humans will stay with you long after you leave the theater.

To see a full review of this show, read Christine Howey's review at Cleveland Scene

Laura Kennelly

Holiday dinners should come with trigger warnings, at least according to Stephen Karam’s The Humans, the latest in the Broadway Series currently at Playhouse Square. In an intense, well-crafted (and compressed) drama centered on a Thanksgiving family reunion, the Blake family goes from “Happy to see  you” to “What has happened to us? What have we done?”  

To see a full review of this show, read Laura's posts at Cool Cleveland.

Andrea Simakis

It is one of the most keenly observed depictions of the way we live now to unfold on the stage in years and captures, in 90, intermission-free minutes, the sum of our fears and desires, the twin emotions a very good therapist once told me, motivating each and every one of us.

To see a full review of this show, read Andrea Simakis' blog or visit Cleveland.com here.

Monday, April 9, 2018

KING CHARLES III @ OHIO SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL



Through April 22, 2018
(330) 673-8761


 
Kerry Clawson

Miller plays the new king as such a highly passionate and idealistic person, we almost forget what a cad Charles was to the late Princess Diana. His Charles immediately clashes with the prime minister (Scott Shriner), who expects him to rubber-stamp a new bill that would restrict the freedom of the press.
Miller enables audiences to respect Charles when his character proves he’s not a pushover and sticks to his principles. Despite the media’s invasion of privacy within his family, Charles refuses to limit its freedom, and the story turns into a battle of wills.

To see a full review of this show, read Kerry Clawon's review at  http://www.ohio.com/akron/writers/kerry-clawson.


Mark Horning


Americans have always been fascinated with England and especially the Royal Family. This “what if” tale is not only entertaining but possibly closer to truth then some in England would wish to admit. The surprise ending makes for a splendid bit of conversation on the way home. Cheers!

To see a full review of this show, read Mark Horning's Review here.


Saturday, April 7, 2018

BR'ER COTTON @ CLEVELAND PUBLIC THEATRE



Through April 21, 2018
(216) 631-2727

Bob Abelman


Rolling premiere of ‘Br’er Cotton’ hits some potholes at the CPT.

To see a full review of this show, go to: 
www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/bob_abelman/

Mark Horning


When you are able to look past the headlines of police violence and black on black crime you begin to see the effects that these pressures have on the lives of real individuals. While this show offers no solutions it does encourage further discussions among those who witness it which may be lead to answers concerning this terrible modern urban problem.

To see a full review of this show, read Mark Horning's Review here.


Christine Howey
Chisholm's script, which reaches for some comparison to the Uncle Remus stories about Br'er Rabbit, is obvious and banal when it should be inventive. And it wears its anger in ways that fail to ignite any new perspectives or energize the audience. 

To see a full review of this show, read Christine Howey's review at  Cleveland Scene