Roy Berko
The strong directing, performances and production qualities of RIDE THE CYCLONE THE MUSICAL overcome the less than stellar book and music to make this is definitely worthy of a trip to Beck Center where the audience gets to appreciate and wonder at the talents of the students enrolled in the BW Musical Theatre program.
To see a full review of this show, read Roy Berko's blog here.
Howard Gollop
It's hard to avoid the pun, but Beck Center for the Art's "Ride the Cyclone" is indeed a transcendental joyride of all things musical and ethereal about teens grappling with the afterlife after a tragic accident on a carnival rollercoaster. It's an amazing cerebral flip-side to those teen-tragedy "Final Destination" movies -- made all that more compelling by a magnificent production-lighting design by Trad A. Burns and Jack Anthony Ina and the rest of the magnificent cast and crew joining the Beck Center from the celebrated Baldwin Wallace University Music Theater Program.
To see a full review of this show, read Howard Gollop's review here.
Mark Horning
This is one of those little gems of theater that if you blink will race by before you know it. The marriage of Beck Center’s technical staff with the enormous talent found in the BWU Music Theater Program gives us an extraordinary evening of musical entertainment. This show has it all: heart, courage, love and music. This is a highly recommended show to see.
To see a full review of this show, read Mark Horning's Review here.
Laura Kennelly
If all your favorite musicals had a love child, Ride the Cyclone might be it. Funny, touching, philosophical and musical — above all musical — this Beck Center and Baldwin Wallace collaboration is a delightful, witty creation.
Directed by Victoria Bussert and written by Canadians Jacob Richmond and Brooke Maxwell, this regional première features a small, but mighty troupe. (It is double cast; I saw the Raptor team.)
To see a full review of this show, go here or read Laura's posts at Cool Cleveland.
Dr. Yuko Kurahashi
Set in the amusement park in a small town called Uranium City—to ominously suggest a post-apocalyptic world—five high school students who belong to the choir group get on the rollercoaster ride, “The Cyclone.” During the ride, they were thrown out of their seats to the ground due to a mechanical failure.
Each student--Ocean O’Connell Rosenberg, Constance Blackwood, Noel Gruber, Ricky Potts, and Mischa Bachinski--has their distinctive personalities, histories, and dreams—which would not be materialized. That’s why the stories they share in their “last playground” become meaningful and profound to the extent that their shared stories would determine who they really “were” rather than they would be remembered by others. Many familiar themes and story and narrative devices/structures that remind the audience of those in SIX, The Wizard of Oz, Spring Awakening, and A Chorus Line make the show even more appealing.
To see a full review of this show, read Yuko's posts here.
