Saturday, February 15, 2025

Peter and the Starcatcher @ Great Lakes Theater



Through March 2, 2025
(216) 241-6000

 

Roy Berko
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Roy Berko's blog here.

Howard Gollop
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Howard Gollop's review here.

Sheri Gross
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Sheri Gross' review here.

Mark Horning

At last, a show comes along that is truly for the entire family. There is magic, familiar characters and songs to entertain the youngsters as well as some mild adult humor to keep the adults on their toes and paying attention. This is your chance to learn all about Peter Pan back when he was a nameless orphan.

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

Chris Howey
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Chris Howey's Review here.

Laura Kennelly
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Laura's posts at Cool Cleveland.

Kate Klotzbach
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Kate's posts here.

Dr. Yuko Kurahashi
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Yuko's posts here.

Joey Morona
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Joey's posts here.

 

Waitress @ Beck Center/BWMT



Through March 9, 2025
(216) 521-2540

 

Roy Berko
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Roy Berko's blog here.

Howard Gollop
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Howard Gollop's review here.

Sheri Gross
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Sheri Gross' review here.

Mark Horning

This is a delightful show that hits all of the emotional marks while taking us on a great ride. If you had seen this show downtown at Playhouse Square as part of the KeyBank Broadway Series you would find this production equal if not better. A fun evening for all who love pie.

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

Chris Howey
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Chris Howey's Review here.

Laura Kennelly
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Laura's posts at Cool Cleveland.

Kate Klotzbach
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Kate's posts here.

Dr. Yuko Kurahashi
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Yuko's posts here.

Joey Morona
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Joey's posts here.

 

Thursday, February 13, 2025

Romeo and Juliet @ Ohio Shakespeare Festival



Through March 2, 2025
https://www.ohioshakespearefestival.com/
(330) 574-2537


 

Roy Berko
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Roy Berko's blog here.

Howard Gollop
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Howard Gollop's review here.

Sheri Gross
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Sheri Gross' review here.

Mark Horning
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Mark Horning's Review here.

Chris Howey
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Chris Howey's Review here.

Laura Kennelly
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Laura's posts at Cool Cleveland.

Kate Klotzbach
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Kate's posts here.

Dr. Yuko Kurahashi
Mielcarek and scenic designer Natalie Steen created a simple staging with a few props, including storage chests that transform into benches, beds, and stone sarcophaguses. Mielcarek, a veteran of OSF, finds it important to use props with multiple transformational possibilities to provide quick transitions and swift changes. The balcony area of Juliet's chamber is used as an additional performance space suggesting different locales, including the entrances to the two families—stage right for the Capulets and the stage left for the Montagues, and the entrance to the Capulets’ family vault.
To see a full review of this show, read Yuko's posts here.

Joey Morona
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Joey's posts here.

 

Monday, February 10, 2025

Fat Ham @ Cleveland Play House



Through February 23, 2025
http://www.clevelandplayhouse.com 
(216) 400-7096

 Howard Gollop

Occasional Shakespearean quotes break through the realistic conversational dialogue as Juicy addresses the audience, but IJames' play stays in the often assaulting and uncomfortable world (and netherworld) of black America. Nathan Henry's direction ably hones a talented cast working on Shaun Motley's engagingly realistic backyard set, complete with an ominous roasting pig. The confluence of dramatic tropes render the play frustratingly ponderous at times, but craftsmanship of the play and the production always remains apparent.

To see a full review of this show, read Howard Gollop's review here.

Sheri Gross
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Sheri Gross' review here.

Mark Horning

This is one of those off kilter shows that has a delayed action on your perception of the production. It will take a couple of days for your mind to sort through the weirdness. It is also an invitation to revisit the original “Hamlet” for clues as to what everything means in both shows. Deep waters lie beneath the still surface of this show. You will not be disappointed.    

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

Chris Howey
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Chris Howey's Review here.

Laura Kennelly

Director Nathan Henry serves up a comic feast in the Cleveland Play House’s production of Fat Ham by James Ijames. This engaging play, set in contemporary North Carolina, seasons a backyard family barbecue with irreverent splashes of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

Bottom Line: Festive and delicious, Fat Ham, now playing at the Cleveland Play House, is so terrific I’m (almost) running out of adjectives. No wonder it won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It’s the perfect play for this dark, icy, dire winter February.

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

Kate Klotzbach
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Kate's posts here.

Dr. Yuko Kurahashi


Though contemporary, vibrant, and entertaining, with many references to pop culture and social mores from over five decades—the 1970s through the 2010s—the universal theme that ties different agendas addressed in the play echoes Shakespearean questions about how the individual could and should act in front of the enormous pressure from the family/society. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet's case, his family is the kingdom.


To see a full review of this show, read Yuko's posts here.

Joey Morona
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Joey's posts here.

 

PETER AND THE STARCATCHER




PETER AND THE STARCATCHER
Great Lakes Theater
2-7 through 3-2, 2025

216-241-6000 or www.greatlakestheater.org

Roy Berko

After a tepid first act, PETER AND THE STARCATCHER explodes into a farcical, creative and enjoyable production in the second act under the direction of Jaclyn Miller.  Observation:  Though there were lots of kids at the Sunday afternoon staging, the show seems a little too sophisticated for anyone less than tweens as the younger children seated near me were generally very restless.

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

Howard Gollop


Like the Broadway musical "Wicked," the 2012 Broadway version of "Peter and the Starcatcher" regales the audience in an intriguingly convoluted plot of orphans, pirates, young love, a lost islands and shipwrecks -- defying the dramatic odds of getting us up to the moment Peter flies off to meet young Wendy back in Victorian-cum-Edwardian England. There's an unmistakable patina of Monty Python to the work, although, surprisingly, there's no actual British pedigree. The play actually originated in 2009 at the LaJolla Playhouse in California. As for this production, despite its cutthroat pirates, rioting native islanders and foreboding seastorms, the audience gladly grabs a chance to escape from the truly treacherous Cleveland winter outside for a moment in this slice of joyous paradise.

To see a full review of this show, read Howard Gollop's review here.

Mark Horning

No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Mark Horning's Review here.

Laura Kennelly 

Over 100 years after it first appeared, J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan still inspires imagination as seen in Peter and the Starcatcher (2011), the play currently offered by Great Lakes Theater in the Hanna Theatre. The story, adapted by Rick Elice from the 2004 novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, offers an engaging account of the flying-never-aging boy’s origins.

 Scenic designer Courtney O’Neill, assisted by Rick Martin (lighting) proved form follows function with a simple setting. The stage, filled with undulating waves of sturdy black and white levels dotted, when need be with sails and trunks, offered a surprisingly useful surface for actions and settings.

 Costumes designed by Esther M. Haberlen and hairpieces by wig designer Caitie Martin also helped us follow the story as actors shifted (via a hat or a jacket, etc.) from one character to another. It worked surprisingly well. Puppets designed by Davey Collins and Hayden Pedersen added supernatural effects, as did other touches by designer Josh Brinkman.

 Program notes quote director Jaclyn Miller’s statement that “Theater is a team sport.” Based on the show’s opening night, the skilled (and nimble) cast proved Coach Miller’s analysis as they worked together to create a world. Especially amusing was watching as they left the stage as one believable character and emerged almost immediately as a completely different one.

 Leading the team, a charismatic Benjamin Michael Hall morphed from orphan child in dire peril of being a pirate slave to Peter Pan, the magical champion of his fellow castaways. Once Peter meets Molly (Angela Utrera) a beautiful and kind young woman, they join forces with the other lost boys to fight the dreadful pirate, Black Stache (Joe Wegner).

 Other players—all outstanding contributors playing everybody everywhere all at once (almost)--included Theo Allyn, Dar’Jon Marquise Bentley, Jeremy Gallardo, Nic Hermick, Grayson Heyl, Jesse Cope Miller, James Alexander Rankin, Evan Stevens, and M.A. Taylor.

 I’d like to see it again because I think I might have missed some of the play’s reputed verbal wit that was swallowed up as characters jumped from one area to another or wielded weapons in mighty fights. But, by closing night, all should be perfect—and it nearly was opening night anyway.

 What wasn’t perfect that night was the weather. A snow/sleet storm engulfed Cleveland right before the show, but it didn’t stop the stalwart audience. Most seats were filled. Great Lakes fans are the best.

 Bottom Line: Indeed, why grow up? Not when the unsettled land of childhood’s possibilities still remains to be claimed and explored—at least for a few hours—while watching this delight-filled show. Go team Peter Pan!

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

Kate Klotzbach
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Kate's posts here.

Dr. Yuko Kurahashi

Great Lakes Theater’s Peter and the Starcatcher is a delightful, educational, and philosophical work that draws audiences of all ages to the world of the Neverland created on Hanna Theatre’s stage. I saw a Broadway production and one regional theatre production, but what I got out of this production was genuinely impactful, visually, atmospherically, and thematically.

To see a full review of this show, read Yuko's posts here.

 

Sunday, February 9, 2025




Through February 23, 2025
www.ensembletheatre.org
(216) 321-2930

 

Roy Berko
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Roy Berko's blog here.

Howard Gollop
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Howard Gollop's review here.

Sheri Gross
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Sheri Gross' review here.

Mark Horning

Ensemble Theatre is well known for “fighting above their weight class” taking on progressive and socially pertinent works. With the recent changes in our nation’s capital it is work such as this that we need to serve as a wake-up call. This refreshing upgrade of an 1882 classic still reverberates strong feelings today. Well worth the drive and walk to the theater.

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

Chris Howey
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Chris Howey's Review here.

Laura Kennelly
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Laura's posts at Cool Cleveland.

Kate Klotzbach
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Kate's posts here.

Dr. Yuko Kurahashi
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Yuko's posts here.

Joey Morona
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Joey's posts here.

 

Thursday, February 6, 2025

Parade @ Playhouse Square



Through February 23, 2025
http://www.playhousesquare.org
(216) 241-6000

 

Roy Berko

In the present era of rising antisemitism in this country, PARADE stands as a vivid reminder of the past history of such hideous actions.  The touring company, headed by local actor Max Chernin, is a compelling production that deserves respect and accolades by paying homage to the pain of prejudice.

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

Howard Gollop

"Parade's" original run in 1998 and subsequent tour packed a punch, but it pales in comparison to this much more focused and clarified production, with a compelling new script/book by Pulitzer-winning Alfred Uhry. Even music director and conductor Charlie Algerman seems to draw more out of Jason Robert Brown's haunting score, evoking echoes of the old South, alternating with winsome tones of Yiddish sentimentality.

To see a full review of this show, read Howard Gollop's review here.

Sheri Gross
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Sheri Gross' review here.

Mark Horning

This is an extremely intense show that is not for the weak of heart. At the entrances there is a disclaimer stating “Please be advised that this production includes themes of racism, antisemitism and historical connections to white supremacy. While these elements are employed to allow the story to unfold we do not condone or support such behavior in any form”. As the show was an opening night sell-out and will continue through its run it shows what the citizens of Northeast Ohio are made of...grit, tolerance and resolve.

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

Laura Kennelly

This Broadway Series offering won the 2023 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical (Harold Prince’s 1998 Award-winning creation). It is directed by Michael Arden, with book by Alfred Uhry and music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. Although described as a “musical” (it does have great voices for the over two dozen musical numbers listed in the program), what works best (and stays longest in memory) are the tragic events that inspired Parade.

**********************

Bottom Line: A very dark play for a very cold winter. In a way, it’s another example of how Leo Frank’s life and death is still used as fodder for spectacle. “A Town Without Pity” (1961 song not in this show) might well be an earworm after seeing Parade. (It’s on Spotify — and points out “No, it isn’t very pretty what a town without pity can do.”)

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

Kate Klotzbach
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Kate's posts here.

Dr. Yuko Kurahashi
Parade is the work that interrogates and puts White supremacy on stage. It is poignant particularly today as the United States is becoming a lawless nation as people with power and money take laws into their own hands with the considerable assistance of the media industry and the masses. Though Parade is often perceived as a musical about a tragic Jewish man, the work is about violence, including lynching, as everyday practice for Blacks and other minorities, as depicted through the characters of Newt and Minnie McKnight, who are forced to make false statements as they fear for their own lives. This musical’s political backdrop—the normalcy of governing the state and its (in this case, the state of Georgia’s) people using fear, false information, intimidation, and retribution mirrors what we now witness daily at the national and global levels —sadly echoes the state we are in, led by those who hunt for sensational decrees, orders, and actions to promote themselves, just like Hugh Dorsey and Tom Watson succeeded in the 1910s. The musical also hints at the realities of exploitation and abuses, including unprotected child labor.

To see a full review of this show, read Yuko's posts here.

Joey Morona

Cleveland native Max Chernin brings ‘edgy, profound’ musical ‘Parade’ to Playhouse Square.

To see a full review of this show, read Joey's posts here.

Sunday, February 2, 2025

Murder on the Orient Express @ Chagrin Valley Little Theatre



Through February 8, 2025
http://www.cvlt.org
(440) 247-8955

 WORTH NOTING: 

In order to bring attention to local productions of merit at theaters that are not on the Cleveland Critics Circle’s approved Equity Theater list, members of the Circle who attend a community or educational theater production that is perceived as of high quality will have the option of listing that production on the CCC blogsite.  These review(s) fall into that category.


Mark Horning

There is a good reason why CVLT has kept the stage lit for 95 years. Great people with great works attract great audiences. It is a partnership that is bound to succeed. Ken Ludwig’s adaptation of Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express” comes alive in all its glory in spite of the small venue. Well worth checking it out.

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