[NEohioPAL]PREVIEWS: PORTHOUSE, OHIO DANCE, BLUE ROOM, SHAW AND SHAKESPEARE/CANADA

[Roy Berko]

PREVIEWS OF COMING ATTRACTIONS: Ohio Dance Theatre,
CPH, ‘LION KING’, Shakespeare and Shaw in Canada, 

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times	


The Spring theatre and dance season is coming to a
close and summer offerings are forthcoming.   So,
here’s a list to get you in the mood for what’s
coming.

OHIO DANCE THEATRE AT CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE

The Oberlin-based Ohio Dance Theatre is the new
in-house resident at The Cleveland Play House.  ODT,
under he managing direction of Lorain County’s Denise
Gula, will be presenting its first dance program on
June 27, 28 and 29.  Add the stepsisters’ comic
antics, some "fairy dust," a handsome Prince and
ill-treated servant girl and the result is
‘CINDERELLA.’   The story ballet will be followed by
‘BACK BEAT,’ a collection of works set to music of the
1940s.  It is a tribute to the jazz music of the era
and will include a musical arrangement and live
performance by Bill Ransom.  Performances are July 18,
19 and 20.  ODT’s season will conclude with ‘A
MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM’ on August 8, 9 and 10. 
Experience Shakespeare’s delightful comedy as an
evening of dance.  It includes the bumbling Puck
causing confusion to all who enter a forest filled
with fairies, beautiful dancing maidens and a couple
of errant actors.  Spells are cast and mayhem seems to
be the rule of the evening.

For tickets to Ohio Dance Theatre performances phone
216-795-7000 extension 4.  Tickets range in price from
$12 to $29, with season subscribers seeing all three
shows for $80.

CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE ENDS THEIR SEASON WITH ‘THE BLUE
ROOM’

Cleveland Play House will close its present season
with David Hare’s ‘THE BLUE ROOM,’ an updated version
of Arthur Schnitzler’s turn-of-the-century classic "LA
ROUNDE.’ It is a play intended for mature audiences as
it contains explicit sexual situations and brief
nudity.

The show runs from April 29 to May 25.  For tickets,
which range from $47,50 to $32, call 216-795-7000. 
Persons under 25 can obtain tickets for all
performances for $12.

PORTHOUSE THEATRE ANNOUNCES SUMMER SEASON

Summer will blossom forth at Kent State’s Porthouse
Theatre, housed at the Blossom Center, with three
entertaining shows.  The season will open with ‘A
CHORUS LINE,’ directed by Victoria Bussert.  The show,
which illuminates the plight of the dancing and
singing members of a Broadway show’s ensemble, will
run from June 13-28.   Oscar Wilde’s delightful
farce"THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING ERNEST’ follows from
July 4 July 19.  It is a comic tale of mistaken
identity, overbearing mothers, addle-brained nurses
and, of course, true love.  It will be directed by
John Woodson.  The season concludes with Rodgers and
Hammerstein’s first major hit, ‘OKLAHOMA,’ which will
run from July 25-August 10.   The show, directed by
Porthhouse’s Artistic Director Terri Kent, is a family
favorite.  The cast includes local Cleveland favorites
Lissy Gulick as Aunt Eiler and Eric van Baars as Will
Parker.  

‘LION KING’ TO ROAR INTO PLAYHOUSE SQUARE

The big event of Playhouse Square’s summer season is
the 8-week run of ‘THE LION KING.’  The show, which
runs from June 27 to August 17, is complete with 200
puppets, 25 kinds of animals, 18-foot exotic giraffes,
a 13-foot long elephant, 125 ants, 30 hyenas and 52
wildebeests.  A Disney spectacular in every sense of
the word, ‘THE LION KING’ has been playing to sold out
audiences for six season in New York.  It won six
deserved Tony Awards and is a sure-fire hit.  The show
will play Tuesday through Sunday evenings at 7:30,
Saturday and Sundays at 1:30, plus Wednesday matinees
on July 2, August 6 and 13 at 1:30.  for tickets call
216-241-6000, 800-766-6048, on line at
www.playhousesquare.com and at most Tops Friendly
Markets.

SHAW FESTIVAL--2003

There is no town in the Northern Hemisphere that has
the charm of Niagara-on-the Lake, Canada.  Besides
being in the middle of Canadian wine and fruit
country, it is home to the Shaw Festival.  Running
from early April through November, the Festival
produces shows which are exciting, humorous, melodic
and, consistently well done.   What adds to the
attraction is the fact that it’s only a 4-hour ride
from Cleveland and that the US dollar has high value
against the Canadian currency.

This season’s offerings include G. B. Shaw’s
‘MISALLIANCE,’ Anton Chekov’s ‘THREE SISTERS,’ Michel
Marc Bouchard’s ‘THE CORONATION VOYAGE,’ Shaw’s
‘WIDOWERS’ HOUSE,’ Cicely Hamilton’s ‘DIANA OF
DOBSON’S,’ Sean O’Casey’s ‘THE PLOUGH AND THE STARS,’
‘AFTERPLAY’ by Brian Friel, ‘Comden and Green’s ON THE
TWENTIETH CENTURY, ‘BLOOD RELATIONS’ by Sharon Pollock
and ‘HAPPY END’ by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill.

For a complete list of plays, production dates,
housing information, sites and events in the area call
1-800-511-SHAW or go on-line to www.shawfest.com.

STATFORD FESTIVAL OF CANADA

Another theatrical summer highlight is attending the
Stratford Festival of Canada.  This year’s "Tales Told
and Retold" season runs from April through early
November in Stratford, Ontario, Canada.  The festival
is about a five-hour ride from Cleveland.

This summer’s offerings include Shakespeare’s ‘THE
TAMING OF THE SHREW,’ ‘ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA,’ ‘LOVE’S
LABOUR’S LOST,’ PERICLES,’ and ‘TROILUS AND CRESSIDA. 
Also offered are Rodgers and Hammerstein’s ‘THE KING
AND I,’ Lerner and Loewe’s ‘GIGI,’ Rick Whilan’s ‘THE
HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME ," Noel Coward’s ‘PRESENT
LAUGHTER, ’Aristophanes’ ‘THE BIRDS,’ ‘QUIET IN THE
LAND’ by Anne Chislett, Aeschylus’s ‘AGAMEMNON,’
‘ELECTRA’ by Jean Giraudoux, Peter Hinton’s ‘THE
SWANNE: PRINCESS CHARLOTTE (THE ACTS OF VENUS)’ and
Jean-Paul Sartre’s ‘THE FLIES’ and ‘NO EXIT.’

For a 2003 Visitors’ Guide call 1-800-567-1600 or go
on-line to www.stratfordfestival.ca.

LISTEN TO ROY BERKO REVIEW AND PREVIEW THEATRE AND
DANCE ON "ACTION TALENT LIVE," WERE-AM, 1-2, FRIDAYS.


__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo
http://search.yahoo.com