[NEohioPAL]Berko: 2004 Entertainment Calendar

[Roy Berko]

A SMORGASBORD OF ENTERTAINMENT OFFERINGS FOR THE NEW
YEAR!

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

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

Even in this time of economic insecurities, the
Cleveland area is blessed with a great number of
entertainment venues.  Rather than sitting home and
watching what is often mindless television get out and
support local productions and producers.  Here’s a
list of possible entertaining, educational and
exciting offerings:

CLEVELAND PUBLIC THEATRE
6415 Detroit Avenue
Cleveland
216-631-2727
www.coptonline.org

On five separate weeks the producers of CPT turn over
the keys to their upstairs theatre to creative artists
and let them "do their own thing." Call the theatre
for this year’s schedule.

‘UNCLE TOM’S CABIN OR LIFE AMONG THE LOWLY’ (February
6-28)--A reinvestigation of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s
"Uncle Tom’s Cabin." 

DANCEWORKS 04 (March 11-April 4)--Seven area companies
in a four-week festival utilizing both of CPT’s
theatres.  Companies include: Cleveland Repertory
Project, InLet Dance Theatre, SAFMOD, Groundworks
Dancetheater, Anataeus Dance Theatre, Morrisondance
and Cleveland Contemporary Dance Theatre.  Call the
theatre for specific performance dates and offerings.

‘DON’T START ME TO TALKING OR I’LL TELL YOU EVERYTHING
I KNOW: SAYINGS FROM LIFE AND WRITINGS OF JUNEBUG
JABBO JONES’ (April 2-4)--A collection of six tales as
told by the folkloric character Junebug Jabbo Jones
about his experiences growing up in Pike County,
Mississippi.

‘NICKEL AND DIMED’ (April 28 -May 9)--A co-production
with Great Lakes Theater Festival, this is a darkly
humorous look at survival of an unskilled woman
seeking to make a living while living at the bottom of
the labor pool.

‘THE CULT’ (April 23-May 9)--This world premiere is an
anthropological expose using song, action and poetry
to explore a mysterious and confounding group of game
players battling for divine inspiration.

‘DOJOJI’ (May 20-June 6)--Tells the story of a spurned
woman whose unrequited love transforms her into a
fire-breathing serpent.  It is a multi-cultural,
multi-disciplinary work that combines the performance
traditions of East Asia and the West.

TITLEWave theatre
Performing at Cleveland Public Theatre
216-631-2727

‘CHARGE’ (February 13-February 28, 2004--Cleveland’s
newest theatre performs Eric Kaiser’s tragicomedy
about a person who lounges in bed his entire life in a
giant steel room protected from the salmon sky,
simultaneously feeling the strife of society, all the
while, having his own personal electronic assistants
act out his every whim, dream and desire.   This is
Samuel Beckett meets Boyz ‘n the Hood.

CLEVELAND OPERA
State Theatre/Playhouse Square
216-575-0903
WWW.clevelandopera.org

‘THE TALES OF HOFFMAN’ (April 23-25)--One of the
world’s most popular operas, this Offerbach work is a
fantasy, comedy, romance and drama about the search
for love.

ENSEMBLE THEATRE
Performing at the Cleveland Play House
216-321-2930

‘ABOUT TIME’ (January 3-18)--Cleveland’s first family
of performance, Dorothy and Reuben Silver star in this
moving and compassionate drama-comedy which examines
food, sex, children and aging from the perspective of
a couple who have spent a lifetime together.

CASSIDY THEATRE
6200 Pearl Road
Parma Heights
440-842-4600

‘BACK TO BACHARACH & DAVID’ (January 16-February 1)--A
musical review of the music of Burt Bacharach and Hal
David.

‘IS THERE LIFE AFTER HIGH SCHOOL?’ (March 19-April
4)--A musical about the eternal love that could only
be born during sixth-period math class, when
popularity was a matter of life and death, and a half
can of beer made you drunk. 

‘OVER THE TAVERN’ (April 30-May 16)--A Cleveland area
premiere about a Buffalo, New York family in the late
1950s.

‘CAROUSEL’ (June 4-27)--Rodgers and Hammerstein’s
wonderful, wonderful musical with such songs as "June
is Bustin’ Out All Over," "You’ll Never Walk Alone,"
and "If I Loved You."

‘NINE’ (July 16-August 1)--This winner of the 2003
Tony Award for Best Musical Revival, concerns the
travails of Guido Contini as he juggles the many women
in his life while trying to create the story for his
new movie.

NEAR WEST THEATRE
Performances at: St. Patrick’s Club Building
W. 38th & Bridge Avenue (in Ohio City)
216-621-03242

‘CANDIDE’ (May 7-23)--Leonard Bernstein’s musical
adaptation of Voltaire’s novel is a wild, comic bawdy
ride based on the adventures of Professor Pangloss and
his student Candide as life challenges their belief
that "everything is for the best."

‘THE HOBBIT’ (JUNE 25-27)--A musical which allows the
audience to join the reluctant, but ever faithful,
Bilbo Baggins as he leaves the security of his shire
on a quest for a magical ring.

‘ANYONE CAN WHISTLE’ (July 23-August 8)--Stephen
Sondheim’s absurdist social satire musical about
insanity and conformity.  This production will be the
theatres’s 27th Summer Youth Production with a large
cast of teenagers ages 13-19.

CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE
8500 Euclid Avenue
216-795-7000
www.clevelandplayhouse.com

‘THE UNDERPANTS’ (February 10-March 7)--Billed as a
seriously silly comedy, this adaptation by Steve
Martin allows us to view Theo Maske who thinks the
scandal of his wife’s underpants being revealed at a
public gathering will be a one-day scandal.  He is
wrong!

‘LEADING LADIES’ (March 2-28)--A world premiere in
which Jack and Leo, two somewhat Shakespearean actors
take on the roles of missing English nieces who are
entitled to a large inheritance.

‘FAR AWAY’ (March 30-April 25)--A Caryl Churchill
drama in which a young girl and the audience learn
that human inhumanity comes in all shapes and colors. 
Recommended for ages 16 and up.

‘COOKIN’ AT THE COOKERY’ (April 27-May 30)--An
inspiring tale of triumph over incredible odds.  The
play centers on singer Alberta Hunter and her ‘20s
career, which she abandons to become a nurse, and
comes out of retirement at age 82 to again become a
star.  

THE BECK CENTER FOR THE ARTS
17801 Detroit Avenue
Lakewood
216-521-2540
www.beckcenter.org

‘THE SEAGULL’ (January 23-February 15)--Chekhov’s
classic tale of intrigue as directed by Tom Fulton.

‘OF MICE AND MEN’ (February 6-29)--Based on John
Steinbecks’ great classic, it tells the story of
drifters Lenny and George trying to survive off the
land during the dust bowl days.

‘FIVE GUYS NAMED MOE’ (March 19-April 10)--Directed by
outstanding choreographer Martin Cespedes, this is a
review based on Louis Jordan’s top-ten singles that
paved the way for Rock and Roll.  The singers soar as
the band tears up the joint!

‘AGNES OF GOD’ (April 9-May 2)--A staggering mystery
examining faith, love and the harsh realities of life
in and out of the Catholic church.

‘REEFER MADNESS’ (May 21-June 20)--A new musical from
one of the all-time great "B" Hollywood movies, which
leads the audience down a comic spiral staircase to
hell.  This is the inaugural US production.

‘STEEL MAGNOLIAS’ (June 4-27)--A modern classic that
takes place in a southern beauty solon inhabited by
seven memorable women.

‘MISS SAIGON’ (JULY 16-AUGUST 15)--From the authors of
‘ LES MISERABLES,’ this take off on Puccini’s opera,
‘MADAM BUTTERFLY,’ this award winning musical will
receive its first local production.   The big
question?  How will Don McBride, Beck Center’s
resident creative scenic designer get the helicopter
to land on the stage?

THE BROADWAY SERIES AT PLAYHOUSE SQUARE CENTER

Sorry...no "HAIRSPRAY,’ but there is lots of good
touring theatre, including:

‘URINETOWN: THE MUSICAL’ (January 20-February 1/PALACE
THEATRE)--Don’t get turned off by the title, this
mutli-award winning musical love story was my favorite
Broadway show last year.   It’s a story of two kids
who fall in love in a city in the middle of a water
shortage.  Produced by Cleveland’s "vunderkindts"
Matthew Rego, Michael Rego and Hank Unger, this is a
MUST SEE!  For information see www.urinetown.com

‘I LOVE YOU, YOU’RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE!’ (Opening
January, 2004--open ended run/HANNA THEATRE)--A
delightful musical review on the absurdity of
relationships!   For information see:
www.loveperfectchange.com

‘A NIGHT WITH DAME EDNA’ (February 17-29/PALACE
THEATRE)--The adored Australian guarantees at least
one major laugh per half-minute!  For information see:
www.dame-edna.com

‘JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR’ (April 13-25/PALACE
THEATRE)--The first writing of the legendary team of
Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, this new production
contains such songs as "I Don’t Know How to Love Him,"
"Heaven on Their Mind," and "Hosanna." For information
see: www.reallyuseful.com

DOBAMA THEATRE
1846 Coventry Road
Cleveland Heights
216-932-6838

‘RAISED IN CAPTIVITY’ (January 16-February 8)--A
quirky, comical stream of events which includes crazy
characters, twists and turns and an errant
showerhead!!!

‘IN THE HEART OF AMERICA’ (March 5-28)--An Ohio
premiere that blends haunting images of Vietnam and
the first Gulf War into a play that raises questions
about war, racism, class and homophobia.

‘THE LAST FIVE YEARS’ (April 23-May 16)--An Ohio
premiere of a two-person musical which charts the
five-year relationships of a young Jewish novelist and
an aspiring theatre star.  It is directed by Victoria
Bussert and stars Scott Plate and Carol Dunne.

GREAT LAKES THEATRE FESTIVAL
Ohio Theatre/Playhouse Square
216-241-6000 or www.tickets.com

‘PRIVATE LIVES’ (January 22-February 1)--Area
favorites, Andrew May and Laura Perrotta, star in Noel
Coward’s story of passion, lust, anger, laughter and
love.

ACTORS’ SUMMIT
 86 Owen Brown Street
Hudson
330-342-0800
www.actors’summit.org

‘COPENHAGEN’ (January 8-25)--A Tony Award winning
drama centers on a meeting between a leading quantum
theorist and his ex-colleague who is working on an
atomic bomb for Hitler.

‘THE LAST FIVE YEARS’ (FEBRUARY 5-22)--A new musical
by Jason Robert Brown, the author of ‘PARADE’ traces
the timeline of a marriage.

‘MRS. WARREN’S PROFESSION’ (March 4-21)--A George
Bernard Shaw play about a self-sufficient young woman
who learns how her mother rose from poverty to riches.

‘MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR’ (April 1-25)--Shakespeare’s
classic performed by the incomparable Reuben and
Dorothy Silver....’nuff said!  A must see!

‘LEND ME A TENOR’ (May 6-May 23)--It’s the biggest
night in the history of the Cleveland Grand Opera
Company, a world-famous tenor is to perform, he is
late, sedated, and that ‘s just the beginning of
complications in this laugh-out-loud comedy.


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