[NEohioPAL]Berko review: TEN MINUTES TO CLEVELAND (Dobama)

[Roy Berko]

CLEVELANDER’S WILL DELIGHT IN ’TEN MINUTES TO
CLEVELAND’


Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

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


It was with both delight and sorrow that I recently
watched ‘TEN MINUTES FROM CLEVELAND’ at Dobama
Theatre.  

The delight was in being part of the world premiere of
Eric Coble’s generally well crafted play about what it
is like living on the North Coast, the Mistake By the
Lake, the city whose river caught fire, the one city
that has two different personalities, and the town
where if you don’t like the weather you can wait five
minutes and it will change.  Ah, yes, Coble knows
Cleveland well.  It’s even more amazing that this
young playwright who has pegged this city right on,
was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and was brought up on
the Navajo and Ute reservations in New Mexico and
Colorado.

The sorrow is that this is the last major production
to be staged in Dobama’s ex-bowling alley home in the
basement on Coventry.  Having been part of the company
since its start as an actor and public relations
director; having helped pull out the bowling lanes;
having mourned the deaths of both Donald and Marilyn
Bianchi, the hearts of Dobama; watching the production
was painful.  Yes, Dobama will live on, but with an
entirely new aura.

Do you have to be from Cleveland to appreciate ‘TEN
MINUTES TO CLEVELAND?”  Well, let’s put it this way. 
If you don’t know about the failing conditions of the
Detroit/Superior Bridge, who operates the stalls in
the West Side Market, the foibles of RTA, the village
within the village at Legacy Village, the size of the
Cleveland Clinic, the attempts to gentrify Tremont,
the frustration of being a Cleveland Indians’ fan, the
folly known as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the
goings on in the Flats...well, then you won’t get most
of Coble’s in-jokes.

Each member of the cast, under the adept directing of
Eric Schmiedl, plays multiple roles.  They generally
change characters, accents, attitudes, and costumes
with ease.  Nick Koesters, who goes ballistic when his
West Side Market vendor parents decide to sell Lo-Carb
pierogies, turns in a highlight performance.  He is
also wonderful as the drunken Indians fan, a resident
of Legacy Village, and the Lakeview Cemetery spray
paint artist.   His attempts at dancing as he changes
set pieces is worth the price of admission.

Nan Wray is alternately hysterically funny as a Legacy
Village shopper who decides to live there permanently
and a the wife of a Janis Joplin groupie who wants to
have sex in the backseat of Joplin’s car which is now
housed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  She is
touching as the daughter whose mission is to put
flowers on her mother’s grave while saving the city
from graffiti.

Mark Moritz hits a high note as the ex-Case physics
professor who predicts that if one more bolt falls out
of the Detroit/Superior Bridge, the structure will
fall, and as the developer of the low-carb pierogi and
the Joplin groupie.  Unfortunately, he was much too
literate as the Tremont owner of a garbage strewn
backyard complete with a car up on cinder blocks.  

Jimmy Woody hit emotional chords as the African
American father holding two menial jobs which he gets
to by riding the RTA.  His scene with Sadie Grossman
was the play’s dramatic highlight.   He was less
successful as a Clinic patient.

Kimberly Brown plays the perfect foil as the jogger
who Moritz convinces that if she runs across the
bridge it could fall down, is properly indignant as a
Tremont urban pioneer and is perfectly harried as a
Cleveland Clinic doctor with a quota to treat.

Sadie Grossman’s dull look as a drunken flat’s
party-goer was the height of visual comedy. 

Set Designer Todd Krispinsky’s inspiration was the
well crafted painting “Cleveland in Motion for the
Millennium” by local artist Hector Vega.  It is a
perfect choice.  Each of the scenes is depicted in the
painting, which is inscribed on the floor and walls. 

Coble’s play is uneven.  Parts were hysterically
funny, others emotionally satisfying.  However,
several scenes such as the Cleveland Clinic and Rock
Hall segments begged to be funny and the Flats segment
tried but failed to develop a message.  The play’s
ending, with the snow falling and bolt cascading onto
the stage, was priceless.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: Every Clevelander, east or west
sider, should see ‘TEN MINUTES FROM CLEVELAND.’  It is
a trip through the city that even Lolly the Trolley
won’t reveal.  And you should attend to say goodbye to
Dobama in the converted bowling alley that has been
its home since 1964!

‘TEN MINUTES FROM CLEVELAND runs through May 8 at
Dobama Theatre.  The company will go “on the road”
next year, performing at such venues as Cuyahoga
Eastern Campus and the Cleveland Playhouse before
moving into their new home in the Cleveland Heights
Library on Lee Road.   The theatre will have a gala
closing on July 23.  For information and tickets call
216-932-3396.


PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANY TO PERFORM

THE PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANY is one of the world’s
great dance ensembles.  The recipient of more than 50
awards and honors, Taylor has been called the master
of modern dance.  At age 74 he is noted for his
inventiveness, versatility, vision and wit.  His
company will perform at the State Theatre in Playhouse
Square on Saturday, May 14 at 8:00 p.m.  The program
will include ‘BLACK TUESDAY,’ ‘KLEMZERBLUEGRASS,’ and
PROMETHEAN FIRE.  For tickets, which range in price
from $16 to $45 call 216 241-6000 or 800-766-6048 on
go on line to www.tickets.com.



Roy Berko's web page can be found at www.royberko.info.  His theatre and dance reviews appear on NeOHIOpal, an on-line source.   To subscribe to this free service via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.fredsternfeld.com/mailman/listinfo/neohiopal.


		
__________________________________ 
Do you Yahoo!? 
Plan great trips with Yahoo! Travel: Now over 17,000 guides!
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide