[NEohioPAL] FusionFest 2008 highlights national talents at Cleveland Play House

[Alison Bibb]

National Talents Highlight Cleveland Play House’s FusionFest 2008
Multidisciplinary festival is produced for third year

CLEVELAND (March 5, 2008) -- For the third consecutive year, The Cleveland
Play House at 85th and Euclid presents FusionFest, the only
multidisciplinary performing arts festival at a regional theatre in the
country, from April 23-May 11, 2008. The festival will offer a sampling of
new and innovative works that have never before been seen in Cleveland,
including performances by Judy Gold, Kim Wayans, former NFL star Bo Eason,
and an historic collaboration with the Humana Festival of New American
Plays.

“This year’s FusionFest includes a glittery mix of local artistry and the
most high profile national talents we’ve had yet,” says Michael Bloom,
FusionFest creator and Cleveland Play House Artistic Director. “We are also
so thrilled to have Roe Green again as the Honorary Producer. There is no
one in the community who has been as farsighted about new works as she has
been.”

Anchored by All Hail Hurricane Gordo, the collaboration between The Play
House and Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of
Louisville, the lineup that Bloom and CPH Associate Artistic Director, Seth
Gordon, have created for this year’s FusionFest features several
nationally-known talents. The hilarious Emmy Award-winner and author Judy
Gold will perform her witty monologue 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother; Bo
Eason, former NFL defensive safety for the Houston Oilers will perform Runt
of the Litter, his successful Off-Broadway solo show; and comedian, actor,
writer and director Kim Wayans will perform her one-woman play A Handsome
Woman Retreats. 

Other events include CPH’s first partnership with Cleveland Public Theatre
for the production of In the Continuum; Akron’s New World Performance
Laboratory will perform an alternative Frankenstein (A De-Monstration);
Cuyahoga Community College will present the Best of the Hip-Hop Choirs;
works of the Distinguished Gentlemen of the Spoken Word, Dobama Theatre,
Verb Ballets, Cleveland School of the Arts, Dianne McIntyre, the Jewish
Community Center, Karamu and MANY MORE will also be featured in FusionFest
2008!


FUSIONFEST 2008 EVENTS
All Hail Hurricane Gordo
The Cleveland Play House’s co-production of All Hail Hurricane Gordo with
The Humana Festival of New American Plays begins previews on Friday, April
18; opening night performance is Wednesday, April 23, and it will play in
the Drury Theatre through Sunday, May 11. Single tickets start at $10.00.

Synopsis: The routines of daily life get blown apart when two brothers take
in a plucky young houseguest. While India is running away from her
relatively normal family, Chaz is struggling to find normalcy in the one he
already has. Is it possible to be your brother's keeper and have a life too?

Runt of the Litter
Bo Eason, former Houston Oilers defensive safety in the 1980s, retired from
football and became an actor and playwright. He will perform his one-man,
semiautobiographical Off-Broadway show, Runt of the Litter, in the Bolton
Theatre on Thursday, May 1 at 7:30 and Saturday, May 3 at 3:30 and 8:30.
Tickets are $28.00 for the Thursday performance and $32.00 for all other
performances.
Written and performed by Eason and directed by Larry Moss, Runt of the
Litter is described by Newsday as “the kind of raw power rarely seen on
stage.” 

Synopsis: Runt looks at what happens to two brothers in a family of
over-achievers. When their parents assure the oldest son that he is destined
for football superstardom, and tell their youngest son that he is too small
to compete, a line in the family sand is drawn that affects the rest of
their lives.

A Handsome Woman Retreats
a seriously funny journey to Inner Peace
Comedian and actress Kim Wayans (of “In Living Color” and Juwanna Mann)
makes her first appearance at The Cleveland Play House for her one-woman
play on Wednesday, April 30 at 8:30, Friday, May 2 at 9:00 and Sunday, May 4
at 2:30 in the Bolton Theatre. Tickets are $28.00 for the Wednesday
performance and $32.00 for all other performances. Written and performed by
Kim Wayans and directed by Iona Morris (CPH: Cuttin’ Up and For You), A
Handsome Woman Retreats world premiered in October 2007.

Synopsis: On the advice of her yoga instructor, Kim Wayans plays a
dissatisfied, panic-plagued woman who attends a ten-day meditation retreat
to root out the source of her anxiety. A Handsome Woman Retreats is a
sometimes painful, yet funny journey of self-discovery. Along the way,
Wayans introduces many of the characters whose influences contributed to the
entertainment success of the Wayans family. 

25 Questions for a Jewish Mother
Emmy Award-winning actress and comedian Judy Gold brings her long-running
Off-Broadway show, 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother, to FusionFest for
performances running from Thursday, May 8 through Saturday, May 10 in the
Bolton Theatre. Show times are 8:30 on all three nights, with a 2:30 matinee
on Saturday, May 10. Tickets are $28.00 for the Thursday performance, and
$32.00 for all other performances.
25 Questions for a Jewish Mother was written by Judy Gold and Kate Moira
Ryan and is based on interviews with over 50 Jewish women of different ages
and ethnicities who tell their stories of marriage, motherhood, faith, hope,
love, laughter and acceptance. For her writing and performance, Gold was
nominated for a 2006 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance, and
won the 2007 GLAAD award for Outstanding New York Theater. Gold and Ryan
recently published a book based on the play of the same title. 25 Questions
for a Jewish Mother is what the New York Times called “fiercely funny,
honest and moving.”

Verb Ballets
Verb Ballets returns to FusionFest in the Bolton Theatre on Friday, April 25
and Saturday, April 26 at 7:30. The dance company will present “Yellow
River,” a world premiere choreographed by Verb Ballets’ Artistic Director,
Hernando Cortez. The performance will also include a revival of “Appalachian
Spring,” choreographed by the late modern dance master Martha Graham, and
“Two Hours That Shook the World,” choreographed by Cortez, and first
performed by Verb in 2002. Tickets start at $20.00.

In the Continuum
Cleveland Public Theatre presents In the Continuum by Danai Gurira and
Nikkole Salter, a play that explores the devastating problem of AIDS in
African and African American women. With two actors playing dozens of roles,
In The Continuum promises to engage audiences in its story of parallel
denials and self-discoveries. Performances are Tuesday, April 29 and
Wednesday, April 30 at 7:30 in the Brooks Theatre. Tickets are $15.00.

Synopsis: Living worlds apart in South Central Los Angeles and Zimbabwe, two
young women experience a bizarre weekend of darkly comic, life altering
revelations.
Frankenstein (A De-Monstration)
New World Performance Laboratory performs in the Bolton Theatre on Monday,
May 5 and Tuesday, May 6 at 7:30. Frankenstein (A De-Monstration) is a
collective creation based on Mary Shelley’s novel and elements of her life.
The work investigates the gothic horror genre while posing questions about
the current state of humanity:  What is the body? And what is its
relationship to the soul? Tickets are $15.00.

The Cleveland Plays, Part I: Migration
Dobama Theatre has initiated a cycle of Cleveland plays -- each play
addresses an issue of relevance to the Cleveland community. This production
will be presented Thursday, May 8 through Sunday, May 11 in the Brooks
Theatre. Tickets range from $8-$22.00.
Written by Eric Coble, Nina Domingue, Eric Schmiedl (all members of the CPH
Playwrights’ Unit). 

Synopsis: Who stays, who leaves, when do you dig in and when do you bail?
Two Cleveland families wrestle with these important questions in this new,
provocative play. And wandering through the intersecting stories is none
other than Moses Cleaveland trying to answer for himself - what does place
mean to a life? 

Next Stage at FusionFest 
The Next Stage at FusionFest will present readings of several new plays.
These readings will take place at 7:30 pm on the dates listed below. Tickets
are $10.00. The following new works will be featured: 
*	My Name is Asher Lev by Aaron Posner, based on the novel by Chaim
Potok, on Monday, April 28 – a classic coming-of-age tale about a young man
who musty choose between his religion and his art. Directed by Seth Gordon.

*	The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, a new play by
the Play House Playwrights’ Unit member Margaret Lynch, based on the novel
by Laurence Sterne, on Thursday, May 1 – an ambitious adaptation of one of
the most quirky, controversial and discussed novels of the eighteenth
century.

*	Heaven’s My Destination by Lee Blessing, based on the novel by
Thornton Wilder, on Saturday, May 3 – this hilarious and provocative story
will receive its world premiere at The Play House next season.

For more FusionFest information and updates, visit
www.clevelandplayhouse.com.

Founded in 1915, The Cleveland Play House is the first permanently
established professional theatre in the United States. More than 12 million
people have attended over 1,300 productions at The Play House – including
more than 130 American and/or World Premieres. Today, under the leadership
of Artistic Director Michael Bloom and Managing Director Kevin Moore, The
Cleveland Play House is an artist-driven theatre that serves the Greater
Cleveland community by holding true to its mission:

To produce plays of the highest professional standards that inspire,
stimulate, and entertain our diverse audiences, and to conduct training and
educational programs that enhance the quality of life for those we serve and
help to insure the future of theatre.

The Cleveland Play House is generously funded by Cuyahoga County residents
through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture and The Ohio Arts Council helps to fund
The Play House with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth,
educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.

Roe Green, Honorary Producer

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Alison Bibb-Carson
Associate Director of Communications and Marketing
The Cleveland Play House
8500 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio  44106
216.795.7000 x236
SEEINGISBELIEVING...www.clevelandplayhouse.com

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