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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">The patron saint of
local theater<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Bob
Abelman<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">News-Herald,
Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times
Courier<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Member,
International Association of Theatre Critics <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">This
article, one in a series of profiles of local theater
personalities,<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">appeared
in the <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Times </I>papers
6/18/09</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">When theatergoers
take their seats, lost in the anticipation of an evening of live entertainment,
so much around them goes unnoticed or underappreciated.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">There are the
carefully crafted but rarely read director’s notes buried in the playbill.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>There’s the near-invisible outline of
thespian masks meticulously hand-woven into the fabric of burgundy stage
curtains.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And there’s Larry in the
first row.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Partake in repertory
performances by The Great Lakes Theater Festival.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Subscribe to professional productions by
the Cleveland Play House.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Attend
community shows by the Hudson Players or summer stock at Rabbit Run.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>There, overlooked and innocuous, you
will find Larry—the patron saint of local theater—sitting in the first row.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">To say that Larry
loves theater is an understatement.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>It is his primary passion and his most fulfilling pleasure.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It does not define him, but theater most
certainly completes him.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Larry is an
advocate.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>He is an adoring admirer
of the arts with the finely tuned, discerning eye of a professional critic.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>He is equally appreciative of equity
performers and earnest amateurs, is unabashedly open to theater in all its many
manifestations, and greets every production as if it was his first.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>“We are always happy to have Larry in
the audience,” says Tom Neff, president of the board at the Chagrin Valley
Little Theatre.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>“He brings
exuberance to the occasion.”<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Larry is an
innocent.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>He is astoundingly
unaware or unconcerned that he is the only man at <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Menopause: The Musical</I>, the only
octogenarian attending children’s theater, and the only straight man in the
audience of an all-gay revue.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>There’s Larry in the front row—the only Caucasian Jew at a Karamu Theatre
production of <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Black Nativity</I>.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Larry has not only
had a lifetime of theatergoing experience, but he has had it in the Mecca of
American Theater during its heyday.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>A resident of Beachwood with family in Chagrin Falls, he grew up in the
melting pot of New York City during the 1930s and 1940s surrounded by vaudeville
houses off of Time Square, Yiddish theater on the lower east side, small-scale
“Straw Hat” circuit productions on Long Island and upstate, and grand Broadway
shows that claimed the likes of Lunt and Fontaine, Ethel Merman and Mary
Martin.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">With a little
prodding, Larry will recall 60-year-old performances as if they were yesterday
and recount yesterday’s performances with specificity and perspective.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">With no prodding
whatsoever, he is more than happy to share that perspective with the stranger in
the seat next to him, with the usher minding her own business during
intermission, and with the startled guy standing at the next
urinal.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">He chats with
directors before performances.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>He
chats with the actors afterwards. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>“Larry is very social,” notes Lakeland
Community College theater director Martin Friedman, with genuine affection. “He
is never shy about giving me his input about the show he has just seen.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Whether or not he enjoyed the play, I
know that he appreciated the effort.”<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Larry admits that his
affinity for the first row may stem from only being able to afford seats in the
back rows of theaters when he was a youngster.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>However, he quickly sweeps away such
sentimentality.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Mostly, he wants to
get as close to the action as possible to feel as much a part of the production
as possible.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>“The actors are
putting their hearts and souls into their performances,” explains Larry, who has
never, himself, performed.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>“You
really only get to see that up close.”<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Larry’s love of
theater goes beyond performance. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>His fascination with the creative process
takes him to theater appreciation classes at Cuyahoga Community College and,
when invited, productions in progress.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Director Fred Sternfeld recalls that “Larry sat in on a few rehearsals of
my most recent play just to see how a show gets developed. Whenever I looked
over at him he seemed entranced, like a kid in a candy
store.”<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">An advocate.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>An innocent.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>A social butterfly.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>A kid in a candy story.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>These are the qualities that define the
patron <SPAN style="COLOR: black">saint of local theater. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">When theatergoers
take their seats, so much around them goes unnoticed or underappreciated.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Look around.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>There are stories to be found on both
sides of the proscenium arch.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>There’s my Dad in the first row.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Happy Father’s Day,
Larry.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>