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<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #131313; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">A
look at small theaters grabbing the spotlight</SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><?xml:namespace
prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"
/><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Bob
Abelman<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Cleveland Jewish
News<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Member, International
Association of Theatre Critics <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">This feature piece
will appear in the <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Cleveland Jewish News
</I>on 4/11/14<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #131313; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #131313; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">In
a recent <I>LA Stage</I> article, respected theater critic and scholar Steven
Leigh Morris bemoaned the populist movement taking place in his local arts
scene.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #131313; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #131313; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">He
noted that Los Angeles was awash with professional theater companies that
embraced the notion that </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #131313; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">the
larger the market a production reaches, the greater its worth.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>While all theaters strive to attract an
audience, Morris reports that too many are driven by the marketplace at the cost
of the work it produces; too many embrace 19<SUP>th</SUP>-century French
philosopher Alex DeTocqueville’s notion of “the tyranny of the
majority.”<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #131313; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #131313; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Catering
to the masses could easily be dismissed as a west coast phenomenon – as if the
blockbuster mentality held by Hollywood film studios was contagious to other
local art forms.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>But Broadway is
currently lined with lavish, pop culture-inspired mega musicals like “Mamma
Mia!,” “Spider-Man” and “Newsies” that find producers </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">sinking
more money into fewer, less precarious properties in the hopes of generating a
long-running, revenue-generating hit.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #131313; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #131313; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">News
of populism in other major cities has been reported as well, as many
professional, non-profit regional theaters find themselves dependent on box
office sales for most of their income and no longer able to rely on funds
donated by supporters or acquired through grants.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This has diminished the tendency to
engage in creative risk-taking or the offering of challenging plays with
artistic merit but potentially limited audience appeal.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #131313; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #131313; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">There
are certainly theaters in and around our own city that provide a steady diet of
popular fare meant to satisfy those whose appetites lean toward what’s
conventional, comfortable and recognizable.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #131313; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #131313; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">But
there are also professional playhouses that steer themselves toward the road
less traveled.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #131313; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #131313; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Some
go to the extreme and push the envelope of </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">avant-garde<SPAN
style="COLOR: #1f497d"> </SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #131313; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">performance
art while others have simply found a distinctive voice and a unique niche all
their own.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Here are a few
innovative theater companies you may be familiar with and a few whose
acquaintance you might want to make.</SPAN></P>
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style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #131313; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"></SPAN> </P>
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style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #131313; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">To
continue reading, go to: <A
href="http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/">http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/</A></SPAN></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>