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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Thank you, Kevin! <br><br><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>I thought the same thing when I read this, and was hoping someone would step up about it.<br><br><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Blood, sweat, tears, heart and soul goes into EVERY theatrical production. To label any of them “worth noting” is an insult. The gum on the bottom of your shoe is “worth noting” so you don’t track it into your house.<br><br>To me it sounds like prior to this new, albeit dubious, distinction, these other pieces were “not worthy”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><br>Deanna Cechowski<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> NEohioPAL [mailto:neohiopal-bounces@lists.neohiopal.org] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Kevin Kelly via NEohioPAL<br><b>Sent:</b> Monday, January 18, 2016 3:07 PM<br><b>To:</b> post@neohiopal.org<br><b>Subject:</b> [NEohioPAL] An Open Letter to the Cleveland Critics Circle regarding the recent announcement of "Worth Noting"<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black;background:white'>Dear Cleveland Critics Circle, <o:p></o:p></span></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black;background:white'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black;background:white'>For some reason, I find this "Worth Noting" announcement a little too high brow.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black;background:white'>As many of us in the theatre community know, the brilliance of a piece of theatrical work has no dependency on the building that houses the piece.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black;background:white'>I have seen many professional productions that needed CPR, and I have seen many community theatre and independent venue productions that took my breath away.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black;background:white'>If there was a theatre that paid each actor a dollar, it could be listed as a professional theatre.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black;background:white'>In the past, some of you have been contacted by theatres to review a quality show, and your response has been "I only review Professional Theatre."<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black;background:white'>You don't even listen to the case to be made.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black;background:white'>Case in point is when Near West Theatre opened a 7.3 million dollar theatre in the Gordon Square Arts District. Near West Theatre is not a "professional" theatre, however, that building is a tremendous theatrical addition to the Gordon Square Arts District, the City of Cleveland, and the Cleveland theatre industry as a whole. It is something that the professional theatre critics should have applauded.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black;background:white'>How many of you have walked through the doors and wrote about it? I can tell you. Two. Christine Howey and Andrea Simakis. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black;background:white'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black;background:white'>This recognition of quality community theatre productions and quality theatrical pieces that are performed in non-professional venues is long overdue.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black;background:white'>So for many actors in Cleveland, thank you for the fact that you will now "allow" these types of reviews to be posted.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt;background:white'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>But, thank you to those reviewers who stepped out of the box to realize that all theatre matters.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>Kevin Kelly<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></div>
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