Theater Ninjas: [sic]

Written by Melissa James Gibson, directed by Pandora Robertson. Starring Courtney Nicole Auman, Rachel Lee Kolis, Ryan Lucas, Michael Rosen and Gabriel Razi.

At the 78th Street Studios through March 15.

As the self-described "Food truck of Cleveland Theater," Theater Ninjas presentations are always an interesting blend of story and location. [sic] -- yes, the title of the play is an editorial  notation, is Theater Ninjas' latest production has taken up residence on the airy second floor of the 78th Street Studios for a short run, making for a nice change from the dark and foreboding Masonic Hall that has hosted other recent productions.

The notation [sic], editorially "used in brackets after a copied or quoted word that appears odd or erroneous to show that the word is quoted exactly as it stands in the original". The three apartment dwellers that feature at the center of the show each individually appear odd and erroneous -- Theo (Ryan Lucas), a composer who literally lost his wife and is struggling with a project; Babette (Lee Kolis), an an editor for "obscure subject matter"--and habitually short on cash; and Frank (Gabriel Riazi), studying--of all things--auctioneering.

Those three and the tensions between them and the unseen, but often referenced Larry. Unrequited love, the nature of friendship (there was an awesome quote/question about the nature of friendship buried midway through).

Effective staging -- three apartments defined by simple platforms and a single 2x4 serving as a door for each framed most of the action; a back-lit silhouette on scrim filling in for others... and the oft-mentioned but recently dead Jorgansen and her cats adding a dimension of interest, contribute interest and texture to the industrial canvas in the Studios.

Though examining the nature of friendship and romance, [sic] is imminently compelling, and laugh-out-loud funny, avoiding the obscure and existential in favor of accessibility and relatability.

Lincoln

Theater Ninjas: Telephone

My schedule of late* has contributed to a distinct lack of theatre in my life of late. Tonight Rachel and I traveled across the bridge to the Ohio City Masonic Temple to attend Theatre Ninjas' production of Ariana Reines play Telephone.

The common  thread linking each of the Theater Ninjas  productions that I've attended -- as far back as 2007-- is that they are anything but conventional -- unique venues, unconventional story telling and unusual stagings.

Telephone (Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Mondays through June 15th) continues that tradition although it would seem to fall on the "more dense" end of the spectrum.

The three well-defined acts span about 90 minutes with no intermission, but rather than pieces of the same whole they strike as three independent wholes, and Jaime Bouvier's Director's Note alludes to it being a "...forced mishmash of ideas and stories about the telephone as a synecdoche of all communications technology" (bonus points for being the first director's note that warranted use of dictionary.com for synecdoche).

The first act, featuring Ryan Lucas as Bell and Ray Caspio as Watson, offered the dynamic interaction between the two inventors, the evolution of communication, and the relationships between two individuals and the evolution of understanding as communication technology was introduced, and the subtle nuances in those relationships and the difference between "come here, I want you" and "come here, I need you".

The second act, with Holly Holsinger alone on and around the stage as Miss St, a woman trapped in her own thoughts an struggling with uniqueness and interruption.

Rachel and I both struggled with the third act -- featuring all three artists -- for me I think I spent so much time trying to link it with the first two acts that I was distracted from appreciating the act itself and would have been better off enjoying the moment.

Something that I hadn't considered but Rachel pointed out as we were retreating to the East Side was that the nonsequeter nature of much of the script must have made the show that much more challenging for the three actors to learn -- and the fact that I hadn't given pause to consider that demonstrated the talent of the trio.

Telephone also features generous but not excessive use of audio and video technology -- both audio and video -- to both propel the acts and to illustrate the prevalence of communication technology in the modern world.

Lincoln
*- And, to be perfectly honest, the inertia caused by the inconvenience of doing business with Playhouse Square (and The Cleveland Play House now in residency there) has not helped either.

Theater Ninjas: Marble Cities

(Thursdays-Saturdays through November 17th at the Ohio City Masonic Temple)

It's been a little while--ok a long while--since my last Theater Ninjas experience, and it is always a unique experience. This production is themed as completely as a Disney attraction. It starts by leveraging the inherent mystique of the venue, an active Masonic Temple, and caries through an interesting preshow display that seamlessly into the actual action.

Arriving at the venue Rachel and I were handed cards, "I am here because I was invited. I beg admittance to this circle. I have told no one. My motives are my own" which heightens the dramatic tension before the audience is ever seated.

While the story is not one that can be described as simple nor straight forward (and if you've seen previous work by the Ninjas this should not be of any surprise) throughout the play I found  myself questioning the characters' latent and explicit motives and the complex interrelationships among several strangers, themselves invited to this secret meeting but unaware of why they were selected reflecting on what in each characters past has lead them to today, and what will propel them beyond today...if they survive.

Through excellent and organic staging, compelling and three-dimensional acting on the part of the entire ensemble, I was engrossed in something that was for the most part something that was so real I had no problem suspending disbelief. That said, I think every actor stumbled on one line, and for each rough recovery, my suspension of disbelief was momentarily revoked and I was oh-so-briefly returned to the clutches of  the "real" world looking in from the outside, until I returned to a state of total engrossment.

I can't remember the last time my brain has been forced to think so much, let alone so deeply, about the ultimate meaning of the piece, and being left feeling so open ended. Indeed, this is a play that, while seeming to curve that direction in places, does not force one true ending on  the audience. Instead, it gives you a lot to consider before you reach your own conclusion -- or conclusions.

Lincoln
(Directed and Devised by Jeremy Paul; Created and preformed by David Aguila, Ray Caspio, Brittany Gaul, Ryan Lucas, Cassie Neumann, Michael Prosen, Emily Pucell and Colleen Uszak; Asistant Director Ray Caspio; Stage Manaer Katilin Kelly; Lighting Design Benjamin Gantose; Costume Design Kevenn T. Smith; Technical Director Val Kozlenko; Installation Design Joan Hargate; House Manager Cassie Goldback)

Cleveland Public Theatre: Akarui [Bright]

Cleveland Public Theatre, presenting world premiere of playwright Jen Silverman's Akarui now through June 9th, always manages to pack in surprises.

Photo: Steve Wagner/Courtesy CPT

Akarui is no exception -- a mix of stories and fables, pounding music and drama -- with settings ranging from an American bedroom to Baba Yaga's chicken hut and a rave cave "at the end of the world" is a compelling story of acceptance and the power and right to change.

Aside from phenomenal acting -- which I'll get to in a moment -- the set, lighting, and sound design were all among the best of those productions in recent (and not so recent memory) effectively and creatively supporting the story without being intrusive and a completely believable portal to another dimension through the theatre's proscenium.

I don't do blood, guts, or surgery well -- I'm known to pass out with detailed descriptions -- but typically with plays I'm able to put it aside as fiction without problem. At one point near the end of Act I, Akarui's story combined with persuasive acting had me feeling a little lightheaded (and Rachel asking "are you alright...?")

Photo: Steve Wagner/Courtesy CPT

Beth Wood's demented portrayal of Baba Yaga [yes, the same Baba Yaga as also appears in Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition] as mad scientist kicked the action off to an amusing start and her appearances throughout rarely left without a worried chuckle ("Why do you insist on torturing yourself when I'm already torturing you?" perhaps being my favorite line from the show) -- but compelling didn't end there.

A DJ (Chris Siebert) watches over and occasionally guides the happenings. Each of the interlocking stories is a character undergoing change -- female to male, alive to dead, manta ray to man -- and struggling with acceptance, of their own status and as well as their status as seen by others -- before arriving at a rave "at the end of the world". And that rave is full of energy that spills out into the audience.

About two hours including an intermission, the show's pacing and overlapping stories held even my attention and it felt only about half as long.

Lincoln

(Directed by Raynond Bobgan, Cast: Chris Siebert as DJ Akarui, Beth Wood as Baba Yaga, James Alexander Rankin as Joshua, Molly Andrews-Hinders as DC, Davis Agulla as Fish/Manta Ray, Richard Brandon Hall as Mateu, Lew Wallace as Stack, Dionne D. Atchison, Roxana Bell, Carly Garinger, Fay Hargate, Jeremy Paul, Amy Schwabauer, Adam Seeholzer, Rose Sengenberger as Chorus; Todd Kripinsky, set design; Alison Garrigan, costume design; Benjamin Gantose, lighting design; Chris Siebert, pervussion coach; Michael Roesch and Raymond Bobagn, sound design; Richard Brandon Hall, choreographer; Danielle Case, production stage manager; Jennifer Caster, assistant producer)

PlayhouseSquare: Memphis The Muscial

In 2010, I was lucky enough to win a PlayhouseSquare-sponsored trip to the Tony Awards as a seat filler. Though that evening was at once both a blur and unforgettable, looking back at that show the most memorable performances were American Idiot (featuring blinding light and the music of Green Day) and Memphis -- for the sheer energy of performance during the show and then the unadulterated joy that seemed to break free in Radio City Music Hall when the Best Musical Win was announced (YouTube video).

Combined with the inclusion of the song Memphis Lives in Me on a Broadway Sampler digital album I picked  up somewhere along the way, I was eagerly awaiting Memphis's arrival in Cleveland. Tonight seemed like a good night to head downtown -- and fortuitous timing with DanceCleveland presenting Ballet Memphis next weekend.

Collecting Rachel from work and heading towards PlayhouseSquare the evening got off on the wrong foot with quite possibly the most inattentive, slow, and generally lackluster service[1] (combined with overpriced and mediocre food) I've experienced in a restaurant from Star at PlayhouseSquare--it reminds me why I don't dine in the district more often. Putting more weight on the wrong foot, I have to say I despise PlayhouseSquare's practice over the past year or so of forcing ushers to march around the house with "No Cameras" signs on poles. It's distracting, seems rather amateurish and a bit demeaning.

Luckily, when the curtain rose and the houselights dimmed that all faded  into the background as we slipped back into the 1950s where Huey (Brian Fenkart) is a white man who seems either willfully or blissfully ignorant of the matter of race as a societal divider. Huey is drawn to "race music"--facing challenges and finding success as a DJ then television host, chasing the love of a talented black singer, Felicia (Felecia Boswell) in a time when such a relationship wouldn't be tolerated. Felicia finds success and a New York recording contract, Huey has the opportunity to follow her to New York and take his television show nationwide but only if he replaces his dancers with whites -- which he refuses to do, and after kissing Felicia on TV fades to obscurity while she finds success. (The Wikipedia entry has a full synopsis)

The music is powerful and as compelling as the story and weaves the elements together; my favorites being Everybody Wants to be Black on a Saturday Night, Memphis Lives in Me, and Steal your Rock and Roll. Every time I looked over at Rachel she was enjoying it -- frequently laughing to a degree usually reserved for one of  my truly awful puns. And I have to say that Mama's (Julie Johnson) performance in Change Don't Come Easy and the scene leading up to that number reminded me of Rachel's mom.

Though minor little technical issues tend to drive me crazy, an have been a factor in attending fewer PlayhouseSquare performances, this performance was pleasantly free of such warts: The audio was clear and competently mixed; lighitng was compelling and directed the audience's attention without being distracting.

Although said to be based to some extent on the life of Memphis DJ Dewey Philips (the first DJ to play an Elvis Presley record on the air), sitting in the Palace Theater, just down the block for the former location of the WJW-AM studios it's impossible not to consider some of the parallels to Cleveland DJ Alan Freed -- credited with popularizing the term "Rock 'n' Roll" and to wonder how the same love story would have unfolded in a "northern" city during the same period.

Memphis, through March 11 at the Palace Theater, PlayhouseSquare.

Lincoln
[1] Of many examples, we're seated: We wait several minutes before our waitress shows up, asks us if we'd like a wine or martini list. I say yes please. She disappears. Several minutes go by before she reappears and asks us what we'd like to drink, we remind her that we still haven't seen the wine list. Several more minutes go by before we see a wine list. More time passes  before she returns to take our drink order. It was nearly a half hour between being seated and  first drinks.

Cleveland Public Theatre: At-TEN-tion Span

Cleveland Public Theatre is quick to point out that that At-TEN-tion span isn't merely a festival of unfinished short plays but is, instead, a single show of twelve short plays loosely linked together.

This year all twelve works are works created by Cleveland artists and cultivated at CPT, and all are in effect world premieres. Some are funny, some are weird, some are introspective, some are most of the above. Though I was completely sober going into the show there are a few where, to be completely honest, I think a bit of a buzz could have helped make a bit more sense out of a few of them: And if you care to take my advice there, you're in luck: The bar in the lobby is open a bit early.

Throughout the evening performances move on and off stage and around the theater-- sometimes the audience is instructed to take a seat -- literally -- while moving from piece to piece; others you are moved to seating mysteriously prepared while you're otherwise occupied.

At-TEN-tion Span runs at CPT through February 4th.

The works are
Act I
The Refrain, conceived and directed by Jeremy Paul; featuring Ray Caspio, Jenni Messner, Adam Seeholzer
Openings, conceived and directed by Raymond Bobgan; featuring members of the ensemble
Crash Project conceived and directed by Pandora Robertson; featuring Ray Caspio, Lauren Joy Fraley, Caitlin Lewins, Adam Seeholzer
Fail, conceived and directed by Simone Barros; featuring Faye Hargate, Darius Stubbs
How... conceived and directed by Raymond Bobgan; featuring the ensemble
Act II
How 2, conceived and directed by Raymond Bobgan; featruring the ensemble
El Beth-el, conceived and directed by Dairus Stubbs; featuring Dionne D. Atchison, Stevem Schureger, Darius Stubbs
The Three Musketeers conceived and directed by Douglas H. Snyder; featuring Lauren Joy Fraley, Caitlin Lewins, Lauren B. Smith
To Fasten Your Seatbelts... conceived and directed by Renee Schilling; featuring Ray Caspio, Jere,y Paul, Amy Schwabuer, Lauren B. Smith
If I Lie, conceived  and directed by Chris Seibert; featuring Molly Andrews-Hinders, Amy Schwabuer, Adam Seeholzer
Sealed, conceived and directed by Raymond Bobgan, featuring the ensemble.

While the program was generally linked, as far as subject matter it was like channel surfing a hotel's cable TV lineup -- or Cleveland weather: If you didn't like what you were watching (or if it was making you think too hard) just wait a few minutes and something completely different would be along.

So for me I didn't really get The Refrain or Sealed -- and after the performance Rachel warned that if I tried thinking too hard my head might explode. How and How 2, both products of CPT Executive Artistic Director Raymond Bobgan bookended Intermission and the way in which the actors are utilized reminded me of atoms in a molecule bouncing off each other exchanging electrons and ideas.

I'm not sure how much I can say about Openings without giving away this delightfully surprising mirror on real-life-theater but be prepared to do quite a bit of looking around -- and perhaps choose a seat near the back for the best view

Fail takes a nervous tick and amplifies it before transferring it as one heretofore unsuccessful writer discovers that the successful writer doesn't have all the control that he thinks where a pregnancy is involved and was one of Rachel's favorites.

While all were well acted, The Three Musketeers was at the top of its game with what I think was a commentary on relationships -- again Rachel warned me that my head may go boom if I thought too hard on it -- and was just generally funny.

My hands down favorite, though, was To Fasten Your Seatbelts: It didn't require critical though but had me laughing out of my seat (I was within about a half inch of winding up on the floor) and is a subject near to my heart: Air travel. While the cast of zany flight attendants make it funny, I think the stress of an interview or an on-the-job test makes this relatable to just about anyone who's set foot in the real world: This alone was worth the trip to the West Side; combined with all of the others it was an evening well spent.

Synopses, summaries, or even the intended meaning of the plays was not included in the program so please feel free to share your take or interpretation in the comments

Lincoln

I [heart] NYC Day 0: The Mountaintop with Samuel L. Jackson

The work part of this trip ended when I returned the rental car for the "business" portion out in the 'burbs, dropped my coworker off at Newark Terminal C, and boarded NJTransit bound for New York Penn Station (not to be confused with Newark Penn Station, the first stop after the airport).

It took a bit longer than I expected but the trip was utterly uneventful and about $12.50. Leaving Penn Station on foot I walked uptown to 41st street and checked in to my favorite hotel in New York City, the Hilton Times Square -- where this time, my room on the 43rd floor has a fantastic panorama of Manhattan including the New York Times and Empire State Buildings. The very city texture which I love of Manhattan.

After dropping my luggage in the room at about 7:30 I continue walking up town -- I love how easy Manhattan is to navigate (uptown = street numbers get bigger / downtown = street numbers get smaller) and find the Theatre Development Fund's TKTS booth. I was in the mood for a musical, but all of the musicals on the board -- and it now being about 7:45 I had either (a) seen before (b) was planning on seeing the touring version at PlayhouseSquare [so why waste a night on Broadway?] or (c) had heard enough about to have no interest in seeing.

So in Lincoln fashion and with less than 15 minutes to published curtain I did what I normally do: Picked one that I haven't even heard of from the board, bought a ticket for a play called The Mountaintop and walked (this time downtown) to the Jacobs Theatre on 45th between Broadway and 8th for The Mountaintop, staring Samuel L. Jackson (as Martin Luther King, Jr.) and Angela Bassett (as Camae) in Room 306 of the Lorraine Motel, Memphis, Tennessee on April 3, 1968.

If that date doesn't click for you (for some reason when read the setting line in the program the room number was what triggered my recollections): Mr. King was assassinated outside that room on April 4th. . The beginning is a bit mundane: He relieves himself, then begins working on a speech. Calling for room service -- discontinued the previous week -- a housekeeper, Camae (Angela Bassett) delivers the coffee and a relationship between the two of them grows as they share cigarettes and she slips a bit of whisky ("Irish Cough Surup") into his coffee. But then it takes a surreal turn and it turns out Camae is an angel -- sent to bring Mr. King to heaven.

We see an even more human side of Martin Luther King--he's not prepared to be a martyr. There's too much left undone and he has to see it through to completion. It's difficult for me to summarize and like Next To Normal the total profundity is just starting to hit me -- and work on my emotions -- now, two plus hours after I left the theater. It seems like something worth seeing and both Ms. Bassett and Mr. Jackson turn in compelling performances where, combined with a realistic grungy 1960s hotel room set, you leave the decade for a good ninety minutes.

Returning to 2011 and leaving the theatre I bought my Unlimited Ride Metro Card. At $29 for 7 days of unlimited MTA rides, I'm still convinced that it is one of the best bargains in New York and made it Carnegie Hall's neighborhood of 57th and 7th for a quick and light dinner at Burger Joint in Le Parker Meridian. The psychological break and total incongruity that one passes while crossing from the hotel lobby (a high-end New York hotel that isn't cutting edge design trend-wise, but isn't by any stretch dull) to Burger Joint (a place that serves Hamburgers, Cheeseburgers, Grilled Cheese, Fries, and nothing else in an environment whose decor (and the ancient TV hanging on the wall) is most reminiscent of 1964, including paneled walls.

Subway back to the hotel... and I am ready to sleep.

More tomorrow.

Lincoln

Tri-C Presents: Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR): Symphony for the Dance Floor

I don't think I've ever actually attended a Tri-C Presents event before...and I'm not entirely sure how I wound up on their mailing lists... but when I saw the mailing for Daniel Bernard Roumain's, also known as DBR, Symphony for the Dance Floor, I was instantly intrigued.

When I first looked at the dates I thought it was last weekend -- which was already booked solid by the time I saw the event -- but Rachel pointed out that it was actually this weekend, and with the Orchestra in Europe my Saturday evening was thankfully open -- and we took the opportunity to visit Tri-C's Metro Campus.

Though sparsely attended Mr. Roumain gave a dazzling performance that tickled every sense except smell. Blending classical (Mr. Roumain plays a 5-stringed violin) hip hop (Lord Jamar serves as both MC and DJ)and who knows how many other traditions of music, dance, and verbal and visual storytelling traditions. Via the program note, DBR relates the inspiration for the work came from the tragedy of the Haitian earthquake: "As a composer, my initial thought was to create some large, solemn requiem for Haiti. But as a Haitian-composer, I realized that would be wrong. What was needed was apiece that was vibrant, moving and alive!"

The staging was unique and the first sign that we were in for something different: The majority of the audience was seated on stage, facing each other, with a narrow "runway" of sorts covered in Marley separating the two halves.

The end result certainly all of those. Though some symphonic techniques were clearly recognizable -- like the fast-slow-scherzo-fast structure of the movements, others were completely foreign: The work begins with the DJ scratching before DBR begins playing. When DBR takes the stage, he isn't anchored to one spot. But this isn't the typical "strolling violinist": While he's playing with vigor to successfully challenge any soloist, he's also contorting into unusual positions: Playing with the scroll of the violin touching the floor; having a dancer hang off his elbow or his waist...or stand on his back...while he is playing and not missing a note.

The bass of the notes (and the beat) makes their way up into your body via the stage floor. The piece is roughly equal parts Mr. Roumain alone on stage (but never alone musically -- a variety of pre-recorded and sampled music keeps him able company) dance, and choir: A brief video clip and photos of Haitians round out the visual portion of a show that stops just shy of sensory overload. A few notes of Beethoven make their appearance (with Lord Jamar filling a role as conductor)

The audience is fully engaged as well: There was enough rhythmic clapping that at the end of the performance my hands were a bit sore; the involuntary toe tapping persisted throughout: Near the climatic conclusion ended with much of the audience flooding the strange and creating a scene indistinguishable from a night club center stage, and as impressively, Mr. Roumain playing a few notes on his violin using his tongue.

The final result was a work that was very much alive and both explored and celebrated the worlds of music, dance, hip hop, perception, video, and photography. Not to mention some very catchy sounds -- Though I rarely purchase music from venues other than iTunes, I had no hesitation to pick up the CD on my way out -- and based on what I heard on the ride home, it is an authentic, if somewhat flat, representation of the music of the show. But you really need to see, hear, and feel it to get the full effect.

Lincoln

Cleveland Public Theatre: Springboard - Again And Against

I don't make it West to Cleveland Public Theatre as often as I'd like, but a friend suggested that I check out the Springboard Festival -- and with my Saturday night open (and feeling a bit guilty for missing Pandemonium) I figured it would be a great opportunity to bring Rachel across the river.

Springboard is a festival of staged readings -- each play is a new work, still being honed to perfection. Actors are on script, only a (single) handful of rehearsals are allowed, creative staff are allowed and encouraged to make revisions. I've only attended a handful of readings -- staged or unstaged -- but it appeals to my quest to get "behind the scenes" and it's also a unique opportunity for the audience, in most cases, to contribute to the development of a work -- suggestions and concerns are frequently taken into account as the piece is massaged before it becomes fixed and finally staged.

Tonight's offering was playwright Betty Shamish's Again and Against, with Raymond Bobgan (as an Iraqi-American FBI agent) interrogating Ms. Chris Seibert (as a Palestinian-American accused of terrorism but claiming to agitate only for understanding) with Beth Wood providing the rare bit of context via voice over. In the program, all three are given directing credit; online Ms. Wood has that credit. All three gave commendable performances, with Mr. Bobgan and Ms. Seibert being particularly gripping; especially considering that they were on script*. Based on the casting and context clues it took a relatively long time for me to figure out that both characters shared an ethnic heritage -- which is fairly important to the plot of the play.

The action unfolds entirely within a sparsely-furnished interrogation room. A college student is accused of plotting terrorist acts -- she insists that it's merely a not-so-peaceful protest and she doesn't (and didn't) intend to harm anyone. Over the course of the interrogation stories are told as truth, truth is served as a as a story, and the only thing clear is the lack of clarity: Where do stories end and the truth begin? Does she know more than she's telling; who is actually interrogating her? Where is the line between protest and terrorism? What is truth, anyway? Is it what is written (and therefore the woman's need for her side of the story to be written down during the interrogation?)

Sympathies change with every newly revealed truth -- or is it a lie? While I initially found the female sympathetic... half-witting participant in something she didn't fully understand and without malevolent intentions...the revelation near the end of the play that twenty dogs were involved made me doubt the one thing that heretofore had been without question. Are you assimilated? What culture do you identify with? What do other people see you as?

While the play was gripping and compelling -- billed at a 140-minute, intermisisonless, run time it didn't feel nearly that long -- but so much information was being thrown out, and so much of it then revealed to be lies -- that it was difficult to keep track of what information was actually important, and I feel I occasionally lost track of the message amongst the mental filing, refiling, and shredding.

Following the performance, there was a brief talk back and it was interesting to hear how other audience members reacted: A condemnation of politics and society, from one member. Men generally sympathized with the interrogate (and her sarcastic humor hooked me), while women generally found her abrasive and irritating--and without sympathy. (I wish more productions would include this feature--certainly helps to round out the theatre going experience)

Information about the rest of Springboard can be found on Cleveland Public Theatre's Website at http://www.cptonline.org/theater-show.php?id=160.

Lincoln

* i.e. reading from the script.

Cleveland Play House: The Life of Galileo

(through October 9, the Allen Theater at PlayhouseSquare)

It's interesting that the Cleveland Play House is opening a new act in its vast history -- moving from the long time home at 8500 Euclid to PlayhouseSquare -- to waters more or less unknown, with a dramatization of the Life of Galileo Galilei, persecuted for challenging the church and common wisdom about the planets. Galileo is credited with improvements to the compass -- and it seems an improved compass is exactly what the Play House is gaining with their new facilities.

The evening started at a commercial photographer friend's studio for their Fine Art Show (gallery hours continue Saturday -- and 20% of the proceeds go to Kick-IT, a national charity... Some really awesome work) before we migrated further downtown. Parking was easy, though the walk to the theaters has changed; popping into the Allen lobby we quickly located the ticket desk, though it didn't seem to be operating at peak efficiency.

Walking into the theater as the first audience for the first show in the new Allen I had a good idea of the physical space but wasn't really sure what to expect from the experience. To say that the experience is a vast improvement from 8500 is an understatement of astronomical proportions. Even from the audience, each of 8500's spaces felt worn and rickety; it wasn't abnormal to hear odd bumps, clacks and bangs throughout a performance. These were nowhere to be heard in the Allen. The seats are actually padded.

Acoustically, the house is just live enough to avoid that disturbing anechoic chamber feeling of a completely dead space. Changes in scenery on, above, and under the stage were virtually silent (in the second half the orchestra pit cover is slightly lowered during the act. It took me a while before (a) I noticed it was moving and (b) I convinced myself it was actually lower and not an optical illusion). The only complaint I have is that lighting in the house during the show, namely aisle and step lighting, seems much brighter than necessary, and the glare is a bit distracting... I hope it will be dimmed in the future.

We were seated in the two seats in Box L on house left side -- as far left as one can get in the new Allen house. I was a bit concerned about sight lines, but was curious about how it would work out... and even these seats offered a good view of the vast majority of the stage [and I rather like the elevation of these seats, mid way between the orchestra floor and the balcony]

The play itself was an interesting look at Galileo's life and a handful of his closest followers and the challenges and persecution from the church...but the narrative leaves a few holes (I didn't get, for example, that Galileo's telescope improved on those commercially available previously, rather than copied, or that he spent the remainder of his life on house arrest). Digital projection is used -- with admirable restraint -- throughout to paint a variety of backdrops, time and place markers. Some of Galileo's theories and drawings are likewise illustrated, providing a captivating and flowing line of information that would be otherwise difficult, if not impossible to convey. At one point flaming caricatures of politicians make an appearance but otherwise it's very restrained.

Though this was the first preview performance (official opening comes Wednesday), the show was well and convincingly acted by a talented company that supported a suspension of disbelief, with just a few stumbled and quickly recovered lines. Though furnishings seemed to be of the general period, clothing and props were distinctly modern--leading to a discussion with Rachel during intermission about the history of "iron"ing clothes, and my total preoccupation during a scene with a walker-toting Cardinal trying to figure out when Rubber and welding came in to common use.

A handful of times, though, we leave the comfort of Galileo's life to brief song and dance numbers that are entertaining but still a little rough around the edges (I had trouble the speech intelligibility during these, however I had no issues understading dialogue during the balance of the show).

It seems that a bright star will be over the Play House's new home.

Lincoln

Cleveland Play House: Open [Play] House

Cleveland Play House logo on the
Allen Theater Doors (more pics)

While it hasn't quite culminated -- the Play House's administrative offices won't make the move until October, and the new stages won't open until some time in the not-to-distant future -- the Cleveland Play House hit the climax of the massive move from the 8500 Euclid Complex to the Hip new Allen at PlayhouseSquare

Though the festivities kicked off at 4:30 both Rachel and I have "real jobs"* so, even with me sneaking out of the office a bit early we didn't make it downtown until a bit after 5:30... Walking through the Euclid Avenue doors there was an excited din; the largely untouched promenade gives way to the beautiful rotunda.

Carpeted but otherwise untouched the rotunda marked one of my favorite spaces in the PlayhouseSquare complex, but the removal of the back Hanna's back wall gives the space a much less siloesque and much more open feeling than before. While the acoustics in the center of the rotunda are still a bit funky, the carpeting has done wonders.

Passing through the rotunda the carpet continues into the new lobby with two glass-enclosed event spaces flanking the entrances to the house. Before you get there though a dimly lit lobby (the ceiling above is the underside of the Allen's original balcony which has been mothballed for the time being). Tonight a jazzy ensemble was assembled in the corner providing light music for the several-hundred deep crowd and it certainly had that relaxed lounge feeling. Hip furniture rounds that out, though the furniture did seem a bit sparse.

Entering the theater, the transformation from a 2,500-seat combination bowling alley and drab shoebox is striking to 500-seat modern theater is striking. While we weren't allowed to take the seats for a test drive, by their looks alone they should be infinitely more inviting than 8500's fabric-covered wood. Also of note, cup holders throughout the auditorium located on the seat backs. It is unclear if iced beverages will be permitted (one hopes not), but food is will not be open -- lest you be the one stuck next to someone crunching on potato chips while the drama unfolds.

I am withholding judgement on the efficacy of the metal scrim on the side walls: It looks cool, but as lit for the open house it was much harder to perceive the details of the original walls that I expected. Making our way back stage, the view from midstage into the house really emphasises the intimacy of space. Comparatively speaking, I think the view from high school's 299-seat Performing Arts Center main stage (built 1998) was less intimate-- but intimate does not equate to crowded.

The back stage area in general and the wings in particular are immense -- the proscenium opening has been narrowed to the great advantage of anyone working back stage. Further back stage you find the Roe Green Room, a playful combination of the theatrical staple -- the Green Room -- and the benefactor who has been dubbed by The Plain Dealer as "Fairy Godmother to the Arts", Ms. Roe Green. Along the same corridor you find an assortment of dressing rooms; these don't seem to have been touched by the renovation.

And there the tour ends--returning to the lobby, the din has, if anything increased, and the tour line is nearly out the doors. One of these days I hope to sneak into the booth, onto the catwalks and/or into the dimmer room -- the parts of the theater that most intrigue me but never seem to be included in tours.

"I seem to be kind of lost--I don't know where I am" I overheard one patron speaking to no one in particular while wandering the lobby with Rachel -- "This is where the back wall used to be" someone answered. "Wait? This all used to be inside the theater." the surprised answer.

I doubt anyone who has been in the Old Allen would recognize the New Allen if brought into the theater blindfolded. And that only means good things.

The inaugural show for CPH's new home, The Life of Galileo begins previews this Friday and runs through October 9th at the Allen Theater, Playhouse Square (Euclid Avenue between East 14th and East 17th Streets).

Lincoln

*-No, an advertising-free blog doesn't generate enough revenue for me to just kick back. It's actually a rather expensive hobby.

Mercury Summer Stock: Show Boat

The idea of "Hide and Seek" in a art museum seems a bit sacrilegious but done quietly and respectfully it's a bit of a brain stretch to remember what objects match clues* and a lot of fun. Continuing a bit of a tradition, after working late at the museum Rachel -- it was her turn to hide -- texted the clue and then I seeked after I snuck out of the office. After browsing the contemporary galleries for a bit it was time to choose the next activity of the evening.


I had been pondering Mercury Summer Stock's production of Show Boat if for no other reason than the venue: The Cleveland Play House's Brooks Theater at the 8500 Euclid location was the host to the first play I saw after moving to Cleveland -- short-lived Fourth Wall Productions' Plans Change; and in all likelihood, Show Boat will be the last.


We made the short trip from the Museum down Euclid and found a full parking lot; the lobby was full to the point of overflowing, and when we made it to the front of the line we found that the show had sold out, however, if we stick around there was a good possibility that we could fit in at the last moment. It turned out that gamble worked. Taking our seats I realized that I had absolutely no idea what Show Boat is about; leaving the theatre, I'm still a little foggy.

I think the best description is "uneven": Parts of the production were done quite well, and others seemed slapdash and poorly integrated. The costuming and set were both quite good and evoked the period, but the choreography and pacing just felt off (parts of the first act seemed nearly interminable, though the second act seemed to move more quickly). Musically, something just didn't feel right but I couldn't put my finger on it. Having the orchestra on stage throughout was nice, but the piano was a bit loud during, and just on the verge of drowning out, scenes of pure dialog. When it came to solos, all of the actors were quite pleasant to hear, but duets and ensemble pieces suffered from a general lack of cohesion.

The Wikipedia article (as the program offers no synopsis beyond the list of musical numbers) suggests at least two locations, a Riverboat and Chicago: The Riverboat was clear, the transition off the boat in Act II was abstract and not marked in any meaningful way: It took me far too long to piece that together.

Though rough around the edges, the show does deliver on basic entertainment including well-timed quips that garner plenty of laughter gingerly spread throughout.

Unquestionably, though, Brian Keith Johnson (whom I have heard sing twice with The Cleveland Orchestra -- during the 2010 Christmas Concerts and the Martin Luther King Concert earlier this year) stole the show belting an amazingly powerful Ol' Man River early in Act I.

Lincoln
*Tonight's: "A House scene? Hardly. Though this window and these lamps belonged to houses at the beginning of the century."

Two Years of Lincoln In Cleveland

Today marks the two year anniversary of the great experiment known as Lincoln In Cleveland*, so I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who's stopped by to read. I've had more great experiences and met more interesting people by way of LincolnInCleveland than I can count. What I wrote a year ago still holds true.

[By the way, feel free to tell your friends... lincolnincleveland.com will get you here without having to remember the other stuff. And if you have any tips, suggestions, complaints, as always feel free to comment, or email L (just the letter L) at lincolnincleveland.com

From the beginning of 2010, I've had more than 10,500 visitors from 77 countries on 6 continents, including all 50 states and Washington DC. (I know that a large number of additional visitors read via RSS Subscriptions and more recently via syndication on InstantEncore's buzz, but I'm not able to collect accurate stats for those readers).

I moved to Cleveland a bit over 6 years ago--primarily because of a job I was offered, of course, but also because I was hooked on the level, quantity of variety of culture that Cleveland Offered. Before LincolnInCleveland, during the time MySpace was actually popular (remember that?) I had challenged myself to attend at least one performing arts event in Cleveland each week--every week--for a year. Some cities that may have been a daunting task; it was nearly trivial for Cleveland. (Through that experiment, I--literally--discovered a joy of classical music with The Cleveland Orchestra, tried opera and ballet: I'd like to see more of the latter, I still don't have a grand appreciation for the former.

That experiment wrapped up before LincolnInCleveland started but I'm still impressed by the sheer variety in Cleveland; there are more events on any given date that sound interesting than I could possibly hope [or afford] to attend. Cleveland and Northeast Ohio is an underappreciated gem (from inside and out), and I hope for the readers in Cleveland appreciate what we have, and those from outside may visit sometime and see what you're missing.

So thanks again for reading, and here's to Year #3

Lincoln

*- And this weekend was the fifth mensiversary of dating Rachel.

La Jolla Playhouse: A Dram of Drummhicit

It seems that the La Jolla Playhouse has figured directly or indirectly in my theatrical life, a regional powerhouse with a track record for new play development (the one thing I feel is missing from Cleveland), at least two of my favorite musicals (The Who's Tommy, Jersey Boys) originated here -- for Jersey Boys I was in the house with director Des McAnuff and Frankie Valli before the show hit Broadway and I moved to Cleveland. For Tommy, while I never saw it at LJP one of the original cast members was involved in my high school's staging of the show. I could have sworn that I saw reference to Spring Awakening somewhere, but nonetheless, on the drama side one of the most moving I've seen -- Cleveland Play House's I Am My Own Wife -- workshopped and premiered at La Jolla.

That's not to say that there haven't been disappointments -- you can't hit it out of the park every time for everyone.

A Dram of Drummhicit wasn't the greatest offender in that category but it certainly seemed rough: The pacing and chemistry felt off, several characters felt overly stiff, and the script was full of tangential subplots that just served to obfuscate the actual point, if any. Add in some juvenile humor, and full male and female nudity and I was at best confused: Early in the play it seems that the plot to pay attention to is, essentially, dead bodies popping out of the ground, being stored in a church that no one attends, by a priest who claims that he has to hide them from the locals who just want to put them back in the ground. The locals, however, seem to have no such interest -- indeed, in the local pub the bodies are being used as coat hangers.

By the end of the first act, this thread has seemingly frayed and unraveled. A shame considering this was the most interesting part of the play and provided the most laughs. By the end of the play you're left unsure about the message, which parts were actually important, and to a certain extent the maturity of playwright and/or designers. I'll admit to briefly closing my eyes and nearly falling asleep a few times during the second act.

That's not to say that there aren't laughs: I chuckled a few times and there was a small contingent of theatergoers that laughed fairly heartily but they were the exception. The majority of the house was oddly quiet.

Not a show I have a desire to see again... but on the upside both the sound and scenic design were impressively cohesive. Also, Jersey Boys is returning to Cleveland's Playhouse Square in the not too distant future, if I'm not mistaken.

Lincoln

PlayhouseSquare 2011-12 KeyBank Broadway Series Launch

Today was the day that PlayhouseSquare announces their next KeyBank Broadway season. Tonight was a party with a recap of those selections for group sales, and I was glad to be invited back. Before we get to the new, let's not forget that there are still a few shows left in this season not the least of which are Next To Normal which I've been eagerly anticipating since seeing it on Broadway (and I made a minor fool of myself by singing along with I'm Alive while the theater filled up this evening) and Jersey Boys, although I think I'm going to pass on it this time, it holds a special place in my musical heart having seen it twice pre-Broadway, and pre-Lincoln in Cleveland while I was living in California at the La Jolla Playhouse (including once with director Des McAnuff and Frankie Valli just a couple rows in front of me). The warmup for tonight's announcement was a buffet and open bar -- the food was pretty good, and the conversation amongst fellow theater-goers was likewise enjoyable. It was great to hear what other people love about Cleveland, and for the life-long Clevelanders what they've seen change -- including when the theaters that are now PlayhouseSquare were movie palaces in the 50s. For the new season, I remembered several of the shows from the trip that I won to last year's Tony Awards courtesy of Playhouse Square... and they were all numbers that I enjoyed to some extent* so I'm really looking forward to this season: Million Dollar Quartet (October 11-23, 2011, Palace Theatre) - Based on the true story of a Sun Records jam session on December 4, 1956, Million Dollar Quartet is a gritty look inside the recording studio when Elvis Presley, Johnny Carson, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins were together for the first and only time. While I was interested from the beginning, the surprise appearance of the Original Chicago cast (who will be reprising their roles and kicking off the national tour in Cleveland) certainly amped up my level of excitement for the show. Of course, it's worth mentioning that the performance by members of the Million Dollar Quartet cast this evening took place in the same building that Alan Freed's WJW-AM radio broadcasts, credited for popularizing Rock and Roll -- both the term and the music -- originated from. La Cage Aux Folles (November 8-20, 2011, Palace Theatre) - Of the shows this season, I'm least sold on La Cage because I'm still a bit foggy on what it's about, though the "we are what we are and what we are is an illusion" line quoted by Ms. Vernaci is intriguing (as are the conservative parents from Ohio coming for dinner; this seems to be a Broadway musical theme). Hair (January 17-29, 2012, Palace Theatre) - A legendary musical, and one of the shows I most regret not seeing during my last trip to New York [nude scene and my discomfort with nudity notwithstanding]. I know it for the songs Age of Aquarius and Let the Sun Shine In, the promo material is dripping with the catchy Hair. A musical about Americans searching for peace and love amongst turbulence, it looks like this should be an interesting and entertaining look at a time past with themes that are ever relevant. Hair generated violent reactions in its era and has two notable connections to Cleveland's PlayhouseSquare: When the first national tour opened in the Hanna Theatre, someone attempted to bomb the theater (breaking several windows and causing no injuries) and several family members of the touring company died in a Cleveland hotel fire. Memphis (February 28-March 11, 2012, Palace Theatre) - 1950s Memphis, the story of a white DJ who wants to change the world with music, a black singer waiting for her big break, forbidden love and expolosive danging. An original score with music by a founding member of Bon Jovi (David Bryan), I couldn't resist toe-tapping in Radio City during the Tony Awards show, and I had a hard time restraining myself this evening. The Addams Family (April 10-22, 2012, Palace Theatre) - The "conservative parents from Ohio come for dinner" theme from La Cage Aux Folles" resurfaces here when Wednesday Addams falls for a "sweet, smart, young man from a respectable family". Billed as a "family portrat that's completely off the wall" this musical has looked beyond the films and the television series to Addams' original cartoons that ran in the New Yorker for inspiration. Come Fly Away (May 8-20, 2012, Palace Theatre) - Music of Frank Sinatra and the choreography and direction of Twyla Tharp... I'm not the biggest Sinatra fan, but the excerpts staged during the Tony Awards were captivatingly energetic, combined with unexpected enjoyment from Michael Fieinstein's Sinatra Project with The Cleveland Orchestra's makes this a definite possibility on my list. Last but most certainly not least, Sondheim on Sondheim (May 30-July 22, 2012, Hanna Theatre) -- co produced by PlayhouseSquare and Great Lakes Theatre Festival to celebrate GLTF's 50th anniversary season and is "revue of a lifetime" and takes you inside the head of the Broadway's "greatest living composer" featuring videotaped interviews with Mr. Sondheim interspersed with live action, I'm quite looking forward to it. I'm reminded of the Invocation and Instructions to the Audience from The Frogs and recapitulated in Side by Side by Sondheim which is how I came to know it...I'd hum it for you but you're better off iTunes or Googling it -- or just watch from about 2:40 in this YouTube video -- though the version I'm most familiar includes a variation on the standard curtain speech that makes me crack a smile every time). I'm a firm beleiver that this should be used before any performance, not just Sondheim. Ok, so now I'm just rambling... Lincoln *- One show very thankfully not in this season was Fela! which ranks among the worst theater I've seen, and is the only time I've disputed a credit card transaction for a purchase I actually made (and I won that dispute). A several friends who saw the performance during the Tony Awards described it as "suck[ing] all of the energy from the room" so I'm obviously not alone there.

Cleveland Play House: My Name is Asher Lev [With Happy Hour]

The Cleveland Play House hosts periodic happy hours which I try not to miss because they're a great low-key way to bump into new artsularly inclined people as well as check in with old friends and acquaintances. While the typically held at greater Cleveland bars, tonight's was in the Play House's back yard at MoCA Cleveland.

Arriving at the Happy Hour I knew I wanted to do something after but I wasn't sure what -- CPH had two plays up (My Name is Asher Lev and Present Laughter) and CIM had a orchestra concert, which sounded interesting but some of the details were a bit strange, so it got ruled out pretty early. Present Laughter, was a contender (and something I want to see anyway) but was sold out this evening. Last play standing: Asher Lev.

(Deep exhale). I was really on the fence about Asher, if for no other reason than I accidentally read the review of the show by a critic who is one of few people I can't stand*. He loved it. Our paths and tastes rarely cross.

All of this is really stalling while I try to figure out how I feel about the play. Intimately set on thrust stage, from beginning to end everything was convincingly three dimensional; Asher's early childhood at three stops, his teenage years, and adulthood are all visited (though there were explicit breaks between the first several vignettes, I the break between "13" and "adult").

Growing up in a Hasidic Jewish family, Asher discovers artistic ability at an early age; the art isn't encouraged by his parents (who view the art as something between a waste of time and sacrilegious), he pursues art in spite of their objections, staging conflict between Asher and his parents, but the Rebbe (for whom his father works) forges a connection to an artist behind his parents back [I'm making an assumption here]. The artist challenges and encourages Asher's development. Asher grows, culminating in an exhibition that is at least initially critically acclaimed but further alienates his parents.

While I have no qualms with the way the story was told, I just couldn't connect or relate to much of the story...I can't say if it's because I've never been particularly religious, or just never had conflicts of that magnitude with my parents ("Just remember", my mother said growing up and says to this day, "do whatever you want, but I will not bail you out of jail.") but it didn't resonate with me.

The character of Jacob Kahn, like all of the secondary male characters played by Tom Alan Robbins, was the person who most interested me individually and with his relationship to Asher Lev (Noel Joseph Allain) with some particularly interesting comments on art ("An artist either reflects his life or comments upon it..."), making decisions based on conviction as opposed to because it's the hip/trendy/easy path.

Though I am a straight, red-blooded American male, I am also a bit prudish and generally uncomfortable with nudity. This production includes a scene with female nudity that felt nearly eternal as I tried to avert my eyes without directly staring down the audience member next to me (based on my front row house left seat, she was literally standing in front of me, though for the majority of the audience I believe her back would be to them). Late in the play, Asher -- at lest I think it was Asher -- makes a comment on the difference between a painting of a naked woman and a nude: A naked woman is a woman who's not wearing any clothes, while a nude is a vision of an unclothed woman filtered through the eyes of an artist. I have to say I've never considered that difference.

In keeping all of the canvases, sketch books, and scraps of paper used to showcase Asher's art blank, the audience is interestingly forced to project their own illusions of what "great art" is into that space. The amazing sounds of a mostly-solo cello weave together the scenes and set the emotional tone in a way that only a stringed instrument can. I'm a little disappointed that that musician and/or composer do not seem to be credited in the program.

So... I'm still not sure how I felt about it. Maybe after I sleep on it I'll have stronger feelings.

Lincoln
*- Though I've never met in person.

Great Lakes Theater Festival: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abriged)

Presented by Great Lakes Theater Festival; directed by Charles Fee, at the Hanna Theater, PlayhouseSquare

It's funny -- like Opera, the entire category of "Shakespeare" doesn't rank terribly high on my list of performing arts loves; I think it's a combination of of hearing "Romeo, romeo..." read in a stilted adolescent monotone a few too many times in middle and high school English classes, and some bad, edging on truly terrible*, interpretations of The Bard's works at the Old Globe in San Diego's Balboa Park, dragged at at a younger age by my good intentioned (and Shakespeare-loving) mother. I still don't get the iambic pentameter, but generally I've been (more) pleased by GLTF's takes on his works.

This is also not my first time with The Complete Works; though. I was going to
say I've seen it once before (with my dad) -- but during a phone call with the afore-mentioned good-intentioned mother, she "reminded" me that we had also seen it before. In all honesty, I don't remember that one. I remember the version I saw with my dad as being more of a reading than a play in an cramped, hot, unadorned black-box store-front theater. I remember it as being somewhere in the neighborhood of "mildly amusing".

That long exposition out of the way you may wonder why I wound up on East 14th Street this afternoon. The short answer is I'm really not sure why.

Reasons or antireasons aside, the hour and 15 minutes preceding intermission was a riotous romp covering 35 plays in an engaging and laugh out loud** funny. Though I spent a fair amount of time doubled over, the sight gags were plentiful and the wordplay was delightful.

Like I mentioned, I don't remember one of the two productions and all, and the other was a setless black box (with three guys in black T-shirts), so I wasn't expecting much from this production. Before the curtain went up, I was half wondering if the curtain would go up, or if all of the action was to be set on the forestage.

After an unintroduced curtain speech (ahem, who are you?) the play begins on amusing note after amusing note -- and that's before we even get to Romeo and Juliet. The curtain does rise and we have a miniature Old Globe-looking structure emblazoned with larger than life headshots of the bard serving kind of like the castle in a fish tank for actors to swim in front of, through, and behind. The lighting is clever without being obnoxious, and the sound is appropriate.


I think I got about 80% of the in-jokes, sight gags, and pop culture references, there were still more that others in the audience picked up on and flew over my head.

The pop culture references, by the way, are very current, not "what would have been pop culture when I saw this for the first (second) time 10 years ago" or "what would have been pop culture when the playwrights were writing 20 years ago" but include Facebook, President Obama, Justin Bieber, and Lady Gaga]. Was Bieber even alive the first time I saw this? Suddenly I'm feeling very old. See also the "wardrobe malfunction" early in the first act with pictures of the scandal on Facebook. If you're up on Broadway news, pay attention to the Spiderman look-alike who comes crashing from the fly gallery when The Scottish Play's true name is uttered.

Cleveland references and in-jokes are also plentiful, but delivered with such ease and inconspicuously (I may have just made that word up) by the actors that you might miss them if you're too busy, I don't know, hunched over laughing at the last joke.

I don't remember there being an intermission in the version I had seen previously -- I was thinking one act, so it caught me as a bit of a surprise that intermission was called with 35 down and only Hamlet to go.

Honestly, that was the one part of the show that seemed to drag -- and trying to 30 minutes with gags, jokes, and commentary on one play (including audience participation and several takes on the ending) is hard not to drag. If, like me, you aren't a Shakespeare fanatic, a visit to the Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson bar during intermission may be worthwhile.


Lincoln
*- At least for my teenaged self, however my mother has admitted that they were far from the best she had seen. Odd side note, near my grandparent's place, Oregon Shakespeare Festival Ashland, Oregon's "New Stage" is serving as the inspiration for one of Cleveland Play House's new theaters in the PlayhouseSquare complex.
** - Rare for me. Kind of like screaming on roller coasters; I really enjoy riding them but I rarely open my mouth. This apparently goes back to my early days when, surviving my first roller coaster ride without a peep my dad though he had forever traumatized me. Until I asked "Can we do that again?"

Cleveland Play House: On the Move

The move of The Cleveland Play House* to PlayhouseSquare is unquestionably a monumental move for both organizations and has been the focus of much of The Cleveland Play House's outreach for the past several months.

With that in mind, I wasn't really expecting much in the way of new information and that expectation was met. Kevin Moore, Play House Managing Director, fluidly moved through a PowerPoint encompassing renderings of the new spaces, Cleveland Play House History (Abridged version: America's first regional theatre in 1919, first Play House was actually a house, then a church, then the current facility along with a different church for a period, now the current facility) and the reasons for the move (synergies with other artistic organizations, operating costs, $20m+ in deferred maintenance, connect with west- and south-side audiences) and the minor benefits (More ladies restrooms, complete ADA accessibility, closer to downtown).

Ultimately as Michael Bloom had noted at one of the Cleveland Play House happy hours earlier this year, with the 8500 Euclid location the Cleveland Playhouse was getting pushed into the role of a real estate company that produced plays rather than a theater company that owned real estate. The move downtown liberates them from the overhead of owning real estate and allows them to focus on their core missions.

The not completely unexpected but extremely disappointing news is that single ticket sales will be processed by PlayhouseSquare's box office. If you recall from my A Tale of Three Box Offices post, the #1 reason I don't attend more events at PlayhouseSquare is because their box office is at best slow and dispassionate and at best infuriating (the gall of charging $3.50 in shipping and handling for a will-call ticket bothers me. Combine it with a $7 'preservation' fee, and it shows a disdain for the customer previously only exhibited by the DMV).

The solution, of course, proffered is to subscribe, in which case you'll deal with a Cleveland Play House "Subscription Concierge" -- which is great if subscribing is practical for your circumstances and if you already know the Cleveland Play House quality that you're committing yourself to... but for the first-time ticket buyer or for people like me who just don't subscribe (I don't doubt that I could save money, but with the unpredictability of my work schedule an psychological issues with parting with that much cash at one time, I just prefer to buy single tickets)

That rant ranted, though I did have a good conversation with Ed Gilchrist, the Play House's Director of External Affairs, and he was patient enough to listen to several of the specific issues I have in this vein and discuss possible solutions following the presentation. I guess we'll have to see what happens after the move has happened (and I suppose hoping for a patron-friendly remodel of the State Theater Box Office as as an extended part of the project is asking too much)

The renderings look great, but I'm still having a hard time getting truly excited by the outcome. Based on the number of construction and renovation projects I've been involved in, I suspect once a hard hat tour is opened (and I do own my own hard hat, thank you very much) I'll get more excited. Something about seeing the raw structure evolve; framing before drywall, bare concrete before flooring always gets my excitement level up.

Lincoln
*- At this event Mr. Moore announced a new logo and style guide would be revealed in the next week. I hope that this package doesn't drop any spaces for the sake of being "contemporary". I don't think I could bring myself to type TheClevelandPlayHouse without snickering.

The Illusory Threat of 3D and The Detroit Situation

Ok, a two-for-one post tonight on two topics that have been bothering me but aren't coherent (and I will warn you, as ideas that were noodled around in some 900 miles of driving they are far from coherent) enough for their own posts... Let me know your thoughts.

The Illusory Threat of 3D
I've heard grumbling that 3D poses a serious threat to live theatre. Having recently seen my first 3D feature film* -- Gnomeo and Juliet (otherwise decent, if for no other reason than the number of Shakespeare jokes) -- I can't imagine that any of the grumblers have actually stepped foot into the magic of live theater.

A film in "3D" is still two dimensional -- there is no life, there is no freedom of reception. All that makes live theater compelling is missing. The exchange of energy between actor and audience, that buzz in the air, is dead. I'd much rather spend $110 for that four-dimensional energy than $11 for what is a poor substitute for the third dimension.

Freedom of reception -- the phrase just occurred to me as the receiver's counterpoint to the artist's freedom of expression -- was perhaps what was most conspicuously absent; in live theater one is free to receive the scene as they wish: While naturally in most cases the playwright and director's desire is that you pay attention to the actor speaking you can analyze the reactions of other actors on the stage, the placement of props or whatever else may catch your attention. Such is not the case with film: Everything you see -- or don't see -- is controlled by the director, cinematographer, and editor: You don't have the freedom to see anything beyond what those individuals intend for you to see.

The energy that is in the air, the magical je ne sais quois that accompanies live theater -- is also, of course, absent in the presence of film -- but if you haven't experienced it, it is futile to try to describe it.

The Detroit Situation
Outside of the wonderful bubble of classical music that is Cleveland, you may not be aware that the members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra have been on strike since October. Unlike the brief work stoppage in Cleveland last year--where I thought both sides presented equally compelling and coherent arguments, I have no connection whatsoever to the DSO or its musicians. I've been watching the Detroit situation with some interest, but from afar -- both physically and emotionally. The more I learn either from seeking out information or from having information pushed my way, the less sympathetic (and competent, and coherent) the DSO's management strikes me as.


Even as a disinterested outsider, The way management's early offers combined shocking pay reductions with drastic work rule modifications can only be described as insulting**. While the musicians present well-written and [generally] fact supported arguments and position pieces on their website, in addition to sponsoring their own concert series, DSO's website is light on real information and management's petulant communiques typically drip (to my eyes, at least) of a parent who thinks that "Because I said so" is a valid response to any question -- and are seemingly treating the musicians as ignorant children throwing a temper tantrum rather than the professionals that they -- by DSO's own admission*** -- are.



Lincoln
* - I've done the IMAX 3D thing a few times many years ago.
**- Which in and of itself is saying a lot given my typical lack of sympathy to organized labor. I honestly think my feelings wold be different if it was just work rule changes or just a reduction in pay but the way the two have been worked together strikes me as punitive.
*** -- Well, it takes a few leaps to get there, it would defy logic for the DSO to label itself a professional orchestra (and "Michigan's premier performing arts institution") without also labeling its musicians as professionals.

Playhouse Square: Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific

The Lincoln Center Theater production of Rogers and Hammerstein's South Pacific; PlayhouseSquare Palace Theatre through February 13th.

The voyage into the South Pacific at PlayhouseSquare is less than smooth sailing technically, but otherwise is an enjoyable diversion with Cleveland's particularly wintry weather. PlayhouseSquare VP of Theatricals Gina Vernaci's program note remarks that "In the first five minutes I felt myself slopping into another world. It was as though the string section of the orchestra possessed a mystical power...."

As the orchestra struck up and played through the overture, from my seat immediately behind and a few hairs to the right of the conductor*, I was powerless against that mystical power. I don't think I've heard anything in the Palace Theater sound as wonderfully hypnotic -- certainly the highlight of the KeyBank Broadway Series thus far. That trance, however, was broken in the first scene and punctuated throughout the remainder of the show.

Before that though, late in the first act Captain Brackett (Gerry Becker) sends a package to a lady at "325 Euclid Avenue, Shaker Heights, Ohio" -- I'm sure many in the audience (and there was an audible reaction) may have thought that this was a insert-current-city-name-here type move, my initial reaction, until I remembered that it is, in fact, scripted that way. (And of course, Euclid Avenue doesn't run through Shaker Heights, 325 Euclid being not far from Public Square and only blocks away from the theater where this production is staged. (If you recall my Walking Tour post from the summer, Rodgers & Hammerstein had an affinity for Cleveland, with the first tour of South Pacific opening in the Hanna theater just around the corner)

In that first scene Henry (Christian Carter) and two children interact. The children were very obviously miced; Mr. Carter either was not miced or his mic was never turned on during his time on stage, and combined with a general lack of projection it was quite difficult--even from the front row--to hear, let alone understand, his dialogue. The following scene, the mics sat on the edge of feedback for far too long. The combined issues of mic cues being late or missed entirely, odd irregularities in sound level, wireless interference, and a particularly glaring incident of feedback -- just in case you hadn't noticed how generally lousy things were until that point -- persisted throughout, though were far fewer in the second act.** Had the issues with audio not been the pesky reminder of the real world, it is entirely likely that once pulled in I would have stayed in through the show.

Somehow, though, even with those challenges the orchestra sounded uniformly glorious throughout with a lovely balance; a welcome sound to ears that have been without orchestral music for an seemingly ungodly period of time. It is refreshing and worth noting that of the 26 musicians in the orchestra, again referring to Ms. Vernaci's program note, 22 of them are Clevelanders.

The songs of South Pacific have become hackneyed staples of orchestra pops programs. On one hand I was hesitant to see South Pacific because I don't truly love any of the pieces that have been excerpted and exploited; on the other hand I was curious to encounter them in their natural surroundings -- that is, in context. It was well worth the adventure. Though Some Enchanted Evening, I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair, and There Is Nothing Like A Dame are still songs that I'm in no real hurry to hear again in context they make remarkable sense and were entirely enjoyable to hear from this talented cast.

Songs that I've not encountered out of context (A Cockeyed Optimist, Happy Talk being the most noticeable) and the innumerable music used to bridge scenes were great discoveries.

The cast presented believable, three-dimensional characters and the set was beautiful; neither gave a glimpse of that unfinished edge often lurking at the edge of the stage.

Lincoln
*- To be specific, Row D, Seat 313. Rows A, B, and C do not exist for this production.
**- It should also be noted that I overheard the conductor make reference to a new sound system for tomorrow, so many of these issues may be addressed, however it seems discourteous of PlayhouseSquare to not offer an explanation or apology to the patrons at tonight's performance.