Playhouse Square’s touring “Grinch” is a holiday treat for the entire family
Don’t you dare blink or you might miss it and that would be a shame...especially if you have young children. The touring production of “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” is on stage at the KeyBank State Theatre but it is only there for eight shows through Sunday, December 14 th . If there ever was a show geared for family viewing this is it. Be forewarned, the show lasts 90 minutes with no intermission so a pre-show potty break is definitely encouraged. Other than that, be prep
Dobama Theatre’s ‘The Hobbit’ brings the magic
Way back in the 70s when Trolls, Wargs, Dwarves, Elves, Dragons, Men, Hobbits and other assorted mythical creatures walked Middle Earth there was a series of books by T. R. R. Tolkien. From 1925 to 1945 Tolkien was the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon and a Fellow of Pembroke College , both at the University of Oxford . He was in truth a linguistic expert. His four most popular novels included “The Hobbit” and what came to be known as the “Ring Trilogy” (
Cleveland Public Theatre’s ‘I Wear My Dead Sister’s Clothes’ is a concise study on grief
Death bites...no really it does. Maybe not so much for the people that die (unless they are suffering from a long drawn out boring disease). What really bites is that we (the survivors) are left behind and we are the ones who have to come in and sort through a lifetime of accumulation of mostly crap that has filled the closets, been stashed under the bed or hidden in the attic. A few years ago my wife’s second youngest sister passed away suddenly. She had always suffered from
Ohio Shakespeare Festival’s ‘Every Christmas Story…’ is yuletide gold
Photo By Scott Custer As the lights come up on the Henry C. Bishop stage on the sixth floor of the Greystone Hall at 103 S. High Street in Akron, Ohio we are welcomed by Tess Burgler in full Ebeneezer mode and who with a knowing nod to the audience begins... “Marley was dead…”. When suddenly out of the wings comes Natalie Steen dressed head to toe as the deceased character loudly protesting her role. “I simply cannot do this!”, she moans. Tess on the other hand is dead set on
Playhouse Square’s touring production of ‘Spamalot’ is ‘a silly place to visit’ and worth it
“I’m not dead yet”. “Just a flesh wound”, “I fart in your general direction”, “First shalt thou take out the holy pin.”“We are the knights that say “Ni”” and “Death awaits you all with nasty, big, pointed teeth.” are just a few of the many quotable lines from Monty Python’s “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” later to become the Broadway musical “Spamalot”. The title is a portmanteau (go ahead, look it up...I’ll wait…...you’re back? Good!) combining the words Spam and Camelot.
Cleveland Play House’s ‘A Christmas Story’ takes us all back to a simpler time
In the lobby of the Allen Theatre at Playhouse Square in Cleveland, Ohio where Philip Grecian’s “A Christmas Story” is currently on stage there is a free standing automatic selfie camera. You grab a large cardboard that has one of the quotes from the show, tap the screen, countdown five seconds and voila once you OK the image you can have it sent to your e-mail address or phone. Ingenious! They include placards with well worn quotes such as “You’ll shoot your eye out”, “It’s
Great Lakes Theater’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ is a true family gathering
This year marks the 37 th production of “A Christmas Carol” by Great Lakes Theatre in the Mimi Ohio Theatre. For myself I have probably seen the show somewhere in the neighborhood of fifteen times. Now people would ask me why I would want to see the same show year after year. To explain this I need to share a holiday tradition that my wife and I have celebrated for the past ten years. Every Christmas Eve after all the last minute gifts have been wrapped, the breads, scones a
Karamu’s ‘Motown Christmas’ is a rockin’ holiday extravaganza
Back in the 50s the various record companies use to send out their hottest stars on extended tours to promote their newest hits and sell records and sheet music. It was not unusual for these tours to play lessor cities bringing top notch talent to the lesser reached segments of the country. While those days are gone you can relive the feel of what it was like to witness a true rock and roll Christmas tour. Karamu’s Motown Christmas captures that Motown feel and excitement in
Clague Playhouse’s ‘The Wickhams” is a delightful change from the usual holiday fare
The “Christmas At Pemberley” trilogy by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon have the distinction of being the most widely produced plays in the country and with good reason. Taken from characters found in Jane Austen’s beloved characters from “Pride and Prejudice” they focus on the Christmas season at the Pemberley estate. This season, Clague Playhouse has embarked on the second of the series with “The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley” after having staged the first production
Chagrin Valley Little Theatre’s ‘Shrek – The Musical’ is big, green and entertaining
So...take every “Shrek” movie ever made (“Shrek”, “Shrek 2”, “Shrek the Third” and “Shrek Forever After” along with William Steig’s 1990 book) put them in a blender and set to mix then add a clever musical score. This will give you “Shrek – The Musical”, the family friendly hit show currently on stage at Chagrin Valley Little Theatre in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. With the holiday season upon us (like it or not), CVLT offers parents and grand parents an excellent solution to that ag
