Great Lakes Theater’s production of ‘Macbeth’ is crazy good
“Double, double toil and trouble: Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.” “By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.” “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” “Out damned spot! Out, I say!” “Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t.” “Lay on, Macduff, and damned be him that first cries, “Hold, enough!” “There’s daggers in men’s smiles.” “Nothing is but what is not.” “What’s done cannot be undone.” Without a doubt, William Shakespeare is the most quoted
Cleveland Public Theatre’s ‘Haunted’ is a bit of spooky fun
As you enter the stage and seating area of the James Levin Theatre at Cleveland Public Theatre you pass through the front door of a house. On the left is the standard “For Sale” sign advertising “Vincent Jones, Realtor”. What furniture that remains in this distressed listing has the look of abandonment that picked over living rooms across the country have. There are various boxes of flotsam, a pile of chairs with table, ratty curtains, a blow up couch and chair(?) and a book
KeyBank Broadway Series ‘Water For Elephants’ brings the glorious big top on stage
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AND BOYS AND GIRLS WELCOME TO THE GREATEST SPECTACLE ON EARTH! Virtually every circus show in the world has been introduced to audiences around the world with this resounding phrase. As can be expected the resulting shows waver between barely passable all the way to extraordinary. It is a huge challenge to recreate the behind the stage feel as well as the three ring presence of the “Greatest Show On Earth” for a touring Broadway spectacle. The touring pro
Cleveland Play House’s ‘Rachmaninoff and the Tsar’ is not to be missed
There is great theater...then there is GREAT THEATER such as Hershey Felder and Jerry Patch’s “Rachmaninoff and the Tsar produced by Cleveland Play House and now on stage in the Allen Theatre at Playhouse Square. This two hour show without intermission flies by with such solid entertainment that you do not even notice the passing of time. It is March of 1943 and Sergei Rachmaninoff (Hershey Felder) has returned to his home in Beverly Hills, California. At 69 years old he is s
Playhouse Square’s touring production of ‘The Choir of Man’ is just what we need!
“Beauty is in the eye of the...beerholder.” Cleveland has a very special place in its heart for “The Choir of Man”. This was the very first show to grace a Playhouse Square stage after Covid. That was back in 2022 when the vaccine was not yet as universal as it is today. It took a tremendous amount of courage for the cast to risk everything simply to bring entertainment to our city. What it did after two years of epidemic uncertainty was to give us hope that perhaps we had tu
LatinUS production of ‘Vuela Alto, Mamá’ takes mad capped to new heights
In Patricia Suarez’s play “Vuela Alto, Mamá” (“Fly High, Mother”), produced by LatinUS and on stage at the Pivot Center at 2937 West 25 th Street, Cleveland, Ohio a solemn gathering unfolds. Surviving family members of the matriarch, Mamá Dalia Sanjuan, have gathered to pay their respects and to send her on her way to heaven. Gathered at the wake are the two daughters Ana Julia (Monica Torres) who ended her second marriage and is doing quite well financially, Omara (Luisana
Karamu’s ‘Queens Girl – Black in the Green Mountains’ is a bit of theater magic
61 pages of script. 18 characters. 1 actor. This is the delight that you have to look forward to with Caleen Sinnette Jennings wonderful coming of age tale “Queens Girl – Black in the Green Mountains”. The show is appearing on stage in the Bank of America Arena Theatre at Karamu House located at 2355 E. 89 th Street, Cleveland, Ohio. Raised in Brooklyn, New York by two professionals (a teacher and a doctor), Jacqueline Marie Butler (Jackie for short or Jacqueline Marie by he
Ensemble Theatre’s “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” is superb classic theater
...and you thought your family was messed up. Believe me it is nothing compared to the Tyrone family in Eugene O’Neill’s Pulitzer Prize winning epic “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”. The show is currently being produced by Ensemble Theatre and on stage in the Marinello Theatre at John Carroll University in University Heights. James Tyrone (Doug Sutherland) is a gadabout actor who has typecast himself to one role (a play he purchased as a young man). Although the performances h
Cleveland Play House’s ‘Primary Trust’ is a floating dream across a calm pond
With all the “crazy” going on right now it is a real treat to attend a theatrical show that does not shake you up, spin you around and bounce you up and down mentally. Such a show is the Cleveland Play House production of Eboni Booth’s “Primary Trust” now on stage in the Outcalt Theatre at Playhouse Square. It is a simple show of “trust” and “friendship” but more importantly “connecting”. I could relate through the entire premise as I am sure most of the audience could as wel
Great Lakes Theater’s ‘The Heart of Robin Hood’ is an action packed delight
Over the centuries the character and story of Robin Hood has seen many different interpretations. It is speculated that Robin Hood first appeared in verse during the latter part of the 14 th century as tall tales that were sung or spoken at fairs, after elaborate banquets or around the cozy family hearth of the peasant cottage. Eventually, the tales were written down as there are surviving manuscripts (mostly in verse) that date to the 15 th century. At some point, these in
