All City Musical brings the tap back on stage at the Ohio Theatre
It all began in Cleveland, Ohio in 1954 with the introduction of the All-City Arts Program that was managed by the Department of Arts Education. It included an All-City Symphony Orchestra, All-City Choir and All-City Concert Band. These groups would hold mid-year and end-of-year events culminating with classical music concerts at the prestigious Severance Hall (home of the Cleveland Orchestra).
Back then at the beginning of the school year, music supervisors would be picked during an audition process and would then select individual students from the Cleveland Public School District around the city. Suddenly in 1970 the program was discontinued as arts education took a hard hit in schools across the country. Thirty years later (in the year 2000) educators recognized the power of arts education and The Cleveland Metropolitan School District re-instituted the All-City Arts Program.
Unlike the All-City Arts of years past, this new program was designed to be much more inclusive of other art forms rather than focusing solely on classical music. All-City Arts encourages after-school and weekend college readiness programs using a “Live Learning Lab” curriculum.
The Department of Arts Education utilizes the talents of district certified arts teachers, practicing arts professionals and over forty community arts and cultural partners to produce various programs, productions and events such as live Broadway musicals, concerts and Rock Your Wold With Steam appearances.
The epicenter of these various programs is John Hay High School where students are offered the opportunity to meet on Mondays and Wednesdays for three hours in the afternoon. Other options are after-school and weekend programs, various performance opportunities and exhibits at different school sponsored events as well as the opportunity for students to attend performances and exhibitions.
The All City Musical is celebrating its 19th straight production this year. Past shows include: Little Shop of Horrors-2000, Once On This Island-2001, The Wiz-2002, West Side Story-2003, Carmen Jones-2004, The Hot Mikado-2005, South Pacific-2006, Guys and Dolls-2007, Dream Girls-2008, A Decade Of Dreams-2009, Fame: The Musical-2010, Bubbling Brown Sugar-2011, Footloose-2012, Aida-2013, Rent-2014, Memphis-2015, Kiss Me Kate-2016, The Wiz-2017, Bring It On-2018 and this year a complete change of style and format with 42nd Street.
Hundreds of Actor/Scholars gather at the beginning of the school year to try out for the various parts. The competition is tough as everyone wants to be awarded the principle roles. Sometimes egos get bruised but it is all part of the learning process as these students learn that it is not the size of the part but what they can do with it on stage.
The choice of this year’s production of 42nd Street was especially challenging due to the foreign speech patterns of a time well beyond anyone’s memory. The 30s had its own dictionary of slang, dance and music that had to be painstakingly learned in order to get the point of the musical across to a young audience. On top of that, hundreds of costumes, hats and wigs had to be collected as well as an enormous set construction that included hundreds of Broadway lights, four major scene changes, a number of video projections and three movable stair sets.
For the matinees, students of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District are invited to watch a full production of the show with all of their teachers receiving a study guide that they can take back and share with their students concerning the history of this particular show and the time period in which it is placed.
Peggy Sawyer leaves her home and family in Allentown, Pennsylvania drawn to the glitz and glitter of New York City and in particular, BROADWAY! She manages to land her first gig tapping in the chorus line of a brand new Broadway show called Pretty Lady using her enormous amount of gumption and talent.
Peggy soon attracts the attention of her fellow hoofers as well as Billy who has the male lead in the show. While doing out of town tryouts and just days away from their Broadway premier the female lead suffers a broken ankle. All eyes fall on Peggy as she needs to gather up all her courage and come through for “the gang.” The show features a variety of show stopping numbers including: “You’re Getting To Be A Habit With Me,” “Dames,” “We’re In the Money,” “Lullaby of Broadway,” “Shuffle Off to Buffalo” and “Forty-Second Street.”
The cast of 34 actors/scholars have been hard at work since the beginning of the school year in September honing their skills in acting, singing and of all things tap dancing that this production is chock full of. The choice of this year’s production was especially challenging due to the foreign speech patterns of a time well beyond anyone’s memory.
The 30s had its own dictionary of slang, dance and music that had to be painstakingly learned in order to get the point of the musical across to a young audience. On top of that, hundreds of costumes, hats and wigs had to be collected as well as an enormous set constructed that included hundreds of Broadway lights, four major scene changes, a number of video projections and three movable stair sets.
From the principal characters right down to the smallest non-speaking part each and every youngster in this show is top notch in everything they do. Come to any of the three shows this coming weekend and you will witness a Playhouse Square worthy performance that will take your breath away. Great music, great dancing, great acting and an inspiring story line that we can all learn from is what is in store for you.
This year’s musical, 42nd Street first hit Broadway in 1980 and is based on the 1933 Hollywood film of the same name and features music by Harry Warren with lyrics by Al Dubin and book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble. It is based on a novel by Bradford Ropes with original direction and dances by Gower Champion. It was originally produced on Broadway by David Merrick. The All City Musical version is directed by Kimberly Sias with musical direction by David M. Thomas. Choreography is re-imagined by Rosalyn Dale, Kyle Primus and Nehemiah Spencer. The show is presented by arrangement with TAMS-WITMARK.
The 20th annual All-City Musical is presented by the Cleveland Metropolitan School District in partnership with the Musical Theater Project and through the generous support of The Human Fund, The City of Cleveland Ohio, The Ohio Arts Council, The George Gund Foundation, The Chuck and Char Fowler Family Foundation, The Edwin D. Northrup II Fund, the Reinberger Foundation, the Helen F. and Louis Stolier Family Foundation, The PNC Foundation, Medical Mutual, Penske Cleveland and U.S. Bank.
For tickets by phone, call (216) 241-6000 or for online sales go to: http://www.playhousesquare.org/events/detail/42nd-street. Tickets may also be purchased by stopping by the Playhouse Square Ticket Office located in the outer lobby of the State Theatre.