Yearly Archives: 2012

February 24, 2012 · 3:51 pm

World Premiere of THE BIG PICTURE, Written by Two Miami Valley Residents Opens at BCT on March 2

Pam McGinnis of Oakwood, Brian Kester of Fairborn & Eric Bracht of Beavercreek rehearse THE BIG PICTURE.

Doug Lloyd of Dayton is directing the heart-warming new musical by David Brush of Troy, who wrote the script and lyrics, and Jim Farley of Piqua, who wrote the music.

It’s the summer of 1962 and college freshman Billy Carson, played by Brian Kester of Fairborn, is spending his first summer home with his mom and his best friend, portrayed by Pam McGinnis of Oakwood and Eric Bracht of Beavercreek, respectively. 

With only a few clues, Billy sets out, with a renewed interest, to discover the father he never knew — B-Movie script writer and war hero, Jack Carson, played by Michael Shannon of West Carrollton. 

Angela Umstead of Troy and Shawn Hooks of Dayton round out the cast. 

When old wounds are opened and new loves are discovered, Billy realizes that coming home is more difficult, and ultimately more enlightening, than he ever imagined. 

The crew includes music director, Jenn Clark of Beavercreek; choreographer, Stacy Gear of Kettering; lighting designer, John Falkenbach of Dayton; set designer and builder, Chris Harmon of Centerville; assistant set builder, Hans Unser of Beavercreek; stage manager, Dionne Meyer of Beavercreek and sound designer, David Meyer of Beavercreek. 

MVP Creations in Beavercreek is designing the video for the show, which partly takes place in a drive-in theater. 

The musical will be presented from March 2 to March 11, with 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. on Sundays. 

Tickets are $13 for adults and $11 for students, BCT members and seniors, ages 55 and older. A group discount of $1 per ticket is available to groups of 10 or more when the tickets are purchased at the same time for the same performance. 

Tickets can be reserved by calling 429-4737 and leaving a message or by emailing boxoffice@bctheatre.org. For more information, visit the theater’s Web site at www.bctheatre.org, where the tickets can be purchased online with a credit card. Credit cards are not accepted at the theater. 

Beavercreek Community Theatre is located within the Lofino Adult Enrichment and Cultural Arts Center at 3868 Dayton-Xenia Road in Beavercreek. 

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February 24, 2012 · 3:02 pm

GCTTG Meeting on March 16

Greater Cincinnati Technical Theatre Guild will hold their next meeting on Friday, March 16. The meeting will be at the TGI Friday’s in Beechmont at 7:00pm.

GCTTG is open to all who are interested in technical theatre, beginners to seasoned veterans.

Follow us online at http://gcttg.wordpress.com, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/groups/gcttg . You can contact us at via email at gcttg@fuse.net .

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February 24, 2012 · 2:43 pm

Know Theatre of Cincinnati Announces Cincinnati’s First Crowd-Sourced Production Opportunity

Launches the Club of Jacksons

On December 21st, Know Theatre of Cincinnati launched Cincinnati’s first ever crowd-sourced production sponsorship opportunity. Called the Club of Jacksons, Know Theatre hopes to raise 1,120 Jacksons ($20 bills), all of which will become the Production Sponsorship for BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON (March 31-May 12, 2012).

Producing Artistic Director, Eric Vosmeier says, “We always love trying new things at Know Theatre so we thought, let’s try to fund an entire production through our community. The Club of Jacksons is the first attempt by a professional theatre in Cincinnati to fund a mainstage production this way.”

The Club of Jacksons expands Know Theatre’s push for collaboration beyond simply artistic boundaries and reaches out to include the entire community of audience, artists, and contributors. Vosmeier adds, “As a community we are stronger, and no matter how large or small the individual contribution, when we come together, we can do infinitely more with our resources”.

BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON’s book was written by Alex Timbers with music and lyrics written by Michael Friedman. Recently closed on Broadway, this rock musical will show at Know Theatre March 31 – May 12, 2012. An audacious mix of historical fact and invention, BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON uses the story of America’s controversial seventh president, “the man who invented the Democratic Party, doubled the size of our nation, and signed the Indian Removal Acts that started the Trail of Tears,” to investigate the attraction and terrors of American populism, using a raucous blend of outrageous comedy, anarchic theatricality and an infectious rock n’ roll soundtrack.

The Club of Jacksons offers benefits to contributors as well:

  • A donation of just $20.00 gets you a customized $20 bill that will be displayed on the wall in Know Theatre’s Underground.
  • $60 will get the above and an autographed show poster from Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson.
  • $80 will get you all of the above and an invitation to a special preview event for BBAJ on March 15, 2012 featuring special preview performances, delicious edibles, and a cash bar. At this level your name will also be included in at least one curtain speech during the run of the show as a Production Sponsor.
  • $160 will get you all of the above and an invitation to Know Theatre’s annual Season Preview party in August, 2012 and two free drinks at Know Theatre’s bar when you attend the production.

If you’re interested in more information or to give now, visit Know Theatre’s website at www.knowtheatre.com/donatenow.html or call 513.300.5669(KNOW).

Our mission is to create evocative and explosive live entertainment.
Our vision is a world awakened to its collective possibility.
We value a playful artistic community where artists can collaborate and grow.

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February 24, 2012 · 2:31 pm

ST. NICHOLAS Review

Links to all reviews can be found on the BTC REVIEWS page. Blog postings, links and more are available on my FaceBook fan page. You can receive updates on Twitter from @BTCincyRob.

Michael Shooner as Man. Photo by Mikki Schaffner.

ST. NICHOLAS presented by New Edgecliff Theatre through March 10. You can read the show description here.

Michael Shooner is dynamic and real as the Man in this one- person show. Equal parts acting and storytelling, Shooner lays out the life of a faulted and, in many ways, not very likeable man, but at the same time we are able to empathize with elements of his life. Shooner does a great job with his Irish accent throughout the performance. Personally, from a character standpoint, I wouldn’t mind hearing a slightly stronger one.

In striving to create an intimate piece of theater, NET has added seating to the right and left of the stage and blocked off the last few rows of their “regular” seating. The lighting design of Glen Goodwin, however, seems to work against this goal. For the most part I found the lighting to be too harsh and bright for a story about vampires. It also clearly illuminates most of the audience members on both sides of the stage (I sat center), allowing normal audience movement to be distracting. Beyond that, I felt there were missed opportunities to add to the mood of the show. A lighting shift could have been used to complement the well-done sound design of Erin Waters. It might also have been interesting to see a shift whenever a vampire entered the “room.”

Michael Shooner. Photo by Mikki Schaffner.

I was confused as to director Brian Robertson’s intent for this conversation. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an engaging story, but who are we, the audience? Why is this story being told to us? Where is this story being told to us? The context was unclear to me.

Overall ST. NICHOLAS features strong, entertaining work by Michael Shooner that could have benefited from more cohesion on the part of the production team.

Click here for a complete list of show times, articles and other reviews for ST. NICHOLAS.

I would enjoy hearing what you think about the show or my review. All I ask is that you express your opinion without attacking someone else’s opinion. You can post your comments below.

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February 24, 2012 · 10:59 am

THE AFGHAN WOMEN’S WRITING PROJECT runs March 8-11

THE AFGHAN WOMEN’S WRITING PROJECT
Presented by Know Theatre of Cincinnati
March 8-11
Over-the-Rhine

Reviews: Enquirer |

THE AFGHAN WOMEN’S WRITING PROJECT began as an idea during novelist Masha Hamilton’s last trip to Afghanistan in November 2008. Masha first visited the country in 2004, and was awed and inspired by the resolute courage of the women she met. When she returned, she saw doors were closing and life was again becoming more difficult, especially for women. She began to fear we could lose access to the voices of Afghan women if we didn’t act soon. THE AFGHAN WOMEN’S WRITING PROJECT is aimed at allowing Afghan women to have a direct voice in the world, not filtered through male relatives or members of the media. Many of these Afghan women have to make extreme efforts to gain computer access in order to secretly submit their writings, in English, to the project.

The project reaches out to talented and generous women author/teachers here in the United States and engages them, on a volunteer, rotating basis, to teach Afghan women online from Afghanistan. The goal of the project is to encourage the women to develop their voices and share their stories, something that was not permitted during the years when Afghanistan was Taliban-held.

Adapted and directed by Elizabeth Martin & Lauren Hynek

Cast: Dale Hodges*, Annie Fitzpatrick*, Maliyah Gramata-Jones, Hope Shangle, Lissa Urriquia Gapultos & Torie Wiggins. *Member of Actors’ Equity Association.

  • Thu-Sat. March 8-10 at 8pm
  • Sun, March 11 at 3pm

Official page | Online ticketing | FaceBook event |

Local media coverage: Enquirer article |

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