Monthly Archives: January 2013

January 22, 2013 · 1:15 pm

TDW Selected for Midwest Play Festival

Bonnie Emmer as Beth Finnegan & Nate Netzley as Brian Dowd.

Bonnie Emmer as Beth Finnegan & Nate Netzley as Brian Dowd.

(Cheviot, Ohio) The Drama Workshop’s production of “Jerry Finnegan’s Sister”, by Jack Neary, has been selected to be the State of Ohio representative to the American Association of Community Theater Division 3 regional play festival. The festival will host community theaters from Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. It will be held in April at the Schauer Arts & Activities Center in Hartford, Wisconsin.

The two-person comedy was named as the Ohio entry in the regional festival after TDW presented a one-hour excerpt at the Ohio AACT Festival, held this past weekend at Seton High School in Cincinnati. Additionally, Nate Netzley and Bonnie Emmer both received acting awards, and Gretchen Gantner and Bonnie Emmer received an award for costuming.

Supporting Netzley and Emmer at the state festival was a TDW production crew including director/producer Ray Persing, stage manager Tobie Braverman, sound designer Jason Cox, and backstage crew Elaine Volker and Cindy Emmer.

“Jerry Finnegan’s Sister” recounts the relationship between Brian Dowd, played by Netzley, and Beth Finnegan, played by Emmer. Ever since the Finnegans moved in next door, Brian has wrestled with an unrequited ‘something’ for his best friend’s sister. The trouble is that every time he’s spoken with her for more than 30 seconds, he’s ended up with his foot in his mouth. Now 23 and a junior in college, Brian has learned that Jerry Finnegan’s sister is planning to get married – and he knows that his time has now run out. The audience follows along as he relives his past encounters with Beth, while he tries to work up the courage to finally tell her how he feels.

“Jerry Finnegan’s Sister” was enthusiastically received by audiences over its opening weekend. The final three performances will be at the Glenmore Playhouse, 3716 Glenmore Avenue, Cheviot, over this coming weekend. Show times are 8 pm on January 25 and 26, and 2 pm on January 27. Seating is limited, and reservations are strongly encouraged. All seats are $15, and may be reserved by phoning the TDW ticket line at 513.598.8303, or online at http://www.thedramaworkshop.org.

For additional information, please contact Gretchen Gantner at 513.470.5516 or at groose1876@aol.com.

THE DRAMA WORKSHOP was founded in 1954. TDW is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to advancing education and promotion of theatrical arts. Based at the newly renovated Glenmore Playhouse in Cheviot, The Drama Workshop is widely recognized as one of greater Cincinnati’s most accomplished community theater organizations, garnering dozens of awards annually from the Association of Community Theaters. TDW productions have been regularly selected to represent the Southwest Ohio region at the Ohio Community Theater Association annual conference. Prospective members, and individuals or businesses interested in helping to advance TDW’s mission are encouraged to contact the group through our website at http://www.thedramaworkshop.org or by phone at 513-598-8303.

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January 22, 2013 · 12:42 pm

Who Ya Gonna Call? Cincinnati’s Award-Winning Stage Musical Parody of ’80s Movie About Ghosts Return Home

DON'T CROSS THE STREAMS THE CEASE AND DESIST MUSICALCINCINNATI, OH- A popular ‘80s movie about ghosts and the people who bust them becomes a stage musical. Then the lawyers find out.

Falcon Theatre and Hugo West Theatricals proudly present DON’T CROSS THE STREAMS: THE CEASE AND DESIST MUSICAL, playing March 15 – 23, 2013 at the Monmouth Theatre (636 Monmouth Street) in Newport, KY. Recent smash hit of the Cincinnati and Indianapolis Fringe Festivals, and recipient of the League of Cincinnati Theatres “Outstanding Ensemble” award, DON’T CROSS THE STREAMS is now slimier than ever in a full-length evening of theatre. Tickets are $17 ($14 for students) and are available at www.falcontheatre.net or by calling (513) 479-6783.

DON’T CROSS THE STREAMS is presented as part of Falcon Theatre’s “Fourth Wall” series. It is intended for mature audiences only.

Critical Acclaim for DON’T CROSS THE STREAMS

  • “’Don’t Cross The Streams” defines Fringe: clever, loopy, messy, ambitious, well-performed, smartly directed….” – Jackie Demaline, Cincinnati Enquirer
  • “…a full-house audience clearly knew the film and shrieked with laughter as the tale spun wilder with each passing moment… [Tom Highley’s] performance is a comic tour de force.” – Rick Pender, Citybeat
  • “… the stageworthy verve of the actors, their quicksilver shifts of attention and comic focus and complementary costuming and lighting that never looks cheesy.” – Jay Harvey, Indianapolis Star
  • “Simply put, the entire show is hysterical… the cast comprises a phenomenal ensemble. Sean Mette’s performance as lovable doof Corky is uproarious.” – Myrydd Wells, Indianapolis Monthly 

“Who ya gonna call? The… Spirit Fighters.”
In DON’T CROSS THE STREAMS, a popular early ‘80s film about ghosts and the people who bust them is receiving a stage musical adaptation by a New Jersey theatre company. When their world is shattered by a “cease and desist” letter from the lawyers of Columbia Pictures, the cast and crew give the show a new title, make delirious changes to an increasingly unrecognizable script and recruit a handsomely clueless soap opera actor to play the role of Peter Venkman. Silly string ion streams are unleashed and a giant Twinkie kicks a man in groin in a madcap theatrical farce a la “Waiting for Guffman.”

Bigger, Longer, Slimier for Newest Production
Debuting at the Cincinnati Fringe Festival in May 2012 as produced by The Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center, DON’T CROSS THE STREAMS enjoyed a nearly sold-out run and popular and critical acclaim, including an “Outstanding Ensemble” nod from the League of Cincinnati Theatres. The show was subsequently invited to the August 2012 IndyFringe, becoming a festival highlight.

The Monmouth Theatre production will premiere an extended version of the musical, with several new scenes and musical moments. Jared Joplin* (Simon), Eamon Hill (Robert Duke) and Brad Myers (Leroy Fields, Guitarist) make their DCTS debuts among the rest of the original Cincinnati Fringe Festival cast.

A full list of performers and production team members is at the end of this release.

*Actor appears courtesy of the Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States.

Back off man, we’re playwrights
DON’T CROSS THE STREAMS is the first playwriting venture by co-writers Mike Hall and Joshua Steele. On an escalating dare, the two set out to write a faithful stage adaptation of a cinematic cultural touchstone. Shortly after undertaking the project, a conversation with a real-life intellectual property lawyer squarely dashed their hopes. Not to be denied, Steele and Hall fell back to the old creative adage: “write what you know,” and decided instead to tell the story of actors who set out to write the musical in question and are ordered by a Hollywood law firm to “cease and desist.” The result was the interpolation of silly string rifles, metal detectors, kabuki theatre, interpretive dance, a gospel choir and Stone Mountain into a raucous parody depicting the self-destruction of the American movie-based musical.

Tickets and Performances
Tickets to all performances of DON’T CROSS THE STREAMS are $17 for adults and $14 for students, and can be purchased online at http://www.falcontheatre.net, or by calling the box office voicemail (checked regularly) at (513) 479-6783.

Performance dates and times are as follows:

  • Friday, March 15, 8:00pm
  • Saturday, March 16, 8:00pm
  • Sunday, March 17, 2:00pm
  • Thursday, March 21, 8:00pm
  • Friday, March 22, 8:00pm
  • Saturday, March 23, 8:00pm

All performances take place at the Monmouth Theatre, 636 Monmouth Street, Newport, KY.

FT_Dont Cross the Streams

Photo from 2012 Cincinnati Fringe Festival production featuring Phillip Webster, Rodger Pille and Randy Lee Bailey.

DON’T CROSS THE STREAMS Cast and Production Team List

Cast

Cast Member Role

  • Randy Lee Bailey Sam
  • Lauren Carr Heidi
  • Cameron Jamarr Davis Clarence
  • Emma Greer Sharon
  • Tom Highley Hugo West
  • Jared Joplin* Simon
  • Sean Mette Corky
  • Brad Myers Leroy Fields
  • Eamon Hill Robert Duke
  • Rodger Pille Barry Matthews
  • Chris Stewart Teddy

*Actor appears courtesy of the Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States.

Production Team

  • Artist Capacity
  • Mike Sherman Director
  • Jay Goodlett Choreographer
  • Tim Schmall Lighting Designer
  • Jim Stump Costumer
  • Hunter Spoede Sound Designer
  • Ben Baczenas Asst. Sound Designer
  • Chakse Haverkos Video Designer
  • Erin McCoy Stage Manager
  • Mike Hall Playwright
  • Joshua Steele Playwright, Producer, Pianist

For More Information
Contact Joshua Steele at joshuatsteele@gmail.com, or (513) 293-6063.

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January 22, 2013 · 12:10 pm

THE MAGICAL ADVENTURES OF MERLIN Runs Feb. 15-23

TCT_Magical Adventures of MerlinTHE MAGICAL ADVENTURES OF MERLIN
Presented by The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati
Feb. 15-23
Downtown

This world-premiere musical will introduce audiences to the teenage wizard, Merlin, and his mysterious and magical youth. This coming-of-age tale will share the backstory of Merlin, his boyhood friend King Arthur, and the beautiful, bewitching Morgana as teens in mythical ancient England. Featuring magic tricks, slight-of-hand, illusions and more!

  • Fri, Jan. 15 at 7:30pm
  • Sat, Feb. 16 at 2pm & 5pm
  • Sun, Feb. 17 at 2pm
  • Sat, Jan 23 at 2pm

Official page with online ticketing |

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January 22, 2013 · 11:01 am

CCPA Announces 2013-2014 Theatrical Season

Covedale Center for the Performing Arts Announces the 2013 -2014 Theatrical Season
Season Subscriptions on sale now!

CCPAThe Covedale Center for the Performing Arts, 4990 Glenway Avenue, expanded its Subscription Series from 3 weeks to 4 weeks in 2011! The 2013 – 2014 shows will again run for 16 performances each.

“The response to our expanded season last year was phenomenal!” said Tim Perrino, Covedale Artistic Director. “But we still have some great seats to offer new subscribers in 2013. Come join the crowd.”

The Covedale 2013 -2014 subscription series features the music of Johnny Cash, Dracula, a holiday classic, a fast-paced whodunit, a salute to the music of Tony Bennett and the world’s most famous stripper too!

Come enjoy great theatrical entertainment – at a great price! Where else can you get six wonderful shows at the low, Subscriber – only price of $19.00 per ticket? The Covedale will now have plenty of great subscriber seats available with great views of the stage – for renewing subscribers and new patrons alike! New subscribers are encouraged to get their seats now, for best seating choices.

Cincinnati Federal Savings is back as the Covedale Season sponsor! Cincinnati Federal is a real partner for the surrounding community and their generous support keeps the development of the Covedale on track for the year ahead.

The Covedale Center for the Performing Arts features the best in local performers and performances. “We’ll now feature a full theatre season and enough shows and seats for our expanding patron base.” The coming season will again see “the Covedale” grow as the region’s most exciting theatrical venue!

Show titles, dates and descriptions are as follows:

Ring of Fire – The Music of Johnny Cash
September 5 – 29, 2013
Created by Richard Maltby, Jr.
Conceived by William Meade
Orchestrations by Steven Bishop and Jeff Lisenby

A set of gifted singers and instrumentalists sing through some of the greatest songs of one of America’s most brilliant singer/songwriters, Johnny Cash. Though he is never impersonated, his remarkable life story is told through his music, climaxing in a concert that will both move and exhilarate!

Dracula
October 17 – November 10, 2013
By John L. Balderston, Hamilton Deane & Bram Stoker

Lucy Seward, whose father is the doctor in charge of an English sanitorium, has been attacked by some mysterious illness. Dr. Van Helsing, a specialist, believes that the girl is the victim of a vampire, a sort of ghost that goes about at night sucking blood from its victims. The vampire is at last found to be a certain Count Dracula, whose ghost is at last laid to rest in a striking and novel manner. Pure escape and great fun.

A Christmas Carol
November 29 – December 22, 2013
Book and Lyrics by Tim Perrino, Music by Jeremy Helmes, Based on the book by Charles Dickens

Come enjoy a fresh take on a Christmas classic. Share the holidays with thousands of Covedale patrons for this special musical version of Dickens’ all time favorite tale. Our holiday haunter has yuletide ghouls and merrymaking a-plenty! We’ll “Bring Back Christmas” with the not-so- “Dear, Mr. Scrooge”, while Bob Cratchit counts his heavenly “Christmas Treasure” and Tiny Tim chimes in with “God Bless Us Everyone!” It’s “Christmas First of All” at the Covedale!

The 39 Steps
January 23 – February 16, 2014
Adapted By Patrick Barlow, from the novel by John Buchan From the movie of Alfred Hitchcock

Mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python and you have The 39 Steps, a fast-paced whodunit for anyone who loves the magic of theatre! This 2-time Tony® and Drama Desk Award-winning treat is packed with nonstop laughs, over 150 zany characters (played by a ridiculously talented cast of 4), an on-stage plane crash, handcuffs, missing fingers and some good old-fashioned romance! The 39 Steps was Broadway’s longest running comedy, and played its 500th performance on Broadway, May 19th, 2009.

I Left My Heart
February 27 – March 23, 2014
A Salute to the Music of Tony Bennett
Created by David Grapes and Todd Olson

I LEFT MY HEART sports a thrilling score of 40 standards all recorded by Bennett, including “Because Of You,” “Stranger In Paradise,” “Top Hat, White Tie And Tails,” “The Best Is Yet To Come,” “On Green Dolphin Street,” “When Will The Bells Ring For Me,” “Cold, Cold Heart,” “Boulevard Of Broken Dreams,” “I Wanna Be Around,” “The Good Life,” “Rags To Riches,” and his best-known hit, “I Left My Heart In San Francisco.”

Gypsy
April 10 – May 4, 2014
Book by Arthur Laurents; Music by Jule Styne; Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim; Suggested by memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee

Original Production by David Merrick & Leland Hayward; Originally directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins.

GYPSY is the ultimate story about an aggressive stage mother. Join Rose, June and Louise in their trip across the United States during the 1920’s, when vaudeville was dying and burlesque was born. Jule Styne’s music and Stephen Sondheim’s lyrics include: “Let Me Entertain You”, “Some People”, “You’ll Never Get Away from Me”, “If Momma Was Married”, “All I Need Is the Girl”, “Everything’s Coming Up Roses”, “You Gotta Get A Gimmick” and “Together Wherever We Go”. This is one of the greatest Broadway shows of all time!

Subscriptions: Just $114.00 for the Six-Show Series
Single Tickets: Just $21.00 for Student/Seniors; $24.00 for Adults
Tickets available at the Box Office, 4990 Glenway Avenue, by phone at 513.241.6550 and online at http://www.cincinnatilandmarkproductions.com

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January 22, 2013 · 10:43 am

CLP Seeks Music Director for I LEFT MY HEART

CLPCincinnati Landmark Productions is seeking a MUSIC DIRECTOR For The Covedale’s 2014 production of I LEFT MY HEART, A Salute to the Music of Tony Bennett.

Music Director Requirements: Must be able to read, play and teach music well. Able to teach all vocals/music, conduct band for all performances. Able to transcribe musical compositions and melodic lines to adapt them to a particular group, or to create a particular musical style as needed. Must be able to work in a collaborative environment and attend and play the auditions and all rehearsals as scheduled.

Music Degree required. Three years of theatrical experience preferred. Must have a valid driver’s license and reliable transportation. Candidate must be able to work in an unsupervised environment. Must be a self starter, dependable, and have excellent communication skills. Good time management skills a must.

This is a paid position. Deadline to submit resume is Friday, March 15, 2013.

If interested in interviewing, please contact Jennifer Perrino, Producer at jenniferperrino@covedalecenter.com. No phone calls please.

Please note: All that apply will not be contacted for an interview.

I Left My Heart, A Salute to the Music of Tony Bennett
Created by David Grapes and Todd Olson

I LEFT MY HEART sports a thrilling score of 40 standards all recorded by Bennett, including “Because Of You,” “Stranger In Paradise,” “Top Hat, White Tie And Tails,” “The Best Is Yet To Come,” “On Green Dolphin Street,” “When Will The Bells Ring For Me,” “Cold, Cold Heart,” “Boulevard Of Broken Dreams,” “I Wanna Be Around,” “The Good Life,” “Rags To Riches,” and his best-known hit, “I Left My Heart In San Francisco.”

Auditions: November 3 and 4, 2013. Rehearsals begin: Monday, January 13, 2014.

Performance Dates:

  • Thurs. Feb. 27 – Fri. Feb. 28 – Sat. Mar. 1 – Mar. 2 
  • Thurs. Mar. 6 – Fri. Mar. 7 – Sat. Mar. 8 – Sun. Mar. 9 
  • Thurs. Mar. 13 – Fri. Mar. 14 – Sat. Mar. 15 – Sun. Mar. 16 
  • Thurs. Mar. 20 – Fri. Mar. 21 – Sat. Mar. 22 – Sun. Mar. 23

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