Monthly Archives: January 2018

2018-2019 Seasons Announced for The Covedale Center and The Incline Theatre

WFIT_Sign at nightThe 2018/2019 District Series at THE WARSAW FEDERAL INCLINE THEATER includes:

NEXT TO NORMAL
October 4 – 21, 2018
Music by Tom Kitt; Book and Lyrics by Brian Yorkey

NEXT TO NORMAL, explores how one suburban household copes with crisis and mental illness. Winner of three 2009 Tony Awards, including Best Musical Score and the 2010 Pulitzer Prize, Next to Normal was named “one of the year’s ten best shows” by critics around the country, including The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Rolling Stone and The New York Times.

Dad’s an architect; Mom packs lunches and pours cereal; their daughter and son are bright, wise-cracking teens in a typical American family. And yet their lives are anything but normal; mother has been battling manic depression for 16 years. Next to Normal takes audiences into the minds and hearts of each character, with deep love and sympathy. An emotional powerhouse encompassing grieving a loss, bewildering psychiatry and modern life.

THE GRADUATE
January 24 – Feb. 10, 2019
A Play Adapted by Terry Johnson; Based on the Novel by Charles Webb
And the Motion Picture Screenplay by Calder Willingham and Buck Henry
By Special Arrangement with StudioCanal

Benjamin Braddock is a confused young man. Having spent four years crafting a brilliant scholastic record, he finds himself adrift upon graduation, uncertain about his future, disconnected from his purpose, and increasingly alienated from the upper-class, suburban, “plastic” world of his parents. Fighting panic and boredom, he is deeply conflicted but ultimately willing when Mrs. Robinson, the unhappily married, alcoholic, and dangerously charismatic wife of his father’s business partner, tempts him into an affair. Benjamin’s tenuous existence of lazy days and stolen nights falls apart when he falls in love — with Elaine, Mrs. Robinson’s upbeat, optimistic daughter. Terry Johnson’s stage adaptation of The Graduate, based on the novel and the iconic 1967 film, is a bitterly hilarious dark comedy, full of rapid fire dialogue between fascinating and horrifying characters. This play explores family dysfunction, parental expectations, crumbling marriages, and the naive, yet disillusioned, dichotomy of youth, against the backdrop of 1960’s America.

THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS
March 21 – April 7, 2019
Book by Larry L. King and Peter Masterson
Music and Lyrics by Carol Hall Based on a story by Larry L. King

THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS is a rollicking hootenanny of a musical based on the true story of a legendary Texas brothel, which operated from the 1840s to 1973. Protected by a friendly sheriff and frequented by politicians, football teams, and others, the “Chicken Ranch” thrived in the small town of Gilbert, Texas. Girls came from all over to work at the ranch and make a little extra cash. However, a crusading do-gooder Houston radio commentator and his conservative audience expose the Chicken Ranch, forcing it to shut its doors forever. Great songs include: Dolly Parton’s Hard Candy Christmas, The Aggie Song and Twenty Four Hours of Lovin’. The hit movie featured Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds!


 

CCPAThe 2018/2019 Marquee Seaon at THE COVEDALE CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS includes:

A FEW GOOD MEN
September 13 – October 7, 2018
By Aaron Sorkin

This Broadway hit about the trial of two Marines for complicity in the death of a fellow Marine at Guantanamo Bay sizzles on stage. The Navy lawyer, a callow young man more interested in softball games than the case, expects a plea bargain and a cover-up of what really happened. Prodded by a female member of his defense team, the lawyer eventually makes a valiant effort to defend his clients and, in so doing, puts the military mentality and the Marine code of honor on trial.

THE WIZARD OF OZ
October 25 – November 18, 2018
By L. Frank Baum
With Music and Lyrics by Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg; Background Music by Herbert Stothart Dance and Vocal Arrangements by Peter Howard; Orchestration by Larry Wilcox; Adapted by John Kane for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Based on the 1939 movie with Judy Garland.

Dorothy Gale, a young girl living on a Kansas farm with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, dreams of escaping her mundane life. So when witchy old Miss Gulch threatens to impound Dorothy’s dog Toto, Dorothy runs away with her pet, only to be whisked away to the Land of OZ in a terrifying cyclone. Looking for her way back home, she and her new friends sing some of the most iconic songs ever, including “If I Only Had a Brain/Heart/Nerve”, “Munchkin Land”, “Follow The Yellow Brick Road” and the classic “Over the Rainbow”.

A CHRISTMAS STORY
November 29 – December 23, 2018
By Philip Grecian. Based on the movie A Christmas Story, Written by Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown and Bob Clark

“You’ll shoot your eye out, kid!” Jean Shepherd’s memoir of growing up in 1940’s Indiana, follows Ralphie Parker in his quest to get a genuine Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. Ralphie pleads his case to his mother, his teacher and Santa Claus himself at Goldblatt’s Department Store. All the elements from the beloved movie are here – the family’s temperamental furnace, the school bully Scut Farkas, the boys’ bet concerning a wet tongue on an icy lamppost, the Little Orphan Annie decoder ring; and Ralphie’s father winning “a major award” – the lady’s leg lamp in a fishnet stocking! A Christmas Story has become a theatrical holiday classic!

ALMOST HEAVEN, SONGS OF JOHN DENVER 
February 14 – March 10, 2019
Conceived by Harold Thau with orchestrations, vocal arrangements, and music supervision by Jeff Waxman

ALMOST HEAVEN weaves together the songs of John Denver to create a uniquely theatrical narrative that reflects upon the country during the years in which he wrote them. Twenty-nine of Denver’s songs – including “Rocky Mountain High,” “Sunshine on My Shoulders,” “Annie’s Song,” “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” “Calypso” and more – are rediscovered and reinvented, performed against a backdrop of stunning visual images of America in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s,a time of political upheaval, yet great beauty and hope.

42ND STREET
April 4 – April 28, 2019
Music by HARRY WARREN; Lyrics by AL DUBIN; Book by MICHAEL STEWART & MARK BRAMBLE Based on the Novel by BRADFORD ROPES Original Direction and Dances by GOWER CHAMPION Originally Produced on Broadway by DAVID MERRICK

The ultimate show-biz musical, 42ND STREET celebrates Broadway, Times Square, and the people who make the magic of musical theatre. Aspiring chorus girl Peggy Sawyer comes to the big city from Allentown PA, and soon lands her first big job in the ensemble of a glitzy new Broadway show. But just before opening night, the leading lady breaks her ankle. Will Peggy be able to step in and become a star? The score is chock-full of Broadway standards, including “Dames,” “We’re In the Money,” “Lullaby of Broadway,” “Shuffle Off to Buffalo” and “Forty-Second Street.”

Subscriptions are on sale now!
Subscription renewal deadline is Monday, July 2, 2018
Subscription package tickets will be mailed Friday, July 20, 2018
Single tickets go on sale, Monday, July 23, 2018

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Cast Announced for LOVE IS LOVE – A Cabaret at Cincinnati Music Theatre

CMT_Love is Love logoCincinnati Music Theatre is proud to announce the cast of LOVE IS LOVE – A Cabaret of Broadway Songs About Love!

Bree Hunter Cox
Pamela K Day
Mary Puetz
Katelyn Reid
Brian Anderson
Luka Ashley Carter
Wayne E. Wright

Directed by Skip Fenker with music direction by Michael Spresser and produced by Karen Galliers. Performances run Feb. 9-17

Please join us for a memorable night of romance and incredible singing. Get your tickets at https://www.cincinnatiarts.org/…/love-is-love-a-cabaret-of-…

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Gather ‘Round the Table: Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati Presents Tony Award Winning Play THE HUMANS

ETC_The Humans logoJANUARY 23 – FEBRUARY 17, 2018

(Cincinnati, OH) Set the table and pull up a chair! Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati presents the regional premiere of the 2016 Tony Award Winner for Best Play, The Humans by Pulitzer Prize finalist Stephen Karam. This evocative drama brings a family face to face with their most familiar fears, and provides a poignant reminder of why we gather together. Featuring an all-star cast and an incredible two-story set, The Humans serves up trials, traditions, and turkey. Playing January 23 – February 17, 2018. Directed by Michael Evan Haney. Production Sponsor is The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation.

Breaking with tradition, Erik Blake has brought his family from Scranton, Pennsylvania, to celebrate Thanksgiving at his daughter’s dingy apartment in Manhattan. As darkness falls outside the ramshackle pre-war duplex and eerie things start to go bump in the night, family tensions reach a boiling point…and the hilarity and horrors of the Blake clan are exposed. Hailed as a new American classic, this haunting play encapsulates what we all dread most about the holidays and the pressure to present our best selves to those who mean the most to us.

“Stephan Karam’s The Humans is a monumental American play,” explains Director Michael Evan Haney. “It explores the current turbulent state of contemporary America through the lens of a working class family’s Thanksgiving dinner. Karam explores his themes with perfectly-pitched dialogue that exposes the deepest feelings and fears of each family member.” 

About the Cast
Tony Campisi (Erik Blake) returns to Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati, having previously appeared in Permanent Collection and Glimmer, Glimmer, and Shine. He was seen at Playhouse in the Park in Men on the Take, Durango, Brighton Beach Memoirs, and You Can’t Take it with You. Other regional theatres include Cleveland Play House, McCarter Theatre, Studio Arena Theatre, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Mark Taper Forum, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Geva Theatre Center, New York Stage and Film, and Hudson Guild, among others. Broadway: Awake and Sing! (Tony Award), The Nerd, and Pvt. Wars. Off-Broadway: Lincoln Center Theatre, Roundabout Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, and Primary Stages. His television credits include: Seven Seconds (Netflix), Blue Bloods, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Ally McBeal, Profiler, Matlock, EZ Streets, and several soap operas; film credits include: Cruzando, A Home of our Own, Tyson (HBO), and Green Plaid Shirt. 

Christine Dye (Deirdre Blake) last performed at Ensemble Theatre in When We Were Young and Unafraid. She has also appeared onstage in Much Ado About Nothing, Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival; August: Osage County, Riverside, and Sarge, Clifton Performance Theatre; Dracula, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park; House of Yes, Untethered Theatre; Jeffery, Parallel Lives, and Valhalla, Ovation Theatre; Power Failure, Night of the Iguana, and Bus Stop, New Edgecliff Theatre; and Vagina Monologues, Miss Reardon Drinks a Little, and Shirley Valentine, Middletown Lyric Theatre. Her film credits include Carol, Old Man and the Gun, Donnybrook, A Case of Murder, Mom and Dad, Aftermath, and First Kill. Ms. Dye can also be seen around town as a spokesperson for Miami Valley Gaming Casino, as “Lucy” the Lucky Buckeye Lady. 

Jeff Groh (Richard Saad) returns to Ensemble Theatre where he last performed in the 2004 production Blue/Orange and was a member of the Professional Acting Intern Program years ago. He has been working as an actor and educator in the Cincinnati area for nearly twenty years and is currently the Head of School at The New School Montessori. He has performed with Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, Know Theatre of Cincinnati, and won the 2009 Cincinnati Entertainment Award for Best Local Actor portraying R.P McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. 

Dale Hodges (Fiona “Momo” Blake) returns to Ensemble Theatre, where her favorite credits include Outside Mullingar, Other Desert Cities, Grey Gardens, and Mrs. Mannerly. She was most recently seen at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, as well as Wit, King Lear, and 23 years of A Christmas Carol. Ms. Hodges has worked on Broadway in Equus and Benefactors, off-Broadway in Top Girls and A Woman in Mind, and in regional theatres around the country. 

Becca Howell (Brigid Blake) was last seen on the Ensemble Theatre stage in Bloomsday and Around the World in 80 Days. After graduating from Northern Kentucky University with a BFA in Acting, she completed the Professional Acting Internship Program at ETC during the 2013-2014 season. Ms. Howell recently worked on stage in several installments of Serials! at Know Theatre of Cincinnati and Poor Behavior at Falcon Theatre. Her film credits include A Twisted Fate, Curvature, and The Funeral. 

Jennifer Joplin (Aimee Blake) returns to Ensemble Theatre where her credits include Outside Mullingar, Tribes and Rapture, Blister, Burn. She has called Cincinnati home for more than seven years. Some of her favorite roles include Lady Macbeth and Cleopatra at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company. She is a graduate of Wright State University’s professional actor training program and longtime resident artist with Human Race Theatre Company in Dayton where her credits include the world premiere of 26 Pebbles, Glass Menagerie, Other Desert Cities, and God of Carnage, among others. Ms. Joplin can be seen on the big screen in Donnybrook and Old Man and the Gun, both recently filmed in Cincinnati.  She is a proud member of Actor’s Equity and is the founder and lead coaching artist for Spotlight Training.

Production team includes D. Lynn Meyers (Producing Artistic Director), Brian c. Mehring (Set Designer), Jack Murphy (Technical Director), Matthew Hollstegge (Lighting Designer, Production Manager, & Master Electrician), Shannon Rae Lutz (Properties Master & Design Assistant), Matt Callahan (Sound Designer), and Reba Senske (Costume Designer). Production Stage Manager is Brandon T. Holmes. Assistant Stage Manager is Elizabeth Freyman. 

Performance Information
Performances run Tuesday through Sunday. Tuesday-Thursday, 7:30 pm; Friday and Saturday, 8:00 pm; Saturday and Sunday, 2:00 pm; and Sunday, 7:00 pm. A complete calendar of performances is available online at www.ensemblecincinnati.org.

Ticket Prices
Ticket prices start at $35 for adults; student tickets are $28; and children are $24. Half-Price Rush Tickets: All remaining tickets for the current day’s performance(s) are available two hours prior to each show time for half-price (discount does not apply to children’s tickets) when purchasing by phone or in person. $15 Student Rush Tickets: Students may purchase up to two $15 student rush tickets two hours prior to show time with valid student I.D. Available in person only.

Available Discounts
Military, Educator, AAA, ArtsWave Artspass, and ArtsWave CincYPerks discounts available; tickets and seating are subject to availability.

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Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati is supported, in part, by the generosity of community contributions to the ArtsWave Campaign.

The Ohio Arts Council helps fund Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati also receives funding from the Shubert Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.

2017-2018 Season Presenting Sponsor is the Otto M. Budig Family Foundation. Additional support provided PNC. 

Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati is a professional theatre dedicated to producing world and regional premieres of works that often explore compelling social issues. We fulfill our mission through our stage productions and educational outreach programs that enlighten, enliven, enrich and inspire our audiences.

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SNOW CANCELLATIONS For Jan. 12

Updated 6:05pm

MISC_Snow CancellationsI will update this page as the day progresses and information is received.

Italicized information comes directly from the presenting organization.

Reminder: This list may not be complete. Always check with the presenting organization.

RESCHEDULED AUDITIONS:

CANCELLED PERFORMANCES:

  • BECKY’S NEW CAR presented by Mariemont Players
    Mariemont Players has decided to cancel tonight’s performance. The performance will be rescheduled for Wednesday, January 17 at 7:30pm. All patrons holding tickets for tonight’s performance are asked to call the box office at 513.684.1236 to transfer their seats to Wednesday’s performance.
  • LETTERS FROM VIETNAM presented by Falcon Theatre at Newport Library
    Tonight’s FREE performance has been CANCELLED. New performance date to be announced.

WINTER WEATHER POLICIES:

The Who’s TOMMY presented by Dare to Defy Productions
VICTORIA THEATRE ASSOCIATION’S POLICY: If the cast and crew are already at the theatre, performances will go on as scheduled except in the event of a Level 3 Snow Emergency for the city of Dayton. If the cast and/or crew cannot make it here due to weather or other emergencies, performances may be cancelled. If a performance is cancelled due to weather, refunds may be provided at the discretion of the artist/producers and VTA. 

If there is a Level 1 or Level 2 Snow Emergency and you opt not to attend, contact the box office before your scheduled performance and we will try to move you into another performance time.

WAITRESS presented by Broadway in Cincinnati
WEATHER UPDATE: At this time, we expect all performances of WAITRESS at the Aronoff Center this weekend to play as scheduled. In the unlikely event that would change, updates will be posted on our Facebook page and at CincinnatiArts.org and BroadwayInCincinnati.com. Anyone holding a ticket for a performance this weekend is welcome to exchange at no cost into a performance next week. Subscribers can exchange online up to 15 minutes prior to their performance, or call 800.294.1816 (Friday extended hours 9am-6:30pm.) Single ticket buyers can contact the Aronoff Center Ticket Office at 513.621.2787 (ARTS) to exchange (Friday 9am-5:30pm.) Group promo code buyers can contact Peggy Hughes at 513.369.4363 (Fri 9am-3pm.)

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Cast Announced for WHEN WE ARE MARRIED at Beechmont Players

BPI_logoThe cast includes:

  • Lily Deye as Ruby Birtle
  • Bryce Willson as Gerald Forbes
  • Faye Crawford as Mrs. Northrup
  • Ray Smith as Fred Dyson
  • Jennifer Moore as Nancy Holmes
  • Eric Day as Henry Ormonroyd
  • Terry Gosdin as Joe Helliwell
  • Richelle Roth as Maria Helliwell
  • Mark Metzner as Councillor Albert Parker
  • Amy Stier as Annie Parker
  • jef brown as Herbert Soppitt
  • Jody Hart as Lottie Grady
  • Steve Phelan as Reverend Clement Mercer
  • Jennifer Keith as Clara Soppitt

Directed by Cathy Roesener, WHEN WE ARE MARRIED will be presented by Beechmont Players May 11, 12, 18, and 19 at 8pm and May 12 and 19 at 3pm at the Anderson Center, 7850 Five Mile Road in Anderson Twp. For tickets, call 233-2468 or go to beechmontplayers.org.

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