Category Archives: Press Releases

May 5, 2025 · 5:38 pm

MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS (MS) Warrior and Stroke Survivor Team Up for Cincy Fringe Project

Two survivors, one stage – uniting Diana Romero, writer/performer and MS warrior, and Maggie Whittum, director/producer and stroke survivor. Me, Myself and Other is a dynamic and laugh-out-loud solo show exploring Diana’s story of identity, resilience and belonging.

This show is particularly unique in that it is the first time in the 22 year history of the Cincy Fringe that a wheelchair user is performing a solo show.

The show follows Diana’s journey as a first-generation American woman navigating life’s complexities—balancing cultural identities, overcoming the stigma of feeling “othered,” and facing a life-changing diagnosis. Suddenly, she’s navigating a new reality—one defined by physical limitations and societal misconceptions about disability. Despite the setbacks, her journey becomes one of self-discovery and empowerment, showing that the challenges she faced in the past have prepared her for the greatest fight of her life.

In a world that often overlooks or misrepresents marginalized voices, Me, Myself, and Other stands out as a raw, honest, and uplifting celebration of individuality. The show is also notable because it’s entirely created by trailblazing disabled creatives—written, performed, produced, and directed by individuals who understand the journey firsthand.

Diana Romero is an award-winning writer and producer with a television and film background. She was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at 32. In 2018 she became a wheelchair user and speaks about her experiences with accessibility and advocacy.

Maggie Whittum is a filmmaker, theatre artist, disability advocate, public speaker and stroke survivor at age 33. She has directed and produced plays, musicals and improv comedy in the US and abroad, including shows at the Edinburgh, Edmonton, Vancouver and Toronto Fringe Festivals.

With humor and heart, the show delivers an empowering message: Embracing who you are, even when the world doesn’t, is the key to true belonging.

  • WHAT: ME, MYSELF AND OTHER. A solo show. A Cincinnati Fringe Festival selection.
  • WHO: Written, produced & performed by Diana Romero. Directed & produced by Maggie Whittum.
  • WHERE: Know Theatre, 1120 Jackson St, Cincinnati, OH, 45202.
  • WHEN: Sunday June 1 – 6:45 PM; Tuesday June 3 – 8:30 PM; Saturday June 7 – 4:00 PM (with ASL);
    Wednesday June 11 – 6:45 PM; Friday June 13 – 6:45 PM.
  • ADMISSION: $20.
  • ONLINE TICKETING: https://cincyfringe.com/me-myself-and-other/
  • ESTIMATED RUNNING TIME: 50 minutes.
  • CONSUMER ADVISORY: Suggested for audiences age 18 and up.

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May 5, 2025 · 5:30 pm

THE CAMPFIREBALL Brings Audience-Powered Storytelling to the Cincinnati Fringe Festival

Cincinnati, OH — May 5th — What happens when you turn a live show over to the audience? That’s the question The Campfireball, an original, ‘reverse-storytelling’ show premiering at the 2025 Cincinnati Fringe Festival, attempts to find out. Inverting the passive viewing experience of traditional storytelling, creator and host Cory Howard creates active, absurd, and unconventional conduits through which the audience has the chance to share their real-life stories, and have their narratives become the centerpiece of the event. And that’s the show.

“Somewhere in my storytelling journey it occurred to me that there was no single story I could come up with that would rival the near infinite amount of stories contained in a room full of people, the trick is just, how to get them to come out…?” says Howard, the show’s creator and emcee.

The result: a part game show, part talk show, part immersive theatre experience called The Campfireball.  Developed and workshopped in a master’s program for Storytelling (a real thing that does exist), Howard hopes by the end people have a chance to surprise themselves with their own stories, witness the depth and complexity of other people’s stories, and ultimately to tell a new story, the story of those of us in that room in that moment in time.

What People Have Said About The Campfireball:

“If I had one wish, it’s that everyone could experience The Campfireball.”
— Regan, audience member

“Cory Howard created a fun and engaging environment by turning storytelling on its head.”
— The East Tennesseean

“Cory Howard took the shared pieces of our lives and created a story on the spot. It was like watching a story magician!”
— Hampton Storytelling

Showtimes & Venue:
June 4th, 6th, 8th, 11th, & 13th
First Lutheran Church Sanctuary
Cincinnati Fringe Festival
Tickets: cincyfringe.com

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April 29, 2025 · 4:51 pm

The Human Race Theatre Company’s 40th Anniversary Season

CELEBRATING FAMILY FOR THE HUMAN RACE THEATRE COMPANY’S 40th ANNIVERSARY SEASON

What better way to celebrate a birthday than to think about family in all its beautiful, complex forms?

Our upcoming season explores those bonds that define us, challenge us, and carry us through. Family is a complicated word, creating relationships that are as unique as each human being on this planet. It goes beyond gene pool, or shared characteristics. It can be something built over time with care, it can be found through shared passions. We are given family, chosen family, found family.

The 40th Anniversary Season features six productions, combining fresh and favorite works, all showcased in the unique style of The Human Race Theatre Company. Three world premieres, a throwback to our founding production, and fan favorite local artists take center stage this coming season. As we celebrate this incredible milestone, we are thrilled to present a season that’s both bold and heartfelt — filled with the love, fear, hope, belief, and joy that make us who we are.

Kicking off the birthday party, join resident artist Jake Lockwood for his world premiere, Dad’s Place. This farce about fathers and sons grew from a short scene Jake wrote for the 2022 Playwright Race – one of our new play development programs.

In a nod to the very first production by The Human Race Theatre Company in 1986, we present Kate Hamill’s fierce and funny Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really.
Seasonal Shorts delivers an evening of 6 short holiday themed plays in all their messy, silly and frustrating glory! Created by area artists Kelsey Celek, Chris Leyva, Marley Masterson, Aleah Vassell, Torie Wiggins, Robb Willoughby, join us for a festive and feisty set of short plays crafted just for you.

Broadway and cabaret luminary Sally Mayes returns to Dayton to share her one-woman show Contradictions of a Southern Soul in a limited run.  A memory play with music, this love letter to mothers and daughters looks backwards to move forward.  In collaboration with Weathervane Playhouse in New Hampshire.

Hay Fever, Nöel Coward’s 1924 biting family satire, blossoms onstage in the spring. The Bliss family hopes for a weekend retreat that goes gloriously off script. In collaboration with Wright State University.

Ready, set FRY! The final show of the season is Katori Hall’s 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Drama Winner – The Hot Wing King. Cordell, Dwayne and the whole “New Wing Order” pursue the culinary crown, when a family emergency might topple the whole plate.

Subscriptions come in many sizes, are suited to any budget, and offer the best value with the most flexibility including our new Generation HRTC rate for ages 20-40! Can’t commit? Choose a 3-Show package or our membership program instead. By popular demand, a Parents Day Out Series is available at no additional charge. Military and student discounts available. Renewals will begin at the start of May and new subscriptions are available at any time. All tickets are available through Dayton Live Box Office at 937-228-3630 or https://www.daytonlive.org/series/loft-season/.

The Human Race Theatre Company
2025-2026 Loft Season

Dad’s Place – A Farce
By Jake Lockwood
Director Joe Deer
September 3 – 14, 2025 – World Premiere

Paul briefly steps away from a lucrative writing career in LA to help his father, Karl, go through an apartment that’s overrun with “stuff”. Paul seeks to use this time away from corporate clients to write something more meaningful, but the distractions of Karl’s life prove to be more than Paul’s creative inspiration can overcome. In the end, Paul finds he has just as much “stuff” to work through.

Recommended if you liked The 39 Steps, Deadline, Shipwrecked!

Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really
By Kate Hamill
Director Emily N. Wells
October 29 – November 9, 2025

Bouncing between horror and humor, Kate Hamill’s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classic novel is a thrilling play that questions where the true monsters hide. No damsels in distress, no romanticized villains – just a gleeful stake through the heart!

Recommended if you liked Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson – Apt. 2B; Lizzie

Seasonal Shorts
By Kelsey Celek, Chris Leyva, Marley Masterson, Aleah Vassell, Torie Wiggins, Robb Willoughby
Director Heather Wilson-Bowlby
December 10 – 21, 2025 – World Premiere

Six short plays celebrating seasonal memories, moments and silliness—for adults only! Featuring all the ups and downs of winter, our local playwrights’ original plays will have your sides splitting and leaving the theatre in a festive mood.

Recommended if you liked Reindeer Sessions, Who’s Holiday, A Frosty Night

Contradictions of the Southern Soul
By Sally Mayes, with
Director Brett Cullen
February 24 – March 1, 2026 – World Premiere

An actress returns to her East Texas hometown in the wake of a family tragedy to make peace with the past and accept the future. A love letter to people in her family, this memory play with music sparks the human need for connection.

Recommended if you liked My 80-Year-Old Boyfriend; Indigo

Hay Fever
By Nöel Coward
Director Bob Hetherington
April 8 – 26, 2026

Hoping for a quiet weekend in the country with some guests, Judith and David Bliss, a retired actress and her novelist husband, find peace to be impossible when their children, Simon and Sorel, appear with guests of their own. A houseful of misunderstandings, tempers, and drama ensue as the quiet weekend comes to a hilarious and exhausting end.

Recommended if you liked Noises Off; This is Tom Jones!

The Hot Wing King
By Katori Hall
Director Darnell Pierre Benjamin
June 3 – 14, 2026 – Regional Premiere

It’s time for the annual “Hot Wang Festival” in Memphis Tennessee, and Cordell Crutchfield knows he has the wings that’ll make him king. Supported by his beau Dwayne and their culinary clique, The New Wing Order, Cordell is marinating and firing up his frying pan in a bid to reclaim the crispy crown. When Dwayne takes in his troubled nephew, however, it becomes a recipe for disaster. Suddenly a first-place trophy isn’t the only thing Cordell risks losing.

Recommended if you liked Barbecue; A Distinct Society 

The Human Race expresses gratitude for the public and private support which makes these productions possible:  Loft Season Sponsor: Jack W. and Sally D. Eichelberger Foundation; Sustainability sponsors:  Anne F. Johnson, Steve and Lou Mason, and The Toulmin Fund;  Additional Season support:  Erma R. Catterton Trust, Funds at The Dayton Foundation, Virginia F. Kettering Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Schiewetz Foundation, the Sam Levin Foundation, and The Charles D. Berry Foundation;  Organizational support:  Culture Works, Montgomery County, Ohio Arts Council. Media Sponsors: WDPR Discover Classical, Key Ads. Pay What You Can Sponsor: Enterprise Holdings Foundation. Parent’s Day Out: Rabbit Hole Books/Dayton Book Fair.

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April 27, 2025 · 6:43 pm

Announcing the 2025 Cincinnati Fringe Festival Lineup

The 2025 Cincinnati Fringe Festival
Celebrating the Joyful and Defiant Spirit of Independent Theatre Artists for 22 Years

Announcing this year’s extraordinary Festival Lineup

The Cincinnati Fringe Festival returns for its 22nd year with a radical vision: art as liberation! Diversity as non-negotiable! Joy and radical kindness as acts of resistance! As the tentacles of American imperialism turn inward on its people, the Cincy Fringe champions trans, queer, and marginalized artists, radical creativity, and the power of independent art to resist tyranny.

From May 30th to June 14th, the festival will unleash a whirlwind of uncensored theatre and experimental performance from more than 40 independent local, national, and international theatre artists. The Cincy Fringe is Cincinnati’s Summer Theatre Party – a 14-day celebration of the joyful and defiant spirit of artists who refuse to be silenced.

“Fascists are terrified by free expression,” says Katie Hartman, Cincy Fringe Producer. “When our history is erased and voices are suppressed, making art is rebellion. When we elevate marginalized artists, when we create space for joy, when we gather together to experience this incredible diversity of perspectives, we’re not just putting on a festival – we are building a better world.”

This year we march onward carrying the torch of creative community care and radical self-expression with:

  • 26 Primary Lineup Productions
  • 42+ Productions and over 190 performances (Including 3 Fringe Development projects, 9 Limited Run Productions, and 2 Kids Fringe shows) to entertain at 6 venues across Over-the-Rhine: Know Theatre, Gabriel’s Corner, Coffee Emporium, First Lutheran Church, and the Miami University Center for Community Engagement in Over-the-Rhine.
  • Kids Fringe Performances on Weekend Afternoons
  • Free Nightly After Hours Events in the Know Theatre Underground Bar
  • Introducing Conceptual Fringe: 4 productions ranging from performance art for an audience of one to unique and experimental happenings that defy the festival boundaries of time and space.

TICKETING INFORMATION

  • 50% of all Box Office revenue is given to the Producing Fringe Artists.
  • Single tickets to the 2025 Cincy Fringe are $20
  • The Full Schedule will go live and single tickets go on sale Tuesday, April 29th at 12p EST at www.cincyfringe.com
  • The All-Access Pass ($330) is good for one entry into all Primary Lineup, Limited Runs, FringeDevelopment and Kids Fringe performances.
  •  Our 5-ticket Flex Pass ($90) can be used in any combination of shows and is transferable among individuals.
  • Volunteers see shows for free
  • All passes are currently on sale at www.cincyfringe.com

This year’s Primary Lineup totals 26 productions and features new work from 13 local creators, 10 productions from across the U.S., and 3 international artists from Canada and Australia.

With 32 world premieres, 11 regional premieres, 1 national premiere and 19 producing companies that have never-been-seen in Cincinnati, adventurous audiences are guaranteed an experience of a brave and unabashed creative community that can’t be had anywhere else.

The 2025 Cincy Fringe Festival Primary Lineup

1 Gay Wedding and Absolutely No Funerals
Ben & Justin Present
Cincinnati & Columbus, OH
Hair? Done. Nails? Done. Dead Body? We’re working on it.

A Cabaret of Legends
Dynamite Lunchbox Entertainment
Orlando, FL
A cabaret of black female vocal legends from Ella to Beyonce.

ARSENIC AND OLD SPICE
Silver Linings Productions
Cincinnati, OH
Tried Neville and Barry’s “special” cake? It’s to die for.

Bruce Ryan Costella: MUTTNIK
Bruce Ryan Costella
Orlando, FL
The first dog in space tells its life story.

BUBBLEGUM
Solasta Theatre Lab
Cincinnati, OH
A NOT-for-children children’s show whimsically set in a dumpster fire.

Camp Loretto
Jack Fogle and the River Rat Puppet Collective
Cincinnati, OH
Hi Camper! Ready for an unforgettable day at Camp Loretto?

Date Me
Carolyn Guido Clifford and Tessa D’Errico
Cincinnati, OH
Looking for the perfect meet-cute? You + Us + Fringe

Eleanor’s Story: Life After War
Ingrid Garner
Los Angeles, CA
Granddaughter performs teen’s return to America after surviving WWII Berlin.

History Hates Lovers
Queen City Queers Productions
Cincinnati, OH
Learn from history, or be doomed to repeat it.

Jon Bennett: AMERICAN’T
JON BENNETT
ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA
Jon moved to the USA during Covid and was arrested at the border.

Likes Moths to a Flame: New Dances
Megan Flynn & Teresa VanDenend Sorge
Cincinnati, OH
Like moths to a flame – Do we blow out the match, or light a thousand?

Martin Dockery: Every Good Story Ends With One
Martin Docker
Brooklyn, NY
An all-true, hilarious story about an unbelievably mysterious romance.

Me, Myself and Other
Diana Romero/Maggie Whittum
Los Angeles, CA
A heathen crip battles outside forces to finally find herself.

Somewhere Over the Holler
Pones
Cincinnati / Northern KY
Sharing rural queer stories through film and dance.

Stuck
Wicked Cat Productions
Brooklyn, NY
Teenage fantasy becomes messy reality when old friends reunite.

Tea TIME
Erika MacDonald
Covington, KY
It’s about tea! It’s about time! F**k off, I’m steeping.

The Campfireball
Cory Howard
Johnson City, Tennessee
A storytelling show about you — the audience!

THE FAMILY CROW: A Murder Mystery
The Pucking Fuppet Co.
Toronto, ON, Canada
Puppets! Puns! Murder!

The Second Circumcision of Lili Rosen
Lili Rosen
New York, NY
Trans woman of Hasidic experience grapples with her most controversial decision yet.

The Squid and The Octopus
Jim Julien
Drexel Hill, PA
Cephalopod shadow puppet show with knives!

Traitors
Stix Eris
Cincinnati, OH
In the near future, queer gangs survive under tyrannical rule.

TRUMPETS! A Pretty Gay Video Game Play
Studio Apartment Theatre Collective
Cincinnati, OH
One part parody, two parts fanfiction, three parts identity crisis.

Velma & Clarice (a.k.a. The AMAZING Amazing Race Roadtrip)
Patricia Mullins
Cincinnati, OH
Sisters on a Thelma & Louise-esque Romp Across the Country

Whispers From The Deep
A to Z Productions
Covington, KY

WINNING:Winning
Sweet Action Theatre Company
Toronto, ON, Canada
A silent-ish clown journey to unlock the true winner inside.

Yoga for Falling Apart
Feminist Commune Theatre Collective
Wooster, OH
A one-woman show masquerading as a yoga class 🙂

2025 Cincy Fringe Festival Limited Runs

[TITLE OF MEMOIR] or 2.5 Pots of Coffee a Day is Too Much and Other Advice I Didn’t Think I Would Need to Hear or On How Judith Light Saved My Life 
p.s. Please thank…
FaithGGI Art
Cincinnati, OH
Comedy, chaos, and caffeine-fueled confessions.

A Clockwork O’Fringe
Gauravi Shah
Newport, KY
Question reality. Are you in control?

Alphas: On Fire! – A Comedy Variety Show
Alphas Comedy
Cincinnati, OH
A joyful women’s variety show with improv, sketch, music, & dancing!

Plan V: The Rise of Reverence
Dance Naked Creative
Portland, OR
Patriarchy perishes. Shame abates. Pleasure prevails! Feminism foils fascism!

trueFRINGE 2025
True Theatre
Cincinnati, OH
Fringe artists sharing true, personal, behind-the-scenes stories!

Yes anD&D!
Cincy Shirefolk
Cincinnati, OH
A completely improvised D&D gameplay performance – with audience participation!

2025 Cincy KIDS Fringe

FORGING LEGENDS: The Tall Tale Chronicles 
sKribble sKratch Productions
Cincinnati, OH
Active imaginations vibrantly bring beloved tales and new stories to life.

The Green Moon/La Luna Verde
Gabriel Martinez Rubio/Dos-Corazones Productions
Cincinnati, OH
Shadow puppetry, Modern Dance, and Poetry inspired by Garcia Lorca.

2025 Cincy Fringe Development

In The Presence Of…
Leave No Trace
Cincinnati, OH
Nature documentary-ghost story of the great blue heron.

The Mother
Claudia Pompeya
Cincinnati, OH
One clown. Infinite mothers. A mythic fever dream.

Z is for Zebra 
Katie Scarlett
Cincinnati, OH
Humor, heart, and pill bottles. Class is in session.

The 2025 Cincy Conceptual Fringe

Confide & Dance/Sing/Sit
Performance Gallery
Cincinnati, OH
Opportunities to  engage, awaken and affirm yourself and your community.

Invisible Women
Miami University/Ashley Goos
Oxford, OH
Interdisciplinary, hands-on, choose your own adventure, centering women’s experiences

Perspectivation
Jim Sorge
Cincinnati, OH
Immersive dance meets VR: reimagining perspectives.

Think Tank: A Public Display Of Creation
Amica Hunter
Mount Vernon, WA
Amica Hunter (ANATOMICA, SeaMAN), plunges into a voluntary captivity performance-art experiment.

We are Know Theatre of Cincinnati: where artists and audiences can come together to produce and experience work that you haven’t seen before.  We strive to build a community around viscerally theatrical, exciting new works. 

The 22nd Annual Cincinnati Fringe Festival is made possible by a generous partnership with our neighbors Coffee Emporium, First Lutheran Church, and the Miami University Center for Community Engagement in Over-the-Rhine.

Know Theatre is supported by the generosity of tens of thousands of contributors to the annual ArtsWave Campaign, the region’s primary source for arts funding.

The Ohio Arts Council helps fund Know Theatre with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence, and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.

Know Theatre is also supported by the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, which provides a simple, powerful, and highly personal approach to giving.

Know Theatre is a member of Theatre Communications Group and an Associate Member of the National New Play Network.

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April 27, 2025 · 6:17 pm

DANCING FOR THE STARS 2025 Announces Winners 

Celebrity Dancer Erin Mignano and Dance Pro Jozsef Parragh Crowned New Dancing for the Stars Champs

Bill Chappie Honored as Fundraising Champion

[CINCINNATI, OH] – Erin Mignano (Vice President and General Manager, Turner Construction) and dance pro Jozsef Parragh (Independent Dance Instructor) were crowned the champions of the Cincinnati Arts Association’s seventeenth annual Dancing for the Stars on Saturday, April 19, 2025, at the Music Hall Ballroom. The dance pair earned perfect scores of (10) from each of the four judges. Bill Chappie (Hair Designer and Owner, Studio 900) took home the Fundraising Champion Award as the celebrity who raised the most money for the event through ticket sales and donations – more than $20,000.

Ryan Anderson (Assistant Vice President, Human Resources, Cincinnati Financial Services) and James Branham (Arthur Murray Dance Studio – West Chester) took second place. Karla Boldery (Business Advisor – Ohio SBDC at Miami University Regionals; Founder,  Latina Entrepreneur Academy Cincinnati; Local Sales Manager – La Mega | Urban 1) and and Josh Tilford (Independent Dance Instructor) placed third.

As the Cincinnati Arts Association’s largest annual fundraiser, the popular event raised more than $110,000 in support of the organization’s acclaimed arts education programs, including the Overture Awards – the nation’s largest locally run high school arts scholarship competition. 

The other three dance pairs included:

  • Fundraising Champion Bill Chappie (Hair Designer and Owner, Studio 900) and Maura Garuccio (Independent Dance Instructor)
  • Dylan Morton (Professional Roller Skater, D. Morton Skate Nation) and Bonita Brockert (Independent Dance Instructor)
  • Stacy Sims (Author, Playwright, and Founder of The Well) and Alyenendrov “Lenny” Tsorokean (Phoenix Rising Ballroom)

Inspired by the hit TV show Dancing with the Stars, Dancing for the Stars 2025 featured six Cincinnati celebrities paired with some of the area’s finest professional dancers in a competition program at which the audience vote and judges scores propelled the winners to victory. The competitive dance theme for the evening was the 1920s, and each dance pair had 90 seconds to woo the crowd and the judges.

Event emcees were Chris O’Brien and Janeen Coyle (former hosts of “Married with Microphones,” 103.5 WGRR-FM). The competition judges were Douglas Beal (Independent Dance Instructor), Carri Chandler (Vice President, St. Elizabeth Foundation; Celebrity Dancer, Dancing for the Stars 2011), Johnny Chu (Owner, KungFood Chu’s AmerAsia; Winner, Dancing for the Stars 2015 ), and Desireé Mainous (Arthur Murray Dance Studio – Montgomery).

In addition, Dancing for the Stars 2025 featured:

  • Dinner-by-the-Bite provided by Baru, DelightMore, eat well celebrations and feasts,  KungFood Chu’s AmerAsia, Moerlein Lager House, Prime Cincinnati, Sebastian Bakehouse, Skyline Chili, Street City Pub, Vintage on Race.
  • A speakeasy provided by Willow Run Custom Bourbons that featured samples of custom bourbon blends based on each celebrity’s bourbon palette. Bill Chappie had the favorite bourbon blend of the evening, which will be entered into the running to become the Aronoff Center’s 30th Anniversary Bourbon, available only at Willow Run Custom Bourbons during the 2025-26 season (the Aronoff Center will celebrate its 30th Anniversary in October 2025). A portion of the proceeds from each bottle sold will benefit the Cincinnati Arts Association.
  • Dance music by popular DJ and 103.5 WGRR personality JD Hughes.
  • Open dancing before and after the competition.
  • Entertaining exhibition dances by talented Dancing for the Stars dance pros.
  • An inspiring video about the Overture Awards, featuring interviews with the six student winners of the 2025 Overture Awards finals competition.
  • A special showcase performance by 2025 Overture Awards dance finalist Maanasa Yarlagadda (grade 12, Sycamore High School).
  • Two big screens that featured live video of the competition and engaging video introductions of the stars and pros (interviews and rehearsal footage) before their dances.
  • Humorous, astute, and supportive comments from the Dancing for the Stars panel of judges.
  • Stunning 1920s-themed and Art Deco-inspired décor and attire worn by the event’s dancers and guests.
  • Exceptionally responsive, raucous, and energetic audience reactions, which included large cheering sections holding signs with various messages in support of their favorite stars.

Dance and Song Selections (based on the 1920s theme )

  • Erin Mignano and Jozsef Parragh: “Rock and Jive” by Old Boys and “Easy Now” by Joe Stanley
  • Ryan Anderson and James Branham: “St. James Ballroom” by Alice Francis
  • Karla Boldery and Josh Tilford: “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody” from The Great Gatsby soundtrack by Fergie, Q-Tip, and GoonRock
  • Bill Chappie and Maura Garuccio: “Young and Beautiful” by Lana Del Rey and “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody” from The Great Gatsby soundtrack by Fergie, Q-Tip, and GoonRock
  • Dylan Morton and Bonita Brockert: “Bananaphone” by Raffi and “Phone” by Lizzo
  • Stacy Sims and Alyenendrov Tsorokean: “Great Balls of Fire” by Jerry Lee Lewis
  • Bonita Brockert and Gene Brockert (exhibition dance): “Man of La Mancha (I Don Quixote)” from Man of La Mancha by Linda Eder and “The Plaza of Execution,” from The Mask of Zorro soundtrack by James Horner
  • Maura Garuccio and Przemek Fokt-Skierecki (exhibition dance): “The Rest of His Days” by Anne Takle                    

Event Committee:  Douglas Beal, Doreen Beatrice, Terry Foster, Alex Johns, Ginger Loftin, Rosemary Schlachter

Presenting Sponsor: TriHealth 

Event Sponsors:  Accent on Cincinnati, Arthur Murray – Cincinnati, Arthur Murray – West Chester, Bonita Brockert, Maura Garuccio, Heidelberg Distributing, Jozsef Parragh, Party Source, Phoenix Rising Ballroom, Punky’s Pixels, Josh Tilford, Willow Run Custom Bourbons

The Cincinnati Arts Association is supported [in part] by the Ohio Arts Council, which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Cincinnati Arts Association’s Education & Community Engagment Programs
CAA’s Education & Community Engagement department cultivates diverse, inclusive, and accessible arts engagements, seeking to remove barriers preventing arts participation. Committed to a practice of antiracism, the Education and Community Engagement department encourages the use of CAA venues, develops diverse arts supporters, and fosters an appreciation and understanding of diverse arts disciplines, while encouraging and supporting practicing arts educators and administrators, audiences, and aspiring artists.

SchoolTime presents a series of programs that feature nationally recognized artists at the Aronoff Center and Music Hall. The Artists on Tour program brings a variety of arts experiences directly to schools, community centers, and other organizations. The finest local teaching artists in the region enhance learning with unique programs that vary in culture and art form.

The Arts in Healing Initiative integrates the performing and visual arts in medical and community healthcare settings and other non-traditional settings to promote community wellness and encourage the community to explore the arts as an active part of their healing and ongoing wellness.

The Overture Awards is a program that recognizes and rewards excellence in the arts among Greater Cincinnati students in grades 9-12. Its mission is to encourage arts education as an integral part of a student’s academic experience and to create an environment that encourages training in, and appreciation of, the arts. The Overture Awards is the area’s largest solo arts competition and offers awards in six artistic disciplines: creative writing, dance, instrumental music, theatre, visual art, and vocal music.

Now in its 29th year, the Overture Awards has granted more than $1,000,000 to youth and arts educators in the Tri-state region. The Overture Awards was launched in 1996 by the Cinergy Foundation (now Duke Energy) and Leadership Cincinnati (a Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber of Commerce program).

CINCINNATI ARTS ASSOCIATION
Founded in 1992, the Cincinnati Arts Association (CAA) is a not-for-profit organization that oversees the programming and management of two of the Tri-state’s finest performing arts venues – the Aronoff Center for the Arts and Music Hall – and is dedicated to supporting performing and visual arts. Each year, CAA presents a diverse schedule of events; serves more than 600,000 people in its venues; features the work of talented local, regional, and national artists in the Weston Art Gallery (located in the Aronoff Center); and supports the work of more than one dozen resident companies, including Cincinnati Ballet, Cincinnati Opera, Cincinnati Symphony/Pops Orchestras, May Festival, and Fifth Third Bank Broadway in Cincinnati, presented by TriHealth. Since the inception of its acclaimed arts education programs in 1995, CAA has reached more 2.1 million youth and adults.

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