Category Archives: Press Releases

December 11, 2018 · 9:43 am

STREETSPARK Now Accepting Proposals for Hamilton Murals

FC_25 logoHamilton, Ohio – The StreetSpark program is now accepting design proposals and painter applications for upcoming murals in Hamilton. Designs will be accepted now until February 8th at midnight and painter applications will be accepted now until March 8th at midnight.

“This year, StreetSpark is branching out to place murals in several core Hamilton neighborhoods. We are excited to expand our reach and to focus on developing community pride through public art,” says Jenn Acus-Smith, StreetSpark Program Manager.

Artists age 18 and older are welcome to submit a design and/or apply to be a mural painter. For each location there will be a Lead Artist and several Supporting Artists. We strongly encourage local artists to submit designs, but artists may be from any geographical location. There are three different mural sites to which artists can submit designs: Booker T. Washington Community Center, 1140 S. Front Street, Hamilton, Ohio 45011, Minnick’s Drive Thru, 2537 Pleasant Ave, Hamilton, OH 45015 and Max Stacy Flowers, 350 High Street, Hamilton, Ohio 45011. Representational, stylized and abstract designs will be considered, and artists should consider the physical appearance of the building and surrounding area in their designs.

The design deadline is February 8, 2019 and designs will be chosen by a committee of art professionals and representatives from the community who live within 35 miles of Hamilton. Online applications will be accepted and can links can be found at fittoncenter.org/streetspark or facebook.com/streetsparkart. Several information sessions for artists will be held to help develop strong applications. Selections will be announced in spring 2019. The deadline to apply to be a painter is March 8, 2019 and murals will be painted in June and July of 2019 with the dedication ceremonies being held in August and September.

Now a nationally recognized program, StreetSpark is a partnership between the City of Hamilton, the Fitton Center for Creative Arts and the Hamilton Community Foundation. StreetSpark is a program founded to further the arts identity in the city through exciting murals and public art projects. The program creates arts engagement by producing high quality art, providing opportunities for local artists and enhancing the visual appeal of the city. With the goal of fueling Hamilton with art, StreetSpark will bring visible murals and artwork into our community. This program is energizing our streetscape, creating awareness of the arts and sparking new development throughout Hamilton. A total of eight murals have been created since the summer of 2016.

For more information about the call to artists or the program, please visit fittoncenter.org/streetspark and facebook.com/streetsparkart or contact Jennifer Acus-Smith, StreetSpark Program Manager at: streetsparkart@gmail.com

The Fitton Center for Creative Arts is incredibly excited to celebrate the 25th Anniversary season of performances, events, classes and exhibitions.

The Fitton Center for Creative Arts is located at 101 S. Monument Avenue on the Riverfront in downtown Hamilton, Ohio.

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Building Community Excellence through the Arts and Culture

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December 7, 2018 · 12:59 pm

RENT $25 Rush Ticket Announcement

BIC_Rent 20 logo

FRONT SIDE ORCHESTRA SEATS FOR THE
RENT 20TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR

AVAILABLE FOR $25
DAY OF PERFORMANCE ONLY

AT THE ARONOFF CENTER BOX OFFICE

Broadway in Cincinnati announced today that a limited number of seats in the front sides of the orchestra section will be available for $25 for every performance of RENT, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical.  The $25 tickets are available for in-person purchases at the Aronoff Center Box Office, located at 650 Walnut St., on the day of each performance only, two hours prior to the show.  The $25 tickets are limited to two tickets per person, cash only.  Line can begin forming 2 ½ hours prior to the show.

The tradition of these tickets began in 1996 in New York when the show moved to Broadway after a sold-out run in a small downtown theatre.  The producers of the show are committed to continuing the tradition of offering these orchestra seats in each city the show will play.

RENT performs at the Aronoff Center from December 11 – 23, 2018. Performance times are 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, Friday at 8:00pm, Saturday at 2:00pm and 8:00pm and on Sunday at 1:00pm and 6:30pm. For more information, please visit BroadwayinCincinnati.com.

For general ticket information, call the Aronoff Center Box Office at 513.621.2787; visit CincinnatiArts.org and through curtain time(s) on performance days.

Visit RentOnTour.net for more information.

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December 6, 2018 · 10:20 am

Cincinnati Shakespeare Company Presents the Comedy EVERY CHRISTMAS STORY EVER TOLD this December for Hilarious Holiday Fun!

CSC_Every Christmas Story2

Billy Chace. Photo by Mikki Schaffner.

There is something to make everyone laugh this holiday season at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company at the annual holiday blockbuster comedy
EVERY CHRISTMAS STORY EVER TOLD (AND THEN SOME!)
Dec. 14- 30, 2018 

CINCINNATI, December 5, 2018 – Cincinnati Shakespeare Company is pleased to announce more details on the 13th Annual production of the beloved holiday classic “Every Christmas Story Ever Told (and Then Some!)” December 14- 30, 2018 directed again by Jeremy Dubin. “Every Christmas Story Ever Told” is sponsored by Messer, Raymond James, and Thompson Hine.

For the 13th straight year, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company is thrilled to offer a full season of holiday cheer in just a little more than 90 minutes with Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!) by Michael Carleton, James Fitzgerald, and John K. Alvarez. This hilarious production is a non-stop holiday romp through everyone’s favorite Christmas stories performed by just four actors.  Justin McCombs and Billy Chace, who are respectively 13th year and 12th year company members, return to poke fun at the holiday season, with returning special guest Miranda McGee, 9th year company member. CSC welcomes back for the 2nd season in this production, Resident Company Member Maggie Lou Rader!

CSC Director of Creative Education, Jeremy Dubin, returns to the director’s chair. This production is one of the most popular events in Cincinnati Shakespeare Company history breaking attendance and sales records every year. Director Jeremy Dubin remarks, “This cast has so much fun together that the show has become a very personal holiday tradition for all of us. It’s occasionally a little irreverent but always warm-spirited, and it’s the perfect panacea to all your winter woes.”

Please note that “Every Christmas Story Ever Told (and Then Some!)” is most appreciated by adults and older teens, and is not recommended for any theatergoers still young enough to believe in Santa.

All performances of “Every Christmas Story Ever Told (and Then Some!)” are held at The Otto M. Budig Theater on 1195 Elm St in OTR, adjacent to Washington Park.  Tickets start at $40.  To purchase tickets or for more information, call the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company Box Office at 513.381.BARD (2273), or visit us online at www.cincyshakes.com.

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About Cincinnati Shakespeare Company:
Cincinnati Shakespeare Company is a professional theatre company dedicated to bringing Shakespeare and the classics to life for audiences of all ages.  In the summer of 2017, the theater relocated to the Otto M. Budig Theater, a brand new facility in OTR. CSC’s repertoire is made up of the works of William Shakespeare, literary adaptations, and contemporary classics.  CSC performs on a Small Professional Theatre contract with Actors’ Equity Association. Cincinnati Shakespeare is a member of the Theater Communications Group and the Shakespeare Theatre Association.  Each year, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s Education and Outreach Programs reach over 50,000 young people and underserved community members each season by taking Shakespeare into schools, parks, community centers and by hosting educational matinees of mainstage productions.  In 2015, CSC was proud to become one of the first five theaters in the United States to “Complete the Canon” by producing all 38 plays by William Shakespeare. CSC is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization and all donations are tax deductible.  Cincinnati Shakespeare Company is proud to be Cincinnati’s stage for the classics!

About The 2018-2019 25th Anniversary Season:
The season is generously sponsored by The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation.  The 25th Anniversary sponsor is the The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, JR./U.S. Bank Foundation.  This season is funded by ArtsWave.  Cincinnati Shakespeare Company receives operating support from The Ohio Arts Council, the Shubert Foundation.  The season’s marketing design sponsor is POSSIBLE. The Ohio Arts Council helped fund this program/organization with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. Production dates and information on the season are available online at www.cincyshakes.com.

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December 5, 2018 · 3:44 pm

THE MUSICAL OF MUSICALS (THE MUSICAL!) | Feb. 8-9 & 15-16 | Aronoff Center – Fifth Third Bank Theater

cmt_The Musical of Musicals The Musical logo(Cincinnati, OH) – Cincinnati Music Theatre (CMT) is pleased to announce the casting of its February Studio Series production The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) at the Aronoff Center’s intimate Fifth Third Bank Theater on February 8-9 and 15-16, 2019 (see detailed schedule below). CMT has attracted some of the area’s top local talent and theatre veterans – many of whom have performed in past CMT productions – for its Studio Series 2019 opener.

Tickets are only $25 (inclusive of all fees) and are on sale now at www.CincinnatiArts.org, (513) 621-ARTS [2787], and the Aronoff Center Ticket Office. Group sales of eight or more are available at (513) 977-4157.

THE MUSICAL OF MUSICALS (THE MUSICAL!) – Cast List  

  • Catherine Shultz (Abby) – Mother Superior in Sister Act, Katherine in Sunset Boulevard, and Lottie Child in Crazy For You (Cincinnati Music Theatre); Sister Mary Amnesia in Nuncrackers and Nunsense (The Drama Workshop); Muriel in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Mason Community Players); and Aunt March in Little Women (The Footlighters, Inc.).
  • Elizabeth Beiting-Lipps (June) – Betty Haynes in White Christmas (Covedale Center for the Performing Arts), Christine Colgate in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Mason Community Players), Mayor Maggie/Ron in BatBoy (Falcon Theater), Lucy the Slut in Avenue Q (Showbiz Players), and Logainne SchwartzandGrubenierre in Spelling Bee (Loveland Stage Company).
  • Luka Ashley Carter (Willy) – Victor Frankenstein in Frankenstein (Falcon Theatre) and Paul San Marco in A Chorus Line (Cincinnati Music Theatre).
  • Jeff Richardson (Jidder) – King Kaiser in My Favorite Year, Wilbur Turnblad in Hairspray, and Igor in Young Frankenstein (Cincinnati Music Theatre); Patsy in Spamalot (ShowBiz Players); and Max Bialystock inThe Producers (The Footlighters, Inc.)
  • Erica Beimesche (Chorus) – Bill Slank in Peter and the Starcatcher (The Footlighters, Inc.), Lizzie Phagan in Parade (CenterStage Players), Cynthia Hastings in The Sting (The Drama Workshop), and Marta inCompany (Independence Community Theatre).
  • Marypat Carletti (Chorus) – Sr. Mary Agness in Sister Act and Sheila in A Chorus Line (Cincinnati Music Theatre), Agness Gooch in Mame (The Footlighters, Inc.), Gingy in Love, Loss & What I Wore (The Carnegie), and Nellie Cohan in George M (The Showboat Majestic).
  • Elizabeth Leigh Taylor  (Chorus) – Lois in More Fun Than Bowling, Coretta Scott King/Fannie Lou Hamer in All The Way, Sonia in Godspell, and Julianna in Dollhouse (Mariemont Players, Inc.); Murphy in Suite Surrender (Beechmont Players), multiple roles of Fan Scrooge, Belle, Martha Cratchit, Mrs. Dilber, and Kate in A Christmas Carol: A Radio Drama (Cinematic Plays Theater Co.).

THE MUSICAL OF MUSICALS (THE MUSICAL!) is a musical about musicals! In this hilarious satire of musical theatre, one story becomes five delightful musicals, each written in the distinctive style of a different master of the form, from Rodgers & Hammerstein to Stephen Sondheim. The basic plot: June is an ingénue who can’t pay the rent and is threatened by her evil landlord. Will the handsome leading man come to the rescue? The variations are: a Rodgers & Hammerstein version, set in Kansas in August, complete with a dream ballet; a Sondheim version, featuring the landlord as a tortured artistic genius who slashes the throats of his tenants in revenge for not appreciating his work; a Jerry Herman version, as a splashy star vehicle; an Andrew Lloyd Webber version, a rock musical with themes borrowed from Puccini; and a Kander & Ebb version, set in a speakeasy in Chicago. The production is directed by Dennis Murphy, who recently directed CMT’s production of Camelot, and produced by Kathy Beiting and Marypat Carletti, with music direction by Linda Abbott and choreography by JV Katz.

The intimate Fifth Third Bank Theater will be set as a cabaret – with tables, chairs, and a cash bar. It’s the perfect holiday gift for your loved one or an evening out with friends!

THE MUSICAL OF MUSICALS (THE MUSICAL!) PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:

  • Friday, February 8, 2019 at 8:00 PM
  • Saturday, February 9, 2019 at 5:00 PM & 8:00 PM
  • Friday, February 15, 2019 at 8:00 PM
  • Saturday, February 16, 2019 at 5:00 PM & 8:00 PM

Cincinnati Music Theatre
One of Cincinnati’s oldest and most successful community theaters, CMT is proud of its long history of presenting popular, large scale, award-winning musicals to enthusiastic audiences from across the Greater Cincinnati area. For more information, visit www.cincinnatimusictheatre.org, LIKE us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cincinnatimusictheatre, and follow us on Instagram @cincinnatimusictheatre.

The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) is presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.

Artwork and logo provided by the New York Producers from the original New York production of the Play at THE YORK THEATRE COMPANY.

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December 5, 2018 · 2:28 pm

James Dean, Role-Play Games Headline NKU’s Play Festival

NKU_Yes Festival 18 logoHIGHLAND HEIGHTS, KY – Northern Kentucky University’s School of the Arts Theatre and Dance Program has selected three plays that will receive their world-premiere productions this April in the 19th Biennial Year-End Series (Y.E.S.) Festival. Fast Young Beautiful by Ethan Warren and Initiative by Jacob York were selected as the winning playwrights of over 300 script submissions. As an added bonus, The Black Boy in Pink written by NKU BFA Playwriting major, Isaiah Reaves, will receive a lightly-staged production in the studio theatre. Performances will take place April 4-14, 2019 at the NKU Fine Arts Center.

NKU_Ethan-Warren

Ethan Warren.

FAST YOUNG BEAUTIFUL
By Ethan Warren
Directed by Nicole Perrone
Corbett Theatre

New to Hollywood, a naive young actor named Dennis is cast in the new James Dean film, and though he’s at first unimpressed with his idiosyncratic co-star, he’s soon seduced by Dean’s mysterious talent. Dean agrees to mentor Dennis, but as they co-star in two films across the spring and summer of 1955, both find themselves struggling to understand what it means to be a great actor, and a good man, before they lose their chance to be either.

Ethan Warren’s first play, Why Are You Nowhere?, received the Playwright’s Award for Staged Reading at the 2016 Midtown International Theatre Festival, as well as the Inkslinger Award from Southeastern Louisiana University, where it had its premiere production in Feb. 2017. His play Hot Dog Christmas was commissioned as part of The Boston Project, the new works initiative at SpeakEasy Stage Company, and his short works have been published in the Stage It! 10-Minute play anthology, and the journal Furious Gazelle. He is also the writer/director of the independent feature film West of Her (2018), and an editor for the film journal Bright Wall/Dark Room.

NKU_Jacob-York

Jacob York.

INITIATIVE
By Jacob York
Directed by Mike King
Stauss Theatre

Playing a pen and paper role-playing game may not be your idea of a good time but, for Dave and his friends, it’s a lifeline. Dave has a particularly aggressive form of cancer and the only way he’ll experience all the memories he counted on having is through his friends creating them around him at the gaming table. A play about friends and the lengths you’ll go for them, Initiative examines stories and why we tell them. And what unexpected demons can lie within.

Jacob York’s writing credits include Homers (World Premiere – Georgia Ensemble Theatre, Roswell, GA), Initiative (Semi-finalist, Playfest at Orlando Shakespeare Festival), Adultery for Beginners (Semi-finalist, Humanitas New Voices Program), lead writer for Middle School The Musical and The Real Tweenagers of Atlanta (World Premiere – Alliance Theatre, Atlanta, GA), and head writer for The Know Better Effect. In addition to writing, Jacob is known as an actor on stage (Shakespeare in Love at Nashville Repertory Theatre; Women in Jeopardy! at Merrimack Repertory Theatre; Macbeth at Atlanta Shakespeare Company), on screen (Turn: Washington’s Spies on AMC; Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell on Adult Swim), and as an audiobook narrator (To Kill A Kingdom by Alexandra Christo; Certain, Dark Things by M.J. Pack).

NKU_Isaiah-Reaves

Isaiah Reaves.

THE BLACK BOY IN PINK
By Isaiah Reaves
Directed by Brian Robertson
The Henry Konstantinow Studio Theatre 

The Black Boy in Pink is a bold new work by a young provocative playwright set in his hometown of Cincinnati. The year is 1959. Wyatt Frost is a young black man who has been forced to make hard choices to survive. Flickering across his fuzzy RCA Victor television set comes the possibility of a different existence. As his life becomes entangled with the legacy of a picturesque local wealthy family, will Wyatt be able to choose the life he has always wanted? Will he be able to color pink his otherwise black and white existence?

Isaiah Reaves is a dramatist and actor based in Cincinnati, OH. Reaves began writing at the age of eleven. At fifteen years old, his play Wyatt’s Bed received a reading at the Tony Award-winning Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. Since then, his full-length plays have been staged at The Cincinnati Fringe Festival, where his production of The Blackface Project was named a CityBeat Critic’s Pick in 2018. His work has also been produced as part of the Know Theatre of Cincinnati’s Serials and Underground series, as well as in the One Minute Play Festival, Northern Kentucky University, and the Clifton Performance Theatre. Reaves has received training from the College-Conservatory of Music’s Summer Playwriting Workshop and is currently a junior BFA candidate at Northern Kentucky University, where he is the Ken Jones Playwriting Scholarship recipient.

Tickets will go on sale January 28, 2019 at noon. Single tickets are $15 general admission or 2-show package for $25. Student tickets are $10 or 2-show package for $15. The Black Boy in Pink will have free admission, but reservations are required due to limited seating. Please visit the YES Festival website at nku.edu/yesfestival for more information.

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