Category Archives: Press Releases

February 9, 2015 · 11:17 am

CPI Stage-Reads Inspirational Valentine at 5th 3rd

CPI_Family Healing logoWith the help of faith, love does conquer all in FAMILY HEALING, an “inspirational drama” by CJ Johnson which will be given a Cincinnati Playwrights Initiative staged reading at the Aronoff Center’s Fifth Third Bank Theater, 7:30 p .m., Tuesday, February 10. Piper N. Davis directs.

While FAMILY HEALING finally displays a positive outcome, getting there is not half the fun for the characters, although the journey, punctuated by some sharp dialogue, does provide laughs for the audience..

A stressed-out CEO wife creates a chilly atmosphere that tempts her mechanic husband to seek the warmth of a fling with a cute but “loose” cleaning woman. Husband is found out and kicked out. From the distance that hurt has created, husband and wife attempt to travel back to each other and to the kind of love that led to their marriage. A cast of sometimes hilarious supporting characters, with their own issues, populate the trip.

FAMILY HEALING is C. J. (Cynthia) Johnson’s CPI debut. She will follow up, next season, with HOME, a dramatization of domestic disturbance. Ms. Johnson is also author of three novels. She holds a management degree (cum laude) from Park College, which she puts to use working with the Dayton, OH, EPA. She has been married to husband Drew for 28 years. Son Xavior will soon, himself, be a college grad.

FAMILY HEALING tickets are $8, and will be available at the door, the night of performance. They can also be purchased by calling (513) 621-2787, or on line at www.CincinnatiArts.org.

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February 7, 2015 · 5:52 pm

The Mason Community Players has a Home

MCP_logovia Mason Community Players Facebook fan page:

Those of you who were at the Annual Banquet and Meeting know that the Production Committee and the Board have been trying to secure a place for the group. We thought we were close a couple of times but something always seems to happen. Though disappointed we kept looking and working. I know many of you have been asking where we are at with things. So for everyone here is an update on what is going on.

The Mason Community Players has a HOME!

A 5 year lease with option to extend has been signed and we have the full use of the property formally known as the Leaf. It is now the Mason Community Players Theatre.

The work is not over. We have big plans for the building and property and will need help from everyone. The first thing you can do to help is filling out your Count Me In card if you haven’t. Next make sure someone who wasn’t at the Banquet gets a card and fills it out too. This will help us know where to best get everyone involved in all the work.

Stay tuned for details for a future party to celebrate the good news with all your MCP friends.

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February 6, 2015 · 10:37 am

Man of Many Voices Plays Many Roles in Tri-County Players’ DIAL M FOR MURDER

Boyang Zhang.

Boyang Zhang.

Most actors audition for a role, accept the part and learn the lines for that specific role. Not Boyang Zhang – he learns the lines and voices for multiple characters in one show! He is playing two different on-stage roles and voicing four other characters in DIAL M FOR MURDER.The show, produced by Tri-County Players, opens Friday February 13th at the Sharonville Fine Arts Center.

Keeping track of the different personalities for the various roles is fun for Boyang. “When it comes to acting, and voices specifically, I guess I would say that I image my brain as being a little town. Each character lives in a different part of my head, and they all go to work in different parts of my body. One character might specialize in strumming my vocal chords, another, who has a deeper sound, might be responsible for pushing my diaphragm. This helps to remind me what they sound like, and what I need to do to produce those sounds.”

He has a background in languages and that helps to create characters for the show. “I have always had an interest in languages, and the nuances that make them distinct. I was born in China, and English is technically my second language, but there’s no way you could tell that from hearing me speak. When I was in kindergarten, I would listen to the radio every day and practice speaking exactly the way the broadcasters do, to perfect my “American accent”. Ever since then, anytime I encounter a new accent on TV, on the radio, or out in the real world, I try to capture it, repeat it, and make it my own,” he explained

Though it’s best known as a film by Alfred Hitchcock,DIAL M FOR MURDER was first a successful stage play written by another English master of suspense: Frederick Knott (Wait Until Dark). In this Tri-County Players production of the classic thriller, Tony Wendice plans to murder his unfortunate wife to claim her fortune for himself. He arranges for the perfect crime — but things don’t quite go according to plan. His wife survives and the contract killer hired to do her in ends up dead. This timeless masterpiece of construction and plotting weaves a tangled web of clues and red herrings, back-stabbings and blackmail that will keep you hooked.

Boyang will be on stage with five other actors; Stephen Beck,Joel Lind, McLane Nagy,Dan Nieman and Glenn Schaich. It is directed by Mary Benken and Gregory Charles Vaughan. The show runs Fridays and Saturdays, Feb 13, 14, 20, 21 at 8 pm and on Sunday Feb 15th at 3 pm. Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for seniors and students. Reservations can be made at 513-471-2030.

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February 5, 2015 · 11:45 am

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF Opens in March at Loveland Stage Company

Susan McElroy Marcus as Golde & Dave Marcus as Tevye.

Susan McElroy Marcus as Golde & Dave Marcus as Tevye.

The Loveland Stage Company’s spring show, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, opens on March 6, 2015 and continues for three weekends. The musical was based on Sholem Aleichem’s tales of Tevye and his Daughters. FIDDLER ON THE ROOF is the brainchild of Broadway legends Director Jerome Robbins, Producer Harold Prince, Songwriters Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, and Bookwriter Joseph Stein. The musical won nine TONY awards when it debuted in 1964. Since then touring shows and community theaters have touched audiences worldwide with its music, humor, warmth and honest love.

Veteran Director Cathy Alter is leading the core of the production staff that brought the popular musical Oklahoma to Loveland. Award winning Music Director Jack Hasty is back and his attention to good vocalization with every note of the lyrics is evident when the energetic cast sings the many memorable musical tunes, such as “Tradition,” “Matchmaker, Matchmaker” and “Sunrise, Sunset”. Marjory Clegg is choreographing the leads in solo and couple dances, and the ensemble in the spectacular “Tradition” and the energetic Russian dance at the village inn.

The co-producers, Ann Barfels and Pat Furterer, are working again with a production crew that have won individual and group community theater awards. Their period costumes, rural looking sets and authentic appearing props enhanced with lighting and sound effects will surely be appreciated by the audience.

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF is the story of Tevye and his five daughters as he struggles to maintain his Jewish religious and cultural traditions, as outside influences encroach upon the family’s lives. He must cope both with the strong-willed actions of his three oldest daughters, who wish to marry for love and happiness – each one’s choice of a husband moves further away from the customs of his faith – and with the edict of the Tsar that evicts his family and neighbors from his village.

The musical opens with Tevye (played by ACT Orchid winner Dave Marcus) explaining the customs of the Jews in the Russian village of Anatevka, where their lives are as precarious as the perch of a fiddler on a roof. Back at Tevye’s home, the village matchmaker (played by Michelle Faulkner) arrives to tell Tevye’s wife, Golde, (played by Dave’s real wife, Susan McElroy Marcus) that Lazar Wolf (played by Richard Lee Waldeck), the wealthy butcher, wants to wed Tzeitel, the eldest daughter (played by Nisrene Langenbrunner). Everyone is excited about Yente’s visit, except Tzeitel because she wants to marry her childhood friend, Motel the tailor (played by Jonathan Goolsby). After hearing that Tzeitel is to marry a widower older than her father, Motel pays a visit and tells Tevye that he (Motel) is the perfect match for Tzeitel and promises that she will not starve as his wife. Tevye is outraged at this breach of tradition by making their own match but on the other hand is impressed at the tailor’s display of backbone and agrees to let them marry.

While Tevye is delivering milk he meets a young stranger, Perchik (played by John Sloan), and offers him food and a room in exchange for tutoring his two youngest daughters Shprintze (played by Anna Verderber ) and Bielke (played by Taylor Towles). After Perchik finishes his first lessons for the day, Tevye’s second daughter Hodel (played by Shannon Alter-Fredenburg), mocks Perchik’s Marxist interpretation of a Bible story. He, in turn, criticizes her for hanging on to the old traditions of Judaism, noting that the world is changing. To illustrate this, he dances with her, defying another tradition, the prohibition against opposite sexes dancing together. The two begin to fall in love.

While returning from town, Tevye’s third daughter, the bookish Chava (played by Lizzie Roesner), is teased and intimidated by a few Russian youths, but one of them, Fyedka (played by Michael Gettinger) protects her, dismissing the others. He offers Chava the loan of a book, and a secret love begins with another breach of tradition.

Intertwined with the love stories of the daughters is the tender love story of Tevye and Golde, whose relationship and marriage was arranged by a matchmaker, a tradition. Their strong bond is evident in their dedication to the happiness of their daughters and each other. In a touching number, “Do You Love Me”, they confirm their respect and love for each other.

The love stories of the three daughters unfolds over several months during which they interact with their parents, Jewish neighbors and infiltrating Russian loyalists often bringing tears of laughter, joy and sadness to the eyes of the audience.

Cathy Alter has cast other veterans in several more leading roles and experienced dancers and singers in the ensemble. Visit our website www.lovelandstagecompany.com to view the names of the entire cast.

Fiddler on the Roof has the perfect mix of memorable songs, humor and love that audiences enjoy. Don’t miss it. Tickets are available at $18.00 each for evening performances at 7:30 pm on March 6, 7, 13, 14, 19, 20 and 21 or matinee performances at 3:00 pm on March 8 and 15. To order tickets please visit our website at www.lovelandstagecompany.org or call 513-443-4LSC (4572). All performances are held at the Loveland Stage Company Theatre, 111 Second Street, Loveland, Ohio 45140.

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February 4, 2015 · 4:14 pm

CCM’s Mainstage Series Presents The Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-Winning Play, THE HEIDI CHRONICLES

A coming-of-age story, ‘The Heidi Chronicles’ explores social and political issues
that are as relevant today as they were in the late ’80s when the play premiered.

Sarah Davenport as Heidi Holland. Photography by Mark Lyons.

Sarah Davenport as Heidi Holland. Photography by Mark Lyons.

CINCINNATI, OH—The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music’s (CCM) Department of Drama opens its spring Mainstage Series with its debut of Wendy Wasserstein’s THE HEIDI CHRONICLES, running Feb. 11 through Feb. 15, in the Patricia Corbett Theater.

An examination of feminism and its evolution from the 1960s through the late 1980s, THE HEIDI CHRONICLES follows Heidi Holland, a successful art historian, who tries to find her true self in a rapidly changing world as the roles of women were being redefined.

Students and audience members alike will get the chance to witness a piece of history on stage as director Richard E. Hess, A.B., Dolly, Ralph and Julia Cohen Chair of Dramatic Performance, attempts to make connections between a generation who lived through the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s and students who are now products of this age.

Hess asks a thought-provoking and timely question: “What would Wendy think of life in America in 2015, where we still must deeply question this country’s commitment to racial and gender equality?”

Wasserstein was the first woman playwright to receive a Tony Award for Best Play for THE HEIDI CHRONICLES. Her work also earned her prestigious awards including the 1989 Pulitzer Prize, a New York Drama Critics Circle Award and a Drama Desk Award, among others.

Hess says that Wasserstein liked to create characters “who struggled with the shifting demands and definitions of self, unique to a time and place.” This struggle rings true even today.

Second-year Theater Design and Production graduate student Jillian Coratti serves as costume designer for this production. She talked with Hess at the beginning of rehearsals about his vision for the look and feel of the production. “The hardest part about this production was making it look real,” she explains. “This show is dramatic and thoughtful, but very rarely flashy. The characters are real and contemporary, so I didn’t want to make anything come across as overly theatrical.”

Coratti did a great deal of research in magazines and blogs, even pulling out older family photo albums. Her uncles grew up as members of the “baby boomer” generation, so she was able to find looks from the 70s and 80s in their wedding albums. Since each scene in The Heidi Chronicles is set in a new time period, there are a lot of quick costume changes. Heidi alone has 13 changes!

But the easiest and most rewarding part has been the fittings. Coratti says, “The actors are so eager and willing to see their costumes because they can connect with these clothes. They’re very similar to what we wear everyday, yet some come from our parents closets.”

The THE HEIDI CHRONICLES List:

  • Heidi Holland…..SARAH DAVENPORT
  • Susan Johnston…..CLARE COMBEST
  • Peter Patrone…..COLIN EDGAR
  • Scoop Rosenbaum…..CONNOR LAWRENCE
  • Chris Boxer/Steve/Waiter…..RYAN GARRETT
  • Jill/Sandra Zucker-Hall…..KATIE MCDONALD
  • Fran…..AC HORTON
  • Becky…..ULIA NETZER
  • Debbie…..RACHEL BAUMGARTEN
  • 1968 Hippie/Mark/Dr. Ray…..OWEN ALDERSON
  • Molly McBride/Clara…..MICHAELA TROPEANO
  • Lisa…..ALICE SKOK
  • Betsy…..CARLI RHOADES
  • Denise…..SYDNEY ASHE
  • April…..KATIE LANGHAM

About THE HEIDI CHRONICLES

After its initial opening in November 1988 Off-Broadway, The Heidi Chronicles was praised by the New York Daily News as “witty, hilarious…not just a funny play, but a wise one…I doubt we’ll see a better play this season.” Even Variety raved, “Not many plays manage Heidi’s feat of inducing almost continuous laughter while forcing the audience to examine its preconceptions.” In March of 1989, THE HEIDI CHRONICLES was transferred to Broadway and became a long-running success with an impressive 622 performances when it closed in September of 1990.

Comprised of a series of interrelated scenes, the play traces the coming of age of Heidi Holland, a successful art historian, as she tries to find her bearings in a rapidly changing world. Gradually distancing herself from her friends, she watches them move from the idealism and political radicalism of their college years through militant feminism and, eventually, back to the materialism that they had sought to reject in the first place. Eventually Heidi comes to accept the fact that liberation can be achieved only if one is true to oneself, with goals that come out of need rather than circumstance.

Performance Times

  • 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11 (preview)
  • 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12
  • 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13
  • 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 14
  • 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 15

Location
Patricia Corbett Theater, CCM Village
University of Cincinnati

Purchasing Tickets
Tickets to The Heidi Chronicles are $27-31 for adults, $17-20 for non-UC students and $15-18 for UC students with a valid ID.

Saturday matinee student rush discount tickets are available beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 14 and are $12-15.

Tickets to the Feb. 11 preview performance are just $12.

Tickets can be purchased in person at the CCM Box Office, over the telephone at 513-556-4183 or online at uc.edu/boxoffice/heidi-chronicles-mainstage.

Parking and Directions
Parking is available in the CCM Garage (located at the base of Corry Boulevard off Jefferson Avenue) and additional garages throughout the UC campus. Please visit uc.edu/parking for more information on parking rates.

For detailed maps and directions, please visit uc.edu/visitors. Additional parking is available off-campus at the new U Square complex on Calhoun Street and other neighboring lots.

For directions to CCM Village, visit ccm.uc.edu/about/directions.

CCM Season Presenting Sponsor and Musical Theatre Program Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

Mainstage Season Production Sponsor: Macy’s

Community Partner: ArtsWave

A preeminent institution for the performing and media arts, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) is the largest single source of performing arts presentations in the state of Ohio.

All event dates and programs are subject to change. For a complete calendar of events or to view CCM’s 2014-2015 season brochure visit our website at ccm.uc.edu.

UC’s College-Conservatory of Music: The Season Is Yours – Get Swept Away!

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