Category Archives: Press Releases

September 6, 2012 · 6:01 pm

KTC Receives Recognition from The American Theatre Wing

Know Theatre of Cincinnati receives recognition from The American Theatre Wing
Know Theatre wins prized National Theatre Company Grant honor from Founder of the Tony Awards

Know Theatre of Cincinnati is pleased to announce that the American Theatre Wing has awarded the company with one of their 2012 National Theatre Company Grants.

Know Theatre of Cincinnati is proud to have received this prestigious national award. The funds awarded will support operations for Know Theatre and its annual programs. Know Theatre of Cincinnati produces a mainstage season of innovative contemporary theatre, the annual Cincinnati Fringe Festival, a national tour of Calculus: The Musical! and The Jackson Street Market, a program dedicated to supporting and building the local artistic community. Eric Vosmeier, Producing Artistic Director, will be traveling to New York City in early October to accept the award and participate in media events and networking with the other recipients.

Other grant recipients this year are: Actors’ Shakespeare Project (Somerville, Massachusetts), ArtsWest (Seattle, Washington), Know Theatre of Cincinnati (Cincinnati, Ohio), NC Stage Company (Asheville, North Carolina), The New Jersey Repertory Company (Long Branch, New Jersey), CityRep (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma), The Rogue Theatre (Tucson, Arizona), The Play Company (New York City, New York), The Theatre @ Boston Court (Pasadena, California), and Upstream Theater (St. Louis, Missouri).

“This grant is a huge boon to Know Theatre’s model, focus, and programming,” says Eric Vosmeier, Producing Artistic Director. “We are honored to have been recognized alongside these other amazing theaters. Know Theatre is at a crucial stage of our development and new funding such as this will be crucial for us to continue to move the organization forward. We are grateful to the American Theatre Wing for creating this program and honored to have been selected this year as a recipient.”

Created by American Theatre Wing, best known as the creator of the Antionette Perry “Tony” Awards, to recognize and support the most promising emerging theatre companies from around the country, the National Theatre Company grant honors 10 theaters annually. Companies chosen to receive the $10,000 grant have articulated a distinctive mission, cultivated an audience, and nurtured a community of artists in ways that strengthen and demonstrate the quality, diversity, and dynamism of American theatre.

“For the third year in a row, our national grants committee was astounded by the breadth and depth of the work being done by non-profit theatre companies around this country. This year’s awardees cover the entire span of the United States and demonstrate the uniqueness, courage, and creativity that is the heart of the American Theatre,” said Lucie Arnaz, Chair of the Grants Committee. “These companies prove, once again, that great theatre isn’t just on Broadway between 40th and 50th streets, but that Broadway is a road that is 3,000 miles long.”

More information about the National Theatre Company grants can be found at http://americantheatrewing.org/grants.

About the American Theatre Wing:
Best known for creating The Antoinette Perry “Tony” Awards®, the American Theatre Wing’s reach extends beyond Broadway and beyond New York, with educational and media work that offers the best in theatre to people around the world. Dedicated to celebrating excellence and supporting education in the theatre, ATW has been an integral and influential part of the theatrical community for 95 years. For more information about all of the American Theatre Wing programs, go to americantheatrewing.org. ATW can be followed on Facebook.com/TheAmericanTheatreWing and Twitter.com/TheWing and additional, unique video can be found at YouTube.com/AmericanTheatreWing.

Know Theatre of Cincinnati is supported, in part, by the generosity of community contributions to the ArtsWave Campaign. The Ohio Arts Council helps fund Know Theatre with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.

Our mission is to create evocative and explosive live entertainment.
Our vision is a world awakened to its collective possibility.
We value a playful artistic community where artists can collaborate and grow.

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September 4, 2012 · 7:32 pm

CCM Announces 2012-13 Studio Series of Opera, Musical Theatre and Drama

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) is pleased to announce details for its 2012-13 Studio Series of opera, musical theatre and drama.

The series opens in October with a revival of the comedy-horror-rock musical Little Shop of Horrors and concludes in April with an extended run of the Tony and Drama Desk Award-winning musical Parade, co-produced with the Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center.

CCM’s 2012-13 Studio Series also includes public workshop performances of two new American operas produced in collaboration with Cincinnati Opera, a pair of socially relevant and emotionally powerful dramas, and a fresh take on one of Georges Bizet’s earliest operas.

Please see the listings below for full production and ticketing details.

Tickets and Parking Information
Aside from CCM’s co-production of Parade, all Studio Series events are free and open to the general public. Reservations are required for all free Studio Series productions and can be made the week of each show by visiting the CCM Box Office or calling 513-556-4183.

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

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

Additional Information
Titles and dates subject to change – rights pending. For more information regarding CCM events, contact the CCM Box Office at 513-556-4183 or visit ccm.uc.edu.

CCM 2012-13 STUDIO SERIES
Opera, Musical Theatre, Drama

Little Shop of Horrors
Music by Alan Menken
Book and lyrics by Howard Ashman
Thom Christopher Warren, guest director
Ryan Shirar, musical director
Joey Dippel, choreographer

Based on the low-budget film directed by Roger Corman, Little Shop of Horrors is a comedy-horror-rock musical about a hapless florist who raises a plant that feeds on human blood. With a score in the style of early 1960s rock and roll, doo-wop and early Motown, the show “satirizes many things: science fiction, ‘B’ movies, musical comedy itself and even the Faust legend.” Come and see it – but please, don’t feed the plant!

Performance Times:

  • 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 11
  • 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 12
  • 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 13
  • 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 13

Location: Cohen Family Studio Theater
Admission: Admission is free, but reservations are required. Tickets become available at noon on Monday, Oct. 8. Visit the CCM Box Office or call 513-556-4183 to reserve. Limit two tickets per order.

Opera Fusion – New Work Lab Presents:
Champion
A partnership between CCM Opera and Cincinnati Opera
Composed by Terence Blanchard
Libretto by Michael Cristofer
TBA, conductor
James Robinson, director
Fabian Almazan, pianist

Opera Fusion welcomes five-time Grammy-winner Terence Blanchard and Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Cristofer for a 10-day residency, culminating in a public workshop performance of their new opera Champion. A unique fusion of jazz and operatic styles, Champion is based on the true story of boxer Emile Griffith. A world champion prizefighter, Griffith experienced both triumph and tragedy; in winning the Welterweight Championship in 1962, his punches put opponent Benny “The Kid” Paret in a coma from which he never recovered. Just before the match, Paret had mocked Griffith using homosexual slurs. Years later, Griffith’s homosexuality was revealed when he was nearly killed by a gang outside a gay bar. Champion presents a modern tragic hero who is ultimately consumed by rage, regret and the terrible consequences of his actions.Champion will make its world premiere at Opera Theatre of St. Louis (OTSL) in 2013. OTSL Artistic Director James Robinson directs.

CCM Performance Time: 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27
Location: Patricia Corbett Theater
Admission: Admission is free, but reservations are required. Tickets become available at noon on Monday, Oct. 22. Visit the CCM Box Office or call 513-556-4183 to reserve. Limit two tickets per order.

Cincinnati Opera Performance Time: 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 28
Location: Mayerson Theater, School for Creative and Performing Arts, 108 W. Central Parkway, downtown Cincinnati
Admission: Admission is free, but reservations are required. Tickets become available at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 8. Please contact the Cincinnati Opera Box Office at 513-241-2742 to reserve. Limit two tickets per order.

The Laramie Project
Written by Moisés Kaufman and members of Tectonic Theater Project
Richard E. Hess, director

The facts surrounding the death of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student whose brutal murder shocked the country in 1998, come to life on stage. Award-winning playwright Moisés Kaufman and members of his theater company traveled to Laramie, Wyoming, to conduct 200 interviews with the residents of the town. What resulted is a powerful dramatization of the murder, investigation and subsequent convictions—a sobering look into how hate is born and nurtured in the back streets of a friendly American town. Mature subject matter. 

Performance Time:

  • 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29
  • 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 30
  • 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1
  • 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1

Location: Cohen Family Studio Theater
Admission: Admission is free, but reservations are required. Tickets become available at noon on Monday, Nov. 26. Visit the CCM Box Office or call 513-556-4183 to reserve. Limit two tickets per order.

Opera Fusion – New Work Lab Presents:
Morning Star
A partnership between CCM Opera and Cincinnati Opera
Composed by Ricky Ian Gordon
Libretto by William M. Hoffman
Steven White, conductor
Ron Daniels, director
Carol Walker and Lydia Brown, pianists

Ricky Ian Gordon (composer of 2007’s The Grapes of Wrath) and William M. Hoffman (librettist of 1991’s The Ghosts of Versaille) workshopMorning Star, a story of sisterhood set against the backdrop of New York City’s tragic Triangle Shirt Factory fire of 1911. The workshop will culminate with a public performance conducted by Steven White (the Metropolitan Opera) and directed by Ron Daniels (director of the 2009 filmThe War Boys) on Dec. 4 and 5.

Cincinnati Opera Performance Time: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 4
Location: Memorial Hall, 1225 Elm Street, downtown Cincinnati
Tickets: Admission is free, but reservations are required. Tickets become available at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 8. Please contact the Cincinnati Opera Box Office at 513-241-2742 to reserve. Limit two tickets per order.

CCM Performance Time: 8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 5
Location: Cohen Family Studio Theater
Tickets: Admission is free but reservations are required. Tickets become available at noon on Monday, Dec. 3. Visit the CCM Box Office or call 513-556-4183 to reserve. Limit two tickets per order.

Doctor Miracle (Le docteur Miracle)
Composed by Georges Bizet
Libretto by Léon Battu and Ludovic Halévy
Stefano Sarzani, conductor
Omer Ben Seadia, director

This farce revolves around the making of an omelette thought to be poisonous. Young lovers, the mayor of Padua and a conniving servant careen through one of Georges Bizet’s earliest operas. Hilarity ensues, but true love triumphs in the end. Featuring some of Bizet’s liveliest music, Le docteur Miracle will be sung in French with English supertitles.

Performance Dates:

  • 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 15
  • 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16
  • 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 17

Location: Cohen Family Studio Theater
Admission: Admission is free, but reservations are required. Tickets become available at noon on Monday, Feb. 11. Visit the CCM Box Office or call 513-556-4183 to reserve. Limit two tickets per order.

Execution of Justice
Written by Emily Mann
Michael Burnham, director

A chilling examination of the trial of Dan White for the murder of Harvey Milk, San Francisco’s first openly gay Supervisor, and Mayor George Moscone. Scrupulous in its objectivity, the play suggests a public and legal mind-set that allows criminals to avoid just punishment. Dan White was convicted on the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter and spent only a little over five years in prison. Mature subject matter.

Performance Dates: 

  • 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 18
  • 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 19
  • 2 p.m. Saturday, April 20
  • 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 20

Location: Cohen Family Studio Theater
Admission: Admission is free, but reservations are required. Tickets become available at noon on Monday, April 15. Visit the CCM Box Office or call 513-556-4183 to reserve. Limit two tickets per order.

Parade
Co-produced by CCM Musical Theatre and the Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center
Book by Alfred Uhry
Music and Lyrics by Jason Robert Brown
Ed Cohen and Dee Anne Bryll, directors
Stephen Goers, musical director

In the sweltering intolerance of 1913 Atlanta, northerner and Jewish factory manager Leo Frank is wrongfully accused of murdering a 13 year-old girl under his employment. As press frenzy and public outrage overwhelm his defense, Frank’s only hope lies in a brave crusade by the southern wife he never understood, among a people that never understood him. A Tony Award-winner for best book and score, Parade is a transformational story of a country at odds with its declarations of equality.

Performance times:

  • 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 5
  • 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 6
  • 3 p.m. Sunday, April 7
  • 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 12
  • 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 13
  • 3 p.m. Sunday, April 14
  • 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 19
  • 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 20
  • 3 p.m. Sunday, April 21

Location: The Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center, 1028 Scott Blvd., Covington, KY
Admission: $19 – $26; tickets may be purchased through the Carnegie Box Office at 859-957-1940 or online at www.thecarnegie.com.

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

Opera Fusion: New Works is sponsored by a generous grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Drama Studio Series Sponsor: Neil Artman and Margaret Straub

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September 4, 2012 · 7:19 pm

NET Announces Restructured Season

New Edgecliff Announces Restructured Season
TALK RADIO out, PROOF in

As most have heard by now, New Edgecliff Theatre was given an 11th hour surprise in June, with the news that the Columbia Performance Center was no longer available. Artistic Director Jim Stump says, “Our original response was, ‘Damn the torpedoes. Full speed ahead!’” Since then they’ve been reassessing, and just last week, the board and staff sat down and took a hard second look at the numbers, coming to the conclusion that with the venue expense being nearly quintupled, they needed to reassess the wisdom of trying to maintain the full production schedule they’d originally planned for the CPC. Stump adds, “It just seemed prudent to more efficiently focus our resources.”

Eric Bogosian’s “Talk Radio”, originally slated to open the season in September, will be dropped. The newly restructured plan is to open at the Aronoff’s Fifth Third Theater with the already scheduled double bill of David Sedaris’ “The Santaland Diaries” and Ginna Hoben’s “The 12 Dates of Christmas” in November/December. Resident Playwright Catie O’Keefe’s new play, “Slow Descent From Heaven,” still scheduled for the February/March slot, will move to a yet-to-be-named venue. The April slot will remain at the Fifth Third, with the originally scheduled “Miss Witherspoon” to be replaced by David Auburn’s “Proof”.

In addition to their regular season, in October, NET will continue its traditional one-night-only Fall fundraiser, the annual Sweet Suspense Radio Drama. This year it’s “The Canterville Ghost”, once again adapted by Catie O’Keefe.

Executive Director Michael Shooner sees the short-term pain as leading to inevitable long-term gain. He says, “When we decided on the season theme of ‘Next’, we had no idea how apropos it would be. Our response to this unexpected chain of events has put us in a position to imagine a great variety of next steps. We’re excited to see where it all leads!”

For “The Santaland Diaries / The 12 Dates of Christmas” reservations, call the Cincinnati Arts Association ticket offices at 513.721.3344. For further information, go to newedgecliff.com or call 513.399.6638.

Season Schedule

October 20th, 2012 – “The Canterville Ghost” by Oscar Wilde, adapted for the stage by Catie O’Keefe

NET’s annual Sweet Suspense Radio Drama returns with a family friendly radio style adaptation of the Oscar Wilde classic. This one night only event includes a recreation of an early radio studio complete with live sound effects by Mike Martini.

Where others have run screaming in terror, the Otis family seems quite comfortable in their new haunted house. After moving to England and into Canterville Chase, this family of Americans finds nothing frightening about the famous Canterville ghost. In fact, his attempt to replenish an old blood stain is nothing but annoying and his efforts to scare the family members usually end in the ghost hiding in fear. It’s not until the young daughter, the Virginia, takes an interest in helping the murderous spirit, that the family and the ghost find peace and quiet. The production will once again be under the direction of Bob Allen.

November 28 – December 8, 2012 – “The Santaland Diaries” by David Sedaris (adapted for the stage by Joe Mantello) and “The 12 Dates of Christmas” by Ginna Hoben

Everyone’s favorite elf Crumpet, the elf fixated on spastic children, obnoxious parents, nutty co-workers and, oh yeah … “One Life to Live”, is back in this alter native holiday favorite.

Then, in “12 Dates of Christmas”…what happens when Mary sees her fiancé making out with his co-worker on national TV at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade? She dumps him and then spends the next year being set up, hooked up, strung up, and fed up as she navigates her life “alone” as a New York actor in her thirties.

“Hoben has created a woman’s show to join the annual, male-dominated Christmas lineup, but like “The Santaland Diaries”, it is a tale of real life and holiday hope touching us all.” — Eric Minton, Shakespeareances.com

February 20th-March 2nd, 2013 – “Slow Descent from Heaven” by Resident Playwright Catie O’Keefe

NET resident playwright Catie O’Keefe and director Ed Cohen join forces for our winter show with the world premiere of “Slow Descent from Heaven”. NET produced O’Keefe’s “Darker” in the Fringe Festival last year to rave reviews and she has adapted the last two Radio Dramas.
Relationships for Molly have never come easy; part of that might have to do with the fact that she’s worked hard to advance her career as a NASA scientist in the late twentieth century. From the passionate Russian lover to the practical minded momma’s boy, she has her work cut out for her. Taking a glimpse into Molly’s life in between two world-changing events in NASA, we see that life for some is a lot like the painful push to leave the Earth’s atmosphere, while for others it’s more like the slow descent back down from Heaven.

April 17th – 27th, 2013 – “Proof ” by David Auburn

Winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play, David Auburn’s “Proof” is a smart, mysterious, surprising, and compassionate play of ideas. On the eve of her twenty-fifth birthday, Catherine, a troubled young woman, has spent years caring for her brilliant but unstable father, a famous mathematician. Now, following his death, she must deal with her own volatile emotions; the arrival of her estranged sister, Claire; and the attentions of Hal, a former student of her father’s who hopes to find valuable work in the 103 notebooks that her father left behind. Over the long weekend that follows, a burgeoning romance and the discovery of a mysterious notebook draw Catherine into the most difficult problem of all: How much of her father’s madness—or genius—will she inherit?

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September 4, 2012 · 7:11 pm

MPI Announces Ken Ludwig’s THE FOX ON THE FAIRWAY

Mariemont Players presents THE FOX ON THE FAIRWAY, a comedy by Ken Ludwig, at the Walton Creek Theater, 4101 Walton Creek Road (just East of Mariemont), September 7th through September 23rd, 2012.

Bingham, president of the Quail Valley Country Club, discovers that the golfer he thought would play for his club has switched sides, and the huge bet he had foolishly wagered will likely be lost.

You’ll never look at golf the same way again as this fast-moving farce twists and turns from one laugh surprise to another.

THE FOX ON THE FAIRWAY is directed by Patrick Downey, produced by Norma Niinemets and Cathy Lutts, and features Jay Dallas Benson, Barbara Blum, Ashley Brock, Jason Endicott, Gary Glass and Traci Taylor.

Performances will be at 8:00pm on September 6th (preview), September 7th, September 8th, September 13th, September 14th, September 15th, September 20th and September 21st; at 7:00pm on September 9th; at 2:00pm & 7:00pm on September 16th; at 4:00pm & 8:00pm on September 22nd; and at 2:00pm on September 23rd.

For more information or to order tickets for THE FOX ON THE FAIRWAY, call Betsy at 513.684.1236. All seats are reserved and cost $17 each; non-reserved seats for the preview only are $10 each.

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September 3, 2012 · 11:48 am

BCT Presents MUSICAL CHAIRS Sept. 7-16

The first show of Beavercreek Community Theatre’s 2012-2013 season has the BCT audience watching an audience (on the stage) watching an off Broadway play.

MUSICAL CHAIRS, directed by Matt Owens of Beavercreek, is a light-hearted musical featuring the diverse drama that takes place within the audience.

It runs September 7-16 with 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday performances and 3 p.m. Sunday matinees at Beavercreek Community Theatre, located within the Lofino Center at 3868 Dayton-Xenia Road in Beavercreek.

Playwright Joe Preston, portrayed by Nick Vanderpool of Dayton, has had a long dry spell.

As his producer, played by Suzanne Clabaugh of Belmont, tries to calm his nerves, in walks his ex-wife and TV star Valerie Brooks, played by Katie Blankenship of Dayton, who has no idea that their failed relationship figures into the show’s plot.

To add to Joe’s angst, the audience includes three theater critics portrayed by Krista Stuber of Huber Heights, Daryl Copeland of Dayton and Brian Kester of Beavercreek.

The diverse audience also includes two typical “grey-haired matinee ladies” portrayed by Terry Lupp and Donna Cason, both of Dayton and a married couple that argues constantly, played by Dayton residents Lynn Kesson and Michael Stockstill.

And then there is the anxious young man, played by Jordan Tyler Duvall of Miamisburg, waiting for his date while a club singer, played by Matt Curry of Belmont, tries to impress his date, portrayed by Sydney Lanier of Beavercreek, after bringing her to the show on his motorcycle in the rain.

A few seats away, a newly-wealthy business man, played by Kip Moore of Dayton, endures the “culture” his wife, played by Pam McGinnis of Oakwood, is forcing upon him.

The crew of MUSICAL CHAIRS includes choreographer Katie Kerry of Kettering, pianist Jenn Clark of Beavercreek, stage manager Heather Croley of Kettering, stage assistant Hans Unser of Beavercreek, set designer Chris Harmon of Centerville, lighting designer John Falkenbach of Dayton, lighting assistant Mercedes Warren of Beavercreek, music director Ben Spencer of Riverside, producer Diana Blowers of Beavercreek and costume designers Lora Beaty of Centerville and Noelle Carpenter of Kettering.

Tickets, which are $13 for adults and $11 for students, BCT members and seniors, can be reserved by calling (937) 429-4737 and leaving a message or by emailing boxoffice@bctheatre.org.

For more information, visit the theater’s Web site at http://www.bctheatre.org, where the tickets can be purchased online with a credit card.

Season passes for all seven shows are $78 for an adult or $60 for a senior, student or BCT member while passes for five shows are $59 and $44 respectively and for three shows the pass is $37 and $30.

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