Tag Archives: Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park

New Mainstage Theatre to be Named for Moe and Jack Rouse

CINCINNATI (April 29, 2019) — Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park Capital Campaign Co-Chairmen Woody Taft and Rob Reifsnyder announced today that the new mainstage theatre will be named for Moe and Jack Rouse, thanks to a gift of $5 million. The newly christened “Moe and Jack’s Place – The Rouse Theatre” will replace the Marx Theatre, the oldest, un-renovated mainstage facility at any regional theatre in the country.

“Moe and Jack’s leadership and generosity laid the groundwork for the fantastic progress we continue to make on the campaign,” says Reifsnyder.

The Rouses are major supporters of the Playhouse. They have been production sponsors for nine years and are presenting co-sponsors of August Wilson’s Two Trains Running and next season’s The Lifespan of a Fact. Jack Rouse has served on the Playhouse Board of Trustees for 18 seasons and was President twice, most recently from 2016 to 2018. He currently serves as Board Chair.

In addition, they are both active in a number of volunteer leadership positions in the community. Moe Rouse founded Mannequin, a clothing boutique in Over the Rhine that benefits eight local charities: FreeStore Foodbank, Lighthouse Youth Services, La Soupe, Wesley Chapel, First Step Home, Caracole, Tender Mercies and UCAN Spay/Neuter. She has served on the boards of the Red Cross, Cincinnati Ballet, WGUC, Film Commission and the Contemporary Arts Center. Jack Rouse currently serves on the boards of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and ArtsWave.

“Jack and I met doing theatre together and have a long-abiding love of the Playhouse,” says Moe Rouse. “Making this gift is our way of sharing the joy of live theatre with the community. We want the new mainstage theatre to be a friendly, accessible place that brings all types of people together.”

The new mainstage theatre complex, including the Rouse Theatre, is anticipated to open in late 2022. This is later than the previously projected opening date of late 2021.

“We anticipate breaking ground in 2020. It’s a very complex project – building on a hill and working around our schedule of productions,” says Playhouse Artistic Director Blake Robison.  “We’re committed to our home site in beautiful Eden Park, and we want to minimize disruptions to our patrons.”

In the meantime, the capital project has already begun with the renovation of the Rosenthal Shelterhouse Theatre scheduled for this summer. This first phase will be completed and ready for the opening of the 2019-20 season in September. Patrons can expect more leg room, comfortable new seats, and improved accessibility to the Playhouse’s beloved, original space.

The new mainstage theatre complex includes the Rouse Theatre and support facilities such as new dressing rooms, rehearsal rooms, green rooms, costume shop and backstage areas. It will expand what can be done on stage with state-of-the art theatre technology. The new theatre will also enhance the audience experience with better comfort, sightlines, acoustics and entry/exit.

The Playhouse is supported by the generosity of almost 40,000 contributors to the ArtsWave Community campaign. The Ohio Arts Council helps fund the Playhouse with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. The Playhouse also receives funding from the Shubert Foundation.

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World-premiere comedy TINY HOUSES explores what happens when our world begins to shrink

CINCINNATI—Can tiny equal happy? World-premiere comedy TINY HOUSES explores this question beginning May 4 in the Shelterhouse Theatre as four young adults attempt to build a 200-square foot home. With support from The Rosenthal Family Foundation, season sponsor of new work, the play runs through June 2. Opening night is May 9.

Finding meaning through minimalism is easier said than done, as the characters in TINY HOUSES learn through a series of amusingly awkward missteps in their attempt to build a tiny house, which is constructed on stage over the course of the play.

“Whenever possible in the theatre, I like to see actors actually doing a thing instead of making a gesture toward doing the thing,” explains award-winning playwright Chelsea Marcantel. “Live theatre is the one entertainment avenue in which we really have the capacity to still be impressed and awed…to see an unexpected thing happening in real time in the same room we’re in, that’s truly wonderful.”

With witty dialogue, colloquial language and references to digital behaviors and lifestyles, the play centers around Bodhi and Cath, a couple who has recently uprooted their lives, moving from New York to Oregon. They plan to build and move into a tiny house together in the backyard of Bodhi’s friend, Ollie, who makes a living selling haunted dolls on eBay. Bodhi’s childhood sweetheart, Jeyne, a YouTube star, and Jeremiah, a level-headed construction consultant, round out the millennial cast of characters.

“I think there’s a real millennial spirit around what qualifies as work for the characters. They’re all disillusioned with white-collar “real” jobs — sitting in an office 40 hours a week pushing paper and not really making or moving anything that feels tangible,” said Marcantel. “There’s a glorification and yearning for manual labor, for meaningful work, that I think a lot of people of this generation feel. There’s also the constant consultation of and comparison to people on social media and the internet that’s a brand-new twist for millennials.”

In 2018, Marcantel received the M. Elizabeth Osborn New Play Award from the American Theatre Critics Association for her contemporary comedy, Airness. The award recognizes notable, emerging playwrights, and it is presented at the Humana Festival of New Plays. Marcantel was also recently inducted as a member of the Kilroys, a collective of playwrights, performers, producers and directors who advocate for the voices of female, trans and non-binary playwrights.

TINY HOUSES is a co-production with Cleveland Play House and will be directed by Cleveland Play House’s Artistic Director Laura Kepley, who grew up in Cincinnati.

For more information on TINY HOUSES, click here.

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SPONSORS

The Production Sponsor is Sue Friedlander. Design Sponsors is Jeb and Nirvani Head. Artist Sponsor is Mossbarger, Deimling and Moler Financial Strategies Group of Janney Montgomery Scott, LLC. The Season Sponsor and Season Design Sponsors are Heidelberg Distributing Company and Allan Berliant and Jennie Rosenthal Berliant Family Fund. The Season Sponsor of New Work is The Rosenthal Family Foundation.

The Playhouse is supported by the generosity of almost 40,000 contributors to the ArtsWave Community campaign. The Ohio Arts Council helps fund the Playhouse with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. The Playhouse also receives funding from the Shubert Foundation.

CAST

Michael Doherty (Ollie); Kate Eastman (Cath); Peter Hargrave (Bodhi); James Holloway (Jeremiah); Nandita Shenoy (Jevne)

PRODUCTION

Chelsea Marcantel (Playwright); Laura Kepley (Director) Arnulfo Maldonado (Set Designer); Amy Clark (Costume Designer); Elizabeth Mak (Lighting Designer); Daniel Perelstein (Sound Designer); Paul Davis, CSA, Calleri Casting (Casting Director); Jenifer Morrow (Production Stage Manager).Co-produced with Cleveland Play House.

TICKETS

TINY HOUSES is suitable for adults and teenage audiences. The play contains some strong adult language, alcohol use, hipster slang and low-key millennial malaise.

Performances will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, at 8 p.m. Fridays, 4 and 8 p.m. Saturdays and 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. An additional matinee takes place at 1 p.m. on May 29. Individual tickets start at just $35. Tickets to all 7 p.m. Sunday performances are priced at just $10 for college students with a valid school ID. Student tickets are $15 on the day of the show for all other performances. Discounted ticket prices for teens are available for all performances and are $30.

Tickets can be purchased by visiting the Playhouse website at www.cincyplay.com or by calling the Box Office at 513-421-3888 or 800-582-3208 toll-free in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. For TDD (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf) access, call 513-345-2248. The Playhouse is fully accessible.

SPECIAL EVENTS

PREVIEW PERFORMANCES
May 4, 8 p.m. | May 5, 7 p.m. | May 7, 7:30 p.m. | May 8, 7:30 p.m.
Be among the first to see the show before opening night and save! Preview performance tickets are discounted and begin at just $35.

OPENING NIGHT
May 9, 7:30 p.m.
Share the excitement of Thursday opening nights with a lively post-show cast party with complimentary hors d’oeuvres by Vonderhaar’s Catering.

MEET THE ARTISTS
May 12, 2 p.m. | May 19, 2 p.m. | May 22, 7:30 p.m. | May 30, 7:30 p.m.
Stay after select performances for a behind-the-scenes discussion with the cast and crew of TINY HOUSES.

PRIDE NIGHT
Friday, May 31, 6:30 p.m.
The fifth annual Playhouse Pride event is hosted by program co-chairs Jim Conway and Julia Wesselkemper. This festive evening includes pre- and post-show music, refreshments and a celebration of inclusion. A portion of the proceeds benefits Safe and Supported, a nonprofit that works to prevent and end LGBTQIA youth homelessness in Hamilton County.
The full PRIDE package includes the following:

• Pre-show cocktail reception with open bar in the Rosenthal Plaza at 6:30 p.m.
• Performance of Tiny Houses in the Shelterhouse Theatre at 8 p.m. in Center or Side A (seating based on availability)
• Post-show reception with music and open bar in the Rosenthal Plaza
• Cost: $90 per person (or $35 upgrade with a subscription ticket)

ACCESS

The Playhouse is fully accessible. Large print programs and hearing enhancement receivers are available upon request.