Tag Archives: New Edgecliff Theatre

Rebecca Whatley & David Roth. Photo by Mikki Schaffner.

New Edgecliff Theatre wraps up its 15th anniversary season with David Auburn’s 2001 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning “Proof.” An examination of family, genius and madness, the play rose almost instantly to the status of contemporary classic. The script primarily focuses on Catherine, a troubled young woman who has spent years caring for her brilliant but unstable father Robert, a famous mathematician. Following his death, she is confronted all at once with her own volatile emotions; the arrival of her estranged sister, Claire; and the attentions of Hal, her father’s former student, who hopes to find something of value in the work Robert left behind. All this, added to the discovery of a mysterious notebook, compels Catherine to consider exactly which of her father’s traits she’s inherited.

Former NET Artistic director Greg Procaccino returns to direct David Roth, Liz Smith, Brandon Wentz, and Rebecca Whatley in this acting-centric play, presented in the appropriately intimate environs of the Aronoff Center’s Fifth Third Bank Theater. Procaccino served as Artistic Director for NET from 2006-10, directing such shows as “Fool for Love”, “Fat Pig”, “[title of show]” and “Cyrano Rehearsed”. He says he’s excited to not only be working once again with New Edgecliff, but also to have a crack at this powerful play. As he puts it, “Being back with New Edge makes me smile. I love the people. They did such great work during my time there – made me look real good.” About “Proof” he says, “It’s a beautiful, haunting play about being haunted by your past – your family – the weaknesses in your family that could lead to a painful discovery. The challenge of the play is to just let these people bump up against each other and let their world play out freely in front of the audience.”

Artistic Director Jim Stump feels that “Proof” not only perfectly epitomizes NET’s mission, but also the theme of the company’s 15th season, “NeXt” by, as he says, “exploring the themes of the legacies passed on from generation to generation. Some are tangible such as homes and property. Some are the result of heredity. And sometimes, it’s difficult to know whether they are a blessing or a curse.”

Proof by David Auburn
Directed by Greg Procaccino
Featuring David Roth, Liz Smith, Brandon Wentz, and Rebecca Whatley
April 17th-20th, Wed-Sat 7:30pm / April 23rd-27th, Tues-Sat 7:30pm
Fifth Third Bank Theater at The Aronoff Center for the Arts (entrance on Main Street at the corner of Seventh Street)
Tickets: $25.25 adults, $20.25 seniors, and $17.25 students
For more information or to purchase your tickets, visit CincinnatiArts.org or call (513) 621-ARTS (2787) #

What: New Edgecliff Theatre’s “Luck of the Irish” Casino Night

When: Saturday March 9, 8:00-11:00 p.m.

Where: The Columbia Center, 3500 Columbia Parkway (at Delta Avenue)

New Edgecliff Theatre continues St. Pat’s Day tradition with its Annual “Luck of the Irish” Casino Night from 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. on Saturday March 9. Enjoy an evening of fun and excitement featuring Black Jack, Poker and Roulette. There will also be a silent auction, a blind raffle and a split-the-pot reverse raffle. Admission includes appetizers, cash bar (wine & beer) and $25 in casino chips. All proceeds benefit New Edgecliff Theatre’s Operating Fund.

The “Luck of the Irish” Casino Night will be held in Columbia Tusculum at The Columbia Center, 3500 Columbia Parkway (at Delta Avenue, across the street from The Precinct). According to New Edgecliff Artistic Director Jim Stump, “Many people take advantage of the wonderful locally owned restaurants in the Columbia Tusculum area before coming to the event. We have six or seven independently owned restaurants within five minutes of both The Columbia Center and our theatre.”

Tickets for “Luck of the Irish” Casino Night are $35 and can be purchased online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/350288 or by calling the box office at 513.399.6638

May the Luck of the Irish be with you!

Shuttle disasters serve as backdrop for
SLOW DESCENT FROM HEAVEN

Brian Berendts, Elizabeth A. Harris, Michael Hall & Sue Breving. Photo by: Mikki Schaffner.

New Edgecliff Theatre continues its transitional 15th season with the premiere of SLOW DESCENT FROM HEAVEN by NET’s Resident Playwright Catie O’Keefe. For this production, NET will travel to the Clifton Cultural Arts Center, where they’ve converted a double-sized classroom space into an intimate 88-seat studio theater.

SLOW DESCENT FROM HEAVEN features former NET Artistic Director Elizabeth A. Harris as Molly, a NASA scientist, whose story is told in reverse chronology, beginning with the Columbia disaster in 2003 and ending with the Challenger disaster 18 years earlier, in 1986. Rounding out the ensemble are Sue Breving, Brian Berendts and Michael Hall.

Ed Cohen, who previously directed “Death of a Salesman” for NET, returns to take on this compelling story. He says, “I love Catie’s use of the Space Shuttle program as a metaphor for relationships, which have the potential for spectacular, magical successes and equally spectacular, but paralyzing failures. Presenting the story in reverse chronological order allows the audience to see how the characters’ behavior – their confusions and doubts – developed out of past events.”

New Edgecliff Artistic Director Jim Stump is happy to see NET’s relationship with O’Keefe culminate with the premiere of a full length play. As he says, “When Catie joined New Edgecliff we were impressed with her work – a contemporary voice with a sense of intrigue that kept audiences looking forward to where the story would take them next. We chose one of her short plays, ‘Darker’, for our return to the Fringe Festival and it received wonderful critical and audience response. And the projects we’ve asked her to work on have always been spot on. I felt strongly that we needed to present a full-length piece by Catie as the next step both for her and for us.”

As for the playwright, O’Keefe says this play represents a very personal response in general to great disasters in human history because, as she puts it, “I feel they bring out some very resounding responses in human nature by which we are humbled in our own limits and existence. When the Columbia disaster occurred I remember watching and feeling so incredibly drawn to the trauma of the event – something that has stuck with me for some time. I’ve always wanted to be able to use that in a play.” Through the character of Molly, O’Keefe examines how our relationships are influenced by external events. “My work often follows the course of a relationship and how it changes and develops in relation to the environment. I felt that Molly was the perfect character to place in an experiment of love, career and life choices sandwiched between the Challenger and Columbia disasters in an attempt to capture the path of this one woman’s journey in relation to such monumental events.”

NET Executive Director and founder Michael Shooner adds, “We’re very excited to have Ed Cohen directing Catie’s very honest, human play in such an innovative and intimate setting. The folks at the Clifton Cultural Arts Center have been quite accommodating in allowing us to transform this space. All in all, it should make for a memorable night of theatre.”

Intended for mature audiences only.

SLOW DESCENT FROM HEAVEN
February 20–23 (Wed-Sat) and February 26–March 2 (Tues-Sat), 7:30pm.
Clifton Cultural Arts Center, 3711 Clifton Avenue
Tickets: $23 adults, $18 seniors, and $15 students
For more information or to purchase your tickets, visit newedgecliff.com or call (513) 399-6638

Holiday standard matched with regional premiere

New Edgecliff Theatre has once again re-invented its annual antidote to the holidays, this year pairing David Sedaris’ one-man one-act, “The Santaland Diaries” with the regional premiere of Ginna Hoben’s one-woman one-act, “The 12 Dates of Christmas”.

This year’s remount of “The Santaland Diaries” will feature Brian Griffin, who’s been seen at NET previously as Cyrano in “Cyrano: Rehearsed”. Other recent Cincinnati acting roles include Ted in “Collapse” at Know Theatre, Felix Ungar in “The Odd Couple” at the Carnegie Performance Center, and Gooper in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Covedale.

As most know by now, “The Santaland Diaries” chronicles the real-life observations of renowned NPR commentator and memoirist Sedaris as he encounters crazed Santas, obnoxious parents and queasy children, while working his first New York job – as one of Santa’s Elves – in the very nexus of commercial Christmas and Holiday Cheer, Macy’s Santaland.

After intermission, Ginna Hoben’s “The 12 Dates of Christmas” traces the dating travails of Mary. After she 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. Eric Minton of Shakespeareances.com has written, “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.” Featuring Annie Kalahurka, whose local credits include “The Odd Couple” at The Carnegie, as well as “The Dragon”, “Abraham Lincoln’s Big Gay Dance Party”, “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson” and “Sideways Stories from Wayside School” with Know Theatre.

Directing both pieces will be Lewis Magruder, founder and producing artistic director for Broad Horizons Theatre Company, which develops and promotes new works in New York City. For Broad Horizons, Lewis has directed the critically acclaimed “Evensong”, an award-winning revival of “Cloud 9” (with Ty Burrell), numerous readings and workshops of new works, and more. Other favorite directing credits include Asolo Theatre, in Sarasota; English-American Theatre in Düsseldorf, Germany; Pennsylvania Center Stage in State College, Pennsylvania; Metropolitan Opera summer opera program for young singers in Tel Aviv; and Rutgers University. In addition, until recently, he was associate artistic director of Tony Honoree The Acting Company in New York City. He currently is an assistant professor of theatre at Miami University.

New Edgecliff Artistic Director Jim Stump says, “When I read Ginna’s script, it seemed as though it was written to be paired with “Santaland”. Featuring two solid actors and Lewis Magruder’s direction, this should prove to be a Christmas match made in heaven!”

NET Executive Director and founder Michael Shooner adds, “We’re very much looking forward to our return, in our 15th season, to the Fifth Third Bank Theater at the Aronoff – where our wildly successful first production of “The Santaland Diaries” was mounted in 2001. With Brian as our sixth Crumpet the Elf and adding Annie in “The 12 Dates”, this promises to be our best Christmas ever.”

Intended for mature audiences only.

The Santaland Diaries and The 12 Dates of Christmas
November 29 – December 8, Wed-Sat, 7:30pm. With Saturday matinees, 2:00pm
Pay-What-You-Can Preview, Wed. Nov 28, 7:30pm
Fifth Third Bank Theater at The Aronoff Center for the Arts (entrance on Main Street at the corner of Seventh Street)
Tickets: $25.25 adults, $20.25 seniors, and $18.25 students.
For more information or to purchase your tickets, visit CincinnatiArts.org or call (513) 621-ARTS (2787)