Tag Archives: The Drama Workshop

TDW’s Office of Special Projects Adds Fifth Show to 2012-2013 Season

The Drama Workshop’s Office of Special Projects is adding a fifth show to the TDW 2012-2013 season! “Jerry Finnegan’s Sister” will be directed by Ray Persing, and co-produced by Ray Persing and Gretchen Gantner.

Brian Dowd is 23 years old, and has had a mammoth crush on his best friend’s sister Beth for most of his life. In the play, Brian takes the audience members in as his confidants, telling them that he has just heard that Beth Finnegan is going to be married, and ushers them through a number of incidents in his life, such as they are, with the breathtaking dynamo who lives on the other side of his driveway. He also tells them that, before the evening is out, he will finally, finally tell her how he feels about her. The actors play the characters as children, adolescents, teens, and young adults, culminating in the moment when Brian finally tells Beth how he feels!

Show dates are January 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 27, 2013; Friday and Saturday curtains are at 8 pm; Sunday matinees are at 2 pm.

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TDW Announces Inaugural Season at Glenmore Playhouse

The Drama Workshop is thrilled to announce its opening season at Cincinnati’s newest theatre venue, The Glenmore Playhouse, 3716 Glenmore Avenue. TDW is excited to have outstanding production teams for all its shows this year, featuring award-winning directors, producers, and designers who will be sure to continue the standards of theater excellence that is a hallmark of  a TDW production.

The season will open in October with Snoopy: The Musical, by Larry Grossman and Hal Hackady, book by Warren Lockhart, Arthur Whitelaw, and Michael Grace. The show will be directed by Dennis Murphy, with musical direction by Linda Abbott, and produced by Gretchen Gantner. This lighthearted, musical romp through the Peanuts canon features Charlie Brown, Sally, Lucy, Linus, Peppermint Patty, Woodstock, and, of course, Snoopy! The London publication What’s On Stage reviewer wrote, “…this is a show for all ages and all seasons – and as a sunny summer’s entertainment, could hardly be bettered.” This will be the first show produced at The Glenmore Playhouse. Show dates are October 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, and 21, 2012.

In December, TDW will present the classic comedy, The Man Who Came to Dinner, by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, directed by Amy Hamilton and produced by Mary Stone. Set in the 1930’s, famously outlandish radio wit Sheridan Whiteside is invited to dine at the home of a small-town Ohio factory owner and his family. However, before Whiteside enters the house, he slips on a patch of ice outside the front door and injures his hip. Whiteside is forced to remain at the home indefinitely, and in the process of recovering alternately terrorizes the family and household staff, meddles in the love-life of his long-suffering assistant, Maggie, and endears himself to the rest of the community. Show dates are December 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16 and 17, 2012.

March will see John Patrick Shanley’s 2005 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, Doubt, A Parable; it will be headed up by director Michael L. Morehead, and produced by Ray Persing. Doubt is set in a Bronx Catholic school in 1964, where a strong-minded nun wrestles with conscience and uncertainty as she is faced with concerns about one of her male colleagues. Should she voice her concern about one of the priests even if she is not totally certain about the truth? “Blunt yet subtle, manipulative but full of empathy for all sides, the play is set in 1964 but could not be more timely. Doubt is a lean, potent drama…passionate, exquisite, important and engrossing.” Linda Winer, Newsday. Because of strong subject material, TDW does not recommend this production for children not yet in high school. Show dates are March 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, and 24, 2013.

Finally, closing the season in late April will be another classic comedy, Neil Simon’s Barefoot in the Park, directed by Dan Cohen. A conservative young lawyer and his irrepressible bride struggle with marital discord after the ecstasy of the honeymoon gives way to the reality of setting up housekeeping in a five-flight walk-up. Throw in an emotionally repressed mother-in-law, a bohemian upstairs neighbor, and a bottle of Ouzo, and you end up with a laugh-a-minute comedy that will keep you in stitches! Show dates are April 26, 27, and 28, and May 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, and 12, 2013.

Friday and Saturday performances are at 8 pm, Sunday matinees will be at 2 pm.

For additional information, contact Gretchen Gantner at 513.470.5516, or at groose1876@aol.com.

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TDW Fundraiser at City Barbecue on March 10

Do you love good barbeque? Do you love community theater? Have you often wondered how to merge those two loves together? Well folks, look no further! Now you can enjoy amazing BBQ and raise money for The Drama Workshop at the same time!

On Saturday, March 10th, dine in or carry out your meal from the City Barbeque at 6475 Glenway Avenue, and The Drama Workshop will get 25 percent of your total purchase amount. All you have to do is hand over our special TDW flyer to the cashier when you pay—it’s that easy! The more pulled pork and corn pudding you eat, the more money we get: it’s a win-win! Flyers will be available at all Tally & Son shows at Westwood Town Hall, at The Glenmore Playhouse, emailed to our membership, and posted on our website at www.thedramaworkshop.org/tdw_news/TDW_City_BBQ_Flyer.pdf.

This is an easy way to raise money and support The Drama Workshop as we continue to renovate our new home.

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TALLEY & SON runs March 2-10

TALLEY & SON
Presented by The Drama Workshop
March 2-10 
Westwood

The time is Independence Day, 1944, the place the parlor of the Talley homestead in Lebanon, Missouri. As World War II rages across the seas, the Talleys are beset with crises of a different sort. Slipping into senility, the elder Mr. Talley still has flashes of explosive lucidity, when he schemes to dispose of the local bank among heirs of his own choice, and berates his charming but spineless son, Eldon, for considering the sale of the family garment business to an eastern conglomerate. Also involved in the bickering are Eldon’s long-suffering wife, Netta; their son, Buddy, who is home on leave from the Army; his vapid wife, Olive; and Eldon’s sister, Charlotte, a defiantly free spirit who is suffering the fatal effects of radium poisoning. And, commenting on the action, unseen by the others, is the “ghost” of the second son, Timmy, already a casualty of the Pacific war, although the family has not yet learned of his death. In the end the petty antagonisms, scandals and selfishness which infuse the play are their own reward, and we are aware that a dynasty built by hard work and clear if conniving vision is about to be dismantled by lesser men who have inherited the property, but not the character, of their predecessors.

Directed by Michael L. Morehead
Produced by Elaine Volker

Cast: Tony Bergman as Timmy, Michael Ireland as Buddy, Arny Stoller as Talley, Greg Schlairet as Eldon, Josh Roden as Emmet, Jason Cox as Harley, Rusty Lacy as Sally, Gretchen Gantner as Lottie, Kasmira Kit as Viola, Nancy Rzonca as Netta, Natasha Boeckmann as Avalaine & Julia Schaulin as Olive

  • Fri-Sat, March 2-3 at 8pm
  • Sun, March 4 at 3pm
  • Thu-Fri, March 8-9 at 8pm
  • Sat, March 10 at 3pm & 8pm

Official page | Online ticketing | FaceBook event | Goldstar discount | Living Social deal |

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Last Bowl at Glenmore on Jan. 21

There will be a final night of bowling at the former Glenmore Bowl, 3716 Glenmore Ave, Cheviot, on Saturday, Jan 21, 2012, starting at 7 pm and running until 1 am.

There will be a cover charge of $10 for admission, with an additional $5 charge for the opportunity to bowl one last time. This is the day to share one final bowling experience with others who also have a soft spot in their heart for the Glenmore Bowl. All proceeds from the evening will benefit The Drama Workshop.

A selection of memorabilia from the Glenmore Bowl will also be made available through a silent auction which will run from 7 pm until 11 pm. The auction will include items from Glenmore’s history, like chairs, lockers, scoring tables, lane surface panels, pins, trophies, and much more.

The Glenmore Bowl was purchased by The Drama Workshop in November 2010 with plans to turn the building into The Glenmore Playhouse. The community theater will begin producing 4 to 5 shows a year, opening in October 2012.

The lanes will be oiled one last time, by Glenmore’s own Jeff Horstman, whose family owned the Glenmore Bowl for many years. The pinsetters are gone, but there will be volunteer pin boys and girls setting pins and returning balls. It is not recommended that serious bowlers bring their good equipment. There is a selection of house balls available, so either bring something old of your own or just use something off the rack.

Please come to Glenmore one last time, to bowl, to drink, to honor this fine west-side institution before she transforms into the fabulous theater we eagerly anticipate.

For additional information, please contact Gretchen Gantner, 513-470-5516.

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