As summer draws to a close and families with schoolage children begin preparing for the coming semester, the leaders of Project REACH are gearing up for their second year of work. The program, which provided intensive college-prep guidance in five Cincinnati Public Schools high schools last year, hopes to expand to two more schools for the 2009-10 year.   

In Julia Cho’s new play Durango is getting its Midwestern premiere at the Cincinnati Playhouse. This fine play not only describes a road trip, but it will make everyone who sees it think about where they might be going. Tuesday-Sunday. Through Oct. 19.   

sciences division into a professional training program at the conservatory. For 15 years, the drama program used Wilson Auditorium as its base, although the facilities left a lot to be desired; with the renovation and expansion of the CCM Village in the late 1990s, the drama program moved into CCM’s main building.