Given the acclaim behind 'Angels in America' and Tony Kushner's continuing reputation as one of our nation's great (if controversial) playwrights, you'd think an ambitious professional theater company in Cincinnati would have staged the work before 2010. But we've only had 'Angels' onstage at CCM and at Falcon Theatre in Newport. Finally, Know Theatre of Cincinnati opens 'Part I: Millennium Approaches' this weekend, while 'Part II: Perestroika' will be added to the run on April 23.  

The ability to predict the end of life on Earth is a mixed blessing for Jules (Joshua Murphy), a character in 'Boom,' the new play by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb opening Know Theatre of Cincinnati's 2009-10 season. Nachtrieb has a good ear for contemporary dialogue, and the actors throw themselves into this absurdist tale with manic energy, as directed by Drew Fracher.  

The landscape of Cincinnati theater has changed since a year ago. As the season starts this week, New Stage Collective is gone and the leaders of Know Theatre of Cincinnati have left, it's Playhouse in the Park's 50th anniversary, ETC has a fresh line-up and Cincinnati Shakespeare Company continues to stage excellent classic material.  

The neighborhood's professional theater companies (Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, Know Theatre of Cincinnati and New Stage Collective) had a thrilling year artistically in 2008. They offered shows that spoke to issues of the day, and they brought tens of thousands of visitors to Over-the-Rhine, most of them the young professional types city leaders seem to covet. For their track record of serving Over-the-Rhine, their dedication to thought-provoking artistic work and their perseverance in face of economic difficulties and general apathy from the powers-that-be, CityBeat names Know's Jason Bruffy, New Stage's Alan Patrick Kenny of Collective and ETC's Lynn Meyers our 2008 Persons of the Year.