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I always look forward to this time of year, when new seasons are being announced and journalistic elbows start flying over who has the information first: The actual productions are months away, so it really doesn’t matter. But it is fun to imagine what’s going to stand out next season. Odds are always good for several shows at UC’s COLLEGE-CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC (CCM) to be memorable: My bets for the 2004-2005 season include Bertolt Brecht’s Life of Galileo (Oct. 28-31), directed by CEA Lifetime Achievement Award-winner MICHAEL BURNHAM and Stephen Sondheim’s less frequently seen Merrily We Roll Along (Feb. 24-March 6, 2005), staged by NICK MANGANO, who trains directors (and who has staged several memorable CCM productions). We’ll also get to see some cross-disciplinary work as drama chair RICHARD HESS directs a musical theater production, Lerner and Loewe’s classic, Brigadoon (Nov. 18-21); AUBREY BERG, who manages the musical theater majors, returns the favor by staging Paul Foster’s intriguing Elizabeth I (April 21-24), a piece about the queen who reigned over Shakespeare’s Britain, seen briefly on Broadway in the spring of 1972. CCM also announced the free shows that will be produced in the Cohen Family Studio Theater: Elegies: A Song Cycle (Oct. 21-24) by William Finn (who wrote Falsettos); Quills (Nov. 4-6), Doug Wright’s piece about the Marquis de Sade in prison; Imaginary Circum-stances: Scenes by Shakespeare, Molière and Friends (Feb. 17-20, 2005); the musical Sideshow (March 10-12, 2005) about a pair of Siamese twins; Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls (April 28-30, 2005), and the musical Is There Life After High School? (May 12-14, 2005). Info: 513-556-4183.
Since you’re already plugging dates into your Palm Pilots, here are some more: At NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY, the 2004 SUMMER DINNER THEATRE kicks off in a few weeks. This year’s productions are Meshuggah-Nuns! The Ecumenical Nunsense (June 15-27), Neil Simon’s Come Blow Your Horn (July 6-18) and a new musical comedy, Burgertown (July 27-August 8).
I always look forward to this time of year, when new seasons are being announced and journalistic elbows start flying over who has the information first: The actual productions are months away, so it really doesn’t matter. But it is fun to imagine what’s going to stand out next season. Odds are always good for several shows at UC’s COLLEGE-CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC (CCM) to be memorable: My bets for the 2004-2005 season include Bertolt Brecht’s Life of Galileo (Oct. 28-31), directed by CEA Lifetime Achievement Award-winner MICHAEL BURNHAM and Stephen Sondheim’s less frequently seen Merrily We Roll Along (Feb. 24-March 6, 2005), staged by NICK MANGANO, who trains directors (and who has staged several memorable CCM productions). We’ll also get to see some cross-disciplinary work as drama chair RICHARD HESS directs a musical theater production, Lerner and Loewe’s classic, Brigadoon (Nov. 18-21); AUBREY BERG, who manages the musical theater majors, returns the favor by staging Paul Foster’s intriguing Elizabeth I (April 21-24), a piece about the queen who reigned over Shakespeare’s Britain, seen briefly on Broadway in the spring of 1972. CCM also announced the free shows that will be produced in the Cohen Family Studio Theater: Elegies: A Song Cycle (Oct. 21-24) by William Finn (who wrote Falsettos); Quills (Nov. 4-6), Doug Wright’s piece about the Marquis de Sade in prison; Imaginary Circum-stances: Scenes by Shakespeare, Molière and Friends (Feb. 17-20, 2005); the musical Sideshow (March 10-12, 2005) about a pair of Siamese twins; Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls (April 28-30, 2005), and the musical Is There Life After High School? (May 12-14, 2005). Info: 513-556-4183. …
Since you’re already plugging dates into your Palm Pilots, here are some more: At NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY, the 2004 SUMMER DINNER THEATRE kicks off in a few weeks. This year’s productions are Meshuggah-Nuns! The Ecumenical Nunsense (June 15-27), Neil Simon’s Come Blow Your Horn (July 6-18) and a new musical comedy, Burgertown (July 27-August 8). The latter has a book by KEN JONES, who teaches at NKU and who will direct the production. Most performances are at 8 p.m., with dinner served at 6:30 p.m. (on Sundays dinner is at 5 p.m. with the show at 6:30 p.m.). Tickets: 859-572-5464. …
OVATION THEATRE COMPANY still has a show this summer to finish its current season: Noel Coward’s Fallen Angels (July 30-Aug. 7, at the Aronoff’s Fifth Third Bank Theater), features two accomplished Cincinnati actresses, SUNSHINE CAPPELLETTI and CORINNE MOHLENHOFF. Next season, Ovation will offer a varied selection of works — “something for everyone,” according to Artistic Director JOE STOLLENWERK, who points out that Ovation focuses on scripts Cincinnati has not seen previously. The season begins with a stage adaptation of Stephen King’s Misery by Simon Moore (Oct. 1-16). Ovation found last year’s production of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Nov. 26-Dec. 4) to be so successful, they’ve moved it from the small Fifth Third Bank Theater to the Aronoff’s larger Jarson-Kaplan Theater. Next spring the group will make its first foray into the works of Shakespeare, staging Macbeth (April 1-16, 2005); and Ovation’s Summer 2005 show will be The Water Children by Wendy MacLeod, playwright of The House of Yes, which the group staged several seasons back. Info:
I always look forward to this time of year, when new seasons are being announced and journalistic elbows start flying over who has the information first: The actual productions are months away, so it really doesn’t matter. But it is fun to imagine what’s going to stand out next season. Odds are always good for several shows at UC’s COLLEGE-CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC (CCM) to be memorable: My bets for the 2004-2005 season include Bertolt Brecht’s Life of Galileo (Oct. 28-31), directed by CEA Lifetime Achievement Award-winner MICHAEL BURNHAM and Stephen Sondheim’s less frequently seen Merrily We Roll Along (Feb. 24-March 6, 2005), staged by NICK MANGANO, who trains directors (and who has staged several memorable CCM productions). We’ll also get to see some cross-disciplinary work as drama chair RICHARD HESS directs a musical theater production, Lerner and Loewe’s classic, Brigadoon (Nov. 18-21); AUBREY BERG, who manages the musical theater majors, returns the favor by staging Paul Foster’s intriguing Elizabeth I (April 21-24), a piece about the queen who reigned over Shakespeare’s Britain, seen briefly on Broadway in the spring of 1972. CCM also announced the free shows that will be produced in the Cohen Family Studio Theater: Elegies: A Song Cycle (Oct. 21-24) by William Finn (who wrote Falsettos); Quills (Nov. 4-6), Doug Wright’s piece about the Marquis de Sade in prison; Imaginary Circum-stances: Scenes by Shakespeare, Molière and Friends (Feb. 17-20, 2005); the musical Sideshow (March 10-12, 2005) about a pair of Siamese twins; Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls (April 28-30, 2005), and the musical Is There Life After High School? (May 12-14, 2005). Info: 513-556-4183.
Since you’re already plugging dates into your Palm Pilots, here are some more: At NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY, the 2004 SUMMER DINNER THEATRE kicks off in a few weeks. This year’s productions are Meshuggah-Nuns! The Ecumenical Nunsense (June 15-27), Neil Simon’s Come Blow Your Horn (July 6-18) and a new musical comedy, Burgertown (July 27-August 8).
I always look forward to this time of year, when new seasons are being announced and journalistic elbows start flying over who has the information first: The actual productions are months away, so it really doesn’t matter. But it is fun to imagine what’s going to stand out next season. Odds are always good for several shows at UC’s COLLEGE-CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC (CCM) to be memorable: My bets for the 2004-2005 season include Bertolt Brecht’s Life of Galileo (Oct. 28-31), directed by CEA Lifetime Achievement Award-winner MICHAEL BURNHAM and Stephen Sondheim’s less frequently seen Merrily We Roll Along (Feb. 24-March 6, 2005), staged by NICK MANGANO, who trains directors (and who has staged several memorable CCM productions). We’ll also get to see some cross-disciplinary work as drama chair RICHARD HESS directs a musical theater production, Lerner and Loewe’s classic, Brigadoon (Nov. 18-21); AUBREY BERG, who manages the musical theater majors, returns the favor by staging Paul Foster’s intriguing Elizabeth I (April 21-24), a piece about the queen who reigned over Shakespeare’s Britain, seen briefly on Broadway in the spring of 1972. CCM also announced the free shows that will be produced in the Cohen Family Studio Theater: Elegies: A Song Cycle (Oct. 21-24) by William Finn (who wrote Falsettos); Quills (Nov. 4-6), Doug Wright’s piece about the Marquis de Sade in prison; Imaginary Circum-stances: Scenes by Shakespeare, Molière and Friends (Feb. 17-20, 2005); the musical Sideshow (March 10-12, 2005) about a pair of Siamese twins; Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls (April 28-30, 2005), and the musical Is There Life After High School? (May 12-14, 2005). Info: 513-556-4183. …
Since you’re already plugging dates into your Palm Pilots, here are some more: At NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY, the 2004 SUMMER DINNER THEATRE kicks off in a few weeks. This year’s productions are Meshuggah-Nuns! The Ecumenical Nunsense (June 15-27), Neil Simon’s Come Blow Your Horn (July 6-18) and a new musical comedy, Burgertown (July 27-August 8). The latter has a book by KEN JONES, who teaches at NKU and who will direct the production. Most performances are at 8 p.m., with dinner served at 6:30 p.m. (on Sundays dinner is at 5 p.m. with the show at 6:30 p.m.). Tickets: 859-572-5464. …
OVATION THEATRE COMPANY still has a show this summer to finish its current season: Noel Coward’s Fallen Angels (July 30-Aug. 7, at the Aronoff’s Fifth Third Bank Theater), features two accomplished Cincinnati actresses, SUNSHINE CAPPELLETTI and CORINNE MOHLENHOFF. Next season, Ovation will offer a varied selection of works — “something for everyone,” according to Artistic Director JOE STOLLENWERK, who points out that Ovation focuses on scripts Cincinnati has not seen previously. The season begins with a stage adaptation of Stephen King’s Misery by Simon Moore (Oct. 1-16). Ovation found last year’s production of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Nov. 26-Dec. 4) to be so successful, they’ve moved it from the small Fifth Third Bank Theater to the Aronoff’s larger Jarson-Kaplan Theater. Next spring the group will make its first foray into the works of Shakespeare, staging Macbeth (April 1-16, 2005); and Ovation’s Summer 2005 show will be The Water Children by Wendy MacLeod, playwright of The House of Yes, which the group staged several seasons back. Info: www.cincinnatiovation.com
Mini Reviews
THE CINCINNATI PLAYHOUSE IN THE PARK is presenting Mr. Roberts, the script that won the first-ever Best Play Tony Award 56 years ago, back in 1948. That was a long time ago, and this reincarnation is a lusterless, tired and fragmented conclusion to the 2003-04 Marx mainstage season. The a play is about the terminal boredom that can beset men serving in the backwaters of a war. The script sounds perfect for a balanced, clock-worked, ensemble cast performance. But it isn’t. It’s a ’40s script that needs a star and this production doesn’t deliver. (TOM MCELFESH) Grade: C+
This article appears in May 26 – Jun 1, 2004.
