Of course, the Cincinnati Fringe Festival is under way, with more than 30 of its 41 primary productions opening this week. As in the past, CityBeat has assembled a team of critics who are catching the first performance of each show and writing reviews for the website’s Fringe hub. It’s your chance to choose a few shows that sound interesting and head to Over-the-Rhine for an evening of creativity. Need some recommendations? I can second Bart Bishop’s Critic’s Pick for God of Obsidian; I saw it and found myself squirming uncomfortably as a domineering man turns a love affair into a nightmare of manipulation. Writer Sue Cohen assigned a pick to Bil Lepp’s Totally Untrue Stories, tall tales by a five-time winner of the West Virginia Liars’ Contest. At least two more Critic’s Picks resulted from Thursday evening’s shows: Paul Strickland’s Balls of Yarns and the performance piece Place/Setting by Cincinnati-based Pones, Inc.; look for reviews online later today. Check out all the info about the Fringe at http://www.cincyfringe.com.
If you prefer more traditional fare, I recommend heading to the Warsaw Federal Incline Theater for Damn Yankees, a 1955 musical about a guy who risks his soul to help his favorite baseball team have a winning season. With lots of great tunes — including “You Gotta Have Heart” — and some fine choreography, this production is the kind of audience-pleasing show that’s Cincinnati Landmark Productions’ bread and butter. I gave this production a Critic’s Pick in the current issue. Tickets: 513-241-6550.
Audiences are certainly being pleased and entertained by the Cincinnati Playhouse’s production of Erma Bombeck: At Wit’s End, the entertaining one-woman show about the legendary newspaper columnist from Dayton. It’s been extended for another week, so you have until June 24 to see it. Tickets: 513-421-3888.
Opening this weekend is something new from the Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati: A long run of a show for kids at its new facility at 4015 Red Bank Road in Hyde Park. Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat opens today and offers a total of 36 performances on Fridays (10 a.m. and 7 p.m.), Saturdays (noon and 5 p.m.) and Sundays (2 and 5 p.m.) through July 9. It’s being presented in the company’s 152-seat performance space. Tickets: 800-745-3000.
Rick Pender’s STAGE DOOR blog appears here every Friday. Find more theater reviews and feature stories here.
This article appears in May 31 – Jun 7, 2017.
