The familiar story of THE WIZARD OF OZ will come to life onstage this weekend in a production by CHILDREN'S THEATRE OF CINCINNATI. It's directed by Jack Louiso, who will be honored by the Ohio Arts Council a month from now for his contributions to arts in education. The production uses the familiar songs by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg from the movie version of L. Frank Baum's classic story. If you're taking your kids to see Wicked, this is the perfect preparatory outing for a refresher course in the familiar characters — especially the witches and the wizard. Presented at the Taft Theatre Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 5 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets: 513-562-4949. ...
Cincinnati's strong community theater scene is offering ready evidence that it doesn't have to be murder mysteries and The Odd Couple all the time. THE DRAMA WORKSHOP (TDW) is presenting the area's amateur premiere of David Auburn's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, PROOF (Friday through March 4), about the troubled dynamic between a brilliant mathematician and his equally brilliant daughter. TDW productions happen at the Westwood Town Hall; tickets: 513-598-8303. And coming soon is MARIEMONT PLAYERS' staging of another award-winning show, BOOK OF DAYS by Pulitzer Prize winner Lanford Wilson (March 10-26). Set in a quiet Missouri town, it's a story of someone who dies in a bizarre hunting accident (no vice presidents involved) that reveals a web of lies, adultery, theft and vicious community politics. Mariemontproductions are at the Walton Creek Theater just east of Mariemont; tickets: 513-684-1236. ...
If one Shakespeare classic isn't enough for you (CSF is staging Julius Caesar; see page 47 for a review), you can head to Oxford, where the AQUILA THEATRE COMPANY from New York University is offering a touring production of HAMLET at Miami University's Hall Auditorium on Monday and Tuesday evenings. The professional production is part of Shakespeare in American Communities, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts. Tickets: 513-529-3200.
