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If you're a fan of new plays in Cincinnati, you probably know that heading your list should be ENSEMBLE THEATRE OF CINCINNATI (ETC), where a steady diet of premieres is what the season is all about. A few years back ETC presented a reading of Green Gables by Janet Vogt and Mark Friedman. The musical, based on the popular adolescent novel, Anne of Green Gables, has had several regional productions; its success has led Vogt and Friedman to undertake more projects. And thanks to ETC's Off-Center/On-Stage series, you can get in on the ground floor of another Vogt & Friedman collaboration: WAR GAMES: MARRIAGE ON THE FRONT LINES, an amusing, lyrical look at love as seen by several couples. The cabaret-style show will feature A. BETH HARRIS, BOB HERZOG, SARAH MACKIE, SAMANTHA NORTHRUP, DANNY PERCERFULL and TY YADZINSKI; it's directed by STEPHEN SKILES whose acting credits include the Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival and the Cincinnati Playhouse. War Games opens Thursday evening for a short run; see it by Saturday or you've missed it. Tickets ($10): 513-421-3555.
Want more new work? How about this weekend at Hamilton's Fitton Center for the Creative Arts, where they'll present three scripts chosen as winners in the center's 10th annual one-act competition. From a field of 26 short plays, three have been selected: Things Said Before by Brittany Vandeputte, Those People Next Door by Bill Hilsmier and Cassandra's Journey by Neil Marks.
If you're a fan of new plays in Cincinnati, you probably know that heading your list should be ENSEMBLE THEATRE OF CINCINNATI (ETC), where a steady diet of premieres is what the season is all about. A few years back ETC presented a reading of Green Gables by Janet Vogt and Mark Friedman. The musical, based on the popular adolescent novel, Anne of Green Gables, has had several regional productions; its success has led Vogt and Friedman to undertake more projects. And thanks to ETC's Off-Center/On-Stage series, you can get in on the ground floor of another Vogt & Friedman collaboration: WAR GAMES: MARRIAGE ON THE FRONT LINES, an amusing, lyrical look at love as seen by several couples. The cabaret-style show will feature A. BETH HARRIS, BOB HERZOG, SARAH MACKIE, SAMANTHA NORTHRUP, DANNY PERCERFULL and TY YADZINSKI; it's directed by STEPHEN SKILES whose acting credits include the Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival and the Cincinnati Playhouse. War Games opens Thursday evening for a short run; see it by Saturday or you've missed it. Tickets ($10): 513-421-3555. ...
Want more new work? How about this weekend at Hamilton's Fitton Center for the Creative Arts, where they'll present three scripts chosen as winners in the center's 10th annual one-act competition. From a field of 26 short plays, three have been selected: Things Said Before by Brittany Vandeputte, Those People Next Door by Bill Hilsmier and Cassandra's Journey by Neil Marks. The three scripts are presented as a program on Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., and again Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Fitton's Benninghofen Theatre. Admission ($5) is probably the best deal around. Info: 513-863-8873. ... And if you want to read about other new works of note for the stage, be sure to check out my reviews from the Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville, posted at
 Ensemble Theatre regular a. Beth Harris sings in an Off-Center/On-Stage production of Janet Vogt and Mark Friedman's War Games: Marriage on the Front Lines this weekend.
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If you're a fan of new plays in Cincinnati, you probably know that heading your list should be ENSEMBLE THEATRE OF CINCINNATI (ETC), where a steady diet of premieres is what the season is all about. A few years back ETC presented a reading of Green Gables by Janet Vogt and Mark Friedman. The musical, based on the popular adolescent novel, Anne of Green Gables, has had several regional productions; its success has led Vogt and Friedman to undertake more projects. And thanks to ETC's Off-Center/On-Stage series, you can get in on the ground floor of another Vogt & Friedman collaboration: WAR GAMES: MARRIAGE ON THE FRONT LINES, an amusing, lyrical look at love as seen by several couples. The cabaret-style show will feature A. BETH HARRIS, BOB HERZOG, SARAH MACKIE, SAMANTHA NORTHRUP, DANNY PERCERFULL and TY YADZINSKI; it's directed by STEPHEN SKILES whose acting credits include the Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival and the Cincinnati Playhouse. War Games opens Thursday evening for a short run; see it by Saturday or you've missed it. Tickets ($10): 513-421-3555.
Want more new work? How about this weekend at Hamilton's Fitton Center for the Creative Arts, where they'll present three scripts chosen as winners in the center's 10th annual one-act competition. From a field of 26 short plays, three have been selected: Things Said Before by Brittany Vandeputte, Those People Next Door by Bill Hilsmier and Cassandra's Journey by Neil Marks.
If you're a fan of new plays in Cincinnati, you probably know that heading your list should be ENSEMBLE THEATRE OF CINCINNATI (ETC), where a steady diet of premieres is what the season is all about. A few years back ETC presented a reading of Green Gables by Janet Vogt and Mark Friedman. The musical, based on the popular adolescent novel, Anne of Green Gables, has had several regional productions; its success has led Vogt and Friedman to undertake more projects. And thanks to ETC's Off-Center/On-Stage series, you can get in on the ground floor of another Vogt & Friedman collaboration: WAR GAMES: MARRIAGE ON THE FRONT LINES, an amusing, lyrical look at love as seen by several couples. The cabaret-style show will feature A. BETH HARRIS, BOB HERZOG, SARAH MACKIE, SAMANTHA NORTHRUP, DANNY PERCERFULL and TY YADZINSKI; it's directed by STEPHEN SKILES whose acting credits include the Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival and the Cincinnati Playhouse. War Games opens Thursday evening for a short run; see it by Saturday or you've missed it. Tickets ($10): 513-421-3555. ...
Want more new work? How about this weekend at Hamilton's Fitton Center for the Creative Arts, where they'll present three scripts chosen as winners in the center's 10th annual one-act competition. From a field of 26 short plays, three have been selected: Things Said Before by Brittany Vandeputte, Those People Next Door by Bill Hilsmier and Cassandra's Journey by Neil Marks. The three scripts are presented as a program on Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., and again Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Fitton's Benninghofen Theatre. Admission ($5) is probably the best deal around. Info: 513-863-8873. ... And if you want to read about other new works of note for the stage, be sure to check out my reviews from the Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville, posted at citybeat.com ...
Several of the plays in Louisville were staged without intermissions. Maybe our attention spans are diminishing. More evidence is available in Columbus, where you'll find a whole festival of brief plays at the CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN THEATRE COMPANY (CATCO), where The Shorts Festival 2004 runs through April 25 in the Vern Riffe Center, right across from the Ohio Capitol Building. The program of eight 10-15 minute plays includes SUCKING THE MARROW by Cincinnati playwright MARY TENSING, whose script Ice Floe was presented by ETC five years ago and who has written several shows for the Children's Theatre of Cincinnati. Her script is about Joe and Marsha, for whom no romantic evening is complete with the intrusion of some pesky fantasies. More details at www.catco.org. Tickets: 614-469-0939. ...
If mainstream comedy floats your boat, then you'll be finding your way to Cincinnati's own boat — the SHOWBOAT MAJESTIC, that is. The floating national landmark, moored at Cincinnati's Public Landing, opens its 81st year of theater with Joe Di Pietro's OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS, the tale of grandparents who do their best to prevent their favorite grandson from moving away from his family's hometown. The production features the veteran husband-and-wife acting team of BILL HARTNETT and ELEANOR SHEPHERD; JEFF DEMARIA, playing the conflicted grandson, is a Thomas More College grad who interned at ETC in 2000-2001. Tickets: 513-241-6550. ...
I often mention the success of musical theater graduates from UC's College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), but you should know that CCM's drama program has its own set of noteworthy graduates. TORIE WIGGINS (Class of 2002) has been featured on Spike TV's Crash Test this season, while Diane Uhlenbrock (Class of 1995) played a major role last month in an episode of CSI on CBS. How do CCM grads land these opportunities? For four years they've presented a showcase for agents and producers in New York City. This year for the first time, thanks to the efforts of drama program chairman Richard Hess, they'll also perform in Los Angeles on Monday and Tuesday at Hollywood's Court Theatre. Uhlenbrock, who's done film work with Mel Gibson (What Women Want) and series TV (including last season's Philly with Kim Delaney), says, "The talent coming from CCM will blow the socks off the L.A. industry. It is absolutely the right time for the drama department to come to Los Angeles." EYDIE FAYE (Class of 1999), making her way as an actress and a writer (she has deals with Fox Searchlight and the WB network) says, "My CCM training has been integral to my success in Los Angeles." She plans to invite her manager and representatives from William Morris to one of the sessions. More later, I'm sure. ...
Time to get out your calendar for more theater season information. This week it's NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY (NKU). Let's start with their popular Summer Dinner Theatre which opens with Meshuggah-Nuns! The Ecumenical Nunsense (June 15-27), followed by Neil Simon's classic 1961 comedy, Come Blow Your Horn (July 6-18). Perhaps the summer's most interesting offering will be a new musical by NKU faculty member Ken Jones and others, BurgerTown (July 27-Aug. 8), the tale of a short order cook with a big idea. During the 2004-2005 school year, NKU will present Rodgers & Hart's 1937 classic, Babes in Arms (Sept. 30-Oct. 10); William Inge's 1956 drama, Bus Stop (Oct. 28-Nov.7); Romeo & Juliet (Dec. 2-12); and the Cincinnati premiere of the campy Bat Boy: The Musical (Feb. 17-27, 2005). The year winds up with the biennial Year-End Series (Y.E.S.), a festival of new plays (April 14-24, 2005). Tickets: 859-572-5464
