Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)

During the great depression of the 1930s the U. S. government attempted to stir up the economy by creating various works projects.  One of the organizations developed was the Federal Theatre Project.  It hired directors, actors and technicians to produce theatrical productions that charged low to no-cost for admission.  Many of these were new scripts, and employed out-of-work and emerging artists to …more…

“We’ve  come a long way baby”—no, not quite…””Ancestra”” @ CPT

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association & Cleveland Critics Circle)

Watching Cleveland Public Theatre’s “Ancestra” is both an enlightening and a depressing experience.  Depressing in that the play adds yet another layer to the still on-going tale of the fight for women’s equality in what was and in many ways still is a conservative white man’s world.  In spite of progress, such …more…

Baldwin Wallace Music Theatre Program’s Ciara Renée makes it big on Broadway

Roy Berko

(Member:  Cleveland Critics Circle, American Theatre Critics Association)

On April 1, Ciara Renée strutted on stage at the Music Box Theatre on West 45th Street as The Leading Player in PIPPIN.  She became one of seventeen Baldwin Wallace Music Theatre Program graduates to appear in a Broadway, Off-Broadway or National Touring company during the 2013-2014 season.

Yes, tiny Baldwin Wallace …more…

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association and Cleveland Critics Circle)

The Cleveland area has a full schedule of summer theatre entertainment.   Here are some of the upcoming stagings:

THEATRE OFFERINGS

PORTHOUSE THEATRE  Kent State University’s summer theatre, performed on the grounds of Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, will present

•MY FAIR LADY, June 18-28 (two-piano musical adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s PYGMALION),

•STARMITES, July 3-19 (musical adventure fantasy in which humans and heroes …more…

“Bathroom Humor” flushes at Blank Canvas

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)

Before the lights went up on Blank Canvas’s production of “Bathroom Humor,” the couple sitting to my right and I carried on an animated conversation about which they thought were their favorite Guest Artist Theatres in the area.  A Guest Artist Theatre is “a theatre which has an agreement with Equity, whose productions normally include one or …more…

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)

Every once in a while a play comes along that, without histrionics, searching for laughs or mystery plot twists, resonates with the human connection.  “Kin,” now on stage at Dobama Theatre, is such a script.

Bathsheba Doran, the play’s author, has a wonderful sense of language selection, creates scenes that are clear in their intent, puts forth interactions that allow for understanding of …more…

Roy Berko
(Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)

PlayhouseSquare and Baldwin Wallace’s renowned music theatre program and the school’s arts management program, have come together for seven consecutive years to present an opportunity for the students to interact with professional theatrical figures in a real world unique way.

The theatre students get an opportunity to work in the second largest arts complex in the country.  The arts management students get to …more…