“Oliver” doesn’t get  “standing O” at Porthouse

Roy Berko

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

I had one of my greatest experiences in the theatre when, on June 30, 1960, I attended the opening of “Oliver!” at the New Theatre in London, England.  I was seated 3rd row center!

Peter Coe’s direction, Malcolm Clare’s choreography, and a cast consisting of Ron Moody (Fagin) Georgia Brown (Nancy) and Davy Jones (Artful Dodger) brought …more…

Roy Berko

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

It probably will come as shock to many to know that when the play, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” a script by Dale Wasserman, based on Kent Kesey’s novel of the same name, opened on Broadway in 1963, in spite of a cast that included Kirk Douglas, Gene Wilder, William Daniels, Ed Ames and Joan Tetzel, it was basically a flop, …more…

ARCADIA a well-constructed play which makes for a long echoing sit at MAMAI

Roy Berko

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

Czech born Thomas Stoppard is a Jewish British playwright who escaped from his birth country in 1939, just before the Nazi occupation.  Living, in England, he has gained a reputation as one of modern English language’s greatest playwrights.  The recipient of an Academy Award and four Tony Awards, it …more…

“Young Frankenstein” should delight Beck audiences, but . . .

Roy Berko

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

On a November Saturday afternoon in 2007, I anxiously entered the Hilton Theatre in New York.  I love exaggerated, well-conceived and performed farce.  I was going to see “Young Frankenstein” by the king of farce and parody, Mel Brooks.  Yes, “Young Frankenstein,” officially known as  “The New Mel Brooks Young Frankenstein,” was the …more…

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle

Part concert, part history lesson, and a lot of rock ‘n roll– that’s “Million Dollar Quartet”, now on stage at the Ohio Theatre in PlayhouseSquare.

The second largest entertainment center in the United States is playing host to

Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash.  Well, in reality, four performers portraying those icons of rock and roll, in a stage show …more…