A & E

Free Theater Tickets on Monday!

At 10 a.m. this morning you need to have your Web browser pointed to www.freenightoftheater.net so you can take advantage of free theater tickets provided by an array of Cincinnati theater companies. Don’t dally — these tickets, mostly for performances on Oct. 16, will be snapped up within an hour or so based on what happened in 2007 when the League of Cincinnati Theatres participated for the first time in the national program “Free Night of Theatre,” an audience-development program sponsored by Theatre Communications Group.

Since TCG began the program in 2005, it has expanded to more than 100 cities, where at least 600 theaters are offering tickets on the same evening. This year’s campaign offers performances in Atlanta, Austin, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Lexington, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C. plus statewide in Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Black and White

Last weekend I had the singular good fortune to see a theater production out of town that made me think more about what we see here in Cincinnati. I was in Oberlin, Ohio, attending a gathering of alumni of the college. Part of our weekend's entertainment was a production of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. The 1949 play is now a classic, of course (Cincinnati's New Edgecliff is staging a production that runs Oct. 9-24), and the story of Willy Loman's desperate life is iconic in literature. A revival of the play in 1999 (the show's 50th anniversary) starring Brian Dennehy in the leading role won several Tony Awards. The play seems all the more relevant in today's tough economic climate.

But the Oberlin production I saw on Sept. 20 added another layer: Willy was played by Avery Brooks; his long-suffering wife was enacted by Petronia Paley; their sons were portrayed by Justin Emeka (as Biff) and Darryle Johnson (as Happy). Emeka was also the production's director. Perhaps you recognize Brooks' name: He's starred in several TV series, most notably as Capt. Benjamin Sisko on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; he also played a streetwise crime fighter named Hawk in Spencer for Hire and A Man Called Hawk. Brooks and Emeka are Oberlin alumni. But the really operative fact is that all four actors in these central roles are African Americans.

Stage Door: Good Things Winding Down

This is the final weekend for SHINING CITY at New New Stage Collective. If you haven't seen it and you like serious contemporary drama (the playwright is Conor McPherson, a Dublin-based writer who is getting everyone's attention), you should try to catch it this weekend.

The hottest ticket around seems to be AMADEUS at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, which has pretty much sold out this weekend's performances (although I bet you could score a ticket for the Sunday matinee). You still have one more weekend for the show about the rivalry between two 18th-century composers, Wolfgang Mozart and Antonio Salieri. The latter is played by CEA winner Bruce Cromer, and it's a riveting performance — he's onstage for every moment of the play (which runs slightly more than three hours), and worth watching for every one of those moments.

Finally, I'd suggest you check out the quirky GREY GARDENS at Ensemble Theatre, which should be back in the swing of things with a replacement cast member for an actor who departed on the show's opening night. This show is an unusual story about two loopy relatives of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: It's ultimately about parents and children and how they can love and destroy one another. Read my review here.

One more good prospect: I haven't seen it yet, but REEFER MADNESS: THE MUSICAL, which opens on Saturday night at Know Theatre, sounds like a lot of fun.

There's no excust for sitting around this weekend — or for whining about a lack of good shows to see.

– Rick Pender

Stage Door: Good Choices Abound

You can hardly make a wrong choice if you want to go to the theater this weekend. Four of our topnotch local theaters have opened shows, and every one of them is worth seeing. My top recommendation — in part because it has a short run (its final performance is Sept. 21) — is Conor McPherson's SHINING CITY at New Stage Collective. It's a riveting psychological drama, mostly about two men struggling with lives (and deaths) and relationships: One of them is a psychologist, the other a patient, but their existences overlap and mirror one another in intriguing and imaginative ways. McPherson is a masterful writer of monologues, and the NSC cast features Randy Bailey in several speeches that will leave you marveling at his ability to tell a story and reveal character. Don't miss this one.

Other good choices are Peter Shaffer's AMADEUS, the classic tale of musical and creative rivalry between Wolfgang Mozart and Antonio Salieri (Cincinnati Shakespeare, through Sept. 28); the quirky musical GREY GARDENS, a true story about a mother and daughter, onetime bluebloods but reduced to strange dependency and squalid circumstances in a 28-room mansion (Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, through Sept. 28); and a new musical, JANE AUSTEN'S EMMA, a re-creation of one of the beloved novelist's best works in a show that fans of the 19th-century novel are likely to love (Cincinnati Playhouse, through Oct. 3).

Don't wait: There are good shows on just about every stage in town.

– Rick Pender

Watch What You Say

I spent an interesting 90 minutes the other evening watching an amusing independent film called Never Say Macbeth. The comedy is described by its producers as a cross between Waiting for Guffman and Beetlejuice — that is, it’s about goofy theater and even goofier supernatural phenomena. If you’ve watched the inspired Canadian miniseries Slings and Arrows, about the backstage antics of a classic theater company, you might recognize a kindred spirit there, too. The romantic comedy is inspired by the theater superstition that uttering the name of Shakespeare’s “Scottish play” (that’s an acceptable reference) brings all kinds of dire results.

Macbeth is considered unlucky because it’s full of witchcraft. If an actor mentions the show’s title in a theater, there is a ritual about spinning around three times, spitting over your shoulder and uttering a line from Hamlet (“Angels and ministers of grace, defend us”) to prevent bad things from happening. Those who have ignored the curse, so it goes, have regretted it — if they’ve lived long enough. There’s a litany of performers dating back to the play’s original production in 1606 who have suffered illness, injury and even death.

And the CEA Goes to ...

For the 12th year in a row, CityBeat is hosting the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards, recognizing local theater artists and productions. It's happening Sunday night in a new venue — Below Zero (1120 Walnut St., Over-the-Rhine) — and you're invited to show up at 7 p.m. for the free event, which includes things to eat from nearby Lavomatic Cafe and piano cabaret entertainment by Terry LaBolt. Two rounds of awards will be announced: At 8 p.m., you can hear the results of public voting for categories involving actors in plays and musicals in addition to the year's outstanding community theater production. Following a break, around 9 p.m. the "critical achievement" awards will be made public — these are for technical categories and for the year's outstanding alternative production, premiere, play and musical.

Some pertinent facts: Almost 3,000 people voted for the public categories, the most ever cast for the CEAs. That's even more impressive because this year, for the first time, all the voting was online. That's a great indicator that a lot of people care about our local theater scene. They had more to choose from, too, since almost every category was expanded from four to five nominees — resulting in almost 100 options. The truth is that every nominee was noteworthy — that's the point, regardless of which one receives the award. Consider this a barometer of great theater.

Sunday evening is also a chance to honor Bill Hartnett and Ellie Shepherd, recipients of this year's award for continuing achievement from the League of Cincinnati Theatres. They'll be inducted into the CEA Hall of Fame on Sunday evening. If you'd like to read more about them, see the feature I wrote in this week's issue of CityBeat.

One more fact to get you to show up on Sunday evening: This might be your last chance to see Terry LaBolt at the keyboard for a while. He's headed off to Bloomington, Ind., where he'll be the musical director for the musical theater program at Indiana University. LaBolt, back to decent health after a kidney transplant, has been around for years — at CCM and with many theater companies as accompanist and music director. He's excited about his new gig. And this is not a total farewell, since it seems likely he'll make periodic treks back in our direction. But for now, we're extremely grateful to have him as part of the 2008 CEA show.

See you on Sunday evening!

— Rick Pender

Rock the Vote: CEA Deadline Approaches

Here it is the end of July and the major political parties haven't even held their conventions yet. But you only have a few more days to vote — for the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards for theater, that is. There are a dozen categories in which you can express your preferences for actors, singers and productions at many of Cincinnati's theaters. It's an eye-opener just to see how many great options there are — a ready demonstration of the quality of our local theater scene. (In fact, there were so many good choices for 2007-2008 that we expanded each category from four to five nominees. That means 20 percent more choices!)

I'm happy to report that more votes have been cast this summer than during any past year, and this is the 12th year for the CEAs. And there's still a few more days to weigh in. The cut-off for votes that count is Aug. 4. It's an easy, online process, so take a few minutes and register your feelings about what was great onstage during the past year. The results will be announced in late August.

— Rick Pender

Stage Door: The Truth About Fiction

Back in January 2007 Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati staged the riveting regional premiere of Steven Dietz's drama Fiction. An admired novelist tells a class of writing students that her most respected teacher once said, "The lies begin when we lift the pen." Dietz's play is premised on the notion that the distance between lies and fiction isn't all that far.

In this play, it's gradually revealed that a pair of fiction writers might have allowed their craft to seep into their lives. It's a fascinating concept. Fiction is getting a brief production (Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and again on July 31 and Aug. 1) by one of our area's strong community theaters, The Drama Workshop, and it should be worth seeing in part because the novelist is being played by CEA nominee Aretta Baumgartner.

The production is being staged at the Madisonville Arts Center, a new venue in a converted rec center building on Cincinnati's East Side. The second-floor theater has great sight lines and it's comfortably air-conditioned. While other theaters are offering lightweight entertainment because it's summertime, this group is offering you something that's thoughtful and provocative. Don't miss it. All seats are $14. Tickets: 513-271-8600.

— Rick Pender

More Broadway in Cincinnati

This week Broadway Across America (which most of us still call "The Broadway Series") added five more titles to its 2008-09 season in the big hall at the Aronoff Center. The previously announced six-show season package includes two-week runs of The Wizard of Oz (Nov. 11-23, 2008), Grease (Jan. 20-Feb. 1, 2009), Frost/Nixon (Feb. 24-March 8, 2009), Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy (March 31-April 12, 2009), Avenue Q (April 21-May 3, 2009) and A Chorus Line (May 26-June 7, 2009). I find that an oddly disappointing set of choices,  although I am excited to see Frost/Nixon (the non-musical was a 2007 Tony Award winner; the tour features Stacy Keach as discredited U.S. President Richard Nixon) and Avenue Q (the surprise 2004 Tony Award-winning musical which is on its first national tour).

Paving the Way

Local novelist and Pendleton Pilates owner Stacy Sims is expanding her creative talents in many directions. Last fall she had a reading of her script, As White As O, at Know Theatre with direction by CEA Hall of Famer Michael Burnham and a cast mostly of CCM drama students. That script has continued life: On July 21 it will get a staged reading at the Road Theatre in Los Angeles. Especially encouraging is that it's directed by Sam Anderson, who currently plays Bernard on the hit TV series Lost. Sims is heading to L.A. for some rehearsals over the weekend and then the Monday reading.

Sims was on local theater radar in early June during the 2008 Cincinnati Fringe Festival with her "True Body" performance piece about adolescent girls and their sense of physical and emotional self. While she's in L.A. for the White As O reading, she's meeting with a team of women who are interested in replicating the "True Body" project there with their own locally originated material. A CCM grad, Courtney Seiberling, is part of that group. Sims tells me that she and another CCM grad, Julianna Bloodgood (who acted in the "True Body" performances), also met with a team of women in New York City interested in making the project happen there. That group included yet another CCM grad, Cameron Anderson, a scenic design major who finished up in 2002.

Isn't it great when artists from Cincinnati can pave the way for theatrical work in Los Angeles and New York City?

— Rick Pender