More Reviews for CSU Summer Stages

Check out some more fantastic reviews for CSU Summer Stages.

From Tony Brown at the Pee Dee:

Now in its third and strongest season, the mixed professional-student company succeeds best at its two extremes, the heart-rending death-drama "The Shadow Box" and the farcical outer-space musical "Return to the Forbidden Planet."

...Quinton's masterfully balanced reincarnation of "The Shadow Box,"... the extremely well-disciplined nine-member cast...

Mauldin pulls out all the nutty stops for his scatterbrained production of the wafer-thin but highly entertaining "Return to the Forbidden Planet"... Several students turn in exemplary performances, too, including dashing dork Lew Wallace as the Capt. Kirk hero, brawny Lawrence Charles as the Caliban-esque Cookie, John Paul Soto as a sweet-voiced, roller-skating robot version of Ariel and fresh-faced Melissa Crum as Miranda.

Christine Howey at Rave & Pan:

With the playwright borrowing liberally from Shakespeare’s The Tempest (on which the original flick was based) and his other works, the dialogue in Return ranges from elegant to glibly idiotic. And since it’s all played for maximum fun and minimum reflection, it all seems appropriate

And don't forget about this weekend's performances!

• Thursday: The Shadow Box (Benefit performance for Hospice of the Western Reserve)
• Friday: Chekhov in Yalta
• Saturday and Sunday*: Return to the Forbidden Planet

All performances at 8pm except *2pm.
Box office: 216.687.2109

CSU Summer Stages on NewsNet 5

WEWS NewsNet 5 came to last night's performance of The Shadow Box.

The Hospice of the Western Reserve, the Hospice of Cleveland Clinic, the Hospice of the Visiting Nurses Association and Malachi House will each receive half of all ticket proceeds on the night of their benefit performance.

The story behind "The Shadow Box" features three very different families, each facing an imminent death. Set in an experimental hospice facility, "The Shadow Box" gives a glimpse at love, courage and loss.

See us tonite at eleven!

SCENE Magazine can't get enough of CHEKHOV

When a review starts off like this:

When a theater critic encounters unexpected radiance on stage — as in CSU's production of Chekhov in Yalta — he has to struggle to prevent himself from becoming a cliché-spouting sycophant.

you know you're in for a good time.

Read the rest of Christie Howey's review of Chekhov in Yalta in Scene Magazine, then come see it for yourself.

Okay, I can't stop myself, here's another quote:

The production itself was like watching alchemy happen. To start at the top, we pay tribute to the director Cathy Hartenstein. Rarely has the magic hand of a skilled director been so evident. She brings effective casting, an understanding of the historical character's nuance, style and period, and created incredible visuals with blocking and pacing.

Roy Berko Loved It

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: ‘RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET’ is a laugh delight at CSU’s 2009 Summer Stages. This is a must go-see for summer entertainment!

Roy Berko loved Return to the Forbidden Planet. Check it out:

The CSU production, under the creative direction of Michael Mauldin, is well staged and has all the right ridiculousness needed to make this a fun production. Lynn Deering’s fine choreography adds to the hilarity.

The cast is universally excellent. Handsome Lew Wallace plays the Ken doll-like thick-headed, emotion absent, captain of our ship, with the right degree of seriousness. He has a fine singing voice and dances well. Greg Violand, he of great singing voice... is properly fake-evil as scientist Prospero... John Paul Soto sparkles as a endearing roller-skating robot. Tracee Patterson sings and mugs her way through the role of the bad/good Gloria.

Here's hoping Tony and the rest of the critics liked it just as much. The AUDIENCE sure liked it.

WCPN's Around Noon with Dee Perry

Dr. Mauldin and Greg Violand discuss CSU Summer Stages with Dee Perry on WCPN's Around Noon, along with John Paul, Lew and Melissa singing songs from Return to the Forbidden Planet and Amy and Doug perform a scene from Chekhov in Yalta.

This week's performances:
Thursday, July 16th: Return to the Forbidden Planet
Friday, July 17th: The Shadow Box (Benefit performance for The Hospice of the Cleveland Clinic)
Saturday and Sunday*, July 18th and 19th: Chekhov in Yalta

All shows are at 8pm except *at 2pm.

Summer Stages Opens TONITE!

We open tonite! Don't forget, there are free champagne receptions after each evening show this weekend:
Tonite: The Shadow Box
Tomorrow: Chekhov in Yalta
Saturday: Return to the Forbidden Planet

A special thanks to Crain's Cleveland Business for the mention!

Plain Dealer's Tony Brown Sits Down with The Shadow Box

The Plain Dealer's Tony Brown joins us in rehearsal for The Shadow Box:

[Everett Quinton:] "Here's what is great. You found the secret of acting. You looked at your Dad, and you saw. You saw. You remember seeing it? Yeah? That's what acting is. Seeing. And remembering.

Don't forget, all three shows open this weekend! And here's a list of our benefit performances of The Shadow Box, in which each organization gets 1/2 of the box office take for the night:
Friday, July 17, 8 PM, Hospice of the Cleveland Clinic
Saturday, July 25, 8 PM, Hospice of the Visiting Nurses Association
Sunday, July 26, 2 PM, Hospice of the Cleveland Clinic
Thursday, July 30, 8 PM, Hospice of the Western Reserve
Friday, August 7, 8 PM, Malachi House

Beck Center Discount

Hey CSUers! Get $5 off adult tickets to the Beck Center production of Little Shop of Horrors when you mention the code word ALIEN.

A down-and-out skid row floral assistant becomes an overnight sensation when he discovers an exotic plant with a mysterious craving for fresh blood. Soon "Audrey II" grows into an ill-tempered, foul-mouthed, R&B-singing carnivore who offers him fame and fortune in exchange for feeding its growing appetite!

William Roudebush, director of Beck’s critically acclaimed Equus and last season’s My Favorite Year, comments, “The popularity of this show never wanes, and its tunefulness and tongue-in-cheek humor lend to its staying power. I am delighted to return to Cleveland and the Beck Center to direct this musical gem.”

The Beck Center is offering special family-friendly pricing so the entire family can enjoy this musical classic. Tickets are $28 for adults, $25 for seniors (65 and older), $17 for students (22 and under with ID), and $10 for children (12 and under). An additional $3 service fee per ticket is applied at the time of purchase. Preview night on Thursday, June 25, is $10 with general admission seating. Group discounts are available for parties of 13 or more.

Do a sci-fi double feature and see both Return to the Foridden Planet and Little Shop of Horrors!

Hospice at the Cleveland Clinic Benefit Night

We've added a second benefit night! On Sunday, July 26th, half of all the ticket revenues from our 2pm matinee will go to The Hospice of the Cleveland Clinic. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at 216.687.2109.

Both of our benefit shows will also feature a post-performance catered reception.

Announcing Our First Charitable Partnership

CSU Summer Stages is proud to announce our first charitable partnership: on Friday, August 7th, one half of all of our proceeds for The Shadow Box will go to Malachi House.

Created out of a Christian sense of ministry, Malachi House is a non-profit organization that serves terminally ill persons, without cost or regard to gender, race, religion or national origin. We help restore dignity to less fortunate individuals by providing them with a safe, comfortable place to spend the final stages of life, which otherwise might be spent alone and abandoned, under bridges, in cars, deserted buildings and other unsuitable places within the city. Malachi House is funded solely by private donations and receives no government support. Malachi House presently has capacity for 15 residents and has served more than 1,300 individuals since its founding in 1988.

How can you help? Call 216.687.2109 right now to purchase tickets for the Malachi House benefit night. Or, click the links below to help CSU Summer Stages and Malachi House continue their important work.

Plain Dealer: Better Late Then Never

Thanks, Tony. We still love you.

Cut to Pieces at Cleveland Public Theatre

Our friends Chris Seibert and Raymond Bobgan are presenting the long-coming Cut to Pieces at Cleveland Public Theatre and it's fantastic.



Observations:

• This play is dense and multi-layered, but the levity and craft of the framing story (that is expertly integrated later into the primary action) eases the viewer into the more esoteric and eclectic storytelling elements.
  
• The multi-media design is astounding. Created by Spencer Padilla and CSU alum Carly Garinger, the video segments (which include CSUers Adam Seeholzer and Chari Estevez) seemlessly interact with Seibert, and the use of live video feeds from the stage are novel, exciting, and extremely effective.
• Chris Seibert is really funny. Her timing is impeccable.
  
• The imagery runs the gamut from horror films to the story of Persephone and Hades to game shows to Agatha Christie-esque murder mysteries. It all resolves itself, however, into a very singular, mythological story of the hero's journey: the call, the descent, and the return with a boon to benefit humankind.

Tony Brown & Steven Litt on the CSU/CPH/PSC Move

Tony Brown and Steven Litt on the CSU Dramatic Arts/Play House/Playhouse Square move.




Here's a brief timeline of potential new homes for CSU Dramatic Arts:

• April 3, 2007: "A new plan, described publicly by university officials for the first time Monday, calls for moving the studio art and theater programs from a dark, dingy complex at the edge of campus to a dramatic new building on a high-visibility site on Euclid Avenue. Facilities for music and dance would also be part of the package." (This is, of course, pre-recession. A brand new $50 million complex may have been aiming a tad high.)

• July 2, 2008: "CSU would move its drama program, now in an old cotton factory on the campus, into the Allen. The university would manage the Allen as a downtown venue for a consortium of college theaters across the region to show off their work." (Notice in the article that Playhouse Square CEO Art Falco is a question-talker.)

• April 7, 2009: "In a blockbuster arts and real-estate deal, the Cleveland Play House will sell its longtime home in Midtown and move downtown to PlayhouseSquare's Allen Theatre in a joint venture with Cleveland State University's drama program." (CSU's in the leading paragraph of the article. Six weeks later, the follow-up article mentions CSU about half-way through. Tony Brown gives us a brief shout out 6:30 into the 7:30 video. I'm sensing a pattern...)

CSU SummerStages Are GO!

Cleveland State University Summer Stages, downtown Cleveland's only professional summer theatre company, is proud to announce its third season, returning with another three shows this summer, operating in rotating repertory with a five week run.

Our flagship musical is Return to the Forbidden Planet, written by Bob Carlton, directed by Program Chair Dr. Michael L. Mauldin, a 50’s/60’s jukebox musical which combines the science fiction movie Forbidden Planet with Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Dr. Mauldin was previously seen as Captain Hook in the Beck Center's production of Peter Pan and in CSU Summer Stages' Rough Crossing.

We will also be presenting the farcical Chekhov in Yalta, by Jeffrey Haddow and John Driver, directed by Cleveland Playhouse Education Director Cathy Hartenstein, full of low comedy and high tragedy, this historically-informed comedy features famed playwright Anton Chekhov and Stanislavsky’s Moscow Art Theatre.

Rounding out the season is the 1977 Pulitzer and Tony Award winning drama The Shadow Box, by Michael Cristofer, directed by Everett Quinton. The Shadow Box, full of hope and heartbreak, tells the story of three very different families each facing an impending death in their own unique way. New York legend Everett Quinton is a founding member of CSU Summer Stages and has been seen in every CSU Summer Stages production except for last year's hit Dark of the Moon, which he directed.

Being the resident theatre company of CSU, much of the cast and crew is composed of CSU Dramatic Arts students and alumni. After bringing in actors, directors and choreographers from New York and California for two seasons, we have refocused our efforts on local growth, and we are proud to announce that we are the biggest summer employer of union actors in the region. A significant presence in the downtown arts scene, CSU Summer Stages presence will only expand when CSU’s Dramatic Arts’ proposed move to Playhouse Square Center’s Allen Theatre.

The shows run in rotating repertory from July 9th through August 9th, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm. Tickets are $15 each, and discounts are available for season tickets and groups of ten or more. Free street parking is available, and parking in CSU lot S1 (East 24^th Street between Chester & Payne) is only $4, with a coupon available at www.csuohio.edu/theater.

Box office: 216.687.2109

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