Jason Odell Williams’ smart and fresh comedy, “Handle with Care,” recently had a long run off-Broadway. Actors’ Summit, a Knight Arts grantee, got the rights to produce the play as the regional premiere of the work while the New York production was still live. That’s pretty cool. It’s an amazingly fun and beguiling comedy, getting […]
Article · April 2, 2014 by Roger Durbin
Choreographer Jessica Lang has been working since 1999 on dance making – and has been heralded for her ingenious combination of clever dance ideas and background sets and costumes. Only two years ago, though, she formed her own company, Jessica Lang Dance, and she’s once again the talk of the town. All that prestige was […]
Article · March 28, 2014 by Roger Durbin
One of the things you have to come away with after watching Coach House Theatre’s production of the master playwright Tennessee Williams’ famous and classic drama, “The Glass Menagerie,” is the overwhelming and oppressive notion of the struggle in these characters’ lives. Much is said about the idea of memory. The production begins with one […]
Article · March 26, 2014 by Roger Durbin
Rosie Herrera, choreographer. Photo from www.mprnews.com OK, GroundWorks dance fans: the company is coming back to Akron, and once again to the theater in Akron-Summit County Public Library. GroundWorks DanceTheater, a Knight Arts grantee, is bringing what promises to be a far different dance from what audience members are used to seeing from this stellar […]
Article · March 21, 2014 by Roger Durbin
These days when one thinks that just about everything has been done artistically, some artists come up with something fresh. That process has been working for a decade now as Summit Artspace, a Knight Arts grantee, launched its annual Fresh Art exhibition. Forty nine regional artists will have their newly made works on display through […]
Article · March 19, 2014 by Roger Durbin
Romulus Linney’s “Love Drunk,” the May-December seeming romance/dark comedy/psychological teaser that’s on through this weekend at None Too Fragile Theater, is confusing – and deliberately so. The two characters, 25-year old Karen (played by Rachel Roberts) and the 65-year old Wilbur (played by Jim Viront), tell so many fanciful stories that you can’t tell whether […]
Article · March 14, 2014 by Roger Durbin
Ballet Excel Ohio (formerly Cuyahoga Valley Youth Ballet and a Knight Arts grantee) has been in the dance business for 30-plus years, and in that time has commissioned some top works for young dancers. Thinking pointedly about her audience and the value of beautiful dance, artistic director Mia Klinger always carefully chooses either the storyline […]
Article · March 12, 2014 by Roger Durbin
Don’t miss it. That’s the kind of message that DANCECLEVELAND, a Knight Arts grantee, is sending out about the upcoming, one-night only, performance by Trisha Brown Dance Company, on March 8. DANCECLEVELAND is right to say so, for this is the final tour being presented by the famous modern dance troupe in its 50-plus years […]
Article · March 7, 2014 by Roger Durbin
“It’s a dream come true,” Mia Klinger, director of Ballet Excel Ohio, a Knight arts grantee, said recently during a rehearsal of her company’s role in an upcoming production of “Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The event is being presented by the Akron Symphony Orchestra, also a Knight Arts grantee and the sponsor for this event. ASO […]
Article · March 5, 2014 by Roger Durbin
Verb Ballets appeared a year ago in a cabaret setting at Akron Civic Theatre, a Knight Arts grantee, with considerable success. And they are coming back on March 27, much to the delight of modern ballet lovers, in a production called “Elements.” Using the basic elements of earth, fire, wind, and water as their guide, […]
Article · February 28, 2014 by Roger Durbin
American playwright William Inge’s “Bus Stop” – which is being performed at Actors’ Summit, a Knight Arts grantee – takes the audience through some seemingly shabby lives before it lightens up by the end of the drama. Set in a small town in the middle of Kansas (about 25 miles from Topeka) during a raging blizzard, […]
Article · February 26, 2014 by Roger Durbin