Richard Figge and Dede Klein in “On Golden Pond.” Photo courtesy of Coach House Theatre When you think of Ernest Thompson’s “On Golden Pond,” the movie version with film legends Henry Fonda, Katharine Hepburn and Jane Fonda (distributed in 1981) probably comes to mind. There was a 1979 stage version, however, with a solid play script […]
Article · November 22, 2013 by Roger Durbin
Ryan Humbert. Photo courtesy of Akron Civic Theatre Knight arts grantee Akron Civic Theatre has a musical program to suit your tastes this holiday season. The diverse lineup includes rock-and-roll carols, country Noels from the Oak Ridge Boys, classic holiday music from a choir produced and sponsored by the Akron Civic Theatre, even some cool […]
Article · November 20, 2013 by Roger Durbin
GroundWorks DanceTheater, a Knight Arts grantee, is in the dance making business. Regularly (maybe yearly) there is a new work on the horizon, if not from artistic director David Shimotakahara or associate artistic director Amy Miller, then from a contemporary choreographer brought in to create a commissioned work for this ever-evolving and superb dance company. […]
Article · November 15, 2013 by Roger Durbin
Is a ballet or dance ever really finished? Ask choreographers and they likely will tell you that at some point they just stopped and said something like “Let’s go with this.” Left with more time and resources, they might continue tweaking and perfecting little things or making the slightest choreographic changes. But what if you […]
Article · November 13, 2013 by Roger Durbin
Even in the dance performance world, it seems like you have to have a Plan B, with the idea that if something can go wrong, it just might. That’s what happened with Neos Dance Theatre, a Knight Arts grantee, and its one-night-only performance of its story-length ballet “Count…The Legend of Dracula” that was performed on […]
Article · November 8, 2013 by Roger Durbin
Memory plays are cool things, for they seem to dramatically represent the kind of stubborn, unwanted, way less than tidy, messy, uncontrollable, and persistent remembrances that frankly we all would like to forget if we could. That could be said of Kenneth Lonergan’s “The Waverly Gallery,” a serious drama being performed at Weathervane Playhouse, a […]
Article · November 6, 2013 by Roger Durbin
Remember back when you were a kid you used to make snowflakes by folding paper and taking scissors to them? Or maybe as an adult you taught others how to perform this little nip-and-cut artistic miracle. Things are different in the upper artistic realm. as a current art exhibit at the Emily Davis Gallery at The […]
Article · November 1, 2013 by Roger Durbin
Akron Civic Theatre, a Knight Arts grantee, gave a killer masquerade party on Saturday, October 26, and not only because the theme of the event, Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death,” has as its plot a masquerade party in which the host, Prospero, and all the guests are done in by the […]
Article · October 30, 2013 by Roger Durbin
When I think of newly organized amateur theater groups putting on a show, somehow I’m figuring they will do some light breezy comedy to lure in the audience and keep the acting away from deep characterization and weighty themes. Not so for Cody Innovations, the ensemble that is currently presenting one of the great Greek […]
Article · October 25, 2013 by Roger Durbin
According to Bobby Wesner, co-founder and artistic director for Neos Dance Theatre, the wildly inventive dance group is going to have a larger presence in the Akron area. That’s good news for dance lovers, for this company has shown its considerable talent and dance strength during the Heinz Poll Dance Festival in the past few […]
Article · October 23, 2013 by Roger Durbin
The latest mystery to hit the boards at Weathervane Playhouse, a Knight Arts grantee, is Emlyn Williams’ “Night Must Fall.” This one is not a murder mystery where all the attention is on the whodunit aspect of drama, nor is it really a psychological thriller, where you’re wondering what kind of mental games are going […]
Article · October 18, 2013 by Roger Durbin