Actors’ Summit, a Knight Arts grantee, is bringing yet another area premiere to its venue at Graystone Hall – the zany and fun musical “The Bikinis.” “The Bikinis” hasn’t got a lot going for it plot-wise. A four-member girl group gets back together for the improbable purpose of trying to raise money to save a […]
Article · June 21, 2013 by Roger Durbin
It’s pretty amazing that the Akron Art Museum, a Knight Arts grantee, has been both hosting and presenting the Downtown@Dusk concert series for 28 years and is kicking off yet another season. The free concerts (food and drinks are available for purchase) are held on consecutive Thursday evenings (excluding July 4) throughout the summer for […]
Article · June 19, 2013 by Roger Durbin
Maybe it’s a tradition among musicians, but frequently music directors, choir directors, musical comedy directors, and the like will provide a certain kind of spotlight tribute to the people who have helped them or been significant in their artistic lives. If it’s not a practice, it wouldn’t hurt if it became one. Jazz and classical […]
Article · June 14, 2013 by Roger Durbin
The audience on opening weekend at Weathervane Playhouse, a Knight Arts grantee, really got into “Music Man,” Meredith Willson’s joyous musical comedy. Who knows, maybe it was because there had to be lots of relatives of the 40+ members of the cast. That would do it, but that’s not why. Willson’s play has been called “quintessential,” […]
Article · June 12, 2013 by Roger Durbin
Photographer Daniel Buechele has had some one-man shows in some uncharacteristic spots – trendy organic restaurant, cool coffee shops and now at a mainstay watering hole, the busy and popular Square Bar, in the Highland Square area of Akron. The venue works, for as Hemingway might say it, it’s a clean and well-lighted place, with […]
Article · June 6, 2013 by Roger Durbin
The largest free music festival ever in Akron is coming your way on Saturday, June 8 from 12-8 p.m. Don’t miss it. The Highland Square Porch Rokr Festival is organized by the Highland Square Neighborhood Association, a non-profit organization that means to celebrate the history, arts and self-described “eclectic” vibe of the Highland Square neighborhood […]
Article · June 5, 2013 by Roger Durbin
Maybe it’s just me, but when someone says they want to put on a show, I’m figuring they want to direct it or star in it – probably both. So it comes as a surprise when Akron Civic Theatre, a Knight Arts grantee, got into “producer” mode. The Civic has heretofore been – as Val […]
Article · May 31, 2013 by Roger Durbin
Barbara Feld will be missed. She plans to retire as executive director of Tuesday Musical, the 125-year old arts group and Knight Arts grantee. Tuesday Musical was founded and supported generously by Clara I. Knight (mother of the founders of the John S. and James L Knight Foundation), and an organization that produced six special […]
Article · May 29, 2013 by Roger Durbin
This city comes alive with music during the summer. It’s almost as if you have to work at it to miss hearing the strains of rock, jazz, blues and country as you move around town. Think of it. The City of Akron provides a series of concerts throughout the summer that covers nearly every day […]
Article · May 24, 2013 by Roger Durbin
From May through September, Lock 3, in downtown Akron plays host to Akron’s biggest festivals, a weekly farmers market, a large number of community events and the City of Akron’s official 4th of July fireworks display. But also, music fans, it features a seemingly unending season of live music – lots of it free. And it […]
Article · May 22, 2013 by Roger Durbin
South Main Street was bustling in the Akron Civic Theatre the other night. The theater, a Knight Arts grantee, knows how to throw a party, especially when the aim is to thank supporters of all kinds for all the help that they have given to the arts presentation group. At a recent event, the theater […]
Article · May 17, 2013 by Roger Durbin