Playwright and performer Lucy Wang. Photo courtesy of the Akron Civic Theatre. This post has been updated to reflect that Wang was not born in Akron but grew up there. Also, Mark Zimmerman invited her to teach a master class at Firestone High School, which is how they met. When Chinese-American playwright Lucy Wang performs […]
Article · July 23, 2015 by Roger Durbin
Lara Mielcarek as Beatrice in Ohio Shakespeare Festival’s “Much Ado about Nothing.” Photo courtesy of Ohio Shakespeare Festival. “Much Ado about Nothing” is actually about a lot. You’ll find that out when you see the fun-filled and splendid dramatic production by Ohio Shakespeare Festival of what has been called one of William Shakespeare’s best comedies. […]
Article · July 15, 2015 by Roger Durbin
“Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner” Choreographed by: Ray Mercer Dance performances in various outdoor venues during the summer months in Akron go back 42 years to when choreographer Heinz Poll took dancers from his professional dance company, the Ohio Ballet, and put on a free dance show in a plaza in downtown Akron. Jane Startzman, […]
Article · July 8, 2015 by Roger Durbin
Akron Symphony Orchestra. Photo via akronsymphonyorchestra.org. It’s been a historical year for the Akron Symphony Orchestra, which has lately themed its concerts around important, stirring and poignant events in American life and culture. Last September, ASO performed “O’er the Land of the Free” in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the writing of the national […]
Article · May 20, 2015 by Roger Durbin
The launch has begun! On the evening of Thursday, May 7, the Akron Art Museum hosted what it called a block party to celebrate the start of Inside|Out, a new community-activated project funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation that is bringing reproductions of the museum’s art into the city’s streets and […]
Article · May 15, 2015 by Roger Durbin
Jarrod Hartzler, executive director of Tuesday Musical, a Knight Arts grantee, recently announced his second programming schedule after taking the helm of the organization a couple of years ago. It seemed like a good time to sit down with him, discuss the direction he sees the organization and its performances going, and to take a […]
Article · April 30, 2015 by Roger Durbin
If it ain’t baroque, don’t fix it. That could be a twist on the cooperative way that Akron Baroque, a Knight Arts grantee, goes about the business of planning concert programs. For the upcoming “Venetian Splendor” concert that will feature composers Tomaso Albinoni and Antonio Vivaldi, organist and harpsichordist Valerie Thorson took the collaborative lead […]
Article · April 23, 2015 by Roger Durbin
According to Val Renner, programming director of the Akron Civic Theatre, the Angie Haze Project is the “epitome of one of the success stories” for the theater. One of the Akron Civic’s aims under its Knight Arts grant is to bring in and promote local talent. Last year, when the Angie Haze Project appeared in […]
Article · April 9, 2015 by Roger Durbin
A few months ago, CATAC (the Center for Applied Theatre and Culture) announced that it had received a $15,000 grant from the Knight Foundation to create a dramatic piece about the history of rubber in Akron through its production arm, the New World Performance Laboratory. The outlines of the project were covered in another post, in […]
Article · April 2, 2015 by Roger Durbin
Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons Rediscovered”? No, the classic and famous musical composition wasn’t lost. For Apollo’s Fire (a Knight Arts grantee) and its founder and music director Jeannette Sorrell, the title of the Baroque music orchestra’s upcoming concert refers to finding and using the original source material for the concerto – four sonnets, which may have […]
Article · March 27, 2015 by Roger Durbin
When artist Don Parsisson came up with the idea for a photograph exhibit called “Self & Others: The Photographic Portrait,” he had a great idea going. He got together with gallery coordinator and handler Rob Lehr of Summit Artspace, a Knight Arts grantee, after which more photographers were added to the initial group organized for […]
Article · March 25, 2015 by Roger Durbin