Dance giant Mark Morris brings his dancers — and musicians — to Pittsburgh’s Byham Theater
By Steve Sucato I first met celebrated choreographer Mark Morris in 2002, on a tour of his state-of-the-art Brooklyn, N.Y. Dance Center with a dozen fellow dance critics. As we were being led into the main studio where Morris was rehearsing his Mark Morris Dance Group, he stopped us and sternly directed us to take our shoes off and quietly seat ourselves along one wall … Continue reading Dance giant Mark Morris brings his dancers — and musicians — to Pittsburgh’s Byham Theater
A classic supernatural tale gets the operatic treatment at the Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival
By Steve Sucato How far would you go to be with the one you love? That is the central question in Ofer Ben-Amots‘ multimedia chamber opera The Dybbuk: Between Two Worlds. This retelling of S. Ansky‘s seminal 1914 Yiddish play of the same name is presented by the Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival April 25 and 28, at the New Hazlett Theater. Part of the Pittsburgh Symphony‘s Music for … Continue reading A classic supernatural tale gets the operatic treatment at the Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival
The Cleveland Orchestra announces 2013 Blossom Music Festival
CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Orchestra has announced the 2013 Blossom Music Festival season.  The Orchestra will present 19 concerts at Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Valley National Park from July 3 – September 1.  Continuing a 40-year tradition, the Blossom season opens with Salute to America concerts with the Blossom Festival Band.  Music Director Franz Welser-Möst conducts three programs at Blossom, including opening night for … Continue reading The Cleveland Orchestra announces 2013 Blossom Music Festival
MorrisonDance to Celebrate 15 Seasons of Dance
Cleveland, OH – MorrisonDance celebrates 15 seasons of dance Saturday, May 4 at 7 pm at PlayhouseSquare’s Ohio Theatre. The Cleveland-based dance company will share a selection of favorites from over 50 original pieces of choreography. The show will include Morrison’s “Tray Magnifique”, an imaginative tribute to the service industry where dancers convert trays into mirrors, dragonflies, limousines and drum kits; “Radke’s Melancholy Chromosomes”, an … Continue reading MorrisonDance to Celebrate 15 Seasons of Dance
‘War Horse’ a Triumph of the Human Spirit
Reviewed by Steve Sucato One of the most anticipated Broadway touring productions to visit Cleveland this theater season as part of the KeyBank Broadway Series at Playhouse Square, War Horse not only didn’t disappoint, it wowed.  The winner of five 2011 Tony Awards including Best Play, War Horse, based on Michael Morpurgo’s novel of the same name, made an immediate impact in a performance … Continue reading ‘War Horse’ a Triumph of the Human Spirit
Nora Chipaumire’s ‘Miriam’ an exploration of Icons and Identities
Nora Chipaumire in Miriam. Photo by Antoine Tempe. By Steve Sucato Nora Chipaumire’s Miriam is the third dance work in the Kelly Strayhorn Theater’s current season to explore the idea of public versus private identities. But Miriam approaches the subject differently than did idiosynCrazy Productions’ Private Places and Kate Watson-Wallace/anonymous bodies’ Mash Up Body. Conceived, choreographed and performed by the award-winning Chipaumire, along with dancer Okwui Okpokwasili, Miriam makes its Pittsburgh premiere April 19 and … Continue reading Nora Chipaumire’s ‘Miriam’ an exploration of Icons and Identities
Geeks and Gamers
Geeksdanz dancers in “Challenge Mode” – (L to R) Sophia Levine, Laura Herbert, Jamie Campbell, LaMar Williams, Ella Mason, and Patty Petronello. Photo by Ben Peoples. By Steve Sucato Pittsburgh’s newest dance troupe, Geeksdanz, “is on a mission is to introduce dance to audiences that would not normally be drawn to it,” says founder/artistic director Ellen Deutsch. For the group’s first full-length production, Challenge Mode, Deutsch and … Continue reading Geeks and Gamers
Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival presents Ofer Ben-Amots’ ‘The Dybbuk: Between Two Worlds’
Pittsburgh – Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival presents The Dybbuk: Between Two Worlds, the classic tale of love and mystical possession in a new adaptation April 25 and 28 at 7:30pm at the New Hazlett Theater, 6 Allegheny Square, Northside. A young woman, Leah, near-death, awakens to the whisper of a clarinet.  She slowly realizes the sound is the spirit of her dead lover Hannan. As the rest of … Continue reading Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival presents Ofer Ben-Amots’ ‘The Dybbuk: Between Two Worlds’
Lucky Plush Productions Makes Cleveland Debut May 2-4
CLEVELAND –  Chicago-based Lucky Plush Productions will make its Cleveland debut May 2-4 at the Allen Theatre in PlayhouseSquare with an evening length production of The Better Half, a lively, witty spin on the film noir classic “Gaslight”. Tickets for the Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening performances at 8 p.m. are available at the PlayhouseSquare ticket office, 216-241-6000 or online at http://www.playhousesquare.org. This highly entertaining, … Continue reading Lucky Plush Productions Makes Cleveland Debut May 2-4
The August Wilson Center Dance Ensemble delves into tragedy with ‘Paving the Road of Survival’
By Steve Sucato The final program in the August Wilson Center’s series “Great Collaborations: The Alliance Between Blacks and Jews in the Twentieth Century” is the August Wilson Center Dance Ensemble‘s Paving the Road of Survival. It features two moving works inspired by dark chapters in the human experience. The first, Christopher Huggins’ gripping, Holocaust-themed “The List,” was premiered by Dance Alloy Theater in 2010. The 20-minute work … Continue reading The August Wilson Center Dance Ensemble delves into tragedy with ‘Paving the Road of Survival’
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