ON STAGE Choice Carroll Dunn, Lynn Bryan and Joan Echrich in the comedy "The Octette Bridge Club" at Chagrin Valley Little Theater. bright student only to find he has joined an intriguing game of cat-and-mouse. Only which is cat? You won't know until the finale of this popular thriller unless you've seen it before. (NR) Don't Rock the Boat Karamu Arena Theater Margaret Ford-Taylor has written and directed this musical comedy that puts the Biblical story of Noah in the context of today. The production is cartoon-simple, played broadly with a lot of cheerful energy.
It is not very polished, but the laughs come through. So does the moral: Trust God and love each other. The villains get the juicy roles here fast-talking. self-righteous types who may be big in the church but are small in the soul. Angela Davis is a do-gooder who wants to have Noah committed, and Charles Douglas Robinson has a fine time as her sleazy pastor.
The music is mostly soft rock with a final gospel number, "Didn't It Rain." Exit the King Cleveland Play House, Bolton Theater King Berenger, eloquently played by deaf actor Andrew Vasnick, must accept the fact that he is dying, his whole world dissolving around him. lonesco's play uses the techniques of dream to create a parable about one man's gradual acceptance of death. The production, directed by Will Rhys, captures its absurd wit and eerie profundity, even if some of its comic shticks don't seem integrated into the whole. The rest of the cast (Catherine Albers, Mary Lee Aranas, Raul Aranas, Dudiey Swetland and Valerie Robinson) turn in strong performances, too. Fiddler on the Roof East Cleveland Community Theater "Sunrise, Sunset" and this musical staple all come around just about as regularly.
The Plain Dealer ACADEMY AWARDS ANNUAL CONTEST PICK A WINNER BE A WINNER sponsored in association with HOULIHANS HILTON CLEVELAND SOUTH General Cinema OFFICIAL RULES FOR PLAIN DEALER OSCAR CONTEST. 1. Each entry should be on an official Plain Dealer contest entry form or on a hand reasonable tacsimile. No mechanically reproduced entries will be accepted. 2.
Only one entry per person. Only one prize per family. 3. Entries may be hand painted, typewntlen or hand written as long as they are legible. 4.
All entries must be sent through the regular United States Post Office. No entries may be personally delivered to The Ploin Dealer. 5. All entries must be received by 5 P.M. April 4, 1988.
The Ploin Dealer will not be responsible for lost or delayed entries. 6. Winners will be determined by the number of correct picks. In event of a he, prizes will be determined by a drawing among all tied entries. 7.
By entering. oll contestants agree that the decision of the judges is final and binding on oll. 8. Entries should be mailed to Plain Dealer Oscar Cortest, 1801 Superior Avenue. Cleveland.
Ohio 44114 9. Employees of The Plain dealer Publishing Co and members of then immediate family are ineligible. I Capsule reviews and summaries by theater critic Marianne Evett. Stars indicate play was reviewed; (NR) indi1988 ticket cates no review. information, For see show Curtain times and Call co listings in this issue.
The Butler Did It Gates Mills Players HOUVN A has house spoof the mystery of the eccentric novel, classic Miss this English Maple comedy invite country thriller a batch of -assorted detective novelists FRIDAY. their down murder for fictional the messes up sleuths. week-end, her Of clever course. masquerading games. a real and as the "detectives" are suddenly forced to DEALER, Cliff track Diving down next the victim.
Dobama killer (NR) Theater or risk becoming Sandra Perlman chooses a deliberately PLAIN fragmented disintegration way of to Korean tell the War story vet of Frank the Woodson and his family over 20 years. 3H1 of the weaving '60s the and political '70s into and his social growing upheavals alienation and personal tragedy. But the result lacks focus. We never have a clear sense of Frank. only of the people who surround him and are affected by him.
The play lasts 1 hour and 20 minutes with no intermission (not 212 hours. as I said in my review), but it seems interminable because the tension that should be mounting doesn't. Performances are generally good, especially Barbara Quill as Frank's wife, who refuses to think about a lump in her breast. and John Klein as his onetime best friend. who has lost his job when his plant closed.
Cork Cuyahoga Community College Metro Campus Theater A play by Samm-Art Williams about the joys. frustrations and anger of early black performers looks at the limited opportunities for black actors. who had to wear blackface to perform in minstrel shows. Popular works like "Uncle Tom's Cabin' helped further stereotyped roles. Presented by the CCC Conservatory Theater Company under Buddy Butler's direction.
(NR) Deathtrap Eucld Little Theater Mystery writer decides to steal plot from HURRY, DEADLINES 5 P.M. MONDAY, APRIL 4, 1988 WIN ONE OF THE FOLLOWING PRIZES: 0 A 5400 cash prize from The Plain Dealer. 'A Night on the Town" Includes posses for two to a General Cinema Theatre, dinner for two (with champagne) at Houliran Old Place and a night for two at the Cleveland Hilton South 0 One season pass for two (for one year) to any General Cinema Theatre in the Cleveland- Akron-Canton Markets. One of 100 pairs of passes good of any General Cinema Theater in Cleveland, Akron and Canton. The Plain Dealer The heart of the The setting is a Jewish village in Russia.
circa 1905; the plot concerns a poor fellow with too many daughters; and the music (by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick) includes "If I Were a Rich Man," "To Life," etc. (NR) 42nd St. Carousel Dinner Theater The new upscale quarters for Carousel have lifted the quality of the production up a notch, too. Fast-paced and full of production last year at the State in energy, it compares favorably with the touring Although it starts out too broadly, with the everything but set and costumes. familiar Carousel cartoon style, the actors begin in mid-act to pull back and familiar create real characters.
The show is the story of the chorus girl who gets her big chance to replace the star just in time to open on Broadway. Leslie Castay is terrific as the girl (she has a small voice, but can dance up a storm). Elizabeth French has an appealing side and a sly, gravelly voice as the star. This love story is really between girl and theater, however, and all the old show biz cliches sound just grand. The Killing Time Mayfield Jewish Community Center Ronnie Paris' play won the 1986 JCC Playwriting award.
In it, a poet looks back at her growing up, searching for the seeds of her art in her ambivalent feelings toward her parents her conventional mother and her father, whose natural high spirits curdled when his millinery business failed after World War Il. But Paris seems too close to her material; though she can write effective scenes, the overall point remains foggy. The story is told in flashback, with three actors playing the poet, Barbara. In an intensely emotional confrontation, the girl tells her mother about an incident of sexual abuse when she was 8: but the scene doesn't fit into the rest of the play. Nevertheless, Sonya Robbins and Elaine Rembrandt give excellent performances and Dorothy Silver has directed sensitively.
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom Karamu Proscenium Theater August Wilson's powerful play, set in a Chicago recording studio in 1927, where the famous blues singer Ma Rainey is scheduled to make a record, looks at how early black entertainers were exploited. Ma defends her integrity by behaving like a temperamental diva: trumpet player Levee. who wants to make a new kind of music, can afford no such protection. The Karamu production, directed by Don Evans, unfortunately falls far short of Wilson's magnificent script, but even in this rather insecure version, its power shines through. The Miracle Worker Houston's Alley Theater Based on the.
early life of Helen Keller, William Gibson's play chronicles the heroic efforts of her teacher, Annie Sullivan. to break into Helen's dark and lonely world. The Alley Theater, founded in 1947, is one of America's leading regional theaters. (NR) Much Ado About Nothing Cleveland Play House, Drury Theater This production is Beatrice and Benedick's show. When Carol Schultz and Andrew May are on stage as this prickly pair of lovers, theatrical sparks fly.
The rest of the time, it's clear, well-spoken but tedious stuff. Director Nicholas Pennell concentrates on clear speaking at the expense of movement and characterization, and the Latin American setting doesn't help. It's the kind of production of the play I'd hoped had vanished forever. Murder at the Howard Johnson's Stow Players This suspense comedy undertakes not one but three 'attempted murders, all involving the same love triangle in the same motel room (at different times) but each one sets up a different victim. (NR) Octette Bridge Club Chagrin Valley Little Theater P.J.
Barry's comedy was the hit of the Louisville Humana Festival of New Plays a few years back, but didn't impress Broadway critics. It's a nostalgic look at life in the '30s and '40s through a group of sisters who meet regularly for bridge and gossip. (NR) and OFFICIAL ENTRY FORM PLAIN DEALER OSCAR CONTEST Check only one box in each category. Fature 1: 1 stat AL DOH and re Last Emperor Marcella Rolan Best 1 Host IN Nut Good Stat AN No Iron Virtue: Bert Non Holly Hunter Kit bland M-11l Strep At it atat Attrat Don ast N. hon.
1 99 Hal the Tune Natinto Shakeduan r. )l M. 110 Stop U- NoA Hilt Storthcot 3 1 Duty DaN me Cop 11 11P Pardon Best 1 J.m a Hall A at lyre Duet tot Er 11 aut Glory Lie A A Dir atal A1 Rest Suppa: tone Stall COUNT, Murray Vincent Gate. MIA Dani W.r at 1 The Strat Smart Moon Burb Cry fest Moana Al Arm Ran Ann Suth-ti. Supper tamp why A AnI Arch Olympa Dub 4 Mooma to Whites tee Stu, Fatal All At the EtA Au.st TIEBREAKER: Name the picture that will win the most Oscars and designate the number of Oscars it will win IN THE EVENT OF A TIE AFTER THE TIEBREAKER IS USED.
A DRAWING WILL BE HELD TO DETERMINE WINNERS (See rules.) NAME ADDRESS TELEPHONE CITY ZIP Mail to: OSCAR CONTEST, 1801 SUPERIOR CLEVELAND, OHIO 44114 DEADLINE FOR ENTERING IS 5 P.M. APRIL 4. 1988.
