CPT Announces 2010-2011 Season!
Cleveland Public Theatre Executive Artistic Director Raymond Bobgan is proud to announce the 2010-2011 Season:
Go Deep ... Go Long
Cleveland Public Theatre is the place for bold, new, adventurous and relevant works of performance. The 10-11 season includes 4 World Premieres, another production straight from the New York Public, three Midwest Premieres, and a remount of one of CPT's original works. CPT continues its ground breaking development series with 8 weeks of Big [BOX], the return of Little Box and the 11th anniversary of CPT's acclaimed performance series DanceWorks.
CPT's philosophy - that the arts can literally change the world - is actualized through strategic programming and investing resources in new plays and emerging artists that deal directly with relevant issues of our times. The mission of CPT is to raise consciousness and nurture compassion through ground-breaking performances and life changing educational programs.
Executive Artistic Director Raymond Bobgan says, "This season CPT is taking risks on new works that we believe are important and grapple with critical issues - and you won't be bored. Theatre should never be boring. These are engaging performances that will make you think, laugh, cry, and ask for a second helping. Some will change your mind about what theatre can be. Did I say theatre? Maybe I meant to say, 'dinner theatre.'"
click on each production below to learn more
Pandemonium 10: The West Wild Side
The Book of Grace by Suzan-Lori Parks
Don't Call Me Fat by Ozen Yula
Kill Will by Josh Brown and Kelly Elliott
Opera Per Tutti: Il Tabaro by Giacomo Puccini
Little Box
Y-Haven Theatre Project
Connie's Avant Garde Restaurant by Miss Conni Convergence and the Avantgardists
Big [BOX] '11
Darwinii by Glen Berger and Brett Keyser
NEOMFA Playwrights Festival
Women's Voices
FEVER/DREAM by Sheila Callaghan
I Hate This and And Then You Die in repertory by David Hansen
Insomnia by Holly Holsinger, Karin Randoja, and Chris Seibert
DanceWorks 11
My Barking Dog by Eric Coble
Cut to Pieces by Raymond Bobgan and Chris Seibert
Cleveland Public Theatre has new show times and tickets prices for our '10-11 season. Click here to learn more.
Deatils about our 2010-2011 Season are below.
Pandemonium 10: The West Wild Side
Saturday, September 11, 2010
7:00pm, Tickets $125
Cleveland Public Theatre's annual fundraising extravaganza and the party of the year! Featuring dozens of area theatre, dance, visual and performance artists along with fabulous food and drink, Pandemonium is a benefit like no other and an evening not to be missed. Pandemonium's action takes place in unexpected places throughout the CPT campus as guests decide how they choose to experience this innovative and unusual benefit. Matthew and Betsy Figgie will be honored with the 2010 Pan Award.
Click here for more information about Pandemonium 10!
Back to Top
The Book of Grace by Suzan-Lori Parks
Directed by Sheffia Randall Dooley
James Levin Theatre
September 30 - October 16
The Book of Grace is a multi-layered story of terrorism, borders, family, and the consequences of history. Buddy, a veteran of the Iraq war, confronts his estranged father Vet, a veteran of desert storm 1, who is currently working as a border patrolman. Their encounter hints of dark secrets and when Vet's oppressed wife Grace enters the picture, things get more complicated. As Vet prepares to receive a special accommodation for arresting criminals crossing the border, Buddy has plans for vengeance. But, in the end, this is a play about grace and the possibilities for goodness. Suzan-Lori Parks is one of America's most important playwrights. Produced in the spring of 2010 at the New York Public Theatre, this is the second US production. Midwest Premiere
Back to Top
Don't Call Me Fat by Ozen Yula
Directed by Ozen Yula
Gordon Square Theatre
October 7 - October 30
Morbidly obese John Doe can't get out of bed, but his soul flies above from a trapeze. His Aunt Jane's rebukes and his therapist's manipulation drive him to make a dangerous choice. He opts for a radical new surgery that will either make him thin or kill him, and inadvertently gains fame as a talk-show guest. From internationally acclaimed writer/director Ozen Yula, this world premiere satire takes a dark look at our society of consumption and our desperate desire for reduction and redemption. Yula is in residence at CPT through a partnership with Cleveland State University and funded by Cleveland Foundation's Creative Fusion program. World Premiere
Back to Top
Kill Will by Josh Brown and Kelly Elliott
Directed by Alison Garrigan
Storefront Studio
October 14 - October 30
Shakespeare is one of the most violent playwrights of all time, so husband and wife fight choreographers, Brown and Elliott, thought it would be a good idea to skip to the good parts. Kill Will presents all the great fights and murders of the bard in a single evening of stage combat, improv comedy, video game battles, and a bit of marriage therapy. Kill Will was developed in CPT's Big [Box] series. World Premiere
Back to Top
Opera Per Tutti: Il Tabaro by Giacomo Puccini
Directed by Scott Skiba, Conducted by Kerry Glann
James Levin Theatre
October 22 and 24
CPT hosts Opera Per Tutti/Opera for All, Cleveland's newest professional opera company. Opera Per Tutti makes opera accessible, affordable and exciting! Il Tabarro is a story of love, desperation, and violent jealousy, which reveals the true nature of three individuals trapped in their circumstances. Featuring: Brian Johnson, Andrea Anelli, and Timothy Culver.
Back to Top
Little Box
Storefront Studio
November 11 - 21
Staged readings of new plays by local playwrights. Audience discussions after every show. New Play Development
Back to Top
Y-Haven Theatre Project
Gordon Square Theatre
November 4 - 7
A new play created by the men of Y-Haven, a center for homeless men in treatment for drug and alcohol addiction. This project, now in its 11th year, is a great example of how CPT outreach programs can truly change lives.
Back to Top
Conni's Avant Garde Restaurant by Miss Conni Convergence and the Avantgardists
Gordon Square Theatre
December 2 - December 19
CPT doing dinner theatre??? Well, it's not Tony and Tina's Wedding by a long shot. Heralded in the New York Post, Time Out New York and TheatreMania, this strange, hilarious musical performance includes crazy cabaret, improve comedy, death, violence, and a five course meal. But, Conni will tell you, "this is not dinner theatre." Special ticket price. Midwest Premiere
Back to Top
Big [BOX] '11
James Levin Theatre
January 14 - March 6
8 weekends of new work by Cleveland artists. New Play Development
Back to Top
Darwinii by Glen Berger and Brett Keyser
Storefront Studio
March 3 - March 19
Cristobal has stolen the original Charles Darwin manuscripts from rare book libraries around the world. Why? Because he's convinced he's the great-great-great-bastard-grandson of the father of Natural Selection. As part of his sentence he must deliver a public apology, during which he digresses ... flamboyantly. Darwinii was commissioned by the American Philosophical Society (APS) Museum and features Brett Keyser, recently heralded for his stunning portrayal of William Butler Yeats in Open Mind Firmament. Glen Berger is a widely acclaimed playwright, currently working on Spider-Man Turn off the Dark, the new Broadway-bound musical with Julie Taymor and Bono. Midwest Premiere
Back to Top
NEOMFA Playwrights Festival
James Levin Theatre
March 11 - 27
Building a new partnership, this festival will feature three new works written by graduating students from the NEOMFA in Creative Writing, under the guidance of professor and playwright, Mike Geither. The NEOMFA in Creative Writing is a consortium of four universities: Cleveland State University, Kent State University, The University of Akron, and Youngstown State University. Each weekend will feature a world premiere work by a graduate student. New Play Development
Back to Top
Women's Voices
Gordon Square Theatre
March 24
Women's Voices is a collaboration between Cleveland Public Theatre and the Elyria YWCA's Women's Campus Project. Campus Project residents create an evening-length presentation in which participants read and perform original stories and poetry based on their own life experiences. This project, now in its 12th year, is another great example of how CPT outreach programs can truly change lives.
Back to Top
FEVER/DREAM by Sheila Callaghan
Directed by Associate Artistic Director Beth Wood
Gordon Square Theatre
April 7 - 23
Say your father was the President of a multinational corporation and you were chained to the customer service desk as soon as you could dial a phone... if someone made you CEO for a day, would you go crazy? This raucous and highly physical comic reinvention of Pedro Calderon de la Barca's classic Life is a Dream, gleefully skewers corporate America with razor-sharp wit, and forecasts a corporate-world transformation as Gen-Y takes over the world. Midwest Premiere
Back to Top
I Hate This and And Then You Die in repertory by David Hansen
Directed by Alison Garrigan
Storefront Studio
April 7 - 23
David Hansen performs his two award winning solo shows in rep. One is an exploration of personal loss and recovery, while the other is about obsession and victory. Both shows were developed in CPT's Big [Box] and have gone on to successful runs at the New York Fringe. New Play Development
Back to Top
Insomnia by Holly Holsinger, Karin Randoja, and Chris Seibert
Directed by Karin Randoja, Designed by Joan Horvitz
James Levin Theatre
April 21 - May 7
Holly Holsinger and Chris Seibert, two of CPT's most beloved actors are together again in a new work about self loathing and self love. Insomnia delves into the innermost thoughts of a woman on the brink of some kind of change-death, flight, mental collapse, or self discovery. World Premiere
Back to Top
DanceWorks 11
Gordon Square Theatre
May 5 - June 5
New dance by local artists. This popular series will feature five companies performing world premiere works.
Back to Top
My Barking Dog by Eric Coble
Directed by Jeremy Paul
Storefront Studio
May 12 - 28
Two lonely people's lives take a dramatic turn for the bizarre when a starving coyote starts appearing at their doorsteps. World Premiere
Back to Top
Cut to Pieces by Raymond Bobgan and Chris Seibert
Directed by Raymond Bobgan
James Levin Theatre
May 26 - June 4
Chris Seibert's haunting, tour de force solo show returns for two weekends only. What begins as a classic "who done it?" quickly turns into a deep dive into the psyche of a young woman who is not all together. Blending live video feed, film, and animation, Cut to Pieces is a CPT original production geared to tour. New Play Development
Back to Top
