2017 Fall Theater Preview: Beck Center for the Arts, Cleveland Public Theatre and Dobama Theatre turn spotlight on homegrown talent

From left: Devine (Logan Dior Williams) listens as brother Tray (Jabri Little) teases Grams Lena (Lisa Louise Langford) about her limited culinary skills in the Dobama Theatre production of 'Brownsville Song (B-side for Tray).'(Steve Wagner)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Playhouse Square, the buzzing hive of activity that is home to the city's touring Broadway series and two producing theaters, isn't the only place gearing up for a busy fall season.

Major houses outside downtown Cleveland are offering a host of productions with an emphasis on hometown talent, including four by Bards of the Burning River Eric Coble and George Brant.

Cleveland Public Theatre kicks off its 2017-18 season with the world premiere of Coble's madcap play "The Family Claxon." At Dobama Theatre, the regional premiere of Coble's "Sherlock Holmes: The Baker Street Irregulars" brings mystery and a duel atop a moving train for the holidays, followed by the Cleveland-produced premiere of Brant's celebrated solo drama "Grounded," centered around a female drone pilot, in January.

In Lakewood, the Beck Center for the Arts continues its fertile partnership with area universities with a 50th anniversary production of "Hair," helmed by Baldwin Wallace University's Victoria Bussert and featuring her music theater students, and "Bent," a seminal work about the fate of gays in Nazi Germany directed by Matthew Wright of Oberlin College.

The following listings and descriptions are based on information provided by the theaters and the critic's own notebook.

Beck Center for the Arts

Times, tickets and more

All performances are at theaters inside the Beck Center for the Arts, 17801 Detroit Ave., Lakewood, with free onsite parking.

Performances are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 3 p.m. Sundays, except where noted. Previews are 8 p.m. the Thursday before opening night, with general-admission seating for $10.

Subscriptions and flex passes range in price from $100 to $276. Single tickets are $31 (adults), $27 (for seniors 65 and older) and $12 for students with valid ID. A $3 service fee per ticket will be applied at time of purchase.

The 2017-18 Mainstage Season

Patients at the state mental hospital, lead by head agitator McMurphy (Bryant Carroll), confront a baleful Nurse Ratched (Katherine DeBoer) in the Beck Center for the Arts production of 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.'

Now through Sunday, Oct. 8, Mackey Theater: "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Written by Dale Wasserman, based on a book by Ken Kesey. Directed by William Roudebush.

McMurphy, a charming rogue who feigns madness to escape a prison term, lands in an asylum where he questions institutional procedures and rallies his fellow patients to commit rebellious acts of independence. Enter Nurse Ratched, who has terrible ways of restoring order.

Friday, Oct. 6-Sunday, Nov. 5, Studio Theater: "Waiting for Godot." Written by Samuel Beckett. Directed by Eric Schmeidl.

In this classic tragicomedy exploring the futility of the human condition, two wandering vagrants wait in the middle of nowhere to meet up with Mr. Godot, hoping he'll change their lives for the better. As they anticipate his arrival, they joke and engage with fellow travelers and ponder life's greatest questions.

Friday, Dec. 1-Sunday, Dec. 31, Mackey: "Disney's The Little Mermaid." Book by Glen Slater and Doug Wright, music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman, musical direction by Larry Goodpaster and choreography by Martin Cespedes. Directed by Scott Spence.

The Beck's family favorite - complete with its eye-popping set and costumes - returns for another holiday season. This all-ages tale begins under the sea with Ariel, a mermaid princess who dreams of the forbidden land above. When she saves a human prince, she loses her voice to a sea witch and must fight to gain it back.

Friday, Feb. 9-Sunday, Feb. 25, Mackey: "Hair." Book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni, music by Galt MacDermot. Directed by Victoria Bussert. In collaboration with the Baldwin Wallace University Music Theatre Program.

The anti-war musical that introduced peace, love and rock 'n' roll to Broadway celebrates its 50th anniversary at the Beck, bringing its message of rebellion and its surplus of hits - including "Aquarius" and "Let the Sun Shine In" - to a 21st-century audience.

Friday, March 30-Sunday, April 29, Studio: "My First Time." Written by Ken Davenport. Directed by Scott Spence.

In this regional premiere, four actors recount the first sexual experiences of real people culled from sweet, comic and heartbreaking confessions originally posted to the website myfirsttime.com.

Friday, June 1-Sunday, July 1, Studio: "Bent." Written by Martin Sherman. Directed by Matthew Wright.

Before Martin Sherman's 1979 groundbreaking play about gay men trying to survive in Nazi Germany, little was widely known about the persecution of gays under Hitler's regime.

Now considered a landmark of gay theater, the original Broadway production starred Richard Gere as the hedonistic Max and spurred the appropriation of the pink triangle - the emblem affixed to the uniforms of prisoners in concentration camps to identify them as homosexual - as a symbol of gay liberation.

Friday, July 6-Sunday, Aug. 12, Mackey: "Gypsy." Book by Arthur Laurents, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, music by Jule Styne, musical direction by Larry Goodpaster and choreography by Martin Cespedes. Directed by Scott Spence.

Winner of multiple Tony Awards, the classic musical about the world's most obnoxious and eminently watchable stage mother helped launch the career of Stephen Sondheim.

Loosely based on the 1957 memoir of stripper Gypsy Rose Lee, the story follows Mama Rose and her two daughters as they crisscross the United States, performing in vaudeville halls. When headliner June takes flight, Mama Rose convinces the awkward Louise to take it all off (sort of) to become a star of the burlesque scene.

Three shows our critic can't wait to see: "Waiting for Godot," featuring vets Bill Hoffman and Michael Mauldin as Beckett's famous vagabonds; a production of "Hair" populated with bright young things with Broadway-caliber voices from Baldwin Wallace University and the rarely seen "Bent," under the always-astute and humane direction of Oberlin associate professor of theater Matthew Wright.

Cleveland Public Theatre

Times, tickets and more

All performances take place in venues on the CPT campus at 6415 Detroit Ave., Cleveland. Unless otherwise noted, shows at the Gordon Square Theatre begin at 7:30 p.m. and shows at the James Levin Theatre begin at 7 p.m. Both mainstage venues are ADA-compliant and feature a newly installed elevator and an all-gender wheelchair-accessible restroom. For event times at Storefront Studio, The Church at CPT and Parish Hall, visit cptonline.org.

Single tickets are $12-$30, with premium pricing for CPT's holiday show and other special events. Student and senior discounts are available for Friday and Saturday nights. For more information, go to the website or call the CPT box office at 216-631-2727, ext. 501.

Free Beer Friday: Audience members are invited to mingle with artists every Friday after the show and enjoy a drink or two on the house.

The following listings are based on information provided by Cleveland Public Theatre and the critic's own notebook.

The 2017-18 Mainstage Season

Eric Coble, inside Broadway's Booth Theatre, where his play, 'The Velocity of Autumn,' opened in April 2014.

Friday, Oct. 13-Saturday, Oct. 28, Gordon Square Theatre: "The Family Claxon." Written by Eric Coble. Directed by Craig J. George. World premiere. (In previews Thursday, Oct. 5, Friday, Oct. 6, Saturday, Oct. 7, and Thursday, Oct. 12.)

In this absurd romp by Cleveland bard Eric Coble, Andrew Claxon wants to help Grandad Claxon celebrate his 150th birthday in a last-ditch effort to get the higher-ups to notice him. His plan for promotion might just work, seeing as Grandad is the company's founder.

But his efforts are stymied by a host of interruptions, including his blogging daughter and a flood of neighbors who take refuge in his home to escape plumbing explosions and other disasters. And did we mention the Guatemalan flu that makes house pets spontaneously combust?

Friday, Nov. 3-Saturday, Nov. 18, James Levin Theatre: "The Art of Longing." Written by Lisa Langford. Directed by Jimmie Woody. World premiere. (In previews Thursday, Oct. 26, Friday, Oct. 27, Saturday, Oct. 28, and Thursday, Nov. 2.)

Area actress and playwright Lisa Langford explores questions of race, gender and the nature of art and perception by following the lives of six fictional Clevelanders who work the lonely third shift. But they are more than meets the eye. When their deep yearnings are revealed, so are their fantastical abilities in a world where dreams and reality blend and blur.

Friday, Dec. 1-Sunday, Dec. 17, Gordon Square: "The Loush Sisters Get HARD for the Holidays (Yippie-Kai-Yay Mother-Loushers)." Created by Liz Conway, Michael Seevers Jr. and Beth Wood. Directed by Wood. World premiere. (In previews Friday, Nov. 24, Saturday, Nov. 25, and Thursday, Nov. 30.)

Join Holly and Jolly Loush (aka the lovably, lushy Loush Sisters) for their hotly anticipated return to the stage in a bawdy, boozy, over-the-top holiday cabaret. Fueled by song, sidekicks and a hefty dose of "holiday cheer," the Loush Sisters battle villains and attempt to avert disaster in this radical satire of America's favorite holiday classic . . . "Die Hard."

Wednesday, Jan. 24-Sunday, Jan. 28, Gordon Square: "How to End Poverty in 90 Minutes." Conceived and led by Michael Rohd. Created by Sojourn Theatre and collaborators.

This Sojourn Theatre production, sponsored by the United Way of Greater Cleveland, asks, "How do we tackle poverty in America? In our community?" Over the course of 90 minutes, audiences listen, explore solutions and ultimately decide how to spend $1,000 cash from that evening's box office sales.

Creators of this experiment in collective decision-making and shared responsibility promise an often delightful and occasionally uncomfortable evening.

Friday, Feb. 16-Saturday, March 3, James Levin: "American Dreams." Written by Leila Buck. Developed by Tamilla Woodard in collaboration with Varin Ayala, Monte Bezell, Osh Ghanimah, Ahmad Maksoud, Jens Rasmussen, Imran Sheikh and Rasha Zamamiri. Directed by Woodard. World premiere. (In previews Thursday, Feb. 8, Friday, Feb. 9, Saturday, Feb. 10, and Thursday, Feb. 15.)

You are invited into the live studio audience of "American Dreams," a reality show where you will decide which of three contestants will receive the ultimate prize: citizenship in "the greatest nation on Earth."

Weaving playful audience engagement with timely questions about immigration and more, this participatory performance explores how we balance security and freedom, who and what we choose to believe, and how those choices shape who we are.

Friday, Feb. 23-Saturday, March 10, Gordon Square: "En el Tiempo de las Mariposas / In the Time of the Butterflies." A play by Caridad Svich. Based on the novel by Julia Alvarez. Spanish translation by Svich. Regional premiere. (In previews Thursday, Feb. 22.)

The courageous Mirabal Sisters - a trio of real-life siblings from the Dominican Republic known by their secret code name "the butterflies" - were assassinated in 1960 for their resistance to the brutal regime of Gen. Rafael Trujillo.

The stage adaptation, based on the haunting work of historical fiction by Dominican-born poet and writer Julia Alvarez, weaves a visual and aural dreamscape of the women's interior lives, intertwining the beauty and ferocity of the natural world with the popular music of the time. Performed in Spanish with English supertitles.

Friday, April 6- Saturday, April 21, Gordon Square: "Br'er Cotton." Written by Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm. Directed by Jennifer L. Nelson. National New Play Network rolling world premiere. (In previews Thursday, March 29, Friday, March 30, Saturday, March 31, and Thursday, April 5.)

In Lynchburg, Virginia, the former site of a thriving cotton mill is now an impoverished neighborhood. Deeply affected by recent killings of young black men like himself, Ruffrino, a 14- year-old "militant," incites riots at school and online. He's more and more at odds with his mother and grandfather, and his anger grows while the family home sinks into a cotton field - though no one seems to notice but him.

Thursday, May 17-Saturday, June 9, Gordon Square: DanceWorks 2018.

Cleveland Public Theatre's annual showcase of Northeast Ohio's most adventurous contemporary dance companies returns to the Gordon Square Theatre stage for four weeks of single- and double-bill performances.

Special Engagements

Thursday, Nov. 2, Friday, Nov. 3, and Sunday, Nov. 5, Gordon Square: Y-Haven Theatre Project. Created and performed by the men of Y-Haven, a branch of the Greater Cleveland YMCA. Directed by Adam Seeholzer. World premiere.

For a 19th year, CPT artists and residents of Y-Haven, a transitional housing facility for homeless men recovering from substance abuse and mental health challenges, create an original work, performed by the men and based on their life stories.

The one-weekend-only production at the Gordon Square Theatre is followed by a community-wide tour. Visit the website for details.

Saturday, May 5, St. John's Episcopal Church in Ohio City: Station Hope 2018.

Now in its fifth year, Station Hope is a community event that celebrates Cleveland's social justice history and explores contemporary struggles for freedom and equity. More than 250 artists converge on the grounds of Cleveland's first authenticated Underground Railroad site, and audiences can explore the historic property while viewing works of theater, music, storytelling and dance inspired by the most important issues of our time.

New Play Development

Thursday, Oct. 5-Saturday, Oct. 7, James Levin: Teatro Publico de Cleveland New Play Festival. Created and directed by Teatro Publico de Cleveland ensemble members.

Teatro Publico de Cleveland celebrates its fifth year by launching a workshop series of new scripts and scenes created by local Latino artists. The series will feature 10-minute plays and other material in a staged reading format.

Thursday, Jan. 18-Sunday, Jan. 21, multiple venues, CPT campus: Entry Point.

In this four-day mini-festival, Northeast Ohio artists develop and share their work in the early stages of creation. Activities include staged readings, works-in-progress, open rehearsals, guest panel discussions and facilitated feedback between artists and audience after every showing.

Thursday, March 29-Saturday, April 28, James Levin: Test Flight.

This multiweek play development series gives local, national and international artists keys to the theater and the opportunity to co-produce original works-in-progress with CPT in an environment that offers a structured support system but encourages risk-taking.

Three shows our critic can't wait to see: The top of CPT's new season is especially exciting for its trio of new works by area playwrights: Eric Coble's "The Family Claxon"; "The Art of Longing" by Lisa Langford, currently delivering a superb performance in Dobama's "Brownsville Song (B-side for Tray)"; and "The Loush Sisters Get HARD for the Holidays (Yippie-Kai-Yay Mother-Loushers)," created by the gonzo team of Liz Conway, Michael Seevers Jr. and Beth Wood (because what says happy holidays like "Die Hard?")

Dobama Theatre

Times, tickets and more

All shows are at Dobama Theatre, 2340 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights. Memberships are $156; young professional memberships are $120. Single tickets are $29-$32. Holiday ticket prices for "Sherlock Holmes: The Baker Street Irregulars" are $35-$38. Senior, student and military discounts are available. Preview performances are $15 on select Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays the week of opening.

Unless otherwise noted, shows open at 8 p.m. on Fridays, with performances at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2:30 p.m. Sundays, except for a 7:30 p.m. "pay as you can" performance the first Sunday of the run. Please note that "Sherlock Holmes: The Baker Street Irregulars" has additional performances on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays throughout the run. For details and to purchase tickets, visit dobama.org or call 216-932-3396.

The following listings are based on information provided by Dobama and the critic's own notebook.

The 2017-18 Mainstage Season

Now through Sunday, Sept. 24: "Brownsville Song (B-side for Tray)." Written by Kimber Lee. Directed by Jimmie Woody. Regional premiere.

Set in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, and moving fluidly between past and present, Kimber Lee's lyrical social drama tells the story of Tray, a spirited teen who becomes an innocent casualty of gang violence.

Despite its tragic premise, the play, fueled by a hip-hop soundtrack, celebrates the life of the boy and his neighborhood.

Friday, Oct. 13-Sunday, Nov. 12: "Marjorie Prime." Written by Jordan Harrison. Directed by Shannon Sindelar. Regional premiere. (Previews at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11, and Thursday, Oct. 12.)

It's the age of artificial intelligence, and 85-year-old Marjorie - a jumble of disparate, fading memories - has a handsome new companion who's programmed to feed the story of her life back to her.

What would we remember, and what would we forget, if given the chance? This finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for drama explores the mysteries of human identity and the question of whether technology can replicate what makes us, us.

Friday, Dec. 1-Saturday, Dec. 30: "Sherlock Holmes: The Baker Street Irregulars." Written by Eric Coble. Based on the graphic novels by Tony Lee and Dan Boultwood. Directed by Nathan Motta. Regional premiere. (Previews at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 28, and Thursday, Nov. 30.)

Sherlock Holmes is missing and feared dead, and the mayor's daughter has disappeared, too. Without the eminent detective, the streets of London are awash with crime. Who will save the day?

Enter the Baker Street Irregulars -- a gang of street kids who regularly help Sherlock solve cases. Now they must band together to find their leader, locate the mayor's lost daughter, untangle a murder mystery from their past and face the masked criminal mastermind behind it all -- a bandit who just may be Sherlock's nemesis, the brilliant Moriarty. The game is afoot!

Anne Hathaway in George Brant's 'Grounded' at The Public Theater in 2015. The solo show will receive its first Cleveland-produced production at Dobama Theatre in 2018.

Friday, Jan. 19-Sunday, Feb. 11: "Grounded." Written by George Brant. Directed by Alice Reagan. Cleveland-produced premiere. (Previews at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 17, and Thursday, Jan. 18.)

An ace fighter pilot, grounded by an unexpected pregnancy, is redeployed to a windowless trailer outside Las Vegas where she operates military drones, hunting terrorists by day and returning to her family each night. As the pressure to track a high-profile target mounts, the boundaries begin to blur between the desert in which she lives and the one she patrols half a world away.

"Grounded" has enjoyed numerous stagings worldwide, including a high-octane version of the one-woman show at New York's Public Theater in 2015 directed by "The Lion King's" Julie Taymor and starring Anne Hathaway as the hotshot flie. (Hathaway is adapting Brant's epic poem of a play into a movie.)

The excellent off-Broadway Page 73 production of "Grounded" played at the Cleveland Play House New Ground Theatre Festival in 2014, but a production made in Cleveland is long past due.

Friday, March 2-Sunday, March 25: "The Effect." Written by Lucy Prebble. Directed by Laley Lippard. Midwest premiere. (Previews at 7:30 Wednesday, Feb. 28, and Thursday, March 1.)

Connie and Tristan meet and fall in love. They have a palpable chemistry - or is it a side effect of a new antidepressant? They're volunteers in a clinical drug trial, and their sudden and illicit romance forces the supervising doctors to face off over the ethical consequences of their work.

Friday, April 20-Sunday, May 20: "Appropriate." Written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. Directed by Nathan Motta. Regional premiere. (Previews at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 17, and Thursday, April 19.)

The estranged members of the Lafayette clan have descended on their crumbling Arkansas homestead to settle the accounts of their newly dead father. The three adult children sort through a lifetime of hoarded mementos and junk, arguing over the detritus, debt and a contentious family history. But tensions boil over and explode following a disturbing discovery that surfaces among their pa's possessions.

Special non-subscription summer event

Thursday, June 21-Sunday, July 8: "On the Grill." Written by Dror Keren. English translation by Omer Strass. Directed by Leighann Delorenzo. American premiere produced in partnership with Cleveland Israel Arts Connection, a program of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland. (Previews at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 20.)

Everything is ready for the Israeli Independence Day party at the home of Rochale and her husband Zvika, but the lawn has seen better days and so has the family. Their grown son is home from Berlin for the holiday, and he's brought an unexpected guest. Grandmother is frail and attended to by her newly hired, flamboyant South American caretaker.

As neighbors come to visit, news broadcasts on the television in the back room keep everyone on edge. Smoke from the barbecue fills the air, fighter jets circle in the sky, and conflicts are reignited that cannot be ignored.

Three shows our critic can't wait to see: I've been agitating to see Dorothy Silver in a fully staged production of "Marjorie Prime" ever since her captivating turn in a staged reading of Jordan Harrison's haunting play at the New Ground Theatre Festival in 2013; Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' "Appropriate," because I'll see anything written by the man who brought us last year's discomfiting meta melodrama, "An Octoroon"; George Brant's "Grounded" is so riveting, I'll stand in line to see it a third time.

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.