Published: Thursday, March 17, 2011, 11:25 AM     Updated: Thursday, March 17, 2011, 11:26 AM

By Tony Brown, The Plain Dealer

View full sizeGus Chan l The Plain DealerRobert “J.R.” Easterly says a state-supported program at Cleveland Public Theatre has played a big role in helping him give up a life of drugs and crime.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The street was his home. Crack cocaine made do for an occupation. Six prison stretches and a dishonorable discharge from the Army defined his career.

That was all before Robert “J.R.” Easterly got involved in 2006 in the Y-Haven Project, an annual program at Cleveland Public Theatre.

Now Easterly, 53, has a home and works as a theater technician. He’s got his sobriety and a measure of dignity, too.

But the future of the Y-Haven Project — which in the 12 years of its existence has helped more than 200 men in similar straits — is uncertain in the wake of Gov. John Kasich’s proposed 19.5 percent cut in the budget of the Ohio Arts Council.

Kasich’s proposal could create a “perfect storm” for Ohio cultural organizations that depend on both state and federal funding. The latest proposed OAC cuts were announced Tuesday as some in Congress want to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts.

View full sizePDCleveland Public Theatre.

In the case of the Y-Haven Project, the state arts council contributed $9,100 to the inner-city program’s $54,000 budget for the 2010 fiscal year, and the NEA another $10,000. Together, state and federal money comprised more than 35 percent of the project’s budget last year.

Kasich’s proposed OAC reduction comes as the beleaguered state agency is still reeling from a 47 percent decrease in fiscal years 2010 and 2011.

Under Kasich’s proposal, the OAC budget would fall to $10.6 million for fiscal years 2012 and 2013, down from a high of more than $32 million in the 2000-01 biennium.

Ohio Arts Council grants to cultural organizations in Cuyahoga County dropped from $3.8 million in 2000 to $1.3 million in the current fiscal year. The governor’s proposed cuts could reduce state arts funding in the county in fiscal 2012 to the $1 million mark.

The OAC has been a staunch supporter of the Y-Haven Project, a partnership between Cleveland Public Theatre and a program run by the YMCA of Greater Cleveland that houses up to 133 homeless men recovering from substance abuse.

In August, CPT selected 20 of the men at Y-Haven to work with nine theater professionals for three months in developing a play about themselves.

Last year’s “Taking Care of Business” told the story of Eddie, who surrenders to police in a fencing operation investigation, an act symbolizing the men’s willingness to admit failure in order to get help.

The show played for one weekend at CPT and toured area universities, a juvenile-detention center and a treatment facility.

“It’s an amazing project for the men, and it’s just an amazing piece of theater,” CPT executive artistic director Raymond Bobgan said. “The Ohio Arts Council money is important in itself, and it is a seal of approval that helps us raise other money.”

As for Easterly, the Y-Haven Project awakened an inner thespian.

After appearing in the show twice and stage-managing another two years, Easterly became a backstage regular at CPT, worked with Boston-based lighting designer Trad A Burns on an installation at Cedar Point, and can be found behind the scenes at Cleveland’s annual Ingenuityfest.

“I’ve been acting all my life, doing things I shouldn’t have been doing,” Easterly said this week at CPT. “Now I can get paid to do it, and I can pay something back to this theater that took a big chance on me.”

To reach Tony Brown: tbrown@plaind.com, 216-999-4181

[Original Cleveland.com Article] [PDF]

Published: Thursday, January 06, 2011, 11:15 PM     Updated: Thursday, January 06, 2011, 11:20 PM

By Michael Norman, The Plain Dealer

Cleveland Public TheatreDancer and cChoreographer Kenya Woods performs her “Through Her Eyes,” which will be presented Feb. 11-13, as part of Cleveland Public Theatre’s eight-week Big Box festival.

Time once again for Cleveland’s premiere festival of brand-new works: never before tested, gutty and brainy.

It is called Cleveland Public Theatre’s Big Box series, and it begins Friday, Jan. 14.

CPT executive artistic director Raymond Bobgan hands over the keys to 6415 Detroit Ave. to a group of artists who have the run of the place for a week, culminating in a weekend of three performances. The series runs through Sunday, March 6.

This year, the most ambitious yet, will see shows by Cleveland State University students and recent graduates, as well as out-of-town artists drawn by CPT’s reputation as an avant-garde theater that welcomes risk taking.

Shows are at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $15. Go to cptonline.org or call 216-631-2727.

Week 1: Jan. 14-16 “Ya Mama!” Written and performed by Nina Domingue and directed by Cathy Hartenstein, this one-woman show explores the life of an artist, wife, mother, Christian and black woman.

“She Cried at the Circus.” Jeff Glover writes a story about a woman who discovers at a young age that she has power beyond dreams, wealth beyond imagination and presence that inspires fear.

Week 2: Jan. 21-23 “Soliciting for Change.” Bitch, terrorist, dreamer. Those are some of the names people call playwright/performer Molly Andrews-Hinders as she goes after corrupt corporations and advocates for working-class families. Directed by James Langa and Erin McCardle.

“Seppuku.” Written and performed by Melissa Crum and BC Miles, this piece weighs the differences between suicide and ritual suicide. Directed by James Kosmatka.

Week 3: Jan. 28-30 “Mother/Tongue.” A family’s dysfunction surfaces as a workaholic mom obsessively makes Julia Child’s beef tongue, disappears for hours and speaks French. Written by Claire Robinson May and directed by Danielle Hisey.

Week 4: Feb. 4-6 Everything Is Everything Project. Two plays, “A Sleep” and “A Wake,” written and performed by Val Kozlenko and Eric Perusek, explore what it is to be truly awake or to sleepwalk through life. A third play, “30 Awkward Minutes With Pat and Glenn,” written and performed by Renee Schilling and Lew Wallace, imagines two people trapped in the void of unreality.

“Sick F- – -.”John Robert Armstrong (of Indiana) will be directed by Noe Montez (who recently moved to Cleveland from Indiana) in a play by Paul Shoulberg (of Kansas) about a terminal cancer patient dealing with resentment, regret and heartache.

Week 5: Feb. 11-13 “Through Her Eyes.” Choreographed and performed by Kenya Woods, this dance piece is about three women finding grace through being broken by fears and frustrations, crisis and the job of motherhood.

“Fast Forward-Rewind-Stop.” The Marquez Dance Project does a piece choreographed by Jennifer Sandoval about the pursuit of gender equilibrium.

Week 6: Feb. 18-20 “Sonic Cinema.” FiveOne Music performs a fusion of local films and new music composed by Michael Bratt and Jeremy Allen. Week 7: Feb. 25-27 “Cowboy Poet.” A country musical by Deborah Magid, directed by Douglas Farren, looks at a cowboy poet, a WASP socialite and an ex-con who throw a benefit gala for adult literacy in New Mexico.

Week 8: March 4-6 “Voice Over.” Conceived and directed by Pandora Robertson, this piece asks, “Who am I?,” “Do other people know who I really am?” and “Will I ever be the same person again?”

“Side Effects May Include.” Former “Seinfeld” writer Marc Jaffe and Cleveland Heights playwright Eric Coble write about a man with a lovely wife, a lovely kid and a lovely life, until Parkinson’s disease and the side effects of the medicines that treat it invade his home. Eric Schmeidl directs Nick Koesters.

[Original Article on Cleveland.com] [PDF]

Published: Saturday, December 18, 2010, 5:10 AM

By Amanda Garrett, The Plain Dealer

View full sizeGus Chan / The Plain DealerThe Cleveland Foundation is awarding a $250,000 grant to the Gordon Square Arts District to begin the second phase of renovations to Cleveland Public Theatre.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Cleveland Foundation on Friday awarded $12.9 million in grants to nonprofit groups, including $150,000 to support the transition of Cuyahoga County’s government.

The year-end awards show the foundation’s annual giving — about $80 million in 2010 — is back in line with what it was before the economic downturn, said Robert Eckardt, the foundation’s senior vice president for programs and evaluation.

Last year, as the foundation’s holdings dipped, it provided about $2 million less in grants than it had the year before.

At their peak, the Cleveland Foundation’s assets totaled about $2 billion. That fell to about $1.6 billion at the depth of the recent financial crisis, Eckardt said, but had rebounded to about $1.7 billion by Sept. 30.

The Cleveland Foundation, like many college endowments and other substantial grant-making organizations, considers its finances over several years rather than snapshots in time. That prevents sudden drop-offs and sudden rises in grant making, Eckardt said.

Much of the grant money awarded Friday funds economic transformation, public-education reform and neighborhood redevelopment.

Yet $150,000 was set aside as a special grant to help the county.

“The change to a new form of county government is dramatic,” Eckardt said in a prepared statement. “We believe that getting the right people into the right positions is critical for the success of this structure.”

Matt Carroll, who is directing the transition, said the grant was awarded to the Economic Growth Foundation — part of the Greater Cleveland Partnership — and will be spent in three ways:

• About $110,000 will pay for a national search to fill three jobs — fiscal officer, chief information officer and director of development.

• About $20,000 will pay for the ongoing integrity audit that incoming County Executive Ed FitzGerald launched shortly after his election. FitzGerald hired a former FBI agent who is also a certified public accountant for the job. He will submit his report examining possible misconduct and waste by year’s end.

• About $20,000 will pay transition staffing costs.

Carroll said he has had informal talks with other grant-making bodies about funding that would pay for headhunters to help fill other key positions in the new government.

“We are wide open for the best possible people to come in,” Carroll said, adding that interim staff members will fill key positions until permanent workers are hired.

Some of the other grants awarded by the Cleveland Foundation included:

• Three grants worth $970,000 to the lead partners of MyCom, a countywide youth development program. More than half the money — $550,000 — will be spent on activities for children when school is not in session.

• A $400,000 grant to Shorebank Enterprise Group to support Green City Growers, a sprawling greenhouse at East 55th Street and Kinsman Road that will grow lettuce and herbs without using soil. The greens will be sold to local hospitals and food distributors.

• A $250,000 grant to the Gordon Square Arts District to begin the second phase of renovations to Cleveland Public Theatre.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: agarrett@plaind.com, 216-999-4814

[Original Cleveland.com Article] [PDF]

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“The Friday@7 concert at Severance was sublime! Thanks to the Happy Dog we had a wonderful evening with friends while experiencing the best that Cleveland has to offer!  The concert featured Mahler and showcased a top-notch array of musical talent led by a fabulous conductor. The low bass was phenomenal!  Thanks Happy Dog! Thanks Gordon Square!” – Samantha Schartman

“The tater tots rock!!” – Meghan Wilson

Tony Brown, The Plain Dealer

Photos by Peggy Turbett, The Plain Dealer

Most people try to look thinner.

Actor Kevin Charnas, who has a runner’s build (photo at left), wants to look like a man so obese he can’t get out of bed. Which means:

Fat suit!

For the world premiere of Turkish playwright Ozen Yula’s “Don’t Call Me Fat,” which opened Saturday night and runs through Saturday, Oct. 30, Cleveland Public Theatre called Alison Garrigan, one of Cleveland’s busiest and best resident costumers.

Charnas spends the 75-minute first act in the suit, lying in bed in a hospital gown (after he spends 15 minutes in the thing before the curtain goes up).

Then, in Act 2, he is slimmed down to his normal size.

That means the part couldn’t be played by a large actor with a little padding here and there, a la Harvey Fierstein as Edna Turnblad in “Hairspray.”

The length of time in the suit means it had to be as light (about 20 pounds) and comfy as possible. And his hands and face, his only acting tools besides his voice, had to be free.

Garrigan, a costume designer for 30 years and an actor-director, had to bring all of her skills to the project. Here is a look.

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Garrigan looked at photographs of morbidly obese people and did sketches before rehearsals started in mid-August.

After consulting with Yula, who is directing, and taking Charnas’ measurements, she made the suit out of high-density upholstery foam (for shape), toy-animal fiberfill (lighter than foam) and lentil beans (for sag).

She covered it in breathable “peach-skin” fabric, used for dancers and figure skaters whose costumes need a “nude” look.

Once the suit was built, Garrigan worked with Charnas (seen in photo at right last week during technical rehearsals) to fine-tune the fit.

Garrigan carved out spaces where frozen cold packs could be inserted on the actor’s tummy and under his armpits to help him keep cool.

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The last piece of the suit scheduled to go on every night will be the jowls (in photo at left).

Garrigan will apply pale makeup to Charnas’ face and dark circles around his eyes after he is in the suit. “He has to look really unhealthy.”

The actor’s supine position and the elevation of the stage meant that Garrigan had to use what artists call “forced perspective,” deliberately accentuating some body parts to make up for the audience’s viewing angle.

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The finished product is never, it seems, really finished.

In the technical-rehearsal photo at right, Charnas wears a bathrobe. But the next night, Yula decided to go with the hospital gown, which meant more adjustments.

Which is OK with Garrigan. “It’s been really interesting to take that kind of athletic body and turn it into the absolute opposite. And the hands-on work was not unpleasant at all, if you know what I mean.”

[Original Cleveland.com Article] [PDF]

Visit NWT homepage for complete information

July 23, 24, 29, 30, 31,

August 6, 7 & 8

Thurs., Fri. & Sat. @ 7:30 pm

Sun. @ 3:00 pm

Tickets: $8 Adults
$6 Children (12 & under)

Performance Location:

St. Patrick’s Club Building
3606 Bridge Ave.- 3rd Fl.
Cleveland, Ohio

Puchase Tickets

Performed entirely by students
Book, music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson
Musical arrangements Steve Skinner
Original concept/additional lyrics Billy Aronson
Music supervision and additional arrangements Tim Weil
Dramaturg Lynn Thomson
RENT was originally produced in New York by New York Theatre Workshop and on Broadway by Jeffrey Seller, Kevin McCollum, Allan S. Gordon and New York Theatre Workshop

July 23 – August 8, 2010

“There’s only us, there’s only this.
Forget regret, or life is yours to miss.
No other road, no other way. No day, but today.” – Mimi

Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer Prize winning Broadway musical based loosely on Puccini’s opera La Bohème. In its examination of the lifestyles of the young men and women who inhabit the slums of the Village, the play becomes a celebration of life and the heroic struggle to survive.

The day Jonathan Larson (creator of Rent) died….
“The audience was reaching out to the cast. They were crying and cheering. By the second act, it was no longer contained. It was the full show run full-out. If emotion could have become a physical force, the roof would have blown off, the weather would have changed. The second act ended. There was a huge ovation, the cast slowly left the stage, and the audience stayed in the theater. No one was sure what to do. The cast returned and sat down in the front row. Finally, a single voice called from the audience, ‘Thank you, Jonathan Larson,’ which brought the evening’s loudest, final burst of applause.”

To purchase tickets, call: 216-961-6391

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