enews header
Home Page  |  About  |  Tickets  |  Advertise  |  DONATE  | Social Media  |  Volunteer
New Mailing Address:

6516 Detroit Ave., Suite 9

Cleveland, OH 44102

Jan. 2013 Issue:
Quick Links

In the Spotlight:

3 Questions with...

Jason Bristol

Cleveland

Jason Bristol has lived in the Detroit-Shoreway and Ohio City neighborhoods for 10 years, and was introduced to Near West Theatre by legendary board member Jan Roller in the mid-2000s. After spending a few years on the benefit committee, Jason joined the board of trustees and was elected president this fall. One of his first acts as board member was to organize a Gordon Square and NWT fundraiser in New York City where friends from Cleveland, NYC and Broadway gathered together and new friends and connections were made. Jason is always "thinking big" about NWT:


1. Why does Near West Theatre matter to the community?

"Near West Theatre provides a sense of community for so many people when they need it most. NWT changes lives every day through a creative and supportive environment, and represents the best of what humans can be to one another. I think there's nothing quite like it, and I'd like to see more people in our neighborhood, city, region, and country recognize it for its powerful and important mission. I am thankful to live among so many people who have participated in NWT or have been touched by NWT."

2. What excites you about the new theatre that's about to be built? 

"I'm excited for NWT to have a true sense of place. St. Pat's has been an incredible space and supporter for so many years, but the new theatre will be a home. It will allow NWT to expand its offerings, and NWT will become even more galvanized in our community."

3. What are the keys to NWT's long-term financial stability?

"Supporters of NWT must contribute more financially so that NWT can build reserves for operating and address the increased costs of operating the new theatre. It's one thing to donate something each year to help NWT meets its budgetary needs for that year, it's quite another to donate more, donate more often, and even plan for donating at a level that helps the organization build a reserve and save for the future. Donate till it hurts--it's worth it! And, NWT has a program for giving for each and every person at any level."

SEASON 2012-2013


May 3 - May 19, 2013


July 19 - August 4, 2013

Klamor
July 25, 27 & 28, 2013

arts and culture shares 2 ohio arts council

The Near West Circle 
Editor: Hans Holznagel
Writer: Julie Cajigas
Designer: Sara Radak

claimgroundOur groundbreaking new home: winter update

 

The joy and excitement at the November groundbreaking for our new Gordon Square Arts District home lifted many people's spirits, and we hope to keep that spirit moving throughout our journey from idea to reality. The 2013 winter leg of our building journey may seem quiet for those who pass by our new home. Earth-moving equipment will not arrive until spring of 2013, but that doesn't mean there isn't a lot to be excited about.  

 

Over the coming weeks, we will be:  

  • Preparing the site for construction  
  • Finalizing the redesign of the architectural drawings  
  • Planning new year-round programming in the space 
  • Continuing the fundraising that is making our new home possible 

To learn more about the work we are doing this winter to meet our goal of staging our first show in our new home in the autumn of 2014, visit the Near West Circle Blog.  

 

How can you help? While we are working on the first three, we are asking for your help on the fourth. Fundraising is still happening to complete our $6.8 million campaign goal, and major gifts are still being sought. We also need to increase our operating budget to make our new home sustainable. Here are three ways you can help:  

 

Annual Fund gifts. Our top priority is to exceed our $666,941 operating budget this year and create a cash reserve for strength and flexibility as we look ahead to a new day in a new building. ur stretch goal for gifts from individuals in the 2012-2013 fiscal year is $315,713, and our end-of-calendar-yeasr appeal raised $59,433 of that in November and December. Thank you! Help us keep pursuing the fiscal total by donating online, responding by mail to our December appeal letter, or calling Development Director Lindsay Doerr, 216-961-9750 or ldoerr@nearwesttheatre.org.  

 

Building fund gifts. Major gifts are sought and gifts of any size are welcome as we aim to close that last $900,000 of our Gordon Square goal. A Community Campaign, aiming for $200,000 of that, is now underway with an attractive mural-recognition incentive described in our December 2012 newsletter. To get involved, contact Mary Hromyko at the Gordon Square Arts District office, 216-961-4242, ext. 242, mhromyko@gordonsquare.org

 

Endow us! Thanks to longtime Near West Theatre supporters Chuck and Rita Maimbourg and a matching gift from KeyBank, we now have a Near West Theatre Fund at The Cleveland Foundation. Designed to function as an endowment, we hope this fund will grow and grow through years of donations, and that the interest it generates will become a significant source of income for the theater's programs in the future. This new fund opens the door to life-income gifts that pay you a return, and other forms of planned giving. Interested? Contact Lindsay at the theater, 216-961-9750 or ldoerr@nearwesttheatre.org.  

Engineer Raymond O'Neill of Cleveland's Department of Public Utilities (center) discusses transformers on West 67th Street with NWT's Stephanie Morrison-Hrbek and Jeff Ramsey of the Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization on Dec. 21, 2012. Site of the future theater is at left. The transformers serve the Gordon Square Arcade Building. Photo by Hans Holznagel

Celebrate 35 years at  

You Can't Stop the Beatbenefit

 

In 1978, an $800 Community Development Block Grant enabled a small group of volunteers to hire Stephanie Morrison to facilitate a summer production of Godspell with a cast of 13 young people, 11 to 16 years old, from Urban Community School and the housing projects in the neighborhood. Since those humble beginnings 35 years ago, the theatre has grown with an uncommon consistency of personnel and service to the community.  

 

Stephanie Morrison, now Morrison-Hrbek still works one-on-one with the youth each summer, often as choreographer and mentor. Today, she also serves as executive director of a flourishing non-profit arts organization that touches the lives of so many. The 13 children served in the summer of 1978 has blossomed to more than 18,000 children, teens and adults who have been impacted on stage or behind the scenes. Over 124,000 audience members who have experienced high-quality, full-scale Broadway musicals at ticket prices low enough to be inclusive join them to make more than 140,000 served by this grassroots organization.  

The striking interior of Trinity Cathedral, but this time with a sock-hop theme, will again be the site of the Annual Benefit on Feb. 16, 2013. 2012 Benefit photo by Terry Schordock

 

There is a lot to celebrate.  

 

Now poised to move into a new home that will expand its ability to serve the community and grow its reach to more audience members, Near West Theatre is inviting you to become part of the celebration at You Can't Stop The Beat, our 35th Anniversary Benefit. Bring your dancing shoes and get ready to rejoice on Saturday, February 16, 2013, at Trinity Cathedral in downtown Cleveland. The evening will include a powerful performance by Near West cast members, Edna Turnblad from Near West Theatre's Summer production of Hairspray as hostess, great food, drink, and music from the 50s and 60s, dancing, a Green Stamp raffle, a silent auction, and an effusive energy not found at other events.

 

Longtime friends of Near West Theatre and leadership gift givers Char and Chuck Fowler will be the guests of honor at the NWT 35th Anniversary Benefit. "We want to lift Char and Chuck up for their incredible generosity, which has contributed to our 87% attainment of our $6.8 million goal with Gordon Square Arts District, making our new space possible," Stephanie says.  

 

Tickets and sponsorships for the benefit are available now! Call or email Lindsay at 216-961-9750 or ldoerr@nearwesttheatre.org for more information.

serendipity

Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris with serendipity

 

Near West Theatre is proud to present, during its 35th anniversary year, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, exactly 40 years after the same play helped save PlayhouseSquare. The show opened on April 18, 1973, in a Playhouse Square lobby, ran for 522 performances, and was considered instrumental in the effort to save Playhouse Square from demolition.  

 

This show that saved a landmark theatre in Cleveland will also coincide with the literal building of the foundation for a new theatre in Cleveland, Near West Theatre. Running May 3-19, the show will take place as the earth-moving equipment prepares our new foundation.  

 

Executive Director Stephanie Morrison-Hrbek states "We are thrilled to be producing a re-invented version of this dynamic and rarely produced musical Jacques Brel with an uncharacteristically large, interracial cast. That our 35th anniversary coincides with the 40th anniversary of this show's opening at Playhouse Square is profoundly metaphorical: Playhouse Square was revived due to this piece and Near West's new building will begin to 'come out of the ground' right about the time we open Brel on May 3, 2013. It feels serendipitous!"  

 

The serendipity doesn't stop there. Brel, no longer alive and well, was a cabaret singer, composer and poet who died of lung cancer at age 49 in 1978, coincidentally the same year as the very first Near West Theatre summer performance. Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris is a revue of his songs, which focused with critical passion on the greed of the middle classes, the delusions of love, the immorality of the church and the banks, and the many faces of oppression.  

 

This spring show, whose cast will consist of older teens and adults, will break the box in terms of how audiences have perceived and encountered these legendary songs, including "If We Only Have Love," "Timid Frieda," "My Death," "Alone" and "Sons Of." Director Bob Navis Jr., along with creative partners Laura Carlson Tarantowski, Kelcie Dugger, Jordan Cooper, Perren Hedderson and Stephanie Morrison-Hrbek, says they "will conceptualize a ruthless and fanciful new theatrical experience, drawing on a mix of styles from cabaret to performance art, guerilla street theater to religious ritual. Instead of the four performers on stools typically associated with this show, we will form a multiracial, intergenerational cast of 40 characters that will morph from clown to robot, pregnant teen to priest, madwoman to Wall Street banker."  

 

Tickets for Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris are available now by clicking here to order online or phoning our ticket line, 216-961-6391, between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays.  

 

To learn more about Playhouse Square's preservation in the 60s and 70s, take a look at WVIZ's Staging Success: The PlayhouseSquare Story, a new hour-long special chronicling the community efforts to preserve a handful of vaudeville and movie palaces that went on to become one of America's largest and most important performing arts centers - PlayhouseSquare. You can watch the entire special here.

congratsSerendipitous connections and congratulations

 

In addition to this beautiful connection via performances of Jacques Brel, Near West Theatre has another recently established connection with the legendary PlayhouseSquare. Two 10-year-old Near West Theatre actors, Elliot Lockshine and Skipper Rankin, have just finished a run in The Cleveland Playhouse's premiere production of A Carol for Cleveland. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to them!

Elliot Lockshine (left) and Skipper Rankin, seen here in character at NWT's 2012 Benefit, were on the Cleveland Playhouse stage last month. Photos by Terry Schordock
audition

We want you...

 

...to audition for our upcoming performances of Jacques Brel. If you are 16 or older, we look forward to hearing your audition! Our audition process is open to all experience levels. Whether this would be your first experience on the stage, or your 25th, you are welcome to come audition. Wonder what auditions at Near West Theatre are like? Visit this CoolCleveland story from early 2012 and read the last four paragraphs to find out.

 

Now that you're ready to audition, here's some information about when and where:  

 

Auditions for Jacques Brel will take place at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, which is two blocks north of Detroit Avenue on Lake Road. For those using GPS to locate the church, the address is 1349 W. 78th St., Cleveland 44102. Please note: though the church has a West 78th Street address, but the building faces Lake Road.  

 

Auditions are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday -- Feb. 26, 27 and 28 -- from 7 to 10 p.m., for actors and actresses 16 years and older.  

This is a group audition.  Come one of these evenings and plan to stay for the entire time specified. 

 

Rehearsals for the show begin Sunday, March 10, at St. Luke's, and will return to St. Pat's on March 24. Actors should plan on rehearsals on Sunday from 2 to 11 p.m. and Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 7 to 11 p.m., even though not every actor will be called for the entire time every day. Performance dates are May 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12, 17, 18 & 19, 2013 with curtain times Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3 pm.  

 

We hope to see you at auditions!

eden

Our Children of Eden

 

Near West Theatre's production of Children of Eden this fall was, by all accounts, a great success. Large audiences were immersed in a setting that combined elements of the distant future with age-old stories of our past. As always, the show had a great impact on participants as well. Here are excerpts from comments written by cast and crew just before the final performance of Children of Eden. Some were first-timers; others had participated in one or many shows in the past.  

 

"This theater makes me feel like I'm a different person. People at school and in the world can be mean, but when I come here I feel like all that stuff just floats away." - Geri, cast member, age 10  

 

"I have become more confident, more mature, and more comfortable with myself physically and personally since being at Near West. I've met my best friends here, and I have mentors and role models here. Outside of here, my life is so stagnant. This theatre is what I look forward to at the end of the day." - Olivia, cast member, 18  

 

"Near West is a second home and a second family to me. I can be myself without fear of being teased or left out." - Grace, cast member, 13  

 

"Other theaters claim a commitment to diversity, but Near West actually walks the walk. It's encouraging to know that actors and artists of all colors have a home at Near West, because I've found that theaters don't always know what to do with us." - Katie, cast member, 25.  

 

"I was surprised at how welcoming every single person I met was. This show has helped me express my feelings more, which was extremely hard for me in the past. With problems at home, my role has helped me immensely in looking on the brighter side of things. I want to thank NWT for giving me more friends, and a newer, more positive outlook on life. Children of Eden has changed my life." - Anonymous cast member  

 

"Near West truly saved my life. Around the time I started coming to Near West, I was violently bullied at school. Six hours of hate a day is a lot for a 12-year-old to handle. I was different, and the kids hated that. Little did they realize how much four to five hours of love every Sunday through Wednesday can do for the soul - surrounded by people who can accept you just the way you are. That is something you can't beat. It doesn't matter if you're black, white, Hispanic, larger, smaller, gay, straight, bisexual, transgender, etc. It matters that you're here - and you're loved." - Christian, cast member, 15  

The Cast of Children of Eden

CreativeedgeTHE CREATIVE EDGE

LIFE AS A PERFORMING ART    

 

Here are the thoughts of some of the theater world's most honored and respected actors, directors, designers, choreographers, composers and writers.  My hope is that this feature will offer inspiration to all the NWT family for living each day with radical expectation, eternal zest and joyous satisfaction.   - Bob Navis Jr, Artistic Director       

 

After just watching the mind-blowing performances of Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal and Sandy Dennis in the 1966 movie Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, I was intrigued to learn more about the Director who facilitated them, Mike Nichols. In reading about his career I came across these quotes from him. Enjoy!  

 

"Nerves provide me with energy... It's when I don't have them, when I feel at ease, that's when I get worried.  

 

The only safe thing is to take a chance."

 

-  Mike Nichols

Near West Theatre is an open and affirming organization.