Jerri Shafer - Page 28

One of the darkest musicals ever written, Sweeney Todd is the unsettling tale of a Victorian-era barber who returns home to London after fifteen years of exile to take revenge on the corrupt judge who ruined his life. Performances run November 3rd thru November 19th, 2017 at Little Theatre Off Broadway, 3981 Broadway, Grove City, Ohio. For reservations/more info visit: http://www.ltob.org or call 614-875-3919.

In the madcap comedy tradition of Lend Me a Tenor, the hilarious Moon Over Buffalo centers on George and Charlotte Hay, fading stars of the 1950s. At the moment, they are playing Private Lives and Cyrano De Bergerac in rep in Buffalo, New York with five actors. On the brink of a disastrous split-up caused by George's dalliance with a young ing nue, they receive word that they might just have one last shot at stardom: Frank Capra is coming to town to see their matinee, and if he likes what he sees, he might cast them in his movie remake of The Scarlet Pimpernel. Unfortunately for George and Charlotte, everything that could go wrong does go wrong, abetted by a visit from their daughter's clueless fianc and hilarious uncertainty about which play they are actually performing, caused by Charlotte's deaf, old stage-manager mother who hates every bone in George's body. Performances for the Moon Over Buffalo are November 1, 2, 3, 4, at 7:00 pm., and November 5 at 2:00 pm. For tickets: (740) 681-3353 or online at: https://commerce.cashnet.com/oul-theatre. Ohio University Lancaster - Wagner Theatre, 1570 Granville Pike, Lancaster, Ohio. Produced by special arrangements with Samuel French Inc.

Based on the New Line Cinema film written and directed by John Waters and set against the backdrop of 60s America, 'Hairspray' tells the story of teenaged Tracy Turnblad and her dream to dance on the Corny Collins Show. Book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan. Music by Marc Shaiman. Lyrics by Scott Whittman and Marc Shaiman. Westage Theatre Co. & Carriage Place Players are partnering with Empty Bowls, a local project to fight hunger. Friday - During intermission, there will be a silent auction for bowls donated by local artists. Saturday - 5 p.m. bowls and soup event - for a $10 minimum donation, select a bowl and enjoy homemade soup and bread then keep the handmade bowl. All proceeds from the Empty Bowls events benefit the Mid-Ohio Food Bank. Performances are October 20th thru 22nd at Westgate Community Recreation Center, 455 S Westgate Ave., Columbus, Ohio. Tickets $5 at the door. For more information, call 614-645-3264.

King Ave Players is proud to present 'The Fantasticks' at King Ave United Methodist Church! Come and join us for this fabulous show, refreshments, and a free will offering. Admission is free, but a $10 donation is encouraged. Free childcare will be available on Friday and Sunday. Performances run October 19th thru 22nd and are 7:30pm nightly with a 3pm matinee on Sunday. All performances are at King Avenue United Methodist Church, 299 King Ave., Columbus, OH. Childcare is available during the Friday evening and Sunday matinee performances. Admission is free, but a $10 donation is encouraged.

Edward Albee's award-winning iconic play, in which a middle-aged college professor and his wife invite into their home an unwitting younger couple for drinks after a late-night faculty party. The resulting evening is a wicked jumble of mind games, attempted seductions, and shattering revelations. Due to strong language and adult situations, this show is recommended for mature audiences. Performances run October 20th thru November 5th at Curtain Players, 5691 Harlem Road, Galena, Ohio 43021. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit: http://curtainplayers.org/season/2017-2018/2_woolf.php

A deviously delicious Broadway and Hollywood sci-fi smash musical, Little Shop Of Horrors has devoured the hearts of theatre goers for over 30 years. Howard Ashman and Alan Menken (Disney's The Little Mermaid, Beauty And The Beast, and Aladdin) are the creative geniuses behind what has become one of the most popular shows in the world. Little Shop performs October 13th thru 22nd at the Hilliard Civic and Cultural Arts Center, 5425 Center St, Hilliard, OH, OH 43026. For tickets visit: https://www.locallevelevents.com/events/details/3630

Arthur Miller's landmark play has gripped audiences for nearly 65 years, but couldn't be more timely in today's political environment. The McCarthy-era drama, set in Puritan Salem, paints a portrait of a paranoid, litigious society power-hungry and gripped by misguided moralism and predicts, among many things, the era of Donald Trump. The story focuses on a young farmer, his wife, and a young servant-girl who maliciously causes the wife's arrest for witchcraft The Crucible performs October 12th thru 22nd at the Columbus Performing Arts Center, 549 Franklin Avenue, Columbus, OH 43215. For more info visit http://www.srotheatre.org/

A renowned dancer and choreographer (Mark Phillips Schwamberger) traveling towards an uncertain future is comforted by his young lover (Nick Hardin), an elite dance student. But he is haunted and challenged by the presence of a silent dancer (Tony White), seen only by him. A visit from his first love and college roommate (David Allen Vargo), a precious fun and memory-filled reunion ultimately threatens relationships and forces all to examine the fine line between the embrace and comfort of memories and the danger of living in the past, relying on illusion to avoid the future. Written by Kenneth Talberth, Directed by Dee Shepherd, Music by Russell Boiarsky, Choreography by Tony White. Performances are Thursday Saturday September 28 30 at 8 PM; Sunday October 1 at 2 PM; Wednesday Saturday October 4 7 at 8 PM. Columbus Performing Arts Center, Van Fleet Theatre, 549 Franklin Avenue, Columbus, OH 43215. For tickets or more information, visit: http://evolutiontheatre.org/ or by calling 614-233-1124.

Each of the three acts of Noises Off contains a performance of the first act of a play within a play, a sex farce called Nothing On. Much of the comedy emerges from the subtle variations in each version as character flaws play off each other off-stage to undermine on-stage performance, with a great deal of slapstick. The contrast between players' on-stage and off-stage personalities is also a source of comic dissonance. Performances run September 15th thru October 1st, 2017 at Little Theatre Off Broadway, 3981 Broadway, Grove City, Ohio. For reservations/more info visit: http://www.ltob.org or call 614-875-3919

A brand new play receiving its first fully staged production. In this darkly comic version of the Peter Pan story, Wendy's mother sets in motion a journey that threatens to change her family forever. Suggested for audiences ages 13 and older. Performances run September 8th thru 24th at Curtain Players, 5691 Harlem Road, Galena, Ohio 43021. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit: http://curtainplayers.org/season/2017-2018/1_wendy.php

The Pirates of Penzance is Gilbert and Sullivan's fifth collaboration and follows young Frederic, an orphan who has mistakenly been apprenticed to an ineffectual but raucous band of pirates. He disavows the pirates' way of life and falls for the beautiful daughter of the Major-General Stanley, Mabel. But when the Pirate King discovers that General Stanley has lied about being an orphan to keep the pirates from stealing all of his belongings and carrying off his bevy of beautiful daughters, an 'ingenious paradox' may prevent the budding romance and lead to the death of 'The very model of a modern Major-General.' Pirates performs September 7th through September 23rd at MadLab Theatre and Gallery, 227 N. Thirt St. (Downtown) Columbus, Ohio. For more info visit http://www.srotheatre.org/

Our version of The Tempest attacks the assumption of American exceptionalism. We live in an era where America's supposed to be 'great again,' but that greatness is based on subjugation of disadvantaged people and exploitation of national fears. Prospero's blindness to his own sense of entitlement - over a state he abandoned and an island he exploited - is at the crux of the problems within the entire play. This production will involve incidental acoustic music and song. Performances are August 10 - September 3, 2017. Thursdays through Sundays @ 8pm. Schiller Park (German Village), Amphitheatre Stage, Columbus, Ohio. For information on donations and seat reservations, visit http://theactorstheatre.org

It's 1950, and new colors are being added to the Red Scare. Two U.S. State Department employees have been tasked with identifying sexual deviants within their ranks. The problem: They are both gay, and have married each other's partners as a carefully constructed cover. Inspired by the true story of the earliest stirrings of the gay rights movement, madcap classic sitcom-style laughs give way to provocative drama as two "All-American" couples are forced to stare down the closet door. Performances are August 18, 19, 24, 25, 26, 30, 31, September 1, 2 at 8 PM; August 27 at 2 PM. Columbus Performing Arts Center, Van Fleet Theatre, 549 Franklin Avenue, Columbus, OH 43215. For tickets or more information, visit: http://evolutiontheatre.org/ or by calling 614-233-1124.

Miss Mona runs the Chicken Ranch, a brothel with a long history in a small Texas town. The locals have a good relationship with the institution, and Mona is respected in the community. The Sheriff, Ed Earl Dodd, also looks out for the Chicken Ranch due to his past with Miss Mona. However, when pious reporter Melvin Thorpe exposes the brothel, outside interests want it shut down, putting the governor in a tough spot.  Performances August 10-12, 2017 at 8pm and August 13th at 3:00 pm. Doors open 30 minutes prior. Northland Performing Arts Center (NPAC), 4411 Tamarack Blvd, Columbus, Ohio 43229. Visit www.imaginecolumbus.org for information on purchasing tickets.

Aphra Behn's 1687 comedy is a zany blend of commedia dell'arte, music, and science fiction. Servants and lovers run wild in this play which was hugely successful in the English Restoration Period. Behn's work has been described as "an affordable mini-spectacle," and she is considered one of the great women playwrights in all of classic theatre. Performances are July 20 thru August 6, 2017. Thursdays through Sundays @ 8pm. Schiller Park (German Village), Amphitheatre Stage, Columbus, Ohio. For information on donations and seat reservations, visit http://theactorstheatre.org

New Vision Dance Co. presents their fourth annual weekend of dance at the historic Garden Theater in the Short North. Take Root with us in Act 1 as we plant twisted tales of love, obsession and the dark side. We invite you to stay grounded for Act 2 as we open up to the light side with whimsical and lovely pieces created by Melissa Gould. When: 7/21 at 8:00 pm ; 7/22 at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm. Where: The Garden Theater, 1187 N High St, Columbus, OH 43201. Admission: $15 general admission, available at www.shortnorthstage.org

Here is Rydell High's senior class of 1959: duck-tailed, hot-rodding 'Burger Palace Boys' and their gum-snapping, hip-shaking 'Pink Ladies' in bobby sox and pedal pushers, evoking the look and sound of the 1950s in this rollicking musical. Head 'greaser' Danny Zuko and new (good) girl Sandy Dumbrowski try to relive the high romance of their 'Summer Nights' as the rest of the gang sings and dances its way through such songs as 'Greased Lightnin',' 'It's Raining on Prom Night,' and 'Sandy'. Performances for the Lancaster Festival is on July 23rd at 2:00 & 7:00.  More performances run August 3, 4, 5 at 7:00 and August 5, 6 at 2:00 pm.  For tickets:  (740) 681-3353 or online at:  https://commerce.cashnet.com/oul-theatre.  Ohio University Lancaster - Wagner Theatre, 1570 Granville Pike, Lancaster, Ohio. 

The beloved musical Fiddler on the Roof follows, Tevye, his family, and the other residents of the tight-knit Jewish community of Anatevka as they strive to hold on to their family, values, and traditions in the changing world of Czarist Russa. Join us for the music, love, laughter, and tears as we balance like a Fiddler on the Roof! Performances run July 21 thru July 30th at Peggy R. McConnell Arts Center of Worthington, 777 Evening St., Worthington, Ohio.  For tickets and more information, visit http://www.worthingtoncommunitytheatre.com

Two bantering, scheming 'women of fashion' have long lived together on the fringes of upper-class society. One becomes the mistress of a wealthy man, from whom she has received an enormous emerald and an income to match. One is infatuated with a respectable young lady but the young inamorata's sudden appearance sets off a crisis that puts both the valuable emerald and the women's futures at risk. Directed by Mark Phillips Schwamberger and featuring Vicky Welsh Bragg, Kathy Sturm and Kathy Hyland. Performances are July 20, 21, 22, 26, 27, 28, 29 at 8 PM; July 23 at 2 PM. Columbus Performing Arts Center, 549 Franklin Avenue, Columbus, OH 43215.  For tickets or more information, visit:  http://evolutiontheatre.org/

My Fair Lady is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from professor Henry Higgins, a phoneticist, so that she may pass as a lady. Grandview Carriage Place Players puts a unique spin on this beloved tale with costumes and set in the steampunk design! Performances are at the Grandview High School, 1587 West Third Avenue, Grandview, Ohio.  July 14th & 15th at 7:00 and July 16th at 2:00 pm.  Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the door.