CCM Professor of Drama Michael Burnham Retires

CCM Professor of Drama Michael Burnham joined the faculty in 1984. He retires later this month.

CCM Professor Michael Burnham has been a faculty member since 1984 and when asked about his many years of work for CCM, he muses, simply, “I liked all of them.” He will retire this month, following the conclusion of the school year and his work as director for CCM’s upcoming production of Execution of Justice, which runs April 18-20 as part of this year’s Studio Series.

“Professor Michael Burnham has been the artistic thorn in the side of every student who has entered CCM Drama for the past 29 years,” says Richard E. Hess, CCM’s A.B., Dolly, Ralph and Julia Cohen Drama Department Chair. “He digs into the mind of each and every new student, causing disruption, chaos and sometimes a little irritation, all in service of deeper thinking, harder questioning, more creativity and expansion of possibilities. Michael’s wonderful mind has touched the hearts of every student lucky enough to work with him.”

CCM Winds, Jazz, Musical Theatre, Guitar And More On Display This Weekend!

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You will find something for everyone on the CCM stage this weekend!

At 8 p.m. this evening (Friday, April 12), the CCM Wind Orchestra closes out its successful 2012-13 season with a survey of contemporary American composers. The eclectic program will include works by Samuel Barber, Warren Benson and more! Learn more about this performance here.

CCM welcomes acclaimed tenor Lawrence Brownlee to the stage at 8 p.m. this Saturday, April 13, for an encore performance of the program from his recent Carnegie Hall debut. Brownlee will be accompanied by composer, conductor and pianist Damien Sneed for this special performance. Learn more about this performance here.

CCM’s Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Lab Band will celebrate the impact of adjunct instructor of jazz drums and “living guru of big band drumming” John Von Ohlen with a swinging tribute concert at 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 14. Learn more about this performance here.

The CCM/Carnegie Theatre Co-Production of ‘Parade’ Earns Four LCT Nominations

The Carnegie presents ‘Parade’ April 5 – 21, featuring Jenny Hickman and Collin Kessler. Photography by Matt Steffen.

Panelists for the League of Cincinnati Theatres (LCT) have recognized the CCM and Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center co-production of  Parade with four LCT nominations:

• Ensemble Acting
• Music Direction (Steve Goers)
• Featured Actor (Noah Ricketts)
• Lighting Design (Alan Hanson/Wes Richter)

LCT panelists also distinguished Parade as a recommended production. Congratulations to everyone involved with this show!

LCT Awards ‘S.L.U.T.’ Top Prize in CCM’s TRANSMIGRATION Series

Panelists for the League of Cincinnati Theatres (LCT) have recognized S.L.U.T. as the best production at CCM’s 2013 TRANSMIGRATION Festival, the Drama department’s annual presentation of student written and produced work. Panelists awarded second place to Sentenced, and honorable mentions to 2122 Michigan Avenue and The Sherwin Williams Effect. Congratulations to all involved!

The fifth-annual festival allows the audience to experience half-hour works produced by small groups of Drama majors, who create and design all aspects of their productions from start to finish. The festival is an exciting event for both guests and the presenters, as audiences get the opportunity to see up to four very different pieces of new theatre in a single night and the students premiere works that are entirely their own. This year, six shows were presented. “TRANSMIGRATION teaches our actors to be entrepreneurs,” says Richard Hess, chair of CCM’s Drama Department and director of the TRANSMIGRATION Festival. “There are absolutely no holds barred, with the exception of the thirty-minute time limit, allowing our students to learn to express from within.”

CCM’s ‘The Time of Your Life’ Earns Two LCT Nominations

CCM presents ‘The Time of Your Life.’ Photography by Mark Lyons.

Panelists for the League of Cincinnati Theatres (LCT) have recognized CCM’s Mainstage Series production of The Time of Your Life with two LCT nominations, for Ensemble in a Play and for scenic design (Mark Halpin). Congratulations to everyone involved with this production!

CCM’s ‘Laramie Project’ Earns LCT Nomination

Panelists for the League of Cincinnati Theatres (LCT) have recognized CCM’s The Laramie Project with an LCT nomination for Ensemble in a Play as well as distinguishing it as a recommended production. Congratulations to the entire cast and crew!

CCM’s ‘Revue Review’ Earns Two LCT Nominations

CCM Resident Musical Director Roger Grodsky.

Panelists for the League of Cincinnati Theatres (LCT) have recognized CCM’s Revue Review with two LCT nominations for Direction of a Musical (Roger Grodsky with assistance from students Connor Deane, Julian Decker and Greg Kamp) and Ensemble in a Musical, as well as distinguishing it as a recommended production.

CCM’s ‘Chess’ Receives Four League of Cincinnati Theater Nominations

“Chess” runs Oct. 25 – 28 in UC’s Corbett Auditorium. Photography by Mark Lyons.
Tickets on sale now! Visit ccm.uc.edu for more information. Photography by Mark Lyons.

CCM’s production of Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Tim Rice’s Chess has earned four nominations from the League of Cincinnati Theatres (LCT)! The LCT also distinguished the rock musical as a recommended production: Outstanding Production (musical), Ensemble, Lead Actor (Julian Decker) and Lead Actress (Aubrey Ireland). Congratulations to the entire creative team!

Loosely based on the lives of chess grandmasters Bobby Fischer and Anatoly Karpov, Chess involves a romantic triangle between two top players (an American and a Russian) and the woman who manages one and falls in love with the other.

CCM Professor of Musical Theatre Receives Big Easy Theater Award

CCM Professor Musical Theatre Diane Lala.

Congratulations to CCM Professor of Musical Theatre Diane Lala on her recent Big Easy Award! The Big Easy Theater Awards were held Monday, March 26 at a black-tie ceremony at Harrah’s New Orleans.

Winners were announced in 26 categories, including CCM’s Diane Lala who took home the Best Director of a Musical 2011 award for her work in Man of La Mancha.

Three CCM Students Named As League of Cincinnati Theatres’ 2012 Rising Stars

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The League of Cincinnati Theatres (LCT) has announced the five recipients of its 2012 Rising Star Awards and three CCM students will be recognized at this year’s LCT Theatre Gala on May 21st! LCT’s 2012 Rising Stars include CCM Musical Theatre seniors John Riddle and Katie Johannigman and CCM Drama senior Kristopher Dean. Congratulations all of this year’s award recipients!

Read Jackie Demaline’s coverage of the LCT’s 2012 Rising Stars announcement in the Cincinnati Enquirer here.