CCM Musical Theatre Presents Annual Senior Showcase on March 13 and 15

CCM’s Class of 2014 in Musical Theatre, performing during CCM’s 2012 Moveable Feast. Photography by Dottie Stover.

Cincinnati audiences will get a sneak peek of an original showcase created by the 2014 graduating class from CCM’s Department of Musical Theatre during the annual “Not Famous Yet” Showcase, which runs on March 13 (Friends of CCM benefit performance) and March 15 in UC’s Patricia Corbett Theater.

The March 13 benefit performance starts at 7 p.m. and features dinner by the bite and a post-performance celebration. Tickets for this benefit event are on sale now. For tickets and additional information, click here.

The March 15 performances take place at 5 and 8 p.m. and are free, but reservations are required. Tickets for these free performances become available at noon on Monday, March 10.

CCM Students Present the Fourth Annual Carols for a Cause Benefit Concert

Students from CCM’s Departments of Drama and Musical Theatre are joining forces to present the fourth annual “Carols for a Cause” benefit concert at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 26. This year’s holiday cabaret will take place at the Rohs Street Café (located at 245 W. McMillan Street, right next to the campus of the University of Cincinnati). Doors open at 7:30 p.m.

Admission to “Carols for a Cause” is “pay what you can” and all proceeds benefit the Great Globe Foundation, an organization founded by CCM alumni Michael Littig and Julianna Bloodgood. Learn more about the Great Globe Foundation and CCM Drama’s Dadaab Theater Project here.

About the Great Globe Foundation
The Great Globe Foundation uses the power of the arts to inspire the voices of youth throughout the world in creating their own opportunities and platforms for positive personal and community change through education and arts engagement. Learn more by visiting www.greatglobefoundation.org.

CCM’s Departments of Jazz Studies and Musical Theatre Present Duke Ellington’s ‘Nutcracker Suite’ and Holiday Concert on Nov. 24

CCM’s Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Lab Band team up with CCM Musical Theatre dancers to present Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite and Holiday Concert at 2 and 7 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 24, in Corbett Auditorium.

This swinging seasonal favorite features stunning new choreography by Diane Lala and musical direction by Scott Belck and Dominic Marino. Back by popular demand, this powerful partnership presents two performances this season.

Duke Ellington recorded The Nutcracker Suite for the Columbia label in 1960, featuring jazz interpretations of well-known melodies by Tchaikovsky.

Of collaborating with Belck, Lala says, “When he asked if I wanted to do the Nutcracker Swing with him, I jumped at the chance. It is a great opportunity for our musical theatre students to be able to dance with such a wonderful band.” View an excerpt from last year’s concert below.

IT’S A SMASH! Rave Reviews for CCM’s ‘Singin’ in the Rain’

CCM’s proudly presents ‘Singin’ in the Rain,’ running through Sunday, Nov. 3. Photography by Mark Lyons.

The reviews are in and the critics are calling CCM’s Mainstage Series production of Singin’ in the Rain a must-see theatre event!

In his review for Theatre Reviews Limited, Rafael de Acha suggests: “the show is one of the best, if not the best production of a musical I’ve seen in my three years in Cincinnati.” Read the full review here.

Rick Pender calls the production “a fabulous recreation of the iconic 1952 movie that featured Gene Kelly” in his CityBeat review. “If you love musicals,” he explains, “you should run, don’t walk to the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music this weekend for the short run of Singin’ in the Rain.” Read the full review here.

David Lyman calls the production “a delight” in his review for the Cincinnati Enquirer, concluding: “It’s pleasurable and immensely satisfying. It is, as Lala wrote in her program notes, like visiting an old friend.” Read the full review here.

In his review for Talkin’ Broadway, Scott Cain says, “The show flows at a quick pace and has apt tone and blocking. The dances, including lots of wonderful tap numbers, are vibrant, fun, and well-executed. Ryan Sigurdson leads a lush 27-piece orchestra that couldn’t sound any better.” Read the full review here.

Singin’ in the Rain runs through Sunday, Nov. 3, in Corbett Auditorium on the campus of the University of Cincinnati.

Tickets and subscription packages are on sale now, but only a handful of seats remain, so don’t delay – contact the CCM Box Office today!

Discussing ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ with Musical Supervisor Roger Grodsky

CCM’s proudly presents ‘Singin’ in the Rain,’ running through Sunday, Nov. 3. Photography by Mark Lyons.

In honor of tonight’s opening performance of Singin’ in the Rain, CCM Professor of Musical Theatre and Singin’ in the Rain Musical Supervisor Roger Grodsky discusses the history of this film musical’s journey to the stage and details what makes CCM’s new production so special:

“Since movies learned to talk in the late 1920s, Broadway musicals were adapted into films. The reverse was not true until much later. The idea of a movie musical being a Broadway show, a trend that sometimes seems to have taken over today’s theatre, did not really begin in earnest until Lerner and Loewe’s Gigi in 1973. Many of these early efforts were not successful (Gigi ran just a few months and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers lasted a week in 1982).

CCM Slideshows: Singin’ in the Rain

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CCM’s 2013-14 Mainstage Series resumes tomorrow night (Oct. 31) with a joyous stage adaptation of the beloved classic Singin’ in the Rain, running through Sunday, Nov. 3, in Corbett Auditorium.

Described by the New York Times as “the happiest movie musical ever made,” you can enjoy a preview of Singin’ in the Rain courtesy of photographer Mark Lyons.

Tickets and subscription packages are on sale now, but only a handful of seats remain, so don’t delay – contact the CCM Box Office today!

CCM Slideshows: The Threepenny Opera

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CCM proudly presents The Threepenny Opera, running tonight, March 1, through Sunday, March 10, in UC’s Patricia Corbett Theater. Tickets are on sale now. This production contains mature subject matter.

Learn more The Threepenny Opera here.

“[Stage Director Robin] Guarino fearlessly goes back to the musical satire’s socio-political roots in 1920s Berlin,” Jackie Demaline writes in her review for the Cincinnati Enquirer. “Everything about The Threepenny Opera carries out Guarino’s vision, as the cast prowl scenic designer John Arnone’s industrial set of catwalks, with the small orchestra (in costume) perched at the top. Musical director Roger Grodsky as always asks much and gets all from singers and musicians.”

Read Demaline’s full review here.

A New Sneak Peek at the Scenic Design of ‘The Threepenny Opera’

Assistant to the Scenic Designer Alexandra Kuntz provides these previews of ‘The Threepenny Opera.’

CCM’s acclaimed Mainstage Series resumes this week with Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s epic musical The Threepenny Opera. Today, we are happy to provide a preview of the show’s set, courtesy of Alexandra Kuntz, a sophomore in CCM’s Scenic Design program and Assistant to Guest Scenic Designer John Arnone on this production.

Learn more about this dynamic new production, which features set designs by Tony Award-winner John Arnone.

“Set in the mid-19th century, Macheath (otherwise known as ‘Mack the Knife’) runs the town with his rag tag band of ruffians and gets what he wants,” Kuntz explains. “His latest want just happens to be Polly Peachum, daughter of the Beggar’s Lord of London (Johnathan Jeremiah Peachum), who doesn’t take too kindly to Mack the Knife’s interest in his daughter. Doing anything to keep them apart, Peachum uses broads, bribes and blackmails to get Mack out of the picture, while Macheath’s life hangs in the balance.”

This production contains mature subject matter.

CCM Musical Theatre Celebrates the Songs of Kurt Weill with ‘Into a Lamplit Room’

Celebrated music theatre composer Kurt Weill.

CCM continues to study and celebrate the work of composer Kurt Weill with Into a Lamplit Room: The Songs of Kurt Weill presented by CCM’s Department of Musical Theatre at 7 p.m. on both Sunday, March 3, and Sunday, March 10.

Devised and directed by CCM Distinguished Chair of Musical Theatre Aubrey Berg with musical direction by Julie Spangler and musical staging by Joey Dippel, this evening of cabaret-style entertainment offers a compilation of Weill songs in the intimate setting of UC’s Cohen Family Studio Theater.

The Epic Theatre of CCM’s ‘The Threepenny Opera’

Sophomore Hannah Zazzaro as Sukey Tawdry and junior Max Clayton as Macheath. Photography by Mark Lyons.

CCM’s year-long Kurt Weill Festival resumes this month with a dynamic new production of the iconic musical The Threepenny Opera. Composed by Kurt Weill with book and lyrics by dramatist Bertolt Brecht (adapted into English by Marc Blitzstein), The Threepenny Opera weaves the riveting tale of notorious bandit and womanizer Macheath (“Mack the Knife”) and his seedy companions in London’s underworld. Weill’s innovative score invented a new form of musical theatre, leading the way for such shows as Chicago and Cabaret.

CCM’s Mainstage Series production of this jazz-infused musical is directed by Robin Guarino, with musical direction by Roger Grodsky, choreography by Patti James and scenic designs by Tony Award-winning guest artist John Arnone. The Threepenny Opera runs Thursday, Feb. 28, through Sunday, March 10, in UC’s Patricia Corbett Theater. Tickets are on sale now. This production contains mature subject matter.