CCM Named ‘Best of Cincinnati’ by CityBeat Readers and Staff

Three productions with CCM connections were voted “Best of Cincinnati” by CityBeat readers and staff. CityBeat’s Best of Cincinnati 2020 issue is available online now!

CCMONSTAGE Play Series presented “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” in October 2019. Photo/Richard Hess

CCM’s production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time won “Best Play (Student/Community)” in the magazine’s readers poll. Directed by CCM Acting Professor Richard E. Hess, the play was presented in October as part of the CCMONSTAGE Play Series.

Blind Injustice, CCM’s co-production with Cincinnati Opera and UC College of Law’s Ohio Innocence Project, received a special Best of Cincinnati staff pick award as “Best World Premiere Opera to Open Your Eyes.” Directed by CCM Opera Professor Robin Guarino, the opera featured stories of six wrongly incarcerated people who were aided by the OIP.

Blind Injustice, CCM’s co-production with Cincinnati Opera and the Ohio Innocence Project, was presented in July 2019 at Music Hall’s Wilks Studio. Photo/Philip Groshong

CityBeat staff wrote: “Robin Guarino’s terrific staging of the sold-out series of shows in the Wilks Studio in Music Hall in July 2019 drew excellent performances from a gifted cast that included members of Cincinnati’s Young Professionals Choral Collaborative. The five performances sold out months in advance, as did a free presentation at Allen Temple A.M.E. Church in Bond Hill. Blind Injustice is proof positive that opera can bear powerful witness to the social issues of our time, as well as to the strength of the human spirit in the face of mindless injustice. May it be seen again and again and again, here and throughout the country.”

CCM students self-produced “The Flick” at Clifton’s Esquire movie theater in July 2019. Photo/Ella Eggold

CityBeat staff also recognized CCM students who produced and acted in a unique presentation of The Flick, a Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Annie Baker, at Clifton’s Esquire movie theater. The production was dubbed “Best Play Held in an Unconventional Setting.” CCM Acting alumni and current students Ella Eggold, Gabriella DiVincenzo, Graham Rogers, Leonard Peterson and Kristina Steinmetz acted and produced the play, which was stage managed by CCM Theatre Design and Production student Jennelle John-Lewis. CityBeat staff praised the production team’s efforts as “spectacular” and “outstanding.”

Congratulations to all of our friends and partners also featured in this special issue of CityBeat! Read more on CityBeat’s website or view a digital version of the issue.

---

Featured image at top: Best of Cincinnati graphic by Taylor Speed/CityBeat

CCM 2018-19 Mainstage Series Subscriptions On Sale Now!

New subscription packages are now on sale for CCM’s 2018-19 Mainstage Series of Acting, Dance, Musical Theatre and Opera Productions. With CCM’s streamlined subscriptions, it has never been easier to get the best seats at the best prices. Arts lovers can simply mix and match the shows they want to see with customizable eight, six, four or three-show packages. Subscription orders placed before Sept. 10 will get seated before any single ticket buyers!

About CCM’s 2018-19 Mainstage Series
CCM was recently declared “Best of Cincinnati” in CityBeat‘s annual readers’ choice poll, but the best is yet to come with CCM’s 2018-19 Mainstage Series! From October 2018 through April 2019, CCM presents eight masterworks spanning the spectrum of theatrical arts, including:

• the best of comedic and dramatic acting with The Government Inspector and Our Country’s Good,
• classic and contemporary musicals with Guys and Dolls and The Hunchback of Notre Dame,
• great operas from master composers with Britten’s The Turn of the Screw and Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito,
• and innovative dance programs with Birthday Variations and Cinderella!

Last season, single ticket buyers missed out on sold-out performances of Hamlet, Seussical (voted the year’s “Best Play” by CityBeat readers), Candide and Jesus Christ Superstar. Subscribers have a guaranteed seat to see the phenomenal talent and polished professionalism of CCM’s young performers. Download CCM’s 2018-19 Mainstage Subscription Brochure to learn even more about our upcoming productions!

Ordering Your Subscriptions
CCM’s customizable subscription packages range in price from $81-$192. Download our 2018-19 Mainstage Subscription price sheet, seating chart and order form for complete details. Then choose your shows and select whether you want seats in Section A (the best views) or Section B (the lowest prices). To pay by check, simply return your order form by mail or drop it off at the CCM Box Office in the Atrium of CCM’s Corbett Center for the Performing Arts. For credit card transactions, call the Box Office.

The CCM Box Office staff is always ready to answer your questions by phone at 513-556-4183 or by email at boxoff@uc.edu.

Don’t wait to get the best seats at the best prices!
Single tickets go on sale Sept. 10, 2018.

CCM Season Presenting Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

CCM Mainstage Season Production Sponsor: Macy’s

Preview Tonight’s Concert Production of Richard Strauss’ ‘Salome’

Pick up this week’s issue of CityBeat for an in-depth look at CCM’s concert production of Richard Strauss’ Salome, courtesy of Anne Arenstein. The concert begins at 8 p.m. tonight (Jan. 29). Tickets are on sale now.

“[Salome] packs enough obsession, erotic sensuality and dysfunction to fuel an entire reality-show season for E! — in 90 minutes,” Arenstein writes in her preview of the CCM Philharmonia performance. You can read her full preview here.

You can also listen to Arenstein interview CCM’s Director of Orchestral Studies Mark Gibson for WVXU’s Around Cincinnati here.

This production of Salome features the talents of two CCM Voice faculty artists: Amy Johnson in the title role and Kenneth Shaw as John the Baptist. Salome also features guest artists Allan Glassman as Herod and Elizabeth Bishop, who sings the role of Herodias, Herod’s wife. The production is semi-staged by faculty director Emma Griffin.

For even more #StraussinZinzinnati, mark your calendars for Feb. 5 and 6, as the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra performs Strauss’ lush and melodious Symphonia domestica. This richly rendered autobiographical reflection of Strauss’ family life closes out a program that also features legendary pianist Leon Fleisher.

Performance Time
8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 29

Location
Corbett Auditorium, CCM Village,
University of Cincinnati

Purchasing Tickets
Tickets to Salome are $15, $10 for non-UC students and FREE for UC students with valid ID. Tickets can be purchased in person at the CCM Box Office, over the telephone at 513-556-4183 or online now through our e-Box Office! Visit ccm.uc.edu/boxoffice for CCM Box Office hours and location.

All event dates and programs are subject to change. Visit ccm.uc.edu or contact the CCM Box Office at 513-556-4183 for the most current event information.

Parking and Directions
Parking is available in the CCM Garage (located at the base of Corry Boulevard off Jefferson Avenue) and additional garages throughout the UC campus. Please visit uc.edu/parking for more information on parking rates.

For detailed maps and directions, please visit uc.edu/visitors. Additional parking is available off-campus at the new U Square complex on Calhoun Street and other neighboring lots.

For directions to CCM Village, visit ccm.uc.edu/about/directions.

____________________

CCM Season Presenting Sponsor and Musical Theatre Program Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

Community Partner: ArtsWave

Visiting Artists Sponsor: The Joseph and Frances Jones Poetker Fund of the Cambridge Charitable Foundation, Ritter & Randolph, LLC, Corporate Counsel

Orchestral Sponsor: Mr. & Mrs. Joseph W. Hirschhorn

CCM Slideshows: The Heidi Chronicles

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

CCM’s 2014-15 Mainstage Series continues TONIGHT with Wendy Wasserstein’s groundbreaking comedy The Heidi Chronicles, playing through Sunday, Feb. 15, in Patricia Corbett Theater. See a complete list of performance times below.

Winner of the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play, The Heidi Chronicles is directed by CCM’s A.B., Dolly, Ralph and Julia Cohen Chair of Dramatic Performance Richard Hess.

Rick Pender takes a closer look at The Heidi Chronicles and the legacy of playwright Wendy Wasserstein for CityBeat. Read the story online here.

David Lyman previews the production for the Cincinnati Enquirer. Read the story online here.

Sexuality, feminism, education, gender equality, marriage, women’s rights – there’s no hot-button issue the play doesn’t touch. Learn more about this poignant comedy here.

Performance Times

• 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12
• 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13
• 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 14
• 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 15

Location
Patricia Corbett Theater, CCM Village
University of Cincinnati

Purchasing Tickets
Tickets to The Heidi Chronicles are $27-31 for adults, $17-20 for non-UC students and $15-18 for UC students with a valid ID.

Saturday matinee student rush discount tickets are available beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 14 and are $12-15.

Tickets can be purchased in person at the CCM Box Office, over the telephone at 513-556-4183 or online at ccm.uc.edu/boxoffice/heidi-chronicles-mainstage.

Parking and Directions
Parking is available in the CCM Garage (located at the base of Corry Boulevard off Jefferson Avenue) and additional garages throughout the UC campus. Please visit uc.edu/parking for more information on parking rates.

For detailed maps and directions, please visit uc.edu/visitors. Additional parking is available off-campus at the new U Square complex on Calhoun Street and other neighboring lots.

For directions to CCM Village, visit ccm.uc.edu/about/directions.
____

CCM Season Presenting Sponsor and Musical Theatre Program Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

Mainstage Season Production Sponsor: Macy’s

Community Partner: ArtsWave

CCM’s Mainstage Series Presents the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-Winning ‘The Heidi Chronicles’ Next Week

Sarah Davenport as Heidi Holland in CCM’s THE HEIDI CHRONICLES. photography by Mark Lyons.

CCM’s Department of Drama opens its spring Mainstage Series with its debut of Wendy Wasserstein’s The Heidi Chronicles, running Feb. 11 through Feb. 15, in the Patricia Corbett Theater.

An examination of feminism and its evolution from the 1960s through the late 1980s, The Heidi Chronicles follows Heidi Holland, a successful art historian, who tries to find her true self in a rapidly changing world as the roles of women were being redefined.

Students and audience members alike will get the chance to witness a piece of history on stage as director Richard E. Hess, A.B., Dolly, Ralph and Julia Cohen Chair of Dramatic Performance, attempts to make connections between a generation who lived through the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s and students who are now products of this age.

Hess asks a thought-provoking and timely question: “What would Wendy think of life in America in 2015, where we still must deeply question this country’s commitment to racial and gender equality?”

Wasserstein was the first woman playwright to receive a Tony Award for Best Play for The Heidi Chronicles. Her work also earned her prestigious awards including the 1989 Pulitzer Prize, a New York Drama Critics Circle Award and a Drama Desk Award, among others.

Hess says that Wasserstein liked to create characters “who struggled with the shifting demands and definitions of self, unique to a time and place.” This struggle rings true even today.

Second-year Theater Design and Production graduate student Jillian Coratti serves as costume designer for this production. She talked with Hess at the beginning of rehearsals about his vision for the look and feel of the production. “The hardest part about this production was making it look real,” she explains. “This show is dramatic and thoughtful, but very rarely flashy. The characters are real and contemporary, so I didn’t want to make anything come across as overly theatrical.”

Coratti did a great deal of research in magazines and blogs, even pulling out older family photo albums. Her uncles grew up as members of the “baby boomer” generation, so she was able to find looks from the 70s and 80s in their wedding albums. Since each scene in The Heidi Chronicles is set in a new time period, there are a lot of quick costume changes. Heidi alone has 13 changes!

But the easiest and most rewarding part has been the fittings. Coratti says, “The actors are so eager and willing to see their costumes because they can connect with these clothes. They’re very similar to what we wear everyday, yet some come from our parents closets.”

• Richard E. Hess, director
• Thomas C. Umfrid, scenic designer
• Jillian Coratti, costume designer
• Taylor Malott, wig & make-up designer
• Joe Beumer, lighting designer
• Corbin Wescott, sound designer
• k. Jenny Jones, fight choreographer
• Susan Stephenson, stage manager

The Heidi Chronicles Cast List:

• Sarah Davenport as Heidi Holland
• Clare Combest as Susan Johnston
• Colin Edgar as Peter Patron
• Connor Lawrence as Scoop Rosenbaum
• Ryan Garrett as Chris Boxer/Steve/Waiter
• Katie McDonald as Jill/Sandra Zucker-Hall
• AC Horton as Fran
• Julia Netzer as Becky
• Rachel Baumgarten as Debbie
• Owen Alderson as 1968 Hippie/Mark/Dr. Ray
• Michaela Tropeano as Molly McBride/Clara
• Alice Skok as Lisa
• Carli Rhoades as Betsy
• Sydney Ashe as Denise
• Katie Langham as April

About The Heidi Chronicles
After its initial opening in November 1988 Off-Broadway, The Heidi Chronicles was praised by the New York Daily News as “witty, hilarious…not just a funny play, but a wise one… I doubt we’ll see a better play this season.” Even Variety raved, “Not many plays manage Heidi’s feat of inducing almost continuous laughter while forcing the audience to examine its preconceptions.” In March of 1989, The Heidi Chronicles was transferred to Broadway and became a long-running success with an impressive 622 performances when it closed in September of 1990.

Comprised of a series of interrelated scenes, the play traces the coming of age of Heidi Holland, a successful art historian, as she tries to find her bearings in a rapidly changing world. Gradually distancing herself from her friends, she watches them move from the idealism and political radicalism of their college years through militant feminism and, eventually, back to the materialism that they had sought to reject in the first place. Eventually Heidi comes to accept the fact that liberation can be achieved only if one is true to oneself, with goals that come out of need rather than circumstance.

Read Rick Pender’s thoughts on the legacy of Wendy Wasserstein and the importance of The Heidi Chronicles, courtesy of CityBeat.

Performance Times

• 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11 (preview)
• 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12
• 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13
• 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 14
• 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 15

Location
Patricia Corbett Theater, CCM Village
University of Cincinnati

Purchasing Tickets
Tickets to The Heidi Chronicles are $27-31 for adults, $17-20 for non-UC students and $15-18 for UC students with a valid ID. Saturday matinee student rush discount tickets are available beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 14 and are $12-15. Tickets to the Feb. 11 preview performance are just $12.

Tickets can be purchased in person at the CCM Box Office, over the telephone at 513-556-4183 or online at ccm.uc.edu/boxoffice/heidi-chronicles-mainstage.

Parking and Directions
Parking is available in the CCM Garage (located at the base of Corry Boulevard off Jefferson Avenue) and additional garages throughout the UC campus. Please visit uc.edu/parking for more information on parking rates.

For detailed maps and directions, please visit uc.edu/visitors. Additional parking is available off-campus at the new U Square complex on Calhoun Street and other neighboring lots.

For directions to CCM Village, visit ccm.uc.edu/about/directions.
____

CCM Season Presenting Sponsor and Musical Theatre Program Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

Mainstage Season Production Sponsor: Macy’s

Community Partner: ArtsWave

Vote for CCM in CityBeat’s Annual “Best of Cincinnati” Readers Survey

Click here to place your vote!

The polls are currently open for CityBeat’s 19^th Annual Best of Cincinnati® Readers Survey and we are delighted to report that CCM has been nominated in several areas!

Within the Arts & Nightlife category, CCM has been nominated as Best Local Theatre Company.

Our string quartet-in-residence – the Ariel Quartet – has been nominated in for Best Local Classical Music Group.

Another ensemble-in-residence at CCM – the Cincinnati Children’s Choir – is up for Best Local Vocal Arts Group.

Several CCM faculty members have also received nods for Best Local Musician.

Within the Urban Life category, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music has also been nominated as Best College/University.

Your votes count! Show your support for all of CCM’s Best of Cincinnati® nominees by visiting http://survey-citybeat.wehaaserver.com/survey-120-best-of-cincinnati-2015.html and casting your ballot today!

Voting ends at midnight on Tuesday Feb. 10. Look for results in the April 1 issue of CityBeat!

CCM’s ‘Legally Blonde’ Receives Rave Reviews

The critics are praising CCM’s current production of Legally Blonde – The Musical, which plays through a matinee performance on Sunday, Nov. 2!

In his review for the Sappy Critic, Kirk Sheppard writes, “Legally Blonde – The Musical is an energetic, satisfying show and CCM has brought all of the elements together continuing their reputation as one of the best musical theatre programs in the country.” Sheppard singles out the performance of senior Lawson Young (one of two CCM students playing Elle Woods in this double-cast production), going so far as to say, “Of the five [different] productions I’ve seen, she’s by far the best and that includes the national tour and the [Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera] last summer.”

David Lyman has similar praise for the production and for senior Sarah Bishop in his review for the Cincinnati Enquirer. “What’s really refreshing about this production,” he observes, “is that, as Elle, Sarah Bishop gives a measure of humanity that we rarely get to see. We see Elle develop a conscience and compassion and – heaven forbid – come to love a man to whom she never would have given the time of day at the outset of the show.”

The News Record‘s review praised the entire company, with Aidan Smith writing, “The humor offered by every cast member made this musical stand out, and it showed in the audience’s constant giggling.”

“Featuring strong performances, fun choreography, and a superb set design, this mounting is a true crowd pleaser,” Scott Cain observes in his review for Talkin’ Broadway.

In his review for Behind the Curtain Cincinnati, Rob Bucher calls CCM’s production, “a very fun and entertaining show. Excellent work.”

Rick Pender profiles Legally Blonde director/choreographer and CCM Professor of Musical Theatre Diane Lala in his “Curtain Call” column for Cincinnati CityBeat, observing that “the evidence of her success is currently onstage at CCM’s Patricia Corbett Theater.”

You have five more chances to catch this all-singing, all-dancing production… and tickets are still available!

Performance Times

• 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30
• 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 31
• 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1
• 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 2

Location
Patricia Corbett Theater, CCM Village
University of Cincinnati

Purchasing Tickets
Tickets to Legally Blonde are $31-35 for adults, $20-24 for non-UC students and $18-22 UC students with a valid ID, with $12-$15 student rush tickets available for the Saturday matinee beginning at 1 p.m. on Nov. 1.

Customizable subscription packages are also available. Tickets can be purchased in person at the CCM Box Office, over the telephone at 513-556-4183 or online at ccm.uc.edu/boxoffice/legally-blonde-mainstage.

Parking and Directions
Parking is available in the CCM Garage (located at the base of Corry Boulevard off Jefferson Avenue) and additional garages throughout the UC campus. Please visit uc.edu/parking for more information on parking rates.

For detailed maps and directions, please visit uc.edu/visitors. Additional parking is available off-campus at the new U Square complex on Calhoun Street and other neighboring lots.

For directions to CCM Village, visit ccm.uc.edu/about/directions.
____

CCM Season Presenting Sponsor and Musical Theatre Program Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

Mainstage Season Production Sponsor: Macy’s

Mainstage Production Sponsor: Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC

Community Partner: ArtsWave

Legally Blonde: The Musical is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. 421 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019 | Phone: 212-541-4684 | Fax: 212-397-4684 | http://www.MTIShows.com

CCM Alumnus Bryan Hall Takes on New Roles at University of Alaska Fairbanks and Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra

CCM alumnus Bryan Emmon Hall (BM, 2009).

We are delighted to report that CCM alumnus Bryan Hall (BM, 2009) has been named the new violin/viola teacher and pedagogy coordinator at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He will also serve as the concertmaster for the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra. Congratulations!

Also a graduate of CCM’s Starling Preparatory String Project, Hall has performed in such venues as the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, and the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, China. Cincinnati CityBeat hailed his performances as “extraordinarily evocative.”

Hall completed his MM and DMA at the University of Texas at Austin.

Three CCM Students Named As League of Cincinnati Theatres’ 2014 Rising Stars

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The League of Cincinnati Theatres (LCT) has announced its 2014 Rising Star Award-recipients and this year’s winners include current and former CCM students Kaitlyn Adams, Blaine Krauss and Kevin Semancik, along with recent Xavier University graduate Patrick Phillips. Congratulations to all of this year’s winners!

All four young artists have been awarded for their exemplary contributions to local theatre courtesy of Diet Dr. Pepper and Pepsi Beverages. This year’s winners were chosen from a pool of nominees recommended by their university or a theatre they have worked for. CCM’s Matt Hill and Shaun Sutton were runners up.

Rising Stars must be under 25 years of age and are nominated for their body of work by academic and theatre personnel. The award was created to recognize talented young people who have and will contribute to professional theatre in Cincinnati and the industry at large.

This year’s committee was chaired by LCT Board Members Cathy Springfield and Kirk Sheppard. Each winner receives $1000 to help them as they continue their careers courtesy of Diet Dr. Pepper and Pepsi Beverages, facilitated by Rick Gill.

You can learn more about Kaitlyn Adams, Blaine Krauss and Kevin Semancik below!

CCM Slideshows: Don Pasquale

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Mary Ellyn Hutton calls CCM’s Mainstage Series production of Don Pasquale a “fast-moving delight start to finish, with beautiful singing, lively acting and a lovely-to-look-at, period production” in her review for the Cincinnati Enquirer! Read the full review here.

This week’s issue of CityBeat features an excellent profile of Don Pasquale‘s director, CCM graduate student Omer Ben-Seadia. You can read that Anne Arenstein-penned story online here.

Don Pasquale plays through this Sunday, April 6, and tickets are still available. Tickets can be purchased in person at the CCM Box Office, over the telephone at 513-556-4183 or online at ccm.uc.edu/boxoffice/donpasquale.