Lineup features musical murder, devised drama, humorous disaster, riveting dance, and a trip to Hollywood

CLEVELAND (September 12, 2022) – The Cleveland State University Department of Theatre and Dance will enter its eleventh full season as a resident company of Playhouse Square with a unique mix of music, dance, comedy and drama.

Dance begins the season with performances by GroundWorks DanceTheater, running Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, 2022 on the Outcalt Theatre Mainstage. As the resident professional dance company of the CSU Department of Theatre and Dance, GroundWorks returns under artistic direction of David Shimotakahara.

The theatre season opens this Fall Semester on the Allen Theatre Mainstage with the Stephen Sondheim / Hugh Wheeler musical “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” running November 3-13, 2022. Co-directed by Russ Borski and Holly Holsinger, and with musical direction by Maria DiDonato, this Tony Award winning musical is the infamous tale of Sweeney Todd, an unjustly exiled barber, who returns to nineteenth century London, seeking vengeance against the lecherous judge who framed him and ravaged his young wife. The road to revenge leads Todd to Mrs. Lovett, a resourceful proprietress of a failing pie shop, above which, he opens a new barber practice. Mrs. Lovett's luck sharply shifts when Todd's thirst for blood inspires the integration of an ingredient into her meat pies that has the people of London lining up... and the carnage has only just begun!

The second fall theatre production is the CSU Devised Theatre Workshop Production*. Featuring work by our Fall 2022 Devised Theatre Workshop class, students will present semester an original piece created during the semester culminating in their final performances on Nov. 17 through 20, 2022. The show will take place in our intimate Black Box Theatre in the 13th Street Building (CSU Arts Campus), led by instructor Toby Vera Bercovici.

The first show of the Spring Semester is the whirlwind play “The Skin of Our Teeth” running on the Outcalt Theatre Stage Feb. 23 through Mar. 5, 2023. Combining farce, burlesque, satire, and elements of the comic strip, author Thornton Wilder depicts an Everyman family as it narrowly escapes one end-of-the-world disaster after another, from the Ice Age to flood to war. Written in 1942, THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH broke from established theatrical conventions and walked off with the 1943 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Directed by Toby Vera Bercovici.

Featuring the CSU Dance Company, faculty, staff, musicians and guest artists, the CSU Dance Program returns with its popular annual CSU Spring Dance Concert March 10-12, 2023. Interim Director of Dance DeAndra Stone says, “The Dance Program is excited to present its Annual Spring Dance Concert over a multi-day run in the Allen Theatre at Playhouse Square. Featuring newly created and restaged works by visiting guest artists and faculty; guest appearances, including CSU's professional dance company in-residence, GroundWorks DanceTheater; and a broad array of both traditional and contemporary works set on CSU Dance's student ensembles: Dance Company and Dance Group. It will be an evening full of delight, curiosity... and the wonders of 'dance'.”

The final theatre production of the season is “By the Way, Meet Vera Stark” running April 20-30, 2023 in The Helen Rosenfeld Lewis Bialosky Lab Theatre. Writer Lynn Nottage draws upon the screwball films of the 1930s to take a funny and irreverent look at racial stereotypes in Hollywood. BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK is a 70-year journey through the life of Vera Stark, a headstrong African-American maid and budding actress, and her tangled relationship with her boss, a white Hollywood star... desperately grasping to hold on to her career. Directed by Sheffia Randall Dooley.

American Sign Language (ASL) Supported Performances

The following designated performances will be presented with American Sign Language support, with ASL interpreters signing in tandem with the live production. $5 tickets for this show are also available using Discount Code “ASL” when ordering.

“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” – Thursday, November 10, 2022

“The Skin of Our Teeth” – Thursday, March 2, 2023

“By the Way, Meet Vera Stark” – Thursday, April 27, 2023

Ticketing

General show times are Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. $5-$15 tickets are available by calling 216-241-6000, visiting www.playhousesquare.org, or at the State Theatre Ticket Office, located at 1519 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, OH 44115. Tickets are also available 60-minutes prior to performances at the Allen Theatre Complex. Visit our website at www.csuohio.edu/theatredance for more information.

*The CSU Devised Theatre Workshop Production and other information for the CSU Black Box Theatre (CSU Arts Campus) will be available in October at www.csuohio.edu/theatredance.

About Cleveland State University

Founded in 1964, Cleveland State University is a public research institution that provides a dynamic setting for Engaged Learning. With nearly 16,000 students, ten colleges and schools and more than 175 academic programs, CSU was again chosen for 2022 as one of America’s best universities by U.S. News & World Report, including the #1 university in Ohio for social mobility. Find more information at www.csuohio.edu.

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