Now on Stage...

The Internationalist

2011-11-03T06:34:00.000-07:00

The Internationalist at convergence-continuum (Ohio Premier)

November 25 – December 17, 2011 --- Thur-Sat @ 8pm
By Anne Washburn --- Directed by Clyde Simon

at The Liminis, in Tremont

Cross the threshold into a foreign landscape.

Lowell, an American on a business trip, is met at the airport by a beautiful colleague. They spend the night together and he thinks he's in one of those great American movies where you go to a foreign land and there's romance and adventure and the experience changes you. The next day at the office he discovers that he's not in one of those movies, he's in one of those foreign films where nothing is as it seems, where there is no moral, and most importantly: no subtitles.

“Welcome to Anne Washburn, an original new voice! The Internationalist is a new kind of play for the 21st century. Fresh, provocative, riveting, and more entertaining and satisfying than many long-running hits.” – Back Stage

FEVER/DREAM

2011-01-24T09:04:00.000-08:00

FEVER/DREAM at Cleveland Public Theatre
April 7 - 23, 2011 --- Thur-Sat @ 7:30pm
Additional Shows Sun. 4/17 @ 3pm, Mon. 4/18 @ 7:30pm

By Sheila Callaghan --- Directed by Elizabeth R. Wood
at Gordon Square Theater at CPT

Say your father was the President of a multi-national corporation and you were chained to the customer service desk as soon as you could dial a phone... if someone made you CEO for a day, would you go crazy? This raucous and highly physical comid reinvention of Pedro Calderon de la Barca's classis Life is a Dream, gleefully skewers corporate America with razor-sharp wit, and forecasts a corporate-world transformation as Gen-Y takes over the world.

Dividing the Estate

2010-11-11T11:32:00.000-08:00

"Dividing the Estate" at Ensemble Theatre

November 19 - December 12, 2010 --- Fri/Sat @ 8pm, Sun @ 2pm

by Horton Foote --- Directed by Sarah May
at The Brooks Theater in the Cleveland Playhouse

Dividing the Estate is simply the American Theater event of the Holiday Season brought to life by the most talented Ensemble of distinguished Cleveland actors since the Play House's Repertory company tread the boards of the Brooks Theatre. So this Holiday, treat your family to the hilarious Gordon Family and feel good about theatre again.

Matriarch, Stella Gordon, is determined not to divide her 100-year-old Texas estate, despite her family's declining wealth and the looming financial crisis. But her three children have another plan. Old resentments and sibling rivalries surface as the members of this hilariously dysfunctional - or perhaps all too functional - family go head to head to see who might claim the biggest piece of the pie in Dividing the Estate.

Brainpeople

2010-10-06T08:05:00.000-07:00

"Brainpeople" at convergence-continuum (Ohio Premier)

October 15 - November 13 --- Thur-Sat @ 8pm

by Jose Rivera --- directed by Clyde Simon

at The Liminis (in Tremont)

Cross the threshold and take your place at a beastly dinner.

The time: the present. The place: a faded penthouse in a violent, militaristic Los Angeles. A rich and beautiful young woman has invited two carefully selected strangers (one for her lovely eyes, the other for her lovely hands) to a very special dinner commemorating the death of her parents. She has offered the two strangers $20,000 each to attend (and complete) the bizarre annual feast. The result is an engrossing journey into the traumatized inner realms of the three very different, solitary women that is alternately surreal, humorous, startling and magical.

"Rivera has created an intriguing and evocative drama with the social and pyschological terrors that have leapt from the grottoes of the women's minds" - San Francisco Chronicle.
"This real-time drama...offers great insight into how basic human nature can go bizarrely astray when the world is falling apart." - San Francisco Bay Guardian.

Hunter Gatherers

2010-06-24T14:13:00.000-07:00

"Hunter Gatherers" at convergence-continuum (Ohio Premiere)

July 16 - August 14, 2010 --- Thur-Sat @ 8pm

by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb--- directed by Clyde Simon
at The Liminis in Tremont

Cross the threshold into a primal universe.

"Outrageously libidinous knockabout farce meets penetrating social satire in Peter Nachtrieb's hilariously revelatory comedy" —San Francisco Chronicle.

Pam and Richard are hosting their best friends, Wendy and Tom, for their annual dinner get-together. An animal sacrifice kicks off the evening, followed by a little more sex, violence, deception, revelations, wrestling and dancing than in previous years. A darkly comic evening where the line between civilized and primal man is blurred, and where not everyone will survive long enough to enjoy the brownies for dessert.

Humble Boy

2010-04-04T09:17:00.000-07:00

"Humble Boy" at Dobama Theatre

May 7 - June 5, 2010: Wed/Thur: 7:30pm, Fri/Sat: 8pm, 1st Sun: 7:30pm, other Sun: 2:30pm

by Charlotte Jones--- directed by Joel Hammer
at Dobama Theater on Lee Road

HUMBLE BOY IS EXTENDED!!
- additional performances June 2 to June 5
- Wed/Thur: 7:30pm, Fri/Sat: 8pm

Broken vows, failed hopes, quantum mechanics and the joys of beekeeping are brilliantly interwoven as Felix comes to terms with the sudden death of his father, his overbearing mother and his onetime sweetheart. Winner of the Susan Smith Blackburn Award, The Critics' Circle Best New Play Award and the People's Choice New Play Award, this English import is both touching and hilarious.

"What are the chances that six of the best stage performances of the year could show up in the same production? Almost zero. Still, it's happening right now at Dobama Theatre's Humble Boy..."
-- Christine Howey, Scene Magazine

"Dobama Theatre's 'Humble Boy' a brilliant play, played brilliantly..."
-- Tony Brown, The Plain Dealer

"On stage at the Dobama Theatre in Cleveland Heights, this play...is miraculously transformed into a subtle, enthralling and absolutely brilliant production...."
-- Bob Abelman, The News Herald

Is He Dead?

2009-12-17T07:16:00.000-08:00

"Is He Dead?" at The Beck Center
February 5-28, 2010 --- Fri/Sat: 8pm, Sun: 3pm
A New Comedy by Mark Twain, Adapted by David Ives --- Directed by Matthew Earnest

Written by Twain in 1898, Is He Dead? richly intermingles elements of burlesque, farce, and social satire. A group of poor artists in Barbizon, France, stage the death of a friend to drive up the price of his paintings. In order to make this scheme succeed, the artists hatch some hilarious plots involving cross-dressing, a full-scale fake funeral, lovers’ deceptions, and much more.

"...a marvelous sketch -- a delightful two-act comedy sketch to be enjoyed as part lampoon and part cartoon..."
- Tony Brown, The Plain Dealer

"...Sprightly Laurel Johnson and the infectious Liz Conway are adorable as sisters Marie and Cecile Leroux..."
- Fran Heller, Cleveland Jewish News

Ten More Minutes from Cleveland

2009-09-10T20:28:00.000-07:00

"Ten More Minutes from Cleveland" at Dobama Theatre
Sept 25 - Oct 18, 2009 --- Thur: 7:30pm, Fri/Sat: 8pm, 1st Sun: 7:30pm, other Sun: 2:30pm
by Eric Coble --- directed by Joel Hammer
at Dobama on Lee Road

What would you do if you discovered the mythical Eternal Browns Tailgating Party? Can students at Case Western fall in love using only their laptops? And just how tall can your grass grow in Shaker Heights before you're arrested? Explore both sides of the river in this world premiere comedy by award-winning local playwright Eric Coble (author of Dobama's smash hit TEN MINUTES FROM CLEVELAND). If you think you know Cleveland, think again...

Big Love

2009-06-29T07:23:00.001-07:00

"Big Love" at The Liminis
July 24 – Aug 22 -- Thur-Sat at 8pm
by Charles Mee -- directed by Clyde Simon
at The Liminis

Fifty brides flee their fifty grooms and seek refuge in a villa on the coast of Italy in this modern re-making of one of the western world's oldest plays, The Danaids by Aeschylus. And, in this villa on the Italian coast, the fifty grooms catch up with the brides, and mayhem ensues: the grooms arriving by helicopter in their flight suits, women throwing themselves over and over again to the ground, pop songs and romantic dances, and, finally, unable to escape their forced marriages, 49 of the brides murder 49 of the grooms-and one bride falls in love. About the same odds as today.

REVIEWS:

The Plain Dealer by Tony Brown
"... Thyona (actress Lauren Smith, left), Olympia (Laurel Johnson) and Lydia (Liz Conway) are just three Greek girls looking for a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T -- and a little fun -- in "Big Love"..."
Scene Magazine by Christine Howey
"When it comes topissed-off married chicks, there is more fury in the blushing, hatchet-wielding ladies of Big Love than in a whole season of Bridezillas... the passive, princess-y Olympia (Laurel Johnson) etches a distinctive character..."
Roy Berko
"...Laurel Johnson looks like she just escaped from a Barbie doll wrapping and plays the air headed Olympia with perfect ease..."

"Quake" at convergence-continuum

2009-05-06T06:14:00.000-07:00

May 29 to June 27 --- Thur-Sat at 8pm
by Melanie Marnich --- directed by Arthur Grothe
at The Liminis

Lucy is on a cross-country mission, looking for the love of her life. Her journey takes her across the American landscape, through hilarious and eccentric relationships in which time and emotion pass in a warped instant. When her quest becomes intertwined with that of a quirky female serial killer (an astrophysicist gone bad), the landscape changes once again, as they cross state lines and faultlines, exploring the geography of the human heart.

REVIEWS:

The Plain Dealer - by Tony Brown
"...Laurel Johnson has long qualified as a force of nature. As That Woman, Johnson has a moue for every moment, a jiggle for every gigolo and a sucker-punch for every sucker."
Rave and Pan - by Christine Howie
"...Perhaps the most magnetic performance is turned in by Laurel Johnson as That Woman, strutting with sleek and polished confidence through Lucy’s dream sequences as the role model from hell."

"A Comedy of Errors" at Great Lakes Theater

2009-02-22T19:36:00.000-08:00

March 25 - May 3, 2009 -- full performance schedule at www.greatlakestheater.org
By William Shakespeare --- directed by Charles Fee
at Great Lakes Theater Festival in The Hanna Theatre

"A DOUBLE DOSE OF LAUGHTER"

Double your pleasure with a fantastic Shakespearean farce. When two twin brothers and their two twin servants are unexpectedly reunited after three decades apart, the unsuspecting port of Syracuse is torn apart at its seams. With a zany cast of unforgettable characters and a myriad of mistaken identities, Shakespeare’s greatest comedy delivers triumphantly on its famous title.

CPT's Big[BOX] Presents "Unethical"

2008-12-22T08:59:00.000-08:00

February 20-22, 2009 --- Fri & Sat: 7:30pm, Sun: 3pm
a new play by Margi Herwald Zitelli --- Directed by Lisa Ortenzi.
at Cleveland Public Theatre in the James Levin Theatre

You can't live without this paycheck, so just keep your head down and get through the workday. But when The Company institutes a new Corporate Policy on Employee Ethics and Standards of Conduct, four co-workers suddenly find themselves at the center of office controversy. Following the strict policy means giving up your personal expression, but the consequences of breaking it could be severe. And office mates will find their relationships tested in ways they never imagined.

Margi Herwald Zitelli is proud to present Unethical, a play developed through the Dark Room play reading group. Her play Optimus Prime for President received a staged reading at CPT's Little Box series in 2007 and will be produced by Fourth Wall Productions in March, 2009. She has also written short pieces for shows produced by Habitat for Insanity sketch comedy and Dobama's Night Kitchen and is currently working on her next script, Danger Road and Other Teenage Tales of Pretend Peril. Margi is on the Cleveland Theatre Collective board. A graduate of Northwestern University, where she studied playwriting with John Logan, she is City Editor of the Cleveland Jewish News.

"Boom" at Cleveland Public Theatre

2008-10-01T16:27:00.000-07:00

November 28 - December 20, 2008 --- Thur-Sat: 7:30pm, Sun: 3pm
by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb --- directed by Beth Wood
at Cleveland Public Theatre in the James Levin Theatre

"Sex to change the course of the world..."

In Boom, something is about to explode and the fate of humanity hangs in the balance. CPT presents the regional premiere of this exciting work that premiered at Ars Nova in NYC in March 2008. In this hilarious new work, female journalism student Jo answers male marine biologist Jules' casual- encounters ad seeking "intensely significant coupling." She gets stuck in his makeshift lab-turned-shelter and finds herself surrounded by bourbon, fish tanks and a bunch of scary levers. It's the end of the world as we know it and this is the date to end all dates!

REVIEWS:

The Plain Dealer - by Tony Brown
"... The funniest play seen hereabouts this season and on of the most thoughtful."
Cleveland Scene - by Christine Howey
"... Not-to-be-missed ... so fiercely funny, while being simultaneously brainy, that it keeps you nailed to your seat - laughing and shaking your head in wonderment ... a fast-paced and fascinating mind game."
Cleveland Jewish News - by Fran Heller
"... A breathless 90 minutes that will leave audiences thinking, laughing and scratching their heads in wonderment ... 'boom' is a play you will ponder and talk about all the way home."
Spangle Magazine - by Brian Patrick Thornton
"... An outrageous and often hilarious comedy ... A rumination on sex, sexuality, media and science in the modern age - but ultimately, it's just good, naughty fun."
Cool Cleveland - by Roy Berko
"... What appears to be a casual date evolves into something far more momentous which includes Pampers, a baster, a broken leg, fish, Tampons, drums and chains ... If you like Theater of the Absurd, this is for you!"

"Freakshow" at convergence-continuum

2008-06-28T14:36:00.000-07:00

July 25 – August 23, 2008 --- Thur-Sat: 8pm
by Carson Kreitzer --- directed by Geoffrey Hoffman
at convergence-continuum

Cross the threshold into the human sideshow.

At the turn of the last century, a traveling Freakshow grinds to a halt. Things are changing. The anger of being stared at, trapped and caged, is at war with the freaks’ reassurance of knowing their place in the universe. But the growing defiance of the freaks is no act. Will the Dog Faced Woman break her bonds from the show and shatter their fragile edifice of sustaining interdependence; can the jaded and profoundly broken Ringmaster find redemption through his love for the beautiful Woman With No Arms and No Legs; will Aquaboy, the human salamander, find love with a obsessed outsider; and the Pinhead find solace in Jesus, or burn the place down? In this poetic, gritty world, there may be a way out.

Company member Geoffrey Hoffman, who helmed ‘07’s Demon Baby, directs Carson Kreitzer’s funny, strange and provocative look at humanity through a funhouse mirror.

REVIEWS:
Rave and Pan - by Christine Howey
"...This is an often humorous play, directed with skill by Geoffrey Hoffman, that is highlighted by two absolutely mesmerizing performances that must be seen by anyone who gives a damn about live theater."
"...As played by the riveting Laurel Johnson, Amalia is an enormously powerful presence given that she cannot move or gesture...the dominating presence of Johnson’s Amalia, center stage for most of the play and attended to by a doting Judith, keeps us focused on the awful yet oh-so-human tragedy of being different."
The Plain Dealer - by Tony Brown
"...She might not have arms or legs, but Amalia (played with a calm ferocity and much personal discomfort with her limbs tucked away by the tantalizing Laurel Johnson) holds us spellbound."

"In the Garden" at convergence-continuum

2008-05-11T12:47:00.000-07:00

May 30 – June 28, 2008 --- Thur-Sat: 8pm
by Norman Allen --- directed by Clyde Simon
at convergence-continuum

Cross the threshold into a realm where the sexual and spiritual entwine.

The lives of four urban sophisticates are rocked by their encounters with Gabe, a beautiful young man who is everything but what he seems: precocious young scholar, hot pan-sexual boy-toy, selfless weird homeless kid, or what? With unworldly charisma, Gabe constructs a web of sensuality, sexual identity, seduction and theology grounded in the lessons of the New Testament. A professor of philosophy, his fashionista wife, and their slick young friends must rise to the young man’s erotic and spiritual challenge, questioning their lives as they question his very identity. With high comedy and thought-provoking drama, In the Garden blends sexual conventions, high fashion, Nietzsche, and Christ in a hyper-theatrical rollercoaster ride.

Artistic Director Clyde Simon directs the convergence-continuum ensemble in this nicely off-beat and irreverent dramedy by playwright Norman Allen that takes a swipe at social, sexual and religious norms with its complex blending of wit, infidelity and audacious philosophizing.

REVIEWS:
The Cleveland Plain Dealer - by Tony Brown
"...Laurel Johnson's glowing, Magdalene-esque fiancee..."
Scene Magazine - by Christine Howey
"...Laurel Johnson makes Lizzie a blessedly likable and grounded presence."

The Kill Point

2008-02-28T05:21:00.000-08:00

The complete first season of Laurel Johnson's hit series The Kill Point will be available on DVD, March 4th at amazon.com. The first show of its kind to be produced for SpikeTV, set in Pittsburgh, Pa., the fast-paced, intelligent cop drama won an unprecedented popular and critical acclaim with its premiere season this past summer. In the words of TV Guide's shining review: "This unusually well cast drama is an instantly gripping winner!"

Centered around a hostage negotiation in the Iron City's historic Market Square, Johnson plays Lucy Cali, along with Donnie Wahlberg, as the hostage negotiator Horst Cali, and John Leguizamo as the leader of the hostage takers, Jake Mendez.

IMDB

CPT's Big[BOX] Presents "Ictus"

2008-01-18T10:25:00.000-08:00

February 22-24, 2008 --- Fri & Sat: 8pm, Sun: 3pm
by Barbara Becker --- Directed by Rose Leininger
at Cleveland Public Theatre
Featuring Laurel Johnson

Victimized by a stroke while traveling in Italy, a once robust, 35-year-old woman struggles to find her way back to a sense of self on her painful journey through the foreign country of paralysis.

REVIEW:

by weebelly.com

"...She does a fantastic job demonstrating the physical difficulties faced by Becker: walking, speaking, struggling to stand, etc. And does a compelling job demonstrating the anguish and frustration that surely must have dominated, and still must dominate, Becker’s daily life."

CPT Little Box Series

2007-10-23T10:31:00.000-07:00

November 7 - 18, 2007 --- Wed-Sat: 7:30pm, Sun: 3:00pm
at Cleveland Public Theatre

As part of CPT’s commitment to local playwrights and producers, CPT presents a series of staged readings. This program is modeled after our successful Big [BOX] Series but on a smaller scale, designed to foster works at an earlier stage of development.

Thur, November 8th: Optimus Prime for President --- by Margi Herwald Zitelli
Sun, November 11th: Ictus --- by Barbara Becker
Fri, November 16th: U.S. v. Howard Mechanic --- by Faye Sholiton

"Holy Ghosts" at The Beck Center

2007-09-10T12:18:00.000-07:00

September 28 – October 21, 2007 --- Fri & Sat: 8pm, Sun: 3pm
By Romulus Linney --- Directed by Matthew Wright
at The Beck Center

Snake handling, speaking in tongues and Southern Pentecostals. Linney’s fascinating tale of a Smokey Mountain sect blends both drama and dark comedy building to an unbelievable climax.

WITH:
Laurel Johnson and Nick Koesters of The Kill Point on Spike TV

REVIEW:
Cleveland Free Times - by J. Damico
"Standing out among the uniformly excellent performances are . . . particularly Laurel Johnson as Nancy, who is as plainly and saucily captivating as a mountain wild flower."

"Some Girl(s)" at The Bang & The Clatter (Akron)

2007-08-28T06:21:00.000-07:00

August 10 - September 9, 2007--- Thur-Sat: 8pm, Sun: 3pm
by Neil LaBute --- Directed by Sean Derry
at Bang & Clatter

Your career as a writer is blossoming, your beautiful, young fiancee is waiting to get married - so what is your natural reaction? Well, if you're a man, it's probably to get nervous and start calling up old girlfriends. In grand LaBute fashion, this by turns outrageously funny and deadly serious portrait of the artist as a young seducer casts a truthful, hilarious light on a typical young American male as he wanders through the heart of darkness that is himself.

REVIEWS:
Akron News Now

"It was especially hard to believe that someone as sophisticated as Laurel Johnson’s married Lindsay was still hung up on him. What did this guy have to offer her? But as in life, love and/or infatuation doesn’t always make sense. Johnson created the most complex character in the show, drawing a fine balance between a woman who has been deeply wounded and one who’s bent on revenge. She’s powerful in a scene where Lindsay tries to entrap Guy, but when she crumples and makes a quick escape, her grieving face and body language leaves a lasting impression."
--- Kerry Clawson

"The Kill Point" on Spike TV

2007-07-04T13:02:00.000-07:00

The Kill Point on Spike TV
-- Starring Donnie Wahlberg & John Leguizamo
----featuring Laurel Johnson as Donnie's wife, Lucy

"The Kill Point" revolves around a downtown bank robbery by a team of American Iraqi-War veterans -lead by John Leguizamo. More than a dozen hostages from all walks of life are taken, ranging from the daughter of a business tycoon to an adulterous couple. Throughout the eight-hour event, viewers will follow the escalating action as the volatile soldiers plot their way out, the negotiator - Donnie Wahlberg - anticipates their moves and the hostages desperately try to survive. Time is critical and the game intensifies with surprising twists at every turn.

Ohio Premier of "Red Light Winter" at BNC

2007-07-04T12:58:00.000-07:00

February 23 - March 25, 2007 --- Thur-Sat: 8pm & Sun: 3pm
**EXTENDED: Fri, March 30 & Sat, March 31: 8pm**
by Adam Rapp --- Directed by Sean McConaha
at Bang & Clatter

Escaping their lives in Manhattan, former college buddies Matt and Davis take off to Amsterdam and find themselves thrown into a bizarre love triangle with a beautiful young prostitute named Christina. But the romance they encounter in Europe is eventually overshadowed by the truth they discover at home.

REVIEW:

Cleveland Free Times - by M. Andrusewicz

"Laurel Johnson is a delightful presence with enough range and mastery of craft to make Christina's vulnerability real in spite of the staginess of her personas."

"No Sex Please, We're British" at CVLT

2007-07-04T12:46:00.000-07:00

January 12th to February 3rd --- Fri-Sat: 8pm
by Marriott and Foot --- Directed by Stephen Hoffman
at CVLT

Hilarity ensues as newlyweds attempt to hide the pornography they mistakingly ordered from a Scandinavian glassware company as they are bombarded with guests ranging from a mother-in-law to coworkers, policemen, and prostitutes.

Ohio Premier of "Frozen" at BNC

2007-07-04T12:39:00.000-07:00

October 13 - November 12, 2006 --- Thur-Sat: 8pm, Sun: 3pm
by Bryony Lavery --- Directed by Sean McConaha
at Bang & Clatter

This psychological thriller interweaves the stories of three strangers connected by a child's disappearance: the mother, the abductor, and a psychiatrist researching serial killers. An extraordinary insight into the human psyche that explores the anger and healing after a tragedy.