All stories by Andrea Simakis on BroadwayStars

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Cleveland Play House, Cleveland Orchestra and 10 other area nonprofits awarded 2017 NEA grants by Andrea Simakis

The National Endowment for the Arts awards Cleveland-area nonprofits $370,000 in grants

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 02:47PM
Thursday, December 1, 2016

'Peter and the Starcatcher' returns to Dobama Theatre for one more trip to Neverland (photos, video) by Andrea Simakis

In Dobama Theatre's 'Peter and the Starcatcher,' 13 actors play more then 100 roles in this prequel to 'Peter Pan.'

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 12:00PM
Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Playwright Tony Kushner, public radio's Sarah Vowell to talk Abraham Lincoln at CWRU (photos) by Andrea Simakis

Tony Kushner and Sarah Vowell are coming to town, a pairing that is the modern equivalent of Eugene O'Neill and Mark Twain embarking on a national speaking tour and gamely agreeing to open t…

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 08:00AM
Thursday, November 17, 2016

Onstage at Baldwin Wallace University, 'West Side Story' finds new relevance with a message of tolerance (photos) by Andrea Simakis

Thanks to one of the most acrimonious elections in memory, 'West Side Story' doesn't seem so dated anymore. Suddenly, it has something to say to us again.

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 04:37PM
Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Last chance to see Broadway-bound student actor Colton Ryan in Baldwin Wallace University's 'West Side Story' by Andrea Simakis

Colton Ryan, a BW senior music theater major, has been cast as the main off-stage cover for Ben Platt, the 23-year-old 'Pitch Perfect' star headlining Broadway's 'Dear Evan Hansen.'

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 01:00PM
Tuesday, November 8, 2016

None Too Fragile Theater's 'Annapurna' expertly tracks the peaks and valleys of a troubled relationship (review) by Andrea Simakis

Under the sure direction of None Too Fragile's Sean Derry, the tragicomic 'Annapurna' is pointed and poignant and ever so messily human - the kind of storytelling that has become the company…

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 02:53PM
Friday, November 4, 2016

Dobama Theatre's brilliant, disturbing production of 'An Octoroon' targets the dark heart of our racial sins (photos, video) by Andrea Simakis

'An Octoroon' at Dobama: Hang on for one of the most exciting, vexing, moving, hilarious and unpredictable theatrical rides of the new century.

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 04:02PM
Tuesday, November 1, 2016

A Million Suggestions by Suzan-Lori Parks: The Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright comes to Cleveland with a few tips for you by Andrea Simakis

Case Western Reserve University presents Suzan-Lori Parks as part of its 2016-17 Think Forum tonight.

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 12:45PM
Monday, October 31, 2016

Cleveland Play House's 'Sex With Strangers' is a steamy slow dance from lust to a chance at love (review) by Andrea Simakis

Directed with playfulness, subtlety and nuance by Joanie Schultz, "Sex With Strangers" moves like a red-hot page-turner; it's a book you can't possibly put down.

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 02:33PM
Saturday, October 29, 2016

'Finding Neverland,' the Peter Pan musical headed to Playhouse Square, is an ode to imagination and resilience by Andrea Simakis

'Finding Neverland' is imbued with effects that appear to have sprung from the fertile, fantastical mind of a child.

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 08:00AM
Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Cleveland Public Theatre's '44 Plays for 44 Presidents' is a landslide win for its all-female cast (review) by Andrea Simakis

The all-female ensemble in '44 Plays for 44 Presidents' is divine. (Who knew women could be so presidential?)

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 10:30AM
Wednesday, October 12, 2016

BW grad Caitlin Houlahan to serve up pie and pathos in her Broadway debut in 'Waitress' by Andrea Simakis

Aurora's Caitlin Houlahan to make her Broadway debut in 'Waitress.'

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 01:57PM
Sunday, October 9, 2016

Great Lakes Theater's 'Twelfth Night' brings a dark beauty to Shakespeare's classic romp (review) by Andrea Simakis

Drew Barr's gorgeous production of "Twelfth Night" at Great Lakes Theater embraces ithe play's tragic underpinnings,

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 08:00AM
Saturday, October 8, 2016

Alison Bechdel returns to Oberlin College to talk 'Fun Home,' coming out and the power of knowing who you are by Andrea Simakis

Bechdel was back at her alma mater this week on the occasion of the Cleveland opening of the national tour of the Tony Award-winning musical "Fun Home," based on her 2006 graphic n…

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 08:00AM
Friday, October 7, 2016

'Fun Home' launches its luminous national tour in Cleveland with its idiosyncratic beauty intact (review) by Andrea Simakis

Does "Fun Home" forge the same emotional connections with audiences on the road? The answer, in the brassiest of terms, is a cymbal-crashing, trumpet-blaring YES.

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 08:00AM
Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Cleveland Foundation announces $250,000 grant to Karamu House by Andrea Simakis

Wednesday's $250,000 grant - part of a total of $460,000 in support the Cleveland Foundation has given Karmau in 2016 -- is a vote of confidence for the organization and its leader, Tony Sia…

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 04:40PM
Monday, October 3, 2016

Tony powerhouse 'Fun Home' opens national tour at Playhouse Square this week by Andrea Simakis

'Fun Home,' onstage at Connor Palace in Playhouse Square now through Oct. 22.

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 02:00PM
Thursday, September 29, 2016

Great Lakes Theater's 'My Fair Lady' balances tradition, timeliness in a ravishing reinvention (review) by Andrea Simakis

The adoration and excitement that attended the arrival of "My Fair Lady" 60 years ago made it the "Hamilton" of its day, says director Victoria Bussert, who is helming a …

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 04:00PM
Tuesday, September 27, 2016

'All the Way' at the Cleveland Play House: Towering performance by Steve Vinovich as LBJ wins the day (review) by Andrea Simakis

"This is the most important election of your lifetime. The choices couldn't be clearer. Peace or war; brotherhood or division; prosperity or poverty; a march into a bright future, or a …

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 02:30PM
Sunday, September 18, 2016

Fall theater preview 2016: Politics, both national and personal, take center stage this season by Andrea Simakis

Art is imitating life in the Cleveland theater scene for 2016-17 with a slate of political comedies and dramas.

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 06:00AM
Saturday, September 17, 2016

Fall theater preview 2016: Playhouse Square's Broadway Series launching national tour of Tony champ 'Fun Home' by Andrea Simakis

Tony Award-winning composer Jeanine Tesori on Judy Blume, 'The Partridge Family' and other inspirations that helped her translate Alison Bechdel's stirring 'tragicomic' 'Fun Home' to the st…

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 08:00AM
Friday, September 16, 2016

Fall theater preview 2016: Cleveland Public Theatre puts women in the White House with '44 Plays for 44 Presidents' by Andrea Simakis

Cleveland Public Theatre's '44 Plays for 44 Presidents' features fun-sized one-acts packed with historical facts, music, song-and-dance numbers, buffoonery (naturally) and unexpected pathos …

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 09:57AM
Thursday, September 15, 2016

Fall theater preview 2016: Great Lakes Theater aims to turn heads (and hearts) with a 1930s 'My Fair Lady' by Andrea Simakis

A loving reproduction of Princess Beatrice's regal bagel, in beige, and other unique millinery will be on display in "My Fair Lady," the season opener at Great Lakes Theater.

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 08:00AM
Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Fall theater preview 2016: LBJ, MLK go 'All the Way' to open Cleveland Play House season by Andrea Simakis

'All the Way' tracks LBJ's fraught, frenzied first year in the White House following the assassination of John F. Kennedy, as he tries to convince the American people he is more than just 'a…

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 09:30AM
Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Dobama Theatre's 'The Mystery of Love & Sex' is missing a map to its many twists and turns by Andrea Simakis

Bathsheba Doran, who wrote television comedy for the BBC for years, is genuinely funny, but "The Mystery of Love & Sex" and the relationships in it, feel forced and artificial …

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 07:00PM
Friday, August 26, 2016

'Selfies at the Clown Motel' makes its world premiere at Con-Con's Liminis Theater tonight. (photos) by Andrea Simakis

Clowns can be funny, sad, creepy, tragic and scary - and in this world-premiere production - they can be very human, too.

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 03:45PM
Saturday, August 20, 2016
Thursday, August 18, 2016

Play about Tamir Rice shooting makes world premiere tonight (photos, video) by Andrea Simakis

"Objectively/Reasonable: A Community Response to the Shooting of Tamir Rice, 11/22/14" opens Thursday at Creative Space at Waterloo Arts.

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 09:42PM
Saturday, July 16, 2016
Sunday, July 10, 2016

'Hamilton' star and creator Lin-Manuel Miranda to take his final bow Saturday night by Andrea Simakis

The cost of tickets to Miranda's last 8 p.m. performance July 9 are Linsane, although if you're willing to skip a few mortgage payments, you can still nab seats.

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 07:05PM

The gift of 'Hamilton': Shaker High students make their history teacher's Broadway dream come alive by Andrea Simakis

History teacher Tim Mitchell wanted Lin-Manuel Miranda's John Hancock as a sort of war prize

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 07:03PM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 11, 2024: Oh, Mary! - Lyceum Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 01, 2025: Glengarry Glen Ross
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre
TBA: Titanic