All stories by Andrea Simakis on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Actress Derdriu Ring is the white-hot center of a stunning production of Eric Coble's 'Stranded on Earth' (review) by Andrea Simakis

As Alexa, Ring, barefoot and dressed in faded pastels -- a lilac top and chinos the color of green tea -- is elemental and divine. She splatters white paint across the charcoal tarpaulin lik…

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 02:37PM
Sunday, June 8, 2014

2014 Tony Awards: Cleveland native Mary Bridget Davies doesn't score a Tony but dances in the aisles with Hugh Jackman by Andrea Simakis

Cleveland native Mary Bridget Davies, nominated for best lead actress in a musical for her searing portrayal of the late blues rocker in "A Night With Janis Joplin," and Estelle Pa…

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 11:07PM
Friday, June 6, 2014

Maurice Hines is one cool customer, baby, 'Tappin' Through Life' at the Cleveland Play House by Andrea Simakis

Whether crooning "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," the song his father sang to his mother on their first date, or performing a soft shoe next to a buttery spotlight, a stand-in…

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 09:00AM
Thursday, June 5, 2014

2014 Tony Awards: the Culture Diva opines on 'Hedwig's' gams, 'Rocky's' assets and why 'Bullets Over Broadway' was robbed (preview) by Andrea Simakis

Despite my prurient personal bias, I'd wager a hefty bag of Krugerrands that Neil Patrick Harris, as "internationally ignored song stylist" Hedwig Robinson, will deliver a knockout…

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 03:23PM
Tuesday, June 3, 2014

'Driving Miss Daisy' starring James Earl Jones and Angela Lansbury coming to the Cedar Lee by Andrea Simakis

Beginning Wednesday, the movie house will join some 500 theaters nationwide to present what producers are calling a "stagecast" or a stage performance of "Driving Miss Daisy&q…

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 10:20AM
Monday, June 2, 2014

'Seminar' at Beck Center for the Arts a lesson in vicious fun (review) by Andrea Simakis

In director Donald Carrier's hands, "Seminar" has the pacing of an unputdownable read, the kind you don't mind losing sleep to finish. Credit is also due to playwright Theresa Rebe…

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 11:15AM
Sunday, June 1, 2014

A little nuance would go a long way in 'Ancestra,' Cleveland Public Theatre's new play about women's rights (review) by Andrea Simakis

There is little wit or distinctive characterization in "Ancestra." We see women who make speeches, not real women with complicated emotional lives. A heavy-handed script and histri…

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 01:19PM
Thursday, May 29, 2014

'Maurice Hines is Tappin' Through Life': the celebrated hoofer remembers brother Gregory's gift, Judy Garland's high note and the pyrotechnics of Ella by Andrea Simakis

Maurice Hines on show biz etiquette: Like my mother used to say to us, "I want the audience to leave saying, 'I had a good time, baby!' You know why? Because they could be somewhere els…

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 01:00PM

Planet Silver: the irresistible orbit of Cleveland theater legend Reuben Silver (an appreciation) by Andrea Simakis

"People are writing about how Reuben is now a legend -- Reuben was always a legend." -- Joe Garry on his friend and mentor, Reuben Silver.

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 09:00AM
Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Theatre Communications Group selects Cleveland for 2015 national conference by Andrea Simakis

David Gilbert, president and CEO of Positively Cleveland, expects the three-day theater conference will bring nearly $1 million in revenue to the region.

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 11:00AM
Tuesday, May 13, 2014

'Facing Forward: A Student's Story'; Laura Paglin's vital documentary gets a new life on WVIZ/PBS by Andrea Simakis

A new and updated version of Laura Paglin's standout documentary "Facing Forward" is airing in Cleveland and on other PBS stations throughout the country in May.

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 01:08PM

'Peter Brook: The Tightrope'; film offers a rare glimpse of the legend at work by Andrea Simakis

This hypnotic, loving portrait offers a rare seat at the foot of the legendary theater and film director as he schools a cast of international performers.

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 09:00AM
Monday, May 12, 2014

Cleveland Play House's 'Grounded' a riveting, white-knuckle ride (review) by Andrea Simakis

Everything about "Grounded" – from the mesmerizing Hannah Cabell to the transporting language of George Brant's propulsive script and director Ken Rus Schmoll's confident, sparta…

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 09:21AM
Friday, May 9, 2014

Playhouse Square to honor Reuben Silver with a dimming of lights by Andrea Simakis

Playhouse Square to honor Reuben Silver with a dimming of lights Saturday.

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 06:20PM

Cleveland theater legend Reuben Silver, who lit up the city's stages for more than a half a century, dies at 88 by Andrea Simakis

Reuben Silver, legendary artistic director, actor and educator, died early Thursday at the Hospice of the Western Reserve. He was 88 years old.

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 01:20AM
Thursday, May 8, 2014

Writer George Brant and the star of 'Grounded' at the Cleveland Play House talk sexy fighter pilots, drones and why we love dark, complicated characte by Andrea Simakis

"You don't come across a lot of characters like this that are written for women, which is unfortunate, because I think women have just as much darkness and bloodlust as men do." --…

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 12:03PM
Sunday, May 4, 2014

Cleveland Public Theatre 2014-15 season promises diverse new voices and the return of monster hit 'Conni's Avant Garde Restaurant' by Andrea Simakis

"Conni's Avant Garde Restaurant" returns to Cleveland Public Theatre. One of CPT's most popular seasonal entertainments is back for a final farewell. Hailed as "a deliciously …

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 06:00AM
Friday, May 2, 2014

Chandelierious! Dazzle the district lights the way to new era for Playhouse Square by Andrea Simakis

At 10:30 p.m. as a crowd estimated at nearly 20,000 chanted "light it up, light it up!" what might be the world's largest outdoor chandelier burst to glorious life, accompanied by …

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 10:50PM

Beck Center for the Arts' 2014-15 season filled with doo-wop, punk rock and one supercalifragilisticexpialidocious nanny by Andrea Simakis

Artistic director Scott Spence clearly enlisted the help of one Ms. Mary Poppins to land the hit musicals waiting in the wings for the Beck Center for the Arts' 2014-15 season. How else to e…

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 12:00PM
Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Tony nominee Mary Bridget Davies talks about award show fashion, second chances and why she should be on TV with Rachael Ray by Andrea Simakis

Mary Bridget Davies, born and raised in Cleveland, is in fine company. Also nominated for Tony for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical are Idina Menzel for "If…

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 01:12PM

'The Velocity of Autumn' runs out of steam: show to close May 4 by Andrea Simakis

"The Velocity of Autumn" will play its final performance Sunday. The black comedy by Cleveland playwright Eric Coble opened at the Booth Theatre, a signature venue on the Great Whi…

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 12:13PM
Tuesday, April 29, 2014

'Informed Consent': Engrossing new play brimming with big ideas and cutting-edge science (review) by Andrea Simakis

"Informed Consent" is all about dramatic collisions and unlikely mash ups, particularly of the seen and the unseen -- the natural world we can touch and the genetic realm we can on…

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 01:30PM

Tony nominations for 'Velocity of Autumn' star Estelle Parsons and Mary Bridget Davies for 'A Night with Janis Joplin' by Andrea Simakis

Estelle Parsons, star of Eric Coble's 'The Velocity of Autumn,' and performer Mary Bridget Davies nab Tony Award nominations.

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 08:21AM
Saturday, April 26, 2014

Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey talks about his new Shakespeare documentary, life in the theater and why he's 'nuts' by Andrea Simakis

Why would an A-list celebrity sweat through a 10-month international tour headlining "Richard III," one of the most emotionally and physically demanding roles ever written for the …

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 06:00AM
Tuesday, April 22, 2014

"The Velocity of Autumn": Critics weigh in on Eric Coble's new play by Andrea Simakis

York critics have weighed in on Eric Coble's new play "The Velocity of Autumn" and the reviews are mixed.

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 04:13PM

Eric Coble's 'The Velocity of Autumn' traces a humorous path to insight and empathy (review) by Andrea Simakis

It treads the path cut by Samuel Beckett: It's funny, but it's all about death and decay; it's absurd, but it still feels like the people you are watching are real. Even so, Coble, who is 44…

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 03:09PM

Eric Coble's 'The Velocity of Autumn' opens on Broadway with a red carpet, a standing ovation and a party at Sardi's by Andrea Simakis

As the lights went down on "The Velocity of Autumn" and the actors left the the stage, the intimate, 766-seat theater erupted, pulsing like the Q during a Cavs game when the home t…

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 04:09AM
Monday, April 21, 2014

Stars to gather for 'The Velocity of Autumn' premiere of play by Cleveland's Eric Coble by Andrea Simakis

Walking the red carpet at Monday's "The Velocity of Autumn" premiere: Lucy Liu, Stephen ("Wicked") Schwartz and Tony nominee Annaleigh Ashford, most recently Stark Sands'…

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 01:13PM
Sunday, April 20, 2014

'The Velocity of Autumn': How Cleveland playwright Eric Coble brought his emotional high-wire act to Broadway by Andrea Simakis

"I've had so many audience members come up and say, I've got to bring my son to this, I've got bring my mother to this. Now I think I know how to talk to my mom -- I think I'll talk to …

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 06:00AM
Monday, April 14, 2014

Mr. Coble Goes to Broadway: Friends and fans offer advice to Cleveland Heights playwright Eric Coble by Andrea Simakis

Dear Eric: As you sweat the remaining days before that Monday, April 21, curtain at the Broadway's Booth Theatre, your friends and fans back in Cleveland figure a few pieces of wit and wisdo…

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 03:16PM
Friday, April 11, 2014

Cleveland Play House New Ground Theatre Festival opens with juicy genetics play 'Informed Consent' by Andrea Simakis

Deborah Zoe Laufer's "Informed Consent," an intriguing play about the promise and pitfalls of genetics research -- thorny legal and moral issues that were unimaginable only a few y…

SOURCE: Cleveland.com at 01:49PM

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