According to their program, “This annual event was the brainchild of Painesville Rotarian Robert Tischer, who believed that students who participate in school theater productions should receive recognition similar to that bestowed upon students who participated in athletics.

“Students of drama are no less talented, and give much of themselves and their time. The dedication and effort of these students are worthy of a night of recognition. Lake County is truly fortunate to have such talented and creative students and directors, complimented by parents, teachers, administrators and others who support Drama Programs in our schools.”

Amen to that!

Congratulations to all of our area young thespians for their efforts this past remarkable year, wherever they may be. And a special congratulations to the nominees and winners of this year’s Rotary Drama Awards (an asterisk by the winners), in addition to the scholarship winners generously supported in Mr. Tischer’s name.

Robert E. Tischer Scholarship winners

Cordelia Klammer — Mentor High School

Leah Hodkey — Mentor High School

Samantha Lagania — Perry High School

Brianne Martin — Lake Catholic High School

Best Musical

Fairport Harding High School’s “Shrek The Musical,” directed by Caitlyn Thompson

Harvey High School’s “Once on This Island,” directed by Kimberly Hildack

Lake Catholic High School’s “Grease,” directed by R. Scott Posey

*Mentor High School’s “Mamma Mia!,” directed by John Greene

Perry High School’s “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” directed by Jennifer Hunter

Riverside High School’s “The Addams Family,” directed by Laura Poje

Best Comedy/Drama

Fairport Harding High School’s “Bad Auditions by Bad Actors,” directed by Caitlyn Thompson & Katie Johnston

Harvey High School’s “John Lennon and Me,” directed by Kimberly Hildack

Lake Catholic High School’s “A Christmas Carol,” directed by R. Scott Posey

*Mentor High School’s “Leading Ladies,” directed by John Greene

Perry High School’s “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,” directed by Jennifer Hunter

Riverside High School’s “A Fox on the Fairway,” directed by Brad Allen

Male Sub/Support in a Comedy/Drama

Fairport: Hunter Wilson as Josh

Harvey: Eryck McClain as Tom Lowell

*Lake Catholic: Isaiah Tyree as Spirit of Christmas Present

Mentor: Samuel Cantu as Duncan

Perry: Spencer Kilpatrick as John Openshaw

Riverside: Jackson Vargo as Dickie

Female Sub/Support in a Comedy/Drama

Fairport: Juliana Murphy as Maria McConville

*Harvey: Melissa Davis as Sally Kasem

Lake Catholic: Chloe Stossel as Mrs. Dilber

Mentor: Reagan Simon as Florence

Perry: Lily Hamilton as Violet Hunter

Riverside: Chloe Tomaszewski as Muriel

Male Support in a Drama/Comedy

Fairport: Charlie Beardslee as Avery Stern

Harvey: Jacob Boehm as Dr. Scott Rhodes

Lake Catholic: Stephen Parrish as Bob Cratchit

*Mentor: Joshua Schmitt as Jack

Perry: Angelo Zagrocki as James Ryder

Riverside: Colin Haas as Justin

Female Support in a Drama/Comedy

Fairport: Bailey Davis as Amy

Harvey: Lourdes Gonzalez as Courtney Cambridge

Lake Catholic: Kathryn Ridler as Spirit of Christmas Past

Mentor: Emily Burns as Audrey

Perry: Angel Nagy Act 1 as Ms. Watson

Perry: Shaylee Frazier Act 2 as Ms. Watson

*Riverside: Meridan Vosicky as Louise

Male Lead in a Drama/Comedy

Fairport: Maverrick Piotrowski as Roger

Harvey: Ishmael Rodgriquez as Jeff Levine

Lake Catholic: Dominic Orlando as Ebenezer Scrooge

*Mentor: James Goodman as Leo

Perry: Lukas Rosipko as Mr. Sherlock Holmes

Riverside: Kyan Vano as Bingham

Female Lead in a Drama/Comedy

Fairport: Hannah McCauley as Carol Danes

*Harvey: Joy Bohanon as Star

Lake Catholic: Anna Sanford as Mrs. Cratchit

Mentor: Sidney Kramer as Meg

Perry: Ruby Tozzi as Ms. Sherlock Holmes

Riverside: Chloe Banno as Pamela

Scenery/Props/Costumes in a Drama Comedy/Drama

Fairport: “Bad Auditions by Bad Actors”

Harvey: “John Lennon and Me”

Lake Catholic: “A Christmas Carol”

*Mentor: “Leading Ladies”

Perry: “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes”

Riverside: “A Fox on the Fairway”

Scenery/Props/Costumes in a Musical

Fairport: “Shrek The Musical”

Harvey: “Once On This Island”

Lake Catholic: “Grease”

Mentor: “Mamma Mia”

*Perry: “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”

Riverside: “The Addams Family”

Male Sub Support in a Musical

Fairport: Fiona Johnston as Farquaad

Harvey: Jacob Boehm as Tonton Julian

Lake Catholic: Peter Skalicki as Sonny

*Mentor: Payson Chapman as Harry Bright

Mentor: Khoury Ward as Bill Austin

Perry: Madi Perry as Grandpa George

Riverside: Jenna Skok as Pugsley

Female Sub Support in a Musical

Fairport: Aurora Johnston as the Witch

Harvey: Symone Bibb as Mama Euralie

*Lake Catholic: Brianne Martin as Jan

*Mentor: Leah Hodkey as Tanya

Mentor: Ava Zilke as Rosie

Perry: Angel Nagy as Phineous Trout

Riverside: Hannah Bauer as Alice Beinekes

Male Support in a Musical

*Fairport: James Thellman as Donkey

Harvey: Cavon Wise as Papa Ge

Harvey: Zhavier Nurse as Agwe

Lake Catholic: Michael Skalicki as Kenickie

Mentor: Jackson Hodkey as Sky

Perry: AJ Kifus as Grandpa Joe

Riverside: Colin Haas as Uncle Fester

Female Support in a Musical

Fairport: Hannah McCauley as Mad Hatter

Harvey: Lourdes Gonzalez as Erzulie

Harvey: Morgan Coffee as Asaka

Lake Catholic: Annie Biats as Rizzo

*Mentor: Nicolette Harvey as Sophie Sheridan

Perry: Sophie Bystrom as Grandma Georgina

Riverside: Chloe Tomaszewski as Wednesday

Male Lead in a Musical

Fairport: Savannah Kugler as Shrek

Harvey: Levi Mullen Zurbrugg as Daniel

Lake Catholic: Dominic Orlando as Danny

Mentor: Owen Greene as Sam Carmichael

*Perry: Lukas Rosipko as Willy Wonka

*Riverside: Kyan Vano as Gomez

Female Lead in a Musical

*Fairport: Charlie Holbrooks as Fiona

Harvey: Dez’Marie Germany as TiMoune

Lake Catholic: Makenna Bretz as Sandy

Mentor: Cordelia Klammer as Donna Sheridan

Perry: Emily Ferrara as Charlie Bucket

Riverside: Meridan Vosicky as Morticia

Coming Up

Here are some additional productions you can expect to hear about in coming weeks:

Dazzle Awards recap

“The Who’s Tommy” at Fine Arts Association (June 9-25)

“Anything Goes” at Rabbit Run Theatre (June 16- July 9)

Wildwood Theatre Camp (June 22)

Young Thespians is a column that focuses on youth theater. If you have a story idea or a comment, message stevecouch@windstream.net  or follow and/or post in the “Young Thespians” Facebook group.

And fortunately the current touring production of the musical, which performed at Detroit’s Fisher Theatre through Sunday, May 14 — has a good one.

Robin Williams, of course, established the Genie as an iconic character with his manically nuanced voice performance in the 1992 animated film. He set a high bar but at the same time established a template for the actors who would follow in the Tony Award-winning stage adaptation, which premiered 12 years ago in Seattle and stopped during January of 2018 at the Detroit Opera House. Energy and personality are the keys to a successful Genie, and Marcus M. Martin has both in abundance.

Playing Genie as a kind of Oprah/Steve Harvey/Billy Porter hybrid, Martin hits the stage as the curtain lifts like a full blank of Klieg lights — and that’s just his smile. His performances leading ensemble pieces such as “Friend Like Me” and “Prince Ali” are genuinely magical, and his chemistry is tight both with the other cast members and in breaking the fourth wall between stage and audience. It feels like he’s having as good a time as we are in the seats and is happy to bring everyone into the part.

With that taken care of, this edition of “Aladdin” could lock into cruise control — but doesn’t by a long shot. The show again navigates the tricky order of transferring a classic film to the stage, taking agreeable liberties with the story and adding wrinkles that turn it into a fresh look at a familiar tale as old as…whoops, wrong Disney musical. At any rate, it’s entertaining and kitschy, albeit sometimes too fast with its barrage of quips, asides and dad jokes. “Aladdin” works because it’s well aware of its cinematic predecessor’s joyous journey through Arabian nights, and days, and chooses to celebrate their kinship while forging its way into a bit of a whole new world.

And this production works well even within the more physically limited confines of the Fisher (which led to a half-hour delay in starting the opening night performance). It is noticeably smaller than the version of the show at the Opera House but still feels impactful, from the Genie’s magic-trick appearances to costume quick-changes, sometimes right on stage in real time. The key components remain in place, up to and including the magic carpet ride Aladdin (Adi Roy) and Princess Jasmine (Senzel Ahmady) take during the well-delivered “A Whole New World.”

This cast, while also smaller, is limber and versatile enough to compensate for any shrinkage in “Aladdin’s” footprint. Particularly strong in this production is Aladdin’s posse, a trio — Ben Chavez, Jake Letts and especially Colt Prattes as Kassim — that replaces the monkey Abu as Aladdin’s chief foils. They get some of the show’s best puns, and their set piece “High Adventure,” one of several new songs original composer Alan Menken wrote for the musical, is a welcome addition with its swashbuckling action and slyly witty lyrics.

Opening night also gave Novi-raised Cameron Sirian an opportunity to step into his understudy role for villain Jafar’s sidekick Iago, and he made the most of it with smooth comic timing, cheered on by friends and family members for almost every line.

All of that insures “Aladdin” is as pleasing in person as it is on screen and, like the movie, holds up to repeat viewings. And it’s like the Genie won’t be ready to return to the bottle any time soon.

Disney’s “Aladdin” ran through May 14 at the Fisher Theatre in Detroit. The show will tour through the U.S. and Canada for the next year. Click here to see the tour schedule.

The busy nature of the last full month of the school year is a major reason why just about every high school in the area has completed their annual spring musical by this time, scheduling them for April and especially in March.

But Madison High School has yet to unveil their hard work this spring. That ends this weekend when they will present their annual spring musical, “Sweet Charity,” at 7:30 p.m. May 11, 12 and 13 and at 2 p.m. May 13 at the Rabbit Run Theatre barn on Chapel Road in Madison. Tickets are $12 for adults and $9 for students and seniors. Toddlers 2 and under are free. Tickets are only available via online advanced sale.

Madison High School does not have a full-size auditorium like many other schools. The main stage in the school is actually at one end of the gymnasium, which is where commencement is often held every year. During the pandemic, Madison Theatre produced both “Chicago: High School Edition” and a very creative staging of “Disney’s High School Musical: On Stage” in that space.

But usually, Madison Theatre enjoys a generous partnership with Rabbit Run Theatre, using their historic barn theatre for their performances. This year, the weather is looking like it will provide a great environment for an evening — or afternoon — at the theater.

“Sweet Charity” is directed by yours truly with music direction by Ed Wiles, choreography by Jailyn Harris and Casey Couch, and tech direction by Erik Katko. “Sweet Charity” features book by legendary American comedic playwright Neil Simon, music by Cy Coleman and lyrics by Dorothy Fields. “Sweet Charity” is based on an original screenplay by Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini, Tullio Pinelli and Ennio Flaiano. It was first produced for the Broadway stage in 1965 by Fryer, Carr and Harris, and was conceived, staged and choreographed by the legendary Bob Fosse. The musical was eventually made into a film with Shirley MacLaine as Charity.

“Sweet Charity” is known for its comedic story about a dance hall hostess in New York City. The Big Apple of the 1960s was a grimier city than it is today but just as alive with characters. Charity is not in a profession that is known for romance, but she retains the “sweet” notion that it is still possible for everyone — even her — despite all evidence to the contrary. Is it? Find out and enjoy classic songs like “Hey, Big Spender,” “If They Could See Me Now” and “The Rhythm of Life” along the way. Also enjoy Fosse’s epic “Rich Man’s Frug” dance sequence in a pleasant evening at the barn!

Senior Libby Worthy leads the cast and crew of 40 other Madison students who have been working hard for the last three months to bring you a great staging of this challenging, classic musical. Come see us at the barn — and if you do, be sure to say hello!

To quote the title song, some things are “well worth waiting for, believe me.”

And from the energy of the cast members themselves during the opening-night performance, they were eager to unleash all of that music that has been pent up inside of them — songs waiting to be heard by lovers of jazz, swing and good old musical fun.
The show itself showcases the music of master pianist Thomas “Fats” Waller during a time when dank New York nightclubs suddenly became trendy New York hot spots.

Waller laid the framework for modern jazz piano with his innovative “stride piano” technique, contributing greatly to the Harlem Renaissance; a time in U.S. history marked by an explosion of creativity within the Black American community in the areas of art, music and literature.

While the Harlem neighborhoods were headed towards becoming a kind of “Black cultural mecca,” famous Black performers — such as Billie Holiday (who dared to sing the song “Strange Fruit,” originally written as a poem by Jewish school teacher Abel Meeropol in response to the US lynching in southern states), Louis Armstrong and Waller, one of the most influential jazz piano players of his time — were playing for white audiences, as Black people were not invited to patronize these newly chic clubs.
On stage at Playhouse Square’s Hanna Theatre, a similar nightclub is brought to life through popular Waller songs such as “Honeysuckle Rose,” Keepin’ Out of Mischief Now,” “Mean to Me,” “This Joint Is Jumpin;” and so many more songs from this golden age in Black American culture. These songs are classics that are vocally challenging and require singers who can tell a story through the lyrics, their body language and facial expressions, not to mention the fact that many of these songs take on a new life through the addition of clever choreography reflective of the time by director Gerry McIntyre.

Cast members Tyrick Wiltez Jones, Colleen Longshaw, Brittney Mack, Jessie Cope Miller and David Robbins, along with music director William Knowles as Fats Waller, are certainly up to the task of being the triple threats necessary to breathe life into these songs.

The first accolades go to Knowles, who — back to the audience, adding a certain level of mystique to his already cool vibe — tickles the heck out of those ivories from the first note until the last.

Wiltez Jones and Robbins really go that extra mile to bring the audience into their world in an interactive, playful way. And their songs are some of the most entertaining, including Robbins’ “Your Feet’s Too Big,” in which he counts on an audience member to be his “big-footed” companion, and Jones’ “The Viper’s Drag,” which shows off his sensual dance moves and sultry voice. Their duet, “Fat and Greasy,” begs some audience participation, and you can’t help but sing along.

The women harmonize with bell-like tones that are so complementary that you almost can’t tell who is singing each part, but they also stand out individually. Cope Miller has the most classically trained sound, along with the versatility to be able to sing a beautiful soprano line and belt out the “money notes” within the same song. Longshaw is a storyteller who sings the meaning behind each lyric, especially evident in her poignant rendition of “Mean to Me.” Mack is the comedian and has the audience in the palm of her hand with “Yacht Club Swing,” sung with Jones. Mack is also an impressive dancer, and she has the opportunity to show off her skilled moves alongside Robbins at several points in the show.

The cast works well together as a whole, although sometimes their chemistry doesn’t seem to come naturally, feeling a little forced in songs that should be showstoppers, such Act One closer “This Joint Is Jumpin.’” Part of the issue might be the sound design of David Gotwald, which does not really boost the singers’ voices as much as it should, making some of the bigger numbers a bit anticlimactic in terms of the vocal dynamics.

They are, however, completely in sync in every way in their absolutely stirring take on “Black and Blue,” sitting perfectly still and completely turning a frivolously fun-loving show on its head with lyrics that include, “I’m white inside, but that don’t help my case. I can’t hide what’s on my face.” That in-your-face reality unveiled by these hauntingly beautiful voices is a truly perfect moment.
Great Lakes has mounted a production of “Ain’t Misbehavin’” that is an entertaining, toe-tapping, fun-filled celebration of Waller’s music that is a fitting tribute to the burgeoning music scene that he was drawn to as he continued to experiment with his musical style.

The finale itself, full of songs Waller made famous — including “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter, “I Can’t Give You Anything but Love,” and “It’s a Sin to Tell a Lie” — is enough to have you up on your feet and dancing all the way up the aisles, with a rekindled love of the music from our past that has influenced so much of the music we listen to today.

‘Ain’t Misbehavin’’

A presentation of Great Lakes Theater, it continues through May 21 at Playhouse Square’s Hanna Theatre, 2067 E. 14th St., Cleveland. For tickets, $20 to $89, call 216-241-6000 or visit greatlakestheater.org.

Editor’s note: This article was updated at 4:14 p.m. May 5 to correct the actors who perform certain numbers. 

DALLAS (AP) — Airbnb is making a renewed push into renting single rooms in a nod to its beginnings and a realization that renting an entire house is too expensive for many travelers, especially younger ones.

The short-term rental company rolled out a new offering Wednesday that it calls Airbnb Rooms. Guests can rent a room in the same house or apartment as their host at prices that Airbnb says will average $67 a night.

“It is an admission that travelers care more about affordability than they did a year ago,” said CEO Brian Chesky.

Airbnb has always listed single rooms in houses and apartments. The company said the new offering will give more biographical information about hosts, and consumers can sort listings to learn details including whether their bedroom door locks and the bathroom is private or shared.

It’s a throwback to the original concept that Chesky and Joe Gebbia — now chairman of Airbnb — had in 2007, when they took guests in their San Francisco apartment to help pay the rent. Since then, Airbnb listings have shifted toward whole houses, and prices have soared, to an average daily rate of $153 late last year.

“This is going to be especially popular for the next generation of travelers,” Chesky said of the new offering. “The average Gen Z traveler wants to pay less than $100 a night.” (Generation Z is usually defined as people born between roughly the mid-1990s and 2010.)

It’s an interesting gambit. During the pandemic, Airbnb took business from hotels because travelers wanted rentals where they could avoid contact with strangers. Rival Vrbo, owned by Expedia, is still running advertisements bragging that it only rents whole houses.

Separately on Wednesday, Uber also announced a move to cater to cost-conscious consumers. The ride-hailing company said it is expanding discounts for sharing a ride to make its service more affordable and reduce the number of cars on the road. The discounts are available in a dozen cities, and Uber said it will add five more in the U.S., including Washington and Miami.

Uber’s move comes two weeks after rival Lyft informed employees that it will lay off about a quarter of its work force to cut costs and reduce fares.

Airbnb made $1.9 billion last year — the first full-year profit in its history — on higher bookings and revenue. Analysts expect the San Francisco company to be even more profitable this year.

Airbnb has had its stumbles too. Resistance to high cleaning fees led the company to change the way prices are displayed in November, which it says will rein in runaway fees. Airbnb declined to provide figures when asked if fees have dropped.

And social media posts about long checkout instructions went viral. Some hosts asked guests to perform tasks such as taking out the trash and laundering the sheets — even though the guests were paying a hefty cleaning fee.

Airbnb said it will let consumers see checkout lists before they book. It is also tweaking the hosting side of the application to nudge owners against adding chores that could lead to poor reviews and get them booted off the platform.

“In six months to a year, there should be a material reduction in onerous checkout tasks,” Chesky said. “This should hopefully not be a meme anymore.”

That, in a nutshell, explains why for more than a decade and a half the Cleveland Play House has celebrated bold and thrilling contemporary theater and stories that come from a diverse array of voices and perspectives through its New Ground Theatre Festival.

This year’s festival takes place May 9 through 18 at Playhouse Square.

“What it has always been — and it continues to be — is a place for playwrights to hear their plays out loud in front of an audience for the first time,” Cleveland Play House Literary Director Craig Joseph said. “(It’s designed) for them to get a sense of where they are in their writing of the development of the play and to start to get feedback both from the actors who are in the roles and the audience members who are listening about what works.”

Basically, what works and what doesn’t? What’s clear and also what’s a bit confusing?

“It gives them a couple of days in the rehearsal room to kind of play with it, do rewrites and do edits,” he said. “We really like to think of it as a time to pour into the development of writers and be sort of like an incubator for new plays. That’s what it has always been.”

This year’s New Ground Festival schedule: “Comedy, Errors, Vanity, and Stupidity” (May 9), “Fade” (May 10), “Louder” (May 11), “The First Snow Of Summer” (May 16), “Escapegoat” (May 17) and “One-Shot” (May 18).

All shows start at 7:30 p.m. and appear in the Helen Lab Theatre. Tickets are $5.

The readings range from a sequel to a Shakespeare classic written in verse (“Comedy, Errors, Vanity, and Stupidity”) to a family drama (“Fade”) and a coming-of-age queer story (“One-Shot”).

After taking two years off due to the pandemic, New Ground Theatre Festival returned last year, having to deal with a backlog of commissioned projects and submissions.

“This year we’re in the middle of another commission cycle where playwrights are writing right now,” he said. “So it allowed us to look a little beyond the stuff that we were commissioning to some stuff that’s going on outside of CPH.”

That brings us to a new facet of New Ground Theatre Festival, which finds Cleveland Play House teaming up with Northeast Ohio companies Blank Canvas Theatre, LatinUs Theater Company Seat of the Pants Productions to produce readings.

“Historically, these workshops and readings have always been produced by Cleveland Play House,” he said. “We get so many script submissions every year. A lot of them are good, but not all are necessarily appropriate for Cleveland Play House, just in terms of what our brand is and who our audience is.

“So this year we’ve given those scripts to some other local theater companies. We’re giving them money to pay their directors and actors to produce the reading and then to come and perform it here as part of the festival. It feels like it’s important as sort of the theater ecosystem in Cleveland to share those resources because we can’t possibly use them all.”

The New Ground Festival is something unusual that arguably helps to solidify the Tony Award-winning Cleveland Play House’s position in the national theater community.

“We want to be known as an incubator for new work or a place where playwrights are given time and resources to hear their work in real-time lived out,” he said. “It’s not just going to be full-stage productions, big production budgets and big production values — which we certainly do — but also that we think it’s important for new stories to be told and new voices to be heard.”

New Ground Theatre Festival

Presenter; Cleveland Play House.

When: May 9 through 18.

Where: Playhouse Square’s Helen Lab Theatre, 1501 Euclid Ave., Cleveland.

Tickets: $5.

Info: 216-241-6000 or visit clevelandplayhouse.com.

And if you are not already a fan of the legend that IS Tina Turner, or her music, after seeing the electrifying jukebox musical “Tina — The Tina Turner Musical,” which is on stage at Playhouse Square in Cleveland, you will understand why she owns that title.

Don’t let the term “jukebox musical” fool you into thinking that this is a fun-loving, fluffy, bop-in-your-seat kind of show from beginning to end. The term refers to a show where the majority of songs are well-known and often are used to tell the story of the artist. In this case, the story is one of childhood neglect, mental and physical abuse and, ultimately, determination, strength and survival.

This musical is not perfect, with its flaws lying in the story structure. It would be impossible to fully capture the true arch of Tina’s brutal circumstances, which begin in Nutbush, Tennessee, when the young Anna-Mae Bullock (Ayvah Johnson) is abandoned: first by her controlling mother (Roz White), who takes her favorite daughter, Alline (Parris Lewis), and walks out; and then by her father (Kristopher Stanley Ward), who preaches the Good Book in church, only to come home and beat his wife. Anna-Mae is raised by her Gran Georgeanna (Carla R. Stewart), until she eventually sends the teen to New York to be reunited with her mother and sister.

During a night on the town, Anna-Mae, now going by Tina, catches the eye of Ike Turner (Garrett Turner), lead performer of a popular band in town, who convinces Tina’s mother to let her join him on tour with promises of taking care of her and making her a star. But Ike is like a ticking time bomb. He has an explosive temper, and he manipulates and controls Tina’s every move, only to cheat on her, use drugs and knock her around every chance he gets. After years of enduring his abuse, she finally leaves — with nothing but the nightgown she is wearing. She has to do whatever she can to start over, raise her children and reinvent herself, which she ultimately does.

Playwrights Katori Hall, Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins had an insurmountable task of picking and choosing which events to highlight in this bio-musical to portray the intensity of Turner’s life. They had to be truthful while using creative license to build a throughline that makes sense within the confines of a show and, at the same time, spotlight the heroic measures that Turner had to take to survive and triumph as a performer and a woman.

But sometimes it feels like one blow after another and another and another, with some great songs that are, in some cases, awkwardly retrofitted into the plot. This would be disconcerting and even a little exhausting if not for the incredible talent up on that stage.

The daunting role of Tina is played by two different performers on the tour. During this particular performance, it was Naomi Rodgers who lit up the stage with her outstanding turn as the iconic Turner. While no one can duplicate the raw grit that comes from the depths of the artist’s soul, Rodgers’ voice is actually more polished than Turner’s, with extraordinary range both vocally and emotionally. She pours her heart out for nearly two and a half hours, showing her versatility as an actor, singer and dancer, perfectly replicating the famous moves that Turner is known for from shimmy to shimmy and everything in between.
Equally impressive is the youngest talent in the room, as Ayvah Johnson’s portrayal of Young Anna-Mae will make your jaw drop. Johnson is a star in the making, and because of an incredible mini rock concert tacked on to the end of the show, we are fortunate to get to see her again after Tina grows up.

Garrett Turner gives an appropriately upsetting performance as Ike. In fact, the audience left not quite sure how to celebrate him during his bow, as Ike is the main villain in Tina’s life. Our hesitation to hoot and holler only means Garrett has done his job as an actor. He flips back and forth among oozing charm, raising his voice and raising his fist, establishing an emotional roller coaster for us to ride.

The entire cast deserves kudos for their topnotch performances, creating an incredible chemistry on stage that needs no help from fancy set pieces. The simple design is enough, along with creative lighting and projections that allow the actors to do the work they are meant to do.

The real payoff comes at the end of the show, when we cannot help but leap to our feet as we are treated to the rock concert we have been waiting for, which includes an encore/more complete version of “Proud Mary,” which is abruptly cut short at the end of act one. The shaggy-haired, confident Tina, embodied by the sensational Rodgers, holds a roaring crowd in the palm of her hand. This is when Tina’s life, as portrayed throughout this musical biography, flashes before our eyes, and the lyric “Simply the Best” takes on a whole new meaning.

‘Tina — The Tina Turner Musical’

Continues through May 14 at Playhouse Square’s Connor Palace, 1501 Euclid Ave., Cleveland. For tickets, $25 to $129, call 216-241-6000 or visit playhousesquare.org.

But the middle schools in our area can still stage some events this time of year, and Memorial Middle School in Mentor is one of them as it looks to perform “Legally Blonde, Jr.” this weekend.

Performances are May 5 and 6 at 7:30 p.m. at the Memorial auditorium at 8979 Mentor Ave. Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students and senior citizens and may be purchased at memorialmstheatre.ludus.com. For more information, email Tammy Palermo at palermo@mentorschools.org.

Palermo directs along with Mikayla Doepker as musical director, Kat Fisher as assistant director, and costuming by Heather Lippert. Chrissy Cogan also assists the director.

Palermo says there is no dress code, but please don’t wear white after Labor Day. Message received.

With a book by Heather Hach, music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin, “Legally Blonde, Jr.” is based on the book by Amanda Brown and the hit Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture starring Reese Witherspoon, which was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture: Musical or Comedy.

“Legally Blonde The Musical” opened at Broadway’s Palace Theatre in 2007, starring Laura Bell Bundy as the iconic Elle Woods.

This popular story follows the adventures of a sorority girl named Elle Woods – a Gemini with a double Capricorn moon – who tries to win her ex-boyfriend back by earning a Harvard law degree.

Determined to win him back, Elle uses a lot of hard work and some charm to get into Harvard Law so she can prove to Warner that she’s serious enough for him. Once at school, she is challenged by her peers, professors and her ex, but with the help of some new friends, Elle realizes her potential and sets out to prove herself to the world.

“‘Legally Blonde, Jr.’ may be a comedic, light-hearted show,” says Freddie Gershon, the CEO of Music Theatre International, “but it also explores serious themes of self-discovery and independence which resonate with people of all ages.

“We hope everyone in Mentor is totally psyched to see the show.”

Jolie Fisher is an eighth-grade cast member active in WEB Leaders, National Junior Honor Society, Pride Club, Drama Club, Chamber Choir, and Video Production.

She plays Vivianne after having appeared in numerous productions such as “Beauty and the Beast, Jr.,” “Aladdin, Jr.,” “Frozen, Jr.,” “Shrek, Jr.,” and “Newsies, Jr.” at Theatre Arts Camp at Mentor United Methodist Church. She has also appeared in “The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe,” “Dad’s Christmas Miracle,” and others for the Truth & Light Players at Mentor United Methodist Church. This is her second Memorial MMS performance after appearing last year in “The Little Mermaid, Jr.”

“Seeing as, for most of the show I am the antagonist, I have been trying to work on being more rude and stuck up towards my fellow castmates,” Jolie says. “It’s quite difficult to be mean when the people you must be mean to are your friends, but I have been working on not breaking character, as well as being more snobbish, and I hope it comes across that way during the show.”

Jolie watched the film as well as a video of one of the original “Legally Blonde the Musical” performances to prepare.

“I have found watching these very helpful, especially when I was having trouble getting ideas on how to portray my character,” she said. “But with these resources I have been able to figure out different ways Vivianne has been portrayed, and how I can portray her.

“For example, I have been watching different versions of the song I have to sing, and from those performances I have been able to gain inspiration,” she continued. “After watching some of the different scenes that my character is in, I have been able to get an idea of what my character is like, how she talks, and how she acts, to different people’s interpretations, which has helped me to figure out how I can best play Vivianne.”

Jolie finds “Legally Blonde, Jr.” to have a positive message.

“I think that the message of this show can be summed up best in the form of a quote: ‘Shoot for the moon!’” she said. “‘Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.’ But, in this analogy, Elle learns that ending up with the stars.”

Adam Cogan is an eighth-grader active in National Junior Honor Society and Honors Choir. He plays Dewey after having appeared in a lot of the same productions as Jolie as Mentor Methodist Church.

“I think the message of the show is independence because for most of the show she is trying to get people’s attention but towards the end she realizes that she doesn’t need anyone and succeeds when defending her client,” Adam says of the main character, Elle.

“At the first meeting of the season,” Palermo tells me, “the students remembered what the behavior expectations were from last year. This launched our rehearsal process in the right direction. The students have worked so hard to make this production a success and want to share it with as many people as possible.”

Bend and snap with them this weekend.

Coming Up

In addition to this weekend’s performances, here are some additional productions you can expect to hear about in coming weeks:

• “Sweet Charity” by Madison High School at Rabbit Run Theatre (May 11-13)

• Dazzle Awards and Mentor Painesville Rotary Drama Awards.

NEW YORK — “Some Like It Hot,” a Broadway musical adaptation of the cross-dressing movie comedy that starred Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, waltzed away Tuesday with a leading 13 Tony Award nominations, putting the spotlight on a show that is a sweet, full-hearted embrace of trans rights.

With songs by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman and starring Christian Borle and J. Harrison Ghee, who all got nominations, the show follows two musician friends who disguise themselves as women and join an all-girl band to flee Chicago after witnessing a mob hit. Like the movie, there are men in dresses trying to pass as women. But this time, the dress awakens something in Ghee’s character, akin to a transformation from a caterpillar to a butterfly.

The message of self-acceptance and respect for all was echoed across Broadway, from a revival of “Parade” to a Black actor-led “Death of a Salesman” to the new play “Ain’t No Mo’” and new musical “Kimberly Akimbo.”

“I think the pandemic put a lot of things in perspective, both in terms of improvements we needed to make in the community and also just the way that everybody’s feeling about the world and about being a human,” said Ben Platt, nominated for “Parade.” “The art people are making has a real urgency and a real purpose.”

Three shows tied with nine nominations each: “& Juliet,” which reimagines “Romeo and Juliet” and adds some of the biggest pop hits of the past few decades, “New York, New York,” which combined two generations of Broadway royalty in John Kander and Lin-Manuel Miranda, and “Shucked,” a surprise lightweight musical comedy studded with corn puns.

Betsy Wolfe, in her eighth Broadway show, earned her first nomination in “& Juliet,” playing Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare’s wife. She had just dropped her daughter, almost 3, off at ballet class on Tuesday morning. “I hope she addresses me properly now when I see her,” she joked.

In the musical, playwright David West Read took an original story using “Romeo and Juliet” as a launch pad and mixed in hits by Swedish super-producer Max Martin, including Brittney Spears’ “Oops! … I Did It Again,” Katy Perry’s “Roar” and Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life.” The musical imagines a happier ending for Juliet after a journey of self-discovery.

“It’s a beautiful story about second chances, which honestly is is what we’re all going through right now,” said Wolfe. “We’ve all been given a second chance after this time we’ve all been through. And so to have a musical that allows us all to celebrate in each individual way that we need to celebrate is really, really special and timely.”

The critical musical darling “Kimberly Akimbo,” with Victoria Clark playing a teen who ages four times faster than the average human, rounds out the best musical category, and earned a total of eight nominations.

Clark, who was nominated for best lead actress in a musical, hopes to add a second Tony to her trophy case, having previously won one in 2005 for “The Light in the Piazza.” But more than that she hopes more attention will be paid to her show, which she calls a “little under the radar.”

“It’s a special event that celebrates our collective humanity,” she said. “It doesn’t say life is perfect. The show doesn’t say there aren’t going to be strange and horrible people in your life. It doesn’t say life is going to be easy. But it does say life is worthwhile. And I think that is a message that we need to get out there. Life is worth living.”

In the best new play category, nods were distributed to Tom Stoppard’s “Leopoldstadt,” which explores Jewish identity with an intergenerational story, and “Fat Ham,” James Ijames’ Pulitzer Prize-winning adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” set at a Black family’s barbecue in the modern South.

The rest of the category is made up of “Ain’t No Mo,’” the short-lived but critical applauded work by playwright and actor Jordan E. Cooper, Stephen Adly Guirgis’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Between Riverside and Crazy” and “Cost of Living,” parallel stories of two caretakers and their respective patients.

“Ain’t No Mo,’” which earned six nominations, begins with the United States government emailing every Black citizen with the offer of a free plane ticket to Africa, and each scene explores how various personalities respond to the offer.

Cooper learned he’s been nominated twice — as best playwright and as lead actor — while visiting his childhood home in Texas. He and his family learned of his triumph in the living room where, as a 6-year-old, he put on his first plays.

“It is a little bittersweet,” Cooper said. “We only got a chance to do about like 60 performances and this cast and this creative team were like some of the most talented you’ve ever seen. It was unfortunate that people don’t get a chance to experience it because we really felt like it was something special. Audiences felt like it was something special. And it’s just so beautiful to know that the work that we put in — that blood, that sweat and tears — are not in vain.”

“Parade,” a doomed musical love story set against the real backdrop of a murder and lynching in Georgia in pre-World War I, earned six nods, including for Platt, hoping to win a second Tony after his triumph in 2017 with “Dear Evan Hansen,” and rising star and first-time nominee Micaela Diamond.

Wendell Pierce, who has won a Tony for producing “Clybourne Park,” earned his first nomination as an actor on Broadway for a blistering revival of “Death of a Salesman” and Jessica Chastain, an Oscar-winner for “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” got her first Tony nomination for a stripped down version of “A Doll’s House.”

Pierce will face-off against both stars of Suzan-Lori Parks’ “Topdog/Underdog” — Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Corey Hawkins — as well as former “Will & Grace” star Sean Hayes from “Good Night, Oscar,” and Stephen McKinley Henderson, who earned his second nomination, having gotten one in 2019 for “Fences.”

Jodie Comer, the three-time Emmy nominated star of “Killing Eve” earned a nomination in her Broadway debut — although her play, “Prima Facie,” did get a best new play nod — and Audra McDonald, who has won six Tony Awards can extend her reign if she beats Comer as best leading actress in a play for “Ohio State Murders.” The last slot in the category went to Jessica Hecht, staring in the play “Summer, 1976.”

Another show that closed quickly nevertheless picked up nominations — “KPOP,” which put Korean pop music on Broadway for the first time. “KPOP” got three — including best original score.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s frothy and widely panned “Bad Cinderella” earned zero nods, as did “A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical,” a stage biography of the singer-songwriter who has had dozens of top-40 hits. Hollywood’s Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan in “The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window” were left off the list of nominees, but Samuel L. Jackson earned his first Tony nod for “August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson.”

Two well-received revivals from the late Stephen Sondheim — “Sweeney Todd” with Annaleigh Ashford and Josh Groban, and a star-studded “Into the Woods,” were recognized. “Sweeney Todd” received eight nominations including for Groban and Ashford, and “Into the Woods” earned six, including for Brian d’Arcy James and Grammy Award-winning Sara Bareilles, her third Tony nomination.

“Almost Famous,” the stage adaptation of Cameron Crowe’s autobiographical coming-of-age story, earned just one nomination — for music by Tom Kitt and lyrics by Crowe and Kitt. And choreographer Jennifer Weber had two reasons to smile Tuesday: Weber earned nominations for “& Juliet” and “KPOP,” her first Broadway shows.

Ariana DeBose will host the June 11 awards celebration from New York City’s United Palace theater live on CBS and on Paramount+. It is her second-straight stint as host.

In addition to being involved with Broadway shows “The Color Purple,” “Motown” and “Scandalous,” he’s also been on the road with national touring productions of “Memphis” and “Dreamgirls.”

So when he was invited to become the assistant music supervisor on “Tina – The Tina Turner Musical,” Hough jumped at the opportunity.

“It’s a magical ride,” said Hough, calling from New York City. “The songs are incredible. The woman, herself, is incredible.

“Watching the Broadway company in 2019 put it together was really rewarding. Then, of course, the pandemic hit and everything came to a standstill.”

When the show reopened on Broadway in 2021, Hough took over as music supervisor. He has the same title on the show’s national tour, which is in Cleveland through May 14 for shows at Playhouse Square’s Connor Palace.

Early on in the New York City run Hough had a chance to meet Turner, who he described as being a “beacon” of energy.

“It was one of those moments — she was just gracious to be a part of it,” Hough said. “She told the company that she had — and I don’t blame her — a hard time watching Act 1 because … some of those moments with Ike (still) hang with her.

“It’s still heavy feelings for her, but she’s proud of us, for sure. She’s insanely supportive, and she believes in the vision. There’s only one Tina, truly.”

This musical is, of course, based on the life of the legendary artist, whose career continually defied the odds, Turner overcoming one obstacle after another.

Growing up in a poor Tennessee family and later deserted by her parents, Turner had a tough childhood. Eventually, she moved to St. Louis, married Ike Turner and enjoyed pop/soul success in the ’60s and early ’70s.

The ending of her highly publicized and destructive marriage to Ike left her in relative obscurity, but perseverance paid off with big dividends in the ’80s as she resurrected her career with the album “Private Dancer,” which went on to sell more than 11 million copies.

Turner was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for the second time in 2021. She’s one of only three women in to be inducted twice, the first time being in 1991 with Ike.

“Tina” is a jukebox musical with hits “River Deep, Mountain High,” “Proud Mary,” “Private Dancer,” “What’s Love Got to Do With It?,” “We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)” and “The Best.”

While Hough doesn’t necessarily disagree, he does take exception with the term nowadays being viewed as a pejorative.

“It takes you somewhere and brings on a nostalgic feeling,” Hough said. “That’s the beauty of these kinds of shows. I don’t see that as a negative.

“There’s power — there’s strength in telling someone’s story, especially a strong Black female’s story. I think that empowerment is brilliant. And when done right, a jukebox musical is very effective. This one is top of the list for me. It’s great.”

‘Tina – The Tina Turner Musical’

When: Through May 14.

Where: Playhouse Square’s Connor Palace, 1615 Euclid Ave., Cleveland.

Tickets: $25 to $120.

Info: 216-241-6000 or PlayhouseSquare.org.