Company – Fairmount Center for the Arts 2011

When it comes to Sondheim’s ‘Company,’ Fairmount Performing Arts Conservatory bests the New York Phil

Imagine my delight, as a longtime admirer of the works of Stephen Sondheim, to have encountered two productions of “Company” in April.

The first was the New York Philharmonic’s starry semi-staged concert at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall. The second was the Fairmount Performing Arts Conservatory’s postage-stamp production at Fairmount Center for the Arts in Mayfield Village.

Now, imagine my surprise to have enjoyed the intimate Fairmount Center version far more than the glitzy Philharmonic incarnation. In New York, the opening-night performance was beset by sync problems between cast and orchestra (led by longstanding Sondheim conductor Paul Gemignani).

And just a handful of the singers were well-versed in the show’s pulsating score. Patti LuPone’s scorching Joanne (“The Ladies Who Lunch”) was the evening’s highlight.

At the Fairmount Center, director Fred Sternfeld has put together a uniformly strong cast that negotiates Sondheim’s songs with expressive and rhythmic aplomb and almost manages to fashion George Furth’s fragmented, cursory book into something tolerable.

This biting look at relationships – and how Bobby, the central figure, is unable to commit– only rises above the mundane when Sondheim is weaving his musical and lyrical magic. The Fairmount cast and a fine small offstage orchestra are alert to the wry twists of phrase, soaring lines and cheeky urban references.

The staging is effective in placing Bobby and the married couples (often illuminated behind doors) in striking focus. Although the stage is so cramped – and burdened by a portable platform – that the cast can’t do justice to the show-biz revelry in “Side by Side by Side,” the actors’ proximity to the audience is a major factor in the production’s fresh appeal.

Everyone deserves a round of applause, though only a few can be mentioned here. Natalie Green is a terrific Marta (“Another Hundred People”) and Ursula Cataan a hilarious, adorable Amy (nimble in the patter lyrics of “Getting Married Today”).

Connor O’Brien sings Bobby superbly, especially a deeply affecting performance of “Being Alive,” and he’ll be even better when he drops the coy, impish gestures. As Joanne, the ever-compelling Tracee Patterson has the makings of a knockout performance. On opening night, her Joanne was too soused at the start of “The Ladies to Lunch” to carry the tirade to its inevitable conflagration.

No matter. Anyone who savors Sondheim is advised to take the short trek to the Fairmount Center. The next Sondheim show Sternfeld and company take up will be “A Little Night Music” in the fall, with Patterson as Desiree, Matthew Wright as Frederik and – can’t wait – Dorothy Silver as Madame Armfeldt.

Stephen Sondheim’s convention shattering groundbreaking musical was originally produced in 1970 on Broadway and revived in 1995. It won six Tony awards including “Best Musical.”Company focuses on Robert, a commitment-phobic bachelor and his married friends. Centered around Robert’s 35th birthday, Company moves through a range of brilliantly witty scenes between Robert and his coupled friends as they endeavor to persuade him it’s time to take a wife. Company includes some of Sondheim’s most recognizable songs, including Getting Married Today, The Ladies Who Lunch and Being Alive.

Landmark musical strikes contemporary note  
“Company” is a musical for the angst-ridden modern age.

Set against the backdrop of the late 1960s and the Vietnam War, when the show first premièred on Broadway, it captured a new era of cynicism and discontent, replacing the complacency and optimism of the previous decade. It was a period of social and political upheaval, when time-honored institutions like marriage were being questioned and challenged by young 30-somethings, educated affluent urbanites for whom matrimony was no longer the be-all and end-all of living.

How well does the musical hold up more than 40 years later?

The solid, first-class production of “Company” presented by the Fairmount Performing Arts Conservatory proves that the landmark musical remains strikingly contemporary in its examination of modern-day marriage. Fred Sternfeld’s sterling direction, a prime cast and innovative staging deliver a show worthy of legendary composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim’s genius. It’s at Mayfield Village Civic Center through May 14.

“Company” was created by George Furth (book), who wrote it as a series of 11 vignettes on marriage, which Sondheim (music and lyrics) turned into a musical. It received mixed notices when it hit Broadway in 1970 (some critics found the characters disagreeable) but garnered universal praise for its music and lyrics. It bagged six Tonys including best musical.

The story centers on the commitment-averse Robert (Bobby to friends), a seemingly confirmed bachelor living among the five married couples who are his close friends and his three girlfriends. It’s his 35th birthday, and his friends are throwing him a party.

The titular opening number sets the stage for what follows, a series of scenes in which Bobby visits his married friends to observe firsthand the state of their relationships. The action takes place both in real time and inside Bobby’s head.

Set designer Trad A Burns conveys this dichotomy with a large, asymmetrically square-shaped turntable that pivots around a fulcrum, in the same way Bobby’s relationships revolve around each other. In the opening scene, Bobby is fast asleep while his friends and girlfriends appear through glass doors, like images in his dreams.

Benjamin Gantose’s lighting shifts from the dreamlike state to the real, as Bobby interacts with each of his friends in his search for the meaning of marriage.

The show is almost too big for the small, compact stage. The band is situated in the basement. When the strains of musical director Jonathan Swoboda’s orchestra filter through strategically placed speakers on stage and the high-energy cast turns up the volume on the rousing opening number, the fourth wall separating audience and performers virtually disappears.

Connor O’Brien is a phenomenon as the outsider and voyeur Robert, who observes each of his married friends with a mixture of bemused detachment and envy. The operatically trained actor’s rich voice soars in such solos as “Someone Is Waiting,” in which Robert imagines the ideal companion as a composite of all the women in his life, and in the heart-palpitating finale “Being Alive,” when he finally decides that finding someone to love is worth the search.

The strong cast includes Megan Elk and Aaron Elersich as Sarah and Harry. She’s on a diet and taking karate lessons; he has a drinking problem. Robert asks Harry if he ever regrets being married. Harry’s rueful reply in the song “Sorry-Grateful” underscores the contradictions of marriage.

Abigail Allwein and Shawn Gallagan are Susan and Peter. She’s a Southern belle who suffers fainting spells, and he’s Mr. Cool and possibly gay. When Robert declares them the perfect couple, they cheerily reply that they are getting a divorce.

There’s Jenny and David (Lydia Hall and Rick McGuigan), who smoke grass with Robert until they realize, as parents of young children, that getting stoned is kid’s stuff.

Amy (the awesome Ursula Cataan) is a neurotic Catholic, while her fiancé Paul (Michael Glavan) is a laid-back Jewish saint. The twosome have been living together for some time and are finally tying the knot when Amy gets cold feet on her wedding day. Amy’s frenetic show-stopping song “I’m Not Getting Married Today” is a fast-flying tongue twister in which the amazing Cataan doesn’t miss a word.

Tracee Patterson plays the caustic Joanne, the oldest and most cynical of the married friends, whose third husband is the kindly, understanding Larry (James E. Jarrell). In “The Ladies Who Lunch,” a mockery of rich, middle-aged women who waste their lives shopping, entertaining, and working out at the gym, Patterson elicits the bitterness and sarcasm of the self-loathing Joanne but overdoes it with her tipsy act.

Bobby’s girlfriends include the naïve April (the excellent Erin Diroll), who hails from Shaker Heights, no less! Their post-lovemaking song “Barcelona,” in which a disingenuous Bobby feigns feelings for the conflicted stewardess, torn between staying and leaving, is a hoot.

Whereas small-town girlfriend Kathy (Sarah Clare) feels out of place in the big city, for hip Marta (a charismatic Natalie Green) New York City is the center of the universe. Green’s haunting song “City of Strangers,” about loneliness and alienation, is a highlight. Craig Tucker’s costumes reflect the casual urban chic of these Manhattanites.

Bebe Weinberg-Katz’s choreography creates tiny miracles on the cramped stage in “You Can Drive a Person Crazy,” a song in which Bobby baits the three girlfriends like fish with his charm and then pulls out the hooks.

Ensemble numbers are beautifully executed and well-synchronized, including “Side by Side,” an old-fashioned soft-shoe routine that pays tribute to the musicals of yesteryear. Its lyrics stress the co-dependent relationship between Bobby and his married friends, who need him as much as he needs them.

“Company” revolutionized the American musical. Gone were the large, lavish, and sentimental spectacles created by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, who was Sondheim’s mentor. Replacing them was the intimate chamber musical, a “concept musical” that was character-driven rather than plot-driven. Here was a musical for adults that explored ideas reflecting the times in which the larger society lived, especially those of the upper-middle-class urban folk, the very people who frequented the theater.

This is the kind of “company” you will embrace with joy.

WHAT: FPAC presents “Company”

WHERE: Mayfield Village Civic Center, 6622 Wilson Mills Road

WHEN: Through May 14

TICKETS & INFO: 440-338-3171 or http://fairmountcenter.tix.com

‘Company’ wins in charming production at Fairmount Performing Arts Conservatory in Mayfield Village

Fairmount Performing Arts Conservatory’s “Company,” with book by George Furth and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, is by turns charming, aloof, hilarious and anguished.

What comes through is the palpable angst and pressure felt by Robert (Connor O’Brien) turning 35, living in New York and still single, knowing that at his party, he will be surrounded by married friends.

Robert is loved by these friends, who try to fix him up while honestly explaining that marriage has made them sorry and grateful at the same time. He is the outsider, sipping his drink, biding his time and treating his married friends like interview subjects, remaining disconnected. He deftly carries his part, using his pretty upper register in “Someone is Waiting” and both a powerful voice and sweet characterization in “Marry Me A Little.”

“Company” features a strong supporting ensemble and high caliber performances from Robert’s friends and his love interests.

Amy (Ursula Cataan) has a wonderfully hilarious turn as a bride with cold feet in “Getting Married Today.” The staging is excellent and Cataan has superb comic timing and rapid fire delivery. This number steals the show with its comic relief from Robert’s angsty, cool character.

Joanne (Tracee Patterson), on her third marriage, is even more fun and interesting when she’s drunk. Her second act performance is powerful, riveting and funny.
Sight lines are not great for those seated on the ends of rows during a few scenes, notably the opening scene, where the ensemble looks in on Robert and sings behind angled windowpanes.

Director Fred Sternfeld has brought some of Cleveland’s most incredible talent to the FPAC stage and the actors are giving it their all.

For “Company,” Boston-based Scenic Designer Trad A. Burns has designed Robert’s living room with cold feeling red brick pillars and grey brick walls – it’s more like the outside of a public library than a warm space.

We are told by April (Erin Diroll) that the apartment is intriguingly stylish, but Robert is a busy bachelor who lives most of his life outside his pad. There is also a multifunctional paned, rolling angled platform center stage used as bed, seating and dancing surface.
Bebe Weinberg Katz’s choreography mostly takes a backseat to dialogue and plot, though one notable highlight is the first act doo-wop number “You Could Drive a Person Crazy” featuring April (Diroll), Marta (Natalie Green) and Kathy (Sarah Clare), where the women express their frustration over Robert’s failure to commit. Jonathan Swoboda is on keyboards and conducts the fine orchestra hidden under the floorboards.

There are many fine moments that make this a production worth seeing.

“Company” runs through May 14 at the Mayfield Village Civic Center, 6622 Wilson Mills Road. Show times are Thursdays, and Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. For tickets, call (440) 338-3171. The show contains some adult themes.

Trad A Burns (Scenic Designer) Mr. Burns is a lighting and scenic designer based in Boston, Massachusetts. His career has spanned theatre, dance, amusement parks, as well as architectural and retail lighting. Designing over 400 productions during the last two decades, his varied work has been seen around the world. His extensive credits include designs for Boston Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Houston Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Ballet British Columbia, Washington Ballet, Spectrum Dance, Verb Ballets, New York Theatre Workshop (NYC), La Mama ETC (NYC), HERE (NYC), Classic Stage Company (NYC), The Public Theatre (NYC), The Cleveland Play House, Cleveland Public Theatre, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Cedar Point, ValleyFair, Knott’s Berry Farm, Kings Island, Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disneyland Japan, Disney Sea, Disney Cruise Lines, Carnival Cruise Lines, Universal Studios Florida & Japan, Woodstock Ice Productions, and The Family of Charles M. Schulz. Mr. Burns recent theatre designs include the revival of Altar Boyz at The Hanna Theatre, Jerry Springer The Opera, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Wings, My Fair Lady, The Producers, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Fiddler on the Roof, Altar Boyz, The Farnsworth Invention, Urinetown, Song & Dance, The History Boys among others for the Beck Center for the Arts.Inherit the Wind and Doubt for the Cleveland Play House, Assassins, Death of a Salesman andSweeney Todd at Lakeland Theatre. At Cleveland Public Theatre Mr. Burns has designed Fever/Dream, The Book of Grace, Open Mind Firmament, The Alice Seed, Goldstar Ohio, Our Town, Sleep Deprivation Chamber, Fefu and Her Friends, The Secretaries, Venus, Stone Cold Dead Serious, Bright Room Called Day, Nickel and Dimed, Dojoji, The Confessions of Punch & Judy, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Discordia, Blue Sky Transmission: A Tibetan Book of the Dead, Summer and Smoke, The Fugitive Pieces, and Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde.

Ursula Cataan (Amy) was last performing her one woman cabaret Down and Out in Clevelandas part of Playhouse Squares 101 Cabaret Series. She has performed for the past two summers at CSU Summer Stages and has played a number of roles from Mrs. Kendal in The Elephant Man to Maggie in The Shadowbox and a crew member aboard a wacky space ship in Return to the Forbidden Planet, just to name a few. She also played the role of Ellie Bachman in The Great White Hope at Karamu and Weathervane Playhouse. Other Cleveland credits include Playhouse Square’s production of I Love You Because, Sarah Ruhl’s The Clean House at The Cleveland Play House and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. She has performed regionally and off Broadway at 59E59, HERE Arts Center, Center Stage, The Brick, Walnut Street Theater, Coconut Grove Playhouse, Kitchen Theater, and many more. Other favorites include three world premiere plays by Nilo Cruz among them originating the role of Marela in the Pulitzer Prize winning drama Anna in the Tropics. She is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University.

Sarah Clare (Kathy) has a B.A. in Dramatic Arts from Cleveland State University. She has worked as an actor, director, choreographer, makeup artist, costume designer and stitcher for the Cleveland Institute of Music, Dobama, Cuyahoga Community College Western Campus, Karamu Theatre, Cleveland State University, Cassidy Theatre, The Beck Center, Royalton Players, The Cleveland Black Box Theatre, The Cleveland Opera, North Central College, Holy Name High School, Valley Forge High School, and The Arts and Theatre Workshop. Sarah has studied vocal jazz performance in Chicago with John McLean, Larry Kohut and Blue Note© recording artist Janice Borla at North Central College. Sarah previously worked as the Starworks! Teen theatre instructor, Box Office Manager and Artistic Director for the Cassidy Theatre. She currently serves as the choreographer for Lake Catholic High School including their annual musical and the LC Singers. Sarah directed & choreographed theFPAC production of Honk, Jr. in 2010 and choreographed Joseph…Dreamcoat in 2008. Previous Directing and Choreography credits include A Year With Frog and Toad, Children of Eden, Oklahoma, Aladdin Jr., The Wizard of Oz, Seussical, The Music Man, The Boyfriend, No No Nannette, Alice In Wonderland, Murder Lies and Other things!, and Jack and the Beanstalk. As a performer some of her credits include Sally Brown in You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown, Rapunzel in Into the Woods, Martha in 1776, Tiger Lilly in Peter Pan, Rumpleteaser in CATS, Marela in Anna in the Tropics, Maggie in Lend Me A Tenor and Glinda in The Wizard of Oz.

Erin Diroll (April) is a junior Musical Theatre major and Dance minor at Kent State University. This past summer she was seen as Julia Guglia in The Wedding Singer. Other favorite roles include Marla in the regional premiere of 14 directed by John Cameron, Helen in Jane Eyre, Miss Dorothy in Thoroughly Modern Millie, and a Daughter in Quilters.

Aaron D. Elersich (Harry) is making his first appearance with FPAC, and is proud to be included with such a talented and committed group of people. Aaron has been seen on many local stages, and extensively with the Cleveland Shakespeare Festival. Favorite roles include Leontes, King of Sicily in The Winters’ Tale at CSF, The Baker in Into the Woods at Tri-C West, Master Ford in The Merry Wives of Windsor at CSF, Richard Burbage in William Shakespeare’s Land of the Deadat CSF directed by Dusten Welch, and Son in Dividing the Estate at Ensemble Theater and his most recent brush with Sondheim, The Balladeer in Assassins at Lakeland Civic Theater. Aaron, as always, would like to thank his loving, supportive, and long suffering wife Carrie, and his two amazing daughters London and Cate.

Megan Elk (Sarah) Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, Megan Elk has appeared onstage regionally with Porthouse, Cain Park, Actor’s Summit, Opera Cleveland, Opera Circle, Squonk Opera, Cleveland Public Theatre, The Cleveland Museum of Art, and The Cleveland Ingenuity Festival. While completing her undergraduate studies in Theatre Arts at The University of Akron, Megan served as an ensemble artist in residence with the internationally renown New World Performance Laboratory. In the course of her tenure with NWPL, Megan assisted in the facilitation of voice and movement workshops throughout Europe and the United States, toured extensively with their original performances, composed original choral works for four world-premiere performances, and developed her own solo cabaret performance, Stairway to Paradise. In addition to her extensive performance biography, she currently maintains a thriving private studio of exceptional young singers at The Aurora School of Music. Megan is the recipient of the Gene Kelly Award for Excellence in Musical Theatre,The Kennedy Center ACTF Award for Meritorious Achievement in Music, and numerous awards from the National Association of Teachers of Singing.

Shawn Galligan (Peter) has acted, directed, and stage managed in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Illinois. Chicago credits: Navy Pier Players (singer); director / actor / stage manager with Tremont Avenue Productions; Brighton Beach Memoirs (Eugene). Pennsylvania credits: King Lear(soldier); The Civil War (choir); Little Red Riding Hood (Henry von Snoot). Ohio credits: Ten Nights in a Barroom (Harvey Greene); Jekyll & Hyde (Proops); You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown (Snoopy); the Ten Minute Play Festival at CPT; My Favorite Year (Benjy); Freakshow(Aquaboy); Don’t Hug Me (Kanute), Are We There Yet?, Guys on Ice (Ernie), I Love a Piano, A Murder, a Mystery, & a Marriage (Hugh), and A Christmas Carol (Fred) at Actors’ Summit:Princess and the Pea for Magical Theater Company. Production credits: Romantic Fools for Actors’ Summit (director), Children of Eden for Sandstone Summer Theatre (stage manager), The Fantasticks for Stow Players (director); Cuyahoga Falls M&Ms show choir (co-director); various plays and three film projects for Tremont Ave. Productions (director, production manager); company stage manager for Chicago Tap Theatre; The Mikado for Akron Lyric Opera Theatre (stage manager). Shawn is a proud company member of Actors’ Summit and convergence-continuum. When not involved in the theater, Shawn is a bicycle mechanic at the Wheel and Wrench Bike Shop in Cuyahoga Falls.

Benjamin Gantose (Lighting Designer) grew up in Berea, OH and attended the College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati where he studied Theatrical Design and Production with an emphasis on Lighting Design. During school and since Benjamin has been involved in both scenic and lighting design for works spanning ballet and modern dance, theatre, musical theater, opera, and theme parks. Highlights include Steel Magnolias at TrueNorth Cultural Arts; 13, the Musical at FPAC; Joseph, Producers, Altar Boyz, at Beck Center; Don’t Call Me Fat, Open Mind Firmament at Cleveland Public Theatre; Passion, Swan Lake at CCM; and various productions at Cincinnati Ballet including multiple world premieres, Cedar Point, Knott’s Berry Farm, Verb Ballets, and Inlet Dance Theater. Visit his portfolio on the web at www.bentose.com

Michael Glavan (Paul) is a sophomore Musical Theatre major at Kent State University where he recently appeared as Jeff in Brigadoon and will be performing the role of Kenickie in Grease this February. Michael is enthused and elated to be making his first appearance on the FPAC stage surrounded by such a wonderfully talented group of artists. Some other favorite credits include: John Jasper in Drood, Cinderella’s Prince in Into the Woods, Don Pedro in Palo Duro Shakespeare Festival’s Much Ado About Nothing, and Father in Children of Eden.

Natalie Green (Marta) is a 2005 graduate of Point Park University’s Conservatory of Performing Arts with a degree in Theatre Arts – Musical Theatre Concentration. Prior to attending Point Park, she studied Classical Vocal Performance, Theatre and Education at Mount Union College. Onstage, Natalie is best known in the Cleveland area for her portrayal of Belle in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast at the Beck Center (2005-2007). Since returning to Cleveland, she has been seen as Eve / Mama Noah in Children of Eden at FPAC, Lizzie in Baby at TrueNorth Cultural Arts, Seada in Necessary Targets at Fine Arts Association, Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice at Lakeland Theatre, Laverne Andrews in Boogie Woogie Baby at the Cleveland Play House Club, and as Hanna in A Shayna Maidel with the Jewish Community Center of Cleveland. She has also worked in the Cabaret Shows at Pickwick and Frolic. As a singer, she was the Lead Vocalist with Collision Jazz and was a Semi-Finalist on American Idol, Season 3.

Carlton Guc (Sound Designer) Part of Stage Research, developers of award winnning theatrical software for Lighting and Sound, Carlton has designed sound for the Titanic exhibit, Dialog in the Dark exhibit and recently assisted on the tour of Handel’s Messia Rocks. He recently designed Steel Magnolias and Baby at TrueNorth. For FPAC, Carlton has designed the Ohio premiere of Eat (It’s Not About Food), Children of Eden, Honk Jr., Pride and Prejudice, Into the Woods, the Ohio premiere of Thirteen, and will design the upcoming productions of Pippin, Les Miserables: School Edition, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and Big, the musical.

Lydia Hall (Jenny) is thrilled to be making her first appearance with FPAC! She has been fortunate to perform in five European countries and with the Wesley Balk Institute in St. Paul, MN; the American Singers’ Opera Project in NYC; Boston Opera Collaborative in Boston, MA and with OperaWorks! in Los Angeles. Locally, Ms. Hall has appeared in productions with The Cleveland Public Theatre, Tri-C West, Opera Cleveland, Cain Park, The Beck Center for the Arts, TrueNorth Cultural Arts and with The Cleveland Orchestra and Blossom Festival Choruses. Favorite roles include the Mother in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, the Witch in Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods, Dinah in Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti, and Woman 1 in Adam Guettel’s Myths & Hymns. Lydia holds her B. Mus. from Grand Valley State University and her M. Mus. from The Boston Conservatory. A million thanks to Fred and all those good and crazy people in our wonderful COMPANY!

James E. Jarrell (Larry) is native Clevelander who just returned “home” last May after a 10-year absence and is thrilled to be making his FPAC stage debut in this production of Company. Jim is a 1994 graduate of Baldwin-Wallace College where he studied Broadcasting and Musical Theatre. He has performed on community and professional theatre stages locally, in New York City, and in various locations throughout the country. Some of Jim’s professional theatre credits include regional and NYC productions of Cabaret, H.M.S. Pinnafore, West Side Story, Children of Eden and My Fair Lady as well as local productions of A Chorus Line (at the Beck Center in 1999), Fiddler on the Roof (with Cleveland Opera Company in 1993) and as recently as 2011 in Lakeland Theatre’s Assassins and CPT’s Fire Dance (part of the 2011 NEOMFA Playwright’s Festival). An accomplished director and choreographer, Jim has also directed more than 20 different productions, including the smash hit musical comedy The Drowsy Chaperone for Garfield Players last fall. When he is not busy showcasing his talents on stage or in the “director’s chair,” Jim works as a Business Development Representative in the Corporate Development department at the law firm of Weltman, Weinberg & Reis Co., L.P.A. He would like to thank his friends and family for their ongoing love and support, and is especially grateful to YOU for continuing to support LIVE THEATRE in Cleveland!

Bebe Weinberg Katz (Choreographer) , B.A., M. Ed. Bebe’s recent theatrical credits include Children of Eden & Thirteen at FPAC and Baby at TrueNorth. Her credits extend deep into the arts. She has danced, choreographed, staged, designed, directed, taught, written and illustrated. As an educator, Bebe has taught dance, movement education and /or fitness and wellness to children, teens and adults in the public schools, Baldwin-Wallace College, Cleveland State University, the Jewish Community Center, in her own studio, in private dance studios and Camp Wise. Her dance credits extend from Purcell’s Opera The Fairy Queen and The Cathy Powel Dance Company in Pittsburgh to the Dancing Mimes at DanceCleveland, as well as her own company, Center Motion at the JCC. While holding the position of resident choreographer at Euclid High School Bebe worked with the show choir “Varsity Choral” and choreographed the school’s productions of The Music Man, Hello Dolly, Anything Goes, Pajama Game, Pippin, Peter Pan, Wizard of Oz and Grease. She currently works in both Shaker Heights schools and Cleveland Heights / University Heights school. Bebe is the choreographer for Shaker’s “Chanticleers,” and Cleveland Height’s nationally ranked show choir “Singers.” At CHHS she choreographed Beauty and the Beast, The King and I, Fiddler on the Roof and West Side Story as well as doing costume design for the latter two.. Bebe has production credentials spanning the 35 years she has lived in Cleveland. She was dance and drama specialist at Camp Wise, and performed the choreographer duties for Mame at Chagrin Valley Little Theater, Anything Goes at Euclid Community Theater, Joseph, Holy Moses, Rock Pinocchio, The Grand Tour and Fiddler on the Roof at the Cleveland JCC. She also directed The Apple Tree for the JCC and was costume assistant for The Wall and The Merry Widow. She also has written and illustrated a number of books. The M.I.M.E Set, an activity book the integrates movement and academics, and three middle grade chapter books titled Princess Claudia and the Freckles, A Best Friend for Claudia and Sibling Wars. This summer Bebe will be returning to Fairmount Performing Arts Conservatory as Associate Director of the East programs.

Rick McGuigan (David) is thrilled to be making his FPAC debut and to work with this outstanding cast, crew, and Company. Rick’s most recent stage experience was the autobiographical role of “Jon Larson” (writer of RENT) in tick…tick…BOOM! last spring at Cassidy Theatre. No stranger to the stage, Rick has performed in numerous venues around northeast Ohio, where he was born and raised. Favorite roles to his credit include Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell, Joe inJoseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Beast in Disney’s Beauty & the Beast, Tony & Riff in West Side Story, Pippin in Pippin, and Adam/Noah & Cain/Japeth in Children of Eden. Rick’s stage experience is complimented by having served on the executive theatre board of the Mt. Carmel Players, actively serving on the board of Silhouette Productions, who currently calls the historic Euclid Shore Theatre their home, as well as special effects, sound, light, and general technical/production director for several local venues. He attended GMI Engineering & Management Institute (Flint, MI) and Cleveland State University, having studied mechanical engineering and business management/marketing. Rick is president of Pine Ridge Cleaning & Restoration, Inc., a cleaning and disaster restoration firm serving the greater Northeastern Ohio area. His company provides professional consulting and services related to the flood, fire, and smoke damage insurance industry. Most recently he partnered with a colleague to form Grand Rock Properties LLC, a real estate holding and rental management company. Rick would like to thank his cast mates and staff who have warmly and graciously accepted him into their tight-knit family. He would also like to extend many thanks to friends, family, and colleagues who continue to support this time-consuming hobby by attending performances, assisting with rehearsals, and rearranging schedules for the betterment of the show. As always, Rick’s beloved friend Chuck is with him on stage each and every performance — shadowing his “silhouette” — and has somehow quietly re-instilled the excitement and therapy that live theatre provides. For Sea-Jay.

Connor O’Brien (Robert) studied opera at the Eastman School of Music in New York, and has since toured the country as a professional performer. Other notable theater performances have included leading roles in Miss Saigon (Chris) at The Beck Center, and at The Erie Playhouse in Erie, PA; Sweeney Todd (Anthony) at Lakeland Civic Theater, The Last Five Years (Jamie) at The Ashtabula Arts Center, as well as returning to The Beck Center for Little Shop of Horrors (Orin, “The Dentist”), and the 2010 holiday production of Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Joseph). He was seen most recently in downtown Cleveland at the Pickwick & Frolic Cabaret in Forever Plaid (Sparky), as well as the long running rat-pack themed Martini Show Dinner Spectacular, and most recently at Playhouse Square’s Hanna Theater in Altar Boyz(Abraham). Connor has been a featured soloist with both the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra, served as executive music supervisor to the Discovery Channel for the series, The Kustomizer, charted a number one radio single in France, and has traveled the country to support his three full-length pop/rock albums. Along with his band, he has performed with over 20 national tours, including Ashlee Simpson, Huey Lewis and The News, Edwin McCain, Richard Marx, Rick Springfield, Hall & Oates, and Mariah Carey.

Tracee Patterson (Joanne) most recently appeared as Lettice in Lettice and Lovage at Coach House Theatre in Akron, and as Jean in Dead Man’s Cell Phone at Dobama Theatre last fall. She also played Stevie in Dobama’s critically-acclaimed production of The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?Other credits include Gloria/Science Officer in Return to the Forbidden Planet at CSU Summer Stages; the Baroness Elsa Schraeder in The Sound of Music, Woman 2 in Songs for a New Worldand Luisa in Nine at Cain Park; Frances in Breakup Notebook: The Lesbian Musical, Emma in Song and Dance, Arkadina in The Seagull, Mrs. Potts in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, and Gertrude McFuzz in Seussical at Beck Center for the Arts; Zlata in Necessary Targets at Willoughby Fine Arts; Yentl in Yentl and Aldonza in Man of La Mancha at the JCC Halle Theatre; Susannah in The Upstart Crow at Ohio Shakespeare Festival; Tracey in Unbeatable (staged reading) at Journey Productions at WVIZ IdeaCenter; Holly in Nickeled and Dimed at Great Lakes Theatre Festival/Cleveland Public Theatre; and in Cally’s Tally, Tuesdays with Morrie, and Staged Reading Festivals at the Cleveland Play House. Tracee is particularly excited about joining Dorothy Silver in Fred Sternfeld’s fall 2011 FPAC production of A Little Night Music. Tracee is a proud member of Actors’ Equity, the labor union that represents more than 48,000 Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

Fred Sternfeld (Director – Company; Artistic Director – FPAC) most recently directed Steel Magnolias at TrueNorth Cultural Arts. At Fairmount Performing Arts Conservatory he directed productions of Children of Eden, Into the Woods, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Eat (It’s Not About Food) and The Odd Couple. Fred is widely represented on Northeast Ohio stages through diverse projects, garnering numerous honors and awards. Recently he directed the award-winning productions of Baby at TrueNorth, Yellowman at Karamu Performing Arts Theatre, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast & at Beck Center and Ragtime, the musical at the JCC. He previously served as Artistic Director at Lakewood Little Theatre – Beck Center for the Arts and the Cleveland, Seattle & Dallas Jewish Community Centers. Other selected credits: Fiddler on the Roof, Oliver! & The Sound of Music at Cain Park; The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife & The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek at Dobama Theatre; A Shayna Maidel, Jolson and Company, Man of La Mancha, Modern Orthodox, Rags, From Door to Door, South Pacific, The God of Isaac, Beau Jest, Crossing Delancey, The Twilight of the Golds, The Immigrant & Conversations With My Father for the Cleveland JCC; Bad Seed at Ensemble Theatre; Amadeus at Willoughby Fine Arts; Table Settings, Isn’t It Romantic, The Diary of Anne Frank & Broadway Bound at JCC Center Stage in Seattle; Peter Pan (1987 & 2008), On the Town, Of Mice and Men, La Cage aux Folles, Saturday Night, Foxfire, Noises Off, Children of a Lesser God & The Importance of Being Earnest at Beck Center; Proof at GLTG and All My Sons & Enter Laughing at the Dallas JCC. His next directing projects will be at Fairmount Performing Arts Conservatory – Les Miserables: School Edition and A Little Night Music. For pictures and reviews for any of the shows listed here you can go to this link.

Jonathan Swoboda (Music Director) currently serves on the acting faculty of the Kent State University School of Theatre and Danceas music director. He is a graduate with High Distinction from the University of Michigan School of Music and holds a Masters degree from the University of Nebraska. Jonathan has music directed over 75 productions throughout the country including numerous national tours. He was an Assistant Director for Purdue Musical Organizations at Purdue University directing numerous vocal and instrumental ensembles. As a pianist, Jonathan is equally at home in the classical world as both a soloist and accompanist. Immediately prior to coming to Kent State, Jonathan spent three years as a Resident Music Director for PCPA Theaterfest in California, and he has toured as the Featured Keyboard Artist for the “18th Century Rock ‘n’ Roll” group Mannheim Steamroller. Jonathan is excited to be working on his first production for FPAC!

Craig Tucker (Costume Designer) is an adjunct professor at Lakeland Community College and is also the supervisor of Tri-C Western’s costume department. His professional work includes costume designs for Sea World of Ohio’s shows such as Clyde and Seamore’s Fools with Tools, Shamu’s Spooktacular and New Orleans Nights. He was the designer on the Ohio premiere of Pride and Prejudice and world premieres of American Hero and Optimus Prime for President. Other local designs:Sweeney Todd, Noises Off, Sunday in the Park with George, Private Lives, Eurydice, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, To Kill a Mocking Bird, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Peter Pan, Born Yesterday, Other Peoples Money, Putting it Together, Barrymore at Lakeland Community College; Peter Pan, Crucible, A Midsummer Nights Dream, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged, Lone Star, Laundry and Bourbon, This is Where we Came in, 1776, Our Town, Antigone at Tri C Western. Mr. Marmalade, and Quake at Convergence Continuum; Into the Woods, Thirteen, the musical, Eat (It’s Not About Food), Children of Eden, Honk Jr and Pride and Prejudice at FPAC and Man of La Mancha, and The Maltese Bodkin at CVLT.