Year End Recap - Theater
2009 - The Plain Dealer Tony Brown, The Plain Dealer "plenty of great performances by companies
large and small" "Karamu Theatre took fresh looks at
racism with House With No Walls and Yellowman"
"notable theatrical event" "Cleveland
Play House, Great Lakes Theater Festival and others stage a year
of great shows"
Best of 2009 Awards - The
News Herald Looking
Back at Local Area Theatre
Bob Abelman News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga
Times Courier
Member, International Association of Theatre Critics "Best
Director of a Drama" The drama Yellowman reveals the
racial prejudice that exists within the African-American Gullah
culture in the Sea Islands of South Carolina. It consists of richly
descriptive monologues that are written as if they were jazz riffs.
Each has its own underlying rhythm, a musicality that entices
its performers to almost sing their lines. Director Fred Sternfeld
no stranger to musical theater was sensitive to these rhythms
and cadences, and found the creative potential of their synchrony
in this marvelous Karamu House production.
Not Quite the Halftime Report
- Cleveland
Scene Our critics look at the 2009-2010 theatre season so
far Christine Howey had this to say about "individual performances" Kristi Little and Kyle Primous set fire to the Karamu
stage in Yellowman, a play by Dael Orlandersmith that explored
the intra-racial bigotry that mostly revolves around the skin
tones of African Americans. Under the sensitive direction of Fred
Sternfeld, Primous (playing a light-skinned man) and Little (playing
a darker, slightly hefty woman) dealt with their own personal
and family demons while trying to forge a relationship. Their
passion and humanity were honest, visceral and unforgettable.
Rave
and Pan - 2009 "Best of Cleveland Theatre" Awards Christine Howey
Listed as part of the "10 BEST INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES"
section Kristi Little and Kyle Primous, Yellowman, Karamu
House These
two actors made sparks fly as two people caught up in brutal intra-racial
stereotyping and abuse. Directed by Fred Sternfeld, their seamless
performances (they count as one awardee, if you’re keeping
track) were shattering.
Around Noon with Dee Perry WCPN
- 90.3
January 4, 2010 - Dee Perry had critics Tony Brown, Christine
Howey and Keith Joseph on her show and Yellowman was mentioned
as one of the year's best shows. Here is the
link to the broadcast.
The
Odd Couple
at
Fairmount Performing Arts Conservatory
This production was among the top five
best selling shows
in Beck Center's history.
Halftime
Report of The Cleveland Scene -
'08-'09 Theater Season Up, Down, All Around Town by Keith A. Joseph “…handful
of glories” “First on our journey we encounter four
performances that illuminated our hearth and our hearts. Happily,
two of the performances were promising indicators of a bright
future: students from the burgeoning theater departments at
Baldwin-Wallace College and Cleveland State University.”
"John Paul Soto (as Peter Pan) ... musically and histrionically,
Soto defined winsomeness and made every member of the audience
long to fly off with him once more to J.M. Barrie's Neverland.”
“Even amid major economic stress, it's a joy that people
still take artistic risks, let alone leave the house. God bless
them, indeed, every one."
Rave
and Pan 2008 "Best of Cleveland Theatre Awards" by Christine Howey BEST
ACTOR in a MUSICAL: Michael Mauldin "In
the dream role of Captain Hook, Mauldin never missed a chance
to chew the scenery, and it was hilarious. This sissy-pirate
was a hoot as he luxuriated in his pronunciation of every syllable
as he haplessly chased Peter, often creating laughs with just
a glance or a single sound."
A
Shayna Maidel
produced
by the Jewish Community Center of Cleveland
in association with
Cuyahoga Community College Eastern Campus Theatre Arts
Best of 2007 recap in The Cleveland
Scene Never
Bored on the Boards
From race-baiting to gay-bashing, there was rarely a dull moment
onstage in 2007
by Christine Howey "memorable"
Scott
Spence, Beck Center Artistic Director "The '07, '06 and '05 productions
of Beauty and the Beast are the #1, #2 & #3 best
selling shows in Beck Center's history"
Best
of 2007 recap in The Free Times Backstage
Frolics And Follies
At Midseason, More Drama Off The Boards Than On By James Damico "continues to deliver ... year-end cheer & profits"
Best of 2006 recap in The Free Times The
Box-office Bowl By James Damico "Last year, amid myriad disappointing and mildly
interesting stagings, just Beck's Urinetown and Beauty
qualified as anything particularly special." "Likewise,
at midpoint of 2006-'07, only a pair of pure entertainments -
(GLTF's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the) Forum
and the Beauty revival
- stand out as truly notable achievements."
Best of 2006 & 2007 recaps in The Cleveland Scene Cleanup in Aisle '06
Saluting a fabulous and miserable year on the stage
& Never Bored on the Boards
From race-baiting to gay-bashing, there was rarely a dull moment
onstage in 2007
by Christine Howey "memorable"
Winner
of 8 'Times Newspaper Tribute Awards for Outstanding Theatre 2006' Roy
Berko, Times Theatre Critic Production - The Company
Direction - Fred Sternfeld
Choreography - Martín
Céspedes
Music Direction - Larry Goodpaster
Set Design - Ben Needham
Costume Design - Aimee Kluiber
Acting - Natalie Green
Acting
- Dan Folino
Best of 2005 recap in The Free Times
Theater : The Sweet Smell of Success James Damico, Free Times "It must be gratefully trumpeted that Beck’s
two shining musicals, Urinetown and Beauty
and the Beast, already have doubled 2004-05’s one
triumph, Ragtime from JCC"
"outstanding mounting"
Best of 2005 recap in Cleveland Scene Exit Stage Right Christine Howey, Cleveland Scene Theatre Critic "Beauty and
the Beast, another great Sternfeld production, is maxing
out the talents of an exceptional cast to wring laughs and tears
from this durable Disney property (it's playing -- and sold out
-- through December 31).
Best of 2005 recap in the Plain Dealer There are some positives worth focusing
on from the past year Tony Brown, Plain Dealer Theatre Critic "Lakewood's Beck Center for the Arts, long known
for its daring and innovative programming, hit the veritable jackpot
with Polish Joke, Urinetown the Musical, A Raisin in the Sun
and two Disney extravaganzas, Aida and Beauty and
the Beast."
Best of 2005 recap in the Chagrin
Valley Times Herb Hammer, Theatre Critic "The Fred Sternfeld directed Beauty
and the Beast was a stunner. The lavish production of
the Disney film is a family show loved by everyone."
Winner
of Best Theater Choreography
"Best of Cleveland '06 Award" to Martín Céspedes Christine Howey, Cleveland Scene Theatre Critic "He's done great work adapting some of Broadway's
biggest, most physically demanding musicals" "Last season
alone he's made significant and memorable contributions to productions
of Beauty and the Beast,
Urinetown, and The Full Monty"
"widely acclaimed production"
The Plain Dealer Friday Magazine "Hot Ticket - Best Bets"
"Now's your last chance to see a new classic, a production
with wit, polish and great costumes that everyone's raving about..."
The Plain Dealer Friday Magazine "Family" choices
Cleveland
Scene - Best of Cleveland 2007
"Best Blue Collar Actor - Dan Folino" "professional
aplomb" "Folino takes on iconic roles and turns them
into small wonderments. As the Beast in Beauty and the Beast,
he commanded the stage while burnishing his songs with his rich
baritone voice..."
South
Pacific
produced by the Jewish Community Center of Cleveland
in association with
Cuyahoga Community College Eastern Campus Theatre Arts
Best of 2005 recap in Cleveland Scene Exit Stage Right
Christine Howey, Cleveland Scene Theatre Critic "Fred
Sternfeld's staging of South
Pacific was studded with great voices (Tom
Fulton and Joan Ellison), energetic dancing (choreographed
by Martin Cespedes), and lively comic performances, especially
by Cheryl J. Campo as an irrepressible Bloody Mary"
From
Door to Door
produced by the Jewish Community Center of Cleveland
in association with
Cuyahoga Community College Eastern Campus Theatre Arts
Tony Brown, Plain Dealer Theater Critic "Next, (ranked third behind Cleveland Play
House & Great Lakes Theatre Festival (LORT Theatres) Artistic
Directors Michael Bloom and Charles Fee) free-lance directors
Sarah May and Fred Sternfeld. Year in and year out, they are some
of the hardest-working (and most successful) local directors in
town. But this year they are taking on heroic tasks, each directing
four shows before the spring is out."
Ragtime,
the musical
produced by the Jewish Community Center of Cleveland
in association with
Cuyahoga Community College Eastern Campus Theatre Arts
Winner
of 'Best Musical' Award - Cleveland Scene 'Best of Cleveland 2005' "No director in the region can fill a proscenium
arch quite like Fred Sternfeld, and his staging of the brawny
musical Ragtime was a prime
example of his talents" "Sternfeld mastered the sweep
of events while polishing every small moment until it gleamed"
Winner
of an "Honorable Mention" for the "Award of Achievement
in Theatre"
Northern Ohio Live Magazine Fred Sternfeld, David Williams,
Martin Cespedes and Roe Green won an "honorable mention"
for "special achievement in theater" forRagtimefrom Northern Ohio Live Magazine. link
to the Northern Ohio Live announcement on their website
Best of 2004 recap in Plain Dealer The Plain Dealer - One
of the "Ten Best Theatre Events - 2004" Tony
Brown, Plain Dealer Theatre Critic "The first-class resuscitation of theater programming,
after a yearlong hiatus, by the Jewish Community Center of Cleveland:
The maiden production, director Fred Sternfeld's lollapalooza
Ragtime, heralds the return
of the JCC to the musical theater scene with style and fanfare"
Best of 2004 recap in Cleveland Scene Stage Frights & Delights
Looking back at the shows that made 2004 memorable Christine
Howey, Cleveland Scene Theatre Critic "This fabulously professional production was polished
to a gleam"
Winner of 8 'Times
Newspaper Tribute Awards for Outstanding Theatre 2004' Roy
Berko, Times Theatre Critic Production - The Company
Direction - Fred Sternfeld
Choreography - Martin Cespedes
Set Design - Richard Gould
Costume Design - Dana Romeo
Acting - Kyle Primous Acting
- Maggie Stahl Wirfel
Acting - Sean Szaller
Best of 2004-5 recap in Free Times
Well, Maybe Next Year: With a few exceptions,
the recently ended theater season was a resounding flop
James Damico, Free Times Theatre Critic, July 2005 "...last season's outstanding production - JCC's
Ragtime - resoundingly demonstrated
that if you opt for an authentic artistic composition and do it
exceptionally well, you can sell out even a cavernous stadium,
like Tri-C East's main auditorium. Which is the smart way to put
the biz back into show biz." "The Jewish Community Center's
drama wing ended an enforced year's sabbatical with a smashing
revival." "exceptional" "JCC's excellent Ragtime
was a winner, artistically and at the box office.
Mid-season recap in Free Times, 2004 The
Play's The Thing: Dull programming partly to blame for sagging
ticket sales James Damico, Free Times Theatre Critic,
December 2004 "...the season's one unmitigated triumph has been
JCC's Ragtime. With exemplary
staging by Fred Sternfeld, it proved that you could sell out even
a cavernous, out-of-the-way location like the Tri-C East auditorium
with a project that's well-chosen, well-promoted, well-written
and well-done. It's also a demonstration of one enduring and unalterable
fact: authentic, vibrant, meaningful theater all begins and ends
with what takes place on stage."
Best
of 04-05 recap in Angle Magazine Sass and Sensibility: '04-'05 Theatre
Season in Review Linda
Eisenstein, Angle Magazine
Mentioned in the "EFFECTIVE ENSEMBLE" & "HANDS
AT THE HELM" sections. "Fred Sternfeld’s moving RAGTIME had more immediacy
and power—at a fraction of the ticket price—than most
Playhouse Square tours" 12/31/04
"Cleveland Cavalcade" Column Violet
Spevack, Cleveland Jewish News Offers New Year's plaudits and symbolic gifts: "A
star-studded director's chair for Fred Sternfeld, whose JCC production
of Ragtime at the Tri-C Center
of the Performing Arts played to record audiences and was simply
superb"
Other
Jewish Community Center of Cleveland awards and nominations from
the Cleveland Theater Collective "Special Achievement in
Theater" - 2005
(selected by CTC members) WINNER - To Dorothy and Reuben Silver
for a lifetime of achievement in Cleveland theatre NOMINATIONS -
- To Brian Zoldessy for his excellence as an actor (To Know
Him at the Jewish Community Center), director, producer (Ragtime)
and educator (Tri-C Eastern Campus)
- Best Performance by an Actor - Brian Zoldessy, To Know Him
- To the Jewish Community Center for presenting Halle-lujah!,
a fond tribute to the Center's nearly 60 years of producing quality
theater in Cleveland, directed by Fred Sternfeld
Best of 2003 recap in Cleveland Scene, Christine Howey A Glance Back at the Triumphs and
Stumbles of Theatre in 2003 "Perhaps the most flawless production all year"
Acting!
Genius! Onstage in Northeast Ohio Tom Fulton and Paula Duesing are named two of Kerry Clawson's
favorite regional actors
Kerry Clawson, Akron Beacon Journal
Best of 2003 recap in Chagrin Valley Times, Herb Hammer "...there were some bright spots ... Let's start
with the best. For all-around great comedy performances and directing,
'The Tale of the Allergist's
Wife' at Dobama Theatre was the year's great high...a
great ensemble piece"
'Winner of 'Best Musical' Award
- Cleveland Scene 'Best of Cleveland 2002'
"This jubilant encapsulation of youthful love, written by
Stephen Sondheim when he was 24, was by far the most infectious
musical experience of the season. Beck Center took a great gamble
-- and won -- in presenting this unknown early work. The joyful
material brought out the best in an ideally realized production."
Winner
of 'Best Theatrical Dynamo' Award
Cleveland Scene 'Best of Cleveland 2002'
for body of directing work and creating and running the NEohioPAL
list "Audiences who know him only by the consistent quality
of his work simply consider him a damn good director. Whether
it's a Depression-era family saga or a screwball comedy, he can
be depended on to unearth the emotional truth and charm of a piece..."
Winner 'Best Pipeline to the Arts'
- Cleveland Scene "Best of 2005" Award
If Fred Sternfeld were known only for the shows he directs, his
impact here would still be considerable. In recent years, he has
expertly helmed classics (Of Mice
and Men, Fiddler on
the Roof), obscure gems (Underneath
the Lintel), and musicals (Ragtime,
The Sound of Music) on virtually
every stage in town. But since 1998, when he founded the Northeast
Ohio Performing Arts List - that's NEohioPAL, for short - Sternfeld
has been bringing together the region's arts intelligentsia as
only chardonnay and cheese previously could. His daily e-mail
list is where casting directors find actors and actors find paychecks,
where young performers gain counsel from old pros and cybercritics
levy judgment on local shows. It's the one place where fresh verve
and vitriol are infused into discussions of pay-vs.-no-pay acting
and funding for the arts, and where cheap tickets and freebies
are offered routinely. And just about every week, somebody is
giving away a piano. In a town whose vibrant cultural life often
goes unrecognized, Fred Sternfeld's NEohioPAL works 24-7 to get
the word out.
Cleveland Theatre Collective 'Award of Achievement
2003'
for initiating and maintaining NEohioPAL
Angle Magazine, Linda Eisenstein "In real theatre towns like Chicago, Seattle, &
D.C., the dailies and the alternative weeklies make an effort
to cover the small fry, with multiple stringers writing capsule
reviews to ensure openings are highlighted and companies get coverage.
Not here: our start-ups wither in a virtual media blackout. With
super-short runs of 1-4 performances and critics giving all the
ink to institutional theatres, most small productions fly below
the radar of all but the most rabidly adventurous theatergoer.
If it weren't for Fred Sternfeld's now-indispensible NEOPAL listserv,
most of us wouldn't even know they'd happened."
