New Edgecliff Theatre announces an exciting addition to NET’s performance line up with the regional premiere of Conor McPherson’s St. Nicholas. This chilling one-man show features NET Executive Director Michael Shooner and is directed by Brian Robertson. St. Nicholas will run in NET’s newly-created major production slot, Feb. 23-March 10. Leaving his wife and children in Dublin to pursue his obsession, things become complicated in London when he finds himself in the employ of a coven of vampires! Already a metaphorical vampire himself, his confrontation with very real ones forces him to face his own demons and earn some measure of redemption. The New York Times says, “The narrative swings through so many forms of storytelling – from self-serving lies born of drunkenness to a proper Brothers Grimm-like fable…McPherson’s ear for detail is devastating.”

St. Nicholas was written by Dublin playwright Conor McPherson. His plays include The Seafarer (premiered on Broadway in 2007), Poor Beast in the Rain, Port Authority, Dublin Carol (premiered on Broadway in 2002), The Weir (premiered on Broadway in 1999), and This Lime Tree Bower. He was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play in 2006 for Shining City, which premiered on Broadway in 2006; nominated for the 2002 South Bank Show Award for Best Play for Port Authority; received the 1999 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Play, the Evening Standard Most Promising Playwright, the Critics Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright and was a finalist for the Lloyds Bank Playwright of the Year Award for The Weir; and was the joint winner of 1997 George Devine Award and the winner of the Meyer Whitworth Award for St. Nicholas.

New Edgecliff founder Michael Shooner returns to the NET stage for the first time since his CEA-nominated turn as Dysart in 2009’s Equus. Other roles at NET have included Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, Roma in Glengarry Glen Ross, Teach in American Buffalo and Cliff in The Woolgatherer. His first one-man show was also NET’s inaugural production, Eric Bogosian’s Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll, in 1998. He was seen in the Cincinnati Playhouse production of The Hostage and has also performed at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company in The Weir, Romeo & Juliet and All My Sons.

Originally from Los Angeles, Brian Robertson has spent much of his time working in film and television in the area of cinematography, as well as working as a director and stage manager in Theatre and Opera. He received his MFA in Directing from CCM. Locally, Brian has been teaching in the NKU Theatre and Dance department since 1998, as well as functioning as a guest director and instructor at CCM. He has worked for Cincinnati Opera, Sarasota Opera, Bay View Music Festival, Greenbrier Valley Theatre, Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, Opera North, and Des Moines Metro Opera among others.

St. Nicholas

February 23 – March 10, 2012

Thursday through Saturday

7:30pm

at the Columbia Performance Center, 3900 Eastern Avenue

near Terry’s Turf Club, Allyn’s, Bella Luna, Tostado’s and The Precinct.

Adults $23, Seniors $18, Students $15

Or call the box office at 888.588.0137

NET is a grateful recipient of the League of Cincinnati Theatres’ Local Guest Equity Support.

Don’t miss this theatrical event!

featuring Michael Shooner • directed by Brian Robertson

February 23rd-March 10th, 2012
Tickets $23 Adults / $18 Seniors / $15 Students

or order by phone: 888.588.0137

7:30pm Curtain • Columbia Performance Center • 3900 Eastern Avenue
near Bella Luna, Tostados, Allyn’s, Terry’s Turf Club and the Precinct

Intended for Mature Audiences Only

December 1st-17th, 2011
7:30pm Curtain
Columbia Performance Center
3900 Eastern Avenue

or reserve tickets by phone at 888.588.0137

for more information about True Theatre, please visit their website at truetheatre.com

Edgar Allen Poe has long held the gruesome imaginations of many with his takes on horror and death. What better time of year to enjoy them than Halloween?  This year, New Edgecliff ’s Playwright-in-Residence Catie O’Keefe (Darker, Extraction, and The Space Between My Head and My Body) adapts two of Poe’s haunting tales for the ever-loved Sweet Suspense Radio Drama: The Oval Portrait and The Masque of the Red Death. Both tales–dark, gritty and wonderfully gruesome–show us true obsession in its many forms. New Edgecliff Theatre brings these stories to life, complete with live sound effects and the atmosphere of an old-time radio theatre. The audience will also enjoy a sampling of delectable desserts from area restaurants, making this suspenseful evening truly “sweet”!

Featuring Live Sound Effects by WMKV’s Mike Martini
directed by Bob Allen

October 29th, 2011
7:30pm Curtain
Columbia Performance Center
3900 Eastern Avenue

Tickets $35 Adults / $20 Kids 13 and Under
admission includes dessert buffet at intermission
all proceeds benefit New Edgecliff Theatre’s Operational Fund

or order by phone: 888.588.0137

Rarely produced, powerful work leads off season

New Edgecliff Theatre once again opens its season with a late 20^th century classic – a powerful, electrifying work by the playwright widely regarded as one of the finest American playwrights of the late 20th Century. While perhaps best known for his earlier plays The Hot L Baltimore, Fifth of July and Talley’s Folly, Burn This is a viscerally dramatic play, and its Broadway premiere most certainly helped to propel the careers of John Malkovich and Joan Allen.

The place is a Manhattan loft shared by Anna, a lithe young dancer-choreographer, and her two gay roommates – her collaborator, Robby, who has just been killed in a freak boating accident, and Larry, a world-weary, caustically funny young advertising executive. As the play begins Anna is recovering from Robby’s funeral, comforted by her wealthy, well-meaning boyfriend, Burton, a sci-fi screenwriter whose persistent proposals of marriage Anna finds herself unable to accept. Then suddenly, Robby’s older brother Pale bursts on the scene. He has come to collect his brother’s belongings. Menacing, profane, dangerous and yet oddly sensitive, Pale is both terrifying and fascinating and, in the end, stays on to transform the action of the play and the lives of those in it.

Artistic Director Jim Stump says, “I had been considering Burn This for a later season, but with Lanford Wilson’s untimely death this past March, I felt it would serve as an appropriate memorial to this passionate voice of the theatre.”

Tim Waldrip directs.  The cast features Nathan Neorr as Pale (following noteworthy turns at NET in Fool for Love and Night of the Iguana) and Gina Cerimele-Mechley as Anna, with strong support from Jason Burgess (Larry) and John Wilmes (Burton). Design team includes Melissa Bennett, sets; Glen Goodwin, lights; Jim Stump, costumes; Kevin Semancik, sound; and Nicole Garrisi, props.

For anyone interested, Director Tim Waldrip has a goosebump-raising story of the serendipitous route that led him to this production, beginning many years ago when he was at first disappointed, then blown away by Malkovich’s replacement, Eric Roberts.

Intended for PG audiences only.

Burn This
Sept.29 – Oct. 15, Thur-Sat at 7:30pm.
Columbia Performance Center, 3900 Eastern Avenue.
Near Terry’s Turf Club, Allyn’s, Bella Luna, Tostado’s and The Precinct.
Tickets: $23 adults, $18 seniors, and $15 students.

Purchase/reserve tickets: www.newedgecliff.com or call box office, 888.588.0137.

Opportunities are also available this season for set designers, costumers, prop masters, and sound designers. All positions are stipend paid.  If you are interested in any of these design positions, or would like more information, contact New Edgecliff Theatre at jobs@newedgecliff.com.

Available Roles

Burn This

Anna: ( 25-35 years old), a dancer who wishes to be a choreographer; beautiful, slender, and strong. As the play opens she is grieving for her gay roommate, Robbie, who has just died in a boating accident.

Burton: (30-40 years old), is handsome, tall, athletic; a successful screenwriter and Anna’s boyfriend. For Burton, screenwriting is not an artistic passion, but is a means of making a lot of money. He was a privileged child and he has never lost anything important before.

Larry: ( 25-35 years old) Anna’s other roommate; intelligent, an also gay; works in advertising. A confidant of Anna’s, LARRY is aware of Anna’s love for Pale long before she admits it. Larry helps break the tension of the play with some light comedy.

Pale: (35-45 years old), Robbie’s older brother who appears to collect his brother’s belongings. Pale is described as very sexy in a blue-collar kind of way. He manages a restaurant and is separated from his wife and children. He has a foul mouth and admits he knew Robbie was gay but speaks contemptuously of that lifestyle.

Reasons to be Pretty

The characters in reasons to be pretty are two working class, twenty-something couples in an outlying suburb somewhere in the United States.  All are flawed, but at their core they are sympathetic.

Greg: the play’s protagonist.  He works the night shift in a food packing plant with his long-time friend, Kent.  Greg is intelligent and has a love of literature that he often uses as an escape.  He alternates between typically jerkish male behavior and genuine vulnerability and sensitivity.  He makes a journey toward understanding and ultimately takes responsibilities for his failings.

Steph: a hairdresser who finds out that her boyfriend, Greg, doesn’t think she’s pretty.  This launches her on a journey of her own.  Her fragile self-esteem is ruled by her perception of herself as odd-looking rather than attractive.

Kent: someone we hate to like and like to hate.  He is a vulgar, arrogant, overgrown child whose main preoccupations are sex and sports.  He has bullied Greg to remain locked in an immature macho friendship.  He is a boorish, hyper-masculine brute who is charming enough to get whatever he wants.

Carly: Kent’s wife and Steph’s best friend.  She works at the plant as a uniformed security guard.  Beautiful but gruff, she is a put-upon character with a toughened exterior and desperate vulnerability.  She possesses the shaky confidence of a born beauty who is scared that all she has to offer is her looks.

New Edgecliff Theatre fosters a collaborative and creative environment.  We seek to produce the highest quality work on our very modest budgets, and we remain committed to creating work that emphasizes the relationship between actor & audience.

If you are interested in working with our company, or would like more information, please contact us at jobs@newedgecliff.com.

Everyone has obsessions, and New Edgecliff Theatre’s 2011-2012 season seeks to examine the changes brought about by those obsessions – both in a person’s life and the lives of those around them. The five-show season includes the late Lanford Wilson’s Burn This and the regional premieres of St. Nicholas by Conor McPherson, and Reasons to be Pretty by Neal LaBute. The annual Sweet Suspense event returns for Halloween, and NET breathes new life into its annual holiday offering, pairing The Santaland Diaries with new work from True Theatre.

The season opens in October with Lanford Wilson’s Burn This. It is a powerful, electric work by the playwright many regard as the finest American playwright of the late twentieth century. A contemporary romantic drama, Burn This explores love and relationships in the aftermath of death. Timothy Waldrip directs.

October also sees the return of New Edgecliff Theatre’s ever-popular Sweet Suspense radio drama event. This year, we treat audiences to two tales by the great Edgar Allen Poe, in an evening we’re calling Poe-sessed. Playwright-in-residence Catie O’Keefe, fresh off rave reviews for her Fringe show Darker, crafts adaptations of Poe’s The Oval Portrait and The Masque of the Red Death. Complete with live sound effects and the atmosphere of an old-time radio theatre, New Edgecliff will bring to life these dark, gritty and wonderfully gruesome tales. Your favorite area restaurants again provide delectable desserts to treat your taste buds, and Sweet Suspense regular Bob Allen returns to direct.
Of course, everyone’s favorite elf arrives in December for our annual production of The Santaland Diaries. Josh Steele returns for his second year as the cynical Crumpet. We are also excited to announce an exciting change to our holiday offering. Says Artistic Director Jim Stump, “This year, we retire Seasons Greetings in favor of matching David Sedaris’ true holiday story with several other true holiday stories told by real people.” New Edgecliff Theatre has partnered with True Theatre to create trueCHRISTMAS. Helmed by David Levy and Jeff Groh, this company has quickly established itself as a unique Cincinnati favorite. Featuring a different combination of stories each night, this pairing is an event audiences won’t want to miss.

In February, Executive Director Michael Shooner takes to the New Edgecliff stage in Conor McPherson’s St. Nicholas. But this is no holiday show! Acclaimed Irish playwright McPherson (The Wier, The Good Thief) crafts a tale of a burned-out theatre critic obsessed with a young actress. Leaving his wife and children in Dublin to follow her to London, things become complicated when he finds himself in the employ of a coven of vampires! This wicked and riveting tale is sure to captivate audiences.

The season concludes in April with Reasons to be Pretty by Neal LaBute. This darkly romantic drama follows two couples as they navigate the conflicting loyalties of love and friendship. The production takes a hard look at beauty – and the multi-billion-dollar obsession we have with it. Time Magazine calls the play “tight, tense and emotionally true, and it portrays characters who actually seem part of the world that the rest of us live in.” Dennison University professor Mark Seamon directs.
About the season, Artistic Director Jim Stump says, “Last season, we saw characters determining their destinies (or at least trying to). This season, I wanted to present characters whose preoccupation with elements of their lives brings about discoveries, revelations and even the bizarre.”
The company returns to the Columbia Performance Center, located at 3900 Eastern Avenue in Columbia-Tusculum. Tickets can be purchased online at newedgecliff.com, or reserved by calling the box office at 888.588.0137.

Burn This
Playwright: Lanford Wilson
Director: Timothy Waldrip
Featuring: TBA
Preview: September 28th, 2011
Run: September 29th-October 15th, 2011
Days & Times: Thursday-Saturday, 7:30pm

Sweet Suspense: Poe-sessed
Playwright: original stories by Edgar Allen Poe, adapted for the stage by Catie O’Keefe
Director: Bob Allen
Featuring: Mike Martini
Preview: none
Run: ONE NIGHT ONLY!
Days & Times: October 29th, 2011, 7:30pm

The Santaland Diaries & trueCHRISTMAS
Playwright: The Santaland Diaries: David Sedaris (original story), Joe Montello (stage adaptation)
Director: Jim Stump
Featuring: Josh Steele
Preview: November 30th, 2011
Run: December 1st-17th, 2012
Days & Times: Thursday-Saturday, 7:30pm

St. Nicholas
Playwright: Conor McPherson
Director: TBA
Featuring: Michael Shooner
Preview: February 22nd, 2012
Run: February 23rd-March 10th, 2012
Days & Times: Thursday-Saturday, 7:30pm

Reasons to be Pretty
Playwright: Neal LaBute
Director: Mark Seamon
Featuring: TBA
Preview: April 11th, 2012
Run: April 12th-28th, 2012
Days & Times: Thursday-Saturday, 7:30pm

All performances held at:
The Columbia Performance Center
3900 Eastern Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45226
Ticket Prices:

Sweet Suspense

Adults: $35.00

13 and Under: $20.00

Admission includes dessert buffet

All other productions:

Adults: $23.00
Seniors: $18.00
Students: $15.00

New Edgecliff Theatre is returning to the Cincinnati Fringe Festival after an eight year hiatus!  And we’re back in a big way, with the US premiere of Darker, by playwright-in-residence Catie O’Keefe. In this absurd love story, Max finds himself the new kid at the Industri-Light Bulb Factory. But his surroundings are all too familiar… and he’s certain he has seen his boss somewhere before. Is he losing his mind, or is  this the start of a very sick- and ultimately deadly- game? Max must uncover the truth, or accept a fate that will keep his life in a mind-numbing limbo.

Darker was originally produced by the First Draft theater company in London.  Catie O’Keefe holds a BA in theatre from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon USA and a Masters in playwriting from Royal Holloway University of London. Her work has been performed at the Jerwood Centre, Southwark Theatre, Henley Fringe Festival, The Royal Cour

t Upstairs, Theatre 503 and the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

The Cincinnati Fringe Festival, produced by Know Theatre of Cincinnati, continues its eighth season this year May 31 – June 11, 2011. The Festival is a collaborative organization striving to provide opportunities and exposure to artists who are willing to take a risk. Our artists push the boundaries of the “norm” and continually experiment with style and content. During the festival local, regional, national and international artists invade downtown Cincinnati for 12 days of artistic celebration in both traditional and non-traditional spaces. These artists represent a variety of media including theatre, dance, music, poetry, visual art, film and beyond.

Directed by: Illana Stein

Cast: Michael Carr, Mindy Heithaus and Jeff Miller

Check out our show page at the Cincy Fringe website for details on performance dates and times as that information becomes available!

“New Edgecliff Theatre supplied a wonderfully directed, performed, and designed mounting of this funny and personal show…” (Scott Cain, Talkin Broadway)

Winner of three Obie awards in 2006 and Tony-nominated in 2009 for Best Book, [title of show] follows the real-life journey of two nonentities, Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen. Determined to enter the New York Musical Theatre Festival, these two witty, struggling writers attempt to create a new show in a mere three weeks. With the help of their friends, Susan and Heidi, they write a show about…writing a show. With songs like “Secondary Characters” and “Two Nobodies in New York”, [title of show] is a hilarious love letter to Musical Theatre – a uniquely American art form – and to the joy of collaboration.

The cast features Brad Frost, Tim Hein, Danielle Muethingand Lori Valentine, with musical direction by Acclaim Award Nominee Mark Femia and choreography by Maggie Perrino.

“Frost and Hein are engaging as can be as the writers, as are their sidekicks Danielle Muething and Lori Valentinte.”

(Jackie Demaline, The Cincinnati Enquirer)

Former NET Artistic Director Greg Procaccino returns to direct. Current Artistic Director Jim Stump says, “This nicely rounds out an entire season directed by current or former New Edgecliff AD’s.” Another former AD, Elizabeth A. Harris, directed The Night of the Iguana, while Stump helmed this year’s The Santaland Diaries.

[title of show] was conceived by friends Bowen and Bell during the spring of 2004 after Bell received an announcement for the inaugural New York City Musical Festival. With the deadline just three weeks away, Bell began drafting the script with Bowen writing the lyrics and music. Due to the severe time constraints, and because the Festival required only the submission of a script plus four songs, Bowen wrote most lyrics without any accompanying melody, planning to finish the songs later. In their determination to write an original musical, they decided that their conversations about what to write were more interesting than what they were actually writing. As the idea to document the creation of the show itself became clearer, Bell and Bowen expanded the script based on their writing experiences with friends Susan Blackwell and Heidi Blickenstaff.

Charles Isherwood of the New York Times (a review referred to in the play) may have summed it up best when he wrote, “…may I have your attention, please, devoted aficionados of musical theater? Have I got a show for you!”

Intended for PG audiences only (language).

April 14-30, Thur-Sat at 7:30pm.
Columbia Performance Center, 3900 Eastern Avenue.
Near Terry’s Turf Club, Allyn’s, Bella Luna, Tostado’s and The Precinct.
Tickets: $23 adults, $18 seniors, and $15 students.
Special NET/Flex pricing is available for groups of 4 or more.

Purchase/reserve tickets: here or call the box office, 888.588.0137.