Broadway musicals sometimes right size for Victoria Theatre

Ohio’s abundance of water parks makes it easy to melt away your cares
5/25/12
Taste of Cincinnati expected to draw 500,000 people
5/24/12
How discount program is helping arts, patrons
5/22/12
Local ingredients key for bartender
5/16/12
Health clubs giving lifestyle campaign a rigorous workout
5/16/12
> More headlines

By Terry Morris, Staff Writer Updated 10:33 AM Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Two of the most critically acclaimed Broadway musicals of the past decade can now be accounted for locally.

“Spring Awakening,” the 2007 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, played the Victoria Theatre last week, leaving little to the imagination. “Avenue Q,” the 2004 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, will have its local premiere on the same stage with a single show March 30.

Victoria programmers rightly assume the sexual content and strong language in such shows might not please a mainstream subscription audience. But the potential is there to attract a smaller contingent that has no interest in something like “The Wonder Bread Years,” which is part of the package.

“Spring Awakening,” which includes overtly sexual material, did fair but not great business on two “school” nights and on election night. “Avenue Q,” which is better known and tuned to a happier key, may sell out its single date. Tickets, which start at $46, go on sale Monday. Tickets can be purchased by calling (937) 228-3630 or online at www.ticketcenterstage.com.

“We would consider bringing it back if ‘Avenue Q’ did well,” said Tina McPhearson, VTA vice president for programming.

“When these new shows first go on the road, they always want to play the Schuster Center,” she said. “We think shows like ‘Spring Awakening’ and ‘Avenue Q’ are meant for a Broadway-sized house of 1,500, 1,300 or even 800 seats. The Victoria (1,150) is perfect for that.”

Bit parts

• Lisa Howard-Welch and her daughter, Juliet, don’t appear on stage together very often, which is unusual in such a theatrical family. It has happened only once previously, when Juliet was very young. That makes the Xenia Area Community Theater’s current production of Agatha Christie’s “Verdict” a rarity. Both are in it. Howard-Welch, artistic director of the Shakespeare Project and an acting coach, founded the former W. Shakespeare & Co. Remaining shows are at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 12 and 13 and 3 p.m. Nov. 14 at the Kettering Health Network Theater, 45 E. Second St. Tickets are $12-$15 at (937) 372-0516 or www.xeniaact.org.

• The Carroll High School Freedom Players will present the play “Pollyanna” at 8 p.m. Nov. 12 and 13 and 2 p.m. Nov. 14 in the school gymnasium, 4524 Linden Ave. Directors are Melissa Fisher and Toni Weitz. Lindsay Becker will play the title role. Tickets are $5 and $6 at the door. Admission is free for children younger than 5. Call (937) 253-8188, ext. 329 for more information.

• Miami University’s Department of Music will present the Jules Massenet opera “Cinderella” at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 11-13 in Hall Auditorium on the Oxford campus. Nicholas Muni, artist in residence at the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and past artistic director of the Cincinnati Opera, is directing and designing the production. Tickets are $8-$12 at (513) 529-3200 or www.tickets.muohio.edu.

•The Dayton Playhouse, 1301 E. Siebenthaler Ave., will present the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama “Wit,” by Margaret Edson, on weekends Nov. 12-21. Matthew Smith is director. Barbara Coriell plays Dr. Vivian Bearing. Times are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays, through Nov. 21. Tickets are $10-$15 at (937) 424-8477.

Role call

• The Seed Theatre Project will have auditions from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday for ”Almost, Maine,” a play by John Cariani. Location is the Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center, 1000 N. Keowee St. For more information, visit www.seedtheatreproject.org, call (937) 219-7835 or e-mail adam@seedtheatreproject.org.

• Xenia Area Community Theater will have tryouts for John Patrick’s comedy “A Bad Year for Tomatoes” at 7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday at 45 E. Second St. For more information, call (937) 372-0516 or visit www.xeniaact.org.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2377 or tmorris@Dayton DailyNews.com.

Share this article