The Right Room | Production Biographies

Jasmine Renee (Director) 

Jasmine is a multi-disciplinary artist born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. Renee graduated with a BFA in Dramatic Arts from The New School of Drama. Some of Renee's credits include My Dear Aunt Flow by Kelly Harper (Starcatcher Theatricals), Ava Hearts Riley by Cris Eli Blak (Amplify Theatre Collective), Elaine Calling by Niara Mae (The Language of Us).

Julia Fisher (Intimacy Director) 

Julia (she/her) is an intimacy director and playwright whose work has been seen in professional theatres throughout Northeast Ohio and beyond. She is a Certified Intimacy Director through Intimacy Directors and Coordinators, where she also served for two years as a Teaching Artist and Curriculum Developer. Julia has intimacy directed over 50 productions across Ohio — at Dobama Theatre, Rubber City Theatre, Cain Park, Near West Theatre, Ensemble Theatre, convergence-continuum, Ohio Shakespeare Festival, Cleveland Public Theatre’s Test Flight, LatinUs Theater, Broadview Heights Spotlights, BorderLight Fringe Festival, the University of Akron, Baldwin Wallace University, Case Western Reserve University, Lorain County Community College, and Ohio Northern University. www.juliachristinefisher.com

Lindy Warren (Stage Manager) 

Production management work includes The 39 Steps at Idaho Shakespeare Festival and Ain’t Misbehavin’ at Great Lakes Theater. For eight years now, Lindy has served as director of the youth musical program at Lakewood Congregational Church. She currently works for Playhouse Square, serving as Volunteer Coordinator.

Serenity Grace Tate (Costumes) 

Serenity Grace (they/them) is a Costume technician and designer with a BFA in theatrical costume technology from Kent State University. They have worked as a craftsperson and First hand for Great Lakes Theater since spring 2022 as well as filling various roles for Playhouse Square and touring productions throughout Northeast Ohio.

Zelda Thayer-Hansen (Scenic Design)

Zelda is a Cleveland-born, Chicago-based interdisciplinary artist working at the intersections of textile, illustration, sculpture, performance art, and collaborative research. Zelda received a BFA in Sculpture & Expanded Practice in 2025 from the Honors Tutorial College at Ohio University after publishing their thesis, Frock Logic: Directional Behaviors of an Annotated Body. Since graduating, they have shown immersive works at Plex Arts Fest, Cleveland Public Theatre’s Soft Launch, and Whirligig Art Festival. This is their first set design, with previous scenic work as a part of Latecia Wilson’s Asé Theatre Project: Portals of Knowing in 2025.

Bradley Wyner (Music) 

Bradley has worked as a music director at Cain Park (Rent and School of Rock), Blank Canvas (Hedwig, Kiss of the Spiderwoman, One Man Two Guvnors, many others), plus Cleveland Public Theater, Dobama, Kalliope Stage, Cleveland Play House. Proud of his many years as a teaching artist (Case Western Reserve, Cleveland School of the Arts, and more); students have gone on to careers as teachers, non-profit leaders, journalists, artists, musicians, and actors on stages from Broadway to Cleveland. Bradley also works as the Director of Education at Milestones Autism Resources.

David Hansen (Playwright) 

David (he/him) has participated in Cleveland’s theater renaissance as a founder of Guerrilla Theater Company and  artistic director for Dobama’s Night Kitchen and Bad Epitaph Theater Company, as well as an actor and director at theaters across Northeast Ohio. His published plays can be found at Concord Theatricals, Next Stage Press, Pioneer Drama Service, and YouthPLAYS. He holds a MFA in Creative Writing from Cleveland State University. David is Education Programs Manager for Great Lakes Theater and a member of the Dramatists Guild of America. He lives in Cleveland Heights, the city of great writers. www.davidhansen.org

Convergence-Continuum presents "The Right Room" as part of the Verum Project, a new play by David Hansen, October 29 - 31, 2026 

The Right Room | Actor Biographies

Lauren Berger (Mathilda)

Lauren just graduated from Baldwin Wallace this May with her degree in Acting. Recent on-stage credits include: The Comedy of Errors (Duke Solinus/Luce), A Man for All Seasons (Alice More), Good Kids (Deirdre), Legally Blonde (Vivianne), and much more.

Nicole Coury (Aubrey)

Previous credits include The Language Archive (Emma) at Clague Playhouse, I’m Alive … and Always Will Be (Lang) with Nightbloom Theatre Company, Aida (ensemble/fight captain) at Karamu House, Bedroom Culture (Mia) at Cleveland Public Theater, The Right Room (Mathilda) at BorderLight Theatre Festival, and Acts of Clay (various) at Wizbang Theater.

Rachel Gold (Fanny)

Rachel is a Cleveland-based actor, director, fight choreographer, and educator. Acting credits include String of Us and The Body Play (CPT), Grand Concourse (Seat of the Pants), Little Women (Dobama), and multiple roles with Great Lakes Theater and Cleveland Shakespeare Festival (CSF) where she now serves as the Artistic Director. She also serves as the Resident Fight Director for Dobama Theatre

Bradley Hughes (Leif)

Bradley is a recent graduate from Baldwin Wallace University, where he earned his BFA in Acting. Over the last four years he has worked on productions with Cleveland Shakespeare Festival, Borderlight Festival, Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Theatre Project, and Baldwin Wallace. Some of his favorite credits include Measure for Measure, As You Like It, Gross Indecency, Three Sisters, The Right Room and King Lear.

Kayce Kvacek (Lucille)

Kayce is a Cleveland based actress and playwright. She received her BFA from Boston University and has trained at The Academy for the Performing Arts and LAMDA (London). Some of her favorite roles have included Viola in Twelfth Night, May in Fool for Love and Camille in Horse Girls. Her first one act play, Ships in the Night, was accepted to the Boston Playwrights 24 Hour Play Marathon and has since been published & performed across the country.

Zach Palumbo (Charles)

Zach is a Cleveland-based performer whose favorite roles include Eugene in Broadway Bound (Beck Center), Feste in Twelfth Night and the Wizard in The Wizard of Oz (Ohio Shakespeare Festival), Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, and SpongeBob in The SpongeBob Musical (Blank Canvas Theatre). He’s premiered works at Cleveland Public Theatre, including Savory Taṇhā and Experts in a Dying Field, and performed with Karamu House, none too fragile, and others. He’s also a music director with credits at Clague Playhouse and CWRU. His rock opera Future Perfect, co-written by David L. Munnell, premiered at BorderLight Festival in 2024.

Kyler Rogers (Steven) 

After graduating with his BFA in Acting from Ohio University, Kyler is thrilled to make his debut at Convergence-Continuum. Credits include: Inherit the Wind (u/s Davenport) Tantrum Theater; Macbeth (Macbeth) Cleveland Shakespeare Festival/CSF, Richard III (Ratcliffe/First Murderer) CSF. Ohio University: Romeo and Juliet (Benvolio), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Demetrius), The Trojan Women (Poseidon), True West (Lee), Angel’s Trumpet (Quinn).

Cole Tarantowski (Mason)

His acting work in Cleveland includes A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Cleveland Shakespeare Festival, Acts of Clay: Out Of the Kiln at Wizbang Theater, and Karfuffle in Parmadoro also at WizBang Theater. Cole also has begun his journey as a playwright, with his first ten minute play recently having been produced at Wizbang Theater.

Convergence-Continuum presents "The Right Room" as part of the Verum Project, a new play by David Hansen, October 29 - 31, 2026 

I Hate This (a play without the baby): The Silver Collection (In Performance)

Maybe you can tell from the title of this blog post that I am tweaking my own tendency toward alternate or sub-titles to my works. Or perhaps I am just doing it once more.

Some time over the summer, when I was on my own for several weeks, I got this idea in my head, probably while running. I have lots of ideas when running, sometimes they become realized.

I have always wanted to do a house performance, or at least as far back as 2010. I read about them, then I sought them out. We produced the Love In Pieces project in 2014, and more recently I have enjoyed – and later, participated in – works produced by Micro Theater CLE.

What does it mean to invite strangers into your home for a live performance? Not that anyone this weekend was a stranger, exactly. And even those who were, well. We are now a bit more familiar, I think.

Anyway. As I was having this time on my own, and as I was looking for an opportunity to perform I Hate This once more, it all came together and I made myself that commitment. The commemorate our first pregnancy, and Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, we were going to do this.

I asked Josh to update his multimedia program, found both stage and house managers to run the show and serve the guests, and asked the Preeclampsia Foundation if I could promote this as a fund raiser, a suggestion I am grateful to have been well received.

The thing about the script is that it is now truly a memory play. When I was first taking this piece around, I was commenting on things that had only recently happened – including 9/11. And a couple things which were true in 2001 no longer are.

While working over the script, I tried to eliminate the delivery I remembered, to focus on how I feel about these things today. I also have the advantage of not having to project my voice. Not at all. A normal speaking voice. Telling an old story.

It took some work to clear out the living room and even then, ten seats was quite a squeeze. Sunday, Josh and I ran the cues and made adjustments to time and sound. Monday we brought in Geneva, the SM, to learn the cues and run the whole show, cue to cue.

I was relaxed, I had fun, even. Though, there was one moment, it is an extended, direct address with a single audience member. As I concluded, he gasped. I asked if that was all right. He said it was fine, just a lot.

Tuesday night was dress rehearsal, before paid audiences received the entire treatment (open bar, handmade snacks, etc.) I had invited company members from The Right Room, and some of the actor-teachers. It went well, there were a few surprises, pleasant and not, like when the cat turned on the Roomba. I did feel myself falling back into old forms of delivery, and I wasn’t happy about that. And it is something to be so close, and to look them all in the eye.

Wednesday night, opening night, was a bit of a party, we had a certain fellow solo performance expert sitting in the front row and she was laughing at all the darkest stuff and that was really something special. Her laughter made others feel free to laugh and it made all the difference.

Know what else made the difference? Our house manager-cum-bartender Char was in the (literal) house starting that night and their charm and skill kept things bubbly before curtain. Also, Toni had made cheese stuffed dates and fruit and cheese skewers (thank you Marchant Manor, support your local business) as well as puff pastry with tomatoes from City Fresh.

Thursday was the experienced crowd, and by that I guess I mean they were older. Also, many of them had seen the show before, like, most of them. They had come to see this show again, one of them for the third time, having seen it first in 2011 and again in 2016. What’s that like? Geneva has shared performance photos with me and they are striking. I used to look that way, now I look this way.

I look like my father. I look so much like my father now.

After the show, I head upstairs to change out of the costume while audience members are invited to stay and continue the conversation. After the dress rehearsal Toni joined me and it became a kind of Q&A, which was only appropriate as there were many younger folks there who don’t actually know me personally that well and didn’t know her at all. But I’ve been trying to avoid the after event becoming an extension of the show, I just want to see the people.

Thursday night, we were all telling our September 11th stories.

One of the unique elements of this production is my proximity to the audience, which allows me to speak in my natural voice. No projection, I can even mutter on occasion. One audience member this night said they were particularly focused on my breathing, which was a wonderful thing to learn.

Friday the crowd was older, the laughs were fewer … this is to be expected. You do not know who in the audience may have experienced some kind of child loss, but the older the audience the higher the probability, of course. I keep this in mind. It’s the Bette and Boo effect (see link) or as the good doctor put it, some people “don’t think stillbirth is funny.”

The show continues to change. When I mention how we handed out “handmade red paper and pens” at the boy’s memorial, I hand out actual paper we had commissioned from Dissected Relics and also Sharpies. Members of the first audience gave me a note; they didn’t know what they were supposed to do with the paper.

I ad libbed to the Wednesday night audience that they too could write “secret messages to our boy” and they did! On Friday, after the show, I was asked about the birdbath we burned the messages in back in 2001 and it’s still there in the garage, and the team thought it might be nice to have a place to set the messages at the end of the show.

For the final two performances, the set included a small birdbath.

Saturday night was a mix of ages and experiences, or at least you might think so. Again, everyone has a different connection to child loss, as parents, and also as siblings. For me, the event was highly charged as my former spouse Diana was in the (literal) house, and though we have made our way back to being friends we haven’t been in each others’ presence for over thirty years.

It was a happy reunion, though I think that she was much more interested in seeing my wife. They have a great deal of catching up to do. That evening went the longest, a half dozen of us sat in a circle and chatted for almost two hours.

I was asked how I would feel if this was the show I would be remembered for, and I came to terms with that a long time ago. It’s why I keep coming back. And it’s a story I love to tell. Tonight, we're going to tell it one more time.

You can donate to the Preeclampsia Foundation today, please follow this link to contribute directly to them in support of I Hate This (a play without the baby): The Silver Collection.

Dissected Relics

Our upcoming, intimate house performance has called for some original properties … and one old one. We incorporated red paper into the 2016 performance, but for this one we wanted something unique.

Our friends at Dissected Relics took a special order for deep red handmade paper, and what they have provided is truly beautiful. I loved that they shared photos from the process and I received the results in the mail today. They are gorgeous to behold … and to hold!

October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. I will be performing the play I Hate This (a play with the baby): The Silver Collection on October 14-18, 2026, as a fundraiser for the Preeclampsia Foundation.

Each night promises to be a unique experience. Please reach out directly if you are interested in attending, and I will provide more complete information.

Dissected Relics (Etsy shop) "We sell handmade paper, collages, collage kits, & more."

The Right Room (references)

My new play The Right Room (see below for details) takes place in 1934, 1935, 1959 and 1994. The play is set in hotel rooms in the Greater Cleveland area, as well as in Minnesota and Missouri. 

There are numerous topical refences from each time period. You don't need to know them to follow the story, but for the curious and inspired, here are a few of those.

Cleveland went 66-47 before August 12, 1994

1994 Major League Baseball Strike - The strike began on August 12, 1994, and resulted in the remainder of that season, including the postseason and the World Series, being canceled.

Miami University - Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio.

Middlebury College - Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont.

Tight - (slang) Intoxicated; drunk. “We went drinking and got tight.”

Sweet Sixteen and Never Been Kissed - A 1932 pop song released by the Blue Mountaineers as a 78 rpm record on the Regal label.

On relief - To be or begin receiving assistance, financial or otherwise, from publicly or privately funded agencies (usually run by the government) due to a certain level of hardship, poverty, or need.

Gauloises - A brand of cigarette of French origin.

Prosit - Borrowed from German. Toast to indicate one is drinking to someone's, or to each other's, health.

Skol - Borrowed from Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish skål. A drinking-toast; “cheers.”

Be prepared - Motto of the Scouting movement, also a comedy song by Tom Lehrer, 1953.

Hastings - A city (mostly) in Dakota County, Minnesota, of which it is the county seat.

Joan Didion - “Goodbye to All That" is a 1967 memoir that explores Didion’s dizzying love affair with and ultimate departure from New York City.

"Someone is staring at you in Personal Growth"

When Harry Met Sally... - A 1989 American romantic comedy film directed by Rob Reiner and written by Nora Ephron.

Vermilion - A city in Dakota County, Minnesota with 114 residents (1930 census)

Ship spotting - A form of outdoor activity and tourism that is carried out worldwide by observing and photographing various ships in the waterways where there is a lot of ship traffic.

St. Olaf - A private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 1874 by a group of Norwegian-American pastors and farmers.

Home girl - An unmarried young woman, who lives with her parents. “I guess she's the type that people call home girls.” (Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie) 

The Willows Maternity Sanitarium

The Willows - The Willows Maternity Sanitarium was a prominent private maternity hospital and adoption facility for unmarried young women located in Kansas City, Missouri, operating from 1905 until 1969.

Lakewood - A city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, on the southern shore of Lake Erie. Established in 1889, it is one of Cleveland's historical streetcar suburbs and part of the Cleveland metropolitan area.

Brubeck at Oberlin - The concert is credited with making jazz a legitimate field of musical study at Oberlin, and furthermore initiating it as a subject of serious intellectual attention.

TIME - Dave Brubeck was on the cover of Time Magazine the week of Nov. 8, 1954.

Black & Tan Club - Black and tan clubs were integrated American nightclubs from the early-to-mid 20th century where patrons and performers of different races—primarily Black, white, and mixed-race—mingled freely during an era of strict legal and social segregation.

The Five Mile Crib

Beatnik - Member of a social movement in the mid-20th century, who subscribed to an anti-materialistic lifestyle.

Eddy’s Boat Docks - The location formerly known as Eddie's Boat Docks in the Cleveland area is now the Emerald Necklace Marina operated by the Cleveland Metroparks.

The Crib - The Five Mile Crib is one of four water intake cribs in Lake Erie that supply the water system.

Merchant marines - The U.S. Merchant Marine consists of civilian- and government-owned commercial vessels that transport cargo and passengers during peacetime and act as a naval auxiliary during wartime.

The Wassermann test or Wassermann reaction (WR) - An antibody test for syphilis.

Barenaked Ladies - A Canadian rock band from Ontario.

Jane (song) - “Jane, doesn't think a man could ever be faithful / Jane, isn't giving me a chance to be shameful.”

Tipper Gore - Co-founded the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) in 1985 to lobby for warning labels on music with explicit lyrics. Once married to Senator and Vice President Al Gore.

Fevik - A coastal village and popular seaside resort in Grimstad Municipality in Agder county, Norway.

The Prophet - Written in English by the Lebanese-American poet and writer Kahlil Gibran, it has never been out of print.

George Gund II - An American banker, business executive, and real estate investor. He was a director and later President of the Cleveland Trust Company.

Convergence-Continuum presents "The Right Room" as part of the Verum Project at the Liminis, 2438 Scranton Rd. in Tremont, October 29 - 31, 2026

David Hansen presents "I Hate This (a play without the baby): The Silver Collection" in an intimate, private location, October 14-18, 2026. Contact for details.

Source: Wikipedia (A human-created and edited resource, Consider making a donation today.)

I Hate This (performance history)

Dobama Theatre, Cleveland Heights (2004)

This October, to commemorate Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, I am producing a series of intimate house performances of I Hate This (a play without the baby) for an audience of ten (10) each night. 

Five performances only. Since 2002, I have performed the piece forty-four times.

Reinberger Auditorium, Cleveland OH
May 7, 2016

Cleveland Public Theatre, Cleveland OH
Produced with “And Then You Die (How I Ran a Marathon in 26.2 Years)”
April 7 - 23, 2011

SANDS UK Tour
June 9 - 22, 2007
Plymouth Salvation Army Hall, Plymouth, England
Lurgan Town Hall, Lurgan, Northern Ireland
Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, England

St. Cuthbert's Church, Carlisle (2007)

Terry O'Toole Theatre, Lincoln, England
Royal College of Physicians, London, England
St. Cuthbert's Church, Carlisle, England

Consoling Parents Support Group
In partnership with the Kentuckiana Postpartum Coalition
Beargrass Christian Church, Louisville, KY
May 11, 2007

Shaping the Future of Women & Children's Health 2007
Corporate College, University Hospitals presenting, Warrensville, Hts., OH
April 27, 2007

15th National Perinatal Bereavement Conference
Holiday Inn Chicago-Mart Plaza, Chicago, IL
October 13, 2006

Metro Health, Cleveland (2005)

Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society UK
International Student Centre, London, England
October 7, 2006

Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses Ohio Section Conference
University Plaza Hotel and Conference Center, Columbus, OH
August 4, 2006

St. Vincent DePaul Church, London, UK
Wandsworth Bereavement Service presenting
March 24, 2006

Akron City Hospital, Akron, OH
Annual Women's Health Conference
October 6, 2005

MetroHealth Medical Center, Cleveland, OH
Continuing Medical Education Activity
October 5 & 7, 2005

Backstage, Reinberger Auditorium (2016)

MetroHealth Medical Center, Cleveland, OH
"Relationships: Concepts, Patterns, & Clinical Challenges" Conference
Sponsored by the MetroHealth System Pastoral Care Department
May 20, 2005

LaCentre Conference and Banquet Facility, Westlake, OH
"Current Challenges in Newborn & Women's Health Nursing" Conference
November 10, 2004

The Next Stage, NYC
New York International Fringe Festival
August 17 - 2004

Fringe Festival Preview at Dobama Theatre
August 12, 2004

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Cleveland, OH
31 Hours for Issue 31
Monday, March 1, 2004

New York City, 2004

Northeast Ohio Chapter of the American College of Nurse-Midwifery
W.O. Walker Center at the Cleveland Clinic
Friday, October 10, 2003

Red Eye Theatre, Minneapolis, MN
Minnesota Fringe Festival
August 1 - 10, 2003

Fringe Festival Preview at Dobama Theatre
July 25 & 26, 2003

Big Box performances at Cleveland Public Theatre - World Premiere
February 28 - March 2, 2003

Staged reading at Dobama Theatre, Cleveland Hts., OH
August 26, 2002

James Alexander Rankin
Playhouse Square (2021)

In 2005 we created a radio adaptation with a cast that included Dorothy and Reuben Silver, Brian Pedaci, Nick Koesters, Nina Domingue, Ali Garrigan, Thomas Weaver, Magdalyn Donnelly, Scott Plate, Betsy Hogg, Sadie Grossman, and a cameo by IdeaStream's Dee Perry.

Radio adaptation Broadcasts

RE:SOUND, WBEZ 91.5 FM Chicago, IL
January 27, 2007

WCPN 90.3 FM IdeaStream Cleveland, OH

November 25, 2005
January 2, 2006
March 20, 2006

Other actors have also performed this script in staged readings, selections chosen for high school monologue competitions, and complete productions on college campuses, in Great Britain and India, and on film.

Brian Chandler Cook
Hartwick College (2015)

Playhouse Square Film Production
Performer: James Alexander Rankin
Premiere: October 15, 2022

Independent Productions

Poochu's Productions

Retitled: “I Hate This (A True Story)”
Performers: Karthik TMK & Abinaya R
Chennai, India (2025)

Chennai Art Theatre
Retitled: “What Happened”
Performers: Karthik TMK & Mrittika Chatterjee
Chennai, India (2021)

Hartwick College Production
Performer: Brian Chandler Cook
Oneonta, NY (2015)

Freerange Theatre Production
Performer: John Datyon
The Lowry, Manchester, UK (2014)

I am looking forward to telling this story again when we present I Hate This (The Silver Collection) an event to benefit the Preeclampsia Foundation.  

The one hour text will feature updates, there will be refreshments, and 10% of the admission will go to the Preeclampsia Foundation. 

Seats are now on sale. DM me or drop a note in the comments for more info and to make your reservation. 

Two Weekends in September

Good kitty.

Outdoor Theater of a Different Kind

The remnants of this late season has included bouts of strong summer storms, bringing down trees and flooding cities. So is the harbinger of catastrophic climate change. And yet, we get out. To enjoy what the urban outdoors has to offer, because we know the days are drawing far too short and sometimes it snows in September.

Last weekend, I took a three hour stroll through the streets of Cleveland with two hundred of my closest friends, attending Micro Theater CLE: Tremont Reloaded. And what I witnessed was a cavalcade of performances:

A short play about a fork in the road set in a dead end street, a multimedia performance about childhood trauma executed in an attic, a laconic chain-smoking improviser, lazing on a chaise lounge in someone’s driveway, and so much more!

And as usual, I provided the cat poop in the sandbox.

To be sure, I received so many positive marks about my brief solilokitty ("Stray") which was a surprise to those who were prepared to enjoy a series of silly stories told by dopey dogs. Then this feline arrived (performed with cat-like reflexes by the always adorable Katelyn Cornelius) to unwind an inscrutable saga about their transition from feral stray to pampered rescue cat.

Folks were moved, it stuck with them, which is only natural. Cats have depth. Dogs are dumb.

Molded From the Clay

For three seasons now, Cleveland playwright and impresario Stuart Hoffman has produced a series of creepy plays in September (Advent for spooky season) at Wizbang! in Cleveland Heights. If you have never been, Wizbang is homebase for circus performers Pinch & Squeal (Jason and Danielle Tilk) offering offbeat entertainments and clever concoctions in intimate digs festooned with fabulous frippery.

This year, Hoffman opened his roster of supernatural stories to include those by other playwrights with Out of the Kiln: When Your Past Haunts You, and so on Friday evening our senses were cooled by unnatural infestations, comic tales of torture, playful poltergeists, and a literal throwing of hands.

The night concluded with a rendition of “The Hearse Song” delightfully choreographed by Millie Sherin which was unsettlingly sexy.

Mike Frye, Mindy Herman, Keith Kornajcik 

Back to the Shop

If last week’s trek through Tremont was summer’s curtain call, participating in Pandemonium last night was opening night for fall.

Cleveland Public Theatre’s annual gala is an enormous party, this year celebrating the extensive renovation of the (former) Russian Orthodox Church space which is now fully accessible.

We were on the other side of the campus, the folks from Micro Theater CLE provided a stage to present a cycle of 10 minute plays. The stage was located outside the scene shop; at the first Pandemonium, over twenty years ago, I had produced a series of Neo-Futurist plays inside the scene shop for audiences seated inside the freight elevator, arriving every fifteen minutes.

I done lots of Pandemonium.

My offering this evening was Lombardo (also directed by Millie Sherin!) in which a character-free young man from LIFE interviews Guy Lombardo about his switch from radio to TV for his New Year’s Eve broadcast. A short play meant to take the piss out of bad biographic plays, I made a point not to include any data I couldn’t find on Wikipedia.

The scene was stolen by Mindy Herman as Lombardo’s wasted wife Lillibell. One of my colleagues observed, “I always love your woman characters,” which is funny because Lillibell is a parody of all those poorly drawn female characters.

Speeches were made, performances were witnessed, the massive, tented dance floor opened just as the clouds did, and I was in bed by eleven.

Welcome, autumn!