Blank Canvas Theatre Announces its 2019 Season - KISS OF THE SPIDERWOMAN, THE WHO'S TOMMY, and More
By: Stephi Wild Jan. 14, 2019
This season, Blank Canvas will welcome four female directors to its staff! Blank Canvas theater is committed to fostering a diverse and equitable theater community.
Blank Canvas Theatre is dedicated to inspiring a new love for those new to theatre in the Cleveland community, while providing another quality venue for those who already love the arts. The annual season is diverse and designed to attract many different types of theatre-goers - whether you prefer American classics, new works, off-beat musicals, drama, or comedy, you'll find something to enjoy at Blank Canvas Theatre- all at an affordable price!
Show Times: Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays at 8pm. Sundays at 7pm.
Tickets: $20
To purchase tickets visit www.blankcanvastheatre.com
Season passes are only $125.
To purchase season passes CLICK HERE.
Seating: All seating is general admission.
Parking: Convenient FREE on-site parking is available.
KISS OF THE SPIDERWOMAN
Book by Terrence McNally
Music by John Kander
Lyrics by Fred Ebb
Based on the novel by Manuel Puig
Directed By: Patrick Ciamacco
March 1 -16
Kiss of the Spider Woman revamps a harrowing tale of persecution into a dazzling spectacle that juxtaposes gritty realities with liberating fantasies. Cell mates in a Latin American prison, Valentin is a tough revolutionary undergoing torture and Molina is an unabashed homosexual serving eight years for deviant behavior. Molina shares his fantasies about an actress, Aurora (originated on Broadway by Chita Rivera) with Valentin. One of her roles is a Spider Woman who kills with a kiss.
ART
By Yasmina Reza
Translated by Christopher Hampton
Directed by Lara Mielcarek
April 5 - 20
How much would you pay for a white painting? Would it matter who the painter was? Would it be art? A translation of a French-language play, Art is about one man, Serge, who buys an expensive painting, a white canvas with a few white lines, and the reactions of his friends, Marc and Yvan, to his purchase. Marc responds with shock and anger; for him, Serge's purchase of the painting is a cruel joke. Yvan tries to mediate the hostility between Serge and Marc, at the cost of redirecting them to himself. As the conversations moves from the theoretical to the personal, the three friends are forced to ask questions not only about the nature of art, but about the nature of friendship.
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Book by James Lapine
Music & Lyrics by William Finn
Based on the film written by Michael Arndt
Directed by: Jonathan Kronenberger
May 17 - June 1
From the Tony Award-winning team of James Lapine (Into the Woods, Sunday in the Park with George) and William Finn (25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) comes a musical comedy about one modern family's unexpected route to brighter days. Based on the Academy Award-winning film, Little Miss Sunshine is an outrageously funny and surprisingly touching musical. The Hoover family has seen better days. Richard, the father, is a floundering motivational speaker, Grandpa's been kicked out of his retirement home and Uncle Frank's been dumped by his boyfriend. Moody teenager, Dwayne, has taken a vow of silence, and overextended mom, Sheryl, can do little more than slap on a smile. But, when the youngest Hoover... energetic Olive, enters a regional children's beauty pageant, the family thinks that their luck could change and embarks on a cross-country trek, chasing the coveted title of "Little Miss Sunshine."
TOXIC AVENGER
Book and Lyrics by Joe DiPietro
Music and Lyrics by David Bryan
Based on Lloyd Kaufman's The Toxic Avenger
Directed by Molly Claasen
Choreography by Kristen Netzband
July 12 -27
Based on Lloyd Kaufman's cult film and winner of the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical, The Toxic Avenger is a charming love story and laugh-out-loud musical that has it all: an unlikely hero, his beautiful girlfriend, a corrupt New Jersey mayor and two guys who play... well, everyone else ... Melvin Ferd, the Third, wants to clean up Tromaville, the most polluted town in New Jersey (just off Exit 13B on the Turnpike). Foiled by the mayor's bullies, Melvin is dumped into a vat of radioactive toxic waste, only to reemerge as The Toxic Avenger, New Jersey's first superhero. Affectionately known as Toxie, our new hero is a seven-foot mutant freak with superhuman strength and a heart as big as Newark. He's out to save New Jersey, end global warming, and woo the blind librarian in town. It's a toxic love story with an environmental twist! The Toxic Avenger will leave audiences laughing in the aisles as it rocks the house. Featuring a wailin' rock score, this comical musical has something for everyone to enjoy.
LOBBY HERO
Directed by Anne McEvoy
August 23-September 7
What happens when emotions come in conflict with principles, and how do choices under pressure define who we really are? The lobby of a Manhattan apartment building is much more than a waiting area for four New Yorkers involved in a murder investigation. It's a testing ground for what happens when personal and professional personas find themselves at odds. A young security guard with big ambitions clashes with his stern boss, an intense rookie cop and her unpredictable partner in a play from the 2017 Oscar-winning writer of Manchester by the Sea.
2019 Benefit: The Who's TOMMY
Music and Lyrics by Pete Townshend
Book by Pete Townshend & Des McAnuff,
Additional Music and Lyrics by John Entwistle & Keith Moon
September 13 & 14
Based on the iconic 1969 rock concept album, The Who's Tommy is an exhilarating story of hope, healing and the human spirit. The story of the pinball-playing, deaf, dumb and blind boy who triumphs over his adversities has inspired, amazed and puzzled audiences for more than 40 years. This five-time Tony Award-winning musical was translated to the stage by theatrical wizard, Des McAnuff, into a high-energy, one-of-a-kind theatrical event.
After witnessing the accidental murder of his mother's lover by his father, Tommy is traumatized into catatonia and, as the boy grows, he suffers abuse at the hands of his sadistic relatives and neighbors. As an adolescent, he's discovered to have an uncanny knack for playing pinball and, when his mother finally breaks through his catatonia, he becomes an international pinball superstar.
This CONCERT PRODUCTION is dedicated to raising money for Blank Canvas Theatre and celebrating our 8th season! This TWO NIGHT ONLY event will feature hors d'oeuvres and music from 7:00 to 7:50 pm, followed by an 8:00pm performance by some of Cleveland's most talented actor-singers performing a rarely produced musical! Come for the entire evening for only $35.
EVIL DEAD
Book and Lyrics by George Reinblatt
Music supervision by Frank Cipolla
Additional lyrics by Christopher Bond
Additional Music by Rob Daleman
Directed by: Patrick Ciamacco
Assistant Direction by Kristen Netzband
October 18 - November 2
Based on Sam Raimi's 80's cult classic films, Evil Dead: The Musical unearths the old familiar story: boy and friends take a weekend getaway at abandoned cabin, boy expects to get lucky, boy unleashes ancient evil spirit, friends turn into Candarian Demons, boy fights until dawn to survive. As musical mayhem descends upon this sleepover in the woods, "camp" takes on a whole new meaning with uproarious numbers like "All the Men in my Life Keep Getting Killed by Candarian Demons", "What the F&%* Was That?" and "Do the Necronomicon".
This show will have a SPLATTERZONE!!!
YIPEE KI-YAY MERRY CHRISTMAS
A Die Hard Musical Parody
Book & Lyrics by Michael Shepherd Jordan & Alex Garday
Music & Lyrics by Stephanie McCullough
Directed by: Patrick Ciamacco
December 6 - 21
THE CLEVELAND PREMIERE
"Yippee Ki-Yay, Merry Christmas: A Die Hard Musical Parody" is about grizzled NYPD cop Bruce McClane, and his quest to win back his estranged wife, Holly Generic, at her Christmas Eve office party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Sunny LA, 1987. German Terrorist, Hans Olo and his henchmen take the cast and audience hostage, and it is up to Bruce- with some help from the LAPD, FBI, and Arnold Schwartzen-Schnitzel - to save everyone before time runs out.
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