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E.J. Thomas Hall venue has theatrical atmosphere
By Elaine Guregian
Published on Friday, Sep 12, 2008
A velvet rope and guards wearing black lent a bit of club glamour to Thursday's preview opening of Stage Door, a new club on the University of Akron campus. Theatrical lighting and cutout letters marked the entrance on the actual stage door of E.J. Thomas Hall, where invited guests entered.
Inside, it was a whole new look. The stage and backstage area had become the seating area, with round tables covered by black tablecloths and topped with chunky candles on mirrors. The auditorium was almost invisible behind sparkly lights and a slightly raised stage area for the evening's performers.
'''We're not trying to start a new bar in town,'' said E.J. Thomas Hall's executive director, Dan Dahl, who was mingling with guests. ''This is a new club.''
The emphasis is on casual entertainment, but wine, liquor, beer and coffee will be available for purchase, along with fruit or cheese plates, snacks and desserts. The setup will seat up to 400 people at a cover of $10 for adults and $5 for UA students.
''This is going to be the new venue,'' enthusiastically predicted Pamela Baker, who called herself a neighborhood person with no affiliation with UA.
Of the older crowd of adults invited for the first act, some people wanted to sing along with Anne Cochran and her pianist, Rock Wehrmann, when they performed (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.
Students were invited to stop in later to hear Jared Campbell, a young singer/songwriter who is reportedly popular on campus.
Dahl saw Raul Midon, a contemporary soul singer/guitarist, perform in a small club in New York and booked him for Stage Door's official first night, Oct. 19.
The rest of the fall lineup ranges from the quirkily theatrical (New World Performance Laboratory's performance of Frankenstein) Nov. 8 to the UA Cabaret with Joe Augustine on Nov. 12 and country musician Corey Smith on Nov. 20.
For more, visit http://www.eventsatua.com
'Man of La Mancha'
A fully staged production of Man of La Mancha is first up on the University of Akron School of Music's Kulas Concert Series. The show continues at 8 tonight and Saturday and a final performance at 3 p.m. Sunday at Daum Theatre of Kolbe Hall, 328 Buchtel Common. Tickets cost $10, with discounts available.
The next event on the series is the Brass Band of the Western Reserve, with a single show at 3 p.m. Sept. 21. Call 330-972-8301.
'Main-Travelled Roads'
For many readers, Laura Ingalls Wilder personifies rural Wisconsin life around the turn of the 20th century. A contemporary of hers, Hamlin Garland, also covers that rugged territory in his writing, including the short-story collection called Main-Travelled Roads.
Actors' Summit Theater will perform a new musical version of Main-Travelled Roads in a preview Thursday. The show opens Sept. 19 and runs through Oct. 5 at 86 Owen Brown St., Hudson. Call 330-342-0800 for tickets.
With music by Paul Libman and book and lyrics by Dave Hudson, Main-Travelled Roads was developed at the Stages 2006 Festival of New Musicals in Chicago and at Madison Repertory Theater's Fall Festival of New Plays before opening by the American Folklore Theatre in 2007.
Libman and Hudson won the 2007 Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theatre for Main-Travelled Roads. The award was created by musical theater composer Rodgers to subsidize productions of new musicals by less-established creators. Past winners include Grey Gardens and Rent.
New to Actors' Summit in the four-member cast is Stephen Brockway, a graduate of Baldwin-Wallace College who has performed in Off-Broadway shows as well as at Northeast Ohio venues. He's a Cuyahoga Falls native and an Equity actor.
Elaine Guregian can be reached at 330-996-3574 or eguregian@thebeaconjournal.com
A velvet rope and guards wearing black lent a bit of club glamour to Thursday's preview opening of Stage Door, a new club on the University of Akron campus. Theatrical lighting and cutout letters marked the entrance on the actual stage door of E.J. Thomas Hall, where invited guests entered.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Akron, Oh
Posted 02:58 PM, 09/12/2008
Let's keep in mind the true function of The University of Akron Performing Arts Hall. That is to say: presenting nationally and internationally known, contemporary, rock, rhythm and jazz concerts on the stage with the 2,955 seat auditorium filled with UA students and their non-UA peers. This type of small potatoes entertainment is best left to the commons around the Student Union and Dorms as they have been in the past. UA did not build a multi-million dollar performing arts center paid for by its students just to present cheesy sock hops with free hot dogs and pizza on the pavement surrounding this campus facility. Leave the small hall stuff to other campus locations. E.J.T. staff and administration need to stop reinventing the wheel, get back inside the hall and start taking their job seriously by presenting major attractions that appeal to a large UA student audience. UA can do a lot better than Seether and Colby Callet. Where there is a will there is a way!
Akron, Oh
Posted 03:03 PM, 09/12/2008
Let's keep in mind the true function of The University of Akron Performing Arts Hall. That is to say: presenting nationally and internationally known, contemporary, rock, rhythm and jazz concerts on the stage with the 2,955 seat auditorium filled with UA students and their non-UA peers. This type of small potatoes entertainment is best left to the commons around the Student Union and Dorms as they have been in the past. UA did not build a multi-million dollar performing arts center paid for by its students just to present cheesy sock hops with free hot dogs and pizza on the pavement surrounding this campus facility. Leave the small hall stuff to other campus locations. E.J.T. staff and administration need to stop reinventing the wheel, get back inside the hall and start taking their job seriously by presenting major attractions that appeal to a large UA student audience. UA can do a lot better than Seether and Colby Callet. Where there is a will there is a way!
