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Cincinnati, OH Jan. 20 - Feb. 1, 2009; Aronoff Center for the Arts /20th Centur
Topic Started: Sep 26 2008, 09:51 AM (849 Views)
mouser
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FIFTIES QUESSTION:


2. The signature hit, "Unforgettable" was recorded by which of these unforgettable crooners in 1951?
Frank Sinatra.
Elvis Presley.
Nat King Cole.


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January, 20 - February 1, 2009

Aronoff Center for the Arts

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650 Walnut St
Cincinnati, OH 45202-2517
(513) 721-3344


TICKETS: Tickets are for sale beginning Dec. 5, 2008. They may be purchased through ticket agencies at a higher price; however.
Box Office: 513-369-4363

how to go

COST: $20-$71

MORE INFO: (513) 241-7469; www.broadwayacrossamerica.com


1/20 8 :00
1/21 8 :00
1/22 8:00
1/23 8:00
1/24 2:00
1/24 8:00
1/25 1:00
1/25 7:30
1/27 8:00
1/28 8:00
1/29 8:00
1/30 8:00
1/31 2:00
1/31 8:00
1/31 8:00
2/1 1:00
2/1 6:30

SEATING CAPACITY: 2719

SEATING CHART:


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THE VENUE:

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Procter & Gamble Hall is the Aronoff Center's largest theater and has a fully-equipped stage, state-of-the-art sound and lighting and a beautiful ceiling studded with 3,000 fiber optic lenses that create a starlight effect. The rich color scheme of terra-cotta, teal and ochre is accented with brass trim and cherry wood. Excellent sightlines and comfortable seating add to the enjoyment of any event.

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Caear Pella's design for the Arnonoff Center achieved the objectives of the Dallas Arts District by incorporating all its constituent institutions in one building, like the Kennedy Center. The Aronoff Center represents a radical departure from most cultural centers. It is not a collection of opulent marble monuments. it is not set on a pedestal, apart from the rest of the city. This simple brick and glass building opens directly onto the street, just like the bars and restaurants that its patrons enjoy on their way to and from a show. Perhaps that is why the Aronoff Center has been so quickly and inconspicuously integrated into daily life in Cincinnati.

images courtesy of www.cincinnatiarts.org

RESTAURANTS AND HOTELS:

http://www.cincinnatiarts.org/aronoff/restaurants Restaurants

http://hotel-guides.us/ohio/aronoff-center-arts-oh-hotels.html Hotels
http://www.vacationsmadeeasy.com/CincinnatiOH/lodging/CincinnatiOHDowntownHotels.cfm

POINTS OF INTEREST:

Carew Tower -
441 Vine Street, Cincinnati, Ohio (OH), 45202, USA
Tel: +1 513 241 3888

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Carew Tower is the tallest building in Cincinnati and one of the city's most recognized landmarks. Built in 1931 in the Art-Deco style; the sweeping vistas from the observation deck are quite breathtaking.
Cincinnati landmark open: Monday to Thursday - 09:30 to 17:30, Friday and Saturday - 09:30 to 21:00, Sunday - 11:00 to 17:00
Cincinnati landmark admission: free

American Sign Museum

Museums have been around for a long time, for many years in fact. The mention of museums usually has us thinking of art or artwork displays. The American Sign Museum in Cincinnati, OH is an entirely different kind of museum. While you will find displays there and a certain kind of art, it's a museum, as you'll never imagine.

Started by Tod Swormstedt in 2005, the American Sign Museum in Cincinnati, OH is all about signs-big signs, little signs, old and new signs. Genetically, Todd has every reason to love signs, since his great-grandfather was the first editor or 'Signs of the Times', a magazine for and all about the sign industry.

Some of the most popular items are a pair of eyeglasses, a large boot, a globe circled by a ring of neon cars, a neon windmill and probably the earliest painting anyone ever seen of Col. Sanders.

The museum, a non-profit organization, was originally started in 1999 under the name National Signs of the Times Museum, but was changed in 2001 to American Sign Museum, its present name. The museum is inside the Essex Studio building and consists of an 800 square foot lobby, a display area 3800 square feet, an 1100 square foot restoration shop and an 800 square foot room for storage of an overflow of signs that are restored.


Betts House
416 Clark Street,
Cincinnati,, OH.

Betts House in Cincinnati, Ohio is Ohio's oldest brick house. It was built in 1804 and is now the Betts House Research Center. The facility is dedicated to studying building traditions and building materials.


Cincinnati Zoo :

www.cincinnatizoo.org

3540 Beldare Ave
Cincinnati, OH 45220
(513) 961-1870

Zoos are always wonderful places to visit!!!

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This picture is of the Diana Monkey which is apparently very hard to photograph ( camera shy maybe ??)

MEDIA AND REVIEWS:

1.
http://www.middletownjournal.com/hp/content/oh/story/entertainment/theater/2009/01/16/go011609grease.html



Taylor Hicks 'Grease'-ing his way into acting
Flashy role 'Taylorized' made for American Idol champ
By Richard O Jones

Staff Writer

Friday, January 16, 2009

CINCINNATI — Although he's never done any acting, "American Idol" Season 5 winner Taylor Hicks thought that a Broadway show like "Grease" would be an effective lubricant for his career.

And even though his character, Teen Angel, has only one number in the show, Hicks was still able to make an auspicious acting debut suspended in an ice cream cone 45 feet over a Broadway stage.

On Jan. 20, he reprises that feat when the national tour of "Grease," in which the American Idol plays the part of Teen Angel, the spirit that tries to convince Frenchy to finish high school.

"It was an intense way to start an acting career," Hicks said. "But she stays in school every show, so I must be doing OK."

He said he wanted to make the transition to acting slowly by taking a smallish, but flashy and important, part.

"I'd been offered bigger roles," he said, "but for me, my career is a marathon, not a sprint, and I wanted to do something that I could build on. This particular role seemed a good way to do that."

In addition to the grand entrance, Hicks said that he has been allowed to "Taylorize" the role — both costume-wise and musically, including the insertion of a harmonica solo into "Beauty School Drop-Out."

The tour also features Allie Schultz, a singer and actress who also first came to the national spotlight via a television talent contest, "Grease: You're the One That I Want," the series that prompted this production, which opened on Broadway on Aug. 19, 2007.

Though Schulz did not win the competition, she understudied the roles of Sandy, Cha-Cha and Patty on Broadway before joining the national tour in the role of Rizzo.

The tour also features Eric Schneider as "Danny" and Emily Padgett as "Sandy." Schneider made his Broadway debut in "Jersey Boys" and has also appeared in "Altar Boyz" both off-Broadway and national tour. Padgett also comes from the Broadway cast of "Grease," where she understudied Sandy. Her other credits include the national tours of "Cats" and "Thoroughly Modern Millie."



2.

'Grease' is flat, charmless
Theater Review
By Jackie Demaline • jdemaline@enquirer.com • January 21, 2009



“Grease” opened its two-week Cincinnati engagement on Inauguration night, and watching it made me think not just optimistic thoughts about hope and change but an end to the cynicism that inspires the exhuming of too many Broadway revivals.

Call me old-fashioned, but I like to care about the characters in “Grease.”


Sure, there’s a veritable American Bandstand of tunes, and they are dandy and well sung, but far more interesting than the blonde purity of heroine Sandy and Danny, her leather-jacketed Romeo, it’s fun to root for tough girl Rizzo, and ever-in-love Marty, beauty school drop-out Frenchy and the romance of chubbies Jan and Roger.

Born of a reality TV show in which the winning contestants won roles on Broadway, this tour is a flat and charmless, bump-and-grind edition of “Grease.”

In case you have somehow missed stage and screen versions for the last almost 40 years, the show is set in 1959, when Sandy (Emily Padgett) and Danny (Eric Schneider) meet at Rydell High after a summer romance. She’s a nice girl, he’s a bad boy. This is the musical story of how the twain meet.

Maybe the producers have figured that America has grown up and away from the joyful original, sneakily packed with teen issues (which somehow never change.)
This production seems to be embarrassed by itself – why else all the winking self-awareness?

Everybody gets the job done, but you never lose the feeling that for the people on stage this is work. Several of them look long-in-the-tooth to be at Rydell, no matter how many times they’ve failed.

And I gotta say, this time around hero Danny comes off as what we used to call a pill. A little more inner life would have helped.

The producers are also saving money on the set, which isn’t much different than what you’d see in a first-rate high school production. The $60 top ticket is steep for what you get.

The real star of this tour was also born of a reality TV show. “American Idol” Taylor Hicks has a second act cameo as the Teen Angel, a Frankie Avalon-type who comes down from above to sing the riot act to Frenchy, and get her back into high school.

The opening night audience greeted Hicks’ second act cameo with bigger applause than anything in the show had gotten to that point; Hicks vamped through his scene and showed off the voice that won the votes of millions.
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090121/ENT/90121004/1176

“Grease” starts with a lengthy pre-show, which features hits from The Day; announcements about sponsors, birthdays and anniversaries; goofs on Rabbit Hash and Norwood; a sing-along and a dancing in your seats session. (You’ll twist like you did last summer.)

It successfully got the audience in the mood, but didn’t win everybody over completely. For that a production has to deliver the goods.

“Grease,” through Feb. 1, Broadway Across America, Aronoff Center for the Arts Procter & Gamble Hall, 513-241-7469. Visit www.CinStages.com for more Cincinnati theater news and reviews.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090121/ENT/90121004/1176



3.

Grease (Review)
Classic story lacks much plot, but it can dance
By Rick Pender . . . . . . .

The musical Grease has been around for nearly four decades. It was fun and retro back in 1972, but 37 years later it’s more like a cartoon, at least in the touring version currently at the Aronoff.

Did people really act like that? Well, yes. But you can see the same shenanigans and cardboard characters in reruns of Happy Days. So do we really need this odd tale about teen conformity?

The show’s 1978 film was a hit with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John singing several tunes not in the original stage version. The touring show, based on a 2007 Broadway revival that just closed, includes four of those songs: “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” “Sandy,” “You’re the One That I Want” and the title number, used as the show’s big, energetic opening. This version of Grease has tons of energy, especially in dance sequences. But the musical is hopelessly lacking a coherent plot, so my engine never really started.

Nevertheless, many in the audience had fun hearing tunes they remembered. (This production even uses Grease’s DJ, Vic Fontaine, played by Dominic Fortuna, as a warm-up act about 10 minutes before the show starts. He ably sings a few familiar hits from the era and gets the audience to sing along.) The best part of this production is the lively choreography, especially “Born to Hand-Jive,” which the youthful cast dances with zeal.

Many are attending this production to check out Taylor Hicks, the American Idol winner from 2006 in a cameo as Teen Angel, a role he began during the revival’s Broadway run. He wears a glittering suit and descends from an immense ice cream cone, but his song (“Beauty School Dropout”) doesn’t give him much to do, even though he’s backed up by a quartet wearing hair-drying bonnets. He returns during the curtain call to sing again, but if you’re really a fan, buying his next recording (out in early February) might be more satisfying.
Eric Schneider poses with lots of attitude as Danny Zuko, and Emily Padgett, who has a lovely soprano voice, makes Sandy Dumbrowski’s illogical transition from pretty prude to slinky slut. But I found myself mostly bored by Grease, a piece of quaint musical theater history that fails to offer much to audiences in 2009.

http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/article-17028-grease-(review).html


4.
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5. Promo For Grease




6. Fox 8 with Kenny Crumpton 5/11/10




7. Fox 8 with Robin Swoboda : 5/11/10




8. WDOK_Trapper Jack and Terry Morning Show Audio Interview :
http://www.zshare.net/audio/912141923c5fa502/








SOUL PATROL MEMORIES:

1. WOOTaylor

Tuesday January 20th 8pm
The house was approximately 95-98% full
....Vince Fontaine came out to warm the crowd up and did a fine jobs getting peeps to move and sing and laugh. He did a terrific job of incorporating local references. He was a talented triple threat. The musical's strengths for us were the youthful energy, crisp choreography, and several standout vocal solos.

....Taylor was in fine voice.... Falsetto was great and his ascension. He may have fumbled getting out the harp because he was humming at the top and I was like, oh no the song is going to run out!¨ but he pulled it out much to the loud appreciation of the crowd. He loves to hang on the backbeat!

.... he was listed as the dance captain. And the traveling orchestra is 5 people, 3 with synthesizers. Pretty sad as the music is a large part of Grease's charm.

Posted Imagecourtesy of anothertayfan

2. Jenni Jac 1/21

The first pleasant surprise of the night was that there was an insert in every program advertising Taylor's shadow show in Oakley (which we went to and I will post a recap later). The insert was a pic of the new album and it was professionally printed on heavy card stock.

I saw LOTs of kids and teenagers at the show that night.When the Vince Fontaine character warmed up the audience, he mentioned the groups, one from a high school and one from a middle school. We really enjoyed the Vince Fontaine character, and I thought he looked a lot like John Travolta. The other actor we thought was a standout was Allie Schultz's character Rizzo. Her solo of "There Are Worse Things I Could Do" was the next best vocal performance of the night after Taylor's, and her acting and stage presence seemed to be a cut above the rest as well.

....have been a fan of the suit, since I first saw it, but to see it onstage under the lights brought it to a whole new level. The sparkling of the rhinestones under the stage lights I guess, is something video cannot capture, because it was intense whenever he moved around, to say it sparkled was an understatement...the whole thing literally exploded into hundreds of tiny flashes whenever he moved.

....On the way out, I heard a man behind me tell someone "Taylor Hicks- wow, he can really belt out a song!" That was great to hear.

Posted Imagecourtesy of anothertayfan


3. January 31 , 2009
anothertayfan

A few of us went last night to see Grease.Even though we nearly froze to death,it was worth it!It was my first time seeing the road version.Taylor got the loudest applause of the night when that ice cream cone opened!Everybody laughed when Frenchy told him she voted for him.She also told him he was a sexy little devil!He never came out to the stage door,but I don't blame him for that.You wouldn't believe how cold it is here!

evening show : I had one of the best times of my life again last night thanks to Taylor!We went to both of the shows yesterday.The shows were the same as usual with one exception.In the afternoon show when Taylor butted butts with Frenchy she said "Don't temp me"in a little evil voice.It was hillarious!During the evening show her responce was "Sweet Jesus"!Taylor got the loudest responce in both of the sold out shows!After the last show

Posted Imagecourtesy of coder 1/31 matinee

4. Shanna writes in her blog: Angela and I also went to see "Grease" @ the Aaronoff and it was a good mix of the movie and the musical. We loved it! It also helped us remember why we were apart of the "Soul Patrol" in 2006 because Taylor Hicks played Teen Angel! Oh, how we missed him! Haha


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