Fri Feb 03 2012
by April Helms
Special Products Editor
Weathervane Playhouse's production of "The Great White Hope" received a standing ovation at the end of its opening night performance April 2.
The audience's enthusiasm is understandable. The play, produced with the cooperation of Karamu House, The Ensemble Theatre and Weathervane, feels cinematic at times. Terrence Spivey of Karamu House directed the show both at Karamu and Weathervane.
The story centers on Jack Jefferson, a prize-winning boxer who is a fictionalized version of Jack Johnson, the American fighter who in 1908 became the first black heavyweight champion of the world. This does not sit well with many members of the white community, who go in search for someone to defeat him. Complicating things further is Jefferson's relationship with Eleanor Bachman, a white woman, as well as Jefferson's flamboyant nature, which piques members of both races.
The show stars Anthony Elfonzia Nickerson-El as Jack Jefferson, Ursula Cataan as Eleanor Bachman and Cuyahoga County Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones as Tick. The cast includes more than 40 actors from the Cleveland and Akron area.
Ticket and show information
"The Great White Hope" plays on Weathervane Playhouse's Founders Theater stage through April 18.
Performance days and times are Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m.
Tickets are $21. There will be $19 tickets for seniors and college students for Thursday and Sunday performances. Tickets for children ages 17 and younger are $17. Discounted tickets are also available for groups of 12 or larger.
Due to language and adult situations, "The Great White Hope" is not recommended for children under the age of 13.
The theater is at 1301 Weathervane Lane in Akron, in Merriman Valley.
For tickets, call the Weathervane box office at 330-836-2626 or visit www.weathervaneplayhouse.com online.
Next on stage
Weathervane Playhouse will next produce "Italian American Reconciliation," which will open April 29 and run through May 16.
Next season
Weathervane Playhouse also announced its 2010-11 season.
The mainstage series will open with "They're Playing Our Song," a musical comedy by Neil Simon, Marvin Hamlisch and Carole Bayer Sager. The play will run from Sept. 9 through 26. Following will be "Breaking the Code" by Hugh Whitemore, which will run from Oct. 7 through 24.
"Quilters," a musical by Molly Newman and Barbara Damashek, will be the first mainstage play of 2011, running from Feb. 3 through 20. Next will be "A View From the Bridge" by Arthur Miller, which will run from March 24 through April 10. Larry Shue's comedy "The Nerd" will then be staged from April 28 through May 15. The mainstage series will close with the musical "Pippin," by Stephen Schwartz and Roger O. Hirson, which will be staged June 2 through 26.
Weathervane's Dietz Theater series will include "Long Day's Journey Into Night" by Eugene O'Neill, which will run from Oct. 28 through Nov. 13; and "Crumbs from the Table of Joy" by Lynn Nottage which will run from Jan. 13 through 29.
The Young Actor series will include "Seussical, The Musical" by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, which will be staged from July 30 through Aug. 15. The theater also will bring back "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" for its 11th year at Weathervane from Nov. 23 through Dec. 19. A spring show, which will be staged in March, will be announced.
Weathervane also will stage "A Tuna Christmas" from Dec. 2 through 18.
E-mail: ahelms@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3153
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