Beck Center for the Arts, in collaboration with Solon Center for the Arts, is proud to announce Focus 2010, a photography competition bringing communities together through art. Amateur photographers (adults and students) are eligible to submit their competition entries no later than April 10, 2010. The competition is juried with cash awards in all categories—people/portraits, architecture/cityscape, nature/landscape, animals, botanicals, macro, and “Best in Show.” Applications are available on the Beck Center website at www.beckcenter.org. An opening ceremony, which is open to the public, will be held 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Friday, April 23 at the Solon Community Center at 35000 Portz Parkway. The FOCUS 2010 photography exhibition will be on display May 4 through May 23, 2010, at the Beck Center for the Arts, 17801 Detroit Avenue in Lakewood. For exhibition hours, call the Beck Center at 216.521.2540 ext. 10.

Is He Dead? revolves around a small group of friends living in Paris during the turn of the century attempting to make ends meet in any way they can. Trapped by a contract, painter Jean-François Millet owes either his paintings or an enormous sum of money to the despicable Bastien Andre. While considering buying one of Millet’s paintings a potential customers asks, “Is he dead?” and explains that an artist is so much more talented once he or she is deceased. Millet’s companions Chicago, Dutchy, and O’Shaughnessy are inspired by this question and decide to fake Millet’s death in order to drive up the prices of his paintings. They decide that it would be best if it were an exotic, drawn out disease during which they can really milk the art world for all it’s worth. But there’s only one problem: what to do with the real Millet who is still alive and well? The answer turns out to be quit simple: why, put him in drag, of course!

The PTA Reflections Program is an annual art contest sponsored by the National PTA.  The program offers students from preschool through grade 12 the opportunity to create a piece of art around a particular theme in one of six categories: literature, dance choreography, film/video production, musical composition, photography, and visual arts (which includes, but is not limited to, art forms such as drawing, painting, printmaking, and collage).  The theme for the 2009-10 program was “Beautiy Is…”  Entries are collected and judged blindly at the unit, council, state and finally national PTA level, with 24 pieces advancing at each step. 

The Lakewood PTA takes an active role in promoting the PTA Reflections Program throughout its nine eligible units: Lakewood Early Childhood PTA (LECPTA), Roosevelt Elementary PTA, Horace Mann Elementary PTA, Harrison Elementary PTA, Grant Elementary PTA, Lincoln Elementary PTA, Garfield Middle School PTA, Harding Middle School PTA, and Lakewood High School PTA.  This year Lakewood had a total of 353 entries at the unit (school) level with the largest number of entries from Grant Elementary School (91) and Harding Middle School (65).  

Did you know that students who study the arts have significantly higher verbal and math SAT scores than those with no experiences with the arts? According to the National Governors Association for Best Practices, children who study the arts are: four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement; three times more likely to be elected to class office in their schools; four times more likely to participate in a math or science fair; and three times more likely to win an award for school attendance.

This holiday season, take off on a high-flying adventure as the Beck Center for the Arts presents Peter Pan, a musical based on the classic play by J.M. Barrie, on the Mackey Main Stage, December 4, 2009, through January 3, 2010. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Fridays, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays (no matinee performance on December 5), and 2:30 p.m. Sundays. There is a special 7:30 p.m. performance on two Sundays: December 27 and January 3. There will be no performances on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. 

Updated application guidelines for Cuyahoga Arts and Culture’s two principal funding programs are now available on the Cuyahoga Arts and Culture (CAC) website (www.cacgrants.org). CAC General Operating Support (GOS) and Project Support (PS) guidelines, each presented as a separate document, detail for prospective applicants—and the broader community—the processes by which grant dollars will be distributed to arts and cultural organizations in 2011 and 2012. 

One of the nation’s most significant sources of local public funding for arts and culture, CAC supports nonprofit organizations in Cuyahoga County, Ohio with the proceeds of a ten-year levy on cigarette sales approved by voters in 2006. Having made awards totaling more than $33.5 million in just over two years, CAC is a vital resource for organizations and institutions throughout Cuyahoga County struggling to navigate the challenges of the current economy while sustaining the stellar quality for which they are known. General Operating Support grants account for the majority of CAC grantmaking. Currently, sixty-three area nonprofits receive a combined total of $14.9 million in CAC General Operating Support each year while Project Support grants totaling nearly $1.8 million have been awarded since 2008. According to CAC interim executive director Meg Harris, organizations that wish to obtain a grant from CAC must first submit an Intent to Apply form and eligibility documentation. Intent to Apply forms and instructions for their completion can be downloaded from the CAC website.  These materials must be received at CAC’s downtown Cleveland office by 4:30 pm on:  

While Halloween may have ended almost three weeks ago, patrons of Lakewood’s Phoenix Café might have a different story to tell. Upon entering this humble establishment, even the regular customers find themselves looking over their shoulders to catch a glimpse of a werewolf…or two. The walls are practically teeming with skeletons, robots and nightmarish creatures that almost defy description.

Local artists Liam Hoban, 23, and Evan Lang, 24, have taken one of Lakewood’s most popular hangouts hostage with their art for the month of November. 

The West End of Lakewood was transformed into a spooky art gallery this Halloween by over 100 Lakewood students in grades K-12 in the 5th Annual West End Halloween Window Walk. Over 80 Lakewood business store front windows were painted with images of witches, cobwebs, pumpkins, ghosts – even a fantastic depiction of a monsters vs. skeletons basketball game!

Beck Center for the Arts invites you to take a sneak peek of the exciting new classes we are offering next semester by checking out the winter/spring 2010 class catalog, now available online at www.beckcenter.org. Dance with a former Radio City Rockette; throw a pot on our new electric wheel; train to be a Tony Award winner. Enroll in one of more than 140 classes offered each week in dance, music, theater, and visual arts at the Beck Center, winner of the 2009 “Best of the West” award for both Music and Dance Education by West Shore Magazine. Classes fill up fast, so register today! Call 216.521.2540 x10 to sign up for classes.

Scott Ditzenberger, 38, a local Lakewoodite who has a passion for surfing and film, recently premiered his debut film “Out of Place: A Portrait of Surfing in Cleveland, Ohio.” Born in San Diego and raised on the shores of New Jersey, Scott moved to Ohio with his family just after graduating high school in 1991. “When I saw the expanse of [Lake Erie], I was overwhelmed by it,” says Ditzenberger. “And filed away in the back of my mind was this memory that you could surf the Great Lakes. It was an urban legend just sort of in the back of my mind. And sure enough a friend drove up from Akron, where we were living, at the first storm. And not only were there waves on the lake, there were surfers.”

Super Saturdays @ Beck Center

Musician’s Hall of Fame 2009 Induction Ceremony - Review

On Wednesday, October 7, 2009 master acoustic guitarist Brian Henke appeared at an open-mic event at Lakewood's new Beck Center Cafe. Brian and I go way back to the days when he dragged around his guitar in an old sack, and played the guitar using his thumbnail for a pick! On his website, it tells that Brian was a winner of many acoustic and electric guitar awards, and that Brian's also been a finalist in the National Fingerstyle Contest in Winfield, Kansas. His successes also include being a finalist at the Guitarmageddon regional finals in Boston, as well as being in the New Age Reporters Top 10 for 2006.

See the unveiling of Lakewood’s newest public art on Thursday, October 15, 2009, 5 p.m., at Beck Center for the Arts, 17801 Detroit Avenue.  Mayor Edward FitzGerald will lead the celebration of the unveiling of the new outdoor mural by artist Natasha Turovsky and the dedication of the Red Stage Courtyard at the Beck Café. The Beck Café is a winner of the 2009 Beautiful Business Award from the Keep Lakewood Beautiful Committee. A reception and a special performance by pianist Vanessa Haynes will follow the ceremony in Daniels Lounge at the Beck Center. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 216.521.2540 x10. Born in Russia, Natasha Turovsky is a Montreal-based surrealist artist, professional musician, and filmmaker whose work has been acclaimed throughout the United States and Canada.  Her works are in many private and corporate collections in the U.S., Canada, England, Spain, France, Russia, China, and Iran.

As a subject for a musical, the plight of a Jewish community in Tsarist Russia could be depressingly bleak. But the charm of Fiddler on the Roof is that it's a story not only of suffering but of humor, grace, and hope. The play, set in 1905 in the village of Anatevka, centers on Tevya, a milkman, and his efforts to keep his family's religious traditions alive in the face of outside influences. His three oldest daughters choose husbands that fall increasingly further from the family customs and the Tsar eventually evicts the Jews from their village.The play's title is a reference to a painting by Marc Chagall, the Russian Jewish painter. The fiddler was a recurring figure in his work, often shown floating over Russian villages. The enigmatic fiddler maintains tradition and joyfulness despite a precarious position, just as the villagers of Anatevka adapt to life's changes and mix of "happiness and tears." 

At the Beck Center, we are proud of the tradition we’ve established as a premiere arts resource for the region. We will continue to present exceptional theater productions, showcase talented local actors and critically acclaimed directors, and provide top-quality arts education and exhibitions. But ever so often traditions need to be tweaked. And we’re very excited about some changes we think will better serve you.  

Earthy colors, are used in the natural state of this rattlesnake, the display has won awards when shown in competition. Come see it up close it will be at the Carabel Beauty Salon & Store from 6:00 to 8:00 PM on the second Sat of Oct. Come in costume for the first halloween party of the season. We will be giving away pumpkin product to all who dare to dress up. Tom Fencl is the artist/ taxidermist.

For five weeks this fall, Lakewood’s HiFi Concert Club will transform into the stage for one of contemporary musical theater’s most intriguing and colorful icons: Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

Architects Robert Donaldson of Lakewood and Jim Fish of the Detroit Shoreway Neighborhood are finalists for the Dwell Reburbia competition.  The international competition requires future-forward architects, urban designers, and planners to re-envision the suburbs in light of the credit crunch and rising energy costs.
 
The duo’s entry entitled ‘EChO-Mansion’ proposes reutilizing foreclosed houses for on-site renewable energy generation, rainwater collection, and vegetation.  The pair believes that by utilizing the shell of a house in such manner, the house could effectively offset its initial carbon footprint and those of the surrounding homes.
 
The entry is currently viewable online and is competing for a “People’s Choice” award. 
 
When questioned about comments received by the public during the online voting, Donaldson stated, “The responses received from the public have been insightful and will be taken into consideration when we design future projects.  EChO-Mansion gave us a unique opportunity to develop more efficient renewable energy resources while also examining the current collapse of the housing market.”

Fish added, “We wanted to find a balance between the wild ideas asked of us and something that is ultimately 'pull-offable' and that doesn’t need the addition of lots of extra construction.”
 
The competition winners will be announced on August 17, and the winning projects will be published in the December 2009 issue of Dwell Magazine.
 
The Reburbia competition is sponsored by Dwell Magazine and the online resource Inhabitat.
 
For more information, visit: http://www.re-burbia.com/finalists/ or http://www.re-burbia.com/2009/08/03/echo-mansion/.

The glam-rock spectacle of Hedwign & the Angry Inch is returning to Cleveland. The smash transgender musical returns for a five week run, opening Friday, September 4th. The production will play every weekend until closing on Friday, October 3rd. Original Cleveland cast members Dan Folino (Hedwig), Alison Garrigan (Yitzhak), and Dennis Yurich (Skszp) will bring the musical to life again, joined by Brian Hager (Kryshtoff), Jason Giaco (Schlatko), and Derek Poindexter (Jacek). The Angry Inch band will be the members of Cleveland's premier glam-rock band, Vanity Crash.

This theatrical run will be uniquely presented in an actual night club, which works well with the musical's setting, which happens to be a night club itself. The Hi-Fi Concert Club in Lakewood will be host to Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
 
Hedwig and the Angry Inch premiered in Cleveland eight years ago at Cleveland Public Theatre. Featuring Cleveland's musical voice Dan Folino (Evil Dead, Sweeney Todd, Beauty and the Beast, Jekyll and Hyde), the sold out run was "…easily, the highest grossing revenue production in CPT's twenty year history" (James A. Levin) attracting a diverse audience including Hedwig devotees from around the world, young kids, hipsters, middle-aged and older folks alike.
 
Hailed as the "Rocky Horror Picture Show" of this generation, Hedwig and the Angry Inch is the story of an ambitious glam-rocker who comes to America after making a great sacrifice, determined to find fame, fortune and his "other half".

Seven artists who participated in the 32nd annual Lakewood Arts Festival on August 1 were the recipients of special recognition for the quality of their work. Judges this year were Karen Beckwith, Shelly DiCello, and Susan Kaesgen, all from the Cleveland, OH area. Altogether over 160 artists were on hand to display and sell their work as part of this annual event.

Congratulations to the winners and thank you to the sponsors. 

Once known only for shops of antiques and collectibles, Lakewood is becoming an exciting hub in Northeast Ohio's arts community. With ample commercial real estate available, it is a thriving location for dedicated gallery owners to open their doors, a place for emerging and established artists to show art, and a place for enthusiasts and collectors to experience art.

The Lakewood Arts Festival, in addition to sponsoring the annual juried art show on August 1 this year, has awarded scholarships for college study in the arts to two high school students who are residents of Lakewood.

Judges for the annual juried art exhibitors at the Lakewood Arts Festival have been selected, and will be evaluating all of the artists at the Festival on Saturday, August 1.

The Three Arts Club of Lakewood announces that six local area students have won scholarship grants in the performing arts for further college study.  Each grant of $1,000 is awarded to the students based on auditions held in June and judged by local professional musicians.

On June 6th an innovative new idea in shopping unveiled itself in the heart of Lakewood in the guise of The Eclectic Mixx.  This new gallery, located at the intersection of Detroit and Summit Road, offers shoppers the opportunity to select from a wide variety of home furnishings, ladies accessories, collectibles, glassware, hand-crafted jewelry, pottery, antiques and art designed and crafted by local artisans.  Special areas of the gallery are dedicated to the display of local artists such as Lucian Bartosik, Jan’s Pottery, Scott Macgregor, and Beaches, Inc. who design beach glass jewelry.  Quite simply, The Eclectic Mixx gives shoppers more variety and choice then any gallery or shop in the area.

We have great news! The Nord Family Foundation has issued a challenge grant to the Beck Center.
 
For every dollar we raise from individuals in the community between now and August 31, 2009, the foundation will match those contributions dollar-for-dollar up to $15,000!
 
Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution and helping us meet the challenge! Your support will allow us to continue to stage innovative and exciting theater and provide our many educational programs for children, adults, aspiring artists, and underserved communities.
 
To make a secure donation, visit our website at www.beckcenter.org, call 216.521.2540 x19, or stop by the Beck Center box office at 17801 Detroit Avenue in Lakewood.
 
Any contribution, of any size, is much appreciated. Your support truly makes a difference, and thanks to the challenge grant, you’ll know your donation is worth double!

Upon selecting their latest book, the Blue Moon Book Club, which has been meeting regularly in Lakewood for the past 11 years, had no idea where it would lead. The book, “The Baby Thief, The Untold Story of Georgia Tann, The Baby Seller Who Corrupted Adoption”, was chosen from a list of books recommended as good summer reads. After the club chose this book, the members realized that the author, Barbara Bisantz Raymond, currently resided in Lakewood. With that in mind, they sent an email to the author inviting her to their discussion of the book. To their surprise, she accepted the invite!

Lakewood, OH—Warmer weather ushers in the party season for Clevelanders, and what better way to celebrate the season than the Beck Center for the Arts Spring Fling! Summer Socials! 2009, June through July 2009. This collection of unique and art-focused events is held in some of the west side’s most fabulous homes and hosted by devoted fans of the Beck. All proceeds benefit the Beck Center’s professional theater and arts education program. 

"These tough times are trying, but this is when giving matters most."      

Beck Center would like to thank the community for its recent overwhelming support. On March 31, we sent an urgent appeal to the community to secure much needed short-term funds, and you responded loud and clear! In just one month, we received $151,295 from more than 800 donors, which exceeded our goal of $150,000!

A cabin in the woods. The Book of the Dead. Zombies. Aggressive trees. Sexy college students. A wayward hand. Lots of catchy show tunes. Beck Center presents the Cleveland premiere of Evil Dead: The Musical in the Studio Theater now through June 14. Sam Raimi’s cult classic 1980s films are brought to life in this campy show. Show times are 8:00 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3:00 p.m. Sundays.  During spring break, five college students break into an abandoned cabin in the woods and unleash evil spirits. All hell breaks loose, and the fun soon ensues with zombies…and show tunes! Written by George Reinblatt, with music by Frank Cipolla, Christopher Bond, Melissa Morris, and George Reinblatt, Evil Dead: The Musical delights with such tunes as “What the F*** Was That,” “Bit Part Demon,” “All the Men in My Life Keep Getting Killed by Candarian Demons,” and the Rocky Horror Picture Show-inspired “Do the Necronomicon.”

Your heart will soar when the slipper fits! Audiences young and old will cherish that special moment when the Beck Center’s Youth Theater presents Rodgers & Hammerstein’s classic musical adaptation of the timeless fairy tale Cinderella, May 1-9, 2009, on the Mackey Main Stage. The show features such unforgettable songs as In My Own Little Corner, Ten Minutes Ago, Impossible, and Do I Love You Because You’re Beautiful? Show times are 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3:00 p.m. on May 3 and 9. There is a student matinee 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, May 7.

Buoyant laughs and pleasant chatter greet me at the door, as well as the wafting smell of fresh donuts and coffee. Ballerinas are prancing around in their tutus while their parents watch over them, and people are admiring the artwork displayed on the walls. The CAST is carrying in the costumes for the upcoming performance of Cinderella, and anxious mothers are already in line waiting to purchase tickets for the classic children’s show. I make my way back behind the Patron Services desk to start work and step back for a moment to observe the environment around me; it’s another extraordinary Saturday here at the Beck Center for the Arts.   

When I received a postcard from the Beck Center about their latest production, The Farnsworth Invention, I took notice. It is a dramatic play about two scientists, Philo Farnsworth and David Sarnoff, competing for the patent rights for the greatest invention of the 20th century – the television.  

I am not a staff member of Beck Center, although I was a volunteer there for many years and my children attended classes at Lakewood Little Theatre. I took note because my father, Charles Clio Shumard, was intimately involved with the development of television during the early years. Dad worked for RCA with David Sarnoff in Camden, New Jersey after the invention of television. My father co-invented the two-way radio walkie-talkie with Alfred J. Gross (who coincidentally grew up in Cleveland and attended Case School of Applied Sciences, now part of Case Western Reserve University).

It may be winter in Cleveland, but it’s always summer at Grey Gardens. That’s the East Hampton estate of Jackie Kennedy’s eccentric aunt and cousin, Edith Bouvier Beale and her adult daughter “Little” Edie. The Beck Center is proud to present the Cleveland premiere of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Grey Gardens, based on the 1975 cult-documentary of the same name.

The Beck Center for the Arts, in collaboration with Solon Center for the Arts, is proud to announce Focus 2009, a photography competition bringing communities together through art. Amateur photographers (adults and students) are eligible to submit their competition entries no later than February 27, 2009. The competition is juried with cash awards in all categories—people/portraits, architecture/cityscape, nature/landscape, animals, botanicals, macro, and “Best in Show.”  Applications are available on the Beck Center website at www.beckcenter.org.  

What happens when American royalty falls? Beck Center presents the Cleveland premiere of Grey Gardens, the three-time Tony Award-winning musical, in the Studio Theater February 27 through March 29. Based on the 1975 cult-documentary of the same name, Grey Gardens is the hilarious yet heartbreaking story of Jackie Kennedy’s delightfully eccentric aunt and cousin, Edith Bouvier Beale and her adult daughter “Little” Edie. Show times are 8:00 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3:00 p.m. Sundays. There is no performance on Saturday, February 28.   

“They hear it come out, but they don’t know how it got there. They don’t understand that’s life’s way of talking. You don’t sing to feel better. You sing ‘cause that’s a way of understanding life.”  — Ma Rainey  

What happens when the lives of modern-day researchers intersect with that of 19th Century poet and adventurer Lord Byron? A ravishingly comedic mystery ensues! Beck Center Teen Theater presents Arcadia, written by famed British playwright Tom Stoppard, in the Studio Theater, January 30 through February 8. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3:00 p.m. Sundays. Nominated for three Tony Awards, Arcadia takes us back and forth in time between 1809 and the present, as a writer, a literature professor, and a post-graduate student in mathematical biology investigate a mysterious chapter in the life of Lord Byron. The play examines the philosophical questions of art, science, and history and how they intersect. Although the characters’ personalities and perspectives vary widely, their stories come together in the end, and the mystery is solved. It’s a heady piece, but Stoppard relates the story with verbal wit and sophisticated humor.