The amazing Peter Pan cast had a very special treat when, after the curtain call Mr. Bob Siegfried demonstrated playing the player piano he donated to the theatre.  The young actors and many in the audience sang together the favorites: “Following the Leader, Never Smile at a Crocodile, You Can Fly! I Won’t Grow Up”  It was truly a magical moment.

Here is what some of the audience members said:
“Awesome! Amazing! I would come here every weekend if you had a show”, Karen Guilford, homemaker
“I was very impressed with the cast, everyone seemed to fit really well into their parts”, Joe Kemphaus, college student
“We thought it was GREAT. Costumes were great and we loved the piano” Felicia

This weekend marked the official launch of the Clifton Performance Theatre, Clifton’s first neighborhood theatre for children and adults.

The Theatre’s first season opened with four sold out performances of Alice in Wonderland, with two casts of nearly 35 kids ages 5-13. The young performers come from across the Tri-State, some as far as Fort Kent, KY and Guilford, IN.

“This was better than the movie,” an excited six-year-old girl said following the show.  Many parents were glad to have found Clifton Performance Theatre where children perform for children.

A Clifton resident, and a father of one of the children in the cast is excited about seeing live theatre in the Ludlow Business District. “It’s an exciting time and I’m thrilled that the Clifton community now has its very own theatre,” he said.

Two husband and wife teams from Clifton, Craig & Carol Brammer and Matthew & Tatiana Cameron, took four short weeks in August to transform the commercial space at 404 Ludlow Ave (some will remember it as the Cove, or old Sitwells). The space was originally a ballet studio when the building was built in the early 1920s.

Together, the two couples designed a black box theatre that reminds one of New York City’s pocket theatres. The cozy space has an elegant and artistic aesthetic that is both welcoming and inspirational.

Founded on the personal talents and resources of the founders, Clifton Performance Theatre has already received tremendous support and donations from neighbors and friends. Some of these early supporters include Mr. Bob Siegfried, a Clifton piano restorer, who donated a beautiful player upright grand piano. Folding chairs were donated by Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Springfield, Ohio, and interior design consultation was provided by Martha Brammer.

For its initial offering, the Clifton Performance Theatre performed an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland by Kathryn Schultz Miller, Cincinnati-based children’s playwright. The musical was first produced by the Clifton group during their 2009 Summer Camp series with more than 45 children participating.

Ben Walker and Blair Godshall choreographed all dance numbers, Carol Brammer and Tatiana Cameron co-directed the show.  Matthew Cameron designed the simple but professional stage lighting.  Elizabeth Guilford, an art student at Xavier University spent many hours as an office assistant, wardrobe designer, and make-up artist and stage manager.

“We founded the Clifton Performance Theatre when we recognized the need for a theatre environment where our children could hang out and  be exposed to live performance arts,” said Tatiana Cameron, who is a mother of three boys Dante (9), Evan (7) & Blais (4). Ms. Cameron is a professional performing artist, performing more than 80 concert events across the U.S. each year (more at idobelieve.com) She moved to Cincinnati from Los Angeles less than five years ago: “The process of making a theatre has already been a tremendous experience: it revealed to us a generous and supportive Cincinnati theatre scene I didn’t know existed. It’s very encouraging and inspiring to meet the individuals who keep the independent theatre alive.”

Co-Owner Carol Brammer, who attended the prestigious Youth Performing Arts School in Louisville, KY and toured the US and Europe in the American Music Review, says, “We hope to grow the Theatre into a neighborhood theatre offering workshops and shows for children and adults.  We’re developing Clifton Players as well as partnering with other theatre groups in Cincinnati to offer adult audiences a new theatre destination here in the heart of the beautiful Clifton Gaslight District.”

How exciting for all of us was the Wednesday evening rehearsal!  We brought back kids from both Summer Camps – two full casts of Alice in Wonderland! Some 35 kids sang, danced and were excited to get togeher again, eager to exchange their summer memories with each other.

We are looking forward to the performances this coming weekend!

Friday, Sep 18th at 7 pm
Saturday, Sep 19th at 2 pm and 7 pm
Sunday, Sep 20th at 2 pm

Thanks to all the parents for makng this experience possible for their children and for all those who will come to be inspired by the shows.

There are till tickets available.  Please buy them on line – let’s pack the house for these cool kids!  Space is limited, so please get your ticket in advance.

Photos curtesy of Ben (Mr. Ben) Walker II

When Matthew and I made our decision to move our family from Los Angeles to a ’slower paced’ town in a four-seasons climate, Cincinnati came up as one of top choices. The main reason – location.  It was a 1000 miles from Maine, Miami, Denver and Dallas.  Pretty much the center of the territory we most frequently toured.

Of course, there was a list of very important things that the town needed to provide, among which were:
– proximity to family (Matthew’s, of course, since we were staying on the American side of the Ocean);
- a town with a strong arts scene (Paavo Jarni with Cincinnati Symphony – a good draw for me, the Music Hall – one of the most beautiful in the USA, Playhouse in the Park won a regional Tony, Art Museum with a quite nice collection, CCM – one of the top music conservatories in the country);
– there had to be an existing music scene (a town with Blue Wisp, Midpoint Festival and a memory of Ludlow Garage will do);
– and a state-of-the-art recording studio (I knew I was pushing it there, but it just so happened that Erwin Musper, an amazing engineer and producer had built a beautiful top-of the line recording studio in Cinci).

We were also set on finding a diverse and safe neighborhood where we could walk to the post office, a grocery store, a few restaurants, a movie theatre, library and a performance studio This might have seemed too much to ask for, but we came across Clifton – which might be the only such neighborhood in the Midwest. 

So we came to settle down in a town that was hard to find on any of European printed maps, but was the same size of Zagreb, Croatia where I was born and where I grew up.

During the days when we were not touring, I tried to figure out a few perplexing Cincinnati things: the famous 3-way Skyline Chilli; the “West Side” – a substantial part of Cincinnati, separated by train tracks, where you can get lost even with a GPS; the charming but sleepy downtown where a bartender, asked where the nearest fun was, replied: “New York City.”

Then there was the whole theatre scene which took me good three years to figure out (partially because I am on tour when the most of the theatres run their seasons).

Immediately I had hoped that there would be a central web site, a theatre guide, or a central location (other than ticketmaster) that would list all the theatre shows, classes, auditions and other important local  events and not be limited to a membership group you had to be invited to. I also wanted to know that there was more than Broadway Series at Arnoff (only big-ticket venues have money to do big-time advertising, and so the independent and the small fall into the oblivion)

Finally, last year I was handed a beautiful flier that listed all theatre shows playing in Cincinnati in the same format that New York Times lists Broadway and off-Broadway shows.  I was thrilled. I wanted to call who ever thought of it and thank them myself.  It listed three groups: ACCLAIM Awards, Theatre Artist Project Fund and League of Cincinnati Theatres and the web site that offered “more” was CinStages.com.

The formal names discouraged me to seek out who was behind the brilliant effort, so I didn’t thank anyone, I just enjoyed the information they provided.

Last month as we started looking for theatre instructors and partners in Cincinnati, I was contacted by Rob Bucher informing me that the schedules of our classes, workshops, auditions and performances were now listed on CinStages.com.  We could not have hoped for a nicer welcome to the theatre scene as our Clifton Performance Theatre was making it’s debut. He was fast, really helpful and the response I got through CinStages was very encouraging.

As usual, behind the art organizations with big names, there are always hard working, dedicated people who go out of their way to make dreams come true, to make their communities better despite the system, the cost or the lack of funds.  I learned that Rob Buchner is one of those people.

CinStages and people like Rob Buchner are a force that keeps the arts alive. Right now, they are raising money to keep the CinStages going.  If you’d like to make a donation, follow this link: http://www.greatercincinnatifdn.org/page10004358.cfm.

Where I grew up, arts were supported by the government and all the performers, make up artist, wardrobe and scene techs, dancers and directors, playwrights and choreographers were on a guaranteed salary.  (of course, they always had the government on their backs and although they could push certain artistic limits they were never completely free in their expression).  So naturally, I am a kind of person who would rather pass a hat and ask for a donation, than apply for a government grant   I had made a small donation on behalf of Clifton Performance Theatre, and I know every little bit will help to keep CinStages afloat and help Cincinnati’s theatre scene.

Cincinnati is full of people like Rob that make it a great town to live in (read my blog “Living Local, Working Local“).  Sometimes I think a part of the reason why this town doesn’t advertise itself to the rest of the country is because they like to keep it a secret (they must like the size of the town, and they don’t want the traffic to get really bad