Community Theaters are wonderful for those people who may not live very close to the big city or who need to consider the best use of their entertainment dollars, as many of us have to do in this economy. There are two wonderful community theaters near my home and they offer a great opportunity for me to see live theater without traveling over an hour to downtown or without breaking my meager piggy bank. Below is a list of a few of the local theaters I have been to and a list of Internet sites that can assist you in finding the abundance of theaters by area.
The Chagrin Valley Little Theater is located at 40 River Street in beautiful Chagrin Falls, Ohio. I have seen several plays here including "The Wizard of Oz," "Other People's Money," and quite a few mysteries and comedies. I love this theater because it is intimate yet has a high caliber of performance value. It is affordable for couples and families. The sets are always great, the acting wonderful and the variety of show offerings is really amazing for a small theater.
The Geauga Lyric Theater Guild is located at 101 Water Street in Chardon, Ohio. I have enjoyed several productions here also. They offer a wide variety of productions and show feature films when there are no live performances scheduled. They have offered 229 live productions since they opened in 1954. This theater is another great value for your entertainment dollar. They really care about what they are doing for the community and the arts programs they offer and it shows in the quality of work that comes out of this theater.
While I was taking a theater class in college, one of the assignments was to see Stephen Sondheim's play "Passion" at the Beck Center for the Arts located at 17801 Detroit Avenue in Lakewood, Ohio. This theater is on the west side of Cleveland and I am an eastsider, so I had never had occasion to visit here. It was a very worthwhile experience. The Beck Center has two stages; we viewed this one on the smaller stage and it was like the audience was part of the action. They are dedicated to providing the community with professional theater productions as well as arts-based education.
In order to get a more thorough view of the smaller theater scene, I visited the Cleveland Theater Collective website. Here I found a listing of twenty-four smaller theaters in the area that take great pride in performing the arts to the community they serve. This list of theaters includes the cities of Akron, Beachwood, Cleveland, Shaker Heights and Twinsburg to name a few. It does not matter if you are on the east side, west side or south side; there are wonderful community theaters that offer a multitude of great productions.
Another great organization is the Ohio Community Theatre Association which serves fifteen Ohio counties and has twenty-three members. This list of theaters is divided by region to better point you to the area you want to visit.
After researching other theaters for this article, I realized that I need to branch out and visit some of the other venues available for arts in Northeast Ohio. This region is rich in culture and passionate artists who want to bring these wonderful pieces of art to life. They are brought to life for the communities they serve with love and admiration for the artists and the audience. That is an intimate experience that cannot be duplicated in a larger venue.
If you are visiting Cleveland or live in the area, you may want to think about enjoying a performance at a local community theater or even at one of the fine area colleges. This is a great, and economical, way to be a participant in the arts. The arts enrich our souls and allow us to dream in ways that ordinary life does not allow. The theaters in and around Cleveland are just another avenue that make this area so wonderful to visit and to live. Happy Travels!!
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