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December Issue:
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In the Spotlight:

3 Questions with...

Gwen Stembridge  

Cleveland
Gwen Stembridge

A new resident of the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood, Gwen Stembridge makes her way through several costume changes in Oliver!, playing Widow Corney, the Strawberry Seller, and ensemble roles. By day she helps coordinate the hunger ministries at Trinity Cathedral in downtown Cleveland, serving with the Trinity Urban Service Corps.


1. How did you find out about NWT, and why did you audition?
Upon moving to Cleveland, I started asking people about theatre here. I grew up performing and hold a degree in music but recently took some time away from it. Through several coworkers and an internet search, I immediately connected to the mission and values of NWT. This seemed like the perfect opportunity and community to hop back in!
2. Having been in Oliver!, what is your impression of NWT and its process?
Near West has been a breath of fresh air for me. Growing up, I have noticed and am bothered that performing arts organizations are often not well connected to agencies that serve folks in poverty. The process of community building in Oliver! helped to renew my belief in the power of the arts to move people to action.
3.How do you feel about living, working and doing theater in urban Cleveland?
Since I only moved here about 3 months ago from Atlanta, I may still be in the pre-snow "honeymoon phase" of my experience, but I really like it here! There is a determined and creative spirit that lends the city to be accepting of new ideas and perspectives and that's refreshing in a world with much harsh negativity.

SEASON 2011-2012
oliver web November 18-December 4


ragtime logo 2
May 4-30, 2012

Hairspray logo
July 20-August 5, 2012

klamor roar logo
July 26-29, 2012
arts and culture shares 2 ohio arts council
OliverOliver! heads into its last weekend 

More than 1,400 people scaled the stairs of St. Pat's Club Building for the first two weekends of Oliver! and reservations are going fast for the final weekend. In the hands of Director Bob Navis, Jr., Choreographer Stephanie Morrison-Hrbek and a cast of 59, this in-the-round rendering of a Dickens tale manages to be comic, tragic, sweet, dark and rousing all at once. All 214 seats were filled for five of the first six performances.

 

Buy tickets online at www.nearwesttheatre.org; call or visit the

Oliver

Skipper Rankin as Oliver

(Photo by Terry Schordock)

box office between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays (216-961-6391; 6514 Detroit Ave.);  or come to the ticket table at the theater, open one hour before each performance, for any remaining seats. Shows are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday (Dec. 1 through 3) and at 3:00 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4. On Thursday, a Cleveland sign-language troupe, The Heard, will be in the north audience section to interpret the performance.

VolunteersPlease Give this Holiday Season! 
Oliver cast
The Oliver! Cast, Crew & Production Team (Photo by Mo Eutazia)

Soon, you will be receiving our Winter Annual Fund Appeal by mail. Please consider donating to Near West Theatre this holiday season, either by returning the donation card included in the mailing, or by clicking here to donate online, to generously support the programming that allows a diverse and inclusive community of cast, crew and volunteers to actively examine and explore differences, providing the rich ground from which relationships are formed and great theatre is created on our stage. donate button

 

BenefitSAVE THE DATE

for Near West's Annual Benefit

"Consider Yourself One of Us"

 

Please join us for Near West Theatre's Annual Benefit, "Consider Yourself One of Us," on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, at Trinity Cathedral in Downtown Cleveland as we honor long-time friend and donor Joanne Lewis.

 

From 6:00 to 9:30 p.m., the event will feature an energetic performance by Near West cast members, DJ and dancing, great food and drink and a silent auction and raffle featuring the best that Cleveland has to offer. Near West Theatre's benefits are unlike any others you've attended! We hope to see you there!

 

Please call 216-961-9750 for more information.

AFPost-show conversation explores Oliver! themes 

 

Lynda Bender, with Assistant Director & actor Kelcie Dugger
About 60 audience and cast members circled up after the Nov. 20 Oliver! matinee for a 30-minute conversation led by Lynda A. Bender, Director of Education and Public Programs at the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage and the "Stop the Hate: Youth Speak Out" essay contest and scholarship competition. The characters' complex motivations and relationships were explored.  Among them were the survival strategies of Fagin and the community of pickpockets, the dysfunctional relationship between Bill Sykes and Nancy, and the tragic, heroic choice made by Nancy in the final scene.  Audience participants ranged from children in their parents' laps to an 89-year-old. 

 

Oliver Talk Back 3
The cast stayed in costume for the conversation.
"We're grateful to Lynda for drawing all ages into the conversation and touching on the depth of the story's rich material in just a half-hour," said NWT Chief Operating Officer Hans Holznagel. "The audience offered good insights, and I hope people got a glimpse of the way the cast has wrestled with the material as well."

 

(Photos by Christian Flaherty)

 

The circle included actors (r to l) Aaron Phillips, Caitlin Bennett and Catherine Hall

 

CreativeedgeTHE CREATIVE EDGE

LIFE AS A PERFORMING ART   

 

TO ALL MY NWT FRIENDS AND FAMILY:

 Some of my thoughts for the holidays!

    

 LIFE IS A CREATIVE ACT.

 

NO ONE BUT YOU IS IN CHARGE OF YOUR PURPOSE AND PASSIONS. YOU ALONE ARE IN CHARGE OF YOUR HAPPINESS. EVERY DAY IS A NEW CANVAS, A NEW STAGE, AN EMPTY POT, A BLANK PAGE. REFUSE THE CULTURAL MINDSET THAT LABELS YOU A VICTIM TO JOB, FAMILY DEMANDS OR THE RAT RACE CALLED CONTEMPORARY LIVING. TOMORROW, DO ONE THING YOU'VE NEVER DONE BEFORE.  FOR THE JOY OF IT. FOR THE FREEDOM OF IT. OR DO SOMETHING YOU DO ALL THE TIME, BUT IN A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT WAY, ONE SMALL THING, AND FEEL THE ENERGY OF MAKING THAT CHOICE. THAT FRESH, PRIVATE, SASSY FEELING, NO MATTER HOW SMALL, IS THE FORCE THAT EXPANDS THE UNIVERSE. MAKE IT A HABIT, DAY AFTER DAY AFTER DAY, TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT. IMPROVISE! YOU'LL NEVER BE BORED!

 

ONE OF MY FAVORITE SAYINGS: "TO AFFECT THE QUALITY OF THE DAY - THAT IS THE HIGHEST OF THE ARTS."

 

THIS HOLIDAY SEASON, MAY YOU REACH FOR THE STARS AND CREATE YOUR FILL OF FUN, FRIENDS, STILLNESS AND MEANING!                                                                                    

                                                                                                        Love to you,

                                                                                                Bob Navis Jr

                                                                                                  

"Creativity grows out of the desire for change. The word change has to do with unpredictability (how much or how little is up to you - but do not repeat old solutions! Creativity involves a leap of faith and confidence - faith in the creative process: ultimately art is a journey not directed by product but by the passage of thought, vision, intensive observation, time, and commitment. The desire for change, faith in the process, and the discipline to work are the critical components in becoming a more inventive artist.Perhaps the greatest single barrier to becoming more inventive/creative is the fear of risk. Creativity demands that we step into the unknown."

-Wendell H. Arneson

 

"The artist has only to remain true to his dream and . . .must see naught but the vision beyond. . . Have you ever seen an inchworm crawl up a leaf or twig, and there clinging to the very end, revolve in the air, feeling for something to reach? That's like me. I am trying to find something out there beyond the place on which I have a footing."  -Albert Pinkham Ryder

                                                                                                                                          

Wendell Arneson Professor of Art, Department Vice Chair of St. Olaf College

Albert Pinkham Ryder (March 19, 1847 - March 28, 1917) was an American painter best known for his poetic and moody allegorical works and seascapes, as well as his eccentric personality.

 
Near West Theatre is an open and affirming organization.