By Marchae Grair
Special to the Beacon Journal

KENT: There is renewed promise for future events and collections at the Kent State University Museum, thanks to a $1.1 million donation from a university alumnus.

The generous donation from Copley native Gerald Schweigert is the top cash contribution made in museum history and will support future maintenance of the fashion resources at the Kent State landmark.

“As a Kent State graduate, Mr. Schweigert’s generous gift sets an example for all our alumni,” said Gene Finn, vice president for Institutional Advancement at Kent State. “His support will be meaningful for future generations of students. That’s a great legacy, as well as an important contribution to historical preservation.”

Schweigert is no stranger to donating scholarships and monetary gifts to students and programs at Kent State, but the fashion school and its museum have a special place in his heart.

Even though he graduated from KSU’s College of Business and Administration, Schweigert has personal ties to the fashion school. He knew Shannon Rodgers and Jerry Silverman, who donated the original pieces for the museum in the 1980s.

Schweigert was a close friend of Rodgers and wants to see her work preserved and continued.

“Shannon left a wonderful gift with his collection, but no endowment fund,” Schweigert said. “I’m just trying to do my part to keep the legacy going.”

Schweigert, Rodgers and Silverman surrounded themselves with fashion and met with people now considered fashion icons. Schweigert hosted people in his home who designed for entertainers such as Cher, Diana Ross and Tina Turner.

The museum is a growing project, reflecting the increased popularity and success of the Kent State Fashion School. Since the museum’s inception, the collection grew from 4,000 to 30,000 dresses.

This might just be the start for Schweigert’s charitable gifts for the fashion archives. He cares for valuable artifacts from Rodgers and plans to make those pieces part of the museum. More cash gifts also might be part of his future donations.

“The museum is my No. 1 philanthropic focus,” Schweigert said. “And I’m not through yet. I know Shannon would be happy to know that I’m helping out the museum.”

Marchae Grair can be reached at mgrair1@kent.edu.

By Kerry Clawson
Beacon Journal arts writer

Sondheim on Sondheim, the musical revue making its regional debut at PlayhouseSquare’s Hanna Theatre in Cleveland, achieves what it sets out to do by taking audience members on a journey that results in a deepened understanding of Sondheim the man.

A trio of gentlemen (left, Justin Keyes; top, Destan Owens; right, James Penca) "peel back the layers" of Stephen Sondheim's genius with the help of a beautiful brunette (Marie-Fance Arcilla) while singing "Ah, But Underneath" from the musical "Follies" during the Great Lakes Theater and PlayhouseSquare co-production of "Sondheim on Sondheim" at the Hanna Theatre, PlayhouseSquare. An American regional premiere, "Sondheim on Sondheim" runs through July 8 as part of the KeyBank Broadway Series. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)

The presence of composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim himself — featured larger than life in video interviews from his home as well as archival TV footage ­— is the key element of the production that enables that to happen. We see the Broadway legend, whose career spans more than 50 years, in a relaxed state, speaking about his creative process. That includes visuals of him lying on the couch in his studio as he writes and pouring himself a drink to help lose his inhibitions in order to get started writing.

Sondheim on Sondheim creator James Lapine, a Mansfield native and frequent Sondheim collaborator who shot three days of interviews with him for this 2010 Broadway revue, seamlessly blends Sondheim’s recorded comments about his songs and lyrics with the show’s live singing onstage.

Cleveland’s production, a first-time collaboration between Great Lakes Theater and PlayhouseSquare, marks the first time Sondheim on Sondheim has been performed anywhere after its Broadway run. This tribute to the prolific Sondheim also celebrates Great Lakes Theater’s 50th anniversary.

At PlayhouseSquare, an excellent ensemble of eight singers creates a sparkling, highly polished show. Director Victoria Bussert has cast six singers with Broadway or New York credits as well as two rising stars from her musical theater program at Baldwin Wallace College — seniors James Penca and Ciara Renee.

You don’t have to be a Sondheim expert to get something out of this revue, but having a decent familiarity with his Broadway work is necessary for the piece to have much meaning. The revue features scores of tunes from 18 Sondheim musicals. They include those for which he wrote only the lyrics — West Side Story, Gypsy and Do I Hear a Waltz?

This revue has sparks of humor, including Sondheim on video appearing to cut off a live singer with his dismissive comment about an early musical he composed in high school.

Sondheim’s most candid moments on video create both the heart and pathos of this show, which is elevated beyond the standard musical revue through the prevalence of his spoken word. Through his speaking, his lyrics and music, we gain a strong sense of a man who looks at the world with a sense of optimism underscored by pain.

That is most apparent when Sondheim talks about his mother’s emotional cruelty and when he shares a beautiful anecdote about the dying lyricist Oscar Hammerstein, his mentor and surrogate father.

Knowing how Sondheim’s broken home life growing up scarred him, the beautiful live performance of the tune Children Will Listen from Into the Woods has astonishing resonance. It’s also an eye-opener to have Sondheim walk through the three musical endings he created for Company, the show about marriage.

Sondheim reveals which of his shows is most autobiographical (Merrily We Roll Along), which he wouldn’t change a bit (Assassins) and, bluntly, which one he regrets ever doing (Do I Hear a Waltz?)

Among the notable musical numbers are Penca singing the frenetic Franklin Shepard, INC. from Merrily We Roll Along, Emily Walton’s neurotic patter in Getting Married Today and the sexy Marie-France Arcilla in the surprisingly layered Ah, But Underneath. Brian Sutherland also brings us into a thrillingly dark world in Epiphany, from Sweeney Todd.

Elder cast member Pamela Myers sounds precariously limited in her vocal range at times, but she makes it work in the brassy Everything’s Coming Up Roses and the wistful Send in the Clowns. The Hamilton, Ohio, native adds authenticity to the revue as the original Marta in Sondheim’s Company.

One Sondheim on Sondheim scene has been personalized for her, showing video of the young Myers singing for a studio recording of Company, with Sondheim right there correcting her on one of her notes in the song he wrote for her — Another Hundred People.

This multimedia revue is a technical show, and there was a sound problem in the show Tuesday night when audio about the popularity of the tune Send in the Clowns was played twice. The revue also began to feel overly long in the middle of the second act, but picked up toward the end. The show’s ending is a magical moment, with Sondheim singing and playing his beloved Anyone Can Whistle at the piano, with the live cast joining in the final note.

DETAILS

Musical revue: Sondheim on Sondheim.

When: Continuing through July 8, 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 4 and 8:30 p.m. Saturdays, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays.

Where: Hanna Theatre, 2067 E.14th St., Cleveland.

Onstage: Marie-France Arcilla, Justin Keyes, Pamela Myers, Destan Owens, James Penca, Ciara Renee, Brian Sutherland, Emily Walton.

Tickets: $10-$60.

Information: www.playhousesquare.org or 216-241-6000.

Arts writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.

By Dorothy Shinn
Beacon Journal art ?and architecture writer

Downtown Akron Partnership (DAP) seeks artists to apply for public art submissions for its first Akron Art Prize competition, sponsored by the Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation.

A 19th-century drawing by Ferdinand Brader. (Photo courtesy Canton Museum of Art)

Submissions will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis and exhibited Sept. 1 through Oct. 6.

While the submissions are on display, the public will vote to determine the winners of a $5,000 grand prize and five $1,000 runner-up awards.

The submitted works of art will be displayed in establishments participating in the Downtown Akron Artwalk that will be open to the public for viewing and voting. Venues are being evaluated for the many submissions that are expected.

The competition is open to solo and collaborative artists, two- or three-dimensional pieces, and time-based or performance-oriented entries.

Each artist must pay a $10 entry fee and sign an agreement to participate. Artists must be at least 18 years old. Artist applications and details are available at http://www.downtownakron.com/artprize through July 6.

Votes will be cast for the Akron Art Prize winners using SMS (text to vote) technology. Guests ages 16 and over with a valid driver’s license may register to vote with their cell phones or register in the weeks before the events at www.downtownakron.com/artworks.

Voting will take place during a limited time frame and registration will only be allowed within downtown Akron, encouraging guests to attend and experience each event.

The first round of voting will occur between Sept. 1 and Sept. 22.

Up to 10 works receiving the highest number of public votes will be featured in the second and final round of voting between Sept. 28 and Oct. 6.

Akron Art Prize winners will be announced at the conclusion of the Oct. 6 Artwalk.

Art Prize is modeled after similar public art competitions that have emerged throughout the country in places such as Grand Rapids, Mich., and Seattle, Wash., and is intended to encourage conversations and excitement about art and the revitalization of the downtown core.

The Akron Art Prize competition is part of DAP’s new Downtown Art Works series. The series enhances the Downtown Akron Artwalk through added promotion, performances, activities, and text-to-vote public competitions.

Downtown Art Works performances are provided through a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. In combination with DAP’s First Night Akron event on New Year’s Eve, this annual cycle of events invites guests of all ages to celebrate arts and culture and enjoy downtown Akron throughout the year.

Downtown Art Works is a program of the Downtown Akron Partnership and is supported by the city of Akron, Summit County, GAR Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation.

Ferdinand Brader search

In preparation for its 2014-15 Ferdinand Brader exhibit, the Canton Museum of Art, 1001 Market Ave. N., is seeking as many works by Brader as it can get its hands on.

Born in Kaltbrunn, Canton St. Gallen, Switzerland, in 1833, Brader came to America in the 1870s and for the next 20 years traveled through Pennsylvania and Ohio, documenting rural life in America with hundreds of detailed, large-scale drawings.

These unique pencil drawings offer glimpses into an America that no longer exists. Showing everyday scenes circa 1875 to 1895, these drawings are treasured by owners and collectors alike.

The Canton Museum of Art hopes that owners of Brader drawings will make themselves known to the museum. To help that along, the museum will hold a Brader Day from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. July 14. Bring your Brader drawing to the museum to have a professional photograph made, consult with experts, and get your questions answered.

The goal of the research by curator/scholar Kathleen Wieschaus-Voss and of the forthcoming exhibit is to trace and illustrate Brader’s path as he traveled through the countryside and to deepen understanding of the American family heritage he so meticulously recorded.

For information, call the museum at 330-453-7666 or follow the Brader research at http://www.braderexhibit.com/.

Sunday

Join docents at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Akron Art Museum, 1 S. High St., for the Five Favorites tour, a quick, fun way to become acquainted with the museum’s collection and other exhibitions on view.

For information, call 330-376-9185 or go to www.akronartmuseum.org/calendar/details.php?unid=2788.

Dorothy Shinn writes about art and architecture for the Akron Beacon Journal. Send information to her at the Akron Beacon Journal, P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309-0640 or dtgshinn@att.net.

Kerry Clawson
Beacon Journal staff writer

Akron native Stephanie Singleton’s passion for styling hair goes back to when she was a 6-year-old playing with her dolls. Now she’s wed that love with the entertainment business, both by serving as a stylist to the stars in Los Angeles and through writing a new play set in a salon, Pinky’s Beauty & Barber Salon: The Hair Show.

The current Burbank, Calif., resident brings her comedy to Akron this weekend with a performance at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at East High School. She serves as the show’s writer, director and producer.

Her goal in sharing the play with audience members from her hometown is to help people laugh and to inspire Akron youth to seek out positive role models and follow their dreams, like she has.

“Akron is not that bad,”’ said Singleton, who keeps close ties to friends and family by visiting regularly. “There are some great people doing some great things.”

Singleton owned First Impressions Beauty Salon in Akron from 1994 to 2001. But she actually started sharing her hair-styling skills with others at age 11, when she turned her mother’s front porch and kitchen in East Akron into a salon and became the neighborhood stylist.

Her play, which has been produced in Hollywood and Las Vegas previously, is inspired by her anecdotes from her own work in salons.

In the comedy, salon owner Pinky Bell, the self-proclaimed “King of Hair,” finds himself unable to pay the electric bill and he and his glam team have to work by candlelight. Pinky, known for his bright pink wig and over-the-top personality, decides to compete in a hair show in an effort to win a cash prize and turn the salon lights back on.

The performance will feature three Los Angeles actors as well as some Akron extras making cameos. See the list at http://pinkysalonstageplay.webs.com/akronsactorcrew.htm.

Singleton, a 1990 graduate of Central-Hower High School, began writing her own plays as a hobby while living in Akron, with her first titled Thank You Mama. She moved to Petersburg, Va., in 2001, where she made her entree into the entertainment industry working as a personal assistant for actor/comedian/film director Tim Reid and his wife, actress Daphne Reid, with their independent production company New Millennium Studios.

Singleton has lived in Los Angeles for seven years now, where she works as a freelance stylist and has styled celebrities including actress Rosie Perez, comedian Katt Williams and rapper Ice Cube. She also was a hairstylist for Nick Cannon’s Wild ‘N Out on MTV.

In Akron, advance ticket sales for Pinky’s Beauty & Barber Salon are required at $25 each. No tickets will be sold at the door. Ticket sale locations are at Level 3 Fashions, 1388 Copley Road, Akron, 330-690-2217; E’s Eastside Car Wash & Stop the Violence Movement, 1283 Newton St., Akron, 330-703-1870; Steppin w/ Sel & Val, 330-907-7277; and Unto Him Hair & Nail Salon, 573 W. Exchange St., Akron, 330-374-9153.

For questions about tickets, call Singleton’s sister, Akron resident Karen Singleton at 330-785-1836 or 818-331-8222.

Arts writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.

By Dorothy Shinn
Beacon Journal art and architecture critic

When we think of folk art, most of us envision works from the distant past enriched and enshrined by patinas of time, an idealized Eden where skilled artisans tinkered with antique tools to turn out charming artifacts.

Nothing could be further from the truth, as revealed in The Creative Spirit, on view through July 22 at the Canton Museum of Art.

Barbershop, 1968, mixed media, artist unknown, is part of the show Creative Spirits at the Canton Museum of Art in Canton, Ohio. (photo courtesy Canton Museum of Art)

Assembled from the collection of Mark Chepp, director of the Springfield Museum of Art from 1991 through 2006, more than 260 objects have been organized into a convincing display of the persistence of the folk art genre by Lynnda Arrasmith, Canton Museum of Art curator.

The collection is made up of works by untrained artists, folk artists and outsider artists.

Like the rest of us, Arrasmith assumed when she chose the works from Chepp’s collection that they were all not only handmade but old. She discovered, however, “some are from the 1940s, but most are from the 1980s forward, and some were just recently made,” she said. “So there are people out there still making folk art.”

The collection is vast, and not a little eccentric.

There are the usual face jugs, quilts, canes and snake carvings, but there are also about 50 bottle-cap people (men and women), 15 sock monkeys, a half-dozen or so chalk carvings of Elvis and at least one toilet-paper crucifix.

This latter item can be found in what the museum staff has dubbed the “Come to Jesus” room, where many of the objects are religious in nature, quite a few by prison inmates.

Prison artworks are often some of the most inventive and absorbing. Because of security bans on many art supplies these items are often made of unusual materials. The exhibit also contains a goodly number of cigarette wrapper items such as purses or wallets, as well as one very long rope, all made by inmates.

The bottle-cap people emerged during America’s post-war housing boom of the 1950s as a hobby fad, sometimes also referred to as “tiki” people.

Part of a wide-ranging grass-roots creative impulse, including paint-by-number kits, model airplane building, sock monkey dolls and toy train environments, the bottle-cap people exhibit an impressive array of personalities and demeanors within the medium’s strict compilation format.

Face jugs, also known as voodoo, grotesque and ugly jugs, have been made by Southern potters since before the Civil War. Contrasting materials, such as broken china fragments for teeth and white clay for protruding eyes, are used to create a variety of effects.

Most likely first created as novelties to escape from the dreary repetition of assembly-line pottery making, face jug production has evolved into a folk art genre in its own right.

The Elvis figures are part of a common preoccupation among both folk artists and outsider artists, known as “cultism,” which consists of fixations on iconic personalities often representing religion, patriotism or popular culture.

The figures presented take the form of paint-your-own Elvis kits, a stuffed handmade doll, a painted tin cutout and a lawn sprinkler.

Tramp art usually comes in the form of boxes, picture frames and other tabletop items, but can also be found in full-sized furniture. The primitive, yet intricately made decorative objects are realized through a process of layering elaborately notched pieces of wood in order to create ornate and multidimensional surfaces.

Tramp art was most prevalent during the Great Depression and was named for the homeless people who made it from scrap wood to sell for a few dollars.

Several of the works are made from recycled materials by artists of limited means, who see society’s discards as raw materials with endless creative potential, such as scrap steel, electrical wiring, burnt matchsticks and bottle caps.

Arrasmith said Chepp knows the size of the museum’s galleries, so he tried to fill the space. “We took a good share of his collection, but he kept adding,” she noted. “I would say he has quite a lot left.

“He has an entire house filled with these pieces. He owns two houses. He and his wife live in one house and have the house next door for the collection.”

Chepp said he based his collection on humor, sentiment, religious value or sometimes a simple visual response. Some of the items are anonymously made, but a surprising number have their makers identified.

There’s at least one object by famous Columbus folk artist Elijah Pierce, but many of the pieces have been made by relatively unknown artists.

“Some of the artists have signed their work, some are well known, but much of this work is anonymous,” Chepp explained. “The maker was moved by his or her own creative spirit and did not see the importance of signing the piece.”

Visitors will be charmed by the unrestrained liveliness of the works and the use of simple and readily available materials.

Arrasmith has grouped many of the similar objects together, such as canes, Elvis busts, bottle cap people, religious art and face jugs.

“There are six shelves of the bottle-cap people,” she said. “But the sock monkeys, those rascals, just seem to pop up wherever.”

DETAILS

Show: The Creative Spirit.

When: Through July 22.

Where: Canton Museum of Art, 1001 Market Ave. N., Canton.

Admission: $6; $4 seniors, students; museum members and children 12 or younger get in free.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday-Friday; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday; and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Information: 330-453-7666 or http://cantonart.org.

Dorothy Shinn writes about art and architecture for the Akron Beacon Journal. Send information to her at the Akron Beacon Journal, P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309-0640 or dtgshinn@att.net.

By Kerry Clawson
Beacon Journal staff writer

Great Lakes Theater is celebrating its 50th anniversary in grand style with a first-time collaboration with PlayhouseSquare to produce Sondheim on Sondheim, which opened Wednesday at the Hanna Theatre.

The project represents more than one milestone: It’s the first time the musical revue celebrating Stephen Sondheim’s 56-year Broadway legacy has been performed outside New York City. Cleveland’s American regional premiere is also director Victoria Bussert’s 25th production of a Sondheim musical.

For stage16. Miller South fourth-grade vocal students rehearse doing Minuet they will perform at their ``Big Show'' Friday and Saturday at the Akron Civic Theatre. 9handout photo)

Bussert, director of Music Theatre for Baldwin-Wallace College, is the area’s leading authority on Sondheim, having begun her career with the Chicago premieres of Pacific Overtures, The Frogs (set in an Olympic-size swimming pool) and Assassins, as well as directing the second national tour of Into the Woods.

Bussert, who has directed for Great Lakes Theatre for 26 years, said the only two Sondheim shows she hasn’t directed yet are Sunday in the Park with George and Road Show.

“This definitely has a different feel from a revue,” she said. “It’s actually a very personal journey. They group the songs in terms of themes” from different shows.

That includes a section on childhood (Sondheim’s was very difficult) and another on neurotics, which are Sondheim’s favorite kind of people to write about. The multimedia experience mixes live performances of his songs with exclusive interview footage of the composer, who talks about his life and artistic process.

The videos include archival footage as well as interviews with Sondheim on Sondheim creator James Lapine, a Mansfield native and longtime Sondheim collaborator. Those interviews were conducted over three days.

The intimate video segments include moments where Sondheim, now 82, explains Sweeney Todd and even sings a section of a song. The video is so personal, viewers see Sondheim in his house.

The effect, Bussert said, is as if the legend himself is really present having a personal talk with the audience.

“We think of him as a thing as opposed to a human being, and it makes him so human and it becomes very touching,” Bussert said of the video component.

“What makes this so moving to me when I first saw it is was to hear him talk, and explain not only … why he wrote something or what the motivation was to write something, but how his very personal and intimate life experiences impacted what he wrote,” she said.

In the show, Sondheim says he wrote Passion at age 60 because that was the first time he had fallen in love. Sondheim is a genius who revolutionized musical theater by introducing the beauty of human imperfection, Bussert said.

“I actually find his work very human and very emotional in a way that hadn’t been written about before,” she said.

On Broadway, the 2010 Sondheim on Sondheim featured Barbara Cook, Vanessa Williams and Tom Wopat, as well as five supporting actors. At PlayhouseSquare, Bussert has retracked the show as an ensemble piece, with changes approved by Lapine and Sondheim.

Leading the cast in institutional Sondheim knowledge is Pamela Myers, a Hamilton, Ohio, native who graduated from the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music and had her professional breakthrough 42 years ago as the original Marta in Sondheim’s Company, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award.

Performing along with five other cast members with extensive Broadway credits will be incoming Baldwin-Wallace seniors James Penca and Ciara Renee, whom Bussert said are both extraordinary.

When Bussert talks to her students about their idols, she shares that hers is Sondheim.

“My rock star is Sondheim. Every time I’m around him, I can’t speak. I’m like an idiot,” said Bussert, who has met the composer over the years and conversed with him about Cleveland’s regional premiere of Sondheim on Sondheim.

The show runs through July 8, with performances at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 4:30 and 8:30 p.m. Saturdays and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays. Cost is $10-$60. Call 216-241-6000 or see www.playhousesquare.org.

Annual Big Show

It’s that time of year when hundreds of Miller South vocal students take to the Akron Civic Theatre stage for their much-anticipated annual Big Show, which will run at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday. This year’s theme is “Tunes Through Time,’’ with numerous songs, dances and costume changes representing music from the Baroque era through today. Director Sarah Kaufman will lead choruses from fourth through eighth grades.

Tickets are $10, $5 for students and senior citizens. Call 330-535-3179 or see www.akroncivic.com.

Arts writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.

By Kerry Clawson
Beacon Journal staff writer

I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, the musical revue that takes audiences through the life cycle of love, has had staying power, the second-longest running off-Broadway musical in history at nearly 12 years.

Actors’ Summit, which produced the regional premiere a decade ago, is reprising the light-hearted revue in a polished production whose four actors have excellent senses of comedic timing and play skillfully off each other.

Aubrey Caldwell (left) Stephen Brockway (left middle) Abigail Allwein (right middle) and Keith Stevens in Actors' Summit production I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change. (Actor's Summit photo)

This show, with vignettes that present plenty of stereotypes about male-female relationships, is dominated by ultra-light fare. Most of it’s not meant to be taken too seriously, and this ensemble sets just the right tone.

The vignettes, written by Joe DiPietro, share the evolution of love from the first date through marriage, the child-bearing years, divorce and old age. No matter where audience members may be in their own relationships, everyone is bound to find a kernel of truth in these capsules of love.

Comically truthful moments include an over-the-top scene in which a young woman celebrates a guy actually calling her back when he said he would. Her elated mom shows up to rejoice and the young woman (Actors’ Summit newcomer Abigail Allwein) wins a trophy, followed by her wacky acceptance speech.

My personal favorite is a hilarious scene between Aubrey Caldwell and Stephen Brockway, who play exhausted parents trying to create some “alone’’ time with each other. After checking off the day’s chores list and presumably tucking the kids in, this couple does an increasingly desperate song and dance with sexy underthings comically worn on the outside of their boring sweats.

The show features enjoyable yet largely unmemorable tunes by Jimmy Roberts. One exception is the yearning honesty of I Will Be Loved Tonight, sung beautifully by Allwein, who brings a sparkling dimension to the stage through her lyrics about the anticipation of intimacy.

Kudos also go to Caldwell, who’s cutely sarcastic in her lamentation about always being a bridesmaid (never a bride) and later transforms herself for a scene as a geriatric widow who finds an unexpected spark with a man at a funeral, played by Keith Stevens.

Actors’ Summit’s show does not feature a live piano accompaniment but instead one recorded by composer/performer Eric Baumgartner of Cincinnati, son of theater board member Barbara Baumgartner. Early in the show, the piano sounded muffled at times but that didn’t appear to be an issue for cast members, who are total pros.

Director Neil Thackaberry said the recording was made primarily to cut back on production costs as well as to ensure sound balance and tempo consistency with each performance. Although the cast created beautiful harmonies and Caldwell, especially, is a fabulous singer, nothing beats live accompaniment in a professional theatrical performance.

The show is for mature audiences only, due to some sexually suggestive lyrics, dialogue and situations, including partially unclothed cast members behind a couch.

All of the actors are quick-change artists, assuming more than 60 different characters collectively. On Saturday night, there were a couple of too-long lulls during costume changes, with Stevens getting caught once onstage with the lights up as he was still trying to get a prisoner’s jumpsuit off and move a chair for the following wedding scene.

The show’s scenes range from a crazy fantasy about sexual litigation to more heartfelt, true-to-life moments. Brockway creates one of the most understated, beautiful vignettes when his middle-aged character questions the status of his 30-year marriage.

“Shouldn’t I be less in love with you?’’ he asks himself as he sits across from his wife at the breakfast table. “No,’’ he concludes with a loving smile.

DETAILS

Musical revue: I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change

When: Continuing through June 3, 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays

Where: Actors’ Summit, Greystone Hall, 103 S. High St., Akron

Onstage: Abigail Allwein, Stephen Brockway, Aubrey Caldwell, Keith Stevens

Offstage: Joe DiPietro, book and lyrics; Jimmy Roberts, music; Neil Thackaberry, director; Lauren Fowkes, stage manager; Rory Wohl, set design; Eric Baumgartner, sound; MaryJo Alexander, costumes/props; Kevin Rutan, lighting

Tickets: $28-$30; senior citizens $25 Thursdays and Sundays; students, $9

Information: 330-374-7568 or www.actorssummit.org

Arts writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.

By Dorothy Shinn
Beacon Journal art ?and architecture critic

Plein air returns to Akron this summer.

Summit Artspace and guest curator Brian Shellito are organizing Streetscapes: Akron in Plein Air, which will for the second time bring together local artists to paint the urban landscape of downtown Akron streets. Spectators will be encouraged to visit the work sites and witness the process.

Plein air is a French term meaning “open air.” It refers to painting out-of-doors, a practice of landscape painters for 500 years.

On July 27, 28 and 29, participants in the Streetscapes competition will set up their easels in designated sites downtown. The artworks will be turned in at Summit Artspace at the end of each day and judged for inclusion in a gallery show to run Aug. 10 to Sept. 15.

An application form will be available at www.akronareaarts.org or by calling 330-376-8480.

Shellito, an illustrator for the Akron Beacon Journal, came up with the urban plein air idea.

Summit Artspace, 140 E. Market St., Akron, is currently showing Why Art’s Alive in Akron!, works by the eight Visual Arts Award Winners of Arts Alive! Awards from 2001-2011.

Extended Rembrandt hours

When an exhibit is this popular, what is a museum to do when its last days are fast approaching? Extend viewing hours.

That’s what the Cleveland Museum of Art, 11150 East Blvd., University Circle, is doing beginning Saturday for Rembrandt in America.

This weekend the exhibit opens at 10 a.m. and closes at 7 p.m., an hour after the permanent collection closes.

On May 26 and 27 the exhibit will remain open until 9 p.m. And on May 28, its last day in Cleveland, the show and the permanent collection will remain open until 5 p.m.

Rembrandt in America considers the history of Rembrandt collecting in the United States, with more than 50 works. About 30 are autograph paintings by Rembrandt van Rijn. Additional works in the exhibition were thought to be by the renowned Dutch artist when they entered American collections, but their attributions can no longer be maintained.

Tickets for Rembrandt in America are $14; $12 seniors and college students; $7 for children ages 6 to 17. Free for museum members and children 5 and younger.

Saturday

Family Drop-In — The Akron Art Museum, 1 S. High St., holds its Spark! Family Film Fest from noon to 3 p.m. The free event begins with a collection of shorts from the New York International Children’s Film Fest, followed by a film-centric hands-on art activity in the lobby, and concludes with a selection of films curated by Akron Film. 330-376-9186 or www.akronartmuseum.org.

Reception — A meet-the-artists reception will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. for 2012 Sisters in Art, on view through June 7 at Akrona Gallery, 1765 W. Market St., Akron. 330-659-4301 or 330-659-2453.

River Days — A 5 to 7 p.m. opening reception will be held for The River, an exhibit of original works focusing on the role the Cuyahoga River plays in our everyday lives, at Peninsula Art Academy, 1600 W. Mill St., Peninsula. 330-675-2248 or http://www.peninsulaartacademy.com.

Tuesday

Watercolor Florals on Canvas — Peninsula Art Academy, 1600 W. Mill St., Peninsula, begins a new watercolor class with Nicki Lanzi from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. $40 ($35 PAA members). 330-675-2248 or go to http://www.peninsulaartacademy.com.

Girls’ Night Out — The Canton Museum of Art holds the “Girls Night Out at the Museum” from 7 to 9 p.m. offering women a chance to experience the museum, network and explore silk scarf making with fiber artist Laurel Winters. Attendees will create and take home a piece of wearable art. The museum holds “Girls Night Out” on one Tuesday evening each month; June 26 will feature artist Clare Murray Adams and photo transfer techniques. $25 for materials and wine. Ages 21 and older. Register online at http://www.cantonart.org, or call 330-453-7666.

Call to artists

The Fiber C.A.F.E. — Seeking artists to participate in the Fiber Fling show, July 28 to Aug. 24 at the Peninsula Library. http://www.peninsulaartacademy.com or 330-657-2248.

Dorothy Shinn writes about art and architecture for the Akron Beacon Journal. Send information to her at the Akron Beacon Journal, P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309-0640 or dtgshinn@att.net.

By Kerry Clawson
Beacon Journal staff writer

Coach House Theatre has a big hit on its hands with the fabulously funny farce Move Over, Mrs. Markham, a rib-tickling delight from 1971 that’s in keeping with creator Ray Cooney and John Chapman’s other recent smash at Coach House, Not Now, Darling.

The celebrated British writers, dubbed the 20th century masters of farce, take the double entendre to the nth degree in this show. The fun-loving and talented Coach House cast delivers with knowing winks and wild-eyed facial expressions as the naughty innuendo and web of complications grow.

Scott Shriner, Kyra Kelley, Joe Pine in Coach House Theatre's current show, Move Over, Mrs. Markham. (photo by Scott Custer)

The story is set in London in what’s supposed to be modern times, although it still contains references to telephone operators placing calls, an antiquated practice that’s nevertheless vital to the story. Joanna Markham is married to Philip, a hard-working author of children’s books who doesn’t make time for romance anymore. They are friends with Linda and Henry Lodge, who, unbeknownst to each other, each try to “reserve” the Markhams’ empty flat for the evening for some extramarital hanky-panky.

What makes this farce so adorable is that as naughty as each of those characters tries to be, so many kinks are thrown into their plans, no one is successful. This comedy is full of mistaken identities, comic misunderstandings and assumptions, and desperate people posing as other people.

Preposterous situations include a husband and wife barely missing each other as they enter and exit through various doors of their friends’ flat in preparation for their separate rendezvous, as well as a beautiful young woman trying to seduce the wrong man on a blind date.

Strong cast

Holly Humes is excellent as Joanna Markham, thinking quickly on her feet when nerdy children’s book author Olive Harriet Smythe (the lovably weird Dede Klein) shows up with a business opportunity amid the mayhem. Scott Shriner is a believable prudish innocent as Philip Markham, overcome by jealousy when he fears his wife is being unfaithful.

This couple actually cherishes marriage, while Joe Pine and Lea Frire’s Henry and Linda Lodge are cavalier about abandoning their vows. Pine creates a suave portrayal of his ultimately clueless character, while Frire is ever perky.

Running amok through the chaos is sexy German maid Sylvie, whom Tess Burgler exaggerates with heightened silliness, and interior designer Alistair Spenlow, played with sophisticated sarcasm by Daniel Rylander. They add their own giddiness to this wacky tale with an extended bit goosing each other behind their employers’ backs.

Rounding out the cast is Mark Stoffer as would-be lover Walter, who pops up drinking champagne in the pantry, and Kyra Kelley as sexy telephone operator Miss Wilkinson.

Eye-popping set

Burgler has created an eye-popping set with a modern edge in hues of orange and gray, dominated by a curved white couch, glass-topped tables, plenty of graceful modern art and an oval bed with a sumptuously textured white bedspread. The cast’s costumes are dressy in a retro manner but carefully placed accessories, including a Coach purse, help place the story in more modern times. Director Burgler also has added current children’s pop culture references to SpongeBob SquarePants and Harry Potter.

Even so, the play’s for mature audiences only due to its innuendo, near sexual situations and characters stripping down to their underwear.

A big part of the play’s British bawdiness comes from characters talking at cross purposes: One thinks the discussion is about one topic while the other is sure it’s about another.

Audience members love being in on the joke and the laughs just keep rolling in this fine show, where there’s never a dull moment.

DETAILS

Play: Move Over, Mrs. Markham

When: Continuing through June 3, 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays

Where: Coach House Theatre, 732 W. Exchange St., Akron

Onstage: Holly Humes, Daniel Rylander, Tess Burgler, Leah Frires, Scott Shriner, Joe Pine, Mark Stoffer, Dede Klein, Kyra Kelley

Offstage: Ray Cooney and John Chapman, playwrights; Terry Burgler, director/set design; Kelly Johnson, costumes; Buddy Taylor, lighting; Ron Cuirle, sound design/stage manager; Kendra Schaefer, props

Tickets: $18 | Information: 330-434-7741

Arts writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.

By Kerry Clawson
Beacon Journal staff writer

The folks at Weathervane Community Playhouse are taking the theater adage “the show must go on” seriously after some mishaps opening week for the highly physical British farce See How They Run, which has characters being knocked around, manhandled and diving behind a couch.

First, leading lady Jennifer Hayek took a spill at rehearsal April 20 and hit her head, suffering a near concussion. She was taken away by ambulance but was able to return the next day.

Jennifer Hayek as Penelope, Beau Reinker as Clive in See How They Run at the Weathervane Playhouse. (Weathervane photo)

Then, on April 30, Harriet DeVeto, as busybody Miss Skillon, twisted her knee and fell during pre-rehearsal warm-ups. She has a torn ligament and is unable to perform, so director Eileen Moushey went on for her.

Given the circumstances, the cast of the 1944 comedy did admirable work Saturday night bringing British playwright Philip King’s humor to life, complete with requisite mistaken identities and slamming doors.

The three-act farce was first performed at Weathervane in 1952 for the inaugural production at the theater’s former location on Copley Road. The revised version of See How They Run is set in an English village just after World War II. Miss Skillon becomes convinced that her vicar’s wife, Penelope Toop, is having an affair and tries to expose her.

Weathervane’s performance was a bit slow-moving Saturday night, bogged down with the lengthy exposition of the first act. The farcical elements don’t start until Act II, after the old biddy gets drunk and ends up being stuffed in a closet. Moushey and Scott Davis, who plays Vicar Toop, stepped on each other’s lines a bit at the start but Moushey was fully in her element by the time her character was flopping around drunk.

Hayek, a John Carroll University graduate, and Beau Reinker, a Kent State theater major, create playful dynamics and witty exchanges as Penelope Toop and Corporal Clive Winton, Americans who are old acting friends. They have a fun tussle that ends in a misplaced slap as their characters re-enact their days onstage in a fight scene from Noel Coward’s Private Lives.

The physical comedy continues as characters repeatedly chase each other, jump over couches or knock each other out with a pipe.

As the young wife Penelope, Hayek is lively and fun-loving. Penelope is meant to be someone who doesn’t fit in well in the vicar’s world. But there’s such a lack of chemistry between her and Scott Davis, whose characterization is very flat as the vicar, one wonders how she ever came to be his wife.

Jo McGarvey shines as man-hungry maid Ida, who’s a hoot with her obnoxious Cockney accent, throwing around malapropisms such as being made “an accelerator before the fact.’’

It falls on this loyal servant to try to keep a drunken old lady, an underwear-clad vicar and a soldier who has lost his uniform in line — an exhausting task as mayhem grows with characters running in and out of the vicar’s house. The accomplished McGarvey is pitch-perfect.

Tom Stephan also is enjoyable as the befuddled bishop, Penelope’s uncle who has come to visit, and Jeff Bixby is super silly as the Rev. Arthur Humphrey.

You’ve got four or five men chasing each other in and out of the house in the final act, but by the time the skivvy-clad vicar inexplicably runs through a couple of times, it feels manufactured.

A sight gag with four “preachers’’ dressed identically standing in a row brings all the confusion to a head. But before that happens, the humor still gets bogged down in the long third act, when Penelope is coerced to pose as a Russian spy’s wife.

Weathervane’s See How They Run has a number of laughs. But overall, the show’s timing isn’t as taut as other farces that have played in the last six years at Akron community theaters, including the more modern British works Not Now Darling and Perfect Wedding, or the complete hysteria of American Ken Ludwig’s Lend Me a Tenor.

DETAILS

Comedy: See How They Run

When: Continuing through May 20

Where: Weathervane Community Playhouse, 1301 Weathervane Lane, Akron

Onstage: Jo McGarvey, Jennifer Hayek, Eileen Moushey, Scott Davis, Beau Reinker, Ian Haberman, Tom Stephan, Jeff Bixby, Adam Alderson

Offstage: Philip King, playwright; Eileen Moushey, director; Mary Kate Clancy, stage manager; Tom Abdoo and Sylvia Collier, props; Susan Stout Davis, lighting; Stephen and Eileen Moushey, sound; Jasen Smith, costumes; Alan Scott Ferrall, scenic designer; Michelle Conner, assistant stage manager

Tickets: $21; senior citizens $19 Thursdays and Sundays; students $5

Information: 330-836-2626 or www.weathervaneplayhouse.com

Arts writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.

By Dorothy Shinn
Beacon Journal art ?and architecture critic

ArtsinStark was honored in Columbus Wednesday with a 2012 Governor’s Award for the Arts for Community Development and Participation.

Stark County is one of 60 communities in America that raises money for the arts through an annual campaign, similar to the United Way. ArtsinStark Chief Executive Robb Hankins said 91 cents out of every dollar raised goes to support arts programming in the county and the region, “to create smarter kids, new jobs and healthier communities.”

Winners were selected from 67 nominations submitted by individuals and organizations throughout Ohio.

The other recipients were Arts Administration, Ed Stern and Buzz Ward, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park (Cincinnati); Arts Education, Toledo School for the Arts; Arts Patron, Louise D. Nippert (Cincinnati); Business Support of the Arts, Vectren Energy Delivery of Ohio (Dayton); Individual Artist, Michael Jerome Bashaw (Kettering); and Irma Lazarus Award, Barbara S. Robinson (Cleveland).

Director chosen

Following a nationwide search, Andria Derstine has been named the John G.W. Cowles Director of Oberlin College’s Allen Memorial Art Museum. She will begin June 15.

Derstine came to the museum in 2006 as the curator of Western art, and was promoted to curator of collections and curator of European and American art in 2009. Previously, she was an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow and then assistant curator in the Department of European Art at the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Friday

Opening — Cuyahoga Valley Art Center, 2131 Front St., Cuyahoga Falls, will open its Members Show and Artist Café with a 5:30-7:30 p.m. reception. On view through June 10. 330-928-8092.

Butler events — Butler Institute of American Art, 524 Wick Ave., Youngstown, will hold an art auction at 7 p.m. Works can be viewed at http://www.butlerart.com. On Sunday, two exhibitions open: Ron Mistovich: A Retrospective and Susan Leopold: Interiors Disrupted. Both artists will be on hand from 1 to 3 p.m. 330-743-1107 or http://www.butlerart.com/.

Sunday

Museum for Mother’s Day — Mothers get free admission and a cup of coffee when another adult admission is purchased at the Akron Art Museum, 1 S. High St., Akron. Exhibitions include String of Hearts: Photographs by Bea Nettles, Ray Turner: Population and Stranger in Paradise: The Works of Reverend Howard Finster. 330-376-9186 or http://www.AkronArtMuseum.org.

Monday

Auction — The Women’s Auxiliary of the Cuyahoga Valley Art Center, 2131 Front St., Cuyahoga Falls, will hold its annual Salad Luncheon, Sale and auction from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. To make a reservation, call 330-928-8092. $10, includes a glass of wine, salads, bargain items and auction.

Tuesday

Blossom Art Talk — Susan Taylor Glasgo, glass artist, gives a talk for this year’s Kent Blossom Art Series, 6 to 8 p.m. at the Kent State University School of Art, Room 202, Art Building. http://art.kent.edu/programs/KBA/kba.html or 330-672-2192.

Classes

PAA courses — The following courses are starting at the Peninsula Art Academy, 1600 W. Mill St., Peninsula: Drawing with Diane Keske Talmadge, 2-4 p.m. today; You Too Can Paint with Diane Keske Talmadge 6-8:30 p.m. today; Mosaic 101 with Eileen Gross, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. 330-657-2248 or http://www.peninsulaartacademy.com

Deadline

Saturday — Last day to register to participate in an en plein aire art event June 2 in the village of Minerva, during Market Street Art Spot’s Artfest on Market Street. Up to three works may be submitted to Market Street Art Spot for sale from June 8 to July 7. Prizes will be awarded. One or two surfaces, $20; three surfaces, $25. Late registration and walk-ins, $10 extra. Pick up a registration form at the gallery, 219 N. Market St., Minerva, or download at http://marketstreetartspot.com/paint-out-competitionshow/ and click on “ArtFest on Market Street.”

Dorothy Shinn writes about art and architecture for the Akron Beacon Journal. Send information to her at the Akron Beacon Journal, P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309-0640 or dtgshinn@att.net.

Details

Comedy: See How They Run

When: Continuing through May 20

Where: Weathervane Community Playhouse, 1301 Weathervane Lane, Akron

Onstage: Jo McGarvey, Jennifer Hayek, Eileen Moushey, Scott Davis, Beau Reinker, Ian Haberman, Tom Stephan, Jeff Bixby, Adam Alderson

Offstage: Philip King, playwright; Eileen Moushey, director; Mary Kate Clancy, stage manager; Tom Abdoo and Sylvia Collier, props; Susan Stout Davis, lighting; Stephen and Eileen Moushey, sound; Jasen Smith, costumes; Alan Scott Ferrall, scenic designer; Michelle Conner, assistant stage manager

Tickets: $21; senior citizens $19 Thursdays and Sundays; students $5

Information: 330-836-2626 or www.weathervaneplayhouse.com

By Dorothy Shinn
Beacon Journal art?and architecture critic

The Akron Art Museum’s Untitled #96 photograph by Cindy Sherman sold Tuesday for $2.5 million at Christie’s New York Postwar Contemporary Evening Sale.

Adding tax and commission, the unknown buyer paid $2,882,500.

The sale price for the 1981 image was $300,000 below the museum’s presale estimate, but Director and CEO Mitchell Kahan said he was far from disappointed at the final price.

“We’re delighted that it sold,” he said. “It’s also pretty exciting that this achieved the second highest price that a Cindy Sherman has sold for.

“The way I look at it is that it took us 90 years to build up an acquisition fund of $1.8 million,” Kahan said. “Suddenly, in one evening, we have more than doubled that.

“It’s an enormous step forward for the museum’s capability to buy future works of art.”

Kahan said the “auction room was packed, with an auxiliary auction room for the overflow. There were easily more than 1,000 people in attendance. There were many phone bidders, especially for the star of the evening, the Mark Rothko.”

The height of the evening’s bidding came at lot 15, Orange, Red, Yellow (1961) by Mark Rothko for $77.5 million, $42.5 million above its presale estimate.

The star-studded auction featured works by Alexander Calder, Roy Lichtenstein, Hans Hofmann, Willem de Kooning, Richard Diebenkorn, Arshile Gorky and a gold-plated reproduction of Marcel Duchamp’s urinal that he titled Fountain.

To celebrate the sale, Kahan said he and other members of the Akron museum staff were going for dinner, to the Museum of Modern Art, which is now showing the Cindy Sherman Retrospective.

The Akron museum’s presale estimate for its Sherman had been set at between $2.8 million and $3.8 million, based on an earlier sale of the same photograph in May 2011 at $3,890,500 — a world auction record for any photo at the time.

The proceeds of this sale will go toward a new endowment fund for the museum — money set aside in an account, the interest on which can be used to buy new works. The fund is invested in perpetuity and is protected so that it cannot be used for other expenses, such as maintenance or salaries.

The museum retains in its collection another 1981 masterpiece by Cindy Sherman from the Centerfolds series, Untitled #93 (Black Sheets).

“Now we can look forward to acquiring other Cindy Sherman works from later in her career,” Kahan said.

The museum has a longstanding commitment to Sherman’s work, having organized her first major exhibition in 1984, which traveled to the Walker Art Center and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

In Untitled #96, informally known as The Orange Sweater, Sherman adopted the persona of a teenage girl in a large, almost life-size photograph.

Lying on the floor, she clutches a page torn from the newspaper classifieds — perhaps a personals ad. The work’s scale and the boldness of Sherman’s tight compositional framing exude surprise and confrontation, yet the figure at the work’s center is also endearing and curiously vulnerable.

The work showcases all the themes and ideas of Sherman’s best work, yet is also the most paradoxical of the series known as the Centerfolds. The artist composed the image clearly, but left the work’s implied narrative deliberately ambiguous.

Untitled #96 is among the best examples of Sherman’s entire oeuvre. Several of the world’s major museum and private art collections include examples from this small edition. This image has become the icon of the major retrospective currently at the Museum of Modern Art and is reproduced in all the media related to this show.

Kahan said museums de-accession works from their collections “all the time.”

“The Boston Museum of Fine Arts recently sold a Monet for $20 million and bought a great Gustave Caillebot painting with that money. Museums are getting more and more strategic, and what they want is not necessarily what collectors want. Collectors want a Monet; the BMFA needed a Caillebot. So there you are.”

The museum has placed its remaining Cindy Sherman, Untitled # 93 (The Black Sheets) 1981, on view for Akron Art Museum visitors for the foreseeable future.

Dorothy Shinn writes about art and architecture for the Akron Beacon Journal. Send information to her at dtgshinn@att.net.

By Dorothy Shinn
Beacon Journal art and architecture critic

Akron doesn’t ignore all of its treasures.

Through June 3, Summit Artspace, 140 E. Market St., exhibits Why Art’s Alive in Akron!, an exhibit of works by the visual arts winners of the biennial Arts Alive! Awards from 2001 to 2011, and the two winners of the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Lifetime Achievement Award winners are Mark Soppeland and P.J. Rogers. The Arts Alive! Award winners are Don Drumm, the late Craig Lucas, Joan Colbert, Judith Carducci, Miller Horns and Barbara Gillette.

"Waiting for Godot" pastel drawing

Each artist has been given a section of the gallery, and Colbert, who curated the show, has as usual done a wonderful job of displaying all works to their best advantage.

There are two disappointments in this exhibit. One is that Horns was too sick to attend the opening. The other is that there are only two small late paintings by Lucas, whose career saw the creation of many larger, more immediately impressive pieces.

But Colbert has done a good job with the small abstract paintings, which are grittier, more unyielding to the lure of the beautiful brushwork for which Lucas was so well known. These reveal that in the last years before his death, Lucas had been exploring new territory in which the paint, the forms, the composition were raw and edgy, with no concession given to conventional notions of beauty.

The exhibit is the brainchild of recently retired Akron Area Arts Alliance Director Jessie Raynor, Colbert said. “I would never do a show that included my own work,” she added.

“I let the artists choose the work for the show, and I told everyone to select 10 average-sized paintings or sculptures, which worked out,” Colbert noted.

Drumm chose two aluminum wall sculptures and 12 smaller freestanding pewter sculptures he clustered in a group called Towers, Totems and Ziggurats.

“I’m not into naming things as a rule,” Drumm said. “That’s just for convenience as a group title.

“I did these for this show. That gave me the excuse to put these together,” he added, gesturing to a group of pewter sculptures that resemble futuristic towers and derricks encrusted with electronic equipment.

Drumm said he keeps small electronic components around that he periodically casts into pewter, then joins them together in various arrangements.

“Theoretically, I could reconfigure them and do all new ones,” he explained.

“I love the vertical. I work in the vertical except when I’m doing the wall pieces, which are cast aluminum. Once in a while, I’ll stick a little figure in just to create scale in the viewer’s mind,” he said pointing to a space-suited figure at the base of one of his standing sculptures.

“They’re all created without subject matter — all nonobjective pieces.”

Drumm assembles them using epoxy and then sends them off to be cast and finished at a forge where they have digital cutting devices.

“They can also cut big pieces for me,” he added. “They helped with the Garden of Fantasy hanging sculpture that I did for the Cooper Cancer Center [at Akron City Hospital]. That’s 20 by 22 feet.”

Soppeland, by contrast, who is known for sculpture that draws on his puckish sense of humor and a childlike openness to possibility, has no problems with naming things. It is a final step in the creation of his sculptures, and he’s raised it to an art form. He comes up with names that not only get at the essential elements of the piece, but also expand the viewer’s appreciation of the work, while not stinting on a chuckle or two.

Soppeland, who is distinguished professor of art at the University of Akron Myers School of Art, says he stresses the importance of this kind of thinking with his students, that double-entendres, hidden meanings, even puns add depth and longevity to a work of art.

“We talk about potential, allusion and symbolism,” he said.

But that’s not his favorite part of creating his sculptures, which tend to be made up of secondhand materials.

“A big part of the work is about the search for booty,” he noted with relish. “For me, it might even be about my favorite part … the treasure hunt.”

Shrine of the Fifth Day, for instance, refers to the seven days of creation. It’s recycled lamp parts filled with unfinished jungle creatures. “It’s about God on a coffee break,” Soppeland grinned, “when the animals are half made.

“It would be nice to go back in a time machine to where God decides whether to put stripes on this one or spots on that one.”

He tilts his head to one side and adds drolly, “Yes, there’s something here to offend everyone.”

Needless to say, his sculptures have become wildly popular, and not just in Akron. At a show in Boulder, Colo., “two things happened that had never happened before. First, we didn’t sell a piece on opening night. Second, the next morning, a woman came in and bought up the entire show and said ‘I want it all, and I want it now.’

“They tried to put her off by saying they couldn’t do that because the art packer wasn’t there. But she said, ‘Oh, well, in that case, put it on the jet.’

“They took a picture of the entire show being loaded onto her jet,” he recalled. “They won’t tell me her name. Art galleries are secretive that way.”

P.J. Rogers, who’s known for her velvety grisaille etching and aquatints, has recently expanded her repertoire into archival pigment inkjet monoprints. Both forms are strikingly handsome and filled with presence.

Much of her work is about process and procedure, reflected in the large etching and aquatint Mirrored Love.

“I was reading a book about creativity by Twyla Tharp, and she said you’ve got to get it into your routine and set yourself up with an endeavor that’s repeatable, so I collected seed pods.

“Every morning after my husband left for work, I would go out into the garden and gather seed pods and spend the rest of the day drawing those pods and the parts of the flowers associated with them. I put different compositions together from things I found in the garden, most of them related to the seed pod at different stages.

“I’m still doing that in a way, using images of flowers at different stages of aging in my inkjet monoprints,” she said. “They reflect layers of time in the garden.”

Gillette’s pastels, while objective, are nevertheless abstract in concept. They have a surrealistic feel to them, something she enhances by giving them such titles as Waiting for Godot, after Thomas Beckett’s Absurdist play.

In her case, those waiting are four rolled hay bales, sitting by the side of the road, watched over by a small, silvery full moon. Similarly, Winter Cornfield seems allude to literary sources, which also adds to the work’s considerable gravitas.

Allusion, context, symbolism, as Soppeland suggests, are key elements in successful works. No one knows that better than Colbert, whose fondness for crows and blackbirds of all sorts leads her to create such timely prints as her block print and acrylic Commodity Traders, which shows a murder of crows gathered to scoop up the scraps falling from a nest on which sits the goose that laid the golden eggs.

Also of note is her Lotus Series, which refers to the sites of the yoga chakras, which she has made into a wall piece, as well as a wonderful, delicate and marvelously made artist’s accordion-fold book, The Kundalini Serpent. It’s not for sale, but if it were, she could sell all she could make.

Wonderful artists, wonderful show. Plenty to see, talk and think about.

Dorothy Shinn writes about art and architecture for the Akron Beacon Journal. Send information to her at the Akron Beacon Journal, P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309-0640 or dtgshinn@att.net.

Broadway in Akron 2012-13 season

■ Savion Glover’s SoLe Sanctuary, 8 p.m. Oct. 27. Described as a hoofer’s meditation on the art of tap, the Tony Award winner pays homage to tap legends, including mentor Gregory Hines, Jimmy Slyde and Sammy Davis Jr.

■ Shrek the Musical, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 8-9. An unseemly ogre becomes an unlikely hero in a story populated by a feisty princess and more than a dozen fairy-tale misfits. The musical, which has 19 new songs, is part romance and part twisted fairy tale.

■ Stomp, 8 p.m. Feb. 15-16. The explosive eight-member troupe uses everything but conventional percussion instruments to fill the stage with magnificent rhythms.

■ Hair, 7:30 p.m. March 5-6. Winner of the best musical revival Tony Award in 2009, the Public Theater’s newest version of Hair tells the story of a group of young Americans searching for peace and love in the turbulent 1960s. The show is for mature audiences, recommended for 13 and older. A dimly lit 20-second scene contains nudity that is nonsexual in nature.

■ Dreamgirls 7:30 p.m. April 9-10. The new production tells the story of an up-and-coming 1960s girl singing group, and the triumphs and tribulations that come with fame and fortune. The Tony- and Academy Award-winning musical features music by Henry Krieger and book and lyrics by Tom Eyen.

■ Bobby McFerrin: Spirit You All, 8 p.m. April 20. Bobby Mc-Ferrin and his band celebrate the transcendence of the American spirit with joyful new takes on the spirituals. According to the Los Angeles Times, the ten-time Grammy Award winner transforms “a concert hall into a playground, a village center, a joyous space.’’

■ West Side Story, 8 p.m. May 7 and 7:30 p.m. May 8, 2013. The musical revival, based on Tony Award-winning librettist Arthur Laurents’ Broadway direction, features extraordinary choreography and a Bernstein and Sondheim score considered to be one of Broadway’s finest.

■ The Addams Family, 7:30 p.m. June 12-13, 2013. The new musical comedy follows America’s favorite ghoulish family as Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and fallen in love with a young man from a respectable family. Complications ensue when Wednesday’s family hosts a dinner for her boyfriend and his parents.

Broadway in Akron series packages go on sale May 14 for returning and new subscribers. Package prices for the five Broadway shows are $170, $214.75, $245.25 and $267.75. New subscribers will be seated in August. The three special engagements will be sold separately.

Call 330-972-7570 or visit BroadwayInAkron.com.