By Rick Pender

Who says the stars don't come out in Cincinnati? The Playhouse's upcoming production of Sondheim's A Little Night Music (opening April 20) will feature DONNA McKECHNIE in the lead role of Desirée Armfeldt. If her name sounds familiar, it's because she originated the role of Cassie (and won a Tony for it) in the legendary Broadway production of A Chorus Line. She was in Cincinnati late last summer to workshop a one-woman show based on her career, and she apparently liked the Playhouse well enough to return for a regular production. ... Last week I wrote about the Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Back in 1994, Humana featured MY LEFT BREAST, a one-act play by Susan Miller which went on to win an Obie award in playwriting. The playwright will bring her one-woman show about life, love and surviving cancer, to Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati (ETC) May 4-7. Tickets and info: 513-421-3555. ... As previously announced in CityBeat, the THEATRE OF THE MIND play-reading series moves from the Mercantile Library to ETC next season. The 2000-2001 series, called "Windows on the World" will include plays by two Nobel laureates, Derek Walcott and Wole Soyinka, and Canadian writer Michel Tremblay. Call ETC for more info. ... Another new theatrical venture has been launched with CHUCK WENTE, who founded Downtown Theatre Classics, in charge. He'll direct North Star Productions, which hopes to produce an outdoor drama about the Underground Railroad near Augusta, Ky. Efforts are underway to raise $4.5 million. Info: 859-581-4561. ... Still time to catch IF Theatre Collective's production of Jean-Paul Sartre's NO EXIT. If you enjoyed CSF's Waiting for Godot or Stage First's The Chairs last fall, this one will be another thought-provoking absurdist work. Tickets: 513-961-7434.

E-mail Rick Pender

Shining Leight (April 6, 2000)
Multiple Personalities (April 6, 2000)
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