“Puppet nudity. Puppet sexual situations. Strong puppet language.” Don’t let the cute-looking characters and a resemblance to Muppets and Sesame Street fool you: Avenue Q is an entirely differen  

It’s a three-day weekend that’s more about being outdoors and kicking off summer fun. That being said, if you’re looking for a theater production that will give you some laughs for your weekend, I recommend catching a performance of see The Second City 2: Less Pride – More Pork at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park on its Shelterhouse Stage. I fo...  

Although most people think that theater awards are about recognizing excellence, the real bottom line is marketing. A half-dozen award programs in New York City — the Drama Desk, the Outer Critics Circle, the Lortels, the Obies — lead up to the big kahuna, the Tony Awards, focused on Broadway shows.  

The four images on the cover of the 2012 Cincinnati Fringe Festival program (included in CityBeat’s May 16 issue) featured various people smushing their faces against a window. Cross-eyed, surprised, disgruntled, quizzical, amused — it’s a diverse set of reactions, all appropriate responses to shows that Know Theatre will present May 29-June 9.  

Leah Strasser and Tyler Smetts have lived in Cincinnati. In fact, they’re first cousins. She’s an actor; he’s a writer. They’ve been talking about creating a year-round theater company that draws on homegrown talent, and the 2012 Cincinnati Fringe seemed like the perfect moment to take the next step by undertaking a production.  

If you’ve ever uttered the words, “My dad has a barn — let’s put on a show!” you should board the Showboat Majestic for Babes in Hollywood, a revue inspired by the musical careers of Judy Ga  

If I were you, I’d to my best to catch a performance of Titanic: The Musical before it closes on Saturday at the Aronoff Center’s Jarson-Kaplan Theater. The show puts you in the midst of dozens of characters as they board the ship, overflowing with great expectations — of success, of escaping poverty, of new life in America, of achieving dreams. You get to know them, and the...  

If you laughed your way through Second City’s first round of poking fun at Cincinnati, you’ll want to head back for another dose. They came to town a few months back to find even more aspects of t  

 The opening 15 minutes of Titanic: The Musical, recreating the tragic 1912 sinking of the doomed ocean liner, is one of the most stirring, evocative sequences in all of musical theater. It grabs you as you meet dozens of characters boarding the ship, overflowing with great expectations — of success, of escaping poverty, of new life in America, of achieving dreams. But we know what awaits many of them in the freezing North Atlantic after the collision with an iceberg.   

 Let’s give props to Cincinnati Shakespeare Company for bringing to the stage The Merchant of Venice, one of Shakespeare’s most difficult plays. It’s officially categorized as a comedy, and it contains humorous and romantic elements, including a subplot about contesting for the hand of a wealthy heiress. But the central story of a more dire contest between a moneylender and a businessman is anything but amusing.