Girls Night: The Musical!

Entertainment Events

May 11-June 26, 2011
14th Street Theater at Playhouse Square
Tuesdays at 7pm
Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays at 8pm
Saturdays at 4pm and 8pm
Sundays at 3pm
Directed by Sonya Carter
Featuring Leslie Andrews, Ginny Brazier, Kate Michalski, Amy Pawlukiewicz and Susan Wagner

A touching and hilarious 'tell-it-like-it-is' look at the lives of a group of female friends, GIRLS NIGHT: THE MUSICAL promises to have audiences around the country laughing, crying and dancing in the aisles! Follow five friends as they re-live their past, celebrate their present and look to the future on a wild and hilarious karaoke night out ... and you'll recognize every one of them! Carol who was born to party, blunt Anita who says it like it is, Liza and her 'issues', boring Kate the great designated driver and Sharon, the not-so-angelic angel who just couldn't resist tagging along! GIRLS NIGHT is bursting with energy and is packed with hits "Lady Marmalade," "It's Raining Men," "Man, I Feel Like a Woman," "I Will Survive," "We Are Family" and many more, so grab the girls and get ready to party!

Scene Magazine Review by Christine Howey "As the linchpin Sharon, Amy Pawlukiewicz (a local performer, as are all the cast members) has an easy casualness on stage that suits her role."

Q104 Review by Kory "Amy Pawlukiewicz is hilarious as the show’s narrator and does a great job weaving improvisation in and out of her scripted lines."

Inoculations

Inoculations
Theater Ninjas
November 4-20, 2010
78th Street Studios
Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Mondays at 8pm
Sundays at 3pm
By Darren O'Donnell
Directed by Jeremy Paul

Featuring Ray Caspio, Nick Koesters, Val Kozlenko, Ryan Lucas, Amy Pawlukiewicz, Michael Prosen, Nick Riley and Darius Stubbs

This mind-bending double-header by Darren O'Donnell includes the national premieres of WHO SHOT JACQUES LECAN and RADIO ROOSTER SAYS THAT'S BAD. Using rhythm and rhyme, songs and science, Inoculations is a crazed meditation on unconscious drives, millennial paranoia, and collective psychosis. Come for the pumpkin pie: stay for the hallucinations.

Plain Dealer Review by Tony Brown "Arising from a sofa in the back of the room is actress Amy Pawlukiewicz, the only female seen during the entire Beatnik-esque evening, as a slinky, Felliniesque femme fatale..."

Cool Cleveland Review by Roy Berko "The Theatre Ninja production, as is the case with Paul's work, is well conceived. The actors are centered on their purposes, stay in character, and create the proper intensity. LACAN features Ray Caspio, Val Kozlenko, Ryan Lucas, Amy Pawlukiewicz, Michael Prosen, Nick Riley and Darius Stubbs."

Scene Magazine Review by Christine Howey "...performers include Ray Caspio, Michael Prosen, Val Kozlenko, Darius Stubbs, and Amy Pawlukiewicz, all of whom give their all to make Paul's concept of O'Donnell's challenging theatrics resonate."

Blithe Spirit

Blithe Spirit
Clague Playhouse
September 17-October 10, 2010

By Noel Coward
Directed by Kevin Joseph Kelly

A classic comedy about a man whose first wife Elvira is accidentally summoned up at a séance. Elvira's ghost decides to stay on and torment Charles and his new wife, Ruth. Since Charles is the only one who can see Elvira, Ruth doesn't believe him until vases and other objects start flying.

The Foreigner

The Foreigner
Porthouse Theatre
July 1-17, 2010

By Larry Shue

Directed by Rohn Thomas
Presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.

Featuring Paula Duesing, Bob Ellis, John Kolibab, Darren Nash, Amy Pawlukiewicz, Eric van Baars, Tony Zanoni

Continuing our comedy run is the fabulous farce entitled The Foreigner by Larry Shue known for the comedy The Nerd. The story is about Charlie, a painfully shy Englishman, who is on a vacation at a Georgia hunting lodge. He concocts a plan to avoid speaking to others by posing as a mysterious foreigner who speaks no English. The plan works well at first, but then backfires when he finds himself the confidant of everyone there.

Plain Dealer Review by Donald Rosenberg "Eric van Baars uses his rubber-face, nimble physicality and winsome charm to transform Charlie from nebbish into a figure of endearing strength. His solo turn in Act II is a wacky tour de force. It’s no wonder that Catherine (the vibrant Amy Pawlukiewicz) falls for this strange little man."

Cleveland Scene Magazine Review by Christine Howey "Also excellent is Amy Pawlukiewicz as the sarcastic and self-deprecating Catherine ("Some people are meant to be a waste of food," she says, "and I'm one")."

News-Herald Review by Bob Abelman "Tony Zanoni is astoundingly sweet and disarmingly charming as Ellard. Also superb are Amy Pawlukiewicz as the fallen debutant Catherine, Darren Nash as the Reverend..."

EAT: It's Not About Food

EAT: It's Not About Food
Fairmount Center for the Arts
April 15-May 2, 2010

EAT (It’s Not About Food) is a humorous and poignant look at the dangerous and baffling world of eating disorders and our society’s obsession with food, appearance and body image. The play candidly explores causes and warning signs, and takes a hard look at the influences of society and the media. The play tells individual stories of teens and adults struggling with this epidemic and too often tragic problem. It candidly explores causes and warning signs, and takes a hard look at the influences of society and the media. The play also tells individual stories of young people struggling with this epidemic and too often tragic problem.

Cleveland Performing Arts Examiner Review "Amy Pawlukiewicz plays a number of roles that serve as a kind of guide or narrator through the show. She provides information and interludes with confidence and poise, stringing together different parts of the show."

Cool Cleveland Review by Roy Berko"Director Fred Sternfeld and his large cast of adults and teens do a very credible job of developing the play’s ideas. The staging is creative and meaningful. Especially strong performances are given by Amy Pawlukiewicz..."

News Herald Review by Bob Abelman "Regnier is particularly interesting as a calorie-conscious coffee drinker and an aging, long-suffering ballet dancer, as is Pawlukiewicz as the generic TV actress whose guiding philosophy is 'thin is not just in, it is imperative.'"

Death of a Salesman

Death of a Salesman
Lakeland Civic Theatre
February 4-21, 2010

Lakeland Civic Theatre presents Arthur Miller's classic of American Theatre that won the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Featuring Trad A Burns sets and lights and Mark Cipra as "Willy Loman," Lakeland's production looks directly into the heart of an ordinary American with depth and compassion. Willy Loman sees not only reflections of himself but also the harsh realities of the American Dream.

CPT Big [Box]: Microscopes & Megaphones

Microscopes and Megaphones
Cleveland Public Theatre
James Levin Theatre
January 29 - January 31 2010

Directed by Maura Haas

Microscopes & Megaphones is a collaborative project that uses dance, theatre, audio and visual arts to explore "the problem that has no name" plaguing the modern woman today. With progress made in reproductive choice, education, the workplace and at home, the modern Western woman's oppression manifests itself through subtlety, innuendo and the places you least expect.

Offbeat and stripped down, Microscopes & Megaphones explores slutty fat girls, an oral sex memoir, baking as foreplay, the power of punctuations, the hypocrisy of language, degrees of touch and why Mom is the sexiest woman you know.

Whisper to a Scream: a feminist performance art collective is a collaboration of local artists. Its mission is to use art, awareness, action and advocacy to help eradicate the barriers that keep women from being recognized as full, autonomous human beings in society. Whisper to a Scream is proud to make its debut with Cleveland Public Theatre.

For mature audiences only! Contains sexual content and adult language.

Pangs of the Messiah

PANGS OF THE MESSIAH

June 17-July 1, 2009
Brooks Theatre, The Cleveland Play House

“This exquisitely balanced play packs quite a formidable political punch. It will be of great interest to anyone concerned about Middle East geopolitics and the consequences of impending political change.” - The Chicago Tribune

“A pressure cooker of interfamilial and political tension.” - The Washington Post
Written by contemporary Israeli playwright Motti Lerner
Directed by Scott Plate

An emotionally charged drama set in 2012, PANGS OF THE MESSIAH portrays the struggles and conflict faced by a family of religious Zionist pioneers after the signing of a Peace Accord by the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority. This thought-provoking piece of theater encourages understanding of the wide-ranging convictions, passions and perspectives of the Israeli people and of the diversity and strife that exists in contemporary Israeli society.

Each performance will include a pre-performance talk one hour prior to curtain and a post performance discussion immediately following.

Christine Howey's Rave and Pan Review "...a stellar cast under the direction of Scott Plate delivers a powerful evening of theater."

Roy Berko's Review "Strong performances are put in by Charles Kartali as Shmuel, Jean Zarzour as his wife, Karon Sabo as his daughter-in-law, Amy Pawlukiewicz as his daughter, and Ryan Jagru, as Shmuel’s conflicted son-in-law."

Fran Heller's Cleveland Jewish News Review "Amy Pawlukiewicz shines as Benny’s worrisome pregnant wife Chava, who fears that her husband will turn to extremist tactics once again."

The Odd Couple

The Odd Couple
Fairmount Center for the Arts
April 16-May 1, 2009

Critical and Audience response...

"Carla Petroski and Amy Pawlukiewicz are delightful as the English Pigeon sisters." - Roy Berko, American Critics Association

“…each of the characters were superbly cast and played. It was a wonderful evening. Neil Simon's play is still on target for laughter from all ages.”


"FPAC's production of The Odd Couple was pure sardonic joy! This is a presentation that Neil Simon himself would be proud of - every actor is just perfect in their role and the comedy and timing rival that of anything you might find at Playhouse Square or any professional theater. If you are looking for a night of great theater, you have found it with FPAC's The Odd Couple."

Winner of a 'Times Newspaper Tribute Award for Outstanding Theatre 2009'

Roy Berko, Times Theatre Critic

CPT Big [Box]: Ictus

Big [Box] 2008: Ictus
Cleveland Public Theatre
February 22-24, 2008

Ictus is a journey through a foreign country and through the world of catastrophic illness. An athletic, healthy, thirty-five year old woman experiences a severe stroke or brain attack while traveling through Italy on vacation. In seconds her life is derailed. Unable to speak or swallow and paralyzed she must find a way to put her life back together as she struggles through rehabilitation of her paralyzed body. The brain is the center of the self. How do you put your life back together if everything that makes you you is damaged or out of commission?

A Loss of Roses

A Loss of Roses at Ensemble Theatre
Through Nov. 25, 2007
Cleveland Play House
8500 Euclid Ave.
216.321.2930

Helen Baird is a faded, disillusioned shadow of woman, whose husband left her years before. Since then, she's devoted all her energies to the upbringing of her son, Kenny. But Kenny is nearly a man and he's beginning to chafe under his mother's suffocating love and overprotectiveness.  Adding to the strain is the unexpected arrival of Lila Green, a member of a third-rate acting troupe passing through town in search of their next paying gig. Years before, Lila and Helen had been friends, with Lila even filling in from time to time as Kenny's babysitter. No great talent as an actress, Lila's looks have gotten her by thus far, but she's growing older and is no longer the stunning beauty she was in her heyday.  Disillusioned and unhappy, Lila decides to stay with her old friend and reexamine her life while the rest of the group goes on to the next big town to try their luck.  Lila quickly discovers that she's still attractive enough to catch Kenny's eye, and the two are soon having a torrid love affair. Realizing that Helen would not look kindly on their involvement, particularly in light of her strong religious convictions, the two decide to keep their relationship a secret -- a sure recipe for disaster.

Cleveland Free Times Review  "Amply embodying the author's vision of wounded female sexuality is Amy Pawlukiewicz's bruised baby-doll of a stand-in mother..."

AtTENtion Span

AtTENtion Span: A Festival of 10-Minute Plays
Cleveland Public Theatre
October 11-27, 2007

A series of 10-minute plays curated by Greg Vovos take over the Gordon Square Theatre. Featuring works by local and national writers, AtTENtion Span is sure to take hold of you! These works take theatrical risks to explore politics, relationships, personal awakenings and zombies! And the next piece is only moments away!

Other People's Money

Other People's Money
Lakeland Civic Theatre
February 2-28, 2007

Christine Howey, Cleveland Scene Review
It seems almost quaint, thinking back on the 1980s and the financial scandals involving shady brokers and arbitrageurs. They look like pikers compared to today's corporate and war-profiteering felons, who make off with billions of taxpayer dollars with a wink and nod from the government. But this play by Jerry Sterner, now at Lakeland Community College Theatre, captures that past era well. Just like in the movie, Larry "The Liquidator" Garfinkle is out to feed on the carcass of a failing wire and cable (back then, cable referred only to thick wire, not TV technology) company. But Larry is fought by the company's president, his longtime assistant Bea, and her daughter Kate. It's worth a trip out windswept Route 90 just to see Andrew Narten chew many donuts and a bit of the scenery as Larry. Sporting an eccentric Bronx accent and Santa padding to make him portly, Narten crafts a deliciously greedy, sexist, obnoxious pig. And Amy Pawlukiewicz is believable as Kate, his beauteous foe until the all too realistic conclusion. Director Martin Friedman keeps the pace lively and manages to keep a couple weaker performers from interrupting the flow.

The Rocky Horror Show

CPT makes history again with The Rocky Horror Show!

Not your Mama's Rocky Horror!

Cleveland Public Theatre announces The Rocky Horror Show by Richard O'Brien, opening Friday, December 1st and running through December 23rd! The show that put CPT on the map 20 years ago returns for an unbelievably twisted run!

The world's favorite rock and roll musical, The Rocky Horror Show will take place in the round in the Gordon Square Theatre. Directed by renowned actor and director Scott Plate and featuring Alison Garrigan as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, this gender-bending Rocky is sure to be something you've never experienced! Come join us and do the Time Warp again!

Featuring: Amy Bistok, Liz Conway, Carlos Cruz, Alison Garrigan, James Jones, Andy Marikis, Wendell McDowell, Monique MacGregor,Amy Pawlukiewicz, Elizabeth Wood

The Rocky Horror Band: Tim Keo, Rich Kline, David Maxson, Brad Wyner

Director: Scott Plate
Musical Director/Arrangements: Brad Wyner
Stage Manager: Eileen Arnold
Assistant Director: Pamela Clay
Costume Designer: Alison Garrigan
Choreographer: Amy Pawlukiewicz
Scenic Art/Properties Design: Lydia Chanenka
Lighting Designer: Kristina J. Ferencie
Sound Design: Erich Zombory-Sendovics, Brady Wyner, Pamela Clay
Assistant Stage Manager: Ben Karlin
Sound Operator: Liz Shinkle


Fran Heller's Cleveland Jewish News Review "...Amy Pawlukiewicz, who plays Rocky, also doubles as choreographer with some nifty bumps and grinds in the company number 'The Floor Show.'"