World City Guide

Culture

The cultural heart of the city is Playhouse Square Center, 1501 Euclid Avenue (tel: (216) 771 8403, information only; website: www.playhousesquare.com), a cultural complex consisting of five restored landmark theatres: the Ohio, State, Palace, Hanna and the Allen Theatres. The major restorations began in 1972 and transformed Playhouse Square into the second largest performing arts centre in the USA, which is now attracts over one million patrons every year. Tickets for Playhouse Square productions can be purchased in person from their box office, online from their website, or from Tickets.com (tel: (216) 241 6000 or (800) 766 6048; website: www.tickets.com).

Ticketmaster (tel: (216) 241 5555; website: www.ticketmaster.com) also sells tickets for most cultural events.

Entertainment listings can be found in Friday!, the weekly magazine accompanying Cleveland’s local newspaper, The Plain Dealer, which is also available online (www.cleveland.com). The following magazines and newspapers all provide listings: the weekly Scene (website: www.clevescene.com) and Free Times Magazine (website: www.freetimes.com), and the monthly Northern Ohio Live (website: www.northernohiolive.com) and Cleveland Magazine (website: www.clevelandmagazine.com).

Music: The Cleveland Chamber Symphony (tel: (216) 687 9243; website: www.csuohio.edu/ccs) performs free concerts of musical works exclusively by present-day composers at Cleveland State University’s Drinko Recital Hall, 2001 Euclid Avenue. Cleveland Opera (website: www.clevelandopera.org) finds its home at Playhouse Square (see above), performing grand operatic works, such as The Barber of Seville and La Bohème, in the renovated State Theatre. The Cleveland Orchestra (tel: (216) 231 1111 or (800) 686 1141; website: www.clevelandorch.com) performs at the recently restored and expanded Severance Hall, 11001 Euclid Avenue. It offers a popular outdoor concert series during the summer at the Blossom Music Center, 1145 West Steels Corners Road, Cuyahoga Falls.

Theatre: The Cleveland Play House, 8500 Euclid Avenue (tel: (216) 795 7000; website: www.clevelandplayhouse.com), was founded in 1915 and is the longest running regional theatre in the country, presenting critically acclaimed major theatrical productions alongside works by more obscure writers. The Cleveland Public Theatre, 6415 Detroit Avenue (tel: (216) 631 2727; website: www.cptonline.org), is the city’s best-known alternative theatre, presenting local, national and international avant-garde works.

The Great Lakes Theater Festival (tel: (216) 241 5490; website: www.greatlakestheater.org) puts on the classics from October to May at the Ohio Theatre at Playhouse Square (see above). Karamu House, 2355 East 89th Street (tel: (216) 795 7070; website: www.karamu.com), is an African-American cultural institution, which has been putting on performances and working with the community for more than 75 years.

Dance: The Ohio Ballet (website: www.ohioballet.org) was formed in 1968 and finds its home near Cleveland in Akron, Ohio. When in Cleveland, the company performs at the Ohio Theatre, 1511 Euclid Avenue, at Playhouse Square (see above). DanceCleveland (tel: (216) 861 2213; website: www.dancecleveland.org) hosts different contemporary/modern dance troupes from around the world at various Playhouse Square venues (see above).

Film: Fairly recent films, including Rain Man (1988) and Air Force One (1997) show off Cleveland, but one of the most memorable is Major League (1989), a comedy about baseball, directed by David S Ward and starring Charlie Sheen.

Mainstream cinemas worth visiting in Cleveland include Regal Cinema Mayfield Heights 10, 1345 SOM Center Road (tel: (440) 449 9288), and the Tower City 11, 230 Huron Road Northwest (tel: (440) 717 4697). Cleveland Cinematheque, 11141 East Boulevard (tel: (216) 421 7450), presents arthouse films. Tickets can be purchased in person at the theatre or by telephone with a credit card.

Cultural events: Ohio’s premier film event, the Cleveland International Film Festival, takes place in March at Hoyts Tower City Cinema. The Tri-C Jazz Fest is a festival of jazz celebrating local and national artists. It takes place at Cuyahoga Community College and various venues throughout Cleveland in the month of April. Parade the Circle takes place in University Circle in June and consists of parades, ethnic foods and family activities, as well as free museum admission, which attracts the visitors. The Cleveland Shakespeare Festival (tel: (216) 732 3311) provides free, outdoor performances of Shakespeare during the summer months. September is home to Taste of Cleveland at the Nautica Entertainment Complex (tel: (216) 861 4080; website: www.nauticaflats.com), featuring art, entertainment and food from over 30 area restaurants.

Literary Notes
Toni Morrison, author of Beloved (1987), The Bluest Eye (1969) and Paradise (1998), was raised in Cleveland. Langston Hughes (1902-67), the prolific African-American poet, novelist and essayist spent his high-school years in Cleveland, where much of his early poetry was written. He was part of the Harlem Renaissance movement of black artists. Cleveland was also home to another of America’s early 20th-century poets: Hart Crane (1899-1932). Crane spent his youth here and was expected to follow in the footsteps of his father’s business, but instead he gave it all up to move to New York and become a writer.