Joel Grey to Headline Centennial Celebration Weekend
Posted August 10, 2015 in Press Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media contact:
Kelly Luecke KellyLuecke@yahoo.com
(216) 712-6292
Cleveland Play House Proudly Announces that
Tony and Academy Award-Winning Performer and CPH Alum
Joel Grey
will Headline CPH’s Centennial Celebration Weekend
Oct. 24 & 25 in the Allen Theatre
CLEVELAND, OH (August 10, 2015) This October, Cleveland Play House’s (CPH) Centennial Celebration Weekend will play host to one of Broadway’s biggest stars, when Joel Grey takes the stage at the Allen Theatre for two performances of Joel Grey: Up Close and Personal. When Cleveland audiences first laid eyes on a nine-year-old Joel Grey in a CPH production of Paul Osborn’s On Borrowed Time in 1941, who would have guessed that Grey - who at the time was billed as Joel David Katz – would go on to become one of the most respected and accomplished actors in his craft. Grey muses: “I’ve been caring about performing and loving it since I saw a play at the Cleveland Play House when I was 8 years old, and I knew it was what I was meant to do.” Cleveland audiences will once again have the opportunity to witness a living legend when Joel Grey performs Joel Grey: Up Close and Personal for two performances only Oct. 24 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 25 at 2:30 p.m. in the Allen Theatre. Cleveland Play House is proud to have KeyBank as the Centennial Season Sponsor and Dominion as the Centennial Community Outreach Sponsor.
On Saturday, October 24th and Sunday, October 25th, CPH will celebrate 100 years of producing plays and theatre education programs for the Northeast Ohio community with a Centennial Celebration Weekend. Among the weekend’s festivities will be a Community Open House and CPH’s Annual Hall of Fame Luncheon (complete schedule to be announced at a later date). Central to the celebration is the opportunity to witness the enchanting and mesmerizing production of Joel Grey: Up Close and Personal that will be taking place on the Allen Theatre stage. This intimate show is a rare look into the life and work of the Tony and Academy Award-winning actor. Throughout the production, Mr. Grey will share film clips, reminisce, and perform songs from over 50 years in show business including his roles in Chicago, George M, Anything Goes, Wicked and most notably the Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret. This incredible event is not to be missed!
Joel Grey Bio:
In a career that was launched in the early 1950’s, Joel Grey has created indelible stage roles each decade since. Grey made his theatrical debut at the age of 9 in the Cleveland Play House production of On Borrowed Time (and recently directed a production of the play for Two River Theater Company's 20th Anniversary Season). He made his Broadway debut exactly two decades later as a replacement in Neil Simon’s first comedy hit, Come Blow Your Horn (1961). Since then, his Broadway credits include the Stop the World I Want to Get Off, Half a Sixpence, Cabaret (Tony Award), George M! (Tony nomination), Goodtime Charley (Tony nomination), The Grand Tour (Tony nomination), Chicago (Drama Desk Award), Wicked and most recently, Roundabout Theatre Company’s Tony Award-winning revival of Anything Goes. Joel’s dramatic stage roles include Marco Polo Sings a Solo, Chekhov’s Platonov, the Roundabout Theatre production of Give Me Your Answer, Do! (Drama Desk nomination), New York City Opera’s Silverlake (directed by Hal Prince) and Larry Kramer’s seminal The Normal Heart at the Public Theatre, which he also co-directed with George C. Wolfe in its Broadway premiere (Drama Desk Award, Tony nomination).In 2012, Joel served as Master Teacher for the Ten Chimney’s Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program, which focused on the American Musical Theatre.
Joel received the Academy Award, the Golden Globe and the British Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the 1972 film version of Cabaret (directed by Bob Fosse). He is one of only nine actors to have won both the Tony and Academy Award for the same role. Other film credits include Man on A Swing, Robert Altman’s Buffalo Bill and the Indians, The Seven Percent Solution, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, Steven Soderbergh’s Kafka, Altman’s The Player, The Music of Chance, Michael Ritchie’s adaptation of The Fantasticks, Lars von Trier’s Dancer in the Dark and Clark Gregg’s Choke. Recent television appearances include "Brooklyn Bridge" (Emmy nomination), "OZ," "Law and Order: CI," "House," "Brothers & Sisters," "Private Practice,” “Grey’s Anatomy,”“Nurse Jackie,” "Warehouse 13," and “CSI.” In 2010, Joel was honored for his illustrious television career by The Paley Center for Media in both NYC and Los Angeles.
Joel is also an accomplished photographer. He has four books of photographs, Pictures I Had to Take (2003), Looking Hard at Unexamined Things (2006), 1.3 – Images From My Phone (2009), and The Billboard Papers, which was released in fall 2013 in conjunction with an exhibition at The Steven Kasher Gallery in NYC.
In 2011, The Museum of the City of New York presented an exhibit examining the relationship between Joel’s artistry and city he calls home called Joel Grey / A New York Life.
He is currently penning a memoir, to be published in early 2016. Joel is the father of Jennifer and James and the grandfather of Stella.
Ticket Information
Joel Grey: Up Close and Personal will have two performances in the Allen Theatre on Saturday, October 24th at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, October 25th at 2:30 p.m. Tickets range in price from $20-$45 each. To order single tickets please call 216-241-6000 or visit clevelandplayhouse.com. Current Cleveland Play House Subscribers will receive priority seating and a discount by calling 216-400-7096. Groups of 10+ receive a discount off single ticket prices; call 216-400-7027.
Cleveland Play House, recipient of the 2015 Regional Theatre Tony Award and founded in 1915, is America's first professional regional theatre. Throughout its rich history, CPH has remained dedicated to its mission to inspire, stimulate and entertain diverse audiences in Northeast Ohio by producing plays and theatre education programs of the highest professional standards. CPH has produced more than 100 world and/or American premieres, and over its long history more than 12 million people have attended over 1,600 productions. Today, Cleveland Play House celebrates its centennial while performing in three state-of-the art venues at Playhouse Square in downtown Cleveland.
The Ohio Arts Council helps fund Cleveland Play House with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. We also thank the residents ofCuyahogaCountyfor supporting Cleveland Play House through Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.
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