Bravo to downtown advocate Mary Armor for coming up with the idea of a twice yearly Downtown Hop-Around and then having the gumption (and the organizational skills of a computer program and the strategic overview of a field marshal) to see it through.

Last night’s Hop added entertainment to the mix, and what a pleasure it was to see Northern Kentucky University’s musical theater troupe on stage in the courtyard at Arnold’s Bar & Grill. I was there for a bit of “Carousel” and “Spelling Bee,” a set from “Into the Woods” and a rendition of “Chicago” that shut up every guy in the chatty room.

It was a great showcase for student talent and a swell job by Jamey Strawn at the keyboard, who played a three-hour set.

Also had a chance to stick my head in an Universal Grille where League of Cincinnat Theatres prez Jim Stump was pressing flesh and urging diners to become audiences. Our top-hatted Vice Jim Tarbell started the evening at Sully’s, where he promised a public meeting of the city’s Arts, Culture, Tourism and Other Stuff of an entertaining nature in mid-May. The room was so merry it was impossible to hear anything else – except for Gary Sandy’s theme song (“WKRP in Cincinnati.”) It must be very cool to have your own theme song.

New Stage Collective used the event to throw open its doors for a sneak peek at its new digs at Twelfth and Main and it’s very much in the spirit of its near-neighbor Know Theatre. An upstairs loft space (as opposed to Know’s upstairs black box) and the chairs are a colorful, well-padded mix of traditional and café chairs. Very fun, although I have to get used to theaters with no arm rests.

Let’s stand back and be blissed out that in just a year two very cool theater spaces have opened within a block of each other off Twelfth (Know Theatre opened on Jackson just about a year ago.) And let’s be further blissed that these theater companies with a downtown spirit are also finding plays to match.

Know opened dark media satire “After Ashley” this weekend – and while the subject hasn’t been out of fashion since its Humana Fest debut a couple of years back, the feeding frenzy over the Virginia Tech massacre carries special resonance this week.

Thursday, New Stage takes a bold leap with the regional premiere of Edward Albee contemporary masterpiece “The Goat or Who Is Sylvia?” with a kick-ass cast led by Amy Warner and Brian Isaac Phillips.

I would be remiss not to mention that another block west, at Twelfth and Vine, Ensemble opens the regional premiere of Off-Broadway hit “Souvenir,” directed by the gifted Michael Haney, this week. It looks like another gotta-see.

Truth be told, at 8 o’clock on a glorious Saturday evening, Main Street’s only foot traffic were smatterings of locals, but that’s going to change in a big way in the next couple of months with many plans for high-end eateries and drinkeries in play within range of Twelfth.

Then, says New Stage artistic director Alan Patrick Kenny, the hopping will extend to uptown all weekend every weekend, with much hopping, stopping in and popping on pre- and post-show.

To go back to my point of six paragraphs above – we’ve longed for this scene for years, and that means we have to support it, hanging in through potentially rocky beginnings.

I hope everyone reads Big Bang in today’s Enquirer. Great, great ideas, but changing a city’s heartbeat is participatory. The small theater scene is happening now. Make the investment of time and cash (in this neighborhood, you’re talking 20 bucks) for the promise of a lively future.

What do YOU say?

Jackie Demaline

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posted by CinStages Buzz  # PermaLink 10:32 AM