UC News

WVXU: CCM students take on Bruce Norris' 'Clybourne Park'

CCM Acting Professor Richard Hess discusses "Clybourne Park" on WVXU's "Around Cincinnati"

headshot of Rebecca Butts By Rebecca Butts
4 minute read February 13, 2020

Event Information (passed)

Location: Patricia Corbett Theater, UC's College-Conservatory of Music Ticketing: Purchase tickets online

Bruce Norris' award-winning play, Clybourne Park runs at UC's College-Conservatory of Music tonight, Feb. 13, through Sunday, Feb. 16 as part of the CCMONSTAGE Play Series. Acting Professor Richard Hess, director of the production, recently disussed how he and students have prepared for the play with Cincinnati arts reporter Rick Pender on WVXU's "Around Cincinnati" program. 

Actors on stage argue during a scene in "Clybourne Park" at CCM.

CCM Acting students in "Clybourne Park." Photo by Mark Lyons.

“When choosing titles at CCM I try to pick exciting pieces that have something to say about the world today, and Clybourne Park might be yelling more loudly in 2020 than even when it was first written,” Hess says in the interview. Listen to the full interview on WVXU.

Now in it's 10th anniversary year, Clybourne Park examines how Americans talk — or don't talk — about race, class and real estate. It was written by Norris as a modernized response to Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, focusing on the home Hansberry’s protagonists were set to move into at the end of her seminal drama. Clybourne Park begins in 1959, as a grieving white family prepares to sell their home to an African-American family, causing anxiety in their middle-class Chicago neighborhood.

The second act takes place 50 years later, as a white family purchases the same home in the now predominantly African-American neighborhood, and makes plans to raze and rebuild the dwelling. Tensions rise in each act as the characters debate over the past, present and future of the home. This production contains strong language.

The 2019-20 CCMONSTAGE Play Series presents Clybourne Park on Feb. 13-16, 2020, at Patricia Corbett Theater. Tickets are on sale now through the CCM Box Office; student discounts are available.

  • Richard Hess, director
  • Will Graham*, production stage manager
  • Mark Halpin, scenic designer
  • Nina Agelvis*, lighting designer
  • Joanne West*, costume designer
  • Jerome Horng*, wig and make-up designer
  • Ryan Hurt*, sound designer
  • Sammi Grant, dialect and vocal coach

* CCM Student

  • Matt Fox as Russ Stoller
  • Abby Palen as Bev Stoller
  • Paige Jordan as Francine
  • Charles Gidney as Albert
  • Dustin Parsons as Jim
  • Duncan Weinland as Karl
  • Julianna Weis-Palacios as Betsy
  • Lucas Prizant as Steve Driscoll
  • Madison Pullman as Lindsey Driscoll
  • Carlee Coulehan as Kathy
  • Neuma Joy as Lena
  • Trey Peterson as Kevin
  • AJ Civello as Tom
  • Gabe Nasato as Dan
  • Austin James Cleri as Kenneth

Performance Times

  • 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 12 (preview) 
  • 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13* 
  • 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 14 
  • 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15 
  • 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 16 

*Please note that parking and traffic on and around campus will be heavier than normal due to a UC Basketball game on Thursday, Feb. 13. CCM strongly encourages patrons to purchase pre-paid parking passes to UC’s CCM Garage through the Box Office. 

Location

Patricia Corbett Theater, CCM Village
University of Cincinnati

Purchasing Tickets

Single tickets prices start at $32.50; preview performance ticket prices start at $15.50. Student discounts and group rates are also available.

Learn about additional ticket options for current CCM students.

Tickets can be purchased in person at the CCM Box Office, over the telephone at 513-556-4183 or online now through our e-box office.

Directions and Parking

CCM is located on the campus of the University of Cincinnati. Please visit ccm.uc.edu/about/directions for detailed driving directions to CCM Village.

Parking is available in UC’s CCM Garage (located at the base of Corry Boulevard off Jefferson Avenue) and additional garages throughout the UC campus. Please visit uc.edu/parking for more information on parking rates.

For detailed maps and directions, please visit uc.edu/visitors. 

CCMONSTAGE Production Sponsor: Macy’s

A preeminent institution for the performing and media arts, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) is the largest single source of performing arts presentations in the state of Ohio. All event dates and programs are subject to change. For a complete calendar of events, please visit us online at ccm.uc.edu.

Tags

Related Stories