Curtain 440 Set for Full Season at Geauga Theater
The lights are once again on at the Geauga Theater, with Curtain 440 set to perform their full six-show season on the historic stage.
The lights are once again on at the Geauga Theater, with Curtain 440 set to perform their full six-show season on the historic stage.
“Curtain 440 is so happy to announce that our entire 2025 season will be at the Geauga Theater in Chardon,” the company wrote in a recent newsletter announcing the season lineup.
In addition to the six mainstage productions, C440 will also be performing their summer workshops, classes and Rep 440 productions at the theater. Workshops this year will be “101 Dalmatians KIDS” for children aged 6-13 and “Into the Woods Jr.” for youth aged 12-17.
“We cannot wait to bring light and life to the theater that means so very much to many of us,” the company wrote.
The announcement comes on the tail of C440’s return to the Geauga stage with a wildly successful production of “Beauty and the Beast.”
“Thank you, B&B 2018, for being such a magical last show in (the Geauga Theater) and then thank you, B&B 2024, for making this very emotional return so triumphant and meaningful,” director and owner Angela Miloro-Hansen wrote on Facebook following the production’s opening weekend.
Despite an abundance of snow, “Beauty and the Beast” sold out every show, with an additional Thursday performance added to keep up with demand.
C440’s upcoming season will open February with “Murder on the Orient Express,” directed by Mark Cipra. Auditions took place at the end of December and requested actors brush up on their European accents.
The official cast list was announced in early January and will star Jason Monsman as leading man and Belgian detective Hercule Poirot.
Accompanying him on board the train will be Lace Williamson as Samuel Ratchett, Evan Graham as Colonel Arbuthnot, Ashley Cunningham as Countess Elena Andrenyi, Tavis Quiggle as Monsieur Bouc, Melanie Angell as Mary Debenham, Tina Burgett-Krause as Princess Dragomiroff, Todd Sarbach as Michel, Caroline Mansfield as Helen Hubbard, Joseph Pucella as Hector MacQueen and Kelly Tapager Fox as Greta Ohlsson.
The ill-fated train’s journey will be followed by “Godspell” April 4-13. Teen production “Beetlejuice Jr.” will stage a takeover June 6-15, with “Seussical the Musical” succeeding it July 25-Aug. 10. “The Crucible” will then see trial Oct. 17-16. A final December musical has yet to be announced.
“For the first time, we’ve been able to announce a full season year in one go and know where we will be. We are so excited to bring life back into our beloved theater on the square and continue to provide entertainment for the community,” Miloro-Hansen said Jan. 9, noting that being a travelling company can make scheduling difficult.
“We are grateful to the Chardon community and city council for their support as we enter this year!” she added.
C440 will not be alone on the stage this season either. Russell Township-based arts organization Fairmount Center for the Arts will make an appearance March 8 in their first ever multi-discipline faculty showcase, in which members of their music, dance, theatre and visual arts teams will perform.
“The faculty showcase was born from our annual Music Faculty Recitals, which sold out in our current space; hence, the move to the theater. The new version invites faculty of all disciplines to perform, and it includes eight separate acts representing music, theater, and dance. Fairmount’s art faculty will be represented in a gallery viewing,” Executive Director Elizabeth Bolander said Jan. 8.
The organization has also planned teen movie nights at the theater, hosted by the new Fairmount Teen Arts Council.
“Our goal is to foster community between our teen students and community members,” Bolander said.
Arts education is also alive across the road at 106 Water Street, where the Chardon Arts Center — run by the Fine Arts Association of Willoughby — has a range of music, dance and art-based classes lined up through January and February.
While classes are primarily aimed at toddlers and young children, options for teens and adults are available.
“We’ve continued programming for children and adults since May, we had summer camps over the summer, but we’re mostly preschool focused,” FAA CEO Paul Holm said in a Jan. 6 interview, noting the organization is trying not to overlap with other organizations as they settle into the space.
The Chardon Arts Center is a newcomer to the scene, having taken over the building following the departure of Thrive Performing and Visual Arts from both the theater and annex. The theater was left open to rent, with Chardon City Council voting Nov. 14 to lower rent prices from a weekly rate of $2,000 to $1,000 and implementing a daily rate of $500.
“We’re learning the market, so to speak, it’s a little different in Chardon, and trying to get into the rhythm of the community, build relationships and so on,” Holm said.
Art therapy is unique to FAA as an organization, as is some of their early childhood programming and adult dance programming, he noted.
“It just takes some time to cut through and people to find you and you to find people, and really best understand what they need and what they’re looking for,” he said.
Offerings have been tweaked based on feedback around timing, Holm said.
Going into 2025, FAA wants to be more in touch with other local arts organizations, he said.
“I think if we’re a little bit more in tune, we can figure out ways that we can support each other or recognize each other’s strengths and go accordingly from there,” he said.
FAA has also been in meetings with the local elementary schools, he said.
“We’re just taking it a step at a time,” he said.
While there has been less of a response to the opening of the CAC than he would like, Holm noted this could be for a variety of reasons the organization is still working out, ranging from what’s being offered and the time it’s available to the same events being offered from other organizations people are already comfortable with.
Building up in Willoughby took a number of years and CAC has only been around for six months, he said.
“I don’t know when we’ll know what the final answer is, it may take us a few years to really settle in and for people to really find us and decide where they want to go,” he said.
While the organization had previously discussed the possibility of using the theater post Easter 2025, Holm said that option is still up in the air.
“We haven’t necessarily decided not to do anything with the theater at this point, but what we’re waiting to see is how it goes with C440,” he said, adding FAA hasn’t yet had a chance to get a solid look at the theater’s calendar.
“The good news is that the theater is scheduled and it sounds like a lot of good things are happening in the theater again, so we’re excited about that and excited that C440’s in a place that they’re able to do that and the city is supportive of that,” he said.
