World Premiere
THE PANTHER DANCER
Written by Logan Cutler Smith
Directed by Jimmie Woody
May 11 – 26, 2018
Thursday, Friday, & Saturday at 7:30 pm
Half-price Preview: Thursday, May 10 at 7:30 pm
Creative Space at Waterloo Arts
397 E. 156th Street
Cleveland, OH 44110
For group sales or other information, call (216) 302-8856.
What the Critics Say
“Playwrights Local is on a mission. Their aim is to nurture and support playwrights in the Northeast Ohio area. Sometimes, as is the case in their newest offering of Logan Cutler Smith’s The Panther Dancer, it works…Director Jimmie Woody uses a variety of brilliant techniques to tell the story, such as straight acting, singing and dancing, videos, and backlit shadow sequences. While the entire cast is terrific, special mention must be made of Anthony Velez…His precision dancing and singing is a wonder to behold. This is real talent on stage and alone is worth the price of the ticket….[The Panther Dancer is] a hoot and worth going to see.”
The Panther Dancer [Review]
Talkin’ Broadway, 22 May 2018
Latest Media
Performer-Instructor Andrea Belser is a Multi-Character Actor in Playwrights Local World Premiere Comedy The Panther Dancer
Land of Cleve, 15 May 2018
3 Questions with Playwright Logan Cutler Smith
Playwrights Local Blog, 9 May 2018
Playwrights Local Unleashes The Panther Dancer in World Premiere Production
Land of Cleve, 11 April 2018
The Panther Dancer is an innovative new play that digs deep beneath the iconicity of a childlike American star. A series of inventive vignettes, this knowing parody follows a young wonder as he strives to become, in his own person, the very greatest show on earth. Tracing the arc of his campaign, the play becomes a playful synthesis of biography and tabloid journalism–a sidelong glance at a meteoric rise and a catastrophic fall.
PLAYWRIGHT
Logan Cutler Smith is a theatre artist and educator. Before earning an MFA in Creative Writing at Cleveland State University (2016), Logan studied Theatre and Sculpture at Marlboro College (2012). His past writing credits include Of Straw Dogs, directed by T. Paul Lowry (Playwrights Local, 2015), and How To Fuck Like a Flower, directed by Geoff Hoffman (Convergence-Continuum, 2015). He is currently developing a solo performance, a “departure” from Henry David Thoreau’s Walden; or, Life in the Woods.
DIRECTOR
Jimmie Woody’s recent credits include To Kill A Mockingbird, Clybourne Park, and Raisin in the Sun (Weathervane Playhouse); The America Play (University of Akron); The Split Show, How Blood Go, and The Bomb (Convergence-Continuum and Cleveland Public Theatre); The Glass Menagerie, For Colored Girls…, and Jitney (Cuyahoga Community College); 365 Days/365 Plays (Cleveland Public Theatre); and Underground Griots (Cleveland Public Theatre, The National Black Theater Festival, and Here Café NYC). Jimmie received his MFA in acting from Columbia University. He is a 2012 Creative Workforce Fellow and a Resident Teaching Artist of Theater and Digital Media at the Center for Art-Inspired Learning, as well as an acting professor at Cuyahoga Community College.
CAST
Andrea Belser……….Actor 3
Robert Branch……….Actor 5
Corin B. Self……….Actor 1
Kim Simbeck……….Actor 2
Anthony Velez……….Actor 4
CREATIVE TEAM
Stephanie Bahnij……….Stage Manager/Board Operator
Chelby Benson……….Set Designer
Inda Blatch-Geib……….Costume Designer
Wes Calkin……….Lighting Designer
Tyler Collins……….Social Media Coordinator/Front-of-house Coordinator
Drake Crowind……….Projection Designer
Susan Dicken……….Production Manager/House Manager
Tom Hayes……….Carpenter
Jocelyn Laracuente……….Assistant Director/Backstage Coordinator
David Todd……….Dramaturg
Brianna Williams……….Sound Designer
PRESS MATERIALS
Publicity Images (Credit: Grace McC Photography)
VENUE
Creative Space at Waterloo Arts
397 East 156th Street
Cleveland, OH 44110
PARKING
Note: No public parking in the lot adjacent to the Creative Space on East 156th Street.