Cleveland Play House has fine new home in Allen Theater

My first memories of attending theater at the Cleveland Play House go back to the Euclid 77th Street Theater and the Drury Theater at 8500 Euclid Ave. Good fortune brought me there with my family as a young person. The experience was reinforced when my high school English class saw CPH productions of Shakespeare live. It was love at first sight. These theaters were houses one walked into where magic occurred. Difficulties dissipated; there was no bad. There was only the story that actors brought to life.

In 1983, the Cleveland Play House, with the architectural expertise of Cleveland native Phillip Johnson, built an addition to the Drury, creating the Bolton Theater. Johnson used stone in a warm tone that beautifully matches gorgeous square sculptured tiles surrounding the Drury’s old entrance. The interior flows from one space to the next. The long diamond tiled corridor leading into the interior of the complex, step-by-step, prepares one for a grand experience inside.

Now, that flow has moved some miles west on Euclid Avenue to the Allen Theater at PlayhouseSquare. The first realization that the Cleveland Play House home was to move was not good. The only positive thing was its relocation to the Allen. It was in the PlayhouseSquare theaters that I discovered the “movies.” The Allen was my favorite.

The Allen’s importance became perfectly clear when we attended the fine Cleveland Play House production of “The Life of Galileo.” The architecture is exquisite. The Roman Corinthian columns supporting the dome are breathtaking. The lobby and rotunda area maintain their original elegant ambience.

Most of all, the rotunda should be experienced by all. Following the performance of “Galileo,” we became engaged in conversation in the rotunda. Being among the last to leave, I discovered suddenly that as I was talking, everything I said echoed back. This, of course, caused me to find more to say. It was an overwhelming emotional feeling. It took me back to the Bell Tower of Pisa Cathedral in Italy, where on two visits, Fortune brought an Italian singer to the Tower. As he sang, his song repeated off the tower walls allowing him to perform a duet with himself.

If CPH had to move, there is comfort to be found in that the move was to the Allen. The performance of “The Life of Galileo” matched the quality for which the country’s first professional regional theater has been known, since 1915. The cast with Paul Wadsworth as Galileo beautifully recreated a most famous conflict between reason and faith with fine drama, but not without humor.

Hopefully, educators and parents will take advantage of the variety of theatrical opportunities our region offers in grand architectural venues. An easy trip across the river can introduce our youth to the nation’s second largest theatrical complex next to that of New York City. Professional theater with CPH plus royalty-worthy architecture equals first class experience.