Paul Gurgol To Be Honored At Cain Park Performance Tuesday

"Night of a Thousand Stars" will include performers who worked with the late theater director.

Cleveland theater director Paul Gurgol was working on the Cain Park production of Avenue Q when he died in March. To honor Gurgol, John Paul Boukis, who plays Rod in Avenue Q, and music director David Robison created a tribute, "Night of a Thousand Stars," which is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 26 at Alma Theater. Artists who worked with Gurgol throughout his life will perform songs from the many theater productions he was involved in such as Evita, Grand Hotel and Carousel, and share their memories of him. The event is free, and organizers will collect donations in Gurgol's name for St. Jude's Hospital. The Cleveland Heights resident, who was 55, died of cancer, The Plain Dealer reported in March. Gurgol directed Sweeney Todd in 2010 at …

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Garry Kanter

7:07 am on Monday, June 25, 2012

A very wonderful and meaningful tribute. Seems like the perfect way and the perfect place for a celebration of Mr. Gurgol's life and all his contributions to our community.   more ›

'Avenue Q' Opens This Weekend at Cain Park

The puppets will take the stage Thursday for the preview, and the show opens Friday.

Avenue Q may include puppets, but this musical opening at Cain Park this weekend is definitely not for kids. The show is a fun, comedic take on recent college grads and twenty somethings trying to make it in New York City and features songs like “What Do You Do with a B.A. in English?" and "It Sucks to Be Me." The people and puppets dance and sing about drinking, sex and internet pornography, and characters include Kate, the girl next door, ROD the Republican and Princeton, the recent grad. The nearly decade-old hit won the Tony "Triple Crown" for Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book, according to a press release from Cain Park about the opening. The Cain Park production is dedicated to Paul Gurgol, who died March 24 and was supposed to …

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Cleveland Heights To Honor Paul Gurgol At Cain Park Performance

Gurgol was going to direct "Avenue Q" at Alma Theater this summer

Cleveland theater director Paul Gurgol ran auditions in early March for Avenue Q and had just cast the Cain Park production when he died March 24. The Cleveland Heights resident, who was 55, died of cancer, The Plain Dealer reported. Gurgol directed Sweeney Todd in 2010 at Alma Theater in Cain Park and ran the now closed Kalliope Stage on Lee Road. "He was one of those Cleveland Heights residents that makes us 'home to the arts,'" said Susanna Niermann O'Neil, vice city manager and community services director for Cleveland Heights. To honor Gurgol, the city is organizing an event June 26 at Alma Theater. "We're inviting musical performers to perform some of the songs from the shows he has done in the Cleveland theater," O'Neil said. In …

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Cain Park Arts Festival Opens Friday

The 30-year tradition continues in Cleveland Heights

One of the most popular events of the year for Cleveland Heights is this weekend. For more than 30 years, the Cain Park Arts Festival has showcased work from artists from around the country. This year, the festival will feature more than 150 from California, Illinois, New Mexico, Vermont and Georgia, to name a few. The competition is tough — 300 or 400 artists applied this year, said Susanna Niermann O’Neil, community services director for the city. And in years past, 700 or so have eyed a booth on a Cain Park path. Applications go up Jan. 1, and each artist must submit five digital pieces. And a few artists hail from the Heights. Like Grace Stokes, who won a ribbon her first year at the festival and will sell her jewelry for the fourth …

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Five Things You Need to Know About Cleveland Heights This Week

Dugway Brook Watershed Festival, 'Dreamgirls' closes and FutureHeights annual meeting

Cleveland Heights City Council will meet at 7:30 tonight for its regular meeting at City Hall. FutureHeights will show A New Metropolis, a documentary about the challenges older suburbs face, at its annual meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Cedar Lee Theatre.  A discussion will follow. The event is free, but capacity is limited, so make sure to RSVP.  Cleveland Heights-University Heights Library, Whole Foods Market Cedar Center and Green Tara Yoga Studio are teaming up to offer a series of wellness programs called “Healthy in the Heights” for school-aged kids. The program kicks off at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Whole Foods. Dreamgirls at Alma Theater in Cain Park closes Sunday. Visit Cain Park’s website for showtimes and ticket prices for your last …