Russian romantic re-creation
Cleveland Play House favorite Hershey Felder returns to dazzle audiences with another portrayal of a piano player nonpareil. In years past, Felder tackled the character and compositions of Beethoven, Gershwin and Berlin. Now he takes on Russian composer and pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff in 鈥�.鈥� Joining him in this musical two-hander is British Italian actor Jonathan Silvestri through March 15.
Armenian piano assault
From a Russian Romantic to an Armenian jazz phenom, the Cleveland Museum of Art welcomes for an evening of jazz-rock-folk fusion. Hamasyan garnered accolades from legends like Herbie Hancock and the late Chick Corea while taking home first prize at the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Piano Competition. Inspired by the folk music of his hometown Gyumri, Armenia, Hamasyan鈥檚 latest release 鈥淢anifeste鈥� is the performance focal point Wednesday night at 7:30.
Theresa and her trumpet
Acclaimed Cleveland trumpeter has an impressive resume, including her work with Mourning [A] BLKstar, the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra and the Playhouse Square Broadway Series house orchestra. More recently, she鈥檚 ventured out on her own as a solo performer with her own compositions as well as commissioned work. Witness May鈥檚 jazz-electronic music concoction at the Praxis Fiber Workshop in the Waterloo Arts District for the Waterloo Makes Music series Friday night, 6-8 p.m.
鈥楽hrek鈥� it off
From his humble origins as a children鈥檚 book character by cartoonist William Steig to the star of the DreamWorks franchise, Shrek is a monster like no other. The hideous hero jumped from picture book to silver screen to Broadway stage with ease thanks to Pulitzer Prize winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire鈥檚 hilarious book and silly lyrics. Shrek and his donkey pal are on the proverbial road to adventure in 鈥溾�� at Weathervane Playhouse in Akron through March 29.
Party like a pirate
It鈥檚 eyepatches, parrots and peg legs a plenty at Arts in Stark鈥檚 next monthly First Friday series. Pirates are so easy to stereotype since they鈥檙e as long gone as Long John Silver and never had sensitive feelings anyway. Regardless, open wide and say 鈥渁rrr matey" as kicks off Friday in Downtown Canton at 5 p.m. The Black Tide Buccaneers, professional local pirate entertainers, lead the way for a pirate-themed pub crawl with gallery stops too.
