CIFF: 'Move On!' Shows the Heart of Near West Theatre

Photo courtesy of Move On!

One member was discriminated against for her race. Another was rejected by a casting director for her weight. But not here. These actors are accepted at Near West Theatre. That's the kind of place it is — one where people, whether they may be black, white, gay, straight, disabled or able-bodied, can have a turn in the spotlight.

Move On! captures the heart of the diverse community theater by chronicling the group's farewell show in its former location on the third floor of the Club Building at St. Patrick's Church. Since 1978, the theater has had incredible reach — more than 15,000 adults, teens and children have been a part of its productions. What they do is so impactful that former members, including one battling cancer, came from as far as Iowa and New York to be a part of the final show.

Artistic director Bob Navis Jr. steals the documentary with his colorful comments — This is assaultive theater! — and unconventional teaching methods — pulling out a candle that inspires members to discuss problems group-therapy style. It's soon apparent that while Navis encourages members to build a character onstage, he's really teaching them to use theater as a way to find themselves.

While much of the film mourns a place that became a home for so many budding artists, it also opens the door for another era in Near West's vibrant new $7.3 million space anchoring Gordon Square Arts District and makes the argument that  — if for heart alone — you'll want to grab a seat for their shows.

The Cleveland International Film Festival runs through March 29. To view a schedule, visit clevelandfilm.org. Near West Theatre opens its season with Shrek the Musical April 24.

Rock On

Photo by Michael Lamont

Similar to his alter ego on the stage, Elijah Rock traveled far away from home to pursue his love of classical music and the arts. The Cleveland native now living in Los Angeles portrays Roland Hayes, one of the first internationally acclaimed African-American classical singers, in Breath and Imagination showing at the Cleveland Play House from Feb. 14 to March 9. Rock talks to us about LA life and how Hayes’ story parallels his own.

Cleveland Magazine: While you are a Cleveland native, you've been living in LA for the last six years. What is acting in LA like?

Elijah Rock: Acting in LA has been good for me. It’s tough for a lot of people, but it’s been good for me. … I’ve always been performing, but I really took four or five years to just focus on filmmaking, and now I’m at a point in my career where I’m doing theater again. I’m making movies, and I’m signed with a lot of the top agencies just taking time to develop all these creative talents and endeavors, and now it’s all coming full circle. This Roland Hayes piece is a very full circle moment for me, because I’ve always continued to study classical voice.

CM: You recently starred in this show at the Colony Theatre in Burbank, Calif. How do you connect with this character?

ER: My life parallels Roland Hayes’ life in so so many ways. … Roland grew up singing in the church as did I. I identify with Roland from the perspective of not having a lot of examples of black male vocalists pursuing a career in the classical arts. When I was at Cleveland Institute of Music, there were no other black male vocalists. I of course had more examples of a few other singers along the way that had performing careers, like Paul Robeson, of course William Warfield. … [Hayes] had no examples so that’s kind of a lone and isolating feeling, but he carved out this incredible career and it came with many years of trial and error and a lot of people telling him that this would never work. So I still kind of feel that way ... but yet again a unique experience is being carved out of me playing him.

CM: Why should people come see this play?

ER: This is a story of a man who found his identity by way of his talent to do something that had never been done before. It’s like the quintessential American story of going on a journey of uncharted waters.  … We’re talking a black man born in 1896, who gets accepted by the Fisk Jubilee Singers with a fifth-grade education … [who] ends up singing for the king of England. Even today, that would be pretty astounding. So how could that story not inspire any human being?