Roy Berko - Page 2

Roy Berko

Roy Berko, a life-long Clevelander, holds degrees, through the doctorate from Kent State, University of Michigan and The Pennsylvania State University. Roy was an actor for many years, appearing in more than 16 plays, 8 TV commercials, and 3 films. He has directed more than 30 productions. A member of the American Critics Association and The Cleveland Critics Circle, he has been an entertainment reviewer for more than fifty years. For three years he was a regular on Channel 5, ABC-Cleveland's "Morning Exchange" and "Live on 5," serving as the stations communication consultant. He has also appeared on "Good Morning America." Roy served as the Director of Public Relations for the Volunteer Office in the White House during the first Clinton Administration. He was a professor of communication and psychology who taught at George Washington University, University of Maryland, Notre Dame College of Ohio and Towson University. Roy is the author of 38 books. He was selected by Cleveland Magazine as one of the most interesting people in Cleveland.




LEARN MORE ABOUT Roy Berko

First Show:

Wonderful Town

Favorite Show:

Chorus Line, Fiddler on The Roof, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, West Side Story, Something Rotten, Pippin



Review: LITTLE WOMEN at Dobama
Review: LITTLE WOMEN at Dobama
December 4, 2023

What did our critic think of LITTLE WOMEN at Dobama?

Review: PIPPIN at BW Musical Theatre Program
Review: PIPPIN at BW Musical Theatre Program
November 21, 2023

What did our critic think of PIPPIN at BW Musical Theatre Program? In the Fall of 1971, while chaperoning a group of college students to New York, I saw PIPPIN, the Stephen Schwartz (music and lyrics), Roger Hirson (book), Bob Fosse (director/choreographer) musical.  I had an instant love affair with the show!

Review: TROUBLE IN MIND at Seat Of Pants Productions
Review: TROUBLE IN MIND at Seat Of Pants Productions
November 7, 2023

What did our critic think of TROUBLE IN MIND at Seat Of Pants Productions? The late-Alice Childress, the author of TROUBLE IN MIND, now being staged by Seat of the Pants Productions, was an American novelist, playwright, and actress, who was acknowledged as the only African-American woman to have written, produced, and published plays for four decades.

Review: GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY at Connor Palace
Review: GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY at Connor Palace
November 6, 2023

What did our critic think of GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY at Connor Palace? David Greene, the Senior Vice President of Programming at Playhouse Square, informs theater-goers in his program notes for GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY that “it is a non-traditional musical which features songs by music legend and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Bob Dylan.” 

Review: Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN at Cleveland Play House
Review: Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN at Cleveland Play House
November 1, 2023

What did our critic think of MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN at Cleveland Play House?

Review: THE ISLAND at Ensemble
Review: THE ISLAND at Ensemble
October 30, 2023

What did our critic think of THE ISLAND at Ensemble? Native South Euclid resident and Brush High School grad, Dr. Alan Wieder, is on a quest “to stem the tide of forgetfulness.”  The oral historian, who has been on the faculties of both South Africa’s University of Western Cape and Stellenbosch University, is concerned that “few young South Africans know of the contributions or the sensibilities regarding the social justice and the revolution against class disparity and racism in the world.” 

Review: DRACULA: THE BLOODY TRUTH at Great Lakes Theater
Review: DRACULA: THE BLOODY TRUTH at Great Lakes Theater
October 23, 2023

What did our critic think of DRACULA: THE BLOODY TRUTH at Great Lakes Theater? The cast worked hard, the stagehands did their part with great enthusiasm, but all in all DRACULA: THE BLOODY TRUTH just didn’t live up to expectations. 

Review: THE GROWN-UP at Convergence-continuum
Review: THE GROWN-UP at Convergence-continuum
October 16, 2023

What did our critic think of THE GROWN-UP at Convergence-continuum? THE GROWN-UP, Pulitzer Prize finalist Jordan Harrison’s play, which is now on stage at convergence-continuum, in its Ohio premiere, uses fantasy to explore how quickly life changes and, therefore, that life is too short to miss any moment of it.  

Review: MAKE BELIEVE at Dobama
Review: MAKE BELIEVE at Dobama
October 10, 2023

What did our critic think of MAKE BELIEVE at Dobama?

Review: THE WIZ (THE TOURING COMPANY) at Connor Palace
Review: THE WIZ (THE TOURING COMPANY) at Connor Palace
October 8, 2023

What did our critic think of THE WIZ (THE TOURING COMPANY) at Connor Palace?

Review: CAT'S PAW at Beck Center For The Arts
Review: CAT'S PAW at Beck Center For The Arts
September 28, 2023

What did our critic think of CAT'S PAW at Beck Center For The Arts? William Mastrosimone, the author of CAT’S-PAW, now on stage in the Studio Theatre at Beck Center, states, “In the early 80s I was shocked by the questionable methods of some activists who called themselves environmentalists.

Review: CLYDE'S at Karma
Review: CLYDE'S at Karma
September 24, 2023

What did our critic think of CLYDE'S at Karma?

Review: THURGOOD At Cleveland Play House
Review: THURGOOD At Cleveland Play House
September 18, 2023

What did our critic think of THURGOOD at Cleveland Play House?

Review: LUNGS at Ensemble Theater
Review: LUNGS at Ensemble Theater
September 12, 2023

What did our critic think of LUNGS at Ensemble?

Review: AN EVENING WITH AUDRA MCDONALD at BLOSSOM Music Center
Review: AN EVENING WITH AUDRA MCDONALD at BLOSSOM Music Center
August 21, 2023

What did our critic think of AN EVENING WITH AUDRA MCDONALD at BLOSSOM Music Center?

Review: EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR at Convergence-continuum
Review: EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR at Convergence-continuum
August 14, 2023

What did our critic think of EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR at Convergence-continuum? Perhaps one of the most famous, or infamous of Shakespeare’s stage directions, ‘Exit, pursued by a bear’ in Act III of THE WINTER’S TALE, sees Antigonus meet death in the most unlikely of ways: at the hands – or rather the claws – of a bear.

Review: FUN HOME at Alma Theatre-Cain Park
Review: FUN HOME at Alma Theatre-Cain Park
August 13, 2023

What did our critic think of FUN HOME at Alma Theatre-Cain Park?

Review: SIX THE MUSICAL Tour at Playhouse Square: Connor Palace
Review: SIX THE MUSICAL Tour at Playhouse Square: Connor Palace
August 10, 2023

What did our critic think of SIX THE MUSICAL (TOURING COMPANY) at Playhouse Square: Connor Palace?

Review: ERMA BOMBECK: AT WIT'S END at Cleveland Play House
Review: ERMA BOMBECK: AT WIT'S END at Cleveland Play House
August 9, 2023

What did our critic think of ERMA BOMBECK: AT WIT'S END at CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE?

Review: THE PROM at Porthouse Theatre/Kent State University
Review: THE PROM at Porthouse Theatre/Kent State University
July 30, 2023

What did our critic think of THE PROM at Porthouse Theatre/Kent State University?



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