PlayhouseSquare to light up downtown with 20-foot-tall outdoor chandelier and other new installments

[Kolesar]

This 20-foot-tall, awe-inspiring work will be adorned with 4,200 crystals in the style of the grand chandeliers in the theater lobbies. It will hang over the intersection of East 14th Street and Euclid Avenue.

"We believe this is going to be transformative for the district in so many ways," PlayhouseSquare President and CEO Art J. Falco told the Plain Dealer Wednesday. "First by defining the portals for PlayhouseSquare, but also by furthering the residential district and drawing more people to the shows and the neighborhood and the restaurants and stores."

The cost of the project is $16 million, with about $4 million funded from casino taxes and around 60 percent from private sources. The concept is the work of designer Danny Barnycz, the "Chief Creatologist" at Baltimore's Barnycz Group.

Falco says the chandelier – a massive piece of public art meant to evoke the glamorous 1920s era -- in particular has the community buzzing. PlayhouseSquare itself is a creation of the '20s, with theaters that date back to 1921 and '22.
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http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2013/10/playhousesquare_to_light_up_do.html#incart_river_default

Come on in. You're going to have a good time.

[MADem]

1. How will that thing hold up in a snowstorm or a severe weather alert, I wonder?

Can they haul it down and take it inside?

[Bluenorthwest]

2. I love this, it will look great.Playhouse Square is already a treasure and I'm glad it is going to

get some new additions.

[awoke_in_2003]

3. And when I saw Billy Budd...

and Death of a Salesmen there when I was in high school I didn't appreciate it. I hope to, one day, return to Cleveland.

[WCGreen]

4. I remember seeing Bruce Springsteen back in 1976 at the Allen theater...

The renovation was just getting started...

Old-timers and Cleveland theater fans alike have a soft spot in their hearts for Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. Produced by Ray Shepardson in the lobby of the State Theatre in 1973, the musical revue ran for 522 performances — not only providing some much-needed live downtown entertainment, but planting the seed that eventually grew into the revival of the Playhouse Square district, which is now the largest theater complex in the USA outside of New York City

http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2012/04/09/jacques-brel-returns-to-playhouse-square

It was really cool. I saw it in '75. It was cool being there at the beginning.

Now there is a thriving Theater District with hardly a dark night any time during the year.

I've seen so many wonderful traveling Broadway shows over the years. The Ballet, comedians, revues and even an Opera. It's the largest Theater District outside of NYC.

If I had to point at the most valuable of public investments made to revitalize Downtown Cleveland I would say the Playhouse Square Ass.

Over the 35 years I have been going to live theater, my best memories was falling in Love with the Bard. I think I have seen at least 25 productions of Shakespeare over that time. They put on two each season, one tragedy and one comedy.

I know I am gushing, but I am so grateful that Cleveland fought back to save the City.

[awoke_in_2003]

5. Don't worry about gushing...

I would do the same thing about the downtown library and the MetroParks