Festival fans can see them on stage starting Thursday as they sneak preview this season's educational touring production Macbeth, through Sept. 1.

        They moved to Cincinnati from around the nation in early August. Through June, they'll be in the theatrical equivalent of boot camp.

        They'll juggle Macbeth and Beowulf in schools, rehearse and perform the mainstage productions of Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Winter's Tale and Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Somehow a class and workshop schedule will be squeezed in.

        Ms. Taylor even will find time to perform Dael Orlandersmith's one-woman The Gimmick on off-nights during the run of Jesus Hopped the "A' Train.

        Macbeth is directed by graduated Young Company member Jason Bruffy.

        “It's futuristic yet medieval,” offers Ms. Porter.

        “Cell phones and broadswords,” Mr. Bruffy elaborates.

        What makes it relevant for today's school audiences?

        “Morality versus immorality,” suggests Mr. Aggers.

        “It's man at his best and worst. And it's got witches, gore and blood,” recommends Ms. Porter.

        The key to both touring shows, says Mr. Bower, is that “kids read these works and they seem so flat. We make it visceral and intense.

        “Even if it's not relevant in their world, we'll make it relevant.”

        Don't forget the new 7:30 p.m. curtain time Thursday-Saturday. Sunday matinees are still at 2 p.m. Tickets $15, $10 students and seniors. Box office: 381-2273. For information about festival educational programs call Rebecca Bowman at 381-2288. Check the Web site.

        Queen City reality: Queen City Off-Broadway's Lyle Benjamin gets it.

        He gets the concept of great American dramas that get left on the shelf to gather dust; he gets the idea that if suburbanites won't come to his theater he'd better take it to them; he especially understands the Cincinnati's need to get in touch with some of its racial issues.

        So in 2002-03, tiny Queen City will be pursuing some intriguing paths.

        On the racial front, Queen City will address past and present. The company partners with the Heritage Village Museum of Sharon Woods to present Cincinnati's Runaway Slave (by Lynn Elzey) in November, February, May and June. School performances are scheduled throughout February, Black History Month.

        As for the present, Mr. Benjamin continues conversations to bring Jeff Shelby's Curfew to Cincinnati recreation centers.

        The Queen City season in Plush (upstairs at Carol's on Main) will be a mix of proven and new:

        Sept. 13-21, 12 Angry Men; Oct. 12, 18, 19, Style Without Substance, in collaboration with Women's Theatre Initiative as part of the 20/20 Festival at SSNova; Nov. 8, 9, 22, 23, original performance work by Cincinnati artists, Magic To Do by magician Jeff Wylie and Mr. Benjamin, and Amanda Monyhan performing I've Got Feathers But I'm No Chicken;

        Dec, 13-21, The Eight: Reindeer Monologues; Feb. 21-March 3, Master Harold and the Boys; March (dates TBA), Children of a Lesser God; April (dates TBA), In Trousers; May (dates TBA), Cobb.

        Mr. Benjamin hopes to extend some productions (and the paychecks of the actors) by touring them to suburban facilities, starting with 12 Angry Men, which may travel as far as Fort Wayne, Ind.

        He's also deliberating on how to pull off a Queen City Comedy Fest in late spring or early summer, details to come.

        For more information about Queen City Off-Broadway call 681-2043.

        Black Theatre debut: Cincinnati Black Theatre Company, with a $50,000 start-up grant from Greater Cincinnati Foundation, has set auditions for its 2002-03 season for 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at Arts Consortium (1515 Linn St., West End).

        While the artistic director says that the emphasis is children's programming, he's set an ambitious first season: October, the original revue Hot Chocolate, a tribute to black musicals from the late 19th century forward, at Arts Consortium; December, Langston Hughes' Black Nativity;

        January, The Meeting (about an encounter between Malcolm X and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.); February, The Kitchen, an original work by company member Carlos V. Edwards (again at Arts Consortium); April, Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun directed by Tony Davis.

        While two dates are locked at Arts Consortium, it looks like it will be a nomadic first year for the community theater. Mr. Sherman was hoping to produce Black Nativity at The Empire at Vine and Liberty, but the theater, being rehabbed, isn't expected to open until the first of the year.

        The Fifth Third Bank Theater and Cincinnati Museum Center are possibilities, says Mr. Sherman. He expects to know within a month.

        In the meantime, Cincinnati Black Theatre Company invites singers, dancers, actors, musicians, stage crew and general volunteers to come to Arts Consortium on Saturday.

        Interested parties are asked to schedule appointments by calling 241-6060, but walk-ins will be squeezed in.

        Mr. Sherman is also planning a series of workshops and reader's theater the first Monday of every month at Arts Consortium.

        Studio Series schedule: The Studio Series at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, always worth checking out even if it weren't free, has set its 2002-03 schedule:

        Oct. 24-26, Promenade, musical political and social fun by Maria Irene Fornes and Al Carmines; Nov. 14-16, Antigone, feminist playwright Timberlake Wertenbaker translates Sophocles;

        Feb. 6-8, A New Brain, inspired by a real-life struggle with a brain tumor by the creators of Falsettos; Feb. 20-22, The Skin of Our Teeth, Thornton Wilder time-travels the Antrobus family through the Ice Age, a flood and a world war; May 1-3, Songs for a New World, a revue by Jason Robert Brown; May 8-10, The Shape of Things, an exploration of exploitive relationships by Neil LaBute.

        It's smart to mark the dates now, particularly the Monday prior to performances when the box office (556-4183) begins to take reservations. They go fast, sometimes by noon. Planning ahead is more fun than standing in line hoping for a cancellation.

        Drama honors: Congrats to Kathryn Schultz Miller, whose award-winning play for young people, A Thousand Cranes,is making its Edinburgh Fringe Festival debut through Wednesday21. It's being performed as part of the American High School Theatre Festival.

        "Our Town' auditions: Another new company sets auditions: Cincinnati United Theatre Artists will hold tryouts for Our Town 7-10 p.m. Sept. 8-9 in Northern Kentucky University's Fine Arts Center.

        Director is Greg Procaccino; all roles are available.

        The production is in association with Cincinnati Arts Association. The Feb. 5-13 play dates in the Aronoff's Jarson-Kaplan Theater include daytime performances as part of the CAA's educational programming.

        United Theatre Artists is hoping to book further dates regionally in March and April.

        Be ready with a monologue, resume and photo. Call Chuck Wente at (859) 291-6996 with questions.

        Contact Jackie Demaline by phone: 768-8530; fax: 768-8330; e-mail: jdemaline@enquirer.com.
       

Theater's alternative face
African-American writers take risks
Hunt down theater's wild side
Universities foster experimentation
After the divorce, friendship grows
DAUGHERTY: Everyday
In the swing with Margie French
KENDRICK: Alive and well
This flamingo display has legs
Vote for your favorite American Idol
Raitt, Lovett bring Riverbend back to roots
DEMALINE: The arts
GELFAND: Classical music notes
KIESEWETTER: Television
MARTIN: Foodstuff
Whole lobster needn't pinch your pocketbook
Get to it