Get the Backstage Story

By Je Niesel

Groups witnessing a performance at one of the opulent stages of PlayhouseSquare (www.playhousesquare.org) might be surprised to know the history behind the nation’s second largest performing arts center’s theater district. All ve major theaters (the Hanna, Allen, Ohio, State and Palace) opened in the early 1920s and remained active until shutting down at the end of the ’60s. Since renovations began in the 1970s, the theaters have returned to their former glory and now rank among the busiest in the country.

In addition to showing a selection of hit Broadway plays, PlayhouseSquare oers an interactive experience. Aer select Thursday evening Broadway Series performances, you can attend a “post-show chat” with cast members and learn what it’s like to audition, tour and perform in a Broadway show. And, the rst Saturday of the month, there’s a free, behind-the-scenes tour. “The rst thing we always tell everybody is that PlayhouseSquare is the largest theater restoration project in the world,” says marketing and promotions manager Jeannie Emser. “When I give tours, it’s not a bricks and mortar tour. There are little things that I nd interesting. When the Palace opened, for instance, it was a big red carpet event and people came from Europe and lm stars from New York and Los Angeles. When they walked in that night there was more than a million dollars worth of artwork on the walls and on the oor was the largest carpet ever woven in one piece.” Although some of the original pieces disappeared when the theaters were boarded up, PlayhouseSquare did recover one painting that’s now in the State Theatre and the big blue urn that’s in the Palace.

Emser says, “It was too heavy for anyone to move and we’ve been told it has a sister urn in the Louvre.” The theater oers discounts for groups of 20 or more, providing priority seating and access to tickets before they go on sale. In addition, PlayhouseSquare sta can help you plan your visit and catering and banquet spaces are also available to rent. Contact Chris Meyers, Group Services Manager, at 800.888.9941 or via email at meyersc@playhousesquare.org.

Shared Experiences

By Je Niesel

Located in Beachwood, the Maltz Museum (www.maltzmuseum.org) opened ve years ago with a very specic mission of “sharing Jewish heritage through the lens of the American experience.” While Jewish heritage is its main focus, the museum aims to appeal to people of all cultural backgrounds. Past exhibits, for example, have focused on the history of terror in the United States and recounted the inuence of American comic book heroes through the ages.

The “Wall of Remembrance,” a stone berm that pays tribute to Holocaust victims, surrounds the 24,000 square foot building, which doesn’t look very spacious from the outside. “Unless you’ve been inside our walls, you don’t know what’s inside,” says Laura Klein, Director of Marketing. “People see the name and think we must have Judaica, but don’t realize we also have the city’s history. You don’t have to be Jewish to appreciate stories about what it was like growing up in Cleveland.” Films and videos help both adults and children relate to the collection, which includes textiles, sculptures, paintings and lithographs by renowned Jewish artists. “When the museum rst opened, diversity and tolerance was always in our mission. We were more focused on the Jewish community, but we quickly learned that the stories in our permanent collection could be anybody’s story. Now, we go out to school assemblies and talk about that. Corporations have also started to use us a location for diversity issues. The simple fact is that dierent things resonate with dierent people.”

Inspired Church Tours

by John Booth

Even though Cleveland boasts a lakefront where you’ll nd space exploration and rock and roll side-by-side, it’s just as easy to steep yourself and your group in the century-old traditions, history and architecture of the city’s houses of worship, many of which oer guided tours for breathtaking and intimate views of their intricate majesty.

Downtown’s iconic Old Stone Church (www.oldstonechurch.org) boasts not only four Louis C. Tiany stained-glass creations overlooking Public Square, but a gorgeous 18-foot window created by another famed glass artisan, John La Farge.

Trinity Episcopal Cathedral’s (www.trinitycleveland.org) Gothic limestone exterior has been a landmark on historic Euclid Avenue since 1907, and a visit to the 114-year-old Shrine Church of St. Stanislaus in Slavic Village will inspire awe not just over its stunning sanctuary, but at its resilience and role in shaping Cleveland’s Polish-American community.

The Temple-Tifereth Israel’s Temple at University Circle houses a nationallyrenowned Museum of Religious Art with more than 1,000 pieces of Judaica and Jewish art, representing one of the nation’s most comprehensive collections.

And, with so many churches to consider, if scheduling your own visits feels overwhelming, there’s also the option of letting the popular Trolley Tours of Cleveland (www.lollytrolley.com) handle the driving. Lolly the Trolley oers a daylong “Steeples and Spires” group tour of a half-dozen Cleveland churches, including the 13-domed St. Theodosius Russian Orthodox Cathedral and the 157-year-old St. Patrick’s Catholic Church.

Watery Reections

By Keith Gribbins

The shores of Lake Erie make great memories you’ll hold onto for a lifetime.

“Growing up on the shores of a Great Lake was pretty exciting as a child,” says Carol G. Ward, park naturalist at Cleveland Lakefront State Park. “My parents frequently planned excursions to the shores of Lake Erie. We would go there to picnic, sh or swim at the beach.

As the smallest, shallowest and southernmost of the Great Lakes, Lake Erie’s big blue waves create a number of natural playgrounds like Wendy Park, Edgewater Park, Gordon Park and Wildwood State Park. Right in the heart of the city, Cleveland Lakefront State Park provides urbanites natural relief with sandy beaches back dropped by a metropolitan skyline and tree-lined picnic areas mixed with panoramic views of Cleveland and the Erie shoreline.

“Cleveland Lakefront State Park oers the opportunity to reconnect with nature, the outdoors and your family,” says Ward. In late spring or early summer, the new Cleveland Lakefront Exploration Station will open. “The Cleveland Lakefront nature center will have activity stations and exhibits on the Great Lakes, Lake Erie and aquatic ecosystems.” (www.clevelandlakefront.org).

Divided into upper and lower areas connected by a paved multipurpose path, Edgewater Park is an activity center regularly populated by kite clubs, surfers, company picnics and family and friends soaking in the sun. Upper Edgewater features a renovated pavilion that can be reserved (866.644.6727), playground equipment and the oldest monument in Cleveland. Lower Edgewater oers a 900-foot swimming beach with two picnic shelters (available on a rst come, rst served basis) and a concession facility. The nearby shing pier provides access for anglers and a concession where food and bait can be purchased. Boat launch ramps oer one of the few boating access points on the west side of the city at the Edgewater Marina.

From Edgewater, visitors can take a nine-mile Cleveland Lakefront Bike Trail that traces the Erie shoreline along Cleveland’s Lakeshore Boulevard, providing access to Gordon Park (six boat ramps, picnic area and park oce), Euclid Beach (a 650-foot swimming beach with shaded outdoor eating areas) and Villa Angela Park (a 900-foot swimming beach and scenic boardwalk). Dike 14, near Gordon Park, is a reclaimed dredge site that has grown into a beautiful nature preserve, and has been designated as an Important Bird Area by Audubon Ohio (www.dike14.org).

A little further down the bike trail you’ll nd Wildwood Park and Marina (www.discoverydive.com) -- a busy warm weather destination for water sports. Its breakwalls oer great shing access on Lake Erie, as well as access to Euclid Creek, which is known for its coho salmon in the spring. There is a six-lane boat launch ramp at Wildwood and a marina that oers gasoline and boating gear, transient and seasonal docks, food, shing licenses, shing charters and sh cleaning. There is also a scuba diving concession that oers charters and air tanks, kayak rental and a nice little beach where jet skiers can launch their personal watercra.

But if beaches are your thing, make sure you travel east to Headlands Beach -- the biggest and busiest stretch of Lake Erie sand in Northeast Ohio. Each year two million visitors visit its mile of beach and shoreline bordered by two nature preserves. In addition to great swimming and sunbathing, you can also enjoy wind surng, jet skiing and beach volleyball. For the mellower crowd, this area is ideal for beachcombing, birding and lakeside picnics. The dunes and unusual plants here are more typical of the Atlantic Coast than the Midwest. It’s the perfect locale to explore a spring vacation and another ideal opportunity to create a few new memories recalling the majesty and magnetism of Lake Erie.

“Had it not been for my experiences at the park as a child, I would not have the skills and knowledge today to do my job,” says Ward. “I consider it a real honor to work at these parks. Not only do I get to continue to enjoy the parks of my youth and my parents and grandparents, but now I get to share them with new generations of explorers.”

Sometimes It’s Easy Being Green

By John Booth

You might not gure that a place with a steeltown reputation spends much time thinking green, but thanks to regional environmental and sustainability initiatives across Cleveland Plus, spending time enjoying Northeast Ohio can appeal to your eco-friendly side, too.

A quartet of Cleveland hotels – the Crowne Plaza, the Hyatt Regency at the Arcade, the Radisson Gateway and the InterContinental – have taken steps to go green that range from using more ecient light bulbs to unplugging unused extras like room refrigerators and hair dryers to ditching aerosol cleaners. And guests can do their part if they’d like by opting for fewer linen and towel changes. Great Wolf Lodge (www.greatwolf.com) in Sandusky is the rst – and only – hotel chain to have all its US properties Green Seal™ certied and this family-friendly waterpark resort goes to great lengths to be environmentally conscious.

Getting around is greener, too, with the RTA Healthline’s (www.rtahealthline.com) hybrid buses and 1,500 new trees along the newly-polished Euclid corridor connecting Public Square with the East Side.

Catching an Indians game at Progressive Field? You’re not the only one soaking up the rays: An array of upper deck solar panels provides enough electricity to run the stadium’s 400 televisions. And the stadium’s recycling habits date all the way back to Opening Day of 1994, continuously expanding to the tune of 150 tons of recycled material in 2009. The Indians have also turned to using environmentallyfriendly items like plastic cups and cutlery based not on petroleum but on compostable materials like corn starch and sugar cane (www.indians.com).

Head over to East Fourth Street’s Greenhouse Tavern (www.thegreenhousetavern.com) for a mouthwatering meal that includes sustainability as a major not-so-secret ingredient. Founder and chef Jonathon Sawyer and his wife Amelia embraced the importance of local foods and low-impact restaurant operations from the start, putting their restaurant in a refurbished building and using recycled and repurposed materials and furnishings every place they could.

And when it comes to food, Jonathon has long believed that the closer a kitchen is to its farms, the better the dishes it will serve. That’s why you’ll nd a menu rich in local fare from Northeast Ohio farms that cuts down on costs and carbon without carving away an iota of avor.

Turns out that in Cleveland Plus, being green can be as easy as dinner, a night out and a stay downtown.