Bøker av John Vacha

How five beloved Cleveland theaters escaped the wrecking ball and inspired city-wide urban renewal Shortly after World War I ended, five new theaters were constructed in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, all within a two-block radius. The concentration of these venues, which featured movies, vaudeville, and "legitimate" theater, became known collectively as Playhouse Square. For 50 years, the State, Ohio, Hanna, Allen, and Palace theaters enjoyed varying degrees of financial success until television, suburbanization, and urban decline darkened four of their marquees by the end of the 1960s. In the 1970s, with the shuttered theaters facing demolition, groups of like-minded Clevelanders united to fight to save the Square, influencing the city's establishment to create formal plans to renovate the theaters and ensure their financial viability. Playhouse Square and the Cleveland Renaissance tells the story of how the rejuvenation of Playhouse Square became one of the main catalysts for Cleveland's larger comeback from postindustrial decline, inspiring and serving as a model for other urban renewal efforts across the city. John Vacha is the first to write a comprehensive, in-depth account of Playhouse Square's history, beginning with the Square's 1921 opening and describing how the COVID-19 pandemic once again left its theaters temporarily empty before their triumphant reopenings in 2022. Richly illustrated and featuring interviews with the central figures involved in saving the Square, Playhouse Square and the Cleveland Renaissance is a powerful story that will appeal to theater history buffs and preservationists alike--reminding readers of the significant role the performing arts serve in shaping a city's culture.

In the summers of 1936 and 1937 the Great Lakes Exposition was presented in Cleveland, Ohio, along the Lake Erie shore. Meet Me on Lake Erie, Dearie! is the fourth instalment in the Cleveland Theater Series by John Vacha and will appeal to those who attended the Exposition or listened to the stories told by their relatives about the two exciting summers during the Depression.

This work takes the reader from Cleveland's first professional theatrical presentation in 1820, through the heyday of Vaudeville, to the grand reopening of the newly renovated Allen Theatre in 1999 and the return of touring Broadway shows to Cleveland.