My first play of 2010 is one I will never forget—no matter how hard I try.

August: Osage County, which opened at Playhouse Square on Tuesday, April 13, is a harsh, dark look into a middle-class Oklahoma family that struggles with every possible infliction a group of people might suffer—suicide, alcoholism, drug abuse, adultery, incest and more. From the first chaotic introduction of the Weston Family to the final heart-wrenching look at the family’s remains, my emotions were on edge and my mind was racing to keep up with each twist and turn in the plot.

From timeless classics like ‘South Pacific’ to whimsical new shows like ‘Shrek The Musical,’ PlayhouseSquare may have something for everyone in its recently announced 2010-2011 KeyBank Broadway Series.

The 2010-2011 KeyBank Broadway Series is being unveiled to theater lovers during its Broadway Season Launch event April 7-8 at the Idea Center in Cleveland, following the official April 6 announcement. The three events during the official launch allow eager theater-goers to be among the first to experience the seven new Broadway shows coming to PlayhouseSquare as part of the upcoming season with multi-media teasers of each show narrated by Gina Vernaci, Vice President of Theatricals, PlayhouseSquare.

Vernaci credits PlayhouseSquare’s ability to draw such well-known shows to its 19,000 subscribers as well as the general support of the Cleveland community. Presentations at last night’s launch event included the history of PlayhouseSquare, including its near demise in the 1950s and 1960s and revival through the 1970s and 1980s, as well as brief looks at each show in the new season.

The season line-up is as follows:

Oct. 5-17: Blue Man Group
Nov. 19- Dec. 12: Billy Elliot The Musical
Feb. 1-13: South Pacific
March 1-13: Shrek The Musical

Aside from being able to hum a few bars of the song sharing its namesake, I didn’t know anything about the musical Xanadu before going to see it this weekend at Playhouse Square. I had heard that it was an award-winning comedy with some recognizable music, but I decided not to look into the plot, former performers or time on Broadway before seeing it for myself.

Heading in to take my seat in what was a sparsely populated upper balcony, I noticed the program said the performance would take place without an intermission. My initial thought was that it must be an incredibly long performance, but the two and a half hours flew by. The stage was set up as a sort of amphitheater with a roller skating area in the center, the orchestra above and stage right, and audience members sitting in tight sections of rows in a half circle facing the house audience.

Celebrations abound this weekend—from Valentine’s Day to the Brazilian Carnaval. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect for a night out at Cleveland’s Playhouse Square to experience the warmth and realties of a Manhattan-based Latino neighborhood through the vibrant rhythms of salsa, meringue and hip hop during my first off-Broadway performance of the Tony-award winning musical In the Heights.

The new musical, which hit Broadway in 2008, opened in Cleveland last week, and I was able to catch the first Saturday performance last night along with an energetic, nearly full house. We were only in our seats long enough to briefly appreciate the grungy, layered scenery depicting a time-worn Washington Heights neighborhood, complete with a George Washington Bridge backdrop and the realistic streaming of morning sunlight before the performance was underway.

My first exposure to the Broadway debut of the new Mel Brooks musical, Young Frankenstein, was a brief teaser of performance snippets during the Macy’s Day parade in 2007. At the time, I couldn’t help wondering how it would do stacked up against some of the masterpieces of musical comedy I wished would return to touring the U.S. A fan of the movie starring Gene Wilder, I also wasn’t sure how the screenplay humor would translate to the stage performance.

Following the show’s opening at Playhouse Square’s Palace Theatre in downtown Cleveland last Tuesday, I attended the first Saturday night performance yesterday. Turnout was greater than I had expected with the balcony near full by the time the orchestra was warmed up and the houselights had dimmed. The stage was blanketed in a blue screen featuring a glowing moon and spooky, mist-wrapped mountain with a winding path leading up to a great castle overlooking a small town. With a burst of lighting and thunder, the show was quickly underway.

Wednesday night I headed to the House of Blues for the Sugar Ray concert featuring special guests Fastball and Aimee Allen. Quite a few of my co-workers were heading out to concerts that night as well, including Incubus at Tower City Amphitheater, the Dave Matthews Band at Blossom and the Pedal to the Metal tour at the Chevrolet Center. Although it was a music-fest in northeast Ohio, offering something for everyone, scheduling all four major concerts on the same night did have an impact on the turnout, at least at the concert I attended.

The evening began on the right note with Aimee Allen, pop/rock singer from L.A. With a new album, A Little Happiness, released just a week ago, Allen was working the audience with mannerisms similar to Gwen Stefani. She moved around the stage, dancing, swaying and keeping the sparse audience engaged. Her set had a groovy, almost pop/reggae feel to it that was constantly interrupted by her killer vocals. In addition to playing her own songs, she threw in a cover of Sublime’s Santeria, which I loved hearing with the female vocal lead. I didn’t know many of her songs but was convinced when she wrapped up the set with Little Happiness that it would be worthwhile to check out the new album.