Massage therapist and actor Patrick Carroll of Soothe Massage and Wellness is donating his talent to benefit the Beck Center.

Schedule a massage with Patrick February 20 through 26, and he'll donate his fee and all gratuities to the Beck Center's S.O.S. - Save Our Seats campaign. Massages for first-time visitors to Soothe are only $39, so make sure to tip Patrick well. If you're a returning customer, your impact is even greater.

This isn't the first time Patrick has held a massage fundraiser to benefit the Beck Center. He's done it two other times, raising nearly $1,200 for the Beck Center.

So relax with a soothing massage and enjoy your next Main Stage show in the comfort of your refurbished seat.

To schedule an appointment with Patrick, call Soothe Massage and Wellness at 440.331.4045. Soothe is located in the Beachcliff Market Square, 19310 Detroit Avenue in Rocky River.

Beck dance students Annie Gagen, Taylor Gerrasch, and Julia Horner competed in the Youth America Grand Prix semi-final ballet competition in Chicago the weekend of January 22 and 23.  Their performance of “Pizzicato Polka” earned them  a top 12 finish and an invitation to compete in the YAGP 2011 New York City Finals.

YAGP is the largest student scholarship competition in the world drawing dancers from across the globe.

Congratulations!

Heirloom Home, located at 18119 Detroit Avenue in Lakewood, was featured on the front page of the In & Out section of Thursday's Plain Dealer. Editor Susan Love interviewed store owner Brenda Ellner about her love of the arts and her commitment to the Beck Center: to donate all proceeds from the store to arts education at the Beck Center.

"The arts are 'life affirming,' said Ellner, 'the glue that holds us all together.' No child, she said, should be precluded from this opportunity because of a lack of money."

The home-decor store is open Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.

READ MORE AND SEE STORE PHOTOS

The Beck Center for the Arts is participating in a new iPhone app.

Experience Lakewood, an iPhone app created by SCK Solutions in Cleveland, launched this week through a partnership between LakewoodAlive and the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce. The app is designed to enhance the visitor experience in Lakewood by linking users to business descriptions, maps, and calendars related to dining, shopping, recreation, and amenity options in the community. The visitor-friendly app can be downloaded for free on any Apple compatible device such as an iPhone. More than 200 retail businesses, institutions, and points of interest can be found on the app that also includes 200 professional services listings.

The Lakewood app is customized to feature Lakewood’s many assets and includes a “Parking” category to help visitors navigate the city. Every listing is linked to Google Maps, which provides street views, directions from the user's current location, and estimated travel time by car or by foot.

To download this FREE app, visit here.

At the Beck Center for the Arts, we strive to present our customers with a positive experience in everything we do—from arts education to the theater to the gallery. This also extends to our class registration process.

In our commitment to provide convenient options for arts education customers, we are adding online registration for all arts classes. This software was supposed to go live this month. During the installation process, we discovered that in order to ensure that our customers can take advantage of all of the software’s capabilities, such as discounts and payment history, we need more time to get it to the level of optimal performance you expect and deserve.

We fully expect that the software will be ready to accept online registrations for our summer camps and classes. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

If you have any questions or would like to register you or your child for the Winter/Spring 2011 semester, please call 216.521.2540 x10.

Jo and Tim Clemens, longtime volunteers with the Beck Center's production of Razzle Dazzle, were featured on the front page of The Plain Dealer as 2010 Community Heroes.

The Clemens became involved with Razzle Dazzle, a musical variety show, 11 years ago through their volunteer work with the Rocky River Adult Activities Center (AAC), one of eight branches of the Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities (CCBDD). Cast and crew members are made up of participants in the Rocky River AAC's inclusive musical theater program, consumers served by CCBDD and Rocky River AAC, and community volunteers. Razzle Dazzle is a partnership between the CCBDD and the Beck Center's Creative Arts Therapies program.

Beck salutes this amazing couple. Read more about their commitment to our community here.

The end-of-year reviews by area theater critics have brought numerous honors to the Beck Center for the Arts for several of its 2010 professional theater productions. The Times Theater Tributes recognized the Beck Center for Best Dramatic Production (Wings), Best Musical Theatre Production, and Best Choreography in a Musical (Joseph...Dreamcoat), and the News-Herald’s Best of Theatre Awards named The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Best Musical.

Cleveland theater legend Dorothy Silver was also recognized with awards by both publications for her Best Performance in Wings, and the talented George Roth received accolades for his "loverly" role in My Fair Lady. Kudos to Beck Artistic Director Scott Spence who was acknowledged for his creative directorial skills in both Joseph and Spelling Bee.

Congrats to all!

For a complete listing of all honors, click the links below...

2010 Times Tributes Awards

News-Herald's 2010 Best of Theatre Awards

The highly popular 2008 hit from the Beck Center is back...and at PlayhouseSquare. Produced by the Beck Center, Altar Boyz is a sharp, pop-music parody with irreverent humor that tells the holy inspiring story of five small-town boys trying to save the world one screaming fan at a time.

Winner of the 2005 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical, Altar Boyz is a rafter-raising, soul-saving, musical-comedy spoof about a ficticious Christian boy band performing the last concert of their "Raise the Praise" tour. Join heavenly heartthrobs - Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan, and Abraham - as they dance and sing their hearts out to save souls.

MORE INFO HERE

Thanks to the supporters who responded to our S.O.S., we will begin refurbishing seats in the Mackey Main Stage Theater. Their quick response will allow us to get started on this project in the next few weeks!

Please join them in giving back to this captivating place by donating to the S.O.S. – Save Our Seats campaign.  After 35 fabulous years, the seats in the theater need special attention.  Although their structure is sound, they need to be refurbished with new upholstery.  Your contribution of just $75 will re-cover one of remaining seats to be saved.

The names of all donors will be listed in the lobby outside the theater. There's no better return of an investment of $75 than 35 years of magical moments!

For more information, contact Sally Weakley at 216.521.2540, x18 or sweakley@beckcenter.org.

RE-COVER A SEAT TODAY!