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Review: Who Committed the ‘Ohio State Murders’? Who Didn’t?

Published

2 years ago

December 9, 2022

Review: Who Committed the ‘Ohio State Murders’? Who Didn’t?

Two 91-year-old titans made belated Broadway debuts this fall.

Within the case of the actor James Earl Jones, it was not in a play however on a marquee. In September, the Cort Theater, on West forty eighth Road, the place he’d first carried out in 1958, was renamed in his honor.

And on Thursday, with the opening of a revival of “Ohio State Murders” on the identical stage, Adrienne Kennedy lastly had one in every of her works seem in what’s, for higher or worse, the middle of American theatrical tradition.

Why it took so lengthy in both case is a query you may reply in a single phrase or many. In “Ohio State Murders,” Kennedy, an avant-gardist who deserves a spot amongst our most honored and produced playwrights, does it in lots of, every of them a bullet.

Not that the 75-minute play, first carried out in 1991, is coldblooded or didactic. Quite, in Kenny Leon’s piercing manufacturing, starring Audra McDonald in one other efficiency ripped from her gallery of harrowing girls, it’s painful each within the story it tells and within the immense effort expended to inform it correctly.

Or, higher, improperly: “Ohio State Murders” is rigorously unconventional. The thriller urged by its title is essentially resolved within the first 5 minutes, when the crime and the felony are nearly casually (if incompletely) revealed. A middle-aged author named Suzanne Alexander, who has come to Columbus within the play’s current tense to talk about the violent imagery in her work, rapidly locates its supply within the abduction and drowning of one in every of her toddler twin daughters in 1952, when she was an single undergraduate there.

“That was later,” she says instantly after the out-of-sequence revelation, as if there was one thing but extra necessary to get again to.

There’s; Kennedy, who was herself an undergraduate at Ohio State within the early Nineteen Fifties, makes use of the time that her tangled construction has purchased her to assemble, collagelike, the ambiance of dread and discrimination confronted by Black college students of the interval. A white classmate accuses Sue, because the protagonist was then known as, of stealing a watch, although Sue herself “owned stunning possessions and jewellery that my mother and father had given me.” The English division is not going to permit her, or another Black scholar, to declare that main with out particular consent, usually not forthcoming: “It was thought that we weren’t capable of grasp this system.”

The older and youthful characters are normally break up between two actors, however Kennedy has given McDonald permission to play each. It’s a lesson in itself to look at her shift between them. Sue is harmless and trusting, till circumstances train her to not be; she drinks within the literature she is studying as if with an countless thirst. Suzanne, although she has survived tragedy and normal a strong profession for herself, is anxious and brittle, laughing inappropriately at instances, reverting to a personal language whereas furiously searching for the appropriate phrases to convey the depth of the forces at play.

In neither position does McDonald have the assist of strange dramaturgy. There’s nearly no dialogue in “Ohio State Murders,” as a result of what occurred to Sue is much less necessary than how Suzanne tries, as you’re feeling she has tried for many years, to know it. That the daddy of the infants was her white English professor (Bryce Pinkham) is merely a organic and later a forensic truth; that he admires her essays and teaches her to like Hardy (particularly and relevantly “Tess of the d’Urbervilles”) are extra salient items of the psychological puzzle.

In a traditional drama, we’d see the professor wooing or comforting or in the end dismissing Sue; right here we expertise him solely in small fragments, studying and lecturing and saying a number of phrases in her common course. The identical method retains her roommate (Abigail Stephenson), aunt (Lizan Mitchell) and even her boyfriend (Mister Fitzgerald) at a distance, with Suzanne describing their interactions slightly than Sue partaking in them.

Kennedy, it appears, goals to forbid us the convenience and launch of a standard scene, simply as she has prescribed a conceptual set that in Beowulf Boritt’s slightly stiff interpretation represents all areas and furnishings as a tumble of library cabinets stuffed with regulation tomes. However McDonald is incapable of nonemotion; her efficiency builds to a shattering catharsis that will in some methods be unauthorized.

Leon, too, works well in opposition to the grain of the play. In thoughtfully mimed vignettes, he exhibits us that the opposite characters, superbly enacted if with little to say, will not be simply puppets of Suzanne’s reminiscence however residing creatures with their very own struggles. They’re lit (by Allen Lee Hughes) and costumed (by Dede Ayite) much less forbiddingly than the script would possibly lead you to count on, and accompanied by sound and music (by Justin Ellington and Dwight Andrews) that admits different feelings to the horror. Even the infants are touchingly represented: slips of pink material, delicate as scarves and as simply misplaced.

These warming, even sentimental additions don’t detract from the mental integrity of Kennedy’s conception any greater than McDonald’s astonishing entry to tragic feeling diminishes the prickly oddness of the characters. To my thoughts these are as a substitute enhancements, forcing us to expertise the play’s central themes as inside conflicts and never simply social ones.

Not that society is in any approach let off the hook. The racism on the coronary heart of the homicide thriller can also be on the coronary heart of every little thing else, making it unclear which is the trigger and which the impact. So when Suzanne describes the white sorority homes as “columned mansions” sitting “like a citadel” off Columbus’s Excessive Road, it’s unattainable not to consider plantation structure — a degree that Sue, studying from a ebook about symbols, drives dwelling directly:

“A metropolis ought to have a sacred geography,” she recites, “by no means arbitrary however deliberate in strict accord with the dictates of a doctrine that the society upholds.” In different phrases, Suzanne’s experiences of exclusion are not any accident of racism, they’re its objectives.

Simply so with theaters — and what we see inside them. If the steadiness is eventually starting to tip, each on the marquee and the title web page, it’s not simply luck, although we’re fortunate to get to expertise it. It’s as a result of our best artists, Kennedy, Jones and McDonald amongst them, have been utilizing their artistry to argue the case for years.

Ohio State Murders
Via Feb. 12 on the James Earl Jones Theater, Manhattan; ohiostatemurdersbroadway.com. Working time: 1 hour quarter-hour.

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No matter who wins between Notre Dame, Ohio State, this bettor’s positioned to profit

Published

15 minutes ago

January 16, 2025

Press Room

No matter who wins between Notre Dame, Ohio State, this bettor’s positioned to profit

LAS VEGAS — Notre Dame and Ohio State winning their semifinal playoff games meant the wisdom of Tom Petty, once again, rang true.

“Even the losers / Get lucky sometimes.”

Sometimes, fortune smiles upon minnow bettors whose stacks of losing tickets provide so many bookmarks, coasters and, yes, even novel wrapping paper.

On Dec. 12, I studied the new 12-team College Football Playoff with a keen eye to newly released title-game exacta odds.

My college-pigskin rudder is points-per-play, ratios available at TeamRankings.com. The tale of teams is contained in those fractions.

On offense and defense, and overall margins, Notre Dame had sparkled since early October. “Past three games” reveals how teams are currently running.

I applied those figures to project each playoff game, best squad moving on. I played out the tournament, producing the finale exacta. I aimed to go into the championship game with a sweet ticket on both teams, guaranteeing profit.

That exercise compelled me to obtain South Point tickets on Notre Dame over Ohio State, 30-to-1 odds, and Ohio State over Notre Dame, at 25-1. Alas, the Buckeyes and Irish play for the national title Monday night.

“That’s awesome!!!” Long Island handicapper Tom Barton wrote in a text message.

“Looks like you played it 100% correct,” Southern California professional bettor Tommy Lorenzo told me. “Bull’s-eye, well done. TeamRankings is a great tool. I use a lot of its info for my power rankings.

“You’re sitting pretty, my friend.”

The two best teams

Barton entered the week 3-0 in this new playoff, and he sounded as if he’d be fine taking a pass on the championship game.

Unless the point spread ekes up to 10 somewhere. It mostly opened around 9 to 9.5 points in favor of Ohio State. Last Sunday night, it got shaved to 8. Monday afternoon, it hit 7.5 before pumping back to 8.5 by Wednesday.

“I haven’t finished my homework on the championship game,” Barton said. “I tend to lean with the points. The over looks interesting, too, but I’m not sure if I’ll play anything.”

Monday, DraftKings posted a 45.5 total. Wednesday, it hit 46.5, -108 over (or risk $108 to win $100), -112 under. Odds subject to change.

Lorenzo said he felt fortunate to be holding a title ticket on Notre Dame, at 11-1, plus Ohio State at +340.

They represented the two top teams in his power ratings, “so I pulled the trigger.” He added, “I do kick myself, however, for not attacking the championship exacta on those two, given my conviction on those two being the best teams overall.”

More maneuvering

I have more work to do, since I’ve been on Notre Dame since the summer. I’m bullish on Irish coach Marcus Freeman, so I bought a 22-1 Irish title ticket Aug. 31.

It lost early to Northern Illinois but has won 13 in a row, and I nabbed a 30-1 ducat on the Irish on Nov. 21 at the Westgate -SuperBook. So I reap more profit with a Notre Dame victory.

To even that out, I’ll stake positions with Ohio State, likely via in-game maneuvering.

Should the Irish tally an early touchdown, say, the Bucks’ moneyline will shrink closer to even (from around -380), providing an optimal situation to bet on Ohio State and ensure my dividends will be nearly equal, no matter who wins.

I did scramble for a +560 Penn State ticket on New Year’s Eve, just in case, among other moves. I had already bought into the Nittany Lions, at 24-1, on Aug. 31 at William Hill.

There are other debits, and credits. For the semifinals, I played a moneyline parlay of Ohio State to Notre Dame, turning two units into five. In sum, I’ll likely net around 55 units of playoff profit.

Howard’s Will

A lifelong Notre Dame supporter, Lorenzo said he ultimately believes Ohio State will get the victory; the figures back up that outcome.

Ohio State boasts a 0.617 points-per-play ratio over its last three games; Notre Dame’s offense, at 0.374, has been faltering.

Turnovers might be an equalizer, though, as the Irish’s ball-hawking defenders snatched an NCAA-best 32 combined fumbles and interceptions this season. Senior free safety Xavier Watts yanked down six of those picks.

All of which funnels into this column’s final words from Paul Stone, arguably the country’s finest purveyor of college-pigskin prognostications.

He noted the game opening Ohio State -10.5 at Circa Sports, which drew early action on underdog Notre Dame. Wednesday, Vegas had the Buckeyes as consensus 8-point favorites.

From East Texas, Stone said he respected those early waves of cash on the Irish, but he views Ohio State as the “more-complete team” and will back the Buckeyes on the point spread.

“They have found another gear in the playoffs and have too much firepower for Notre Dame, in my opinion,” he said. “Ohio State defeated a talented trifecta of teams — Tennessee, Oregon and Texas — all by 14 points or more.

“The Buckeyes have averaged 7.5 yards per play in those victories, while allowing only 4.2 yards per play.”

The key is Ohio State quarterback Will Howard, the 6-4, 237-pound senior who left Kansas State for Columbus.

“If [he] takes care of the ball and the Irish don’t post a defensive or special-teams touchdown,” Stone said, “I think the Buckeyes win by double digits.”

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Notre Dame vs. Ohio State: Championship history and stats

Published

8 hours ago

January 15, 2025

Press Room

Notre Dame vs. Ohio State: Championship history and stats

Jan 15, 2025, 05:27 PM ET

Notre Dame and Ohio State will be facing off in the 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship game. How did each team get here? Notre Dame — coming off playoff wins against Indiana, Georgia and Penn State — is riding a 13-game winning streak. But the Irish are a heavy underdog in the title game matchup. Ohio State — which went through Tennessee, Oregon and Texas in the playoffs — brings its top-ranked defense in a quest to capture its ninth national championship. This will be the first time Notre Dame reaches the title game in the CFP era after falling in the semifinal in the 2018-19 and 2020-21 seasons. The Buckeyes will be playing in their third CFP title game since winning the inaugural game in 2014.

Here’s a tale of the tape between the two squads ahead of Monday’s CFP National Championship game.

Established: 1890

Conference: Big Ten

Stadium: Ohio Stadium (102,780 capacity)

Head coach: Ryan Day (2019-present)

2024 season record: 13-2

2024 season leaders:

2024 AP Top 25 final ranking: No. 6

Total championships: Eight (2014, 2002, 1970, 1968, 1961, 1957, 1954, 1942)

All-time record: 977-335-53 (.744)

Bowl record: 26-23 (.531)

Heisman winners:

Head-to-head vs. Notre Dame: 6-2, 25.6 points scored per game

Established: 1887

Conference: Independent

Stadium: Notre Dame Stadium (80,795 capacity)

Head coach: Marcus Freeman (2021-present)

2024 season record: 14-1

2024 season leaders:

2024 AP Top 25 final ranking: No. 3

Total championships: 13 (1988, 1977, 1973, 1966, 1964, 1949, 1947, 1946, 1943, 1930, 1929, 1924, 1919)

All-time record: 962-338-42 (.740)

Bowl record: 23-18 (.561)

Heisman winners:

Tim Brown, 1987
John Huarte, 1964
Paul Hornung, 1956
John Lattner, 1953
Leon Hart, 1949
John Lujack, 1947
Angelo Bertelli, 1943

Head-to-head vs. Ohio State: 2-6, 17.4 points scored per game

Check out the ESPN college football hub page for breaking news, features, schedules, rankings and more.

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Ohio’s first Zaxby’s is coming to Greater Cincinnati

Published

16 hours ago

January 15, 2025

Press Room

Ohio’s first Zaxby’s is coming to Greater Cincinnati

Zaxby’s, a popular fried chicken chain, is getting its first Ohio location in Liberty Township.

A 56-seat Zaxby’s restaurant and drive-thru is planned to open at Freedom Pointe, next to Costco. The development, which was initially planned to be a hotel, will also house three other eateries: E+O Kitchen, which has locations at The Banks, Hyde Park and Loveland; Bismarck Donut and Coffee Shop and El Rancho Grande, said Christy Gloyd, Liberty Township’s marketing and events manager.

Costco opened near Interstate 75 on Cox Road in 2022. Construction on the new restaurants starts this summer, Gloyd said.

“We’re just really excited to be growing over there at Freedom Pointe,” she told The Enquirer. “Having Costco as the anchor is huge. Just to have another family-friendly restaurant and have the variety – to have the Zaxby’s and E+O and El Rancho Grande – I think it’s really going to be a nice offering for our residents.”

Atlanta-headquartered Zaxby’s has over 900 locations in 17 states, mostly in the South and Midwest. The chain is known for its chicken fingers and wings, sandwiches and salads. The closest Zaxby’s locations currently open are over an hour away, in Shelbyville, Indiana and Louisville, Kentucky.

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