Cleveland Heights To Honor Paul Gurgol At Cain Park Performance

Cleveland theater director Paul Gurgol ran auditions in early March for Avenue Q and had just cast the production when he died March 24.

The Cleveland Heights resident, who was 55, died of cancer, The Plain Dealer reported.

Gurgol directed Sweeney Todd in 2010 at Alma Theater in Cain Park and ran the now closed Kalliope Stage on Lee Road.

"He was one of those Cleveland Heights residents that makes us 'home to the arts,'" said Susanna Niermann O'Neil, vice city manager and community services director for Cleveland Heights.

To honor Gurgol, the city is organizing an event June 26 at Alma Theater.

"We're inviting musical performers to perform some of the songs from the shows he has done in the Cleveland theater," O'Neil said.

In addition, a biography and photo of Gurgol will be included with the Playbill from Avenue Q, which opens June 15.

"The show is really a celebration of his life," she said.

Cleveland Heights resident and theater director Russ Borski, who was originally going to be the artistic director for Avenue Q, will now direct the show.

"... Borski has directed plays and musicals at Cain Park," O'Neil said. "He was a part of the auditions and he knows Avenue Q."

O'Neil said Gurgol was enthusiastic about the show and all the projects he worked on.

"He wanted to share his great love of musical theater with every audience he could find, and because of that, he was exceptional."