"In 1820 Cleveland, Ohio, was able to draw a visit from a troupe of professional actors. With no theater in which to perform, the troupe made do with Mowrey's Tavern on Public Square, where a standing-room-only audience saw The Purse; or the Benevolent Tar. It was five years before another professional company would visit.". "Showtime in Cleveland takes the reader from the city'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."--BOOK JACKET.