[NEohioPAL]Great Lakes Theater Festival's Summer Repertory Heats Up to Open 2005 Season

[Todd Krispinsky]

For Immediate Release
July 5, 2005=20

The Summer Repertory Heats Up As
Great Lakes Theater Festival
Opens 2005 Season
 GLTF=92s resident company performs both=20
The Merry Wives of Windsor and You Can=92t Take It With You=20
on the same stage for six weeks in rotating repertory=20
to open Festival=92s 44th season.


CLEVELAND, OH - Great Lakes Theater Festival (GLTF) opens its 2005 =
season
with a Summer Repertory that features William Shakespeare=92s The Merry =
Wives
of Windsor (Wives) and Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman=92s You Can=92t =
Take It
With You (Take).  The productions will be performed in rotating =
repertory at
the Ohio Theatre, Playhouse Square Center, July 29-September 3, 2005.  =
The
Summer Repertory event features a single company of thirty-four actors
performing two alternating plays on the same stage over six weeks.   =
Sari
Ketter will direct The Merry Wives of Windsor and Drew Barr will direct =
You
Can=92t Take It With You.

Great Lakes Theater Festival=92s Summer Repertory is sponsored by =
National
City Bank.  Media sponsors for the Festival=92s 2005 season are =
Cleveland.com,
The Cleveland Free Times, WCLV 104.9 and WCPN 90.3 ideastream.  Great =
Lakes
Theater Festival=92s 2005 season is dedicated to the memory of James O.
Roberts (GLTF Trustee 1984-2005).

=93This season=92s Summer Repertory is a colossal undertaking,=94 said =
GLTF=92s
Producing Artistic Director Charles Fee.  =93Merry Wives and You =
Can=92t Take It
With You are very big plays.  The thirty-four member Summer Repertory =
acting
company makes this one of the largest non-musical endeavors in our =
company=92s
history.  And we are certainly up for the challenge.  Over the past =
several
seasons, we=92ve built an extraordinary resident company of artists, =
begun to
define our approach to the classics - a wild, accessible, full-blooded
approach - and reached out to our community and audience in consistent =
and
meaningful ways.   This is the kind of work that is important to us as =
a
company - theater that we are thrilled to share with our audience in
Cleveland.  If you=92ve been wondering what all the noise is about at
Playhouse Square, this is the season to come downtown and check us =
out.=94

Fee also reinforced the Festival=92s commitment to producing in =
repertory.
=93Performing two plays in rotating repertory is an extraordinary =
event.  The
opportunity to see a single acting company perform two plays on the =
same
stage makes the Great Lakes Theater Festival experience unique in =
Northern
Ohio.=94 =20

The Festival=92s 2005 season opens with The Merry Wives of Windsor.  In =
Wives,
audiences meet the rotund rascal Sir John Falstaff and the wise wives =
of
Windsor in one of Shakespeare=92s most raucous comedies.  With an ego =
as big
as his voracious appetite, Falstaff conspires to woo the two wealthiest
married ladies in town and pocket their riches.  However, Mistress Ford =
and
Mistress Page devise a scheme of their own to teach him a well-deserved
lesson in Wooing 101.  Making her artistic debut with the Festival, =
Sari
Ketter will direct the production.

=93If Shakespeare ever wrote a situation comedy, The Merry Wives of =
Windsor
would be it,=94 remarked Ketter during a recent interview regarding the
upcoming production.  =93The giddiness which infuses the play is =
reminiscent
of the 1950=92s many of us hold in our minds.  When we sat down to =
design the
show, we sensed that it needed a setting to bring the meaning of the =
play
into sharp focus; a bold setting capable of containing the equally bold
Falstaff.  A Howard Johnson=92s Motor Resort in Windsor, Connecticut, =
named
after Windsor, England (the play=92s setting) provided a beautiful =
parallel.
In many ways this production has the makings of an I Love Lucy episode =
meets
The Dick Van Dyke Show with a dash of The Honeymooners - featuring =
strong
women at the core of a household, struggling to set things right again =
with
their world in the face of daunting odds.=94=20

Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman=92s comedy You Can=92t Take It With You =
rounds
out GLTF=92s Summer Repertory.  One of America's most endearing =
comedies, this
family-friendly, Pulitzer Prize-winning play about a hilariously
unconventional family and their unusually eclectic friends is Kaufman =
and
Hart=92s masterpiece.  In You Can=92t Take It With You, the crazy, =
lovable
Sycamore family plays impromptu hosts when their soon to be in-laws =
arrive
unexpectedly for dinner.  Sparks fly, literally, as the non-conformist
Sycamores face-off with the ultra-traditional Kirbys.  Drew Barr will =
return
for his fourth season with the Festival to direct the production.

=93This is one of the great classic comedies of the American theater =
from a
period in the United States when theater was at its absolute apex - its
golden age,=94 commented Barr in a recent telephone interview about the
production.  =93Kaufman and Hart, at the top of their game, have =
crafted a
wonderful play full of unforgettable characters. It's a pure pleasure =
to
spend time with them.  In You Can=92t Take It With You, there is a real =
and
palpable sense of how families and individuals try to be there for each
other despite faults and eccentricities=85and it is striking to be =
reminded
how essential that variety and understanding is to the American way of =
life.
I really feel that this is ultimately a play about community.   =
That=92s why I
believe that it is a great play for Great Lakes Theater Festival to be
producing - a theater company that draws so much of its life and =
identity
from the community around it.=94

GLTF=92s Summer Repertory features a single company of thirty-four =
actors
performing roles in both plays.  Twenty-nine members of the acting =
company
are Cleveland-based actors.  =93Top to bottom, this is an absolutely
outstanding classical company of actors.  To a person, this cast is
experienced, skilled and very, very talented,=94 said Charles Fee of =
his
repertory ensemble.  =93We are especially proud to have such a large =
number of
Cleveland actors in our company this season.  I think it clearly
demonstrates the Festival=92s commitment to the local acting community =
as well
as to the economic development of the city of Cleveland.=94

=93This is an exciting time for Great Lakes Theater Festival,=94 =
continued Fee
regarding Cleveland=92s classic theater.  =93Of all the changes that we =
have
made over the past several seasons, what is most exciting to me is to =
have
been able to renew our commitment as an organization to the idea of =
company.
On an artistic level, on an administrative level and in our work =
throughout
this vibrant community, the idea of company has and will continue to =
yield
great results for the Festival.  I look forward to kicking off another
season of great theater with this pair of classic comedies and I =
can=92t wait
to share them with Cleveland.=94 =20

Opening Night performances of The Merry Wives of Windsor and You =
Can=92t Take
It With You have been scheduled for Saturday evenings with preview
performances of both productions scheduled for Friday nights.  Curtain =
times
for all evening performances will remain at 7:30 p.m., with a 1:30 p.m.
curtain time for Saturday matinees and a 3:00 p.m. curtain time for =
Sunday
matinees.  Both productions in GLTF=92s Summer Repertory will continue =
to
offer sign interpreted and audio described performances as well as the
popular Director=92s Night and Playnotes pre-show discussion series.  =
(Visit
the Great lakes Theater Festival website at www.greatlakestheater.org =
for a
complete performance calendar.)
 =20
Single tickets for Great Lakes Theater Festival productions range in =
price
from $21.50-$55.00 (Student tickets $12.50 - any performance / any =
seat) and
are available by calling (216) 241-6000, by ordering online at
www.greatlakestheater.org, by visiting the Playhouse Square Center Box
office or any Tickets.com outlet located within all Tops Friendly =
Markets.
Groups of ten or more receive discounts as do educators and students. =20

Since 1962, Great Lakes Theater Festival has brought the pleasure, =
power and
relevance of classic theater to the widest possible audience in =
Northern
Ohio.  The first resident company of Playhouse Square Center, Great =
Lakes
Theater Festival has called the Ohio Theatre home since 1982.

#     #     #


For More Information:
Todd Krispinsky=20
Marketing and Public Relations Director
Great Lakes Theater Festival
1501 Euclid Avenue, Suite 300
Cleveland, Ohio  44115
(216) 241-5490 x317
(216) 241-6315 Fax
www.greatlakestheater.org

Discover Shakespeare's Great Company!
We are thrilled to announce our NEW 2005 season.  Subscribe today!
Visit our website at www.greatlakestheater.org for a complete list of =
shows,
performance calendars and subscription options.