[NEohioPAL] GLTF's Hanna Theatre Project Benefits Region

[Todd Krispinsky]

 FOR COMPLETE INFORMATION:

 visit <http://www.greatlakestheater.org/hanna>
www.greatlakestheater.org/hanna
<http://www.greatlakestheater.org/hanna/> /

 

Great Lakes Theater Festival's Hanna Theatre Project

Delivers Significant Benefits to Northeast Ohio Residents 
Cleveland-based collaboration positively impacts the redevelopment of
downtown Cleveland, 

the region's economy and the cultural legacy of Northeast Ohio.

 

CLEVELAND, OHIO - January 18, 2008 - Great Lakes Theater Festival's
Re-Imagine a Classic campaign to transform the historic Hanna Theatre at
Playhouse Square into a new permanent new theater home for the classics
in Cleveland will deliver significant benefits to Northeast Ohio and its
residents.  The recently announced $19.2M campaign is the fruit of a
visionary partnership between Great Lakes Theater Festival (GLTF) and
Playhouse Square.  The first resident company of Playhouse Square, Great
Lakes Theater Festival has called the Theater District home since 1982.
Great Lakes Theater Festival plans to complete the project in time for
the opening of its 47th season in September 2008.

 

"The Hanna Theatre project is exciting for Great Lakes Theater Festival,
for the Theater District in downtown Cleveland and for our region
because it benefits all of us," said Charles Fee, Great Lakes Theater
Festival Producing Artistic Director.  "We [GLTF] embarked on an amazing
journey when we moved from our home at Lakewood High School to Playhouse
Square in downtown Cleveland.  Two and a half decades later, we remain
more committed than ever to the city of Cleveland and its residents.
Our selection of downtown's Hanna Theatre as a future home for the
classics is proof of that dedication.   For us, this project is more
than creating an innovative theater space.  It is an affirmation of our
belief in the power of partnership, our determination to make this
community a better place to live for current and future generations and
our commitment to ensuring the legacy of the classics in Cleveland."

 

Art Falco, President and Chief Executive Officer of Playhouse Square,
lauded Great Lakes Theater Festival's efforts.  "Twenty-five years ago,
Great Lakes Theater Festival came aboard as the first resident partner
of Playhouse Square.  Today, the Festival is leading the effort as a
genuine partner to transform the Hanna into a truly unique and
innovative performance space that will set a new national standard for
audience experience, engagement and comfort.  The new Hanna Theatre will
enhance the vitality of the Theater District."

 

Community and corporate support for the project has been robust.  "This
project is an important piece of the fabric of downtown," lauded David
Goldberg, Chairman of the Downtown Cleveland Alliance.  "The Hanna
renovation is a critical asset to make downtown a terrific place to work
and live."  Timothy K. Pistell, Executive Vice President and Chief
Financial Officer of Parker Hannifin Corporation and chair of Great
Lakes Theater Festival's Re-imagine a Classic campaign, echoed
Goldberg's sentiments.  "We at Parker Hannifin believe the Festival's
endeavor will be an important contributor to the redevelopment and
vitality of downtown Cleveland and our region as a whole."

 

The project is good for Cleveland and Northeast Ohio's residents,
students and economy.  
A Re-Imagined Hanna Theatre will:



*	
	Provide $88 million dollars worth of positive economic impact to
the city of Cleveland over the next ten years, ensuring one of the
highest rates of return on investment possible for the citizens of
Northeast Ohio.
	
*	
	Contribute to the growing momentum of recent redevelopment
initiatives, such as the Euclid Corridor Project and the Idea Center,
which continue to drive downtown Cleveland's renaissance.
	
*	
	Infuse the south side of Euclid Avenue with greatly increased
economic and pedestrian activity to stimulate retail and restaurant
development in downtown Cleveland.
	
*	
	Transform the way that Cleveland area students experience the
arts in a unique new space that encourages community, removes barriers
and inspires creativity, planting the seeds for intellectually curious
and culturally aware citizens that participate as adults in the cultural
wealth of our community.
	
*	
	Provide a dynamic attraction and amenity for downtown
Cleveland's burgeoning residential population which has doubled over the
past 5 years.
	
*	
	Attract more visitors to Cleveland's Theater District, which
currently attracts over 1 million guests and generates $43 million
dollars annually.

 The project is good for Playhouse Square and the cultural legacy of our
community.

A Re-Imagined Hanna Theatre will:

 

*         Enhance the Theater District with a state-of-the-art thrust
theater space and advance Playhouse Square's legacy as a visionary
leader in historic theater restoration and community development.  By
introducing pioneering theater technologies into the Hanna Theatre such
as the "Parker Hannifin Stage," a fully-flexible, multi-use, hydraulic
thrust stage, and a revolutionary, mechanized, independent fly loft
system, an engineering "first" designed by architecture firm Westlake
Reed Leskosky, the Hanna Theatre promises to be one of the most
innovative theater renovations in the country.  



*         Offer regional performing arts groups and Playhouse Square a
flexible space that is the appropriate size and design for more intimate
productions.



*         Enable Playhouse Square to satisfy intense programming demands
on the Ohio Theatre and, as a result, offer a wider range of performance
events to the citizens of Northeast Ohio - events that historically
haven't visited Cleveland due to the Ohio Theatre's calendar
limitations.  Gina Vernaci, Playhouse Square Vice President of
Theatricals, stated "The Ohio Theatre will continue to support our
significant educational programs, smaller concert events and address the
needs of our other resident companies."



*         Afford Playhouse Square the opportunity to improve outmoded
systems within the Hanna Theatre - addressing safety and efficiency
concerns, while simultaneously incorporating green, or "environmentally
sensible," design elements into the building.

 

 

The project is good for Great Lakes Theater Festival.
The project will enable Great Lakes Theater Festival to: 

*	
	Present classic theater productions in an ideal setting of 550
seats with improved sightlines and a flexible thrust stage specifically
designed for the intimacy and electricity of live theater. 
	
*	
	Create a recognizable identity that will help develop new
audiences by branding the experience to reinforce GLTF as a hometown
company and gain lobby and street presence with permanent signage and a
marquee. 
	
*	
	Control the theater calendar and select an optimal performance
schedule allowing ultimate flexibility and opportunities to extend the
runs of popular shows. 
	
*	
	Expand its renowned education program. Longer production runs of
popular shows and expanded performance calendars afford the region's
teachers and students additional scheduling and field trip
opportunities. The expansion of GLTF's performance calendar will enable
it to better serve its current school-based audiences while cultivating
relationships with new ones. 

#          #          # 

 

Great Lakes Theater Festival

The mission of Great Lakes Theater Festival is to bring the pleasure,
power and relevance of classic theater to the widest possible audience
in northern Ohio. 

Since the company's inception in 1962, programming has been rooted in
Shakespeare, but the Festival's commitment to great plays spans the
breadth of all cultures, forms of theater and time periods including the
20th century, and provides for the occasional mounting of new works that
compliment the classical repertoire. 

Classic theater holds the capacity to illuminate truth and enduring
values, celebrate and challenge human nature and actions, revel in
eloquent language, preserve the traditions of diverse cultures and
generate communal spirit. On its mainstage and through its education
program, the Festival seeks to create visceral, immediate experiences
for participants, asserting theater's historic role as a vehicle for
advancing the common good, and helping people make the most joyful and
meaningful connections between classic plays and their own lives. This
Cleveland theater company wishes to share such vibrant experiences with
people across all age groups, creeds, racial and ethnic groups and
socioeconomic backgrounds. 

The Festival is dedicated to the highest standards in all areas of its
operation, including theater production, education and outreach,
management and governance, and to creative problem solving and
innovation.


Playhouse Square
Playhouse Square is a not-for-profit performing arts center whose
mission is presenting and producing a wide variety of quality performing
arts, advancing arts education and creating a theater district that is a
superior location for entertainment, business and housing, thereby
strengthening the economic vitality of the region.


Westlake Reed Leskosky 
Westlake Reed Leskosky (WRL) provides comprehensive fully integrated
design and management services including architecture, engineering,
interior architecture and design, lighting and theatre technology,
sustainable design utilizing the LEED building rating system, master
planning and programming. The firm specializes in innovative designs for
Workplace Environments, Healthcare, Performing Arts, Museums,
Interpretive Centers and other cultural venues, as well as Historic
Preservation and Adaptive Reuse. 

Westlake Reed Leskosky has offices in Phoenix, Cleveland, Washington DC,
and Los Angeles. A limited liability company with four members: Paul E.
Westlake, Jr., Ronald A. Reed, Vince Leskosky and Philip LiBassi. In
continuous practice since 1905, the firm has been recognized for design
with more than 100 significant awards and publications. Each year, WRL's
120 professional, technical and support staff implement approximately
$500,000,000 in construction value and design. The firm's integrated
design process is supported with specialized services such as
engineering, environmental design, historic tax credits, theatre and
lighting design, audio visual, acoustics, and interior design.

#          #          #

Media Contact
Todd S. Krispinsky, 

Marketing and Public Relations Director

Great Lakes Theater Festival
1501 Euclid Avenue, Suite 300
(216) 241-5490 x317
(216) 241-6315 Fax
www.greatlakestheater.org <http://www.greatlakestheater.org/> 
 
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