[NEohioPAL] Great Lakes Theater Festival Finishes Forty-Sixth Season With Formidable Finale

[Todd Krispinsky]

For Immediate Release
March 28, 2008 



Forty-Sixth Season Ends Well 
With Formidable Festival Finale
Great Lakes Theater Festival presents
The Crucible and All's Well That Ends Well in rotating repertory 
and bids a fond farewell to the Ohio Theatre as its permanent home.


            CLEVELAND, OH - Great Lakes Theater Festival (GLTF) will
conclude its 46th season with a Spring Repertory that features Arthur
Miller's timeless American drama, The Crucible (Crucible), and William
Shakespeare's romantic adventure, All's Well That Ends Well (Well).  The
productions will be performed in rotating repertory at the Ohio Theatre,
Playhouse Square, March 28 - April 27, 2008. The Spring Repertory
features a single company of actors performing two alternating plays on
the same stage over five weeks.  Drew Barr will direct The Crucible and,
GLTF's Producing Artistic Director, Charles Fee will direct All's Well
That Ends Well.  The pair of productions will mark the Festival's final
regular season offerings in its twenty-five year home at the Ohio
Theatre before the company moves to its new permanent home at the Hanna
Theatre, Playhouse Square in the fall of 2008.



The sponsor of Great Lakes Theater Festival's 2008 Spring Repertory is
National City.  Production support for The Crucible was provided by The
Kulas Foundation, The Reinberger Foundation and the Great Lakes Theater
Festival Business Alliance.  GLTF's 2007-08 season is presented with
additional generous support from The Cleveland Foundation, Cuyahoga Arts
and Culture, the Ohio Arts Council and SCK.  Media sponsors for the
season are Cleveland Free Times, Cleveland Magazine, The Plain Dealer,
WCLV 104.9 FM, WCPN 90.3 FM ideastream and WKSU 89.7 FM.



"The Crucible and All's Well That Ends Well are two extraordinary
classics that are very rarely produced...in part because of their epic
scale," said Charles Fee, GLTF's Producing Artistic Director.  "It takes
a seasoned artistic company to successfully meet the challenges that
these plays present...and we are up to the challenge.  It's a massive
but enormously satisfying endeavor for our artists...and I think it will
be a rich and immensely rewarding experience for our audience.  We
simply can't wait to bring these amazing plays to life as only Great
Lakes Theater Festival can in Cleveland."



The 2008 Spring Repertory opens with Great Lakes Theater Festival's
first production of Arthur Miller's timeless American drama, The
Crucible.    Perched on the edge of the New World in 1692, Salem,
Massachusetts, is home to a religious village steadfast in their sense
of sanctity. The devil is suddenly loosed in this quiet enclave when a
gang of teenage girls are caught dancing and conjuring love charms in
the woods under the guise of night.  Wicked accusations and whispers of
adultery ignite a firestorm of mass hysteria, personal spite and a
relentless witch hunt that shakes the very foundation of the community.
A timeless tale of truth on trial, Arthur Miller's renowned drama is a
riveting American classic.



            William Shakespeare's romantic adventure All's Well That
Ends Well completes the Festival's Spring Repertory pairing.  What's a
girl to do when the man she wants to marry is unwilling to tie the
knot...even when the King commands it?  The wise and witty Helena finds
herself in precisely that predicament when the haughty courtier Bertram
refuses to marry any woman below his station. His resolute vow not to
accept her as his wife until she fulfills two seemingly impossible
conditions is put to the ultimate test in a clash of wills that is sure
to delight. After all, anything is possible in this rarely produced
romantic treat that's packed with a plethora of comic surprises and
passionate poetry.



            GLTF's 2008 Spring Repertory directing corps is comprised of
a pair of Festival favorites.  Drew Barr will return for the second time
this season, his sixth consecutive year with GLTF, to stage The Crucible
after celebrated GLTF productions of Arsenic and Old Lace (2007), Love's
Labour's Lost (2006), You Can't Take It With You (2005), The Taming of
the Shrew (2004) and Tartuffe (2003).  Barr has directed in all six
years of Fee's tenure.  Charles Fee, GLTF's Producing Artistic Director,
will complete the Festival's Spring Repertory directing duo when he
helms William Shakespeare's, All' Well That Ends Well.  Fee's acclaimed
productions of Hay Fever (2007), The Importance of Being Earnest (2005),
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) (2004), Hamlet
(2003), Arms and the Man(2002) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (2002)
which was nominated for a Northern Ohio Live Award of Achievement) have
led to an artistic and financial renaissance for Great Lakes Theater
Festival.



Opening Night performances of The Crucible (March 29th) and All's Well
That Ends Well (April 12th) have been scheduled for Saturday evenings
with preview performances of both productions scheduled for the
preceding 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's Spring Repertory will continue to offer sign-interpreted and
audio-described performances as well as the popular Director's Night and
Playnotes pre-show discussion series.  (Consult enclosed performance
calendars for complete date and time information.)



Single tickets for Great Lakes Theater Festival productions range in
price from $22-$56 (Student tickets $13 - any performance / any seat)
and are available by calling (216) 241-6000, by ordering online
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ckets/>  at www.greatlakestheater.org
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or by visiting the Playhouse Square Ticket Office. Groups of ten or more
receive discounts and should call (216) 664-6050 x1 to make
reservations. 



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, GLTF's
celebrates its 25th season at the Ohio Theatre this year.

 

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Media Contact:

Todd Krispinsky

Marketing and Public Relations Director

(216) 241-5490 x317

tkrispinsky at greatlakestheater.org