[NEohioPAL] Tom Hanks Will Serve As Honorary Chair of GLTF's Re-Imagine A Classic Campaign

[Todd Krispinsky]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
August 19, 2008


Tom Hanks Will Serve As Honorary Chair Of 
Great Lakes Theater Festival's 
Re-Imagine a Classic Campaign
 

CLEVELAND, OHIO - August 19, 2008 - Great Lakes Theater Festival (GLTF)
alum, and two-time Oscar award-winner, Tom Hanks pledged his support to
the Festival's campaign to 're-imagine' PlayhouseSquare's historic Hanna
Theatre as a new permanent home, by agreeing to serve as its Honorary
Chair.  As Honorary Chair, Hanks will lend his name, face and voice to
GLTF's fundraising efforts to secure the final $3.6M of the campaign's
$19.2M goal.


"Great Lakes Theater Festival gave me much more than a start as an
actor. In my three seasons at Cleveland's classical repertory company I
learned the discipline demanded by the profession and the joy of being
part of this one-of-a-kind creative art," said Tom Hanks in a recent
statement regarding the project.  "The new home for GLTF at the Hanna
Theatre is going to be the same kind of natural resource for players and
audiences alike and will be a must-see destination for those around the
world who love Shakespeare and the theater."


Hanks' recent commitment to the project is extraordinarily meaningful
according to GLTF's Producing Artistic Director, Charles Fee. "One of
the most exciting things about Tom Hanks joining our team is the fact
that he's really taking an active role," said Fee.  "This is much more
than a celebrity endorsement.  This is a colleague committed to helping
his home theater grow.  His support of Great Lakes Theater Festival has
never diminished and his interest in Cleveland as a city has continued
to flourish.  Beyond that it's just incredibly cool!"


A member of Great Lakes Theater Festival's (formerly Great Lakes
Shakespeare Festival) acting company from 1977-1979, Tom Hanks performed
in nine productions over three summers.   Most notably, Hanks garnered a
Cleveland Critic's Circle Award in 1978 for his portrayal of Proteus in
the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival production of William Shakespeare's
The Two Gentleman of Verona.  In addition, Hanks earned membership in
the Actors' Equity Association, the professional actors' union, while
working for the Festival in 1977.  Tom returned to Cleveland in 1990 and
1993 to star in Coming Home and Now Playing Center, two original
performance events at the Ohio Theatre to benefit GLTF.


"The campaign to re-imagine the Hanna Theatre as a new permanent home
for Great Lakes Theater Festival is really a win-win situation for
everyone involved - Great Lakes Theater Festival, PlayhouseSquare and,
most importantly, the citizenry of our region," said Timothy K. Pistell,
GLTF's campaign chair and Executive Vice President and Chief Financial
Officer of Cleveland-based Parker Hannifin Corporation.  "We are
grateful to Tom for his willingness to contribute to the success of this
exciting project."


Great Lakes Theater Festival plans to complete Hanna Theatre
construction in time for the opening of its 47th season in September
2008, while its fundraising campaign will continue through June 30,
2009.


Media Contact
Todd S. Krispinsky 
Marketing and Public Relations Director
(216) 241-5490 x317
tkrispinsky at greatlakestheater.org
<BLOCKED::mailto:tkrispinsky at greatlakestheater.org> 

 

 


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.


PlayhouseSquare
PlayhouseSquare 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.


 

 

Tom Hanks' Great Lakes Theater (Shakespeare) Festival Performance
History

 

Year     Play                                                      Role
Director
1977     Hamlet
Reynaldo                                   Vincent Dowling
1977     The Taming of the Shrew                        Grumio
Daniel Sullivan
1978     Polly
Hacker                                      Vincent Dowling
1978     The Two Gentlemen of Verona                Proteus*
Daniel Sullivan
1978     The Wild Oats                                       Muz
Daniel Sullivan
1978     King John                                              Robert
Faulconbridge (son)         Vincent Dowling.
1979     Twelfth Night                                         Fabian
Daniel Sullivan
1979     Juno and the Paycock                            Jerry Devine
Vincent Dowling
1979     Do Me a Favorite                                    Harold
Vincent Dowling
1991     Coming Home (Benefit Performance) 
1993     Now Playing Center (Benefit Performance)
 

* Won Cleveland Critics Circle Award for Best Actor.

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