[NEohioPAL] GLTF's Raucous Fall Rep Pairs Solve-It-Yourself Musical With Gender-Bending Comedy

[Todd Krispinsky]

For Immediate Release
August 24, 2009

Great Lakes Theater Festival's Raucous
Fall Repertory Pairs A Solve-It-Yourself Musical
With A Gender-Bending Comedy

GLTF opens season with Rupert Holmes' Tony Award-winning
The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Shakespeare's enchanting Twelfth Night.

25% of the seats at every performance are priced at $25 or less.


CLEVELAND, OH (August 24, 2009) - Great Lakes Theater Festival (GLTF)
will commence its 2009-10 season in the company's revolutionary new home
at the Hanna Theatre, PlayhouseSquare, with a Fall Repertory that
features Rupert Holmes' Tony Award-winning, audience-interactive
musical, The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Drood), and William Shakespeare's
enchanting comedy, Twelfth Night. The productions will be performed in
rotating repertory September 24 - November 1, 2009.  The Fall Repertory
features GLTF's resident artistic company of actors performing two
alternating plays on the same stage over six weeks.  Veteran Festival
artist Victoria Bussert will direct The Mystery of Edwin Drood and
GLTF's Producing Artistic Director Charles Fee will direct Twelfth
Night.

Great Lakes Theater Festival's second season at the Hanna Theatre is
presented with generous support from The Cleveland Foundation and the
Ohio Arts Council.  In addition, Great Lakes Theater Festival is
generously funded by the citizens of Cuyahoga County through Cuyahoga
Arts and Culture.  The production sponsor for Twelfth Night is The
Reinberger Foundation.  Media sponsors for the Festival's 48th season
are Cleveland Scene, The Plain Dealer, WCLV 104.9 FM, WCPN 90.3 FM
ideastream and WKSU 89.7 FM.

"We are thrilled to be back on the Hanna Theatre's revolutionary Parker
Hannifin Stage where our second season in our extraordinary home
promises to be every bit as rewarding as our first," said GLTF Producing
Artistic Director Charles Fee.  "Our Fall Repertory productions and our
Hanna Theatre performance space work together to provide a theatrical
experience unlike any other in the region.  With our exuberant
season-opener The Mystery of Edwin Drood, we're able to highlight the
exceptional storytelling ability of our artists - aided immensely by the
Hanna's intimate setting.  With Drood we'll even invite our audiences to
participate first-hand in the event by empowering them to vote on and
select the musical's ending.  And our production of Twelfth Night offers
patrons the extraordinary opportunity to experience Shakespeare's
classic as it was originally intended - on a thrust stage that breaks
the limitations of the proscenium and brings all of the energy of the
performance out into the house - a venue that is technologically
unparalleled in the region."

GLTF's Fall Repertory commences with Rupert Holmes' audience
interactive, Tony Award-winning musical, The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
Who's responsible for the mysterious disappearance of Edwin Drood?  The
audience decides!  Join the Music Hall Royale, a hilariously loony
Victorian musical troupe, as they present their outrageous rendition of
Charles Dickens' final unfinished novel.  When the dashing Edwin Drood
disappears during one stormy Christmas Eve, murder is alleged and
everyone is a suspect.  The fate of the characters hangs in the balance
until an audience vote determines the guilty party and the ending!  A
winner of five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, The Mystery of Edwin
Drood is a joyful, whodunit romp that will keep audiences on the edge of
their seat.  (The original Broadway production of The Mystery of Edwin
Drood was produced by the New York Shakespeare Festival, Joseph Papp,
Producer.)

William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night completes the Festival's
season-opening Fall Repertory.  After a shipwreck on an unfriendly shore
and the loss of her twin brother Sebastian, young Viola must pose as a
man to survive.  Shakespeare's sophisticated comedy of gender-bending
mistaken identity is full of passionate longing and bittersweet romance.
Twelfth Night is an irresistible and poignant comedy that is one of the
Bard's most luminous plays.

GLTF's 2009 Fall Repertory directing corps is comprised of familiar
Festival faces.  Charles Fee, GLTF's Producing Artistic Director, will
stage William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.  Fee's acclaimed productions
of The Comedy of Errors (2009), Macbeth (2008), Hay Fever (2007), The
Importance of Being Earnest (2005), The Complete Works of William
Shakespeare (Abridged) (2004), Hamlet (2003), and A Midsummer Night's
Dream (2003) have led to an artistic and financial renaissance for Great
Lakes Theater Festival.  Victoria Bussert will complete the Festival's
Fall Repertory directing duo when she helms Rupert Holmes' The Mystery
of Edwin Drood.  A Festival veteran, Bussert will celebrate her 23rd
year at Great Lakes Theater Festival this season.  Her work was last
seen by Festival audiences in 2008 when she directed Into the Woods and
staged A Christmas Carol.  Over the past two decades, she has directed a
host of memorable productions including A Funny Thing Happened on the
Way to the Forum, Private Lives, Anything Goes, Gypsy, A Little Night
Music, She Loves Me, The Most Happy Fella, Rough Crossing, Blithe
Spirit, La Ronde, The School For Wives, Noel and Gertie, The Threepenny
Opera, and Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill.

Great Lakes Theater Festival will offer a new pricing structure this
fall designed to increase accessibility for its audiences.  As part of
the program, 25% of the seats at every GLTF Hanna Theatre performance
are priced at $25 or less.  Furthermore, adult tickets for every
performance always begin at $15 and all student tickets are $11 - making
the Great Lakes Theater Festival experience one of the most affordable
entertainment options in the region.  "It is absolutely vital to the
mission and long-term health of our organization that we create
affordable opportunities for every person in our region to experience
live theater," said GLTF Producing Artistic Director Charles Fee.

Great Lakes Theater Festival's award-winning home at the Hanna Theatre
features a visionary "Great Room" inspired design concept that
integrates the artist and audience experience into a single unified
environment.  Hanna patrons select from a variety of seating
opportunities including traditional theater seats, club chairs,
lounge/bar seats, banquette couches and private box seating.  Boasting a
fully flexible hydraulic thrust stage, a complete array of
state-of-the-art theatrical systems and an intimate 550-seat house
arranged in a thrust configuration, the Hanna is one of the most
innovative theaters in the country.
 
Great Lakes Theater Festival will continue to afford patrons
extraordinary access to the artistic process in 2009-10.  The Hanna
always opens its doors ninety minutes before each performance allowing
patrons to observe the complete pre-show preparation process of GLTF's
actors and technical staff.  Elements traditionally hidden from
audiences such as stage combat rehearsals, dance calls, prop/scenic
pre-sets, technical cue rehearsals and actor warm-ups will be conducted
in full view of patrons, offering GLTF audiences an amazing glimpse into
the theatrical process.

The Festival will also continue its unique series of social enhancement
programming this season at the Hanna.  The programming, organized by day
of week, is designed to augment the patron experience and highlight the
Hanna's new amenities.

*       "Salon Thursdays" will feature an engaging pre-show
discussion/presentation beginning one hour before curtain with a
Festival artist or local scholar.  (Offered:  Oct. 15, 22, 29)

*       "Happy Hour Fridays" afford patrons the ability to avoid the
commute home from work and back to the theater in time for the show.  On
"Happy Hour Fridays," audience members are invited to meet at the
Hanna's bar and lounge immediately after work to enjoy a fine assortment
of savory hors d' oeuvres and a complete range of beverages for sale
beginning ninety minutes before every performance.  (Offered:  Oct. 2,
16, 23, 30)

*       "Night Cap Night Saturdays" are designed to encourage audience
members to stay after the performance and mingle with friends and family
in the Hanna's bar and lounge.  The Hanna's bar and lounge is open until
ninety minutes after the performance on "Night Cap Saturdays.  (Offered:
Oct. 3, 17, 24, 31)
        
*       "Ice Cream Social Sundays" offer patrons the opportunity to
enjoy a London theatre tradition brought state-side with family and
friends.  Audience members are invited to purchase a cool personal ice
cream treat before the show or at intermission.  Ice cream will be
offered at every performance in GLTF's Fall Repertory, but on "Ice Cream
Social Sundays," the treat is half price.  (Offered:  Oct. 4, 11, 18, 25
& Nov. 1)

Opening Night performances of The Mystery of Edwin Drood (September
26th) and Twelfth Night (October 10th) have been scheduled for Saturday
evenings with preview performances of both productions scheduled for the
preceding Thursday and Friday nights. The Friday previews of Drood
(September 25th) and Twelfth Night (October 9th) have been designated as
"Press Previews" - public performances that will also accommodate
theater critics and other media representatives.  These nights also
feature a half-hour pre-show discussion with the director beginning at
6:30 p.m.  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
Fall Repertory will continue to offer sign-interpreted and
audio-described performances as well as the popular Playnotes pre-show
discussion series.  (Visit www.greatlakestheater.org/calendar/
<blocked::blocked::blocked::http://www.greatlakestheater.org/calendar/>
for complete performance calendars.

Single performance tickets for Great Lakes Theater Festival productions
range in price from $15-$69 (Student tickets are $11 - any performance /
any seat) and are available by calling (216) 241-6000, by ordering
online www.greatlakestheater.org/tickets/
<http://www.greatlakestheater.org/tickets/>  or by visiting the
PlayhouseSquare Ticket Office.  Groups of ten or more receive discounts
of up to 38% by calling the Great Lakes Theater Festival Group Sales
Department at (216) 241-5490 x302.  (Additional handling fees may apply
and may vary depending on point of purchase.)

Since 1962, Great Lakes Theater Festival, through its main stage
productions and its education programs, has brought the pleasure, power
and relevance of classic theater to the widest possible audience. The
first resident company of PlayhouseSquare, Festival programming reaches
85,000 adults and students annually. 

#          #          #

Media Contact:
Todd Krispinsky
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 <http://www.greatlakestheater.org> 

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