[NEohioPAL] Great Lakes Theater Festival Presents "Tom Hanks At the Hanna"

[Todd Krispinsky]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 31, 2009

Great Lakes Theater Festival Presents
TOM HANKS AT THE HANNA
An Evening to Support the Re-Imagine a Classic Campaign

CLEVELAND, OHIO (August 31, 2009) - Great Lakes Theater Festival (GLTF)
alumnus, and two-time Oscar award-winner, Tom Hanks will return to
Cleveland for a one night only event, entitled Tom Hanks at the Hanna,
to support GLTF's Re-Imagine a Classic campaign on Monday, October 12,
2009 (6:00 p.m.) at the Hanna Theatre, PlayhouseSquare.  Hanks has
served as the Honorary Chair of the Festival's fundraising efforts to
're-imagine' the Hanna as a new permanent home and to establish an
endowment for the classic theater company since August of 2008. 
 
Tom Hanks at the Hanna will feature a first-person exploration of
non-fiction film entertainment, led by Tom Hanks, utilizing clips from
his movies as well as from other documentaries. The evening will include
an exclusive preview of Tom's newest project, The Pacific, a ten-part
miniseries executive-produced by Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Gary
Goetzman and set in the Pacific theater during WWII, which will premiere
on HBO in 2010.  An audience-interactive question and answer period will
conclude the evening's presentation.

"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.

"One of the most exciting things about Tom Hanks joining our team is the
fact that he's really taking an active role," said Charles Fee, GLTF's
Producing Artistic Director.  "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!"

Tickets for Tom Hanks at the Hanna go on sale to the general public on
Saturday, September 12th at 11:00 a.m. and range from $75-$250.  All
proceeds from the event will assist Great Lakes Theater Festival in
achieving its Kresge Foundation Challenge - enabling the completion of
the Re-Imagine a Classic campaign.

The Premier V.I.P. Presentation and Dinner Package price is $250 ($150
is tax deductible) and includes premier seating for the presentation,
commemorative program, post-presentation dinner with Tom at The Union
Club, complimentary valet parking and a special gift.  To make Premier
V.I.P. Presentation and Dinner Package reservations, contact Alicia
Hansen at (216) 453-4442.

The Presentation Only Ticket price is $75 ($60 is tax deductible) and
includes presentation seating and a commemorative program.  Presentation
Only Tickets may be purchased by phone at (216) 241-6000 or online at
www.greatlakestheater.org/hanks
<blocked::blocked::blocked::http://www.greatlakestheater.org/hanks> . 

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 1991 and
1993 to star in Coming Home and Now Playing Center, two original
performance events to benefit GLTF.

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 PlayhouseSquare, Festival
programming reaches 85,000 adults and students annually.

#              #              #

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



Great Lakes Theater Festival
The mission of Great Lakes Theater Festival, through its main stage
productions and its education programs, is to bring the pleasure, power
and relevance of classic theater to the widest possible audience.

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, and provides
for the occasional mounting of new works that complement 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. From the historic Hanna and Ohio Theatres in
PlayhouseSquare and through community outreach, 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. The Festival wishes to share such
vibrant experiences with people across all age groups, creeds, racial
and ethnic groups and socio-economic backgrounds.

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



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.

 
<http://twitter.com/GLTFCleveland>  
 
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