[NEohioPAL] GLTF Concludes Season With "Bat Boy: The Musical" & "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

[Todd Krispinsky]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 2, 2010 

Cleveland's Classic Theater Company
Concludes 48th Season with an Outrageous 
Off-Broadway Musical and a Magical Masterpiece

BAT BOY: THE MUSICAL and A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM headline
Great Lakes Theater Festival's scintillating Spring Repertory.

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

CLEVELAND, OH (March 2, 2010) - Great Lakes Theater Festival (GLTF) will
conclude its 2009-10 season in the company's revolutionary home at the
Hanna Theatre, PlayhouseSquare, with a Spring Repertory that features
Keythe Farley, Brian Flemming and Laurence O'Keefe's outrageous
Off-Broadway Musical of the Year, Bat Boy: The Musical and William
Shakespeare's magical masterpiece, A Midsummer Night's Dream. The
productions will be performed in rotating repertory April 8 - May 16,
2010. The Spring 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 Bat Boy: The
Musical and GLTF's Producing Artistic Director Charles Fee will direct A
Midsummer Night's Dream.

Great Lakes Theater Festival's 2010 Spring Repertory is sponsored by PNC
with support from the Festival's Business Alliance. GLTF's second season
at the Hanna Theatre is presented with 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. Media sponsors for the Festival's 48th season
are Cleveland Scene, The Plain Dealer, WCLV 104.9 FM, WCPN 90.3 FM
ideastream, WKSU 89.7 FM and The Weekly World News.

"We are thrilled to be back on the Hanna Theatre's revolutionary Parker
Hannifin Stage where the finale of our second season in our amazing home
promises to be extraordinary," said GLTF Producing Artistic Director
Charles Fee. "Our Spring Repertory productions and our Hanna Theatre
performance space work together to provide an intimate theatrical
experience for audiences that is unlike any other in the region."

GLTF's Spring Repertory commences with Keythe Farley, Brian Flemming and
Laurence O'Keefe's outrageous Off-Broadway musical, Bat Boy: The
Musical. Ripped from the hilarious headlines of the supermarket tabloid
The Weekly World News, Bat Boy is a classic love story with serious
bite. This delightfully delicious twist on the modern day musical comedy
tells the amazing story of a strange boy with pointy ears, his struggle
to find a place in a world that shuns him, and the love that creates
both miracles and madness. Armed with an exuberant score that integrates
the best of rock, Broadway, gospel, and country music, this Off-Broadway
Musical of the Year award-winner is a witty comical confection that
keeps both tongue and fang firmly in cheek.

William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream completes the Festival's
Spring Repertory pairing. An exhilarating night of midsummer madness,
this magical comedy brims with mistaken identity, mismatched lovers and
mischief-making fairies. Boldly inspired by the marvelously mod
influences of a rock 'n' roll infused 1960s London, this production of
Shakespeare's comic masterpiece ensnares two pairs of lovers and a
rustic troupe of would-be actors in a magical-mystery tour de force. A
Midsummer Night's Dream is a joyful celebration of love lost,
transformed and restored that casts a powerfully pleasing spell on
audiences of all ages.

GLTF's 2010 Spring Repertory directing corps is comprised of familiar
Festival faces. Victoria Bussert will stage Bat Boy: The Musical.
Bussert celebrates her 23rd year at Great Lakes Theater Festival this
season. Her work was last seen by Festival audiences this past fall when
she directed The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Over the past two decades, she
has directed a host of memorable productions including Into the Woods, 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.
Charles Fee, GLTF's Producing Artistic Director, will complete the
Festival's Spring Repertory directing duo when he helms William
Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Fee's acclaimed productions of
Twelfth Night (2009), The Comedy of Errors (2009), Macbeth (2008), Hay
Fever (2007), The Importance of Being Earnest (2005), The Complete Works
of William Shakespeare (Abridged) (2004), and Hamlet (2003) have led to
an artistic and financial renaissance for Great Lakes Theater Festival. 

Great Lakes Theater Festival will maintain its new pricing structure
this spring - 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 this spring. 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 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: Apr. 29 & May 6, 13) 
*	"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: Apr. 16, 30
& May 7, 14) 
*	"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:
Apr. 17 & May 1, 8, 15) 
*	"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 Spring Repertory, but on "Ice
Cream Social Sundays," the treat is half price. (Offered: Apr. 18, 25 &
May 2, 9, 16)

Opening Night performances of Bat Boy: The Musical (April 10th) and A
Midsummer Night's Dream (April 24th) have been scheduled for Saturday
evenings with preview performances of both productions scheduled for the
preceding Thursday and Friday nights. The Friday previews of Bat Boy:
The Musical (April 9th) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (April 23rd) 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 Spring Repertory will continue to offer sign-interpreted and
audio-described performances as well as the popular Playnotes pre-show
discussion series. (Click here for a complete list of performance
calendar http://www.greatlakestheater.org/calendar/)

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 at http://www.greatlakestheater.org/tickets/default.asp 
<blocked::blocked::outbind://209/www.greatlakestheater.org>  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.)

Great Lakes Theater Festival has brought the pleasure, power and
relevance of classic theater to the widest possible audience since 1962.
The first resident company of PlayhouseSquare, GLTF celebrates its 28th
year in downtown Cleveland this season. Festival programming reaches
85,000 adults and students annually.

# # #

 
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/> 

Stay connected to Great Lakes Theater Festival...
   Become a fan of the Festival on Facebook.  Click here.
<http://www.facebook.com/gltfcleveland> 
   Follow us on Twitter.  Click here. <http://twitter.com/GLTFCleveland>

 
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