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<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial><STRONG>FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE</STRONG><BR>January 27, 2010<BR><BR><STRONG><FONT size=5>TOM HANKS and
RITA WILSON Give Significant Gift to<BR>Great Lakes Theater Festival Propelling
Fundraising<BR>Campaign to Successful
Conclusion</FONT></STRONG><BR><STRONG><EM>Robust community support enabled GLTF
to meet the terms of The Kresge Foundation’s <BR>Challenge Grant garnering a $1M
gift from the foundation to complete <BR>the Festival’s fundraising
campaign.</EM></STRONG><BR><BR><STRONG>CLEVELAND, OHIO (January 27,
2010)</STRONG> - Great Lakes Theater Festival (GLTF) alumnus, and two-time Oscar
award-winner, <STRONG>Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson made a significant gift
to the Festival</STRONG> over the holidays <STRONG>enabling the company to
successfully achieve its</STRONG> <STRONG><EM>Re-Imagine a Classic
Campaign</EM></STRONG> <STRONG>fundraising goal</STRONG>. Hanks has served
as the Honorary Chair of the fundraising efforts to ‘re-imagine’ the Hanna
Theatre as the new home for the Festival and to establish an endowment for the
classic theater company since 2008. Although the amount of the gift is
confidential, <STRONG>the donation will be used to create a permanent endowment
to support Festival artists called <EM>The Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson Fund for
Artists</EM>.</STRONG><BR><BR>With Hanks’ and Wilson’s gift, GLTF successfully
raised $18,293,926, meeting the terms of its Kresge Foundation Challenge
Grant. Pending a review of a final report, <STRONG>The Kresge Foundation
will award the Festival a $1M gift to complete its fundraising
effort</STRONG>. To date, over 700 donors have made gifts to the campaign
which was launched in the fall of 2007.<BR><BR><STRONG>Tom Hanks encouraged
Northeast Ohioans to join him in supporting the Festival. “Now it's your
turn to give a gift to this gem of a theater by introducing a new theater-goer
to the joy of the Great Lakes Theater Festival at the Hanna:</STRONG> gift some
tickets to a college student, bring a grandchild, organize a birthday trip,”
urged Hanks in a recent statement. “Buy season tickets here in your own
backyard to experience as great a moment in the theater as I've had anywhere in
the world.”<BR><BR>“We are truly grateful to our good friends Tom Hanks and Rita
Wilson for their immense generosity in helping bring our campaign to its
successful completion,” said <STRONG>Charles Fee, GLTF’s Producing Artistic
Director</STRONG>. “For sharing his valuable time with us, for continually
demonstrating his commitment to the classics in Cleveland, and for his grand
efforts to help his home theater grow…all of us at the Festival and in Northeast
Ohio say thank you Tom!” Fee continued, “I know Tom and Rita are standing
with all of us at the Festival -- from our remarkable Board of Trustees, our
visionary staff and artists, our partners at PlayhouseSquare—to give a well
deserved ovation to the generous supporters across our region who have helped
write this extraordinarily successful chapter in Great Lakes Theater Festival’s
history.”<BR><BR><STRONG>Tim Pistell, GLTF’s campaign chair </STRONG>and
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Cleveland-based Parker
Hannifin Corporation echoed Fee’s sentiments. “What a tremendous
achievement to reach our goal and secure The Kresge Foundation’s Challenge
grant. The fact that we accomplished this successful outcome in an economic
downturn exemplifies the commitment and hard work of GLTF's staff, benefactors
and audience. This is a big win for Great Lakes Theater Festival,
PlayhouseSquare, the performing arts and the residents of Northeast Ohio.
If you haven't yet experienced the re-imagined Hanna Theatre, we invite you to
stop by for a visit to see the most exciting new performance space in
Ohio.”<BR><BR>Great Lakes Theater Festival opened its permanent, new home at the
Hanna Theatre, PlayhouseSquare (designed by Cleveland-based architectural firm
<STRONG>Westlake Reed Leskosky</STRONG>) on September 20, 2008. The
company will conclude its second full season in the space this
spring.<BR><BR>#
#
#<BR><BR><STRONG>Media Contact</STRONG><BR>Todd Krispinsky<BR>Marketing and
Public Relations Director<BR>Great Lakes Theater Festival<BR>1501 Euclid Avenue,
Suite 300<BR>Cleveland, Ohio 44115<BR>(216) 241-5490 x317 / (216) 241-6315
Fax<BR><A
href="http://www.greatlakestheater.org/">www.greatlakestheater.org</A></FONT><FONT
face=Arial><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><STRONG><FONT size=3>Great Lakes Theater
Festival</FONT></STRONG><BR>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.<BR><BR>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.<BR><BR>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.<BR><BR>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.<BR><BR><BR><STRONG><FONT
size=3>The Kresge Foundation</FONT></STRONG><BR>The Kresge Foundation is a $2.8
billion private, national foundation that seeks to influence the quality of life
for future generations through its support of nonprofit organizations in six
fields of interest: health, the environment, community development, arts and
culture, education and human services. The foundation is headquartered in
metropolitan Detroit, in the suburb community of Troy, Michigan. In 2008,
The Kresge Foundation awarded 342 grants totaling $181 million.<BR><BR>Created
by the personal gifts of Sebastian S. Kresge, The Kresge Foundation supports
communities by building the capacity of non-profit organizations. The
foundation’s primary grantmaking tool is its Challenge Grant Program which is
designed to assist nonprofit organizations as they work to strengthen leadership
and financial support through challenge grants for capital
projects.<BR><BR><BR><STRONG><FONT
size=3>PlayhouseSquare</FONT></STRONG><BR>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.<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR></FONT></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>