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<P><FONT size=2 face=Arial><STRONG>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<BR></STRONG><EM>Monday,
February 14, 2011</EM><BR><BR><STRONG><FONT size=5>Cleveland’s Classic Theater
Company<BR></FONT></STRONG></FONT><FONT size=2 face=Arial><STRONG><FONT
size=5>Celebrates 50th Anniversary With<BR>An Expanded 6-Show
Season</FONT></STRONG><BR><BR><STRONG><FONT size=3>The 2011-12 lineup features a
Tony Award-winning musical,<BR>a pair of Shakespeare’s most popular
classics,<BR>Agatha Christie’s murder mystery masterpiece<BR>and a blockbuster
salute to Stephen Sondheim.</FONT></STRONG><BR><BR><STRONG>CLEVELAND, OH –
Charles Fee, Producing Artistic Director of Great Lakes Theater Festival (GLTF),
unveiled an expanded season</STRONG> to commemorate the classic theater
company’s <STRONG>fiftieth anniversary</STRONG>. The new season, which will
include an additional sixth production, is scheduled to run from September 2011
through June 2012 at PlayhouseSquare’s Hanna and Ohio Theatres. “Since our
successful move to the Hanna Theatre in 2008, we began to imagine growing to a
six-play season,” said GLTF Producing Artistic Director, <STRONG>Charles
Fee</STRONG> of the Festival’s expanded offerings. “Our fiftieth anniversary is
the perfect opportunity to celebrate our history and point toward our future
with this exciting development in our
company.” <BR><BR>GLTF
will commence its fiftieth season with the Tony Award-winning musical,
<STRONG><EM>Cabaret </EM></STRONG>presented in rotating repertory with
Shakespeare’s uproarious battle of the sexes, <STRONG><EM>The Taming of the
Shrew</EM></STRONG> (September 23 - October 30, 2011). The Festival’s annual
production of Dickens’ holiday classic, <STRONG><EM>A Christmas
Carol</EM></STRONG> (December 2 - 23, 2011) will bisect the season. In the
spring, GLTF will present Agatha Christie’s murder mystery masterpiece,
<STRONG><EM>The Mousetrap</EM></STRONG> (March 9 - 25, 2012) followed by
Shakespeare’s tragic love story, <STRONG><EM>Romeo and Juliet</EM></STRONG>
(April 13 - 28, 2012). The Festival will crown its season with a landmark,
musical salute to Stephen Sondheim, one of Broadway’s greatest
composer-lyricists, entitled <STRONG><EM>Sondheim on Sondheim</EM></STRONG> (May
30 – June 17, 2012).<BR><BR>“Our golden anniversary season will be a celebration
of the rich legacy of Great Lakes Theater Festival’s commitment to the classics,
the city of Cleveland, and our fifty year history as one of the region’s most
vital providers of educational programming,” said Fee. “We’re planning our
most expansive programming in decades, a six-play season running from September
through June, featuring two of Shakespeare’s most captivating plays, The Taming
of the Shrew and Romeo and Juliet; an iconic murder mystery from the Queen of
Crime herself, Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap; our traditional holiday offering
by Mr. Dickens, A Christmas Carol; and a pair of musicals – one, a daring
classic, Cabaret and the other, the newest work by America’s greatest composer
for the theatre, Sondheim On Sondheim.” <BR></FONT><FONT size=2
face=Arial><BR>Great Lakes Theater Festival’s fiftieth anniversary season is
generously funded by the citizens of Cuyahoga County through <STRONG>Cuyahoga
Arts and Culture</STRONG>. The Festival receives additional season support from
The <STRONG>Cleveland Foundation</STRONG> and the <STRONG>Ohio Arts
Council</STRONG>.<BR><BR>Five of the Festival’s 2011-12 season offerings
(<EM>Cabaret, Shrew, Mousetrap, Romeo and Juliet</EM> and <EM>Sondheim on
Sondheim</EM>), will take place in GLTF’s revolutionary, audience-friendly home
at <STRONG>PlayhouseSquare’s Hanna Theatre</STRONG> while <EM>A Christmas
Carol</EM> will remain in its traditional <STRONG>Ohio Theatre</STRONG>
setting.<BR><BR><STRONG>Great Lakes Theater Festival’s unique 550-seat home at
the Hanna Theatre features a flexible thrust stage and offers its audiences an
exciting and uniquely intimate theater experience.</STRONG> The Hanna’s
“Great Room” inspired design concept creates a single unified environment that
integrates the artist and audience experience into one realm and dissolves the
formal separation between the social experience of the lobby and the artistic
experience of the stage. The new Hanna offers patrons a variety of seating
options including <STRONG>traditional theater seats, club chairs, banquettes,
private boxes and lounge/bar
seating</STRONG>. <BR><BR><STRONG>Subscriptions to Great Lakes Theater
Festival’s 2011-12 season are on sale now.</STRONG> An adult subscription to
Great Lakes Theater Festival starts as low as $120. Student subscriptions
begin at $39. <STRONG>For more information about becoming a Festival
subscriber</STRONG>, patrons should contact the Great Lakes Theater Festival
subscription office at <STRONG>(216) 664-6064</STRONG> or visit <A
href="blocked::http://www.greatlakestheater.org/">www.greatlakestheater.org</A>.
</FONT><FONT size=2 face=Arial><BR><BR><STRONG>Single tickets will be available
beginning in August.</STRONG> Regular priced adult single tickets will range
from $15 - $70. Regular priced student/youth tickets for the Hanna Theatre
are $13 ($26 for A Christmas Carol in the Ohio Theatre) and will be available
for all performances. Further details and pricing specifics for single
performance tickets will be announced in August. Single tickets will be
available by calling (216) 241-6000, by ordering online at <A
href="blocked::http://www.greatlakestheater.org/">www.greatlakestheater.org</A>
</FONT><FONT size=2 face=Arial>and by visiting the PlayhouseSquare Ticket
Office. Groups of ten or more receive discounts. <BR><BR><STRONG>Great
Lakes Theater Festival has brought the pleasure, power and relevance of classic
theater to the widest possible audience since 1962.</STRONG> The first
resident company of PlayhouseSquare, GLTF will celebrate its 30th year in
downtown Cleveland this season. Festival <STRONG>programming reaches
85,000 adults and students annually</STRONG>.<BR><BR>#
# #<BR><BR>For More Information<BR>Todd
Krispinsky<BR>Marketing and Public Relations Director<BR>(216) 241-5490
x317<BR><A
href="blocked::mailto:tkrispinsky@greatlakestheater.org">tkrispinsky@greatlakestheater.org</A></FONT><FONT
size=2 face=Arial><BR><BR></P></FONT></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>