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<P><FONT size=2 face=Arial><STRONG>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<BR><EM>Monday, May 16,
2011</EM></STRONG><BR><BR><STRONG><FONT size=5>Great Lakes Theater Festival’s
49th Season<BR>Exceeds Ticket Income Goals by 17%</FONT></STRONG><BR><BR><FONT
size=3><STRONG>The Festival has experienced 15% growth in paid attendance since
<BR></STRONG></FONT></FONT><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial><FONT
size=3><STRONG>the company’s move to its current home at the Hanna
Theatre.</STRONG></FONT><BR><BR><STRONG>Great Lakes Theater Festival,
Cleveland’s classic theater company, experienced significant audience growth in
2010-11 and exceeded its main stage (Hanna Theatre) ticket income goals by
17%.</STRONG> GLTF’s annual holiday offering of <EM>A Christmas Carol</EM> at
the Ohio Theatre exceeded its income goal by 14%. Ticket prices for all GLTF
performances in 2010-11 remained consistent with prior seasons and featured the
company’s New Deal pricing initiative designed to offer affordable price points
for all audience members (all performances: Hanna Theatre - adults $15;
students: $13 /<EM> A Christmas Carol</EM> - adults $28; students:
$26)<BR><BR>The season’s success was marked by consistency as all five
productions in the company’s 49th year (<EM>Othello, An Ideal Husband, A
Christmas Carol, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare [Abridged]</EM> and
<EM>The Two Gentlemen of Verona</EM>) surpassed their goals. The Festival’s most
popular main stage offering in 2010-11 was <EM>The Complete Works of William
Shakespeare (Abridged)</EM>, a production buoyed by strong audience response and
extraordinary “word of mouth.”<BR><BR><STRONG>Since completing the company’s
$20M re-imagination of and relocation to its current home at the Hanna Theatre,
PlayhouseSquare in 2008, GLTF main stage attendance has increased by
15%</STRONG> - bucking national economic challenges and a shrinking population
base in northeast Ohio.<BR><BR>The Festival’s commitment to young audiences was
also rewarded by enthusiastic student attendance during its 49th season.<STRONG>
23% of all single tickets sold to GLTF’s 2010-11 main stage performances were
youth</STRONG> <STRONG>tickets</STRONG>. The strong public performance, youth
attendance was in addition to the 15,000 students that the Festival served
through its student matinee performances during the season.<BR><BR>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, <STRONG>GLTF will celebrate its 50th anniversary
season in 2011-12.</STRONG> Festival programming reaches 85,000 adults and
students annually.<BR><BR># #
#<BR><BR><STRONG>For More Information:</STRONG></FONT></FONT></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal align=left><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Todd Krispinsky<BR>Marketing and
Public Relations Director<BR>Great Lakes Theater Festival<BR><?xml:namespace
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/><ns0:Street><ns0:address><?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:address
w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on">1501 Euclid Avenue, Suite
300</st1:Street><BR></ns0:address></st1:address></ns0:Street><ns0:place><ns0:City><st1:City
w:st="on">Cleveland</st1:City></ns0:City>, <ns0:State><st1:State
w:st="on">Ohio</st1:State></ns0:State> <ns0:PostalCode><st1:PostalCode
w:st="on">44115</st1:PostalCode><BR></ns0:PostalCode></ns0:place>(216) 241-5490
x317 / (216) 241-6315 Fax<BR><A href="http://www.greatlakestheater.org/"><SPAN
style="COLOR: purple">www.greatlakestheater.org</SPAN></A><BR><BR><SPAN><STRONG>Stay
connected to Great Lakes Theater Festival...</STRONG></SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><BR><EM><IMG border=0 hspace=0
alt="" align=baseline src="cid:485270920@16052011-3E3B"> Become a fan of
the Festival on Facebook. </EM><A
href="http://www.facebook.com/gltfcleveland"><EM><STRONG><FONT
color=#0000ff>Click
here.</FONT></STRONG></EM></A></SPAN><SPAN><BR></SPAN><SPAN><FONT size=2><FONT
face=Arial><EM><IMG border=0 hspace=0 alt="" align=baseline
src="cid:485270920@16052011-3E42"> Follow us </EM><EM>on
Twitter</EM>. <EM><A href="http://twitter.com/GLTFCleveland"><FONT
color=#0000ff><STRONG>Click
here.</STRONG></FONT></A></EM></FONT></FONT></DIV></SPAN>
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