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<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</span><br style="font-weight: bold;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">November 7, 2011</span><br>
<br>
<font size="5"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A CHRISTMAS CAROL</span></font><br>
<font style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" size="4">Cleveland’s Favorite Holiday Tradition
<br>
Returns to the Ohio Theatre at PlayhouseSquare</font><br>
<br>
CLEVELAND, OH - The stage of the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Ohio Theatre, PlayhouseSquare</span> will glow with good spirits and time-honored tradition when
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Great Lakes Theater (GLT) presents its annual production of Charles Dickens' classic
<span style="font-style: italic;">A Christmas Carol</span>, </span>running <span style="font-weight: bold;">
December 2 - 23, 2011</span>. The production has delighted more than 570,000 people in its history, making it one of northeast Ohio’s most-loved and best-attended holiday events.
<br>
<br>
Great Lakes Theater’s twenty-third annual production of <span style="font-style: italic;">
A Christmas Carol</span> is sponsored by <span style="font-weight: bold;">The John P. Murphy Foundation</span>. The company’s 2011-12 season is presented with support from
<span style="font-weight: bold;">The Cleveland Foundation </span>and the <span style="font-weight: bold;">
Ohio Arts Council</span>. GLT is also generously funded by the citizens of Cuyahoga County through
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Cuyahoga Arts and Culture</span>. A Christmas Carol’s media sponsors are
<span style="font-weight: bold;">The Plain Dealer</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">
WMJI-Majic 105.7 FM</span>. GLT’s season media sponsors are The FORM Group, <span style="font-style: italic;">
Scene</span>, WCLV 104.9 FM, WCPN 90.3 FM and WKSU 89.7 FM.<br>
<br>
Longtime GLT artistic company member <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sara Bruner</span>, will stage former Artistic Director Gerald Freedman’s heartwarming adaptation of
<span style="font-style: italic;">A Christmas Carol.</span> The production features a multi-generational cast of actors, singers and dancers
<span style="font-weight: bold;">led by actor Aled Davies</span>, returning for his fourth season in the role of miserly
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Ebenezer Scrooge.</span><br>
<br>
“The combination of Gerald Freedman’s inspired and moving adaptation, Sara Bruner’s dynamic gifts as a director, our remarkable design team and our talented company are sure to delight audiences, whether they’re attending for the first time or returning to
experience this holiday tradition again with friends and family,” said GLT’s Producing Artistic Director
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Charles Fee</span>.<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Freedman's adaptation of </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">A Christmas Carol</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> is presented as a story within a story.</span> The fictitious Cleaveland family gathers
in its Victorian-era parlor on Christmas Eve to read Mr. Dickens' book. As Mrs. Cleaveland reads the story to her family, her youngest child, Master William, re-imagines familiar faces as characters in the story: the Cleaveland’s crotchety manservant becomes
Scrooge; Father becomes Bob Cratchit; Mother becomes Belle, and the Cleaveland children become the Cratchits, with Master William becoming the beloved Tiny Tim.
<span style="font-weight: bold;">In all, more than 60 Dickens characters are brought to life on stage.
</span><br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Great Lakes Theater’s production incorporates theatrical special effects</span> to retain a strong sense of the supernatural, emphasizing the novel's origins in folk tales and myth. Designers for the GLT production blend exceptional
stagecraft with dramatic effects that evoke the magical and mysterious aspects of a classic ghost story.
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Great Lakes Theater’s twenty-third annual production of
<span style="font-style: italic;">A Christmas Carol</span> commences on Friday, December 2nd at 7:30 p.m. at the Ohio Theatre, PlayhouseSquare</span>. Curtain times for all evening performances will remain at 7:30 p.m., with a 1:30 p.m. curtain time for Saturday,
Thursday and Friday matinees and a 3:00 p.m. curtain time for Sunday matinees. An audio-described and sign interpreted performance is scheduled for Sunday, December 4th at 3:00 p.m.<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Single tickets for Great Lakes Theater’s production of A Christmas Carol range in price from $28-$60 (student tickets $26 – any performance / any seat)</span> and are available by calling
<span style="font-weight: bold;">(216) 241-6000</span>, by ordering online at <a href="http://www.greatlakestheater.org/" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">www.greatlakestheater.org</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">
</span>or by visiting the PlayhouseSquare Ticket Office. <span style="font-weight: bold;">
Groups of ten or more receive discounts and should call (216) 241-5490 x302 to make reservations.</span><br>
<br>
Great Lakes Theater, the first resident company of PlayhouseSquare, has brought the pleasure, power and relevance of classic theater to the widest possible audience since 1962. The company celebrates its 50th anniversary season in 2011-12. GLT programming reaches
85,000 adults and students annually. <br>
<br>
# # #<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">FOR MORE INFORMATION:</span><br>
<div><span style="font-weight: bold;">Todd Krispinsky</span><br>
<div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Marketing and Public Relations Director<br>
Great Lakes Theater<br>
1501 Euclid Avenue, Suite 300<br>
Cleveland, OH 44115<br>
www.greatlakestheater.org<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Great Lakes Theater</span><br>
<span style="font-style: italic;">Cleveland's Classic Company</span><br>
</span></div>
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