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<span style="font-weight: bold;">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE </span><br>
Tuesday, February 7, 2012<br>
<br>
<font style="font-weight: bold;" size="5">Cleveland’s Classic Theater Company<br>
Announces Ambitious 2012-13 Season to<br>
Headline Hanna Theatre Home</font><br>
<br>
<font style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" size="3">The new lineup features a pair of Shakespearean classics,
<br>
a re-imagined Moliere masterpiece, a spirited Coward comedy <br>
and a Tony Award-winning musical.</font><br>
<br style="font-weight: bold;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">CLEVELAND, OH – Charles Fee, Producing Artistic Director of Great Lakes Theater (GLT), unveiled an ambitious, six-production array of classics to headline the company’s 2012-13 season.</span> Great Lakes Theater’s fifty-first
year is scheduled to run from September 2012 through May 2013 at PlayhouseSquare’s Hanna and Ohio Theatres.
<br>
<br>
GLT will commence its 2012-13 season with Shakespeare’s remarkable epic of romance and renewal,
<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Winter’s Tale</span>, presented in rotating repertory with a 60s-infused, mod-makeover of Moliere’s masterpiece,
<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Imaginary Invalid </span>
(September 28 - November 4, 2012). The company’s annual production of Dickens’ holiday classic,
<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">A Christmas Carol</span> (November 30 - December 23, 2012) will bisect the season. In the spring, GLT will present Noel Coward’s spook-tacular comedy,
<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Blithe Spirit</span> (February 22 – March 10, 2013) followed by Shakespeare’s sublime battle of wits and wills,
<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Much Ado About Nothing</span> (March 29 – April 14, 2013). Cleveland’s classic company will crown its season with Broadway’s Tony Award-winning musical comedy,
<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Guys and Dolls</span> (May 1 – 19, 2013).<br>
<br>
Great Lakes Theater’s 2012-13 season is generously funded by the citizens of Cuyahoga County through
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Cuyahoga Arts and Culture</span>. GLT receives additional season support from
<span style="font-weight: bold;">The Cleveland Foundation</span> and the <span style="font-weight: bold;">
Ohio Arts Council</span>.<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Five of the company’s 2012-13 season offerings</span> (<span style="font-style: italic;">The Winter’s Tale, The Imaginary Invalid, Blithe Spirit, Much Ado About Nothing</span> and
<span style="font-style: italic;">Guys and Dolls</span>), will take place in GLT’s revolutionary, audience-friendly home at the
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Hanna Theatre, PlayhouseSquare</span>, while <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">
A Christmas Carol </span>will remain in its traditional <span style="font-weight: bold;">
Ohio Theatre</span> setting. <br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Tracy Young</span>, the director of Great Lakes Theater’s critically acclaimed 2011 production of
<span style="font-style: italic;">The Taming of the Shrew</span>, will return to Cleveland in 2012 to helm a music-infused, 60s-themed staging of
<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">The Imaginary Invalid</span>. The production, which debuted at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival last season, was also adapted by Young and collaborator Oded Gross. Conversely,
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Jesse Berger</span> will make his Great Lakes Theater debut when he directs the classic theater’s season opening production of
<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Winter’s Tale</span>. During the holiday season, longtime artistic company member
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Sara Bruner </span>will return to stage GLT’s annual production of
<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">A Christmas Carol</span>. The directors of
<span style="font-style: italic;">Blithe Spirit, Much Ado About Nothing </span>and
<span style="font-style: italic;">Guys and Dolls</span> will be named at a later date.<br>
<br>
Great Lakes Theater’s award-winning home at the Hanna Theatre features <span style="font-weight: bold;">
a unique thrust stage configuration where the audience surrounds the performance</span> - affording attendees a uniquely intimate theater experience in which
<span style="font-weight: bold;">no seat is further than 12 rows from the stage</span>. At the Hanna,
<span style="font-weight: bold;">patrons select from a variety of seating opportunities</span> that include traditional seats, club chairs, lounge/bar seats, banquette couches and private box seating. Boasting
<span style="font-weight: bold;">a fully flexible hydraulic stage, state-of-the-art theatrical systems and a visionary “Great Room” inspired design concept</span> that integrates the artist and audience into a single unified environment, Great Lakes Theater’s
Hanna home is one of the most innovative theaters in the country.<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Great Lakes Theater will continue to afford patrons extraordinary access to its production process at every Hanna Theatre performance this season.</span> The Hanna’s doors always open
<span style="font-weight: bold;">ninety minutes before each show</span> allowing <span style="font-weight: bold;">
patrons to observe the complete pre-show preparation process</span> of GLT’s actors and technical staff. Elements 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 GLT audiences an unprecedented glimpse into the theatrical process.
<span style="font-weight: bold;">A complete list of pre-/post-show enhancement programming is available at
</span><a href="http://www.greatlakestheater.org./" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">www.greatlakestheater.org.</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">
</span><br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Subscriptions to Great Lakes Theater’s 2012-13 season are on sale now.
</span>An adult subscription to Great Lakes Theater starts as low as $132. Student subscriptions begin at $39.
<span style="font-weight: bold;">For complete information, </span>patrons should <span style="font-weight: bold;">
call (216) 664-6064 or visit </span><a href="http://www.greatlakestheater.org./" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">www.greatlakestheater.org.</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">
</span><br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Single tickets will go on sale in August.</span> 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.<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Great Lakes Theater, Cleveland’s classic company,
</span>has brought the pleasure, power and relevance of classic theater to the widest possible audience since 1962. The
<span style="font-weight: bold;">first resident company of PlayhouseSquare, </span>
GLT will celebrate its 31st year in downtown Cleveland this season. On its main stage and through its extensive education programming,
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Great Lakes Theater positively impacts 85,000 adults and students annually.</span><br>
<br>
# # #<br>
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<div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Todd Krispinsky</span><br>
Marketing and Public Relations Director<br>
Great Lakes Theater<br>
1501 Euclid Avenue, Suite 300<br>
Cleveland, OH 44115<br>
(216) 241-5490 x317<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 @ the Hanna Theatre, PlayhouseSquare</span><br>
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