[NEohioPAL] GLTF Opens Inaugural Hanna Season With "Macbeth" and "Into the Woods"

For Immediate Release
August 27, 2008

 

Great Lakes Theater Festival
Opens New Home At The Hanna Theatre
With Macbeth and Into the Woods
GLTF affords patrons a progressive new array
of unique social enhancement programming and
extraordinary access to the artistic process in 2008-09.

 

CLEVELAND, OH – August 27, 2008 - Great Lakes Theater Festival (GLTF) will commence its 2008-09 season in a revolutionary new home at the Hanna Theatre, PlayhouseSquare with a Fall Repertory that features William Shakespeare’s towering tragedy, Macbeth, and Stephen Sondheim’s enchanting musical journey, Into the Woods (Woods). The productions will be performed in rotating repertory September 24 – November 8, 2008. The Fall Repertory features a single company of actors performing two alternating plays on the same stage over seven weeks. GLTF’s Producing Artistic Director Charles Fee will direct Macbeth and Victoria Bussert will direct Into the Woods.

Great Lakes Theater Festival’s inaugural season at the Hanna Theatre is sponsored by National City.  Production support for Macbeth was provided by Deloitte.  Production support for Into the Woods was provided by the Great Lakes Theater Festival Business Alliance.  The 2008-09 season is presented with additional generous support from The Cleveland Foundation, Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, the Ohio Arts Council and SCK.  Media sponsors for the season are Cleveland Scene, Cleveland Magazine, The Plain Dealer, WCLV 104.9 FM, WCPN 90.3 FM ideastream and WKSU 89.7 FM.

"I think audiences will be thrilled and bowled over by the power of Shakespeare's Macbeth in our new home at the Hanna Theatre," said Great Lakes Theater Festival’s Producing Artistic Director, Charles Fee.  "The thrust-stage will draw you directly into the action of the play; and the technology of our new home – from the lighting, to the sound, to the special effects -- will allow us to create a theatricality to match the drama of Shakespeare!  The acoustics of the new Hanna and the intimacy of its 550-seat theater give us a space perfect for musicals, unmatched by any in the region.  Into the Woods will sound gorgeous in the new Hanna and every seat in the house will feel part of Sondheim's wicked, fairy-tale world."   

Great Lakes Theater Festival’s new home at the Hanna Theatre features a visionary “Great Room” inspired design concept that integrates the artist and audience experience into a single unified environment.  Hanna patrons select from a variety of seating opportunities including traditional theater seats, club chairs, lounge/bar seats, banquette couches and private box seating.  Boasting a fully flexible hydraulic thrust stage, a complete array of state-of-the-art theatrical systems and an intimate 550-seat house arranged in a thrust configuration, the new Hanna is one of the most innovative theaters in the country.  

Great Lakes Theater Festival’s forty-seventh season opens with Macbeth.    In a maelstrom of politics and magic, William Shakespeare’s masterpiece melds unforgettable characters and incomparable language in a fascinating drama of corruption and heroism.  An eerie evening of dazzling darkness, where specters and riddles foretell the futures of kings, Macbeth is a timeless tragedy.

            Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods completes the Festival’s Fall Repertory pairing.  An enchanting musical journey that features a bewitching collection of classic fairy tale characters on a rollicking romp through a “once upon a time” kingdom, Into the Woods is Broadway’s most magical musical. A toe-tapping tapestry of wonderfully woven fables that brims with award-winning music and lyrics, this fractured fairy tale will transport audiences to a land where there still are giants in the sky, big bad wolves in the woods, curses reversed and “happily ever afters.”

            GLTF’s 2008 Fall Repertory directing corps is comprised of a powerhouse pair of talented theater artists.  Charles Fee, GLTF’s Producing Artistic Director, will stage William Shakespeare’s Macbeth.  Fee’s acclaimed productions of All’s Well That Ends Well (2008), Hay Fever (2007), The Importance of Being Earnest (2005), The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) (2004), Hamlet (2003), Arms and the Man (2002) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2002) (which was nominated for a Northern Ohio Live Award of Achievement) have led to an artistic and financial renaissance for Great Lakes Theater Festival.  Victoria Bussert will complete the Festival’s Fall Repertory directing duo when she helms Sondheim’s Into the Woods.  A Festival veteran, Bussert will celebrate her 22nd year at Great Lakes Theater Festival this season.  Her work was last seen by Festival audiences in 2006 when she directed A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.  Over the past two decades, she has staged a host of memorable productions including Private Lives, Anything Goes, Gypsy, A Little Night Music, She Loves Me, The Most Happy Fella, Rough Crossing, Blithe Spirit, La Ronde, The School For Wives, Noel and Gertie, The Threepenny Opera and Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill.

            New this season, Great Lakes Theater Festival will afford patrons extraordinary access to the artistic process.  The new Hanna will open its doors ninety minutes before each performance allowing patrons to observe the complete pre-show preparation process of GLTF’s actors and technical staff.  Elements traditionally hidden from audiences 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 GLTF audiences an amazing glimpse into the theatrical process.

            Another new facet of the Festival’s 2008-09 season at the Hanna Theatre is a unique series of social enhancement programming.  The programming, organized by day of week, is designed to augment the patron experience and highlight the Hanna’s new amenities. 

 

  • “Salon Thursdays” will feature an engaging pre-show discussion/presentation beginning one hour before curtain with a Festival artist or local scholar.  (Offered:  October 16, 23, 30 & November 6) 

 

  • “Happy Hour Fridays” afford patrons the ability to avoid the commute home from work and back to the theater in time for the show.  On “Happy Hour Fridays” audience members are invited to meet at the Hanna’s new Bar and Lounge immediately after work to enjoy a fine assortment of savory hors de oeuvres and a complete range of beverages for sale beginning ninety minutes before every performance.  (Offered:  October 3, 17, 24, 31 & November 7) 

 

  • “Night Cap Saturdays” are designed to encourage audience members to stay after the performance and mingle with friends, family and the GLTF acting company in the Hanna’s new Bar and Lounge.  The Hanna’s Bar and Lounge is open until midnight on “Night Cap Saturdays,” eliminating the need for patrons to seek out a post performance gathering place, and its featured drink is the Hanna-tini.  (Offered:  October 4 18, 26 & November 1, 8)  

 

  • “Ice Cream Social Sundays” offer patrons the opportunity to enjoy a London theatre tradition brought state-side with family and friends.  Audience members are invited to purchase a cool personal ice cream treat before the show or at intermission.  Ice cream will be offered at every performance in GLTF’s Fall Repertory, but on “Ice Cream Social Sundays,” the treat is half price.  (Offered:  October  5, 12, 19, 26 & November 2)

 

Opening Night performances of Macbeth (September 27th) and Into the Woods (October 11th) have been scheduled for Saturday evenings with preview performances of both productions scheduled for the preceding Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights. The Friday previews of Macbeth (September 26th) and Into the Woods (October 10th) have been newly designated as “Press Previews” – public performances that will also accommodate theater critics and other media representatives.  Curtain times for all evening performances will remain at 7:30 p.m., with a 1:30 p.m. curtain time for Saturday matinees and a 3:00 p.m. curtain time for Sunday matinees. Both productions in GLTF’s Fall Repertory will continue to offer sign-interpreted and audio-described performances as well as the popular Director’s Night and Playnotes pre-show discussion series.  (Consult enclosed performance calendars for complete date and time information.)

Single performance tickets for Great Lakes Theater Festival productions range in price from $15-$89 (Student tickets are $13 – any performance / any seat) and are available by calling

(216) 241-6000, by ordering online at www.greatlakestheater.org or by visiting the PlayhouseSquare Ticket Office. Groups of ten or more receive discounts through the PlayhouseSquare Group Sales Department.  (Additional handling fees may apply depending on point of purchase.)

Since 1962, Great Lakes Theater Festival has brought the pleasure, power and relevance of classic theater to the widest possible audience in Northern Ohio.  The first resident company of PlayhouseSquare, GLTF will celebrate its 26th year in downtown Cleveland this season.  Festival programming reaches 85,000 adults and students annually.
 

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Todd Krispinsky
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(216) 453-4449
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