A CHRISTMAS CAROL Playbill - Fall/Winter 2017

Cleveland’s Classic Company Presents

Charles Dickens’

a christmas Carol OHIO THEATRE

November 25-December 23, 2017

5,000 Years of Civilization Reborn

ALL-NEW PROGRAM WITH LIVE ORCHESTRA

Feb 3–4 Playhouse Square

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Welcome..................................................................................................................... 4 About Great Lakes Theater............................................................................................ 5 A Christmas Carol......................................................................................................... 9 Cast of Characters...................................................................................................... 10 Spotlight on A Christmas Carol.................................................................................... 11 The Artistic Company................................................................................................. 22 Donors....................................................................................................................... 36 Trustees..................................................................................................................... 42 Staff.......................................................................................................................... 43 Guest Services at Playhouse Square............................................................................ 46 November/December at Playhouse Square.................................................................... 47

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WELCOME Dear Friends,

at Playhouse Square

H

appy Holidays! Welcome to Great Lakes Theater’s 29th annual production of Gerald Freedman’s adaptation of A Christmas Carol, based on the novel by Charles Dickens. It is no exaggeration to say that the popularity of A Christmas Carol has kept the lights on for many theater companies around the world — and this has certainly been true for Great Lakes Theater! Mr. Freedman’s beautiful production has been seen by more than 725,000 people in its quarter century onstage at the Ohio Theatre, nearly half of whom were students and children, many seeing their very first play. We are truly grateful to Mr. Freedman for giving Great Lakes Theater and our entire region this amazing gift of theater. His vision and artistry have transcended generations and united our community in powerfully meaningful ways.

We are grateful to so many people for the enduring success of A Christmas Carol, from the artists and technical staff who keep this production as fresh as the day it opened, to the funding community of foundations, corporations and individuals who have supported our work on Dickens’ masterpiece over the years. Special thanks again this year to the John P. Murphy Foundation, whose support of A Christmas Carol began with our original production in 1989 and has continued ever since. Joining the John P. Murphy Foundation this season is PNC — providing support to our public performances, as well as our student matinees which will serve an expected audience of 10,000 students this year. Additionally, The Abington Foundation along with PNC will support our our work on the Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s A Christmas Carol Writing Contest. Along with these very special sponsors are many others who support our work each year. I encourage you to look through this playbill at the list of individual members, corporations and foundations that support us. And please consider joining them with a year-end contribution to Great Lakes Theater!

This spring, we continue our 56th season with productions of Stephen King’s unforgettable thriller, Misery, February 16 through March 11; followed by Shakespeare’s towering tragedy, Macbeth, March 29 through April 15; and finally Off Broadway’s groovy retro-hit revue, Beehive: The 60s Musical, May 4 through 20. We hope you’ll join us across the street in the re-imagined Hanna Theatre for each of these plays. Subscription packages are still available and our Bard Card is a great way to give the gift of live theater this holiday season. For complete information, call our subscriber hotline at (216) 640-8869 or visit us online at GreatLakesTheater.org.

From all of us at Great Lakes Theater, we wish you the happiest of holiday seasons.

Charles Fee Producing Artistic Director

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ABOUT GREAT LAKES THEATER

Great Lakes Theater’s fall 2017 production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Photo by Roger Mastroianni) Keri René Fuller as Esmeralda and Corey Mach as Quasimodo

T

he mission of Great Lakes Theater (GLT), through its main stage productions and its education programs, is to bring the pleasure, power and relevance of classic theater to the widest possible audience.

Since the company’s inception in 1962, programming has been rooted in Shakespeare, but GLT’s commitment to great plays spans the breadth of all cultures, forms of theater and time periods –– including the 20th century –– and provides for the occasional mounting of new works that complement the classical repertoire.

Classic theater holds the capacity to illuminate truth and enduring values, celebrate and challenge human nature and actions, revel in eloquent language, and preserve the traditions of diverse cultures and generate communal spirit. On its main stage and through its education programs, GLT seeks to create visceral, immediate experiences for participants, asserting theater’s historic role as a vehicle for advancing the common good and helping people make the joyful and meaningful connections between classic plays and their own lives.

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The company’s commitment to classic theater is magnified in the educational programs that surround its productions. Since its inception, GLT has had a strong presence in area schools, bringing students to the theater for matinee performances and sending specially trained actor-teachers to the schools for weeklong residencies developed to explore classic drama from a theatrical point of view. GLT is equally dedicated to enhancing the theater experience for adult audiences. To this end, GLT regularly serves as the catalyst for community events and programs in the arts and humanities that illuminate the plays on its stage.

Great Lakes Theater is one of only a handful of American theaters that have stayed the course as a classic theater. As GLT approaches a decade in its permanent home at the Hanna Theatre, the company reaffirms its belief in the power of partnership, its determination to make this community a better place in which to live, and its commitment to ensure the legacy of classic theater in Cleveland.

1501 Euclid Ave., Suite 300, Cleveland, OH 44115 P: (216) 241-5490 | F: (216) 241-6315 | W: GreatLakesTheater.org

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Great Lakes Theater

Winter/Spring 2018 Cleveland’s Classic Company Hanna Theatre

presents

Playhouse Square

Stephen King’s Unforgettable Thriller

Feb. 16 - Mar. 11, 2018

Shakespeare’s Towering Tragedy

Mar. 29 - Apr. 15, 2018

Off Broadway’s Groovy Retro-Hit Revue

May 4 - 20, 2018

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Ohio Theatre | Nov. 25 – Dec. 23, 2017

Charles Fee Producing Artistic Director

With generous support from: Presents

A CHRISTMAS CAROL BY

CHARLES DICKENS

STAGED BY

Company

Laura Welsh Berg* Lynn Robert Berg* Cassandra Bissell* Neil Brookshire* Aled Davies* Jodi Dominick* Jonathan Dyrud* Jeremy Hammel

Mandie Jenson* Patrick John Kiernan Andrew May* Dougfred Miller* Jessie Cope Miller* Yumi Ndhlovu Laurien Palmer Lainey Rambert Ellie Ritterbusch

Brenna Sherman David Anthony Smith* Lindsey Smits Xander Smits Liam Stilson M.A. Taylor* Niko Ustin Chase Christopher Zadd

Scenic Design John Ezell & Gene Emerson Friedman

Costume Design James Scott

Lighting Design Mary Jo Dondlinger & Cynthia Stillings

Sound Design Tom Mardikes & Stan Kozak

Music Adaptor/ Arranger Robert Waldman Stage Manager Tim Kinzel*

Music Director Matthew Webb

GreatLakesTheater.org

GERALD FREEDMAN TOM FORD

ADAPTED AND DIRECTED BY

Choreographer David Shimotakahara

Assistant Stage Manager Jessica B. Lucas*

*Members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States

There will be one fifteen-minute intermission.

Great Lakes Theater student subscriptions are subsidized by a generous gift from Eaton.

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CAST OF CHARACTERS Cleaveland Family

at Playhouse Square

Father, who will become Bob Cratchit............................................................... Neil Brookshire * Mother, who will become Fred’s Wife.............................................................Laura Welsh Berg*† Miss Elizabeth, who will become Fan.................................................................. Mandie Jenson * Richard, who will become Dick Wilkins...................................................................Liam Stilson Miss Abigail........................................................................................................ Lindsey Smits Master Robert....................................................................................... Chase Christopher Zadd Miss Polly...................................................................................................... Ellie Ritterbusch Master William, who will become Tiny Tim....................................Jeremy Hammel, Xander Smits Samuels, who will become Ebenezer Scrooge...................................................Lynn Robert Berg * Muggeridge, who will become Christmas Present........................................ David Anthony Smith * Jane, who will become Mrs. Cratchit............................................................... Cassandra Bissell * Nephew Fred.................................................................................................... Jonathan Dyrud * First Charity Man.....................................................................................................M.A. Taylor * Second Charity Man................................................................................................Aled Davies * Street Singer............................................................................................. Patrick John Kiernan Sled Boy......................................................................................................... Brenna Sherman Skate Girl.........................................................................................................Lainey Rambert Marley.............................................................................................................. Dougfred Miller * Christmas Past......................................................................................... Patrick John Kiernan Boy Scrooge.................................................................................................... Brenna Sherman Adolescent Scrooge............................................................................... Chase Christopher Zadd Belle............................................................................................................. Laura Welsh Berg * Mr. Fezziwig............................................................................................................Aled Davies * Mrs. Fezziwig...................................................................................................... Jodi Dominick * Fezziwig Guests...............Laura Welsh Berg*, Cassandra Bissell*, Mandie Jenson*, Andrew May*, Jessie Cope Miller*, Lindsey Smits, M.A. Taylor*, Chase Christopher Zadd Young Scrooge.................................................................................................. Jonathan Dyrud *

Cratchit Family

Peter.....................................................................................................................Liam Stilson Martha.............................................................................................................. Mandie Jenson * Belinda.............................................................................................................. Lindsey Smits James.................................................................................................. Chase Christopher Zadd Sarah..............................................................................................................Ellie Ritterbusch Miner.................................................................................................................... Andrew May * Helmsman...............................................................................................................M.A. Taylor * Lighthouse Keeper............................................................................................ Dougfred Miller * Cynthia............................................................................................................... Jodi Dominick * Topper................................................................................................................... Andrew May * “Want”............................................................................................................Ellie Ritterbusch “Ignorance”.................................................................................................... Brenna Sherman Christmas Future....................................................................................... Patrick John Kiernan Rich Men............................................................... Aled Davies*, Andrew May*, Dougfred Miller * Soloist...............................................................................................................Laurien Palmer Joe the Keeper.........................................................................................................M.A. Taylor * Laundress........................................................................................................... Jodi Dominick * Charwoman.................................................................................................... Cassandra Bissell * Undertaker....................................................................................................... Dougfred Miller * Debtor...................................................................................................... David Anthony Smith * Debtor’s Wife................................................................................................ Jessie Cope Miller * Delivery Boy............................................................................................................. Niko Ustin Street Children............................................................................ Yumi Ndhlovu, Laurien Palmer

Scene: London, 1864, and in the imagination of the listener

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† Dance Captain

* Members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States

SPOTLIGHT AN INSIDER’S GUIDE TO CHARLES DICKENS’

A CHRISTMAS CAROL no rt

h

Fa east ho vor ohi tr li ite o’s ad da it y io n

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Generous support for Spotlight was provided by

Donald F. and Anne T. Palmer

SPOTLIGHT

SPOTLIGHT ON A CHRISTMAS CAROL

From inspiration to the stage

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Then-Artistic Director Gerald Freedman displays elements of John Ezell’s scenic design scale model for the Great Lakes Theater production of A Christmas Carol.

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n the spring of 1988, Great Lakes Theater made an enterprising decision: to invest in a lavish new take on Charles Dickens’ classic holiday tale, A Christmas Carol.

Opening night, in November 1989, was 18 months away, but there wasn’t a moment to lose.

There was money to raise. The theater’s production team estimated that the ambitious show would cost $550,000 which was double the amount budgeted for a typical production at the time. The theater’s then-boardchair John Collinson agreed to take the lead in securing corporate support at an unprecedented level. There was a script to develop. Artistic director Gerald Freedman had a vision for the adaptation: he would frame it within the context of a family reading Dickens’ story aloud before bedtime. The “frame story” would allow Freedman to incorporate Dickens’ narrative voice, as well as evoke the intimacy of the writer’s own public readings where Dickens famously strove to make the audience feel — as he explained to a friend — “as if we had been sitting around the fire.”

Original costume rendering for Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim by James Scott

There was spectacle to create. Freedman and scenic designer John Ezell were determined that the production would fully exploit the resources of the Ohio Theatre, which served as the home venue for Great Lakes Theater at the time.

The Ohio Theatre’s trap doors, fly space and counterweight system were ideally suited for creating the dramatic scene changes and other stage tricks needed for a ghost story.

There were things to be built. “As the set design evolved,” production manager Tony Forman later explained, “it became clear

Actors John Buck Jr. (left) and William Leech (right) portrayed the iconic roles of Jacob Marley and Scrooge in the 1990 staging of A Christmas Carol.

SPOTLIGHT ON A CHRISTMAS CAROL

A Christmas Carol’s Scenic Designer John Ezell, with Technical Director Martin Simonsen, surveys Styrofoam carving in the Great Lakes Theater scene shop.

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SPOTLIGHT ON A CHRISTMAS CAROL

From inspiration to the stage (continued)

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that there was not enough space in the Ohio Theatre to go quickly and effectively from location to location with complete sets.”

Moveable set elements would have to suggest different locations, and technical director Martin Simonsen would have to figure out the turntables, pulleys and levers needed to make them move. But the set elements could only glide quickly if they were lightweight. Victorianera filigrees and other scenic elements had to be carved out of Styrofoam — including a 19-foottall cornucopia filled with 5,000 grapes the size of ping-pong balls. Costume designer James Scott sketched renderings for 80 costumes, 30 of which would be built from scratch by three drapers and five seamstresses. Freedman didn’t originally plan for music to play a major role in the production, but music began to seep in, and sound designer Stan Kozak soon found himself organizing all-night recording sessions.

And then there were practical problems for actors and stagehands to solve. For his sudden and fearsome entrance as the ghost of Jacob Marley, actor John Buck Jr. found that he had to crouch on a ladder with eight lengths of chains arrayed around him, his head and shoulders pulled in and ready to rear up against the trap door above him. Two stagehands had to help

him manage the chains and navigate the ladder.

Onstage, Buck developed a way of flicking the chains, twisting and untwisting them around himself so that they wouldn’t get caught on the grates needed for the fog machines. Sound board operator John Reilly drilled with him so he could precisely time clanking sound effects with Buck’s movements.

Out of such attention to detail, stage magic was conjured. Designed to be repeated multiple seasons, the show is now in its 29th year.

Maintaining the production requires the same painstaking commitment each year. The wear and tear of time cannot show on the production’s elaborate costumes and set pieces, which are refurbished on a rotating basis.

In its long history, the Great Lakes Theater production of A Christmas Carol has always hewed to Gerald Freedman’s original direction.

But its annual restaging has given opportunities to emerging directors within the company.

Victoria Bussert, who arrived in Cleveland as a directing intern to Freedman in 1985, restaged the piece 12 times over the years, more than any other director. Other longtime company members have stepped up in turn to ensure the ever-fresh vitality of the theater’s cherished holiday tradition.

❅

SPOTLIGHT

playnotes: A Chistmas Carol

A

s the year 1843 wore on, Charles Dickens was increasingly hard-pressed. Although the 31-year-old writer had already authored six successful novels, his latest entry, Martin Chuzzlewit, was selling poorly. His publishers wanted their advance back. His spendthrift father stoked his worries. His wife Catherine was pregnant with their fifth child. He needed a best-seller.

A Christmas Carol was one for the ages.

Scrooge — the very name has entered dictionaries as a synonym for miser. His phrase, “Bah, humbug,” is still on our lips. In the United States alone, a million copies of the story have been sold. But the book was a gamble at the time.

An image of Dickens at the shoe polish factory, included in one of the earliest biographies of Dickens in 1892

By 1843, the young man already had the wildly successful Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby to his name. But fear of financial failure dogged him. Born in 1812 to John and Elizabeth Dickens, the second of eight children, the novelist later described his father as “a jovial opportunist with no money sense.” The elder Dickens spent several months in Marshalsea Debtor’s Prison in 1824. His 12-year-old son had to go to work in a rat-infested shoe polish factory.

Undaunted by his scant schooling, the younger Dickens pursued respectability relentlessly.

“A Christmas Carol is a national benefit and to every man or woman who reads it, a personal kindness.”

– William Makepeace Thackeray

SPOTLIGHT ON A CHRISTMAS CAROL

A portrait of Charles Dickens painted by Francis Alexander during Dickens’ American tour in 1842, a year before he published A Christmas Carol

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playnotes

SPOTLIGHT ON A CHRISTMAS CAROL

(continued)

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Between 1827 and 1836, he vaulted from law clerk to court stenographer to court reporter to newspaper sketch writer to author of The Pickwick Papers. And yet, with improvident parents and siblings and a growing family to support, the writer could not rest.

Charles Dickens first gained attention with humorous sketches published in newspapers and periodicals under the pseudonym Boz. He pioneered the practice of releasing fictional work in Eight illustrations by Punch caricaturist John Leech also marked serialized form, several chapters at the first edition of A Christmas Carol as a prestige publication. a time, usually once a month. But Dickens and his publishers decided evergreen trees indoors. Antiquarians were to present his new seasonal story in a hardcover publishing anthologies of old English carols and volume, bound in crimson cloth, with pages ballads. The Oxford Movement was promoting edged in gilt. Dickens financed the printing the restoration of ritual to Anglican worship. himself, in return for a cut of the profits. The Dickens had already written several brief gamble might have paid off. Released on Christmas sketches in 1835 and 1836. The time December 19, the first run of 6,000 copies of A was right in 1843 for a longer piece that indulged Christmas Carol ran out by Christmas Eve. The the growing taste for holiday cheer. second and third editions sold by year’s end, and A child-centered depiction of Christmas there were 11 printings in 1844. However, high resonated with Dickens’ personal mythology. production costs, competition from a cheap Commentators have noted that he often put pirated edition and a lawsuit against the pirating children at the heart of his work. Witness Oliver printer ate up most of the profits. Dickens didn’t Twist, David Copperfield and Pip of Great relieve his financial pressures, although he Expectations. Dickens’ sunny memories of early notched a timely and timeless accomplishment. childhood, eclipsed by his family’s indigence, The festivities that we still associate with left an indelible mark. In A Christmas Carol, a Christmas — trees and cards, family gatherings, bitter man finds redemption in compassion for carol-singing and seasonal food and drink — his own lost childhood and the crippled Tiny were just becoming popular in England in the Tim. As the story’s narrator proclaims, “It is 1830s and 1840s. Queen Victoria and her good to be children sometimes, and never better German-born husband were popularizing his than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder native holiday custom of decorating live was a child himself.”

“The beauty and blessing of the story ... lie in the great furnace of real happiness that glows through Scrooge and everything around him. ... Whether the Christmas visions would or would not convert Scrooge, they convert us.” – G. K. Chesterton

Images of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert celebrating Christmas with their family, such as this 1850 engraving from Godey’s Lady’s Book, helped to popularize Christmas trees.

laissez-faire capitalist approach to social problems, mocking: “Are there not treadmills, gibbets; even hospitals, poor-rates, New PoorLaw?” In Dickens’ story, Carlyle’s litany becomes a searing refrain — “Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?”— while Scrooge gives chilling voice to the common perception of Malthus’ solution for overcrowding: “If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.”

We’re still reckoning with Dickens’ probing questions and clinging to the humanity and hope in his answers.

“There is no clear sign that [Dickens] wants the existing order to be overthrown, or believes that it would make very much difference if it were overthrown. For in reality his target is not so much society as ‘human nature.’” – George Orwell

❅

SPOTLIGHT ON A CHRISTMAS CAROL

The childhood theme of A Christmas Carol may have also prompted the ghost story form.

Later in life, Dickens often recalled how his nanny told gruesome ghost stories. Four of the five stand-alone Christmas stories that he would publish between 1843 and 1848 would contain elements of the supernatural.

But the Christmas setting also spoke to Dickens’ profound sympathy for impoverished children in industrialized cities. In A Christmas Carol, two “Charity Men” solicit money from Scrooge for poor families at Christmas. “We choose this time,” they explain, “because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices.” In Great Expectations, Dickens would write of childhood as a time when “there is nothing so finely perceived and so finely felt as injustice.”

The injustices felt by poor children were on Dickens’ mind in 1843. Earlier that year, he toured tin mines in Cornwall, where children labored in filth. He visited a so-called “ragged” or “charity school” in London — before the advent of universal public education — and was appalled by the students’ destitution. He originally planned to write a political pamphlet titled, An Appeal to the People of England, on behalf of the Poor Man’s Child. While he did give a speech about educational reform in Manchester that October, he decided that a Christmas story might have greater impact.

Abstract ideas about education give way in Dickens’ story to spectral images: “This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy.” Arguments raged in the newspapers of the day. Economist Thomas Robert Malthus, an older contemporary of Dickens, observed the paradoxical cycle of plenty, population growth, overcrowding and population-thinning diseases.

Philosopher Thomas Carlyle countered the

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SPOTLIGHT

A Christmas Carol Through The Ages

SPOTLIGHT ON A CHRISTMAS CAROL

❅ Stage adaptations of

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A Christmas Carol proliferated quickly.

Eight stage productions hit English stages within two months of the book’s release. But the most notable performances of A Christmas Carol during the author’s lifetime can be attributed to Dickens himself. As his career advanced Charles Dickens at one of his and he no longer many public readings, in 1867 had time to put out a new Christmas story every year, he announced that Dickens’ memorable appearance in he would instead do public readings of his greatest Birmingham was reported in the Cleveland Christmas “hits.” Particularly memorable were read- Plain Dealer on February 16, 1854. ings conducted in December 1853 at the Birmingham Town Hall to benefit a proposed “Industrial and Literary Institute.” The entry fee was reduced for workers; 2,500 were in attendance one night. As Dickens wrote to a friend afterward, “a more delicately observant audience it is impossible to imagine. They lost nothing, misinterpreted nothing, followed everything closely, laughed and cried with the most delightful earnestness and animated me to that extent that I felt as if we were all bodily going up into the clouds together.” Dickens would continue to read publicly from A Christmas Carol until his death in 1870.

❅ The great actor-managers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, such as Henry Irving and Herbert Beerbohm Tree, were more drawn to the role of Fagin in adaptations of Oliver Twist. Interest in adapting A Christmas Carol grew with the rise of radio, which could replicate the intimacy of Dickens’ own readings. In 1934, the Columbia Broadcast System signed American actor Lionel Barrymore to a five-year contract to perform A Christmas Carol for an annual holiday radio broadcast. Barrymore would go on to perform the role of Scrooge on radio nearly every year until 1953. In 1947, he recorded an abbreviated version of the story for a record released by MGM. He was tapped to star in MGM’s 1938 movie version of the story, but broke his leg just before filming was to begin and had to be replaced by Reginald Owen.

Promotional poster for Lionel Barrymore’s radio broadcast in 1939

❅ The 1951 film starring

❅ The character of Scrooge has entered popular culture in a variety of ways, from the cartoon figure of Scrooge McDuck to Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol to comedian Bill Murray’s Scrooged.

bah humbug

scrooge through the seasons

❅ Great

Lakes Theater has produced A Christmas Carol every year since 1989, spanning the tenures of three artistic directors. Five actors have played the role of Scrooge; three have played Jacob Marley. The resident company developed under current producing director Charles Fee has provided opportunities for individual actors to play a variety of roles over time and for longtime cast members to try their hand at staging as well.

Lynn Robert Berg, 2016-present (photo 2016)

William Leech, 1989-1995 (photo 1994)

Dudley Swetland, 1997-2007 (photo 2001)

John Woodson, 1996 (photo 1996)

Aled Davies, 2008-2015 (photo 2008)

SPOTLIGHT ON A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Scottish character actor Alistair Sim, which was released in the United Kingdom under the title Scrooge, is frequently screened on television during the holiday season.

Although Turner The 1951 film of Dickens’ story, starring Classic Movies has Alistair Sim, has become a classic. deemed it “the standard by which all other Scrooges are compared,” numerous television and film versions of the story have appeared over the Patrick Stewart as Scrooge years. Scrooge has most notably been played by Albert Finney in 1999 (1970), George C. Scott (1984) and Patrick Stewart (1999), who also created a “reading” performance of the piece for the stage.

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A Christmas Carol

By the numbers

11 200 7

Number of days needed for rehearsals Props are used in the production

Fog machines create the ghostly special effects during each performance

5

Feet: Approximate length of the chains that the ghost of Jacob Marley swings around during his haunting of Scrooge

9 25

Feet: The height of the Ghost of Christmas Present The number of cast members in the production each season

60

The number of roles that the 25-member cast portrays in the production

2 4

The number of Tiny Tims that are cast each season

Ghosts in the show (Past, Present, Future and Marley)

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

A Christmas Carol writing contest GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY

E

very November since 1989 Great Lakes Theater (GLT) has been abuzz with preparations for our annual Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) “A Christmas Carol” Writing Contest.

Launched simultaneously with the inaugural production itself, the Writing Contest has been providing CMSD middle school students with an “up-close” experience of Dickens’ classic tale.

GLT’s annual literary effort enables students to engage with the story in a personal way by writing original stories, songs or poems inspired by Dickens’ timeless themes. 2,431 CMSD students from 29 schools submitted entries last year; and most of the student writers attended special matinee performances.

Grade-level winners are invited on stage and recognized for their accomplishment by the actors who play Scrooge and Marley and celebrated by their peers in the audience. Grand-

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prize winners’ writing is read by A Christmas Carol cast members and broadcast by Cleveland’s NPR affiliate 90.3 WCPN ideastream. Photos from the recording sessions display smiles that signal the validation that these talented students experience. With generous support from our partners at The Abington Foundation and, this season, PNC, we look forward to celebrating 2017’s student writers and inspiring another generation of young people.

Special Thanks

Margaret Lynch, Writer/Researcher Stacy Mallardi-Stajcar, Casual Images Graphic Design

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THE ARTISTIC COMPANY

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Laura Welsh Berg* Mother/Belle/Fred’s Wife/ Ensemble Twelve seasons with Great Lakes Theater Laura was most recently seen at the Hanna as Hamlet in Hamlet. In 2016, she appeared as Vera in And Then There Were None, Rosaline in Love’s Labour’s Lost, Mrs. Hopkins/D.C. in My Fair Lady and Fabian in Twelfth Night. Other shows include The Merry Wives of Windsor, Richard III, Sweeney Todd, The Tempest, Hay Fever, All’s Well That Ends Well, Major Barbara, Macbeth, Into the Woods, Arsenic and Old Lace, Measure for Measure and She Stoops to Conquer. At Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, she appeared as Viola in Twelfth Night, Speed in Two Gentlemen of Verona and Nurse in Romeo and Juliet. Chicago credits include The Farnsworth Invention at Timeline Theater, Arms and the Man at Centerstage and Mill Fire at Sheil Park. She has a BA in theater from Baldwin Wallace University and an MFA in acting from DePaul University.

Many thanks to the incredible cast, crew and staff at GLT for all their support. L’MLS Lynn Robert Berg* Samuels/Ebenezer Scrooge ✶ Sixteen seasons with Great Lakes Theater

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Previously at Great Lakes Theater: The Ghost and Player King in Hamlet, Malvolio in Twelfth Night, The title role of Richard III, Frank Ford in The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Bishop in Les Misérables, Jonas Fogg in Sweeney Todd, Polixenes in The Winter’s Tale, Doctor Purgeon in The Imaginary Invalid, Friar Laurence in Romeo and Juliet, Doctor Parker in Bat Boy: The Musical, Banquo in Macbeth, Caliban in The Tempest, Sandy Tyrell in Hay Fever, Marcus Lycus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) and the Ghost of Jacob Marley in A Christmas Carol. Other credits: Friar Laurence/Montague in the Short Shakespeare! Romeo and Juliet

and Macbeth in the Short Shakespeare!

Macbeth tour with Chicago Shakespeare Theater; Don Armado in Love’s Labour’s Lost, Dr. Watson in The Hound of the Baskervilles and Malvolio in Twelfth Night at Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival; Hucklebee in The Fantasticks, Bill Walker in Major Barbara, Hortensio in The Taming of the Shrew, Edmund in King Lear and Hastings in She Stoops to Conquer at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival; Prospero in The Tempest at Maine Shakespeare Festival; The Professor in All the Great Books (Abridged) at Delaware Theater Company; and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead at Writer’s Theater in Chicago. He holds an MFA from the University of Delaware Professional Theater Training Program. SLL’M ✶ Patricia Glaeser Cassandra Bissell* Jane/Mrs. Cratchit/ Charwoman/Ensemble Four seasons with Great Lakes Theater Cassandra is delighted to return for her third year in A Christmas Carol. Previous GLT credits: Twelfth Night, My Fair Lady, King Lear, The Secret Garden and Much Ado About Nothing. Regional (LORT) credits: Actors’ Theatre of Louisville (In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play, Memory House), Cleveland Play House (Noises Off, Pride and Prejudice), Court Theatre (Arcadia, Hamlet), Idaho Shakespeare Festival (Twelfth Night, My Fair Lady, King Lear, The Secret Garden, Much Ado About Nothing), Indiana Repertory (The Mousetrap), Milwaukee Repertory (In the Next Room..., My Name is Asher Lev), Northlight (Detroit ’67), People’s Light (Sense and Sensibility), Utah Shakespeare Festival (As You Like It, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tavern, Sense and Sensibility, The Comedy of Errors). Chicago (CAT) credits: Chicago Shakespeare Theater (Short Shakespeare! – Macbeth, King John, Short Shakespeare! – Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, Richard II), First Folio (Silent Sky – ✶ Thank you to our Character Sponsors for their generous support of the Great Lakes Theater acting company.

Jeff nomination, Best Actress), Rivendell Theatre Ensemble (Mary’s Wedding - Jeff nomination, Best Actress), Steppenwolf (The Berlin Circle), Victory Gardens (Memory House).

Small Professional Theatre (SPT) credits: Company of Fools (Constellations, Proof), freeFall Theatre (Harvey), Renaissance TheaterWorks (Amelia, The Understudy, Crumbs from the Table of Joy) and Peninsula Players (six seasons). BA in gender studies, University of Chicago. AEA and SAG/AFTRA. Neil Brookshire* Father/Bob Cratchit/Ensemble Seven seasons with Great Lakes Theater

Aled Davies* Second Charity Man/ Mr. Fezziwig/Rich Man 1 Seventeen seasons with Great Lakes Theater Previously for GLT: Snug/Egeus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Father Dupin/ Ensemble in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Marcellus/The Gravedigger in Hamlet, Mr. Fezziwig in A Christmas Carol, Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night, Colonel Pickering in My Fair Lady, The Old Actor in The Fantasticks, General Mackenzie in And Then There Were None, Scrooge/Samuels in A Christmas Carol, King Lear in King Lear, Gonzalo in The Tempest, Chief Inspector Hubbard in Dial “M” for Murder, John Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Arvide Abernathy in Guys and Dolls,

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Originally from Wyoming, Neil earned a BA from Boise State University and an MFA in acting from Northern Illinois University. Regional theater work includes 10 seasons with Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Company of Fools, Boise Contemporary Theater, Idaho Dance Theatre, Opera Idaho, Seattle Novyi Theatre, People’s Light, Cadence Theatre Company, Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, Door

Shakespeare and Peninsula Players. His film credits are The Pact, Stygian, Coming Up for Air and The Big Burn, as well as his own short films produced under the name Dirt Hills Productions: Farfalle Bianche, Upper Fields, Flesh and Blood and Get in the Truck. In addition to acting, Neil paints and writes.

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Capulet in Romeo and Juliet, Major Metcalf in The Mousetrap, Brabantio in Othello, The Earl of Caversham in An Ideal Husband, Sheriff Reynolds in Bat Boy: The Musical, Oberon/ Theseus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Your Chairman in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Dorn in The Seagull, Deputy Governor Danforth in The Crucible, King of France in All’s Well That Ends Well, Prospero in The Tempest, David Bliss in Hay Fever, Senex in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest, Julius Caesar in Julius Caesar, Claudius in Hamlet, Leonato in Much Ado About Nothing, Buckingham in Richard III, Topper in A Christmas Carol and others. Aled has been a proud and appreciative member of Actors’ Equity Association since 1984.

Jodi Dominick* Cynthia/Mrs. Fezziwig/ Laundress/Ensemble Nine seasons with Great Lakes Theater Previous roles include Susy in Wait Until Dark, Fantine in Les Misérables, Mistress Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd, Molly Ralston in The Mousetrap, Sally Bowles in Cabaret, The Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods, Olivia in Twelfth Night, Lady Chiltern in An Ideal Husband, Louison in The Imaginary Invalid, Mrs. Pearce in My Fair Lady and Prince Edward in Richard III. Eight seasons at The Idaho Shakespeare Festival, our sister company. Other credits include I Love You Because at the 14th Street Theater in Playhouse Square; Carrie The Musical, Passion and The Break Up Notebook at Beck Center.

Other theaters: New World Stages, Hudson Backstage Theater, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, The Hayworth Theatre, Dobama Theatre and The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. Jodi is a graduate of Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Music. ­­­

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Jonathan Dyrud* Young Scrooge/Nephew Fred/ Ensemble Four seasons with Great Lakes Theater Great Lakes Theater/Idaho

Shakespeare Festival: Hamlet in Hamlet, King Ferdinand in Love’s Labor’s Lost, Anthony Marston in And Then There Were None, Nephew Fred/Ensemble in A Christmas Carol, Edmund in King Lear, Tony Wendice in Dial “M” for Murder, Antonio in The Tempest.

Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival: Antipholus of Ephesus in Comedy of Errors. New York: Proteus in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, (Hip to Hip Theater Company). Regional credits: Oregon Shakespeare Festival – Medvedenko in The Seagull, Froth and Friar Peter in Measure for Measure. TV/film: Verder in Big House. Training: Southern Oregon University. For the Jens!

Mandie Jenson* Miss Elizabeth/Fan/ Martha Cratchit/Ensemble Two seasons with Great Lakes Theater Mandie is thrilled to return to Great Lakes Theater for her second season in A Christmas Carol! She was most recently seen this summer in the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival’s production of Love’s Labour’s Lost as Maria. Favorite credits include Luciana in The Comedy of Errors (Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival); Arabella in Animal Crackers, Spring Grace in As You Like It, Isabel in The Pirates of Penzance (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Juliet in Romeo and Juliet (Oregon Shakespeare Festival School Visit Program); Sally Brown in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown (Idaho Repertory Theatre); Johanna in Sweeney Todd (Virginia City Opera House). TV: My Crazy Love (The Oxygen Network), Suddenly Rich (TLC). She was The Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s 2011 Rex Rabold Fellow and has her BFA in musical theater from The University of Idaho. She is a proud member of Actors’ Equity. Love always to my CB. Patrick John Kiernan Streetsinger/Christmas Past/ Christmas Future/Ensemble Five seasons with Great Lakes Theater Patrick is thrilled to return for another Christmas at Playhouse Square! Most recently, he appeared as Guildenstern in

GLT’s Hamlet. Some favorite credits include Widge in The Shakespeare Stealer (Idaho Shakespeare Festival - Idaho Theater for Youth), Jake in Shiner (Good Luck Macbeth), Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet (Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival - Young Shakespeare) and the Narrator in Side by Side by Sondheim (Shadowland Stages). In addition to working onstage, Patrick is a sound designer and audio engineer whose work has appeared offBroadway and in regional theaters around the country. Many, many thanks to the cast, crew, and staff at GLT for another wonderful holiday season!

Andrew May* Topper/Miner/Rich Man 3/ Ensemble Eight seasons with Great Lakes Theater

Dougfred Miller* Marley’s Ghost/Lighthouse Keeper/Rich Man 2/ Undertaker Fifteen seasons with Great Lakes Theater Most recently, Doug portrayed a heartbreaking Polonius in Hamlet. Previous appearances include Holofernes in Love’s Labour’s Lost, Dr. Armstrong in And Then There Were None, Kent in King Lear, several characters in Dial “M” for Murder, the title role in Macbeth and a widely acclaimed Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing. In several seasons with the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, his roles have

BACHELOR OF FINE ARTS IN ACTING

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This play will mark Andrew’s 18th production as an actor at GLT. He is looking forward to sharing the stage with old and new friends in this holiday tradition.

Other theaters include Broadway international tour of War Horse, Pearl Theatre, City Theatre,

Organic Theatre, Wisdom Bridge Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Victory Gardens Theatre, Cleveland Play House, Studio Theatre DC, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Rep, Williamstown, Barrington Stage, Cincinnati Playhouse, Utah Shakespeare Festival and many more. Television/film: Big Love (HBO), What She Doesn’t Know (NBC), Babe Ruth (NBC), 227 (NBC), Duet (FOX) and Striking Distance (Columbia Pictures).

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275 Eastland Rd., Berea, OH 44017 (440) 826-2222 Baldwin Wallace University does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, age, disability, national origin, gender or sexual orientation in the administration of any policies or programs.

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included Malvolio in Twelfth Night, Don Pedro in Much Ado About Nothing, several Dukes, an Emperor in Amadeus and Prince Hal in Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2. Locally, he played Jim Tyrone in A Moon for the Misbegotten at the Coach House Theatre and King Arthur in Spamalot at the Beck Center (opposite his real life Lady of the Lake, Jessica Cope). Other theaters include the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Alaska Repertory Theatre and the Central Dramatic Theatre Company of Hanoi, Vietnam. Doug is a proud graduate of the PTTP at the University of Delaware and a prouder member of Actors’ Equity and a proudest dad of Marley.

Jessie Cope Miller* Debtor’s Wife/Ensemble Six seasons with Great Lakes Theater Jessie is delighted to return to A Christmas Carol! Her latest role was Jaquenetta in Love’s Labour’s Lost at the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival. Other favorite roles include Abuela in Beck Center’s production of In The Heights, Lady of the Lake in Spamalot (Beck Center for the Arts), Sheila in Hair (Blank Canvas Theatre), Irene Molloy in Hello Dolly! (Porthouse Theatre), Leading Player in Pippin (Cain Park, Alma Theater) and the Witch in Into the Woods (Great Lakes Theater). She has also performed in many concerts and cabarets around Cleveland for the Cleveland Stage Alliance and The Musical Theater Project’s Song Is You! concert series.

She is a proud member of Actors’ Equity and graduate of the Baldwin Wallace Music Theater Program. Many thanks go out to the entire Great Lakes Theater family. Much love to Dougfred, Marlowe, family and friends.

David Anthony Smith* Muggeridge/Christmas Present/Debtor/Ensemble Fifteen seasons with Great Lakes Theater

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GLT audiences have seen him as Prospero in The Tempest, Iago in Othello, Jaques in As You Like It, Duke of Buckingham in Richard III, Muggeridge/The Ghost of

Christmas Present/Debtor/Ensemble in A Christmas Carol, Viscount Goring in An Ideal Husband, Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Malvolio in Twelfth Night, Macduff in Macbeth, Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, Sergius in Arms and the Man, Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest, Marc Antony in Julius Caesar and Berowne in Love’s Labour’s Lost. He has performed at the Tony Award-winning Old Globe Theater in San Diego, South Coast Repertory, for 17 seasons with the Idaho Shakespeare Festival (title role in Henry V), Laguna Playhouse, Sierra Rep, Madison Rep and the Shakespeare festivals of Utah, Colorado, Garden Grove, Rhode Island, Nevada and Lake Tahoe. Forever and a day — Natalia.

Liam Stilson Master Richard/Peter Cratchit/Dick Wilkins/ Ensemble Great Lakes Theater debut Liam Stilson is overjoyed to be working with Great Lakes for the first time.

He is delighted to portray the roles of Master Richard, Peter Cratchit, Dick Wilkins and Ensemble in A Christmas Carol, a story close to his heart. His previous roles include Simon Stimson in Our Town (Baldwin Wallace University); Ed Livingood, Ernest Hemingway and Ensemble in Things as They Are (Playwrights Local); Melvin Wilder in The Diviners (Baldwin Wallace University); Ensemble in Incendiaries (Ohio City Theatre Project) and Michal Katurian in The Pillowman (Baldwin Wallace University). He is currently enrolled at Baldwin Wallace University where he studies classical acting technique in his sophomore year. Much love to Mom, Dad, Daniel, Tessa, Danyel and Julia! Now is the time to be alive!

M.A. Taylor* First Charity Man/Helmsman/ Joe the Keeper/Ensemble Fifteen seasons with Great Lakes Theater Mark Anthony (aka M.A.) is ecstatic to be a part of this lovely Cleveland tradition. Previous credits include King Louis Xl/Ensemble, Hunchback of Notre Dame;

Young Company Jeremy Hammel Master William/Tiny Tim ✶ Great Lakes Theater debut Jeremy is 8 years old and in third grade at Chippewa Elementary in Brecksville. He is thrilled to be making his theatrical debut, and is honored to perform with Great Lakes Theater in this classic and beloved tale.

Jeremy studies vocal performance with Amy Hanratty (Voice Variations). He also studies and performs vocals and keyboard with School of Rock Cleveland, and is a member of its audition-based rock band for kids up through eighth grade, the Major Minors, performing at various venues in the Cleveland area. His favorite rock singer of all time is Steve Perry of Journey. Jeremy is an avid tennis and ping pong player, and enjoys karaoke and kicking footballs. He thanks Avril Burg of Club Rock Cleveland for first putting him on stage with a band and a microphone at 4 years old, and Connie Gardner for his earliest training on the piano. Jeremy also thanks his family, friends,

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Puck, A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Reynaldo, Hamlet; Charity Man/Old Joe, A Christmas Carol; Feste, Twelfth Night; Doolittle, My Fair Lady; Rogers, And Then There Were None; Nathaniel, Love’s Labor’s Lost; Hugh Evans, Merry Wives of Windsor; Legles/Babet, Les Misérables; Le Beau/Oliver Martext, As You Like It; Beadle, Sweeney Todd; Lord Rivers, Richard III; Verges, Much Ado About Nothing; Guy, The Imaginary Invalid; Peter, Romeo and Juliet; Speed, The Two Gentlemen of Verona; Adam, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged); and Flute/Fairy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Also among his credits: Candy in Of Mice and Men (directed

by Adrian Hall) for PTTP/Rep, Dracula for Boise Contemporary Theater in the title role; Launce, Two Gentlemen of Verona; Gravedigger/ Player King and Hamlet at Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. He holds an MFA from the University of Delaware’s Professional Theatre Training Program (PTTP). He wishes to thank his families (both genetic and professional) for all their support and patience.

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teachers and classmates for their support. He is grateful to everyone at Great Lakes Theater for this opportunity, for their mentoring and for memories to last a lifetime. ✶ Anonymous Donor

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Laurien Palmer Soloist/Street Child Two seasons with Great Lakes Theater Laurien is delighted to be back at Great Lakes Theater to perform in A Christmas Carol. She is playing Soloist, a role she has always wanted to perform. She is excited to work with this fantastic, talented cast and crew! Laurien has performed in the off-Broadway production, This Way To Broadway, as a soloist and ensemble member and in Broadway Artists Alliance. Local roles include Esther Jane in A Christmas Story (Cleveland Play House), Skate Girl in A Christmas Carol (Great Lakes Theater), Ensemble in Godspell (Near West Theater), Children’s Choir in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat (Westlake PAC), Clara in The Nutcracker – The Musical (Bassett Elementary) and Charlie in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Beck Center MTC). Laurien is a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do, and studies piano, dance, singing and acting. Love to Mom, Dad and Paul. Thank you for your love and support.

Lainey Rambert Skate Girl/Ensemble Two seasons with Great Lakes Theater

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Lainey Rambert is a seventhgrader at Olmsted Falls Middle School. She is thrilled to return to A Christmas Carol, a show that won over her heart last year. Some of Lainey’s other favorite roles include Ophelia in A Shakespeare Capsulate, Narrator Girl in The Nutcracker, Tessie in Annie and Amaryllis in Music Man. When not acting, Lainey enjoys playing volleyball, singing, coding and reading. Lainey would like to thank her Mom, Dad, Stone and Grandpa for their love and support. She would also like to thank the cast, crew and staff of GLT; and Amy Hanratty for believing in her.

Yumi Ndhlovu Street Child/Swing Great Lakes Theater debut Yumi is an eighth-grader at Hathaway Brown School. Born in New York City, Yumi has lived in the Turks and Caicos Islands and now in Cleveland. She has appeared most recently as lead role Aurora in The Good Peaches, a collaboration between Cleveland Play House and the Cleveland Orchestra. Yumi also was recently in A Christmas Story as Helen and in The Crucible as Betty Parris with the Cleveland Play House. She has also played the role of Young Fiona in Shrek, the Musical with University School and Hathaway Brown, and was in Shrek, the Musical at Near West Theatre. Yumi has been in seven productions at Heights Youth Theatre, including James and the Giant Peach, Aladdin, Peter Pan, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The King and I, Annie and The Wiz. Additionally, she was seen in You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown at Hathaway Brown Theatre Institute. Yumi also loves social media, music video production, her friends and candy. She wrote and co-produced a music video called Girls. To find out more about Yumi, go to yumindhlovu.com.

Ellie Ritterbusch Miss Polly/Sarah Cratchit/ Want Three seasons with Great Lakes Theater Ellie is thrilled to be returning to Great Lakes Theater in this wonderful holiday production of A Christmas Carol! Her previous credits include Disaster! (Ben/Lisa), Evita (Child Soloist) at Spotlights Theater; Xanadu (Andrews Sister), Mary Poppins (Ensemble), Show Boat (Young Kim) at Near West Theatre; and The Little Mermaid (Ariel) at 82nd Street Theatre. Ellie is in the seventh grade and studies vocal performance with Ryan Bergeron. In addition to singing and acting, she enjoys skiing, babysitting and ✶ This character sponsorship is in honor of all children who courageously live with disabilities or illness and their families. “God bless us every one!”

spending time with friends and family. Ellie is extremely grateful to everyone at Great Lakes Theater for this amazing opportunity!

She is also thankful to her friends and family for their love and support. Enjoy the show!

Brenna Sherman Sled Boy/Boy Scrooge/ Ignorance Great Lakes Theater debut

Lindsey Smits Miss Abigail/Belinda Cratchit/ Ensemble Three seasons with Great Lakes Theater Lindsey is 12 years old and in the sixth grade at Olmsted Falls Middle

Xander Smits Master William/Tiny Tim ✶ Three seasons with Great Lakes Theater Xander is 10 years old and in the fourth grade at Olmsted Falls Intermediate School. He is honored and excited to play the iconic role of Tiny Tim alongside such an incredible cast and many friends! His previous roles include Delivery Boy in A Christmas Carol at Great Lakes Theater; Johnny in Dear Edwina, Jr. and Winthrop Paroo in The Music Man. Xander studies vocal performance under the direction

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Brenna is 8 years old and in the third grade. She is ecstatic to be working with Great Lakes Theater for the first time! Brenna watched GLT’s A Christmas Carol from the audience last year, making it a goal to be in the show someday.

She’s been performing on stage since age 4, and her favorite roles include Molly in Annie (Brecksville Little Theatre) and Fan, Cratchit Kid and Want in A Christmas Carol (Medina County Show Biz). When not on stage, you might catch Brenna in commercials and the upcoming films Clovehitch (with Dylan McDermott) and A Walk with Grace (with Stephen Baldwin). She studies vocal performance with Amy Hanratty of Voice Variations; and ballet, tap and jazz at Dance Dimensions. She wants to thank the staff of GLT for this amazing opportunity and support from mom, dad and brother, Brady. Instagram: @brennasherman

School. She is thrilled to be returning to perform with this talented cast and in her favorite holiday show! Lindsey was seen as Annie in the Brecksville Little Theater production of Annie this spring. Previous roles also include Jane in Mary Poppins, Brigitta in The Sound of Music, JoJo in Seussical and Young Eponine in Les Misérables. Lindsey has been dancing since she was 3 years old. She currently studies ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, hip hop and lyrical/ contemporary dance at Rock City Dance, and she is a member of Rock City’s Lyrical and Hip Hop competition teams. Lindsey studies vocal performance under the direction of Amy Hanratty, and she is a longstanding member of Voice Variations’ Encore vocal performance team. She has performed the national anthem at Lake Erie Crushers games, as well as other community and sporting events. Off-stage, Lindsey studies piano and enjoys fashion design. She dedicates her performance to all of her friends at Olmsted Falls Middle School, and sends her love to her grandmother.

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of Amy Hanratty. He also studies piano and drums at Northwoods Music. Xander recently filmed his first Hollywood movie, as well as an episode for an NBC show. He also acted as an extra in Hollidaysburgh (2014). In his free time, Xander enjoys writing, and he participates in his school newspaper and in science and chess clubs. He is a Boy Scout, holding the rank of Webelo, and plays basketball and golf. Xander dedicates his performance to all of his friends at Olmsted Falls Intermediate School, and sends love to his grandparents. ✶ Anonymous Donor Niko Ustin Delivery Boy/Ensemble Two seasons with Great Lakes Theater Niko is a sixth-grader at Ruffing Montessori School in Cleveland Heights. He is honored to return to the cast of A Christmas Carol. He has previously appeared as the Homeless Boy in The Grapes of Wrath with Sugar Creek Opera in Watseka, Illinois; Michael Banks in Mary Poppins with Mercury Theater Company in South Euclid; and in productions of The Jungle Book, Willy Wonka and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with Heights Youth Theatre in University Heights. He also has been a member of the Croatian folk dance group, Zagreb Junior Tamburitzans, and studies piano at CIM. His hobbies include soccer, basketball, skiing, 3-D printing, cooking and latte art.

Chase Christopher Zadd Master Robert/James Cratchit/Adolescent Scrooge/ Ensemble Five seasons with Great Lakes Theater

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Chase is 11 years old and in sixth grade at Bethany Lutheran School. He is beyond thrilled to be returning for his fifth season in this year’s production of A Christmas Carol!

Chase’s previous credits include Near West Theatre in Show Boat and Xanadu; Cassidy Theatre in Titanic, Alice in Wonderland, Show Business and Into the Woods (Jack). Chase was also the understudy for Colin Craven in Great Lakes Theater’s production of A Secret

Garden. He has learned so much from Great Lakes Theater and considers them his second family. Chase’s love of dancing, acting, and singing began when he was four. Chase has learned so much from acting and musical theater classes at Cassidy Theater and has trusted Amy Hanratty with his voice. He truly appreciates everyone who has helped him realize his dream of musical theater and loves and thanks his family and friends for their ongoing support and love. Thank you to Great Lakes Theater for this awesome opportunity!

Understudies Trevor Buda, Meghan Cordier, Aled Davies*, Jessie Cope Miller*, Yumi Ndhlovu, Jacob Slater, Niko Ustin, Mackenzie Wright

Directors Charles Fee Producing Artistic Director Sixteen seasons with Great Lakes Theater Directing credits at GLT: Hamlet (2017 and 2003), And Then There Were None, Dial “M” for Murder, Deathtrap, Blithe Spirit, Romeo and Juliet, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, The Comedy of Errors, Macbeth, All’s Well That Ends Well, Hay Fever, The Importance of Being Earnest, Arms and the Man and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). Charles holds a unique position in the American theater as producing artistic director of three independently operated, professional theater companies: Great Lakes Theater in Cleveland, Ohio (since 2002); Idaho Shakespeare Festival in Boise, Idaho (since 1991); and Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival in Incline Village, Nevada (since 2010). His appointments have resulted in a dynamic and groundbreaking producing model for the companies, in which more than 60 plays have been shared since 2002. In 2009, Charles was honored to receive recognition for his leadership by the Cleveland Arts Prize as a recipient of the Martha Joseph Award. Other awards include ✶ This character sponsorship is in honor of all children who courageously live with disabilities or illness and their families. “God bless us every one!”

Gerald Freedman Director, Adaptor Thirty seasons with Great Lakes Theater Gerald Freedman is Dean Emeritus of thenSchool of Drama at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, one of the leading undergraduate acting conservatories in the nation. An Obie Award winner and the first American invited to direct at the Globe Theatre in London, he is regarded internationally for his direction of productions of classic drama, musicals, operas, new plays and television. He served as leading director of Joseph Papp’s New York Shakespeare Festival from 1960 to 1971, the last four years as artistic director. He was co-artistic director of John Houseman’s The Acting Company from 1974 to 1977; artistic director of the American Shakespeare Theatre from 1978 to 1979; and artistic director of Great Lakes Theater in Cleveland, Ohio, from 1985 to 1997. Gerald has staged 29 of Shakespeare’s plays, along with dozens of other world classics. He made theater history

with his off-Broadway premiere of the landmark rock musical Hair, which opened the Public Theater in 1967. Broadway direction includes The Robber Bridegroom; The Grand Tour; the revival of West Side Story, co-directed with Jerome Robbins; the premiere of Arthur Miller’s The Creation of the World and Other Business; and Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession. Gerald also directed opera productions for the Opera Society of Washington (Kennedy Center), the San Francisco Opera Company and the New York City Opera. Prior to assuming his current position at UNC School of the Arts, he taught at Yale and Juilliard. A native of Lorain, Ohio, he received both his B.S. and his M.A. (summa cum laude) from Northwestern University, where he trained with the legendary Alvina Krause. In NY, he studied classical voice with Emmy Joseph and acting/ directing at The Actors Studio.

Tom Ford Director, Staging Twelve seasons with Great Lakes Theater Directing: Upcoming – A new musical adaptation of Around the World in 80 Days adapted by Alex Syiek, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Stuart Little, The Shakespeare Stealer, The Comedy of Errors (Idaho Shakespeare Festival Education Tours), The Fantasticks and Straw Hat Revue (New London Barn Playhouse) and Really Rosie (The Night Kitchen). Acting: Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Quince in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady, Sir Andrew Aguecheeck in Twelfth Night, Wargrave in And Then There Were None, Dull in Love’s Labour’s Lost, Dr. Craven in The Secret Garden, Fool in King Lear, Stephano in The Tempest, Sidney Bruhl in Deathtrap, Dr. Caius in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Thénardier in Les Misérables, Sweeney in Sweeney Todd, Argan in The Imaginary Invalid, Mr. Paravicini in The Mousetrap, Baker in Into the Woods, Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Casca in Julius Caesar. Idaho Shakespeare Festival: Hunchback, Midsummer, My Fair Lady, Twelfth Night, And Then There Were None, The Tempest, The Secret Garden, King Lear, Les Misérables, Sweeney Todd, Richard

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The Mayor’s and Governor’s awards for Excellence in the Arts, Idaho. From 1988 to 1992, he held the position of artistic director at the Sierra Repertory Theatre in California.

He has also worked with The Old Globe, La Jolla Playhouse, the Milwaukee and Missouri repertory theaters, Actor’s Theatre of Phoenix and the Los Angeles Shakespeare Festival.

In addition to his work with the companies in Ohio, Idaho and Nevada, Charles is active within the community. He has served as a member of the strategic planning committee for the Morrison Center, as producer of the FUNDSY Award Gala (’96, ’98 and 2000), and as producer of the 1996 Idaho Governor’s Awards in the Arts. Charles has served on the board of the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce and as a member of the Downtown Rotary Club. He received his BA from the University of the Pacific and Master of Fine Arts from the University of California, San Diego. Along with his wife, Lidia and daughter, Alexa, Charles resides in Boise, Cleveland and Lake Tahoe –– a feat that is only possible because of the incredible love and support of his family, and the generous communities he serves!

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III, The Imaginary Invalid, The Winter’s Tale, The Mousetrap, Into the Woods, Macbeth, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Merry Wives of Windsor and You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown. Other theaters include Boise Contemporary Theater, Portland Stage Company and New London Barn Playhouse. Broadway: Alan Ayckbourn and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s By Jeeves at the Helen Hayes Theater.

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David Shimotakahara Choreographer Twenty-nine seasons with Great Lakes Theater David Shimotakahara was a member of the Atlanta Ballet, Boston Repertory Ballet, Kathryn Posin Dance Company and Pittsburgh Ballet Theater. He performed with Ohio Ballet under the direction of Heinz Poll from 19831998. In 1998, he founded GroundWorks Dance Theater, for which he is Executive, Artistic Director. Based in Cleveland, the company is committed to creating and producing new work in dance. Mr. Shimotakahara has choreographed for opera and theater with Cleveland Opera, Great Lakes Theater, Cleveland Play House and the Dallas Theater Center. He has received seven Individual Artist Fellowships for Choreography from the Ohio Arts Council. In 1998, he received a McKnight Foundation Fellowship from the Minnesota Dance Alliance to create new work in the Minneapolis, St. Paul communities. Mr. Shimotakahara was awarded the 2000 Cleveland Arts Prize for Dance. In 2002, his work with GroundWorks Dance Theater was voted “One of 25 to Watch” by Dance Magazine. In 2007, he received the OhioDance award for Outstanding Contributions to the Advancement of the Dance Artform. In 2010 and 2014, Mr. Shimotakahara was a recipient of a Creative Workforce Fellowship, a program of the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture, funded by Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.

Matthew Webb Music Director Eleven seasons with Great Lakes Theater

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Matthew is a graduate of the Baldwin Wallace College Conservatory of Music, resides in

New York City and hails from Cordova, Illinois. This is his seventh year as music director of A Christmas Carol in the Ohio Theatre. Previously at Great Lakes Theater: Forever Plaid, Hamlet, The Fantasticks, Sweeney Todd, Sondheim on Sondheim, Guys and Dolls, Cabaret, Bat Boy, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Into the Woods, Macbeth, Two Gentlemen of Verona and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. He is currently the music supervisor for the acclaimed corporate entertainment group, The Water Coolers, and has performed for such clients as AT&T, Adobe, Citibank, Toastmasters, Gogo Air, Pitney Bowes and Dunkin Brands. For two years, he created the sound design for Idaho Shakespeare Festival’s Shakespearience, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in cooperation with Arts Midwest, and their productions of Macbeth, and Much Ado About Nothing. He sends abundant love and gratitude to Tom, Sara, Charlie and his amazing parents, Carol and Jerry. Merry Christmas!

Designers Mary Jo Dondlinger Lighting Designer Thirty seasons with Great Lakes Theater Career design credits include productions for Circle in the Square, The Irish Repertory Theater, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, TheatreWorks (Hartford) and many others. Mary Jo has long been associated with the York Theatre Company off-Broadway where she designed the original production of The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!), as well as many other musicals and plays. Most recent credits at Great Lakes Theater are The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Forever Plaid, The Fantasticks, Les Miserables, Sweeney Todd and Sondheim on Sondheim.

John Ezell Scenic Designer Forty-one seasons with Great Lakes Theater Award-winning associate artistic director and director of design at GLT under Vincent

Gene Emerson Friedman Scenic Designer Twenty-nine seasons with Great Lakes Theater Gene has designed Gerald Freedman’s adaptations of A Christmas Carol and People Who Led to My Plays, as well as The Dearest Friends, The Boor, The Enemies, The World of Sholom Aleichem and What the Butler Saw (Great Lakes Theater Festival). Other designs include Calderon’s Life is a Dream (New York’s Lincoln Center); Richard III, Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, Romeo and Juliet (Heart of America Shakespeare Festival); Second City Does Arizona (Arizona Theatre Company); A Christmas Carol, Death of a Salesman, Master Class, I’m Not Rappaport (Kansas City Rep); The Music Man, Carousel, La Cage aux Folles (Stages- Saint Louis); Death and the Maiden (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis). Gene is

architectural historian of the Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe [1629] at Zuni Pueblo, and he serves as archivist and curator of the Casa de Santo Nino also at Zuni. He is a tenured associate professor of design at UMKC. His fine art, Stages Of Conversion, has been seen at multiple galleries.

Stan Kozak Sound Designer Thirty-two seasons with Great Lakes Theater Stan Kozak, among his more than 50 design credits, most recently designed sound for Bat Boy: the Musical, The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Comedy of Errors. His work in 1979 and 1981 with Geraldine Fitzgerald on Streetsongs at GLT led to the original cast album. Mr. Kozak was the resident sound designer for four seasons at the Porthouse Theatre Company, including productions of Driving Miss Daisy, Niteclub Confidential and And a Nightingale Sang. His collaborations with Victoria Bussert at Baldwin-Wallace College include productions of Chess, Hair, Cabaret, West Side Story, Tommy in Concert, the Ohio premiere of Stephen Sondheim’s Passion and one of the first nonprofessional productions of Phantom of the Opera. For Cain Park, his design credits include Secret Garden; Fiddler on the Roof; Bat Boy: the Musical; Tick, tick...Boom; Nine; The Wiz; and Pippin. Mr. Kozak has also designed sound for Dobama Theater, Cleveland Opera, Beck Center, the Jewish Community Theater and TrueNorth Cultural Arts. He has served as sound designer for the All-City Musical for the last nine seasons, as well as for the Ideastream Gala concert with Bebe Neuwirth in 2005. He was honored to be among the first group of LORT sound designers to achieve recognition in USA 829.

GreatLakesTheater.org

Dowling, Gerald Freedman and James Bundy.

He has designed for Broadway; New York Shakespeare Festival; NY Public Theatre; Crossroads Theatre; Roundabout Theatre; Shakespeare Theatre at the Folger; Williamstown; Berkshire; Old Globe; Coconut Grove; Asolo State Theatre; Arizona Theatre Company; Milwaukee Repertory Theater; Dallas Theatre Center; Indiana and Kansas City repertory theaters; Cincinnati Playhouse; Hong Kong Repertory Theatre; Market Theatre in Johannesburg, South Africa; the Istanbul Cultural Olympics; Pacific Conservatory for the Performing Arts; Lyric Opera; Blackstone Theatre and Second City in Chicago; Cincinnati Ballet; Royal Danish Ballet; Royal Theatre in Copenhagen; Swedish Riksteater and the Cullberg Ballet in Stockholm; and CBS, PBS-TV and Swedish State Television. His drawings have been exhibited in New York, San Diego, Phoenix, Dallas, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Prague and Brussels. His work received the Award for Experimental Television Art in Milan, Italy; two Corporation for Public Broadcasting Awards for Excellence; and 15 national Critic’s Circle awards, including the 2011-2012 Connecticut Critics Circle Award for best professional sets at the historic Westport Country Playhouse. He is a Fellow of the College of the American Theatre at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Tom Mardikes Sound Designer Twenty-nine seasons with Great Lakes Theater Tom Mardikes most recently designed sound for GLT’s summer 2005 production of The Merry Wives of Windsor. His past designs have been for Julius Caesar, The Dybbuk, King Lear, Hamlet and The Cherry Orchard.

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He has worked on more than 250 professional productions nationwide, where he has designed for Kansas City (formerly Missouri) Rep, the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Starlight Theatre, the Unicorn Theatre, the Dallas Theatre Center, Syracuse Stage, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, the Roundabout, Buffalo Studio Arena, Alley Theatre, Heart of America Shakespeare Festival and Shakespeare Santa Cruz. In the spring of 2015, he designed sound for Satchel Paige and the Kansas City Swing for Repertory Theatre St. Louis and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. He is the head of graduate sound design training and the chair of the nationally prominent professional theater-training program at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. In 2005, he co-founded Kansas City Actors Theatre that has successfully produced acclaimed productions with its artist-led, artist-driven mission.

James Scott Costume Designer Twenty-nine seasons with Great Lakes Theater James Scott has designed costumes for productions of works by Shakespeare, Moliere, Ibsen, Chekhov, Mozart, Rossini, Verdi and Puccini at regional theaters and opera houses across the country. Among his favorite productions are Love’s Labour’s Lost for the New York Shakespeare Festival; Ten Little Indians, Arcadia, The Miracle Worker and The Most Happy Fella for the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis; The Merchant of Venice for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival; Norma and Il trovatore for the Minnesota Opera; Il barbiere di Siviglia for the Washington Opera; MacBeth, Othello and The Taming of the Shrew for the Acting Company’s national tours; Funny Girl, Fiddler on the Roof and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg for the Sundance Theatre; and Sweeney Todd, I pagliacci, and Il viaggio a Reims for the Portland Opera in Oregon. His production credits for Great Lakes Theater span more than 20 years, and include Romeo and Juliet, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Rough Crossing, As You Like It and A Little Night Music. Mr. Scott is a graduate of New York and Brown universities, and attended the School of Law at The City

University of New York. He is also an elite figure-skater and is thrilled that Cleveland hosted the Gay Games in 2014. He would like to dedicate the design for this production in memory of Susan Gregg, director of Fallen Angels for Great Lakes Theater.

Cynthia Stillings Lighting Designer Twenty-seven seasons with Great Lakes Theater Cynthia Stillings designs regionally and nationally, and designed the Great Lakes Theater premiere of Adrienne Kennedy’s Ohio State Murders. Opera and dance credits include Sweeney Todd, Carmen, Of Mice and Men, Man of La Mancha and Turandot for Cleveland Opera, where she was resident lighting designer; Tartuffe for Skylight Opera Theatre; and An American Festival for the Cincinnati Ballet. Regional theater credits include Utah Shakespearean Festival, where she designed The Matchmaker, Candida and the world premiere of the new musical Lend Me a Tenor, the Musical; Madison Repertory Theatre; Porthouse Theatre; Cain Park Theatre; The Contemporary American Theatre Company; Phoenix Theatre Circle and an award-winning production of Assassins for Players Theater Columbus. Ms. Stillings is currently Associate Dean of the College of the Arts at Kent State University.

Robert Waldman Music Adaptor and Arranger Twenty-nine seasons with Great Lakes Theater Robert Waldman has written primarily for the theater. He began his career as a protégé of Frank Loesser, and his music has been heard in Alfred Uhry’s The Last Night of Ballyhoo at Cleveland Play House and Edgardo Mine at the Guthrie Theater, as well as in GLT’s production of Glass Menagerie; in New York in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Driving Miss Daisy, The Heiress, Voices in the Dark; and Lincoln Center’s Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Ivanov, Dinner at Eight, The Rivals, Jon Robin Baitz’ A Fair Country and Ten Unknowns. Most recently, his work was heard in Wendy Wasserstein’s Third, David Mamet’s A Life in the Theatre and Peter Parnell’s The

Stage Management Tim Kinzel* Stage Manager Eight seasons with Great Lakes Theater Tim has stage managed 20-plus productions for Great Lakes Theater. Recent credits include The Hunchback of Notre Dame, My

Fair Lady, Hamlet and Forever Plaid. Tim has multiple stage management credits from the following companies: Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Playwrights Horizon, Cherry Lane Theater NYC and Houston’s Stages Repertory Theatre.

Love to his family and friends. Cleveland native and diehard sports fan. Thank you for supporting the arts at Playhouse Square during the holiday season. GO CAVS! Jessica B. Lucas* Assistant Stage Manager Six seasons with Great Lakes Theater Previous assistant stage management and production assistant credits include The Hunchback of Notre Dame, My Fair Lady, The Secret Garden, King Lear, Dial “M” for Murder, Les Miserables, A Christmas Carol and Deathtrap with Great Lakes Theater; And Then There Were None, Love’s Labor’s Lost, My Fair Lady, Dial “M” for Murder, Secret Garden and King Lear with Idaho Shakespeare Festival; and Luna Gale with Cleveland Play House. Previous stage management credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Wait Until Dark with Great Lakes Theater; Wait Until Dark, Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Idaho Shakespeare Festival; Twelfth Night and The Misanthrope with Cleveland Play House/CWRU MFA Program; and Memphis, Rent and Aida with the All-City Musical program. Jessica earned her BA in theater from the University of Scranton, and is a proud member of Actors’ Equity. GF, you are my favorite.

GreatLakesTheater.org

Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket. Waldman composed the score for Broadway’s Here’s Where I Belong and The Robber Bridegroom, which was nominated for a Drama Desk Award, as well as winning most recently the 2016 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Revival, and Florida’s Poinciana and Parker Playhouse’s revue of Lois Wyse’s Funny You Don’t Look Like a Grandmother. His music has been heard in Arthur Laurents’ 2 Lives; Hartford Stage’s musical, America’s Sweetheart; Long Wharf ’s As You Like It and The School for Scandal; Washington Shakespeare Theater’s Richard II and The Country Wife; as well as the Kennedy Center musical, Swing. Performances of Mr. Waldman’s compositions have been heard in films, on television, in ballets and in numerous commercials and concert halls.

Illustrated collections of some 40 of his piano compositions for children have been published by G. Schirmer — among them A Swing Bag, A Rag Bag, A ¾ Bag and A Santa Bag. He has received a National Endowment for the Arts grant in musical theater, the Dramatists Guild of America’s Flora Roberts Award for Outstanding Music for the Theater and the JEFF Award in Chicago for Best Original Music for Driving Miss Daisy.

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DONORS The trustees, staff and artistic company of Great Lakes Theater express our deepest gratitude to the hundreds of supporters of “Cleveland’s Classic Company.” The donors listed below and on the following pages made generous gifts to the Annual Fund between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017. “I can no other answer make but thanks.” Twelfth Night, Act III, Scene iii

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Make a Contribution Great Lakes Theater served more than 130,000 students and adults last year through its Hanna and Ohio Theatre mainstage productions and education programs throughout northeast Ohio. This would not have been possible without the annual support of the hundreds of generous donors listed below. Please consider joining the Great Lakes Theater family by making a tax-deductible contribution to support Cleveland’s Classic Company. Visit the “Support Us” section of our website (GreatLakesTheater.org) or call us at (216) 453-1067 to learn more about our Membership and donation programs.

Sponsors: Company Sponsors $100,000 and above The Cleveland Foundation***

Cuyahoga Arts & Culture*** Lead Sponsors $50,000 to $99,999 The David & Inez Myers Foundation*** Ohio Arts Council*** The Kelvin & Eleanor Smith Foundation***

The George Gund Foundation*** The Kulas Foundation*** The John P. Murphy Foundation***

Sponsors $25,000 to $49,999 The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation* The Community Foundation of Lorain County*** The Martha Holden Jennings Foundation*** The Reinberger Foundation***

Season Sponsors:

Shakespeare in American Communities: National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest John & Barbara Schubert***

Media Sponsors:

Great Lakes Theater Business Alliance:

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*3 – 5 consecutive years as a donor **6 – 9 consecutive years as a donor ***10 or more consecutive years as a donor

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THE SHAKESPEARE SOCIETY

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Annual Fund donors of $1,000 and above are members of Great Lakes Theater’s “Shakespeare Society” and are entitled to certain benefits, including invitations to special Society events and activities. For more information, contact Chris Fornadel at (216) 453-1067.

Avon Circle ($10,000 to $24,999)

Globe Circle ($2,500 to $4,999)

Folio Circle ($1,000 to $2,499)

The Abington Foundation** Eaton Corporation*** First Energy Foundation The GAR Foundation*** Jack & Mary Ann Katzenmeyer*** Janet E. Neary*** The Lubrizol Foundation*** Nordson Corporation Foundation** Don & Anne Palmer*** Tim & Lynn Pistell*** PNC* Georgianna T. Roberts*** The Shubert Foundation*** Thomas G. & Ruth M. Stafford***

Anonymous (2) Chuck & Bonnie Abbey** Walt & Laura Avdey** Dalia & Robert Baker*** Mitch & Liz Blair*** Glenn & Jenny Brown*** Mr. & Mrs. Homer D. W. Chisholm*** The George W. Codrington Charitable Foundation*** Gail Cudak & Thomas Young*** Timothy J. Downing & Ken Press* Charles, Lidia & Alexa Fee** Dianne V. Foley* Steve Gariepy & Nancy Sin*** Mr. & Mrs. Samuel Hartwell*** Paul R. & Denise Horstman Keen** Mary Elizabeth Huber William W. Jacobs*** Katie Kennedy & Doug White The Laub Foundation*** Victor C. Laughlin, M.D. Memorial Foundation Trust*** Mr. & Mrs. Donald J. Mayer*** Jack McGrath*** Katie McVoy & Justin Cernansky Donald W. Morrison*** Nicholas & Sue Peay*** Dr. Scott & Mrs. Judy Pendergast*** Mr. & Mrs. Michael J. Peterman*** Thomas A. Piraino & Barbara C. McWilliams** Prof. Alan Miles Ruben & Judge Betty Willis Ruben* Mr. & Mrs. Robert C. Ruhl*** Kim Sherwin** Sally J. Staley*** Arthur L. Thomas John and Lori Wheeler Kevin M. & Anne R. White** Robert & Emily Williams* Ms. Rebecca A. Zuti & Mr. Anthony D. DeCello**

Anonymous (1) Michelle R. Arendt*** Robyn & David Barrie*** John & Laura Bertsch** David & Carolyn Bialosky* Kim & Bart Bixenstine** Jack & Janice Campbell*** Beverly J. Coen** Ms. Leslie C. Dickson* Barry & Suzanne Doggett*** Dr. Howard Epstein The Gries Family Foundation*** Elizabeth Grove & Rich Bedell* Drs. Thomas & Cynthia Gustaferro Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc.*** Kenneth Karosy*** Faisal Khan & Angela DiCorleto Donna M. & Alex I. Koler The Milton A. & Charlotte R. Kramer Charitable Foundation* John J. and JoAnn D. Lane* Mr. & Mrs. William E. MacDonald III* Mr. & Mrs. Douglas McGregor Ms. Danielle M. Morris Ms. Karen Nemec** Mr. & Mrs. Patrick W. O’Connor** Mr. & Mrs. Wilmer M. Piper*** John & Norine Prim*** Ms. Ana G. Rodriguez Linda Schlageter*** Brit & Kate Stenson*** Christopher & Gail Steward Helen F. & Louis Stolier Family Foundation The Alvah Stone & Adele Corning Chisholm Memorial Fund Diana & Eugene Stromberg*** Gerald F. Unger*** Mary C. Warren** Mr. & Mrs. Thomas D. Warren Mr. & Mrs. Paul L. Wellener IV*** Julie Sabroff Willoughby Mr. Lee C. Zeiszler*

Stratford Circle ($5,000 to $9,999) The Eva L. & Joseph M. Bruening Foundation*** Mr. Todd M. Burger & Ms. Kristie Beck* Bill & Judie Caster** Carol Dolan & Greggory Hill** Richard & Evelyn Dolejs** Natalie Epstein*** Ernst & Young, LLP*** The Harry K. & Emma R. Fox Foundation*** The Giant Eagle Foundation** Diane Kathleen Hupp* Susan & John Lebold Mr. & Mrs. Leslie H. Moeller*** David P. Porter & Margaret K. Poutasse*** The Sherwin-Williams Company Laura & Alvin Siegal*** Paul A. and Sonja F. Unger Fund The Thomas H. White Foundation, a KeyBank Trust**

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*3-5 consecutive years as a donor. **6-9 consecutive years as a donor. *** 10 or more consecutive years as a donor.

THE LEGACY SOCIETY

Great Lakes Theater’s Legacy Society honors individuals, families, foundations and other generous donors that make gifts to Great Lakes Theater’s Endowment Fund or have made a provision for Great Lakes Theater through their estate plans.

Please consider becoming a member of the growing list of generous Great Lakes Theater Legacy Society supporters and help ensure that classic theater endures for future generations in northeast Ohio by designating Great Lakes Theater a beneficiary in your will, trust or other estate plans.

“Evermore thanks.”

Marilyn* & Paul* Brentlinger Willard & Donna Carmel Mary* & Leigh Carter Natalie & Morton* Epstein Edward S. Godleski Mary Jane Davis Hartwell* Samuel S. Hartwell Jack & Mary Ann Katzenmeyer Kate Lunsford Mary Anne* & Jack McGrath Janet & Bob* Neary

Richard II, Act II, Scene ii James A. Nelson* Donald & Anne Palmer Tim & Lynn Pistell Professor Alan Miles Ruben & Judge Betty Willis Ruben The John Sherwin Family George* & Marjorie* Springer Thomas G. & Ruth M. Stafford Arthur L. Thomas Audrey* & Dick* Watts

*Deceased: The legacy of these generous donors lives on for future generations.

LEAVE A LEGACY!

For more information regarding planned gifts, please contact Todd Krispinsky, Director of Institutional Advancement.

(216) 453-4449 | tkrispinsky@greatlakestheater.org

Welcome! The following individuals made their first gift or returned as active donors to Great Lakes Theater’s Annual Fund during the period July 1, 2017 through October 25, 2017. The Great Lakes Theater family welcomes you!

at Playhouse Square

Gene & Patricia Ewald Lisa Greb Dr. Steven & Lena Kanter Steven & Dolly Minter

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Mary Perkins Mr. & Mrs. James M. Petras Ms. Betsy R. Quinn Jeff & Beth Ann Sedam

Sustainers ($500 to $999)

Patrons ($250 to $499)

Anonymous (1) Jeffrey Boecker & Susan Iler Julia & Ben Brouhard* H.F. & J.C. Burkhardt*** Beverly & Bruce Cameron* Donald & Annamarie Chick*** Eileen Kennedy & Greg Cloyd Bruce & Maryellen Cudney* Carolyn & Charles Dickson*** Mary Dolan & David Haracz James Eschmeyer*** Evans Charitable Foundation Dale & Linda Gabor Janet & Patricia Glaeser*** Gary & Joanna Graeff* Virginia Hansen*** Mr. & Mrs. Donald Kimmel** Chris & Laura Larson Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin M. Lesh Eva & Rudolf Linnebach* Ken & Mary Loparo*** Mr. & Mrs. Thomas M. Lynch*** Mark & Barbara Mazzone* Francis & Viola McDowell** Helen & Harry Mercer** The Music and Drama Club Deborah L. Neale*** Doug Perkowski Mr. John Rampe Thomas & Helen Rathburn** Naomi G. & Edwin Z. Singer Family Fund, a supporting foundation of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland** Karl & Carol Theil Raymond Voelker* William Wilkinson Margaret & Loyal Wilson* Women’s Committee of Great Lakes Theater Festival*** Brian Wynne & Patrick Cozzens** Ms. Margaret E. Zellmer* Patrick M. Zohn*** John & Jane Zuzek***

The Thomas and Joann Adler Family Donor Advised Fund of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland*** Joel & Teresa Andreani Thomas & Joan Baker* Mr. & Mrs. Benham S. Bates** Fred & Mary Behm*** Kathy Berkshire John & Jeannene Bertosa** Gary & Kay Bluhm** Bernice A. Bolek*** Bette Bonder & Patrick Bray** Richard & Mary Ann Brockett* Mr. & Mrs. Eric J. Carlson Tim & Cindy Carr* Ms. Megan Casserlie* Robert and Susan Conrad Dr. & Mrs. Kevin D. Cooper* Audrey DeClement*** Pete & Margaret Dobbins* Mr. & Mrs. L. William Erb* Jon & Mary Fancher** Ann & Harry Farmer* Mr. Joseph A. Ferritto Mary Eileen Fogarty*** Mr. & Mrs. Gerald R. Frei** Ted & Nancy Goble Mr. & Mrs. Richard S. Gray** John Greene* Robert T. Hexter Rick Hoch Mr. Herbert J. Hoppe, Jr. Robert & Linda Jenkins** Amy & Jeff Johnson* Bernie & Nancy Karr*** Ms. Joylen J. Kent* Charles King & Catherine Keating Bill & Susan Kirchner Bob & Nanci Kirkpatrick*** Ronald G. Kollar*** Stephen & Carolyn Kuerbitz Fred & Joann Lafferty*** Morton & Lola Litt* Anne R. & Kenneth E. Love** Jennifer & Peter Meckes* The Mersol Family*** David & Leslee Miraldi*** Steve Z. & Mary Gibbs Mitchell***

Ryan Vidmar Adam Wilde Colleen Williams & Jim Persichitti

Dale Sr., Dale Jr. & Gayle Montgomery Frank Rausche Dr. Edward J. Rockwood*** Reinhold & Ginny Roedig*** Mrs. Sharon M. Rogers*** Otmar & Rota Sackerlotzky*** Paul Schumacher Dr. Howard Simon* Dr. & Mrs. Lynn A. Smith*** The Edward & Katherine Thomas Family Frank & Vicki Titas** Robert & Marti Vagi** Mr. & Mrs. James D. Vail** Carol Lee Vella*** James L. Wagner** Nancy-Anne Wargo* Dr. & Mrs. Gregory A. Watts** Chris & Mary Weaver Mrs. Betty S. Weiss** Mr. John Wiedemann & Ms. Pamela Schnellinger* David Wildermuth Donald & Dorothy Zito*

Associates ($125 to $249) Anonymous (5) Lori Adler** Ms. Nancy J. Arndt Dolores P. Bastaich Ms. Pamela Benson* Mr. & Mrs. Thomas W. Berges Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Beyer Roger Bielefeld** Martha & Wayne Bifano Denise Blanda Susan Bobey** John Bolton*** Ms. Dorothy F. Borer* Joanne R. Bratush*** James F. Brown Mike & Carole Brown* V. Elizabeth Brown** Larry & Andi Carlini** Mr. & Mrs. Lucien H. Case Jean McQuillan & Richard Christ*** John & Donna Clifford*** James Collins Rollin & Anne Conway**

Stan & Lisa Corwin David & Gayle Cratty*** Daniel Divis Daniel & Joyce Dyer * Mr. & Mrs. Robert Eikenburg*** Robert Erikson Dr. & Mrs. Robert L. Fairchild David V. Foos*** Charles & Julia Gall** Mrs. Carla Gallagher* Mrs. Barbara J. Garris Deborah A. Geier*** Greg & Gail Gibson*** Virginia T. Goetz* Elaine H. Green Jean E. Gubbins** Tom & Kirsten Hagesfeld** Michael & Suzanne Harris* Curt & Karen Henkle** Robin Herrington-Bowen Mr. and Mrs. Douglas M. Hicks Kathy & Jamie Hogg*** Clyde A. Horn*** Mr. & Mrs. Robert L. Janson* Marilyn & Howard Karfeld*** Lauren Kawentel** William & Marion Kettering* Michael & Lynn Kleinman* Mr. Thomas Knox* Mr. & Mrs. Mark D. Kozel*** Jacob Kronenberg & Barbara Belovich*** Eleanor & Stephen Kushnick*** Leslie Lahr* Jennifer & Robert Larson* Mr.& Mrs. Brian Lawler* Gregory Leach* Gregory & Vickie Leyes* Thomas & Sheryl Love Mr. & Mrs. John M. Lovett* Brian & Renee Lowery** Robert & Beth MacMurray* Kimberly A. Mahoney Manubay Joshua K. Mayers Mr. & Mrs. Robert E. McDonald*** Bill & Marilyn Miller Roy & Cindy Moore*** Toni & Linda Moore** Ms. Barbara H. Nahra Tom & Mary Neff** Thomas Neff Robert & Margery Orth

Friends ($75 to $124) Anonymous (2) Ms. Josephine B. Anderson Kimberley Barton Thomas D. Basco Brian & Teresa Bester Tom & Dorothy Bier Elizabeth A. Billings Dr. & Mrs. Dieter F. Bloser*** Phyliss M. Boggs Mr. & Mrs. Charles P. Bolton*** Dr. W. H. Boom & Ms. Anne L. Batzell Mr. Stanley C. Brandt & Ms. Mary K. Whitmer*** Susan Brenneman Barbara J. Burke** Kathy Caldwell Robert S. Carillio Dr. & Mrs. Dale H. Cowan* Samuel Cowling** Dr. Ben S. Curatolo Judith Darus* Lowell & Carole Davis*** Chris & Mary Ann Deibel*** Donna Douglas*** Virginia Dybicz The Eldridge Family Janice Evans**

Douglas D. Farling Mr. & Mrs. Frank L. Field*** Daniel Fishwick Carmela Freeman Mr. & Mrs. Lou Galizio*** Marian Hancy** Jean Heller* Frank & Gerry Hoffert** Mark & Lynn Hofflund* Ron & Joanne Hulec*** William Ivancic** Marie Ivkanec* Thomas Jecker Mr. & Mrs. Joseph C. Kelley Dennis Kelly** Mr. Gilbert P. Kenehan* Samuel C. Kennell* Mr. Kenneth R. Kessler Mr. & Mrs. Albert Kirby Mr. & Mrs. Gregory G. Kruszka* Ms. Linda V. Lefkovitz* James M. Lewan James Marino Anne Martin Francis Martin Connie May James L. Mayer Cathy J. McCall*** Rev. Edward E. Mehok*** Antoinette Miller*** Diane Moffett Mr. John M. Moss & Mrs. Karen J. Moss Kim Whitesel-Nakel Mr. and Mrs. Robert Neides Mark Norris Gerald Norton Maura O’Donnell-McCarthy Joan M. Oravec*** Meribeth Pannitto Peggy & Michael Partington*** Mr. Alan A. Pomiecko Larry & Susan Rakow* Judy & Clifford Reeves** The Reinker Family*** Mr. & Mrs. Gerald P. Rencehausen Peter E. Renerts Ms. Jacqueline Y. Rhodes** Robinson Family Philanthropic Fund of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland* Mr. Mark J. Salling & Ms. Cindie Carroll Pankhurst*** Doris A. Schultz** Steve & Kathy Schultz** Linda Sebald* Randall & Sara Shaner Dr. Dave & Faye Sholiton* Ms. Sue N. Siefert Ms. Ellen J. Skinner Mary Slowey Alma L. Smith* Edward W. & Donna Rae Smith James Sonday

James Spallino Gail Stroud Laura L. Sutera Ms. Elizabeth Swenson* Linda Taege Carol A. Vidoli*** Michael Wagner Tom Wagner & Malinda Smyth** Rev. & Mrs. David M. Walker*** Sharon & Yoash Wiener*** Todd Wilson Ms. Janet R. Wolf Arthur & Deborah Zinn* *3 – 5 consecutive years as a donor **6 – 9 consecutive years as a donor ***10 or more consecutive years as a donor

Gifts were received in honor of: Morton & Natalie Epstein Michael J. Peterman Sally J. Staley Betty S. Weiss

Gifts were received in memory of: Marcia Detwiler Morton G. Epstein Mary Jane Davis Hartwell Robert D. Neary

The Women’s Committee Formed in 1961, the committee is Great Lakes Theater’s longest standing volunteer support group.

Members act as hosts for our actors, provide support in our administrative office and at events, and cheer us on throughout the season. If you would like to become a member, call Joanne Hulec at (216) 252-8717 for more information.

Matching Gift Corporations ArcelorMittal Eaton Corporation GE Foundation GlaxoSmithKline Foundation IBM Corporation The Lubrizol Foundation Nordson Corporation Foundation PNC Progressive Insurance Foundation Schneider Electric North America Foundation The Sherwin-Williams Company

Many companies, like the ones listed above, match all or a portion of their employees’ charitable giving. Is your employer a matching gift company? Find out by contacting your employer or the Great Lakes Theater Development Office at (216) 453-1067.

Every effort is made to ensure that our donor records are current and correct. Please call the Development Office at (216) 453-4442 with questions or to report updates and revisions.

GreatLakesTheater.org

Mr. & Mrs. Robert J. Patalon* Ms. Diane L. Pauley Brian Perry & Ka Pi Hoh* Ms. Mary L. Pollak* Andrew & Brenda Pongracz* Mr. & Mrs. Louis Pongracz** Ms. Bette M. Prendergast James & Susan Prince* Mr. & Mrs. James A. Saks** Donna Schuerger*** Donna Sheridan*** Richard Shirey* Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Slavin*** Marg Slesnick Anthony Smits Mr. & Mrs. John Southworth* William E. Spatz** Susan St. John** Kathlyn & Harry Stenzel*** Anita K. Stoll Mr. & Mrs. Timothy L. Sullivan** Mr. & Mrs. Edward J. Tatman* Dr. & Mrs. Ken Tomecki*** Dorothy Ann Turick Elizabeth Twohig Anne Unverzagt & Richard Goddard** Christine and Daniel Vento* Mrs. Barbara S. Walker Thomas M. Wladyka* Jeanne Wojciechowicz James & Sandra Wood** John & Dianne Young*

Officers Barbara Cercone, President Janice Campbell, Vice Chair Viola McDowell, Recording Secretary Bernice Bolek, Corresponding Secretary Nanci Kirkpatrick, Treasurer

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TRUSTEES Chair

Thomas G. Stafford †

President

Timothy J. Downing

Secretary

Kim Bixenstine

Treasurer

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Walter Avdey

Trustees

Michelle Arendt Jennifer Armstrong Dalia Baker Gary Benz David L. Bialosky

Todd M. Burger * William Caster * Gail L. Cudak Carolyn Dickson † Leslie Dickson William B. Doggett † Carol Dolan * Dr. Howard G. Epstein Natalie Epstein *† Dianne V. Foley * Stephen H. Gariepy Derek Green Elizabeth A. Grove * Arthur C. Hall, III Samuel Hartwell * Mary Elizabeth Huber Diane Hupp William W. Jacobs *†

John E. Katzenmeyer † Denise Horstman Keen Kathleen Kennedy * Faisal Khan * John W. Lebold * William E. MacDonald III † Ellen Stirn Mavec † Mary J. Mayer John E. McGrath † Katie McVoy * Leslie H. Moeller Mike Mumford Janet E. Neary † Pamela G. Noble * Michael J. Peterman † Timothy K. Pistell † David P. Porter † Georgianna T. Roberts †

Ana Rodriguez John D. Schubert † Peter Shimrak † Sally J. Staley Diana W. Stromberg Jason Robert Suslak Gerald F. Unger Thomas D. Warren Nancy Wellener Kevin M. White Julie Sabroff Willoughby Patrick Zohn Rebecca A. Zuti * Executive Committee † Life Trustee

STRATEGIC ALLIANCE In 2002, Great Lakes Theater (Cleveland, Ohio) and Idaho Shakespeare Festival (Boise, Idaho) conceived a unique, strategic producing alliance designed to maximize return on organizational investments, increase production efficiencies, create long term work opportunities for artists and share best practices. In 2010, Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival (Incline Village, Nevada) joined the collaborative — further contributing to the momentum of the revolutionary producing prototype's success. The long term results have been remarkable. The alliance's three independent, 501c3 regional theaters have shared over 50 jointly-created productions — each featuring long term, multi-city employment opportunities for artistic company members. This revolutionary producing model has realized its vision and exceeded expectations while simultaneously resulting in notable audience growth for each company.

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STAFF

Artistic Associate..............................................Tom Ford

Stitchers.................Rainie Jiang, Mackenzie Malone, Kerry McCarthy, Christina Spencer Wardrobe Supervisor................. Colleen McLaughlin Wardrobe Crew................. Zack Hickle, Rainie Jiang, Leah Loar, Mackenzie Malone, Christina Spencer Master Electrician................................ Tammy Taylor Audio Supervisor................................ Brian Chismar Stage Manager........................................ Tim Kinzel* Assistant Stage Manager.............. Jessica B. Lucas* Production Associate/ Child Supervisor.................................... Amy Essick Run Crew.....................Brian Chismar, Greg Falcione, Richard Haberlen, William Langenhop, Lindsay Loar, Ralph Melari, Tammy Taylor, Gary Zsigrai Ohio Theatre Crew............ Thomas Boddy, Chris Guy, Shaun Milligan, Nathan Tulenson

Education

Volunteers

Leadership Charles Fee, Producing Artistic Director Bob Taylor, Executive Director

Management Team Director of Educational Services.................Kelly Schaffer Florian Production Manager................................Jeff Herrmann Director of Institutional Advancement.................Todd Krispinsky Director of Educational Programming...... Lisa Ortenzi

Artistic

Finance & Administration Manager of Finance & Administration...................Stephanie Reed

Institutional Advancement Development Manager............................Chris Fornadel Audience Engagement Coordinator........ Jeremy Lewis Marketing & Communications Manager................................................. Kacey Shapiro Donor Relations Associate...............Elizabeth Steward

Production Assistant Production Manager...........Corrie Purdum Technical Director.................................. Mark Cytron Assistant Technical Director.......William Langenhop Master Carpenter.................................. Lindsay Loar Carpenter/Welder...........................Richard Haberlen Properties Master..........................Jessica Rosenlieb Properties Assistant.............................Greg Falcione Costume Shop Manager.............. Esther M. Haberlen Assistant Shop Manager / Draper............ Leah Loar

Company Doctor.....................................Dr. Donald Ford & Cleveland Clinic Trinity High School Intern......................Maxwell O’Neal Costume Intern.............................................Erica Talion

Special Thanks Arrow Video Great Lakes Theater is a member of the League of Resident Theaters (LORT) and operates under agreements with LORT, Actors’ Equity Association, American Federation of Musicians, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, and the United Scenic Artists, which are unions representing professional actors, stage managers, musicians, stagehands, directors, choreographers, and designers, respectively, in the United States.

GreatLakesTheater.org

Education Outreach Associate................David Hansen School Residency Program Actor-Teachers................... Luke Brett, DeLee Cooper, Adam Graber, Tim Keo, Kimberly Martin, Zyrece Montgomery, Will Sanborn, Leah Smith

LORT

1501 Euclid Ave., Suite 300 Cleveland, OH 44115 P: (216) 241-5490 F: (216) 241-6315 W: GreatLakesTheater.org

Playbill Editor: Linda Feagler For advertising information, please contact Matthew Kraniske: 216-377-3681

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PLAYHOUSE SQUARE HISTORY Hanna Theatre Trivia

at Playhouse Square

Since its opening in 1921, the Hanna Theatre has been the site of two world premieres: Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Me and Juliette in 1953 and, in 1974, Odyssey by Michel Legrand starring Yul Brynner. Another first occurred in 1937, when Gilbert and Sullivan’s first Cleveland-staged opera was performed at the Hanna by the D’Oyly Carte Company from London.

A Phoenix from the Ashes In 1964, the Ohio Theatre lobby and auditorium were destroyed by fire. When the fledgling Playhouse Square organization restored the spaces in 1982, funding and time constraints made it possible only for the auditorium to be fully restored. Thanks to a gift from the George Gund Foundation, the lobby was re-created in its original splendor in 2016. You can watch a documentary about the project, “Restoring the Legacy,” on Playhouse Square’s YouTube channel.

Keeping Up the KeyBank State Theatre First restored more than 30 years ago, the KeyBank State Theatre was repainted from the street to the proscenium in 2015. The new, cohesive color palette showcases the beauty and craftsmanship of the nearly 100-year-old theater. It took 25 painters 12,500 hours and 595 gallons of paint in 15 different colors to complete the project, which also included 6000 sheets of new metal leafing in the auditorium dome and the application of a historically accurate wall-covering design. While the theater was dark, its lighting fixtures and restrooms received major upgrades.

A Change in History?

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One of many fascinating items to be found in the book Playhouse Square: An Entertaining History deals with the infamous John Wilkes Booth. Booth performed locally at the old Academy of Music, which was one of the first drama schools in the country and was located at 1371 W. 6th Street.

It was at that Cleveland Academy where he would play his last role prior to performing at Washington D.C.’s Ford Theatre where he would assassinate President Lincoln.

(Might history have been changed if the Academy had held over Booth’s play for an extended run?)

Re-Creating History We call the completed Ohio Theatre George Gund Foundation Lobby project a “re-creation” rather than a restoration. Why? There was nothing left to restore after a 1964 fire destroyed the space. To reproduce the lobby’s original 1921 splendor, architects, restoration specialists and Playhouse Square staff conducted exhaustive research of the original drawings by architect Thomas Lamb, photo archives and a few remaining bits of ornamental plaster detail to gain a thorough understanding of the space and inform the plans for re-creating the lobby.

There Goes the Neighborhood!

The 1870s ushered in the golden age for Euclid Avenue as the street became a stretch of grand mansions, with grounds often extending as far as Lake Erie, and stately elm trees arching over the avenue.

Called Millionaire’s Row, it was the address where all the best families lived.

But by Cleveland’s Centennial in 1896, Euclid Avenue residents were likely muttering, Well, there goes the neighborhood! as the dirt street was paved with sandstone, and businessmen began to buy up and tear down the mansions and towering elms to make way for commercial ventures.

Streetcar lines on the once totally residential stretch hastened the creation of a commercial district, forcing wealthy families to move even farther east on Euclid Avenue. In another 30 years, the district would see the birth of the five main theaters that would eventually become Playhouse Square.

Broadway to Buildings Where do the arts and real estate go hand-in-

hand? At Playhouse Square, of course! As the theaters began to be restored in the early 1980s, it was thought that developers would step in to build and open businesses around them. When that didn’t happen, Playhouse Square began to steward development of the surrounding neighborhood. In 1999, Playhouse Square became the first performing arts center with a real estate services division, which manages the one million square feet of property owned by the organization and another 1.5 million square feet outside the theater district. Other performing arts centers have since looked to our expertise as a model.

YPs Take the Lead

Going Green While red is the color most often associated with theaters, Playhouse Square is making efforts to go “green.” You will find receptacles for recycling paper, plastic and cans, along with those designated specifically for the program you’re currently reading, throughout the complex. Lighting fixtures are being switched to LED for increased energy efficiency. And the Playhouse Square administrative office is making strides towards going paperless.

Patterns in Plaster As you walk through the theaters, you may notice various patterns within the plaster decoration. Common are dentil, lamb tongue, rope and rosettes. Other patterns you may see have been associated with certain meanings since they were first used hundreds or even thousands of years ago, such as the acanthus leaf (immortality), egg and dart (life and death), and the palm leaf, first used in ancient Egypt as a reference to the Nile River. In the KeyBank State Theatre,

What Would It Cost to Build Them Today?

Even though the Connor Palace is not the largest of the Playhouse Square venues, it was the most costly to build ($3.5 million) by the time it premiered on Nov. 6, 1922. The largest theater, the State, (opened Feb. 5, 1921) was built at a cost of $2 million; the Ohio (Feb. 14, 1921) also cost $2 million, and the Allen’s costs totaled $1.9 million when it opened April 1, 1921. (Exact building costs for the Hanna Theatre — which opened March 28, 1921 — have yet to be uncovered.)

KeyBank State Theatre Trivia Above the fireplace at the rear of the KeyBank State Theatre auditorium, an original mural hangs despite its near-tragic loss.

Removed from the wall in the early 1970s prior to the scheduled demolition of the venue, the mural eventually turned up in the basement of a piano store and was repurchased by Playhouse Square for $200.

The recovered mural was badly torn, having originally been painted on burlap then glued to the wall. The challenge of restoring the artwork fell to the Theater District’s Bonfoey Company. Artisans sanded the glue from the burlap and attached the cleaned mural to canvas via beeswax.

The next step was to clean and restore the work where needed. A stretcher for the canvas had to be custom-made. To eliminate tears and wrinkles, the stretcher was designed to expand and contract with the theater’s climactic changes and held together with springs (no nails or screws). It took Bonfoey employees 18 months to restore the painting at a cost of $8,500.

Although the creator of this mural is unknown, it is suspected to be Italian artist Sampitrotti, who had painted three murals for the original Ohio Theatre lobby. (Those murals were later destroyed in the Ohio’s 1964 lobby fire.)

GreatLakesTheater.org

Best known as the masterminds behind the annual Jump Back Ball benefit, Playhouse Square’s young professionals group – Partners – was formed in 1991. Since then, hundreds of young professionals engage with Playhouse Square each year to build leadership skills, raise funds and volunteer in support of our not-for-profit mission, enjoy shows together, network and have fun!

if you look closely and carefully, you can find ox skulls, which were believed to offer protection from natural elements. And throughout the theaters, you will find griffins, mythical creatures thought of as guardians.

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PLAYHOUSE SQUARE GUEST SERVICES Guest Assistance For questions or service that may provide a quality, entertaining experience, please see the House Manager on duty. A RedCoat usher can direct you to their office location.

at Playhouse Square

We Love Hearing From Our Guests Your feedback is important. For matters that are not immediate or for additional questions you may have, please access our online comment form at playhousesquare. org/contact-us.

We read and share all comments with the staff and meet often to discuss how we can improve upon your experience at Playhouse Square. You may also find us on Facebook at facebook.com/playhousesquare, or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/playhousesquare.

Beware of Ticket Scalpers Buy your tickets ONLY from the Playhouse Square Ticket Office, at playhousesquare. org, by phone at 216-241-6000 or your licensed group/travel leader. (We cannot guarantee validity or admittance for tickets purchased elsewhere, nor can we issue replacement tickets if they are lost or stolen). Help us keep ticket prices affordable and fair for everyone.

Service for Our Guests with Special Needs Large type programs and wireless headsets are available in the House Manager’s office.

Camera Policy Cameras, including cameras on cell phones and other personal handheld devices, audio/ video tape recorders and flash photography are strictly prohibited.

Emergency Phone Number In emergency situations, family members or babysitters may call 216-771-5537 (evening hours) or 216-771-4444 (daytime hours) should they need to get a message to a guest in our theaters.

Cell Phones The experience of a live performance can be ruined by the interruption of ringtones, vibrating phones or conversation. The magic of a darkened theater can be disrupted by the light of someone text messaging as well.

Please be considerate to others and remember to turn off your cell phone for the duration of the show.

Thank You

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Playhouse Square gratefully acknow­ ledges the people of Cuyahoga County for their historical support to theater restoration, upkeep and programming, as well as through their ongoing contributions through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.

NOV./DEC. AT PLAYHOUSE SQUARE OUTCALT/ HELEN/ ALLEN ALLEN ALLEN Sunday

Waitress A Midsummer Night’s Dream Anne Frank Company

Monday

HANNA Tuesday

Anne Frank

KENNEDY’S

OHIO

Wednesday

CONNOR KEYBANK US BANK WESTFIELD PALACE STATE PLAZA STUDIO Thursday

NOVEMBER

Waitress The Hunchback of Notre Dame Anne Frank Get The Led Out

Friday

Saturday

Waitress Hunchback Waitress Anne Frank Hunchback Company Anne Frank The Colored Museum Company The Colored Museum The Dirty Songbook Johnny Mathis Anne Frank Anne Frank Wicked Wicked Sex Tips For Straight Sex Tips For Straight Women From A Gay Women From A Gay Man Man A Night With Janis Joplin

Waitress Night’s Dream Hunchback Anne Frank Company The Colored Museum The Dirty Songbook The Legend of Zelda

Anne Frank Wicked

Anne Frank Wicked Wardrobes & Rings

1 2 3 4

Anne Frank Simply Three Wicked

Anne Frank Wicked Sex Tips For Straight Women Sebastian Maniscalco Paul Taylor Dance Company

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Anne Frank Wicked

Wicked

Wicked

Anne Frank Wicked Wardrobes & Rings

Wicked

Wicked A Christmas Story A Christmas Carol The Cleveland Pops Orchestra

Wicked

Wicked A Christmas Story A Christmas Carol Cle Comedy Fest Squeaky Clean Comedy Show

On Your Feet!

A Christmas Story A Christmas Carol On Your Feet!

The Santaland Diaries Straight No Chaser

On Your Feet!

A Christmas Story A Christmas Carol On Your Feet!

The Santaland Diaries Nutcracker Suite

A Christmas Story A Christmas Carol On Your Feet!

Wicked

Wicked A Christmas Story

Wicked A Christmas Story A Christmas Carol Joe Bonamassa

19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Wicked Cleveland Comedy Fest

Wicked A Christmas Story Cleveland Comedy Fest The Four Horsemen of Comedy

DECEMBER

Wicked A Christmas Story A Christmas Carol Cle Comedy Fest Fred Willard

Wicked A Christmas Story A Christmas Carol Liz Huff & Friends CCF 10th Anniv. Show Momma’s Boy

26 27 28 29 30 1 2 On Your Feet!

A Very Electric Christmas Hip Hop Nutcracker Macbeth The Santaland Diaries On Your Feet!

Macbeth The Santaland Diaries

A Christmas Carol On Your Feet!

Macbeth The Santaland Diaries Dave Koz

A Christmas Story A Christmas Carol On Your Feet!

Macbeth The Santaland Diaries

A Christmas Story A Christmas Carol On Your Feet!

Macbeth The Santaland Diaries Cleveland Jazz Orchestra

A Christmas Story A Christmas Carol On Your Feet!

Macbeth Santaland Diaries SING! An Irish Christmas

A Christmas Story A Christmas Carol On Your Feet!

Macbeth Santaland Diaries Nutcracker Suite Shopkins Live!

A Christmas Story A Christmas Carol On Your Feet!

Macbeth Santaland Diaries Nutcracker Suite Jim Brickman

A Christmas Story A Christmas Carol On Your Feet!

A Christmas Story A Christmas Carol On Your Feet!

A Christmas Story A Christmas Carol On Your Feet!

A Christmas Story A Christmas Carol On Your Feet!

GreatLakesTheater.org

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Anne Frank Wicked Wardrobes & Rings Nick Offerman The Singing Angels

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Champions of Magic Champions of Magic Champions of Magic Champions of Magic Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias

24/31 25 26 27 28 29 30 New shows are announced every week. Sign up for the Playhouse Square newsletter at playhousesquare.org to get advance notices by email!

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Fairmount Santrol is proud to support Playhouse Square.

Making Northeast Ohio a great place to live, work – and play.

We are committed to People, Planet and Prosperity.

The Fairmount Santrol family is dedicated to business excellence that is founded upon fulfilling our economic, social and environmental commitments. We lead in investing time, talents and treasure in the local and global communities where we live and work, including serving the people and being good stewards of the land in Northeast Ohio.

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