THE TAMING OF THE SHREW - Spring 2019

Cleveland’s Classic Company at the Hanna Theatre presents

Mar. 29 – Apr. 14, 2019

Tri-C Creative Arts Dance Academy

SETTING THE STAGE

for success

We believe that all Cleveland youth should have access to high-quality arts education. Through the generosity of our donors, we have invested nearly $2 million since 2016 to scale up neighborhoodbased programs that now serve 1,500 youth year-round in music, dance, theater, photography, literary arts and curatorial mastery. That’s setting the stage for success. Find your passion, and partner with the Cleveland Foundation to make your greatest charitable impact.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

GreatLakesTheater.org

Welcome..................................................................................................................... 4 About Great Lakes Theater............................................................................................ 5 News & Notes.............................................................................................................. 6 The Taming of the Shrew.............................................................................................. 9 Cast of Characters...................................................................................................... 10 Spotlight on The Taming of the Shrew......................................................................... 11 The Artistic Company................................................................................................. 22 Donors....................................................................................................................... 30 Trustees..................................................................................................................... 35 Staff.......................................................................................................................... 36 Guest Services at Playhouse Square............................................................................ 38 April/May at Playhouse Square.................................................................................... 39

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WELCOME Dear Friends,

at Playhouse Square

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n behalf of our artists, staff and Board of Trustees, welcome to Great Lakes Theater’s 57th season! Our mission, “to bring the pleasure, power and relevance of classic theater to the widest possible audience,” guides our mainstage productions, as well as our educational programming, in the belief that theater holds the capacity to illuminate truth and enduring values, celebrate and challenge human nature and actions, and provide our student audiences a glimpse of a broader world and the wellspring of learning made possible through the arts.

Following the thrilling success of our production of Agatha Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution, we are excited to be back on stage at the Hanna Theatre with two great plays: Shakespeare’s uproarious comedy, The Taming of the Shrew; and, closing our 57th season, the Tony-winning musical, Million Dollar Quartet, an electrifying rock ’n’ roll jam session with Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.

As we have done with our past two seasons’ Elizabethan-inspired productions of Hamlet and Macbeth, our production of The Taming of the Shrew again invites audiences on stage for a full immersion in the comic vision of Shakespeare, directed by Oregon Shakespeare Festival actor/director and Princess Grace Award recipient, Sara Bruner. Prepare yourselves for a close encounter with a battle of wits and wills between the sexes!

We are also proud to announce that The Taming of the Shrew was chosen to participate in Shakespeare in American Communities (a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest) and awarded a generous grant in support of our work, allowing us to make Shakespeare accessible to students from area schools through our Student Matinee Series and School Residency Program.

The finale to our season will bring powerhouse performances to the stage in Million Dollar Quartet, a ’50s-era musical originally conceived by Floyd Mutrux, and directed by Tony Award nominee actor and Redhouse Arts Center artistic director, Hunter Foster. Million Dollar Quartet is a step back in time which boasts an incredible score, including “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Fever,” “Walk the Line,” “Great Balls of Fire,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” “Hound Dog” and more. We sincerely hope you will join us!

I encourage you to read through your program and look around the theater tonight. You will see the names of many friends, partners, corporations and foundations whose generous support makes all of this possible. Please consider joining these donors by becoming a Member of the Great Lakes Theater family with your gift! (As a reminder, ticket sales account for only 50 percent of the cost of producing our mainstage and educational programming.)

Complete Membership information can be found in the insert enclosed in this playbill.

We extend our deepest gratitude to all of our sponsors and annual Members, with continued appreciation to our partners of over 35 years at Playhouse Square and the tireless efforts of our Board of Trustees, dedicated administrative staff, gifted artists and the tremendous generosity of this community!

I hope to see you in our audience again soon.

Charles Fee Producing Artistic Director

ABOUT GREAT LAKES THEATER

T

he mission of Great Lakes Theater (GLT), through its mainstage 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 mainstage 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.

The company’s commitment to classic theater is magnified in the educational programming 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 celebrates 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

GreatLakesTheater.org

Great Lakes Theater’s spring 2018 production of Beehive – The ’60s Musical (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)

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at Playhouse Square

NEWS & NOTES

Treasure Tour

National Honors

Exclusive Access

Great Lakes Theater’s Classics on Tour production of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island visited 42 schools and community venues throughout northeast Ohio, thanks to generous support from the FirstEnergy Foundation and The Nord Family Foundation. Geared toward elementary school students and their families, Classics on Tour perform­ ances in 2019 provided a literacy-based, theatrical experience and conveyed important social themes of teamwork and acceptance to approximately 5,000 attendees.

Cleveland’s Classic Company is in select company! The National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest announced $1 million in grants to 40 nonprofit, professional theater companies across the United States to perform the works of William Shakespeare for students through the Shakespeare in American Communities program. Great Lakes Theater is proud to have been selected as one of this season’s grantees for our production of The Taming of the Shrew. We are thrilled to be able to introduce future generations to the classics as a result of this prestigious grant award.

Great Lakes Theater’s growing family of generous Donor/ Members enjoy special benefits that afford exclusive access to our Artistic Company and the creative process. Benefits include special meet-andgreets with our artists and extraordinary behind-thescenes experiences. This spring, our Donor/Members will enjoy a unique Backstage Pass event opportunity to explore our upcoming production of the Tony-winning rock ’n’ roll tribute musical, Million Dollar Quartet, firsthand. Visit the Support Us page at GreatLakesTheater.org to learn more about how you can join our Donor/Member family … and get ready to go backstage!

Cleveland’s Classic Company A Tony-Winning Rock ‘n’ Roll Tribute

Book by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux /Original Concept and Direction by Floyd Mutrux / Inspired by Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins / Directed by Hunter Foster

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May 3 - 26 | Hanna Theatre

216.241.6000 | GreatLakesTheater.org

Photo: Roger Mastroianni

Great Lakes Theater

Cleveland’s Classic Company AT THE HANNA THEATRE

presents...

2019/20 season SUBSCRIBE & SAVE BIG!

The Tony-Winning Broadway Musical Classic

THE MUSIC MAN

September 27 - November 10, 2019 / Hanna Theatre Book, Music and Lyrics by Meredith Willson Story by Meredith Willson and Franklin Lacey Directed by Victoria Bussert

Shakespeare’s Epic Political Tragedy

JULIUS CAESAR

October 4 - November 3, 2019 / Hanna Theatre

By William Shakespeare Directed by Sara Bruner

Northeast Ohio’s Favorite Holiday Tradition

A CHRISTMAS CAROL November 29 - December 22, 2019 / Ohio Theatre

By Charles Dickens / Adapted and originally directed by Gerald Freedman

The Ultimate Whodunit Thriller

SLEUTH

February 14 - March 8, 2020 / Hanna Theatre

By Anthony Shaffer Directed by Charles Fee

Shakespeare’s Sublime Battle of Wits and Wills

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING March 27 - April 11, 2020 / Hanna Theatre

By William Shakespeare Directed by Charles Fee

A Sassy Musical Celebration of Fats Waller

AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’ May 1 - 24, 2020 / Hanna Theatre

Conceived by Richard Maltby, Jr. and Murray Horwitz / Created and Originally Directed by Richard Maltby, Jr. Original Choreography and Musical Staging by Arthur Faria Musical Adaptations, Orchestrations & Arrangements by Luther Henderson Vocal & Musical Concepts by Jeffrey Gutcheon / Musical Arrangements by Jeffrey Gutcheon & William Ellio Director TBA

216.640.8869 / GreatLakesTheater.org

Hanna Theatre | March 29 – April 14, 2019

Charles Fee Producing Artistic Director

With generous support from:

Presents

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE DIRECTED BY

SARA BRUNER

Company

Lynn Robert Berg* Jodi Dominick* Jonathan Dyrud* Krista Harmon

Ethan Hennes Mandie Jenson* Maggie Kettering* Taha Mandviwala* Nate John Mark

Dramaturg Lue Douthit Scenic Designer Costume Designer Russell Metheny Leah Piehl Production Stage Manager Tim Kinzel*

Jessie Cope Miller* Andy Nagraj* Steve Pickering* David Anthony Smith* Eric Damon Smith*

M.A. Taylor* Joe Wegner* Jessika D. Williams*

GreatLakesTheater.org

BY

Choreographer Jaclyn Miller Lighting Designer Sound Designer & Rick Martin Composer Matthew Webb Assistant Stage Manager Lucas Clark*

*Members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States The National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest presents Shakespeare in American Communities. Great Lakes Theater is one of 40 professional theater companies selected to participate in bringing the finest productions of Shakespeare to middle- and high-school students in communities across the United States.

Support for Great Lakes Theater education programs is generously provided by EY. (www.ey.com) There will be one fifteen-minute intermission.

The videotaping or other video or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited.

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CAST OF CHARACTERS Baptista Minola, father to Katherine and Bianca....................................... Steve Pickering* Katherine.........................................................................................Jessika D. Williams* Bianca....................................................................................................Mandie Jenson* Petruchio, suitor to Katherine.................................................................. Jonathan Dyrud* Gremio Hortensio, later disguised as Litio Lucentio, later disguised as Cambio

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.................... Lynn Robert Berg* ..suitors ...........................................Eric Damon Smith* to Bianca .....................Taha Mandviwala*

at Playhouse Square

Vincentio, Lucentio’s father.............................................................David Anthony Smith* Tranio, later impersonating Lucentio Biondello

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............................................ Maggie Kettering*‡ to Lucentio ..servants ....................................................

Andy Nagraj*

Merchant, later disguised as Vincentio....................................................... Jodi Dominick* Grumio Curtis Joseph Walter Sugarsop

.......................................................... Joe Wegner*† ..........................................................Ethan Hennes ...........................................................................................

M.A. Taylor* servants to Petruchio ......................................................... Krista Harmon ....................................................... Nate John Mark

Widow............................................................................................... Jessie Cope Miller* Tailor........................................................................................................... M.A. Taylor* Haberdasher........................................................................................... Nate John Mark Ensemble.................... Lynn Robert Berg*, Jodi Dominick*, Krista Harmon, Ethan Hennes, Mandie Jenson*, Maggie Kettering*‡, Taha Mandviwala*, Nate John Mark, Jessie Cope Miller*, Andy Nagraj*, Steve Pickering*, David Anthony Smith*, Eric Damon Smith*, M.A. Taylor*, Joe Wegner*† * Members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States † Dance Captain ‡ Fight Captain

To get started, call 216.373.1797 benrose.org/services Telephone-based care coaching for people with chronic health issues and their family caregivers.

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“BRI Care Consultation” [and design] is a service mark of the Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging

spotlight an insider’s guide to

Generous support for Spotlight was provided by

Donald F. and Anne T. Palmer

From the Director Spotlight on the taming of the shrew

Sara Bruner

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I

’ve been in an on-again off-again relationship with The Taming of the Shrew for 24 years now. It started in high school when I was enamored by the comedy and loved the feisty Kate. I was falling in love with Shakespeare at the time and wasn’t clocking the “problems” with the play.

Things were easy then.

As time passed, I met up with the play every few years. I cut and directed a version, watched the brilliant Bill Ball A.C.T. production on DVD over and over and over again — a rite of passage for any true Shakespeare nerd — played Bianca and then eventually played Kate.

Over time, the play became harder for me to reconcile.

It’s not that the play changed … my lens did. So here we are again, standing toe to toe in a moment when cultural context seems to raise the stakes more than ever. These plays have endured not because they offer solutions, but because they ask the right questions. So maybe right now is the exact moment for Taming. No, we do not live in Shakespeare’s world of dowries, deals over daughters, stringent social strata and limited mobility for women. But we are on its continuum. Down the road 400 years, and we are still operating in relationship to it. In some ways, we’ve come so far. In other ways … well, I’ll let you wrestle with that.

If our job is to hold up the mirror, it is our duty to do it from every angle, even the unflattering ones.

— Sara Bruner Director, The Taming of the Shrew

Synopsis

B

aptista Minola has a daughter problem. Three suitors (Hortensio, Gremio and Lucentio) want to marry his younger daughter Bianca. No one wants to marry her older sister, the fiery Katherine.

Baptista decides no one will have Bianca until someone marries Katherine.

Enter Petruchio. He has come to Padua to marry wealthily. His friend Hortensio mentions Katherine and, despite warnings about her temper, Petruchio is determined to marry her. Her father is very rich. Very. After a turbulent wooing, Petruchio declares the two will be married Sunday.

Petruchio has a strategy to “tame” Katherine. It begins at the wedding. He shows up late, in a terrible outfit and refuses to stay

for the wedding supper. When they get to his house, he deprives her of food and sleep and disrupts social norms. Katherine sees through his tactics and they learn to be together.

Meanwhile, Lucentio gets close to Bianca by disguising himself as a tutor. His servant impersonates him and outbids the other suitors. Lucentio’s gambit wins her heart and her father’s permission. They are married and Petruchio and Katherine travel to celebrate their nuptials. The men bet on which of their wives are most obedient and the answer (delightfully) surprises everyone.

—Lue Douthit, Dramaturg The Taming of the Shrew

What’s Love got to do with it: Ruminations on a contemporary ‘Shrew’

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ll’s fair in love and war,” wrote English poet John Lyly in 1579. On the surface, Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, written not long after this, plays out Lyly’s thesis. You might be wondering, what’s love got to do with this early play, long perceived as the “rock-’em, sock’em robots” play of the Shakespearean canon.

Controversy was evident, it would seem, from the beginning. In his own time, it gave rise to John Fletcher’s follow-up play, The Woman’s Prize, or the Tamer Tam’d, in which Petruchio marries Maria after the death of Katherine. The tables are turned this time, as Maria tames Petruchio. But there’s much we don’t know about those early performances.

Was Shakespeare’s reflection of his time accurate or meant ironically? Did audiences applaud with approval at Petruchio’s antics?

Did they laugh uproariously as Baptista auctions his youngest daughter, Bianca, to the highest bidder? And what did they make of Kate’s last speech?

What we do know is that the play has been very popular in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. At last count, there are 42 films

based on the story — most notably one with a very famous celebrity couple in it. Most recently, it was the story of the movie Ten Things I Hate About You. Its popularity is a problem. For those of us who have seen a production (or two) before, we may already have made up our minds about this play. For those of us who are seeing this play for the first time, we aren’t entering it completely free of assumptions, either, because there are parts of the play that still resonate today.

Plays are particularly complicated because they time travel. No matter what the historical period of the play or production, they always take place in present tense. So it’s hard not to put the actions of any play into one’s contemporary time. We reproduce classic plays because they are great pulse checks. They remind us how we have dealt with social relations in the past. We get a moment to reflect on what still has value to us — and what does not.

There are many conventions in Shakespeare’s plays that don’t translate to us today. The plays were performed with all men, for instance. It was a curious phenomenon even then. We don’t know how that practice

Spotlight on the taming of the shrew

Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles in the 1999 movie 10 Things I Hate About You

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Spotlight on the taming of the shrew 14

The 1967 movie The Taming of the Shrew, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, featured the promotional line “A motion picture for every man who ever gave the back of his hand to his beloved … and for every woman who deserved it. Which takes in a lot of people!”

came into being. Or what it felt like to an audience. We know that the English theaters were closed for 18 years during Cromwell’s reign, and that when they re-opened in 1660, women were playing the women’s roles.

Comedy is always about current society.

And that makes it hard for us to relate to the specific references, especially if they are supposed to be funny. Take the word “shrew,” for instance. It originally referred to a “wicked evil-disposed or malignant man.” Might the audience have thought the play was about Petruchio, too? It’s very possible. “By this reckoning he is more shrew than she,” remarks one of his servants. Today, we think that a shrew exclusively refers to a woman.

There is a joke that Petruchio makes about Katherine’s name. He calls her “Kate” when he first meets her. She tries to insist that her name is Katherine. A “cate” is a “dainty or choice food.” And so Shakespeare’s audience would have heard Petruchio use the diminu-

tive as a way to downsize the larger-than-life character that we first meet. And eventually, he’ll use it sweetly.

Elizabethan plays had a lot of music and dancing in them because music and dancing were part of the fabric of everyday Elizabethan life. Often the plays ended with a jig, a kind of lively dance with leaping bits in it. The dance at the end sometimes commented on the action of the play that preceded it. And sometimes, it was just a dance.

Women were considered property. And daughters, in particular, were valuable pieces of disposable property. For the fathers of the daughters, they represented potential alliances with rich and powerful families. For future fathers and sons-in-law, they came accompanied with dowries. “For a daughter to negotiate her own marriage by eloping or marrying secretly was tantamount to theft,” according to Shakespeare scholar Stephen Orgel. This is useful background for the story of Bianca in our play.

our business, of course, but is it possible that this play asks us to evaluate that? “The more one judges, the less one loves,” according to Balzac.

There are still parts of Katherine’s last speech that make me cringe, and I can’t quite rub it away with the wave of the “it’s only a metaphor” wand. And that’s OK. I know that I still reject some of the sentiment expressed.

That’s my pulse check. There is a danger in thinking this play is prescribing a certain social order and that it teaches men how to be “men” and women how to be “women.”

Shakespeare being “Shakespeare” doesn’t rest his arguments on such a simplistic premise.

The theater critic John Lahr once wrote that only the young can write comedy, because in order for comedy to be funny, it must be cruel. And young people don’t know yet the consequences of being cruel. It has all the fixings that Shakespeare will use in the rest of his plays: characters who aren’t who they seem to be, through mistaken identity or role-playing; surprise revelations, especially in characters you wouldn’t expect to be so dimensional — and, as always, power and the consequences of it. Every Shakespeare play deals with the abuse of power. No character or institution is exempt from his critique: gender politics, religious politics, social politics, politics politics. In the tragedies, he shows what happens when there is too much power in the hands of too few, when there is a power vacuum or when there is no change of behavior as power changes hands. In the comedies, however, he shows how power needs to be shared for a happy life.

This play is a rehearsal for that. Perhaps it tests our assumptions about what it takes to make a successful marriage. We have to do a lot of negotiating. And there is work to be done after the “being in love” part wears off. At the end of the play, which couple do you think has the best chances of making a go of it? My guess is that it won’t be the couple that you were rooting for in the beginning. That shift in our affections is what makes this a good play. And why we need to see it now and then.

Because whatever gets in the way of us loving has to be examined.

— Lue Douthit, Dramaturg The Taming of the Shrew

Spotlight on the taming of the shrew

The wedding itself was a low-key affair. The groom’s friends and family would bring the bride from her home to the church. It would be a short ceremony, usually in the morning.

And afterward, the bride’s family hosted a lavish, all-day feast. This is what the Minola family expects to happen, and explains their reaction to Petruchio’s eventual arrival.

There is a lot of action around performing: Tranio impersonates Lucentio, Tranio convinces a merchant to impersonate Lucentio’s father and Lucentio impersonates a scholar.

Those are obvious deceptions. We perform different roles all the time in our daily lives. It makes one wonder who else is performing.

And in what form? Is Katherine performing being a shrew? Why is Petruchio such a loudmouthed braggart? And how demure is Bianca?

The play dramatizes how love works, specifically the negotiations between two people.

And I see bravery as well. “It takes strong men and women to love,” says Dr. Lyman in William Inge’s play Bus Stop. “People strong enough inside themselves to love without humiliation. People big enough to grow with their love … and brave enough to bear the responsibility of being loved and not fear it as a burden.” We see this being played out between Katherine and Petruchio. We watch them make the agreement in front of us. We are privy to an otherwise private moment between a couple.

Katherine and Petruchio’s connection may upset us on all kinds of levels. Why does she stay with him after what he puts her through, for instance? There are no lasting answers to a “why” question. On any given day, we will come up with another answer. And most of them are true. In this case, we only see highlights of the budding relationship in this play.

Shakespeare has chosen the most potent bits.

We see their antagonism for each other at the beginning. We see the shift that happens, particularly in Katherine, somewhere in the middle. (Hint: It’s in the language and it’s very subtle. It begins with the word “patience” and concludes when she calls him “love.”) And we see them together as a couple at the end. Do the ends ever justify the means? Is it anyone’s business what agreement is made between two people in a love relationship? It can become

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The Taming of the Shrew

Spotlight on the taming of the shrew

Through the Ages

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• No

record survives of a performance of the play during Shakespeare’s lifetime. But the playwright’s challenging, and even disturbing, take on the battle of the sexes captured the attention of contemporary theater makers. Lord Pembroke’s Men, an acting company Shakespeare may have joined when he first came to London, performed a slightly less unsettling version of the story under a nearly identical title in 1592.

(Whether this script represented imitation by another writer or an early draft by Shakespeare has been the stuff of scholarly debate.) One of Shakespeare’s protégés, John Fletcher, turned the tables on his mentor’s “tamer,” Petruchio, in a 1611 sequel — titled The Woman’s Prize, or the Tamer Tamed — which concluded that men “should not reign as Tyrants o’er their wives.”

• Shakespeare’s play and Fletcher’s retort were presented The play was included in the First Folio compilation of Shakespeare’s works in 1623 and was reprinted separately in 1631 “As it was acted by his Maiesties Servants at the Blacke Friers and the Globe.”

• Garrick

Actor manager John Philip Kemble and his sister-in-law Marie Therese Kemble in an 1802 production of David Garrick’s adaptation, Catherine and Petruchio.

together and well received at the court of King Charles I in 1633. But then Shakespeare’s difficult comedy all but disappeared from the English stage for more than a century — until actor manager David Garrick revived a reworked version of the play in 1754, under the title Catherine and Petruchio. While Garrick’s Petruchio assured Catherine that his “taming” had been a temporary act, Garrick set the standard for an aggressive, whip-wielding Petruchio that such successors as John Philip Kemble carried forward into the 19th century.

and Kemble’s take on Petruchio was still the norm in 1888, when George Bernard Shaw complained in the Pall Mall Gazette that the play was not a comedy: “in spite of …

[Petruchio’s] winks and smirks when Katharine is not looking, he cannot make the spectacle of a man cracking a heavy whip at a starving woman otherwise than disgusting and unmanly.”

However, even as Shaw was railing in London, Ada Rehan was Ada Rehan as Katherine in setting a new tone with a spir- 1887. ited portrayal of Katherine in Augustin Daly’s 1887 production of the play in New York.

Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford starred in the 1929 film directed Sam Taylor, who apocryphally tried to claim the credit line “with additional dialogue by Sam Taylor.”

have pioneered the view that Katherine is only pretending to be tamed at the end of the play; Pickford as Katherine winked at her sister Bianca during her final speech. Liz Taylor upended the speech by storming out on Richard Burton, when the famous couple starred in Franco Zeffirelli’s 1967 film version.

Meryl Streep and Raoul Julia in the 1978 Shakespeare in the Park production

• 20th

century productions have continued to explore Katherine’s strength. When playing Katherine to Raul Julia’s Petruchio in 1978, Meryl Streep identified the passion and love the two characters develop for each other as the source of Katherine’s choice to change. Phyllida Lloyd used an all-female cast in her 2003 production at the Globe Theatre in London “to throw the behavior of the men into a particular relief.”

• Spinoffs and imitations of the play have also dot-

Banking on their fame as a couple—offstage as well as on, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton put over a million dollars of their own money into the 1967 film and took a percentage of the profits instead of a salary.

ted the pop culture landscape, from Cole Porter’s musical, Kiss Me, Kate, to John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara in The Quiet Man, to the 1999 high school comedy film 10 Things I Hate About You.

• This 2019 production of the play marks the eighth time Great Lakes Theater has produced The Taming of the Shrew, surpassing As You Like it, which has had seven productions. The play has been produced at least once during the tenure of each of the theater’s six artistic directors.

Kathryn Hunter as Katherine with Janet McTeer as Petruchio in the 2003 all-woman Globe production

Spotlight on the taming of the shrew

• In a 1929 film adaptation, Mary Pickford may

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Spotlight on the taming of the shrew

From page to stage

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Sara Bruner as Katherine and Jim Lichtscheidl as Petruchio in Great Lakes Theater’s 2011 production of The Taming of the Shrew

D

irector Sara Bruner freely admits, “The Taming of the Shrew is a problematic play. It’s a severe examination of gender.” As part of Great Lakes Theater’s company of actors, she’s performed in the play twice, first as Bianca in 2004 (Idaho Shakespeare Festival), and then as Katherine in 2011. But still, she says, “I have a vendetta with the play. I feel like I haven’t figured it out. I’m different now,” she continues. “The world is different. And so the play becomes different. As a director I’m going to show up with this group of artists and ask, ‘How do we figure out this play together?’”

Bruner’s thinking about the play starts with the script. She wants to deliver a fast-paced experience and cuts the text judiciously. When performing Shakespeare, she believes that “the greatest gift you can give to the audience is the sense that they’re in on the language and the jokes. The play has to be for them, trimmed for the contemporary ear.”

Bruner and set designer Russell Metheny then have to work together to determine what kind of playing space they will provide for the actors. In this case, part of the work was already done for them. In spring 2017, Great Lakes Theater’s producing director Charles Fee asked Metheny

In Great Lakes Theater’s 1977 production of The Taming of the Shrew, Tom Hanks played the role of Grumio, servant to Petruchio (played by Dennis Lipscomb), earning his Equity card by the end of the run.

to recreate an Elizabethan playhouse on stage, complete with galleries for audience seating, for a production of Hamlet. Audiences and actors alike responded favorably to the intimacy of the experience, and Fee decided that both the 2018

production of Macbeth and the 2019 production of The Taming of the Shrew would re-use the same playhouse structure. The floor plan included the multiple levels and entrances and exits that are needed for the fluid scene-shifting that characterizes all of Shakespeare’s plays. Fee’s reasoning also had a practical side: one-off sets go straight to the dumpster, and the re-use of the structure would provide a longer “return on investment” for production resources.

The Elizabethan setting leads to costume choices that are also grounded in the period — but with a contemporary flair. For instance, the text of the play describes Petruchio’s inappropriate wedding garb in detail, down to his mismatched shoe buckles. Costume designer Leah Piehl has to consider “how to capture the essence of what is described while using costume elements that will look more obviously off to a contemporary audience.” While the silhouette of the costumes derives from Elizabethanera clothing, bright, sometimes anachronistic, colors, and bold, even mismatched, patterns contribute to a contemporary sense of fashion fun. While Katherine’s detractors in the play see her as unappealing and un-feminine, Bruner and Piehl wanted Katherine’s clothing to allow

Costume designer Piehl translated the description of Petruchio’s unorthodox wedding attire into a contemporary idiom to underscore the outrageousness of his sartorial choices.

her to feel beautiful. As Piehl says, “We wanted to lean into her femininity but also offer a non-conforming version of femininity. We wanted Katherine to have flexibility and freedom.”

Flexibility and freedom were two key bywords for Bruner and Metheny as they considered how to adapt the Elizabethan playhouse structure to a fast-pace comedy. They deconstructed one of the seating galleries, replacing it with café tables and chairs that would include audience seating.

The open table pattern allows even more paths into, out of and through the playing space. But the tables also put the audience in the middle of the play — first, in the middle of its fun. Bruner suggests that during rehearsal, the company will explore how to incorporate the audience as more active participants. Metheny says he’s already observed the actors using the stage furniture in different and creative ways.

But something as simple as tables and chairs “also puts the audience in the middle of the play’s difficult questions,” Bruner adds, insisting on the play’s continuing relevance. “As a society, we’re not done examining the questions that this play raises. These questions are questions that people are wrestling with publicly and privately, more urgently than ever. I don’t want people to check themselves at the door.”

Spotlight on the taming of the shrew

The other characters in the play speak of Katherine as unwomanly. While honoring their observation, costume designer Piehl made sure that even Kate’s most “non-conforming” clothing has a stylish flair and establishes her own sense of beauty.

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Learn More and Explore Experience Enhancement Director’s Night

Enjoy a pre-show discussion with our producing artistic director and the director of the show an hour before curtain.

Salon Thursdays Grab a beverage and enjoy a 30 minute pre-show discussion with a GLT artist an hour before the curtain.

Playnotes Listen in on a pre-show introduction to the content of the show before Saturday matinees at 12:30 p.m.

sights and sounds GreatLakesTheater.org

Visit our website for the latest production related audio and visual content in the Sights and Sounds section of our show page.

Special Thanks

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

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THE ARTISTIC COMPANY Lynn Robert Berg* Gremio/Ensemble Seventeen seasons with Great Lakes Theater For GLT: Macbeth (Macbeth), Scrooge (A Christmas Carol), The Ghost and Player King (Hamlet), Malvolio (Twelfth Night), Richard III (Richard III), Frank Ford (The Merry Wives of Windsor), Polixenes (The Winter’s Tale), Doctor Parker (Bat Boy: The Musical), Caliban (The Tempest), Demetrius (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). Other credits: Don Armado (Love’s Labour’s Lost), Dr. Watson (The Hound of the Baskervilles) with Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival; Hucklebee (The Fantasticks), Bill Walker (Major Barbara), Edmund (King Lear), Hastings (She Stoops to Conquer) with Idaho Shakespeare Festival.

MFA from the University of Delaware Professional Theater Training Program. SLL’M Jodi Dominick* Merchant/Ensemble Eleven seasons with Great Lakes Theater Previous shows include Witness for the Prosecution, Wait Until Dark, Mamma Mia!, Pride and Prejudice, Les Misérables, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Sweeney Todd, The Mousetrap, Cabaret, Into the Woods, Twelfth Night, An Ideal Husband, The Imaginary Invalid, My Fair Lady, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Richard III. Nine seasons at The Idaho Shakespeare Festival, GLT’s sister company. Other theaters: New World Stages, Hudson Backstage Theater, The Beck Center, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, The Hayworth Theatre, Dobama Theatre and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. Jodi is a graduate of Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Music.

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Jonathan Dyrud* Petruchio Five seasons with Great Lakes Theater GLT/Idaho

Shakespeare

Festival: Banquo in Macbeth, Hamlet in Hamlet, King Ferdinand in Love’s Labour’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. 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: Froth and Friar Peter in Measure for Measure, Medvedenko in The Seagull (Oregon Shakespeare Festival). TV/film: Verder in Big House. Training: Southern Oregon University.

For the Jens!

Krista Harmon Walter/Ensemble Great Lakes Theater debut season Past shows include Much Ado About Nothing (Beatrice), Medea (Nurse), Breach (Alice), The Miracle Worker (Annie Sullivan), 12 Angry Men (8), Les Misérables (Fantine) and Tarzan (Kala). TV: Netflix’s Mindhunter.

Krista is a sophomore music theater student at Baldwin Wallace University. She is grateful for Mom, Dad, Jeremy and Jana.

All glory to God. Phil. 1:6 Ethan Hennes Curtis/Ensemble Great Lakes Theater debut season This is Ethan’s first season with GLT. Past credits include Balthazar in Romeo and Juliet (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Green Grocer/Aziz in Arabian Nights, Hanchen in Spring Awakening, Grempkin/Sanchez/Mack/ Fighting Prawn in Peter and The Starcatcher (Southern Oregon University), Feste in Twelfth Night (CSU Stanislaus), Rocky in The Rocky Horror Show (Merced Playhouse). BFA in performance at Southern Oregon University.

Ethan would like to thank his obnoxiously supportive parents and older sisters.

Mandie Jenson* Bianca/Ensemble Three seasons with Great Lakes Theater

Maggie Kettering* Tranio/Ensemble Four seasons with Great Lakes Theater Previous shows include A Christmas Carol, Love’s Labour’s Lost, And Then There Were None, Blithe Spirit, Much Ado about Nothing.

Previously, she has worked with Peninsula Players (Miss Holmes, Outside Mullingar, Lend Me a Tenor), Milwaukee Repertory Theatre (Holmes and Watson), House Theatre (Season on the Line – Joseph Jefferson nomination), Shakespeare Theatre Company (Henry IV, parts 1 and 2), TimeLine Theatre (My Kind of Town), Northlight Theatre (Season’s Greetings – Jack Springer Award), Michigan Shakespeare Festival, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Virginia Shakespeare Festival. Maggie is a proud member of Actors’ Equity, a resident of Chicago and a believer in Snuffleupagi.

Taha Mandviwala* Lucentio/Ensemble Great Lakes Theater debut season Previous shows include Witness for the Prosecution;

Nate John Mark Haberdasher/Sugarsop/ Ensemble Great Lakes Theater debut season Nate is originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan. He attended Western Michigan University where he pursued a degree in organizational communication. He always, however, had a passion for performance which he fostered by hosting events on campus to create platforms for artists to be heard and seen. After undergrad, he began an audience development assistantship at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival where he was later introduced to performing Shakespeare with the OSF school tour. Nate has since joined Universes Theatre Ensemble, performed in Shakespeare tours around the country and is now living as an actor in NYC.

GreatLakesTheater.org

Mandie is a New York based actor originally from Olympia, Washington. She is thrilled to make her Hanna Theatre debut, having previous appeared as Martha/Fan in GLT’s A Christmas Carol at the Ohio Theatre. Favorite credits include: Maria, Love’s Labour’s Lost; Luciana, The Comedy of Errors (Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival), Arabella, Animal Crackers; Isabel, Pirates of Penzance; (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Sally Brown, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown (Idaho Repertory Theater); Johanna, Sweeney Todd (Virginia City Players); My Crazy Love (Oxygen Network). Mandie received her BFA in Musical Theater from the University of Idaho. Love to CB!

A Christmas Carol; Romeo and Juliet; Love’s Labour’s Lost; Treasure Island; Disgraced; Pinocchio; Shakespeare in Love; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; and Robin Hood. First season with GLT and partner theater, Idaho Shakespeare Festival. Other theaters: Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Santa Cruz Shakespeare, Virginia Stage Company and Baltimore Center Stage. Taha is a BA graduate of University of Kentucky Department of Theatre and Dance.

Jessie Cope Miller* Widow/Ensemble Seven seasons with Great Lakes Theater Previous shows include Macbeth and Love’s Labour’s Lost at the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, Into the Woods at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival and Great Lakes Theater, as well as A Christmas Carol. Other credits: Abuela Claudia (In The Heights), Lady of the Lake (Monty Python’s Spamalot), Irene Molloy (Hello Dolly!) and the Leading Player (Pippin).

A graduate of the Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Music and a proud Actors’ Equity member since 2005. Many thanks to the entire company. Much love to Marlowe, family and friends. For Dougfred, Always.

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Andy Nagraj* Biondello/Ensemble Great Lakes Theater debut season Previously at GLT: Witness for the Prosecution. In Chicago: Steppenwolf Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Court Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Writers Theatre, Chicago Children’s Theatre, Timeline Theatre and Silk Road Rising.

Regional: Denver Center, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Chautauqua Theatre and the Utah, Hudson Valley, Texas, Virginia and Ohio Shakespeare festivals. TV: Chicago Fire (NBC) and Proven Innocent (FOX). Andy’s voice is frequently heard in commercials and he plays guitar for the Chicago-based band, The Winchesters. Andy was on the theater faculty of the University of Pittsburgh and received his MFA from the PTTP/Delaware.

Steve Pickering* Baptista/Ensemble Great Lakes Theater debut season An actor, director and playwright based in Chicago, Steve is a Goodman Theatre Creative Partner, Project Manager for Shanghai Low Theatricals and a 2016 Lunt-Fontanne/Ten Chimneys Fellow. He has appeared on Broadway, off-Broadway, at the New York Shakespeare Festival, in London’s West End and at many regional theaters around the country, including Berkeley Rep, the Old Globe, Lookingglass Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare, Arena Stage, Pittsburgh City Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre in D.C., and the Alabama, Illinois and Santa Cruz Shakespeare festivals — as well as over 35 productions with the Goodman Theatre since 1987. www.shanghailow.org David Anthony Smith* Vincentio/Ensemble Sixteen seasons with Great Lakes Theater

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GLT audiences have seen him as Prospero (The Tempest), Iago (Othello), Jaques (As You Like It), Duke of Buckingham (Richard III), Muggeridge/ Christmas Present/Debtor (A Christmas

Carol), Viscount Goring (An Ideal Husband), Bottom (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Malvolio (Twelfth Night), Macduff (Macbeth), Benedick (Much Ado About Nothing), Sergius (Arms and the Man) and Algernon (The Importance of Being Earnest). He has performed at the Tony Award-winning Old Globe Theater in San Diego, South Coast Repertory, Laguna Playhouse, Sierra Rep, Madison Rep and the Shakespeare festivals of Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Garden Grove, Rhode Island, Nevada and Lake Tahoe.

Forever and a day — Natalia.

Eric Damon Smith* Hortensio/Ensemble Three seasons with Great Lakes Theater Previously at GLT: Pride and Prejudice (Mr. Collins), Mamma Mia (Harry), Blithe Spirit (Charles), Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, Sweeney Todd and Richard III. Other credits: Holmes and Watson (Moriarty/Orderly/ Sherlock Holmes) and Bud in Gutenberg!

The Musical at Milwaukee Rep; The Merchant of Venice (Bassanio), Pericles (Helicanus/Bawd), Fair Maid of the West (Goodlack) and As You Like It at Riverside Theatre. A Chicago-based actor and director, recent directing credits include Cymbeline with Muse of Fire Theatre Co., where he also served as Producing Artistic Associate and Casting Director, and The Nether and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime at GLM in Reno, Nevada. Training: Hofstra University. Proud AEA member.

M.A. Taylor* Tailor/Joseph/Ensemble Fifteen seasons with Great Lakes Theater Mark Anthony — M.A. — is back on 14th Street. Previous credits include Carter/Dr. Wyatt, Witness for the Prosecution; Charity Man/Old Joe, A Christmas Carol; Murderer, Macbeth; King Louis Xll/Ensemble, Hunchback of Notre Dame; Puck, Midsummer Night’s Dream; Reynaldo, Hamlet; Feste, Twelfth Night; Doolittle, My Fair Lady; Rogers, And Then There Were None; Nathaniel, Love’s Labour’s

Lost; Hugh Evans, Merry Wives of Windsor; Also at PTTP/Rep, Boise Contemporary Theater, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival.

He holds an MFA from the University of Delaware’s Professional Theatre Training Program (PTTP). Many thanks to his families (genetic and professional). He dedicates this work, forever, to his friend Doug. Go Tribe!

Joe Wegner* Grumio/Ensemble Great Lakes Theater debut season

Understudies Luke Brett, Jessie Cope Miller*, Sha-Lemar Davis, Adam Graber, Krista Harmon, Ethan Hennes, Nate John Mark , Ethan Rogers, David Anthony Smith*, M.A. Taylor*

GreatLakesTheater.org

This is Joe’s first season with Great Lakes Theater Company.

Regional theater: Archduke (world premiere, Center Theater Group), The School for Lies (Arkansas Rep.), Guys and Dolls, A Wrinkle in Time (world premiere), Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Taming of the Shrew, Very Merry Wives of Winsor Iowa, Romeo and Juliet (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Guys and Dolls (Wallis Annenberg Center), In the Blood (Mixed Blood Theater). TV/Film: Tales of the City. Joe is a BFA graduate from Southern Oregon University.

Jessika D. Williams* Katherine Great Lakes Theater debut season Jessika has most recently performed over 30 roles at the American Shakespeare Center. Favorites include Jaques, Gertrude, Queen Margaret, Morocco, Goneril and Viola. Other theaters: Rosalind, As You Like It (California Shakespeare Theater); Rosaline, Love’s Labour’s Lost (Shakespeare Forum, NY).

Premieres: The Bacchae (National Theater of Scotland, UK tour and Lincoln Center, NY); St Monica, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Headlong/Almeida Theater, London); Faith, Wig Out (Royal Court, London). Other theaters: Blessed Unrest and Theater Uncut. TV and Film, Dr. Who, Taggart and The Decent 2.

Jessika is grateful for all those in her life that help fuel her passion.

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Directors

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Sara Bruner Director Thirteen seasons with Great Lakes Theater Directing: Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Daedalus Project Variety Show 2015, The Children’s Monologues (U.S. premiere), Cabaret (staged reading). Great Lakes Theater: A Christmas Carol (four seasons).

Idaho Shakespeare Fesitval: directed/ adapted educational tours of Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night, The Taming of the Shrew. Other theaters: A Ghost Sonata (Drop Dance Collective), Eurydice (Baldwin Wallace University). Acting: Arena Stage; Berkeley Rep: Norma McCorvey in ROE (world premiere); Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, Viola and Sebastian in Twelfth Night, Sue Trinder in Fingersmith (world premiere), LeFou in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Charles Wallace in A Wrinkle in Time (world premiere).

Great Lakes Theater/Idaho Shakespeare (10 and 19 seasons respectively): Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd, Queen Elizabeth in Richard III, Fr. Kost in Cabaret, Kate in The Taming of the Shrew, Toinette in The Imaginary Invalid, Ariel in The Tempest, Drood in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Viola in Twelfth Night, Miss Casewell in The Mousetrap, Abigail in The Crucible. Awards: 2018 Princess Grace Award, Directing.

Charles Fee Producing Artistic Director Seventeen seasons with Great Lakes Theater

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Directing credits at GLT: Witness for the Prosecution, Misery, Hamlet, 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 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!

Lue Douthit Dramaturg Great Lakes Theater debut season Lue Douthit is Executive Director of Play on Shakespeare. Before that, she spent 25 seasons at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival where she was Director of New Play Development and Dramaturgy. She co-founded and produced the Black Swan Lab for New Work at OSF for seven years. Lue was recog-

nized for her work on Lorraine Hansberry’s Les Blancs by the Literary Managers & Dramaturgs of the Americas association in 1999. She received a PhD from the University of Washington, an MFA from Trinity University, and an MA from the University of Arizona.

Jaclyn Miller Choreographer Two seasons with Great Lakes Theater

Designers Rick Martin Lighting Designer Seventeen seasons with Great Lakes Theater Many productions with GLT and ISF including The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet. Opera: Mitridate, Re di Ponto (La Monnaie, Brussels – scenery and lighting), Le Diable dans le beffroi, La Chute de la Maison Usher (Opéra national de Paris – scenery and lighting), BUTTERFLY – d’après Madama Butterfly de Puccini (Opera de Limoges and Opera de Rouen, France – lighting) and Dialogues des Carmèlites (Opéra de Toulon). Concerts: Harawi (Opèra Comique, Paris – scenery and lighting), Le martyre de Saint Sèbastien (Citè de la Musique, Paris). Coming up: scenery for the Da Ponte Trilogy: Le nozze de Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte at La Monnaie in Brussels. Member: United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829, IATSE.

For GLT: Twelfth Night, And Then There Were None, Dial “M” for Murder, The Tempest, Deathtrap, As You Like It, Blithe Spirit, The Mousetrap, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Othello, The Seagull, The Comedy of Errors, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Measure For Measure, Arsenic and Old Lace, Julius Caesar and The Merry Wives of Windsor. For ISF, he has designed The 39 Steps, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Woman In Black, A Tuna Christmas, Greater Tuna, King Lear and others. Recent productions include Both Your Houses; Philadelphia, Here I Come!; My Fair Lady; 1776 for Asolo Theatre. Regionally, Russell has designed for Indiana Rep, Asolo Theatre, ACT San Francisco, Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Syracuse Stage, Geva Theatre and Goodspeed Musicals, among others.

Leah Piehl Costume Designer Great Lakes Theater debut season Costume Design: Romeo and Juliette (OSF); Halfway to Dawn (BAM); Krapps Last Tape, Hughie (Geffen Playhouse); Kings, Once, The Light in the Piazza (South Coast Rep); Race, Twist Your Dickens (Kirk Douglas/CTG); The Steward of Christendom (Mark Taper Forum/ CTG); The Most Deserving (Denver Center Theater); Stardust (REDCAT); Intimate Apparel, Pygmalion, The Heiress (Pasadena Playhouse); Arcadia, The Doctor’s Dilemma and The Eccentricities of a Nightingale (A Noise Within); Paradise Lost (Intiman Theatre); Bars and Measures, Futura, The Pain and the Itch, Tartuffe (The Theatre @ Boston Court); Hedda Gabbler, (Antaeus), She designed the feature films All Stars and Buzzkill. Her work has been featured at MOMA, Art Basel Miami and 2010 Whitney Biennial. Piehl has a BA from UC Berkeley and her MFA in costume design from CalArts. www.leahpiehl.com

GreatLakesTheater.org

Choreography credit for GLT: Mamma Mia!, Pride and Prejudice, Hunchback of Notre Dame. Regional: Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Hairspray, Book of Will, Shakespeare in Love, Twelfth Night, Yeoman of Guard, Fingersmith (world premiere), Much Ado About Nothing, The Cocoanuts, My Fair Lady, Taming of the Shrew; Guthrie Theatre: The Cocoanuts; Baltimore Center Stage: Fun Home. Additionally, Jaclyn has worked as an Associate Director and/or Choreographer around the country. Such theaters include Kirk Douglas Theatre, Ogunquit Playhouse, Gateway Playhouse, Parker Playhouse, Colony Theatre, Berkshire Theatre Festival and Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma.

Russell Metheny Scenic Designer Fourteen seasons with Great Lakes Theater

Matthew Webb Sound Designer/Composer Twelve seasons with Great Lakes Theater Previous sound design credits at Great Lakes Theater: Macbeth and Hamlet. Other sound

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design credits include Eurydice (Baldwin Wallace University), Julius Caesar, Macbeth and Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare­ ience at Idaho Shakespeare Festival). As music director for Great Lakes: Mamma Mia!, Beehive, Forever Plaid, The Fantasticks, Sweeney Todd, Sondheim on Sondheim, Guys & Dolls, Cabaret, Bat Boy, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Into the Woods, A Christmas Carol, Two Gentlemen of Verona and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.

Many thanks to Sara, Charlie, and his incredibly supportive parents, Carol and Jerry.

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Stage Management Tim Kinzel* Production Stage Manager Nine seasons with Great Lakes Theater Tim has stage managed 30-plus productions for Great Lakes Theater. Recent credits include Witness for the Prosecution, Mamma Mia!, A Christmas Carol, Beehive - The 60’s Musical, Misery, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Forever Plaid. Tim has multiple stage management credits from the following com-

Camp THEATER

panies: Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Playwrights Horizon, Cherry Lane Theater NYC and Houston’s Stages Repertory Theatre.

Cleveland native and diehard sports fan.

Thank you for supporting the arts at Playhouse Square. Tim is a graduate of Cleveland State University. Thank you to all who have made the last leg of this journey possible.

Lucas Clark* Assistant Stage Manager Two seasons with Great Lakes Theater Lucas is delighted to be working with the Great Lakes Theater family. Previous GLT credits: Witness for the Prosecution and Hamlet. National tours: The King and I (Assistant Stage Manager/Assistant Company Manager) and Waitress (Production Assistant). Regional: Playhouse Square, Barrington Stage Company, Music Theatre Wichita, Know Theatre, Beck Center for the Arts and Cincinnati Opera. Lucas is a proud BW graduate. Many thanks to Anna for her unwavering support.

Introduce your children to the magic of theater!

A Summer Camp for students ages 4-18 June 10–14 and June 17–21, 2019 At Berea-Midpark High School Full and Half-Day camps available Camp Theater is a summer drama camp that immerses students in interactive and educational theater-based activities.

Camp Theater is a unique opportunity for students to work with and learn from Great Lakes Theater’s professional teaching artists in a fun, safe and supportive environment.

play’ s the thing 28

For more information and to register: Visit: GreatLakesTheater.org/education Call: 216.453.4443 Email: kflorian@greatlakestheater.org

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 our Annual Fund between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018. “I can no other answer make but thanks.” Twelfth Night, Act III, Scene iii

Make a Contribution Great Lakes Theater served more than 100,000 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 contribution to support Cleveland’s Classic Company. Visit the “Support Us” section of our website (GreatLakesTheater.org) or call us at (216) 453-4442 to learn more about our Membership and donation opportunities.

Sponsors: Company Sponsors $100,000 and above

Lead Sponsors $50,000 to $99,999 The Cleveland Foundation*** The George Gund Foundation*** The Kulas Foundation*** The John P. Murphy Foundation***

The David & Inez Myers Foundation*** Ohio Arts Council*** The Kelvin & Eleanor Smith 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***

GreatLakesTheater.org

Cuyahoga Arts & Culture***

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

Season Sponsors:

Season Media Sponsors:

*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 Annual Fund donors of $1,000 and above are members of Great Lakes Theater’s “Shakespeare Society” and are entitled to special, exclusive benefits, including invitations to special events and activities. For more information, contact Todd Krispinsky at (216) 453-4449.

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Avon Circle ($10,000 to $24,999) The Abington Foundation** The Eva L. & Joseph M. Bruening Foundation*** Eaton Corporation*** First Energy Foundation The GAR Foundation*** Jack & Mary Ann Katzenmeyer*** The Lubrizol Foundation*** Thomas & Margaret Lynch Charitable Trust Janet E. Neary*** The Nord Family Foundation*** Nordson Corporation Foundation*** Don & Anne Palmer*** Tim & Lynn Pistell*** PNC Foundation** Georgianna T. Roberts*** The Shubert Foundation*** Thomas G. & Ruth M. Stafford***

Stratford Circle ($5,000 to $9,999) The Bicknell Fund Mr. Todd M. Burger & Ms. Kristie Beck** Fred & Mary Behm*** Bill & Judie Caster* Ms. Anne B. DesRosiers & Mr. Stephen L. Kadish* Carol Dolan & Greggory Hill*** Evelyn Dolejs** Natalie Epstein*** Ernst & Young, LLP*** The Harry K. & Emma R. Fox Foundation*** Mr. & Mrs. Samuel Hartwell*** Paul R. & Denise Horstman Keen** Diane Kathleen Hupp* Mr. & Mrs. Leslie H. Moeller*** Mary Perkins David P. Porter & Margaret K. Poutasse*** Christopher & Gail Steward Kevin M. & Anne R. White** Robert C. & Emily C. Williams**

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

Chuck & Bonnie Abbey*** Michelle R. Arendt*** Walt & Laura Avdey*** BakerHostetler, LLP Dalia & Robert Baker*** David & Carolyn Bialosky** Kim & Bart Bixenstine** Glenn & Jenny Brown*** Mr. & Mrs. Homer D. W. Chisholm*** Gail Cudak & Thomas Young*** Timothy J. Downing & Ken Press*** Dianne V. Foley* Lynn M. Gattozzi Derek & Lynne Green Elizabeth Grove & Rich Bedell* Hahn Loeser & Parks, LLP Mr. & Mrs. Arthur C. Hall III Mary Elizabeth Huber William W. Jacobs*** Katie Kennedy & Doug White Faisal Khan & Angela DiCorleto* Mr. & Mrs. John J. Lane* The Laub Foundation*** Susan & John Lebold* Mr. & Mrs. Donald J. Mayer*** Jack McGrath*** Donald W. Morrison*** Nicholas & Sue Peay*** Dr. Scott & Mrs. Judy Pendergast*** Mr. & Mrs. Michael J. Peterman*** Thomas A. Piraino & Barbara C. McWilliams** Mr. & Mrs. Robert C. Ruhl*** Kim Sherwin** Sally J. Staley*** Brit & Kate Stenson*** Jason R. Suslak Kris & George Tesar Ulmer & Berne LLP*** University Suburban Health Center Mr. & Mrs. Paul L. Wellener IV*** John & Lori Wheeler* Ms. Rebecca A. Zuti & Mr. Anthony D. DeCello**

Folio Circle ($1,000 to $2,499) Anonymous (1) Jennifer & Michael Armstrong Robyn & David Barrie*** John & Laura Bertsch** H.F. & J.C. Burkhardt***

Calfee, Halter & Griswold, LLP*** Jack & Janice Campbell*** Donald & Annamarie Chick*** Robert & Susan Conrad Carolyn & Charles Dickson*** Ms. Leslie C. Dickson* Barry & Suzanne Doggett*** Dr. Howard Epstein* Charles, Lidia & Alexa Fee** Dale & Linda Gabor* Steve Gariepy & Nancy Sin*** The Giant Eagle Foundation** The Gries Family Foundation*** Drs. Thomas & Cynthia Gustaferro* Geoffrey Michael Heller Memorial Fund Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc.*** Kenneth Karosy*** Donna M. Koler The Milton A. & Charlotte R. Kramer Charitable Foundation* Eva & Rudolf Linnebach* Mr. & Mrs. William E. MacDonald III* Rita & Charles Maimbourg McGrath/Spellman Family Trust Mr. & Mrs. Douglas McGregor Katie McVoy & Justin Cernansky Mr. & Mrs. John C. Morley*** Michael Mumford & Neil Vakharia Karen Nemec** Pamela G. Noble & E. Macke Bentley IV** Mr. & Mrs. Patrick W. O’Connor** Mr. & Mrs. Wilmer M. Piper*** John & Norine Prim*** Ms. Ana G. Rodriguez Linda Schlageter*** Naomi G. & Edwin Z. Singer Family Fund, a supporting foundation of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland*** A.J. & Nancy Stokes The Alvah Stone & Adele Corning Chisholm Memorial Fund* Diana & Eugene Stromberg*** Gerald F. Unger*** Mary C. Warren** Julie Sabroff Willoughby* *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.”

Kathleen L. Barber* Marilyn* & Paul* Brentlinger Willard & Donna Carmel Mary* & Leigh Carter Natalie & Morton* Epstein Gerald Freedman GAR Foundation Edward S. Godleski Tom Hanks & Rita Wilson Mary Jane Davis Hartwell*

Richard II, Act II, Scene ii

Samuel S. Hartwell The Hershey Foundation Jack & Mary Ann Katzenmeyer Kate Lunsford Thomas* & Margaret Lynch Charitable Trust Mary Anne* & Jack McGrath Donald William Morrison Janet & Bob* Neary James A . Nelson* Donald & Anne Palmer

Jean Z.* & John S.* Piety Tim & Lynn Pistell Ron* & Nancy* Pottorff 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

Gift(s) to the Great Lakes Theater Endowment Fund were received from the following donor(s) between July 1 and February 26, 2019.

Edward S. Godleski | Donald William Morrison *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

at Playhouse Square

Welcome! The following individuals made their first gift, returned as active donors or increased their gift to Great Lakes Theater’s Annual Fund during the period of July 1, 2018 through February 28, 2019. The Great Lakes Theater family is grateful for your support!

Lori Adler Ms. Nancy J. Arndt & Mr. Andrew P. Houghton Carol Barnak Ms. Maurene Barry Mr. Thomas D. Basco Mr. & Mrs. John Beebe Ms. Linda Bickerstaff Tom & Dorothy Bier Mitch & Liz Blair Mr. William Bost Joanne R. Bratush Glenn & Jenny Brown Barbara J. Burke Cindy & Tim Carr Mr. Edward A. Chuhna Eileen Kennedy & Greg Cloyd Dr. & Mrs. Dale H. Cowan Samuel Cowling Mr. Mark Davis Ms. Elizabeth W. DeBoer Mrs. Mary J. Decker Audrey DeClement Mr. & Mrs. Joseph D. DeFrank Daniel & Joyce Dyer Ms. Elizabeth Eckstein Ms. Kathryn Eyring Charles, Lidia & Alexa Fee Dr. J. Robert Fowler Ms. Jeanne Frey Carla & Jim Gallagher Thomas Gilbride Ms. Pamela S. Goetsch Mr. & Mrs. Randall J. Gordon Mr. & Mrs. Richard S. Gray

Benefactor ($750 to $999) James Eschmeyer*** Mr. & Mrs. Donald Kimmel*** Ken & Mary Loparo***

Sustainers ($500 to $749)

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Anonymous (1) Gary D Benz & Betsy A Karetnick Julia & Ben Brouhard** Christopher & Nancy Coburn Evans Charitable Foundation* Mr. Joseph A. Ferritto Janet & Patricia Glaeser*** Gary & Joanna Graeff* William Hasler Mark & Barbara Mazzone** Francis & Viola McDowell** Helen & Harry Mercer***

Tom & Kirsten Hagesfeld Ms. Eleanor W. Helper Mr. Stephen Hirschfield Mr. & Mrs. Barry J. Hoffer Mr. Michael Hotz Mr. & Mrs. Joseph H. James Tom & Terri Jecker Deb & Gar Kaminski Mr. Robert Kasler Samuel C. Kennell Ms. Catherine M. Kilbane & Mr. Donald H. Bullock James & Rosemary Koehler Donna M. Koler Mr. David Kruse Al & Cynthia Kuntz Eleanor & Stephen Kushnick Ms. Leslie Lahr Mr. George Leggiero James & Tayna Lewan Mr. & Mrs. John S. Lupo Ms. Sharon Madger David & Denise Maiorana Mr. & Mrs. J. Adin Mann Mr. & Mrs. Donald J. Mayer Mr. David McKissock Antoinette Miller Ms. Patricia A. Monreal Dale Sr., Dale Jr. & Gayle Montgomery Roy & Cindy Moore Ms. Cheryl A. Moskwa Tom & Mary Neff Karen Nemec Mr. & Mrs. Robert J. Patalon Mr. John Patton The Mersol Family*** The Music & Drama Club* Deborah L. Neale*** Thomas & Helen Rathburn** Mrs. Sharon L. Rogers*** Dr. & Mrs. Lynn A. Smith*** Albert Stratton Wulf & Moira Utian Carol Lee Vella*** Mr. & Mrs. Thomas D. Warren*** Margaret & Loyal Wilson** Women’s Committee of Great Lakes Theater Festival*** Mr. Lee C. Zeiszler** Patrick M. Zohn*** John & Jane Zuzek***

Patrons ($250 to $499) Anonymous (2)

Mr. & Mrs. James M. Petras Mr. David Porter John & Norine Prim Larry & Susan Rakow Rick & Paula Reed Mr. John Reynolds Ms. Lori Riga Robinson Family Philanthropic Fund of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland Pablo R. Ros, M.D. & Karin Herrmann Doris A. Schultz Mr. & Mrs. Alan Shubert Ms. Sunny M. Simon Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Slavin Ms. Margaret C. Stark Anita Stoll & Pete Clapham Mr. Jason R. Suslak & Ms. Amber R. Gregg Geoff & Catherine Tanner Mr. & Mrs. Edward J. Tatman Ms. Suzanne W. Tenbrook Karl & Carol Theil Arthur L. Thomas Dr. & Mrs. Ken Tomecki Mr. Joseph Toner Mr. Edward Vargo Ms. Mary S. Velotta Ms. Adele Viguera Mr. & Mrs. James L. Wamsley III Mary C. Warren Dr. & Mrs. Gregory A. Watts Mr. & Mrs. Harold L. Williams Ms. Suann M. Winczek Ms. Jean Wingate

The Thomas & Joann Adler Family Donor Advised Fund of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland*** Dr. & Mrs. Peter & Kathy Alscher Thomas & Joan Baker* Mr. & Mrs. Benham S. Bates** Kathy Berkshire* John & Jeannene Bertosa** Paul & Heather Blonsky* Gary & Kay Bluhm** Bernice A. Bolek*** Richard & Mary Ann Brockett* Barbara J. Burke** Tim & Cindy Carr** Mr. & Mrs. Lucien H. Case* Ms. Megan Casserlie* Rollin & Anne Conway** Dr. & Mrs. Kevin D. Cooper** Bruce & Maryellen Cudney*** Audrey DeClement*** Pete & Margaret Dobbins*

Ted Elrick Mr. & Mrs. L. William Erb* Dr. & Mrs. Robert L. Fairchild Jon & Mary Fancher** Ann & Harry Farmer* Mary Eileen Fogarty*** Deborah A. Geier*** Bob & Mia Graf Lee & Peter Haas** Virginia Hansen*** Tom & Luz Higgason Mrs. Edith Hirsch Mr. Herbert J. Hoppe, Jr.* Robert & Linda Jenkins** Dr. Steven & Lena Kanter Bernie & Nancy Karr*** Eileen Kennedy & Greg Cloyd Larry & Joy Kent** Bill & Susan Kirchner* Bob & Nanci Kirkpatrick*** James & Rosemary Koehler Ronald G. Kollar***

Associates ($125 to $249) Anonymous (3) Donna Beletic* Ms. Pamela Benson* Mr. & Mrs. Thomas W. Berges Roger Bielefeld*** Peter Blohm John Bolton*** Ms. Dorothy F. Borer* Mr. Stanley C. Brandt & Ms. Mary K. Whitmer*** Joanne R. Bratush*** Mike & Carole Brown* V. Elizabeth Brown** Larry & Andi Carlini** Mr. & Mrs. Robert B. Charlick** Jean McQuillan & Richard Christ*** John & Donna Clifford*** Joanne Clifford James Collins Stan & Lisa Corwin* David & Gayle Cratty*** Mary J. Decker Mr. Alex Derkaschenko John Doucette Daniel & Joyce Dyer ** Mr. & Mrs. Robert Eikenburg***

Gene & Patricia Ewald Mary Ann & Joseph Fischer** David V. Foos*** Mr. & Mrs. Gerald R. Frei** Mr. & Mrs. Lou Galizio*** Mrs. Carla Gallagher* Mrs. Barbara J. Garris Virginia T. Goetz* Kathy Grekco Jean E. Gubbins** Tom & Kirsten Hagesfeld*** Ms. Bonnie Ann Hajek Curt & Karen Henkle** Ms. Robin Herrington-Bowen* Mr. & Mrs. Douglas M. Hicks Rick Hoch* Mark & Lynn Hofflund* Kathy & Jamie Hogg*** Ms. Elizabeth A. Irwin Marie Ivkanec* Mr. & Mrs. Robert L. Janson** Deb & Gar Kaminski Marilyn & Howard Karfeld*** John & Linda Karolefski Lauren Kawentel** Samuel C. Kennell* William & Marion Kettering** Michael & Lynn Kleinman* Mr. Thomas Knox* Mr. & Mrs. Mark D. Kozel*** Jacob Kronenberg & Barbara Belovich*** Fred & Joann Lafferty*** Jennifer & Robert Larson** Gregory Leach* Gregory & Vickie Leyes** Brian & Renee Lowery** James Marino Joseph Marinucci Mr. & Mrs. Robert E. McDonald*** Roy & Cindy Moore*** Pat Murphy & Mike Kupiec Ms. Barbara H. Nahra Tom & Mary Neff** Thomas Neff Ms. Brenda Norton Robert & Margery Orth* Mr. & Mrs. Robert J. Patalon* Mr. & Mrs. James M. Petras Mr. & Mrs. Harold I. Pittaway III Mr. William Plesec Ms. Mary L. Pollak* Andrew & Brenda Pongracz* Mr. & Mrs. Louis Pongracz** Ms. Bette M. Prendergast James & Susan Prince* Ms. Betsy R. Quinn* Peter E. Renerts Reinhold & Ginny Roedig*** Donna Schuerger*** Steve & Kathy Schultz** Ms. Annette Shaughnessy Donna Sheridan*** Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Slavin*** James Sonday

William E. Spatz** Susan St. John** Mr. Arthur D. Stehlik & Mrs. Sherri L. Stehlik Kathlyn & Harry Stenzel*** Ms. Margaret A. Svoboda Sean Swick Joanne M. Uniatowski Anne Unverzagt & Richard Goddard*** Mr. & Mrs. James D. Vail** Christine & Daniel Vento* Ryan Vidmar Carol A. Vidoli*** Ms. Kimberly A. Vivolo* Michael Wagner Ms. Kathleen Waits** Mrs. Betty S. Weiss** Roger & Nancy Welchans Jean Wingate Thomas M. Wladyka* Jeanne Wojciechowicz James & Sandra Wood** John & Dianne Young***

Friends ($75 to $124) Anonymous (3) Lori Adler** Carol Barnak Kimberley Barton Thomas D. Basco Brian & Teresa Bester* Tom & Dorothy Bier Dr. & Mrs. Dieter F. Bloser*** Susan Bobey** Phyliss M. Boggs Mr. & Mrs. Charles P. Bolton*** Ms. Anita K. Bridges* Mr. & Mrs. Seth Brodsky Daniel Brown Kathy Caldwell Dr. & Mrs. Dale H. Cowan* Samuel Cowling*** Ms. & Mr. M. Judith Crocker* Judith Darus* Chris & Mary Ann Deibel*** The Eldridge Family Mary Emerson Dr. & Mrs. Michael Eppig Janice Evans** Nancy Facchiano Mr. & Mrs. Frank L. Field*** Carmela Freeman Mr. & Mrs. Stephen Freeman Charles & Julia Gall** Nicholas & Marsha Gallo Lisa Greb John Greene* Marian Hancy** Jean Heller* Ms. Eleanor W. Helper* Frank & Gerry Hoffert** Ms. Carolyn R. Horn Clyde A. Horn***

Dr. Randal N. Huff Ron & Joanne Hulec*** Mary Immormino James & Gale Jacobsohn Thomas Jecker Dennis Kelly** Mr. Gilbert P. Kenehan** Mr. Kenneth R. Kessler Mr. & Mrs. Albert Kirby Mary Jo Klements David R. Knowles Mr. & Mrs. Gregory G. Kruszka* Leslie Lahr* Ms. Linda V. Lefkovitz* Chuck & Donna Loper Mr. & Mrs. John S. Lupo Susan E. Lust Alex Machaskee Paul S. Malchesky Janet Mann Anne Martin* Gretchen Mates Connie May James L. Mayer Cathy J. McCall*** Mr. David McKissock Rev. Edward E. Mehok*** Antoinette Miller*** Mr. John M. Moss & Mrs. Karen J. Moss Mark Norris Gerald Norton* Joan M. Oravec*** Meribeth Pannitto* Peggy & Michael Partington*** John R. Pendergast Brian Perry & Ka Pi Hoh* Mr. Alan A. Pomiecko Ms. Karen Powers Mr. James E. Racic Judy & Clifford Reeves*** Mr. & Mrs. Gerald P. Rencehausen Ms. Jacqueline Y. Rhodes** Ms. Lori Riga Robinson Family Philanthropic Fund of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland* Ms. Lois Schneider William & Lisa Schonberg Doris A. Schultz** Randall & Sara Shaner Richard Shirey* Dr. Dave & Faye Sholiton* Mary Slak Marg Slesnick Mary Slowey* Roy & Alma Smith* Ms. Dana Snyder Mr. & Mrs. John Southworth* Dale M. Sroka John & Leslie Stanforth Kara Suzelis Kathryn Sweeny Dr. Elizabeth Swenson* Mr. & Mrs. Edward J. Tatman* Edwin Upton

GreatLakesTheater.org

Ursula Korneitchouk* Stephen & Carolyn Kuerbitz* Chris & Laura Larson*** Mr. & Mrs. Brian Lawler** Morton & Lola Litt* Anne R. & Kenneth E. Love** Jennifer & Peter Meckes* Steven & Dolly Minter David & Leslee Miraldi*** Steve Z. & Mary Gibbs Mitchell*** Dale Sr., Dale Jr. & Gayle Montgomery Toni & Linda Moore*** Glenn & Susan Morley Ronald Mortus Rick & Paula Reed Dr. Edward J. Rockwood*** Otmar & Rota Sackerlotzky*** Jim & Joan Schaefer Jeff & Beth Ann Sedam Mr. Bahman Y. Sharif Dr. Howard & Beth Simon* Katherine Stokes-Shafer Karl & Carol Theil** Frank & Vicki Titas** Robert & Marti Vagi** Raymond & Carolyn Voelker* Nancy-Anne Wargo* Dr. & Mrs. Gregory A. Watts** Chris & Mary Weaver Mr. John Wiedemann & Ms. Pamela Schnellinger* Brian Wynne & Patrick Cozzens** Ms. Margaret E. Zellmer**

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Natalie Vloedman Tom Wagner & Malinda Smyth** Mrs. Barbara S. Walker** Rev. & Mrs. David M. Walker*** Mrs. Alice H. Webster* Adam Wilde Colleen Williams & Jim Persichitti Paul Wolansky Nancy N. Yood Arthur & Deborah Zinn** Maxene Zion *3 – 5 consecutive years as a donor **6 – 9 consecutive years as a donor

at Playhouse Square

*** 10 or more consecutive years as a donor

Endowment Fund Gifts to the Great Lakes Theater Endowment Fund were received from the following donors between July 1, 2017 and December 31, 2018.

Edward S. Godleski Mary Jane Davis Hartwell* Thomas* & Margaret Lynch Charitable Trust Janet & Bob* Neary Jean Z.* & John S.* Piety

David P. Porter & Margaret K. Poutasse in memory of Morton G. Epstein Ron & Nancy Pottorff

Gifts were received in honor of: Diane Foley by: Mark Freeman Carla P. Gallagher by: Jim Gallagher Tom Hanks by: Sam Garrett Robert H. Martindale by: David Wildermuth Janet Neary by: Ms. Emily Holdge Brasfield Mary A. Price by: Martha & Wayne Bifano Rebecca Zuti by: Barbara & David Ackerman

Gifts were received in memory of: Claudine Clinton by: Pam & Russ Kilpatrick, Mary Slowey Judith Kutcher by: George A. Hoy, Lawrence R. Gonet, Donald P. Koch, Mr. James W. Kutcher, Ruth Rayle, P. Joyce Rhodes, Billy Taylor Michael Markic by: Nancy Smith

Lindsay Morgenthaler by: Gries Financial

Matching Gift Corporations

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.

Eaton Corporation GE Foundation IBM Corporation The Lubrizol Foundation Nordson Corporation Foundation Perkins Charitable Foundation PNC Foundation Schneider Electric North America Foundation The Sherwin-Williams Company

Officers Janice Campbell, President Kathy Berkshire, Co-Vice Chair Barb Chernus, Co-Vice Chair Viola McDowell, Recording Secretary Bernice Bolek, Corresponding Secretary Nanci Kirkpatrick, Treasurer

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) 453-4442.

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

Every effort is made to ensure that our donor records are current and correct. Please contact Great Lakes Theater’s Development Office at (216) 453-4442 or via email at lsteward@ greatlakestheater.org with questions or to report updates and revisions.

GET A GOOD READ ON CLEVELAND. For all of your entertainment needs, Cleveland Magazine is the ticket for only $16.96.

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TRUSTEES Chair

William W. Jacobs *†

President

Timothy J. Downing *

Secretary

Kim Bixenstine *

Treasurer

Kathleen Kennedy *

Trustees

John E. Katzenmeyer † Denise Horstman Keen Faisal Khan * John W. Lebold * William E. MacDonald III † David M. Maiorana 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 † Gregory Pribulsky Georgianna T. Roberts †

Ana Rodriguez Pablo R. Ros, M.D. John D. Schubert † Peter Shimrak † Thomas G. Stafford *† Sally J. Staley Diana W. Stromberg Catherine Tanner Kristine M. Tesar Arthur L. Thomas Gerald F. Unger Nancy Wellener 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 60 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.

GreatLakesTheater.org

Michelle Arendt Jennifer Armstrong Walter Avdey* Dalia Baker Gina L. Beebe 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 Lynn M. Gattozzi Elizabeth A. Grove * Arthur C. Hall, III Samuel Hartwell * Mary Elizabeth Huber Diane Hupp Joseph H. James

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

Management Team

at Playhouse Square

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

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

Education Education Assistant.................Chennelle Bryant-Harris Education Outreach Associate................David Hansen School Residency Program Actor-Teachers................. Trevor Buda, Adam Graber, Tim Keo, Adrionna Powell Lawrence, Kimberly Martin, Zyrece Montgomery, Shaun O’Neill, Leah Smith

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

Institutional Advancement Audience Engagement Coordinator........ Jeremy Lewis Marketing & Communications Manager................................................. Kacey Shapiro Annual Fund & Special Events Coordinator......................................Elizabeth Steward Advancement Associate...................Olivia M. Williams

Production Assistant Production Manager...........Corrie E. Purdum Company Manager.......................................Amy Essick Technical Director.......................................Mark Cytron Assistant Technical Director..........William Langenhop Master Carpenter.......................................Lindsay Loar Carpenter/Welder...............................Richard Haberlen Carpenters.................... Nathan Glowacki, Gary Zsigrai Properties Master..............................Jessica Rosenlieb

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Assistant Properties Master............. Bernadine Cockey Costume Director............................Esther M. Haberlen Assistant Costume Shop Manager/Tailor......Leah Loar Draper..........................................................Diana Sidley First Hands..............Christine Krysa, Christina Spencer Design Assistant/Stitcher...................... Zachary Hickle Stitcher..................................................... Melody Walker Milliner........................................................Marta Glazen Wardrobe Supervisor....................... Mackenzie Malone Wardrobe Crew........Zachary Hickle, Christina Spencer Costume Shop Intern....................................Gwen Kunz Master Electrician.................................... Tammy Taylor Electrician....................................................Adam Ditzel Charge Scenic Artist....................................Ruth Lohse Audio Supervisor.....................................Brian Chismar Production Stage Manager.........................Tim Kinzel* Assistant Stage Manager..........................Lucas Clark* Stage Management Intern.................Gabriella Neuerer Run Crew....................... Ralph Melari, Mileena Norman Hanna Theatre Crew............Thomas Boddy, Chris Guy, Shaun Milligan, Nathan Tulenson

Volunteers

Company Doctor.......Dr. Donald Ford & Cleveland Clinic Costume Interns.........Dishaina Goins, Kalicia Straight

Special Thanks 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.

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

PLAYHOUSE SQUARE HISTORY Hanna Theatre Trivia 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

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.

Broadway to Buildings Where do the arts and real estate go handin-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,

YPs Take the Lead 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!

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.

GreatLakesTheater.org

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.

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.

What’s in a Logo?

The Playhouse Square logo we use today – a tilted burgundy square with a capital P in its center – was introduced in 2008 to capture the enduring spirit of entertainment and excitement. Each of the logo’s graphic elements has meaning: the exclamation point with a star in the “P” symbolizes excitement and innovation; the swirl in the “P” represents creativity and forward motion; the tilted square symbolizes Playhouse Square as a destination; and the burgundy color gives nod to the color scheme of our historic theaters.

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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.

APRIL/MAY AT PLAYHOUSE SQUARE OUTCALT/ HELEN/ ALLEN ALLEN ALLEN Sunday

Monday

HANNA

KENNEDY’S

Tuesday

APRIL

Tiny Houses

Tiny Houses Taming of the Shrew Superstar/Songs of The Carpenters Phantom/Opera Tree of Oedipus Be More Chill

CONNOR KEYBANK US BANK WESTFIELD PALACE STATE PLAZA STUDIO

OHIO

Friday

Saturday

Tiny Houses Tiny Houses The Phantom of the The Taming of the Opera Shrew The Phantom of the Opera Tree of Oedipus

Wednesday

Thursday

Flanagan’s Wake Tiny Houses Taming of the Shrew Phantom/Opera Tree of Oedipus Be More Chill Coppélia

Flanagan’s Wake Tiny Houses Taming of the Shrew Phantom/Opera Tree of Oedipus Be More Chill Coppélia

Tiny Houses Tiny Houses The Phantom of the The Taming of the Opera Shrew The Phantom of the Opera Tree of Oedipus

Flanagan’s Wake Tiny Houses The Taming of the Shrew The Phantom of the Opera Tree of Oedipus

Flanagan’s Wake Tiny Houses The Taming of the Shrew Phantom/Opera Tree of Oedipus Junie B. Jones

1 2 3 4 5 6 Tiny Houses The Phantom of the Opera

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Tiny Houses The Taming of the Shrew Phantom/Opera Tree of Oedipus Junie B. Jones Black Violin

The Phantom of the The Phantom of the Opera Opera

The Phantom of the The Phantom of the Flanagan’s Wake Opera Opera The Phantom of the Opera

Flanagan’s Wake The Phantom of the Opera

A Bronx Tale Fair on the Square 2019

A Bronx Tale

A Bronx Tale

A Bronx Tale Flanagan’s Wake Alvin Ailey 42nd Street

A Bronx Tale Flanagan’s Wake Alvin Ailey Native Gardens 42nd Street

21 22 23 24 25 26 27 M AY

A Bronx Tale Alvin Ailey Native Gardens 42nd Street

A Bronx Tale Native Gardens

A Bronx Tale Todd Rundgren Native Gardens Million Dollar Quartet Todd Rundgren

A Bronx Tale Native Gardens An Evening with Beth Hart

A Bronx Tale Native Gardens Million Dollar Quartet RBRM - 4 The Love Of It Tour

Native Gardens Native Gardens Native Gardens Native Gardens Million Dollar Quartet Million Dollar Quartet Million Dollar Quartet Million Dollar Quartet Nat Geo Live: View Rise From Above

A Bronx Tale Native Gardens

A Bronx Tale Native Gardens

A Bronx Tale A Bronx Tale Native Gardens Native Gardens Million Dollar Quartet Million Dollar Quartet Twenty Thousand Leagues Under/Sea SHH! We Have a Plan Jason Bishop/Magic

28 29 30 1 2 3 4 A Bronx Tale A Bronx Tale A Bronx Tale A Bronx Tale Native Gardens Native Gardens Native Gardens Native Gardens Million Dollar Quartet Million Dollar Quartet Million Dollar Quartet Million Dollar Quartet

GreatLakesTheater.org

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Native Gardens Million Dollar Quartet 2019 Dazzle Awards Cleveland Jazz Orchestra/Bernie Dresel

12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Native Gardens Million Dollar Quartet Dancing Classrooms Northeast Ohio

Million Dollar Quartet Million Dollar Quartet Million Dollar Quartet Million Dollar Quartet

Million Dollar Quartet Apocalyptica

Eddie Izzard

19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Rob Lowe - Stories I Only Tell My Friends: Live!

26 27 28 29 30 31

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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Covia is proud to support Playhouse Square.

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

Covia, formerly Fairmount Santrol and Unimin, is a leading provider of minerals and material solutions for the Industrial and Energy markets, with a broad array of high-quality products and the industry’s most comprehensive and accessible distribution network. We believe in the power of long-term partnerships – built on integrity, reliability and an innovative solutions mindset – to deliver shared success.

CoviaCorp.com