WELCOME

Dear Friends,

On behalf of our artists, staff and Board of Trustees, welcome to the second half of Great Lakes Theater’s 61st season!

Our mission, “to bring the pleasure, power, and relevance of classic theater to the widest possible audience,” guides our mainstage productions and our educational programming. We believe 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.

We cannot wait to take you on a journey to the fertile Forest of Arden as we continue our season with a company favorite, Shakespeare’s enchanting comedy, As You Like It. This title has special meaning for us as it was the first play at Lakewood Civic Auditorium that our company produced under the leadership of Arthur Lithgow in 1962, as well as the first show we produced in the Ohio Theatre in 1982 when we became the first resident company of Playhouse Square. With its charismatic characters — led by the beguiling Rosalind, undoubtedly one of Shakespeare’s greatest roles — and beautiful language, it is not hard to see why we return to it time and again.

There is more to come following As You Like It ! The curtain rises on the grand finale to our 61st season this May as we bring the gorgeous, vibrant musical celebration of Fats Waller, Ain’t Misbehavin,’ to the Hanna Theatre stage. We are overjoyed to share this longawaited production with you (it was cancelled several times due to the pandemic) and thrilled for you to experience this brilliant show in our intimate Hanna Theatre! We know you won’t want to miss this tremendous tribute to the jazz legend.

As always, we offer our deepest gratitude to those who have given their generous support this season. As you read your program and look around the theater tonight, you will see the names of many friends, partners, corporations and foundations whose donations make all of this possible. We encourage you to join these donors by becoming a Great Lakes Theater family member with your gift. In addition, we extend our sincere gratitude to all of our sponsors and Annual Fund donors/members, with continued appreciation to our partners of over 40 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.

We hope to see you in our audience again soon.

Charles Fee Producing Artistic Director

Bob Taylor Executive Director