Ain't Misbehavin' - Spring 2023

Cleveland’s Classic Company at the Hanna Theatre presents

April 28–May 21, 2023

DEAR FRIENDS

On behalf of our artists, staff, and Board of Trustees, welcome to the conclusion 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 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 are so pleased you have joined us for the finale of our 61st season, Ain’t Misbehavin’. We are overjoyed to share this long-awaited production with you. This gorgeous, vibrant, musical celebration of Fats Waller is a truly fitting way to end this extraordinary season. We are extremely grateful to the Kulas Foundation for sponsoring this musical and many others over the years as part of the Kulas Musical Theater Series at Great Lakes Theater.

As the current season closes, work has already begun on our next season of six spectacular productions. Our 2023-24 season starts with Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 in September, followed by Dracula: The Bloody Truth and A Christmas Carol to ring in the holiday season Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Always...Patsy Cline arrive in the spring to round out the second half of this tremendous season. We hope you will join us again next season by purchasing a season subscription to three or more of our productions!

On a personal note, the two of us have been working together in leadership of the three companies we serve, beginning with Great Lakes Theater in 2002. This is Bob’s 23rd season at GLT and Charlie’s 21st. Our professional partnership is coming to an end this summer as Bob retires from all three of our companies, but the bonds of friendship that we, and our families, have formed will last a lifetime. Working with our committed and loyal year-round staffs, our dedicated and generous boards of trustees, and the artists that form the core of our work, we have created an artistic and business model that is unique in the American Theater: three independently operated, non-profit theater companies spanning the continent from Ohio to Idaho to Nevada. Our model has created tangible opportunities for our entire team, from administration to production and artistic. This is something that we are deeply proud of and view as a legacy of our work together.

The road we have travelled together has not always been easy. In our first year together, we worked to retire an over one million dollar accumulated deficit brought on by recession and the 9/11 shutdown of a major production. Our job was to restructure GLT, eliminate debt, build capital reserves and plan the campaign to re-imagine the Hanna Theatre. Neither of us could have achieved this alone. Based on trust and a shared vision, our partnership saw us through to the successful re-capitalizing of GLT and the opening of the Hanna Theatre following a $20 million campaign in 2008. Bob has taken the lead as the “numbers guy,” yet always with a passionate appreciation and deep understanding of our artistic mission. We are incredibly proud that his legacy will live on, with the company grounded in the firm financial footing we have developed together over these past two decades.

As always, we sincerely thank 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 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

ABOUT GREAT LAKES THEATER

The 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, 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 joyful and meaningful connections between classic plays and their own lives.

The company’s commitment to classic theater is magnified in the educational programming surrounding 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 more than 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.

Charles Fee

Producing

With generous support from:

Artistic Director

Part of the Kulas Musical Theater Series at Great Lakes Theater

Presents

THE FATS WALLER MUSICAL SHOW

CONCEIVED BY RICHARD MALTBY, JR. & MURRAY HORWITZ

CREATED AND ORIGINALLY DIRECTED BY RICHARD MALTBY, JR.

ORIGINAL CHOREOGRAPHY AND MUSICAL STAGING BY ARTHUR FARIA

MUSICAL ADAPTATIONS, ORCHESTRATIONS, AND ARRANGEMENT BY LUTHER HENDERSON

VOCAL AND MUSICAL CONCEPTS BY JEFFREY GUTCHEON

MUSICAL ARRANGEMENTS BY JEFFREY GUTCHEON & WILLIAM ELLIOTT

Originally produced by The Manhattan Theatre Club

Originally produced on Broadway by Emanuel Azenberg, Dasha Epstein, The Shubert Organization, Jane Gaynor, & Ron Dante

DIRECTED AND CHOREOGRAPHED BY GERRY McINTYRE

Tyrick Wiltez Jones*

Colleen Longshaw*

Music Director

William Knowles

Scenic Designer

Stanley A. Meyer

Hair and Wig Designer

Iran Micheal Leon

Company

Brittney Mack*

Jessie Cope Miller*

Costume Designer

Dustin Cross

William Knowles

David Robbins*

Assistant Director/Choreographer

Jaclyn Miller

Lighting Designer Trad A Burns

Production Stage Manager Sarah Kelso*

Sound Design

David Gotwald

Assistant Stage Managers

Nicki Cathro*

Lindy Warren

*Members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States Ain’t Misbehavin’ is part of the Kulas Musical Theater Series at Great Lakes Theater. Great Lakes Theater Youth Savings subscriptions are subsidized by a generous gift from Eaton. There will be one fifteen-minute intermission.

AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’ Is presented through special arrangement with Musical Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.mtishows.com Any video and/or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Andre Tyrick Wiltez Jones*†

Armelia ............................................................................................ Jessie Cope Miller*

Fats Waller ........................................................................................... William Knowles

Charlaine Brittney Mack*

Nell...................................................................................................Colleen Longshaw*

Ken David Robbins*

Musicians:

Piano/Musical Director .......................................................................... William Knowles

Bass .......................................................................................................... Ray DeForest

Trumpet Juan Ingram

Trombone ................................................................................................ Eric Richmond

Reed Emillo Rosario

Drums ...................................................................................................... Elijah Gilmore

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

† Dance Captain

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

play’s the thing

Great Lakes Theater Camp is a summer drama camp with musical theater elements that immerses students in interactive and educational theater-based activities. Theater Camp 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.

june 12 - 22, 2023

full and half-day camps available! Two-week session! (Mon.- Thurs.)

a summer camp for students ages 6-17 at Brook Park Elementary School

For more info: GreatLakesTheater.org/camp

MUSICAL NUMBERS

All music by Thomas “Fats” Waller alone, except where (*) indicated. Songs not written by Fats Waller were recorded by him.

Act One

“Ain’t Misbehavin’”* (1929) ............................

Music by Thomas Waller and Harry Brooks

Lyrics by Andy Razaf

“Lookin’ Good But Feelin Bad” (1929) ...................................... Lyrics by Lester A. Santly

“’Tain’t Nobody’s Biz-Ness If I Do”* (1922) (The first song recorded by Fats Waller)

Music and Lyrics by Porter Grainger and Everett Robbins

Additional Lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr. and Marray Horwitz

“Honeysuckle Rose” (1939) Lyrics by Andy Razaf

“Squeeze Me” (1925) ........................................................... Lyrics by Clarence Williams

“Handful Of Keys” (1933) ...................... Lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr. and Murray Horwitz (based on an idea by Marty Gross)

“I’ve Got A Feeling I’m Falling”* (1929) .............. Music by Thomas Waller and Harry Link

Lyrics by Billy Rose

“How Ya Baby” (1938) .................................................................. Lyrics by J.C. Johnson

“The Ladies Who Sing With The Band” (1943)

“Yacht Club Swing” (1938)

“When The Nylons Bloom Again” (1943)

Lyrics by George Marion, Jr.

Music by Thomas Waller and Herman Autry

Lyrics by J.C. Johnson

Lyrics by George Marion, Jr.

“Cash For Your Trash” (1942) .......................................................... Lyrics by Ed Kirkeby

“Off-Time”* (1929)

Music by Thomas Waller and Harry Brooks

Lyrics by Andy Razaf

“The Joint Is Jumpin’” (1938) ............................... Lyrics by Andy Razaf and J.C. Johnson

Act Two

“Spreadin’ Rhythm Around”* (1935)

Music by Jimmy McHugh

Lyrics by Ted Koehler, Additional lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr.

“Lounging At The Waldorf” (1936) ........................................

Lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr.

“The Viper’s Drag” (1943) “The Reefer Song” (Traditional)

“Mean To Me”* (1929) ..........................

“Your Feet’s Too Big”* (1936)

Music and Lyrics by Roy Turk and Fred E. Ahlert

Music and Lyrics by Ada Benson and Fred Fisher

“That Ain’t Right”* (1943) ...................................... Music and Lyrics by Nat “King” Cole

Additional Lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr. and Murray Horwitz

“Keepin’ Out Of Mischief Now” (1932)

Lyrics by Andy Razaf

“Fat And Greasy”* (1939) .......... Music and Lyrics by Porter Grainger and Charlie Johnson

“Black And Blue”* (1929)

Music by Thomas Waller and Harry Brooks

Lyrics by Andy Razaf

Finale: Songs by others which Fats Waller made hits

“I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter”* (1933)

Music by Fred E. Ahlert, Lyrics by Joe Young

“Two Sleepy People”* (1938) Music by Hoagy Carmichael, Lyrics by Frank Loesser

“I’ve Got My Fingers Crossed”* (1935)..... Music by Jimmy McHugh, Lyrics by Ted Koehler

“I Can’t Give You Anything But Love”* (1928)

Music by Jimmy McHugh

Lyrics by Dorothy Fields

“It’s A Sin To Tell A Lie”* (1933).................................. Music and Lyrics by Billy Mayhew

“Honeysuckle Rose” (reprise)

on Ain’t Misbehavin’

Ain’t Misbehavin’ Black Joy

by Denise A. Harrison

Black Americans have witnessed their share of suffering as the ancestors of people who were forcefully emigrated from West Africa to the American colonies and throughout the Americas for their skilled free labor. While suffering is part of the story told by W.E.B. Du Bois in his chapter on Sorrow Songs in The Souls of Black Folk, he also writes that suffering affects him in multiple ways:

They that walked in darkness sang songs in the olden days — Sorrow Songs —for they were weary at heart. And so before each thought that I have written in this book I have set a phrase, a haunting echo of these weird old songs in which the soul of the [B] lack slave spoke to men. Ever since I was a child these songs have stirred me strangely.  (Du Bois, chapter 14)

Founding editor of Crisis, the magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, W. E. B. DuBois was a leading thinker and activist in promoting African-American achievement.

and response, improvisational jazz and Black joy. While much has been written on call and response and improvisational jazz, we are just beginning to acknowledge Black joy. Serita Cannon’s “The Subversive Potential of Black Joy: Reimagining Protest In the Work of James Baldwin and Lorraine Hansberry” appropriately cites moments of joy in the lives of these two literary and social justice authors. While they both critique American culture and racism through their writing, they were not without joy and love for one another. That joy is seen in the way their characters celebrate their lives by acting out and acting up amid fighting daily economic oppressions and social injustice.

Du Bois’ soul is stirred by those songs of sorrow as an expression of the struggle that enslaved Africans endured. He goes on to tell how these songs are “the music of unhappy people, the children of disappointment; they tell of death and suffering of unvoiced longing. …” These sorrow songs passed throughout America and Europe in the hearts of the Fisk Jubilee singers, which led to them raising enough funds to found Fisk University (The Souls of Black Folk, Du Bois). Fisk Jubilee singers are world-renowned 150 years later, earning both a Grammy and a Dove award. Those songs, in the hands of the Fisk Jubilee singers, are a celebration of Black joy. This music history is celebrated by the musical Ain’t Misbehavin’ through the sorrow in the song “Black and Blue” and the joyful wink and nod of “Ain’t Misbehavin’” and “Your Feets Too Big.”

Ain’t Misbehavin’ pays homage to three significant features of Black spiritual and music life: call

Celebrating black music and black art and recognizing black pain acknowledges the humanity of black people. A world in which joy is evoked in and enliven the production of Ain’t Misbehavin’. For a few hours, we are without sorrow, suffering or hurt. This same Black joy was visible during the UK June protest of George Floyd’s murder. Floyd was murdered by a white police officer in May of 2020 in the United States. Afro-British citizens, in the middle of a protest, danced the electric slide to “Candy” by Cameo. Dancing was a deliberate “act of healing.” It was needed and acknowledged, it was a reprieve from frustration and pain, if just for the moment. This, too, was an act of resistance. Ain’t Misbehavin’ is Black joy, center stage.

Denise Harrison is a writer and lecturer at Kent State University, focusing on intersectionality, cross roads of race, class and gender, black woman writers, food sourcing, sustainability and activism and the history of African and African-American cooking, as well as Native American traditions, culture and environmental issues.

The Harlem Renaissance

Billie Holliday sang of it in 1939:

Southern trees bearing strange fruit Blood on the leaves and blood at the roots Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

In words penned by a Jewish schoolteacher, Holliday testified in the song “Strange Fruit” to the “bitter crop” of the “pastoral” south — the lynched bodies of African-Americans. Along with restrictive segregationist laws and the debt-saddling sharecropping system, mob violence was a central feature of the dangerous life 6 million black people left behind between 1916 and 1970 as they fled the rural South in what has been called “The Great Migration.” Labor shortages during WW I provided the first opening, and 400,000 AfricanAmericans flowed North between 1916 and 1918 alone.

The industrial North did not welcome the newcomers with open arms, but they gained a foothold nonetheless and sent money back for family and friends to join them. Among cities across the North, no destination attracted greater numbers than New York City, and no neighborhood more so than the several square miles known as Harlem. Overbuilt in the 1880s as an exclusive suburb for upper- and middle-class whites, the neighborhood offered available housing in the 1910s and 1920s. Black-owned businesses, churches, shops, restaurants and nightclubs sprang up along the increasingly crowded and cosmopolitan streets of Harlem. Writers, singers, musicians, scholars and artists came from all over. A “renaissance” of the “New Negro” was underway.

The denizens of the Harlem Renaissance read and contributed essays, poems and stories to The Crisis, the monthly NAACP magazine launched in 1910 by founding editor W.E.B. Du Bois; to the “race-conscious” Voice, which first appeared in

1917, and to the National Urban League’s Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life, which first came out in 1924. They read about themselves in scholar Alain Locke’s magazine issue, Harlem: Mecca of the New Negro. They sought each other’s

Train station ca. 1916 during the “Great Migration” of southern blacks to northern industrial cities.

Harlem streetscape before the 1904 real estate crash that opened the door for black tenants.

The broad streets and substantial apartment buildings of Harlem — Lenox Avenue in the 1920s.

on Ain’t Misbehavin’

work in Locke’s groundbreaking 1925 literary anthology, The New Negro , which heralded a transformation of “social disillusionment to race pride.”

The syncopated rhythms of jazz spilled out of Harlem nightclubs in the 1920s, and into Broadway theaters. Poet Langston Hughes often credited the 1921 musical revue Shuffle Along with ushering in the Harlem Renaissance. The show’s four collaborators were African-American vaudeville performers who crossed paths at an NAACP benefit in Philadelphia in 1920. Comedians Flournoy Miller and Aubrey Lyles were childhood friends from Tennessee; piano player Eubie Blake hailed from Baltimore and songwriter Noble Sissle was from Indiana. Together, they concocted a show

that made its way to a music hall on the edge of Broadway at 63rd Street. Lively jazz songs, torrid dance numbers and a cast that included Paul Robeson and Josephine Baker ignited a successful run of 484 performances. Shuffle Along paved the way for a number of musical revues on Broadway that were created by African-American collaborators, including a 1928 sequel Keep Shufflin’ — with Thomas “Fats” Waller at the piano.

Shuffle Along and its successors represented the kind of artistic effort that Langston Hughes wrote about in his 1926 essay, “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain”:

We younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, it doesn’t matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too. … If colored people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, their displeasure doesn’t matter either. We build our temples for tomorrow, strong as we know how, and we stand on top of the mountain, free within ourselves.

Alain Locke’s 1925 literary anthology, The New Negro¸ introduced a pioneering generation of AfricanAmerican writers.

Poet Langston Hughes, one of the most prominent writers of the Harlem Renaissance.

Pianist Eubie Blake with some of the chorus girls from Shuffle Along — including Adelaide Hall, who can be seen directly above Blake.

Josephine Baker, the quintessential jazz dancer, got her start as a 16-year-old chorus girl in the groundbreaking 1921 musical, Shuffle Along.

Thomas “Fats” Waller, 1904–1943

Every “Top 10” list of African-American musicians of the 1920s and 1930s includes the name of Thomas “Fats” Waller. Although pneumonia cut short Waller’s life at age 39 in 1943, he is acclaimed as the best-known of the “Harlem Stride” jazz pianists, and the composer of such standards as “Honeysuckle Rose” and “Ain’t Misbehavin’.” It’s estimated that he wrote more than 400 compositions during his alltoo-brief career. It’s also rumored that he sold numerous songs to white songwriters that were never credited to him.

Waller had an early start in music. Born in 1904 in New York City to a father who was a Baptist preacher and a mother who was a church organist, Thomas Waller learned how to play the piano before the age of six. Worship at his parents’ church involved ecstatic singing and “ring shout” dancing. Both parents originally encouraged their son’s musicality. His mother provided lessons in reading music, and his father pictured him using his talent in praise of God.

But the burgeoning musical scene of Harlem also beckoned. Waller started picking up popular tunes by ear and dissecting player piano rolls in order to teach himself the music that his stern father regarded as “from the devil’s workshop.” He

left school at age 15 and found a job at the Lincoln Theatre on 135th Street near Lenox Avenue, one of the first theaters in Harlem that permitted black patrons. The teenager accompanied silent films on the organ and played during the breaks between films and reels. Later, he would headline live musical shows in the same auditorium.

After his mother died in 1920 when Waller was 16, the conflict with his father intensified. The young man moved in with the family of a friend who also played piano and brought Waller to rowdy all-night Harlem rent parties or “rent shouts,” where piano virtuosos Willie “The Lion” Smith and James P. Johnson held sway.

James P. Johnson was the “father” of the emerging “Harlem Stride” jazz piano style, an East Coast evolution of the earlier Ragtime style. In Ragtime playing, the left hand made steady, march-like jumps, or strides, between a bass note and a chord, while the right hand wove a melody. Johnson and others pushed the style further by using the left hand to stride even more freely up and down the keyboard, jumping octaves and more, while the right hand improvised ever more intricate melo-

James P. Johnson, the “father” of “Harlem Stride” jazz piano and mentor of “Fats” Waller.

“Fats” Waller at the piano in 1938

Harlem’s Lincoln Theatre, on 135th Street near Lenox Avenue, where “Fats” Waller held his first paying job as a musician — accompanying silent films on organ.

on Ain’t Misbehavin’

dies. Hearing Waller play one night, Johnson told his wife, “I know I

And Waller was an apt pupil. Within two years of his mother’s death, at age 18, he was recording his first singles for Okeh Records’ “race record” series. He began cutting player piano rolls that same year. In addition to playing in Harlem, he began booking engagements in such cities as Philadelphia and Chicago. By 1926, he had a contract with the RCA Victor label, the company he would record with for the rest of his life.

Waller soon immersed himself in the Harlem nightclub scene, where a mix of African-American musicians, dancers and comic performers were cooking up sizzling musical revues. Waller was still a teenager in 1921 when the pioneering Shuffle Along took Broadway by storm. But by 1926, Waller was writing songs for Adelaide Hall, one of the stars of Shuffle Along, in a revue called Tan Town Topics, which opened at Harlem’s Lafayette Theatre and subsequently toured to Baltimore, Chicago and Philadelphia.

When hatching a Shuffle sequel — the 1928 Keep Shufflin’ which also starred Adelaide Hall — creators Miller and Lyles tapped James Johnson to write the music. Johnson in turn enlisted his protégé, who teamed up with lyricist Andy Razaf on several songs. Razaf was born in Washington D.C., where his mother was living in exile after the death of his father, a diplomat from the Kingdom of Madagascar. Raised in Harlem, he quit school at age 16 and worked as an elevator boy on Tin Pan Alley, while publishing poems in literary magazines and hoping for a break as a songwriter. He would pen the words to some of Waller’s best-known songs.

When impresario Lew Leslie built Blackbirds of 1928, around Adelaide Hall and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Leslie recruited the songwriting duo of Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields, who wrote revues at the Cotton Club — a Harlem nightclub that catered to white patrons. “I Can’t Give You

Anything But Love,” credited to McHugh and Fields, became a huge hit. Waller’s family always claimed that Waller and Razaf wrote the song but sold it to McHugh.

Waller worked often at Connie’s Inn, a 7th Avenue nightclub operated by brothers Connie (Conrad), George and Louie Immerman, who were Latvian immigrants. A 1929 Connie’s Inn revue, titled Load of Coal, introduced the song “Honeysuckle Rose,” composed by Waller with lyrics by Razaf. The duo’s other Grammy Awardwinning song “Ain’t Misbehavin’ ” debuted in a 1929 musical comedy at Connie’s, titled Hot Chocolates, that transferred to Broadway in June 1929, when Louis Armstrong took over as orchestra director and played the song in a trumpet solo. Hot Chocolates also featured the song, “(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue,” which later became a hit for Armstrong as well as for Ethel Waters.

True to his nickname, “Fats,” Waller was a larger-than-life character. Razaf described the pianist as “the soul of melody ... a man who made the piano sing ... both big in body and in mind ... known for his generosity ... a bubbling bundle of joy.” Waller developed an exuberant wisecracking performing style that transferred well to radio and film. After trying out several radio formats, he launched his own weekly “Rhythm Club” broadcast in 1934, featuring his own combo, Fats Waller and his Rhythm. He performed as himself in several films, most notably the 1943 film “Stormy Weather,” with an all-star cast headed by Bill “Bojangles” Robinson.

Had he lived longer, Waller might have attempted more long-form instrumental compositions. He recorded the ambitious “London Suite” after a 1938 tour of England. Married twice, Waller had a zest for women, drink and music. He fell ill after a triumphant engagement at the Zanzibar Room in Santa Monica in 1943, and died of pneumonia on a cross-country train. He lived hard and died young but pursued his own sense of calling to the fullest.

can teach that boy.”

Stormy Weather movie poster — “Fats” Waller “stole” the 1943 movie with his performance of “Ain’t Misbehavin.’”

Ain’t Misbehavin’ from page to stage

In the 1920s and 1930s, African-American artists incubated musical revues in nightclubs; some were able to move their work to Broadway theaters. Decades later, a musical tribute to “Fats” Waller took the same route.

The first iteration of Ain’t Misbehavin’, a “Fats” Waller revue, opened at the Manhattan Theatre Club’s cabaret in February 1978. Featuring five actor-singer-dancers and a live musical combo, the show swept onto Broadway by May. Developed by book writers Murray Horwitz and Richard Maltby Jr., the original Broadway cast featured Nell Carter, André DeShields, Armelia McQueen, Ken Page and Charlayne Woodard, with Luther Henderson on piano. The show ran for 1,604 performances and won Tony Awards in 1978 for Best Musical, Best Director (Maltby), and Best Featured Actress (Carter). A London tour, a television broadcast, a revival and two national tours ensued.

A pioneer “jukebox musical,” the show doesn’t recap Waller’s biography. Rather, says guest director Gerry McIntyre, “It’s an event. It’s about the music. It’s almost a memorial — to raise him up.”

Whether audiences know Waller’s work or not, they’ll encounter familiar tunes. “There’s a sense of discovery,” explains McIntyre. “Many people know so many of his songs. They just don’t know he wrote them.”

McIntyre’s production relies on all the senses to

create a celebration. The original production had dancing, but McIntyre, a dancer and choreographer himself, wanted more. “There’s no standing and singing,” he says. “I have the actors moving so much.” Each performer has to be a standout dancer, singer and actor. The musicians also have to measure up to the virtuosity of Waller and his combo.

Visually, there’s also what McIntyre describes as an “explosion” of color in the work of costume designer Dustin Cross. Cross uses “silhouettes” — clothing styles — that evoke the period of the 1920s and at the same time allow the freedom of movement that McIntyre’s choreography requires.

Set designer Stanley A. Meyer was tasked with conjuring the look and atmosphere of a nightclub onstage. But, Meyer says, “it’s a very theatrical, non-literal representation of a club.” The décor and architectural details are in a whimsical art deco style. In a show that focuses on a pianist, a piano has to feature prominently onstage. While a grand piano would interfere with audience sightlines and take up stage space needed for movement, a small upright piano best serves the immediacy and energy of the show.

Every production detail delivers the experience of an evening at the Cotton Club or Connie’s Inn. Get ready for the joy and jubilation of “Fats” Waller.

Inside Connie’s Inn, the original night club setting for many of “Fats” Waller’s musical revues

THE ARTISTIC COMPANY

Acting Company

Tyrick Wiltez Jones*

Andre Debut season with Great Lakes Theater

Broadway/New York credits include Jagwire in Bat Out of Hell, Howard in Finian’s Rainbow and Hairspray. Broadway national touring credits include Bat Out of Hell, Miss Saigon, Seussical, Fosse and Show Boat

Regional credits include Putting It Together, Smokey Joe’s Café, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Stick Fly, Mom’s Gift with Cindy Williams, The Wiz, Once On This Island, Witness Uganda and From My Hometown (WILDE Award). Other credits include Grammy Awards “Sam Smith Performance,” PHISH 2011 New Year’s Eve concert at Madison Square Garden, Mary Wilson of the Supremes Motown/Rock and Roll North America Tour and United States premiere of Sacred Ellington starring Jessye Norman with the Carnegie Hall Honor Series. Film credits include Fresh Kills (upcoming), Back to Me (an independent short), A Joyful Noise (assistant choreographer) and Nickelodeon’s Shimmer and Shine (choreographer).

IG: @tyrickwjones

William Knowles

Fats Waller/Music Director

Debut season with Great Lakes Theater

As a composer, arranger, music director and pianist, William Knowles has worked at regional theaters around the country. He looks forward to his first visit to Great Lakes Theater, reuniting with many of his Ain’t Misbehavin’ compatriots from summer 2022 at Idaho Shakespeare Festival. William’s hometown is Washington, D.C., where he has

received five Helen Hayes nominations for Musical Direction, winning twice. Originally from Milwaukee, William attended Howard University and the University of Massachusetts. Offstage he has released eight jazz CDs with music partner Mark Saltman, most recently Native Speaker, a mix of originals and covers. Visit saltmanknowles.com and @saltmanknowles.

Colleen Longshaw*

Nell

Five seasons with Great Lakes Theater

Credits include Kiss Me Kate (national tour) and The Groove Factory (New York Musical Theatre Festival). Regional credits include Hairspray (Northshore Music Theatre, Porthouse Theatre), The Full Monty (Northshore Music Theatre), Ghost (Beck Center), Caroline or Change (Tantrum Theatre, Karamu/Dobama, Mercury Theatre), Blackademics, Pipeline and The Piano Lesson (Cleveland Play House), The Color Purple (Karamu House), Sister Act (Karamu House, Porthouse Theatre), Hurricane Diane (Dobama Theatre), Twelfth Night (Ohio Shakespeare Theatre), Dreamgirls (Cain Park) and Aida (Beck Center). IG: cocoloco_13 Thanks be to God. Thanks to the Ain’t Misbehavin’ team for the invitation to the party! Thanks to my husband, mom, friends, and family for their grace, patience, and endless support.

Brittney Mack*

Charlaine

Debut season with Great Lakes Theater

Brittney is excited to be doing her favorite shows at GLT. Favorite credits include Broadway: SIX (Anne of Cleves). Tour:

Memphis (Networks). Regional: Beehive, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Avenue Q, All Shook Up, Shrek and Rent. International: Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. TV: Empire. Thank you so much to the entire Ain’t Misbehavin’ team for the creative opportunity to dig in and do my thing! Cast and crew love ya’ll. #heybestfriiieeend. CEO and Founder of HowtoSlay. @BrittMack8 @howtoslayu Romans 8:28

Jessie Cope Miller*

Armelia

Nine seasons with Great Lakes Theater

Recent shows include Romeo and Juliet, A Christmas Carol, Chaining Zero, The Tempest, The Music Man and Julius Caesar. She also played the Witch in Into the Woods during Great Lakes Theater’s inaugural season at the Hanna Theatre, and has spent four seasons at The Idaho Shakespeare Festival and Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, GLT’s sister companies. Other regional credits include The Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth, Love’s Labour’s Lost, In The Heights, Monty Python’s Spamalot, Hello Dolly! and Pippin. A proud alum of the Baldwin Wallace Musical Theatre program and now an even prouder member of the acting faculty of the Baldwin Wallace University School of Theatre and Dance. Actors’ Equity member since 2005. Much love and thanks to the entire company! For family and friends and for Dougfred, Always.

David Robbins* Ken

Two seasons with Great Lakes Theater

Happy return to the theater that gave him his first equity points. Chicago native. Select regional: Spamilton: An American Parody (original Chicago cast), Jesus Christ Superstar (Lyric Opera), Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Idaho Shakespeare), The Scottsboro Boys (Theatre Raleigh), Memphis (Phoenix Theatre, Cape Fear Regional Theatre), Forever Plaid (Theatre Raleigh), Avenue Q (Mercury Theatre Chicago). Film/TV: Fargo (FX, guest star), Lovecraft Country (HBO,

featured dancer), Target, Jimmy Dean, and AutoZone commercials. Thank You, Mom, my big family, host of friends, Gerry McIntyre for the opportunity and agents over at Big Mouth Talent. For Pat Rusk. @david.s.robbins

Understudies

Kechante Baker, Zoe Mclean-Lewis, Praise Oranika, Justin Lee Price

Directors

Gerry McIntyre

Director/Choreographer

Debut season with Great Lakes Theater

Gerry is acclaimed for his choreography in the Berkshire Theatre Group’s Godspell. Other credits include associate artistic director of the York Theatre in NYC; director of Hallelujah Baby! at The York, Kinky Boots at The Hangar Theatre and Once on This Island at Martin Beck Theatre, Virginia Stage, Pioneer Theatre, Actors’ Theatre of Louisville, La Mirada Theatre (Robby Award, Best Director; Ovation nomination, Best Choreography and Best Musical); and choreographer of Ain’t Misbehavin’, Anything Can Happen in the Theatre, Side by Side, Tommy and My Fair Lady at the Berkshire Theatre Festival; Laura Comstock’s Bag-Punching Dog, The Color Purple, Cinderella, Ragtime, and The Wiz at the Music Circus Broadway Sacramento. He’s performed as OBC of Once on This Island and in Anything Goes with Patti LuPone, and was one of three Americans cast in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with Donny Osmond. gerrymcintyre.net

Charles Fee

Producing Artistic Director

Twenty-one seasons with Great Lakes Theater

Directing credits at GLT include Much Ado About Nothing, Sleuth, Witness for the Prosecution, A Christmas Carol, Misery, Macbeth, 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, 19

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 B.A. 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!

Jaclyn Miller Assistant Director/Choreographer

Six seasons with Great Lakes Theater

Director credits for GLT: Sense and Sensibility, The 39 Steps; choreography/ movement credits for GLT: Romeo and

Juliet, Little Shop of Horrors, Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest, The Music Man, Julius Caesar, Mamma Mia! The Taming of the Shrew, Pride and Prejudice and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Regional credits: Oregon Shakespeare Festival (It’s Christmas, Carol! Hairspray, Alice in Wonderland, Book of Will, Shakespeare in Love, Twelfth Night, Yeoman of Guard, Fingersmith (world premiere), The Cocoanuts and My Fair Lady; South Coast Rep (She Loves Me), Arizona Theatre Company (Cabaret and The Music Man), Guthrie Theatre (The Cocoanuts) and Baltimore Center Stage (Fun Home). Additionally, Jaclyn has worked as an associate director and/or choreographer around the country in theaters that include Arena Stage, Kirk Douglas Theater, Ogunquit Playhouse, Portland Opera and Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma.

Designers

Dustin Cross Costume Designer

Debut season with Great Lakes Theater

Broadway credits include The 24 Hour Plays. Select off-Broadway credits include Love Actually (NY/Chicago), The Office (NY, national tour) Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation, Spamilton (New York, Chicago, Pittsburgh, LA, London, national tour/Lucille Lortel nomination, Henry Hewes nomination), The Glass Menagerie, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Cougar The Musical, The Other Josh Cohen, Forbidden Broadway: Comes Out Swinging (NY, national tour, London). Regional theater productions include: Peter and The Starcatcher (NH Theater nomination) Kinky Boots, The Prince of Egypt, The Witches of Eastwick, Billy Elliot, Cinderella, Sister Act, Grumpy Old Men, From Here to Eternity, Heartbreak Hotel, The Christmas Rose (Carnegie Hall)

The NY Knicks Dancers and The NY Jets

Drumline. Film: Celtic Heart (PBS), Buttons: A Christmas Tale (Paramount Pictures starring Dick Van Dyke and Angela Lansbury)

Enjoy! dustincrossdesigns.com Instagram: @dustincrossdesigns

Trad A Burns

Lighting Designer

Two seasons with Great Lakes Theater Theater designs include Little Shop of Horrors (Great Lakes Theatre/Idaho Shakespeare Festival), Nickel and Dimed (Great Lakes Theater/Cleveland Public Theatre), Doubt and Inherit the Wind (Cleveland Play House), The Legend of Georgia McBride, Broadway Bound, Matilda, American Idiot and Altar Boyz (Beck Center for The Arts, Playhouse Square), Pippin, Gloria (Texas State University) and Ragtime and Rock of Ages (Cain Park). Dance designs include world premieres for Cincinnati Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Richmond Ballet, Louisville Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, BalletMet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Colorado Ballet, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet, Grand Rapids Ballet, Ballet Oregon, BalletWest and Sacramento Ballet. Themed entertainment designs include Rise of the Resistance (Hollywood Studios, Disneyland), Beauty and the Beast (Hollywood Studios)

and The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventures (Magic Kingdom, Disneyland, Tokyo DisneySea). Associate professor of practice in lighting design at Texas State University.

David Gotwald

Sound Designer

Eight seasons with Great Lakes Theater

Great Lakes Theater productions include The Music Man, Mamma Mia! My Fair Lady, Little Shop of Horrors, The Fantasticks and The Secret Garden. He was the sound supervisor and mixer for numerous Broadway productions including A Chorus Line (1981), Dreamgirls, Sweet Charity, Cabaret, Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, Crazy For You, Fosse, The Producers, Gypsy, and A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. He was a concert sound engineer for Tommy Tune, Mandy Patinkin and Patti LuPone, as well as for special events at The Brooklyn Academy of Music, Lincoln Center, NY City Center Encores and Carnegie Hall. David is a faculty adviser in sound design at Carnegie Mellon University.

Iran Micheal Leon

Hair and Wig Designer

Two seasons with Great Lakes Theater

He has designed shows throughout the West Coast as a hair/wig designer and costume designer. Previous work includes wig master and interim key hair stylist for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Other theaters include Cleveland Play House, Great Lakes Theater, Celebration Theater, Pasadena Playhouse, Hollywood Bowl, A Noise Within, Azusa Pacific University and Askew Theatre Company. Instagram: iml_design_elements

Stanley A. Meyer

Scenic Designer

Debut season with Great Lakes Theater

Credits include being the original designer for Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Broadway, 2022-25 UK-AU Tour, League of American Theatres & Producers National Broadway Award. American premieres include Sir Tim Rice’s From Here to Eternity, Saturday Night Fever, REV; Disney’s Aida, Alliance; Treasure Island, Arkansas Rep; WarholCapote, ART; The Three Musketeers, SALT Award for Best Scenic Design, Syracuse Stage; and The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Comedy of Errors, King Lear and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Grove Shakespeare Festival. Tours: Steve Miller Band, Disney on Ice, Alice Cooper, Barbie Live! Cyndi Lauper, Ringling Brothers Circus. Tournament of Roses Parade, 28 award-winning float designs. Thanks Gerry McIntyre for hiring me! stanleyameyerdesignllc.com

Stage Management

Sarah Kelso*

Production Stage Manager

Six seasons with Great Lakes Theater

Previous shows include Sense and Sensibility, Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, The 39 Steps, Sleuth, Million Dollar Quartet, Beehive the ’60’s Musical and A Christmas Carol. Twelve seasons with Idaho Shakespeare Festival: Ain’t Misbehavin’, The 39 Steps, Sleuth, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), Million Dollar Quartet, Beehive the ’60’s Musical, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Forever Plaid, The

Fantasticks and Steel Magnolias. Ten seasons with Boise Contemporary Theater: With Love and a Major Organ, Good Bitch Goes Down, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and A Skull in Connemara. Sarah is a graduate of Boise State University’s Department of Theatre Arts.

Nicki Cathro*

Assistant Stage Manager

Seven seasons with Great Lakes Theater

Previous credits include production stage manager for As You Like It, A Christmas Carol, Romeo and Juliet, Little Shop of Horrors, Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest and Julius Caesar; assistant stage manager for Sense and Sensibility, Sleuth, The Music Man, Witness for the Prosecution, Misery, Macbeth and Pride and Prejudice; production assistant for Hamlet, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. ASM for Every Brilliant Thing at Actor’s Theatre of Louisville. Nicki earned a BFA in radio, television and film from the University of North Texas and is a member of AEA.

Lindy Warren

Assistant Stage Manager

Debut season with Great Lakes Theater

Lindy is thrilled to join the Ain’t Misbehavin’ team! She recently worked as a production assistant on The 39 Steps for Idaho Shakespeare Festival. She also works for Great Lakes Theater’s Residency Program. Lindy is a graduate of Baldwin Wallace University ’22.

Authors/Creators

Richard Maltby Jr.

Broadway credits include conceiving and directing two Tony Award-winning musicals Ain’t Misbehavin’ (1978: Tony, N.Y. Drama Critics, Outer Critics, Drama Desk Awards and Tony Award for Best Director) and Fosse (1999: Tony, Outer Critics, Drama Desk Awards), as well as Ring of Fire (2006). With composer David Shire, he is director/lyricist for Baby (1983, seven Tony nominations); lyricist for Big (1996, Tony nomination: Best Score; also Dominium Theatre London 2019). With Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel

Schonberg, he is co-lyricist for Miss Saigon (Evening Standard Award, London 1990; Tony nomination: Best Score, 1991) and co-lyricist for The Pirate Queen (2007). He directed The Story of My Life (2009), and was director/co-lyricist for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Song & Dance (1986 Tony Award for star, Bernadette Peters.) Off-Broadway credits with David Shire include director/lyricist for Starting Here, Starting Now (1977, Grammy nomination) and Closer Than Ever , (1989, two Outer Critics Circle Awards: Best Musical, Best Score; also Off-Broadway Alliance Award, Best Musical Revival 2013; and London Jermyn Street Theatre 2014) and director for Just Jim Dale (Roundabout Theatre 2014, Vaudeville Theatre, London 2015). Regional credits include being lyricist/conceiver of Take Flight (Menier Chocolate Factory, London 2010; McCarter Theatre 2012); book and lyrics for Waterfall (2015, Pasadena Playhouse and Seattle’s Fifth Avenue Theatre); and is lyricist for Sousatzka (2017, Toronto). Film credits include the screenplay for Miss Potter (2007: Christopher Award, Best Screenplay.) He contributes cryptic crossword puzzles to Harper’s Magazine ; is the son of the well-known orchestra leader; and has five children: Nicholas, David, Jordan, Emily and Charlotte.

Murray Horwitz

Productions include Ain’t Misbehavin’ (associate director, based on his original idea and featuring songs with additional lyrics (Original, Musical, Revue May 9, 1978–Feb. 21, 1982; and Revival, Musical, Revue,

Aug. 15, 1988–Jan. 15, 1989) and André De Shield’s Haarlem Nocturne (book and direction, Original, Musical, Revue, Nov. 18, 1984–Dec. 30, 1984).

Composer

Fats Waller ✶

Fats Waller, born May 21, 1904, was an African-American jazz pianist, organist, composer and comedic entertainer. He was born Thomas Wright Waller in New York City. Having studied classical piano and organ, he apprenticed under legendary Harlem stride pianist, James P. Johnson. Now considered one of the very best who ever played in the stride style, his songwriting and lovable, roguish stage personality often took center stage. Before his solo career, he played with many performers, from Erskine Tate to Bessie Smith, but his greatest success came with his own five- or six-piece combo, Fats Waller and His Rhythm. He collaborated with the Tin Pan Alley lyricist Andy Razaf and had a commercially successful career, which according to some music critics eclipsed his great musical talent. He composed “What Did I Do (To Be So Black and Blue)?” which became a hit for Louis Armstrong. This song, a searing treatment of racism black and white, calls into question the accusations of “shallow entertainment” levelled at both Armstrong and Waller. On December 15, 1943, at age 39, Waller died aboard a train in the vicinity of Kansas City, Missouri, following a West Coast engagement. ✶ Rita & Charles Maimbourg | Thomas G. & Ruth M. Stafford | A.J. & Nancy Stokes

✶Thank you to our Composer Sponsors for their generous support of the Great Lakes Theater artistic company.

Connected with Great Lakes Theater

DONOR APPRECIATION

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, 2021 and June 30, 2022. “I can no other answer make but thanks.” Twelfth Night, Act III, Scene iii

Help Make a Difference

Great Lakes Theater serves more than 100,000 students, adults, and artists annually through our Hanna and Mimi Ohio Theatre mainstage productions and education programs throughout Northeast Ohio. Please consider joining the Great Lakes Theater family by making a gift today!

To learn more about Donor Membership and other gift-giving opportunities, visit us online at GreatLakesTheater.org/Support, or contact Jeremy Lewis, Development & Donor Relations Manager at (216) 453-4457 or jlewis@greatlakestheater.org.

$100,000 and above

The George Gund Foundation

John P. Murphy Foundation

$50,000 to $99,999

David and Inez Myers Foundation, a supporting foundation of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland

John & Barbara Schubert

$25,000 to $49,999

Arthur L. Thomas

“Intermission” Ticket Donors

Over 800 patrons generously donated the value of their tickets back to support Great Lakes Theater during pandemic-related disruptions during our 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-22 seasons. This vital “intermission” support has enabled us to raise our curtain once again. We are truly grateful! Check out the full list of donors online.

Cuyahoga Arts & Culture Ohio Arts Council The Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation

The Cleveland Foundation

The Community Foundation of Lorain County Kulas Foundation

The Reinberger Foundation

THE SHAKESPEARE SOCIETY

Annual Fund donors of $1,000 and above are members of Great Lakes Theater’s “Shakespeare Society” and are entitled to exclusive benefits, including access to special services, events, and opportunities to connect deeply with Cleveland’s Classic Company. To learn more, contact Jeremy Lewis at (216) 453-4457.

$10,000 to $24,999

The Eva L. and Joseph M. Bruening Foundation

Gail Cudak

Carol Dolan & Greggory Hill

Eaton

Fifth Third Bank

Martha Holden Jennings Foundation

Robert° & Janet E. Neary

The Nord Family Foundation

Nordson Corporation Foundation

Donald F. & Anne T. Palmer

Georgianna T. Roberts

Ms. Ana G. Rodriguez

The Shubert Foundation

Thomas G. & Ruth M. Stafford

The Stocker Foundation

The Family of Jill Hearey

The Treu-Mart Fund, a supporting organization of the The Cleveland Foundation and the Jewish Federation of Cleveland

U.S. Bank

The Thomas H. White Foundation, a KeyBank Trust

Robert C. & Emily C. Williams

$5,000 to $9,999

Dalia & Robert Baker

Carol A. Barnak

Fred & Mary Behm

Mr. Todd M. Burger & Ms. Kristie Beck

Bill & Judie Caster

Evelyn Dolejs°

Natalie Epstein

Elizabeth Grove & Rich Bedell

The Harry K. and Emma R. Fox Foundation

Mr. & Mrs. Samuel Hartwell

Diane K. Hupp

Paul R. Keen & Denise Horstman Keen

Donna M. Koler

Rita & Charles Maimbourg

Thomas A. Piraino & Barbara C. McWilliams

Tim & Lynn Pistell

Greg Pribulsky & Donna Heinz

A.J. & Nancy Stokes

$2,500 to $4,999

Anonymous

Chuck & Bonnie Abbey

Beth A. Adams

Michelle R. Arendt

Walt & Laura Avdey

Kim & Bart Bixenstine

Mitch & Liz Blair

Glenn R. & Jeanette G. Brown

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Chisholm Fund

George A. M. & Heather Currall

Timothy J. Downing & Ken Press

Charles, Lidia & Alexa Fee

Dianne V. Foley

Lynn M. Gattozzi & Glenn Myers

Mr. & Mrs. Arthur C. Hall III

Katie Kennedy & Doug White

Faisal Khan & Angela DiCorleto

Ms. Catherine M. Kilbane & Mr. Donald H. Bullock

Mr. & Mrs. John J. Lane, Jr.

The Laub Foundation

Victor C. Laughlin, M.D. Memorial Foundation Trust

Susan & John Lebold

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Mr. & Mrs. Donald J. Mayer

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Karen Nemec

The NRP Group LLC

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Kim Sherwin°

Sally J. Staley

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Mr. & Mrs. Paul L. Wellener IV

$1,000 to $2,499

Anonymous

The Alvah Stone & Adele Corning

Chisholm Memorial Fund

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Rebecca Dunn

Dr. Howard Epstein

The Giant Eagle Foundation

James Graham & David Dusek

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The Gries Family Foundation

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Geoffrey Michael Heller Memorial Fund

Mary Elizabeth Huber

Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc.

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M.B. Perkins Donor Advised Fund

Mr. & Mrs. Wilmer M. Piper

John & Norine Prim

Linda Schlageter

Katherine Stokes-Shafer

Anita Stoll & Pete Clapham

Diana & Eugene Stromberg

Mr. Frederick & Mrs. Elizabeth G. Stueber

James L. Wagner

Nancy-Anne Wargo

Mary C. Warren

Mr. & Mrs. Harold L. Williams

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, 2022 through March 3, 2023. The Great Lakes Theater family is grateful for their support!

Anonymous (7)

Akron Children’s Hospital

Dr. Nancy J. Arndt & Mr. Andrew P. Houghton

Cherie Arnold & David Pavlich

Walt & Laura Avdey

Mary S. Baker

Thomas & Joan Baker

Jennifer Barden

Ms. Lisa Bennett

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H.F.° & J.C. Burkhardt

Mr. David Byrnes

Calfee, Halter & Griswold, LLP

Robert Carlyon

Mr. Jason Chance

The Alvah Stone & Adele Corning

Chisholm Memorial Fund

Mr. Edward A. Chuhna

Michael Cleaver

Brandon Collier

Patricia Brownell & James Collins

Ms. M. Judith & Mr. Ronald J. Crocker

Gail Cudak

Lowell & Carole Davis

Jennifer Desberg

David DiCicco

Mr. Mark DiDonato

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Michael Dunn

Rebecca Dunn

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Evans Charitable Foundation

Elinore Evans

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Dianne V. Foley

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Michael Frank & Pat Snyder°

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Medical Mutual of Ohio

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The Music and Drama Club

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The NRP Group LLC

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Advised Fund of Renaissance

Charitable Foundation

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$750 to $999

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$500 to $749

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Audrey DeClement

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Jennifer Dowdell Armstrong

Michael Dunn

Evans Charitable Foundation

Dr. & Mrs. Robert L. Fairchild

Mr. Joseph Ferritto

Deborah A. Geier

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The Music and Drama Club

Barbara B. O’Connor

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John & Jane Zuzek

$250 to $499

Anonymous

The Thomas and Joann Adler

Family Donor Advised Fund of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland

Judie & Bruce Amsel

Joel & Teresa Andreani

Mr. & Mrs. Benham S. Bates

Mrs. Kathryn Berkshire

John & Jeannene Bertosa

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V. Elizabeth Brown

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Bob° & Nanci Kirkpatrick

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Daniel Leschnik

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The Mersol Family

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Steve Z. & Mary Gibbs Mitchell

Glenn & Susan Morley

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Lori Trehan

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Mr. & Mrs. James L. Wamsley III

Dr. & Mrs. Gregory A. Watts

Jerry & Carolyn Webb

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Juliet Zavesky

Zilber Family Foundation, a supporting foundation of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland

$125 to $249

Anonymous (5)

Cheryl Barnes

Pam & Scott Benson

Mr. & Mrs. Thomas W. Berges

Roger Bielefeld

Mr. & Mrs. David R. Blackman

Susan Bobey

John Bolton

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Robert Carlyon

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Ronald Cross

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Mr. & Mrs. L. William Erb

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Mr. & Mrs. Fishwick

David V. Foos

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Ms. Linda Grau

John Greene

Jean E. Gubbins

Richard & Jo Anne Harris

Curt & Karen Henkle

Thomas Higgason

Lynn & Mark Hofflund

Ms. Marie Ivkanec

James & Gale Jacobsohn

Mr. & Mrs. Robert L. Janson

Marilyn & Howard Karfeld

Lauren Kawentel

William & Marion Kettering

Mr. & Mrs. David R. Knowles

Mike Kupiec & Pat Murphy

Ms. Leslie Lahr

Jeremy Lewis & Daniel Napolitano

Gregory & Vickie Leyes

Brian & Renee Lowery

Antoinette Miller

Tim Miller

Tom & Mary Neff

Ms. Brenda Norton

Mr. Gerald Norton

Joan M. Oravec

Brian Perry & Ka Pi Hoh

Mr. David Porter

Bette Prendergast

James & Susan Prince

John & Betsy Quinn

Dr. James E. Racic

Frank Rausche

Ms. Jacqueline Y. Rhodes

Robinson Family Philanthropic

Fund of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland

Mr. & Mrs. Andrew Rosen

Doris A. & Richard E. Schultz

Mr. Richard Shirey

William E. Spatz

Susan St. John

Mr. Glenn S. Steffens

Sean & Tabitha Swick

Jeffrey Tasse

Mr. & Mrs. Edward J. Tatman

The Edward & Katherine Thomas

Family

Dr. & Mrs. Ken Tomecki

Dr. Joanne M. Uniatowski

Mary Velotta

Christine & Daniel Vento

Kimberly Vivolo

Mr. & Ms. Michael Wagner

Ms. Kathleen Waits

Mr. David Wildermuth

Thomas M. & Barbara A. Wladyka

James & Sandra Wood

John & Dianne Young

$75 to $124

Anonymous (2)

Lori Adler

Thomas & Joan Baker

Ms. Carol Barasha

Ms. Kimberley Barton

Mr. Thomas D. Basco

Tom & Dorothy Bier

Amelia & Heather Blonsky

Dr. & Mrs. Dieter F. Bloser

Mr. & Mrs. Charles P. Bolton

Richard & Mary Ann Brockett

Kathy Caldwell

Ms. Patricia Campbell

Mr. & Mrs. Frank Cercone

Mr. & Mrs. Robert B. Charlick

Mr. Edward A. Chuhna

David & Carol Consolo

Dr. & Mrs. Dale H. Cowan

Ms. Linda Cowie

George & Mary Crehore

Judith Darus

Mr. Brad Dawson

Chris & Mary Ann Deibel

Mr. Alex Derkaschenko

Mrs. Mary Helen Doherty

The Eldridge Family

Dr. J. Robert & Carol A. Fowler

Kurt & Barbara Fretthold

Mr. Gregory Fritz

Mr. & Mrs. Timothy Gabb

Jeffrey M. Gamso

Ms. Pamela S. Goetsch

Virginia T. Goetz

Marian Hancy

Iris & Tom Harvie

Debra & Tom Hayes

Jean Heller

Mr. Steven M. Izen & Mrs. Susannah Muskovitz

Ron & Mary Ann Janke

Dr. Kalish R. Kedia

Ms. Kerry King

Albert & Karen Kirby

Bill & Susan Kirchner

Benjamin R. Kirkpatrick

Ms. Amanda Kost

Richard B. Kotila

Ms. Margaret K. Krall

Jacob Kronenberg & Barbara Belovich

Charles Kruger

James & Tayna Lewan

Timothy Liston

David & Cheryl Lundgren

Susan E. Lust

Robert MacDougall

Kenneth & Joan MacGillivray

Paul S. Malchesky

Ms. Anne Martin

Ms. Shari Mathisen

Ms. Constance May

Lynda & Charlie Mayer

Mr. John A. Mazzella

Cathy J. McCall

Ms. Allison E. McCallum

Mr. & Mrs. Robert E. McDonald

Jeanette McGovern

Jean McQuillan

Elizabeth Meister

Ms. Cheryl A. Moskwa

Mr. John M. Moss & Mrs. Karen J. Moss

Mr. & Mrs. Oliver° & Mary Emerson

Joseph M. & Meribeth A. Pannitto

Lou M. Papes

Christa Petryszyn

Mr. & Mrs. Harold I. Pittaway III

Chandana A. Reddy

Judy & Clifford Reeves

Kathryn & Heath Reinhardt

Mr. & Mrs. Gerald P. Rencehausen

William Robak

Carolyn Rufo

Stephen Ruscher

Bryan Salisbury

Cindie Carroll-Pankhurst & Mark Salling

Ben & Amy Schaum

Ms. Meredith M. & Mr. Oliver E. Seikel

Donna Sheridan

Dr. Dave & Faye Sholiton

Mr. & Mrs. Vernon C. Sponseller

Todd & Patty Standen

Betsy Sullivan

Laura Lee Sutera

Ian & Kara Suzelis

Marcia J. Terstage

Ms. Leslie N. Thomas

Anne Unverzagt & Richard Goddard

Natalie & James Vloedman

Thomas Wagner & Malinda Smyth

Rev. & Mrs. David M. Walker

William Wallis

Mr. Raymond Washio

Lance Whitson & Terry Juhn

Thomas & Suann Winczek

Dr. Thomas Zarlingo

Patrick M. Zohn

Endowment Fund

Gifts to the Great Lakes Theater Endowment Fund were received from the following donors between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022.

Edward Godleski

Gifts were received in honor of:

Melanie Bordelois by: Sylvia Bordelois

Jack & Janice Campbell by: Holly Tomasch

Carol Dolan by: Mary Dolan & David Haracz

Natalie G. Epstein by: Marilyn Bedol

Chad & Andrea Deal

Mr. Gene DiVincenzo

Dr. Lauren Goldman

Mr. & Mrs. Henry Goodman

Rabbi Eddie & Dr. Roxanne Sukol

Wulf & Moira Utian

Mr. David I. & Mrs. Ann K. Warren

Mr. & Mrs. Philip Wasserstrom

Mr. Adam Weinsein

Mr. & Mrs. Steven Wiesenberger

Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival

Interns 1977-78 (A Merry Band of Players) by: Mary Beidler Gearen

Maddie Halapy by: The Halapy Family

Denise Horstman Keen by: George Leggiero

Catherine Tanner by: Christie Lucco & Michael Devlin

Bob Taylor by: Mitch & Liz Blair Charles, Lidia & Alexa Fee

Gifts were received in memory of:

Cancio & Susan Castro by: Christine Castro

Charles “Chuck” Dickson by: Georgianna T. Roberts

Elsie Glassford by: Angela Kovacs

William W. Jacobs by: Ms. Deborah Glosserman

Bob Kirkpatrick by:

Mr. & Mrs. Richard L. Chernus

Elizabeth Manolio by: Joseph M. & Meribeth A. Pannitto

Michael John McGann by: Desiree Ball

Dougfred Miller by: Vince Reddy

Carole Nicolosi by: Ms. Joyce L. Adams

Mary Louise Stecher Douthit by: Rebecca Dunn

Mr. & Mrs. Robert N. & Ann Gross

Lawrence & Linda Hatch

Mr. John J. Kropf

Kathlyn & Harry Stenzel

Dr. James Sheridan by: Donna Sheridan

James Weiss by: Holly McTernan

William W. Jacobs by: Ms. Deborah Glosserman

Matching Gift Corporations

Many companies, like the ones listed below, 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) 453-4457.

The Albert M. Higley Co. Dominion Foundation

Eaton

GlaxoSmithKline Foundation

The Lubrizol Foundation

Nordson Corporation Foundation

The Perkins Charitable Foundation

PNC Foundation

Progressive Insurance Foundation

Schneider Electric North America Foundation

The Women’s Committee

Formed in 1961, the committee is Great Lakes Theater’s longest standing volunteer support group. Members act as hosts for our actors, provide support in our administrative office and at events, and cheer us on throughout the season. If you would like to become a member, call Joanne Hulec at (216) 252-8717 for more information.

Officers

Janice Campbell, President

Barbara Chernus, Recording Secretary

Bernice Bolek, Corresponding Secretary

Nanci Kirkpatrick, Treasurer

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

Samantha Jacobs & Aubrey Wynne

Thank you to our donors! Every effort is made to ensure that our donor records are current and correct. Please contact the Great Lakes Theater Development Office at (216) 453-4457 to share an update or request a revision.

Chair

Samuel Hartwell*

President

Kim Bixenstine*

Secretary

Elizabeth A. Grove*

Treasurer

Kathleen Kennedy*

Trustees

Beth A. Adams

Michelle Arendt

Jennifer Dowdell

Armstrong*

Walter Avdey*

Dalia Baker

Gary D. Benz

Kip T. Bollin

Todd M. Burger*

William Caster*

Gail L. Cudak

George A. M. Currall

Anthea Daniels

Christopher Dean

Carolyn Dickson†

Barry Doggett†

Carol Dolan*

Timothy J. Downing*

Dr. Howard G. Epstein*

Natalie Epstein†

Dianne V. Foley*

Lynn M. Gattozzi

Arthur C. Hall III*

TRUSTEES STRATEGIC ALLIANCE

David M. Hopkins

Mary Elizabeth Huber

Diane Kathleen Hupp

Faisal A. Khan*

John W. Lebold*

Andrea S. Lyons

William MacDonald III†

Charles Maimbourg*

David M. Maiorana

Ellen Stirn Mavec†

John E. McGrath†

Katie McVoy*

Ingrid A. Minott*

Janet E. Neary†

Michael Novak

Michael J. Peterman†

Timothy K. Pistell†

David P. Porter†

Gregory Pribulsky*

Uma M. Rajeshwar

Georgianna T. Roberts†

John D. Schubert†

Peter Shimrak†

Thomas G. Stafford*†

Sally J. Staley

Diana W. Stromberg

Catherine Tanner*

Kristine M. Tesar*

Arthur L. Thomas

Nancy Wellener

* Executive Committee

† Life Trustee

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 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.

STAFF

Leadership

Charles Fee, Producing Artistic Director

Bob Taylor, Executive Director

Management Team

Associate Artistic Director Sara Bruner

Director of Educational Services Kelly Schaffer Florian

Managing Director................................ Todd Krispinsky

Resident Artist & Interim Production Manager Jaclyn Miller

Director of Educational Programming Lisa Ortenzi

Director of Administration...................Stephanie Reed

Director of Marketing & Communications Kacey Shapiro

Development

Development & Donor Relations Manager Jeremy Lewis

Patron Services Coordinator Marilyn Niksa

Marketing

Audience Cultivation Coordinator Amy Essick

Education

Education Outreach Associate...............David Hansen

School Residency Program

Actor-Teachers Noelle Elise Crites, Kelly Elliott, Gabe Heffernan, Tim Keo, Amaya Kiyomi, Olivia Morey, Avery LaMar Pope, A’Rhyan Samford, Asia Sharp-Berry

Production

Assistant Production Manager Lindsay Mandela

Company Manager ............................... Lauren Tidmore

Technical Director ...................................... Mark Cytron

Assistant Technical Director Richard Haberlen

Associate Scenic Designer Jason M. Curtis

Assistant Scenic Designer ..................... William Beilke

Master Carpenter ...................................... Lindsay Loar

Carpenters Bill Langenhop, Ralph Melari, Gary Zsigrai

Properties Master ............................ Bernadine Cockey

Assistant Properties Master..................... Gina Meluso

Charge Scenic Artist Ruth Lohse

Costume Director Esther M. Haberlen

Assistant Costume Shop Manager/Tailor .....Leah Loar

Crafts Artisan/Milliner ........................... Zachary Hickle

Draper Diana Sidley

Lead First Hand Tina Spencer

Design Assistant/Stitcher Serenity-Grace Tate

Wardrobe Supervisor .......................... Cheyenne Moore

Wardrobe Crew Serenity-Grace Tate

Resident Hair & Wig Supervisor Iran Micheal Leon

Master Electrician Tammy Taylor

Audio Supervisor ................................... Josh Brinkman

Audio 2 Daniel Zilka

Music Contractor Matthew Webb

Resident Production Stage Manager Nicki Cathro

Run Crew ............................. Ralph Melari, Gary Zsigrai

Hanna Theatre Crew .............................Thomas Boddy, Shaun Milligan, Lester Parker Jr., Nathan Tulenson

Health and Safety Team Jaclyn Miller, Amy Essick, Lindsay Mandela, Lauren Tidmore

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.

Playbill Editor: Linda Feagler

For advertising information, please contact Matthew Kraniske: 216-377-3681

OUTCALT/ HELEN/

MIMI CONNOR KEYBANK US BANK WESTFIELD ALLEN ALLEN ALLEN HANNA KENNEDY’S OHIO PALACE STATE PLAZA STUDIO

APRIL

Flanagan’s

Becoming Dr. Ruth

In The Heights

Becoming Dr. Ruth

Meet Vera Stark

The Musical Box

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical

Meet Vera Stark

Ain’t Misbehavin’ K. Ludwig’s Moriarty

MAY

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical K. Ludwig’s Moriarty

The Tina Turner Musical

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical

Flanagan’s Wake Becoming Dr. Ruth By the Way, Meet Vera Stark Balanchine’s Serenade/Symphony of Life

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical Flanagan’s Wake By the Way, Meet

Vera Stark

Ain’t Misbehavin’

Flanagan’s Wake Becoming Dr. Ruth The Piano Guys In The Heights

Flanagan’s Wake Becoming Dr. Ruth Meet Vera Stark Balanchine’s Serenade/Symphony of Life Limón Dance Co.

Tina Flanagan’s Wake

Meet Vera Stark

Ain’t Misbehavin’

K. Ludwig’s Moriarty Superstar/Helen Welch

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical

Ain’t Misbehavin’ K. Ludwig’s Moriarty

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical

Ain’t Misbehavin’

K. Ludwig’s Moriarty

Dear Evan Hansen

Ain’t Misbehavin’

K. Ludwig’s Moriarty Dancing Classrooms

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical Ain’t Misbehavin’ K. Ludwig’s Moriarty The Shalva Band Comedy, Errors, Vanity, and Stupidity

Dear Evan Hansen

K. Ludwig’s Moriarty

The First Snow of Summer

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical Ain’t Misbehavin’ K. Ludwig’s Moriarty

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical Ain’t Misbehavin’ K. Ludwig’s Moriarty

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical Ain’t Misbehavin’ K. Ludwig’s Moriarty

Tina Ain’t Misbehavin’

K. Ludwig’s Moriarty Hiccup

Junie B.’s/Guide to School Step Afrika!

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical Ain’t Misbehavin’

K. Ludwig’s Moriarty Fade

Dear Evan Hansen

Ain’t Misbehavin’

K. Ludwig’s Moriarty Escapegoat

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical Ain’t Misbehavin’

K. Ludwig’s Moriarty

Samantha Bee Louder

Dear Evan Hansen

Ain’t Misbehavin’

K. Ludwig’s Moriarty Tom Papa One-Shot

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical

Ain’t Misbehavin’

K. Ludwig’s Moriarty Menopause The Musical

Dear Evan Hansen

Ain’t Misbehavin’

K. Ludwig’s Moriarty Tom Papa

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical

Ain’t Misbehavin’

K. Ludwig’s Moriarty Menopause The Musical Natalie Merchant

Dear Evan Hansen

Ain’t Misbehavin’

K. Ludwig’s Moriarty Miranda Sings

2023 Dazzle Awards

Spinosaurus: Lost Giant of the Cretaceous, Nat Geo Live!

John Mellencamp

John Mellencamp

Cleveland Celtic Ensemble

Shows are announced every week. Sign up at playhousesquare.org to get advance notices by email!

Becoming Dr. Ruth Becoming Dr. Ruth Becoming Dr. Ruth By the Way, Meet Vera Stark

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical Tina:

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 are investing to scale up neighborhoodbased programs that now serve 3,000 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.

(877) 554-5054

www.ClevelandFoundation.org/Success