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