A Message From the CEO

Welcome back to Playhouse Square and Broadway in CLE! It has been 18 long months since a Broadway show has been on our stages and what better to return to than the very first performances of the national tour of Disney’s The Lion King. Disney chose Cleveland out of other cities around the country to begin their national tour because of Playhouse Square’s expert staff, facilities that can accommodate their technical needs and rehearsal process, and YOU, our warm, welcoming, knowledgeable audiences who love The Lion King! You can take pride in knowing that Cleveland is the first city to host the tour five times. Our historic theaters, including the KeyBank State, were built 100 years ago in the wake of the last pandemic. Audiences lined up around the block when the theaters opened, eager to gather for a lively, shared experience.

Once again, we find audiences craving the type of connection with each other and our community that only live performance can offer. All of us at Playhouse Square are committed to your safe return to the theaters and we thank you for doing your part to help ensure we can be healthy together.

Despite the challenges of this past year, I am proud to say that we remained true to our not-for-profit mission, a key component of which is our education programming. Not only did we find ways to continue many of our programs online, we were able to reach more students with our performances for young audiences than ever before! This was made possible by the generosity of our donors and marketing partners, to whom we are most grateful.

Enjoy the show, knowing that we are so very glad to see you. Thank you for staging your comeback with us.

With gratitude,

Gina Vernaci President & CEO, Playhouse Square