Charles Fee, Producing Artistic Director for Great Lakes Theater, talks about the company's 2015-16 season.
The Secret Garden
A Musical for the Whole Family
Book & Lyrics by Marsha Norman / Music by Lucy Simon
Based on the Novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Directed by Victoria Bussert
September 25 - October 31, 2015
Hanna Theatre, Playhouse Square
An enchanting adaptation of a classic children’s novel, this acclaimed musical will inspire “the child” within audience members of all ages. After being orphaned in India, 10 year-old Mary is returned to England to live with her melancholy uncle at his neglected estate. Haunted by the ghosts of her past and the secrets of her uncle, she innocently unlocks the forgotten gate to an untended garden on the estate grounds. From its soil, fertile with memory and “magic,” springs hope and healing for them both.
King Lear
Shakespeare's Towering Tragedy
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Joseph Hanreddy
October 2 - November 1, 2015
Hanna Theatre, Playhouse Square
A classic tale of love, loss and legacy, King Lear’s royal epic reigns supreme. When an aging monarch resolves to retire and divide his kingdom among three daughters, his sense of reason is suddenly shattered by the surprising emotional storm that ensues. Stoked by fierce winds of treachery, the tragic tempest plunges both king and kingdom into chaos. As his life hangs in the balance, a once proud monarch is forced to wrestle with morality as he confronts his own mortality.
A Christmas Carol
Northeast Ohio's Favorite Holiday Tradition
By Charles Dickens / Adapted and Directed By Gerald Freedman
Staged by Sara Bruner
November 28 - December 23, 2015
Ohio Theatre, Playhouse Square
Open your heart to Charles Dickens’ classic tale of one man’s ultimate redemption. One of northeast Ohio’s favorite holiday traditions, A Christmas Carol is a perfect gift of theater for children and adults of all ages. Celebrate the season with the ones you love.
And Then There Were None
Agatha Christie's Murder Mystery Classic
By Agatha Christie
Directed by Charles Fee
February 26 - March 20, 2016
Hanna Theatre, Playhouse Square
When a group of ten strangers, lured to a remote English island, discover that their eccentric millionaire host is missing – mysterious machinations are set into murderous motion. Stranded by a torrential storm and haunted by a clue-filled nursery rhyme, one by one the guests begin to meet gruesome and untimely ends. With only the fallen believed innocent, who remaining among them is the killer? Based on the best-selling mystery novel of all time, this darkly captivating thriller will leave you breathless at the edge of your seat.
Love's Labour's Lost
A Hilarious Labor of Love and Laughter
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Tyne Rafaeli
April 08 - April 24, 2016
Hanna Theatre, Playhouse Square
When a King decrees that his court be free of women so that he and his men may study without distraction, what could possibly go wrong? Nothing, until a beautiful princess and her delectable entourage pay a visit and put the men’s resolve to the ultimate test. Love letters gone awry set in motion a series of hysterical misadventures which turns the court topsy-turvy in a hilarious Shakespearean study of “Wooing 101.”
The Fantasticks
The World's Longest Running Musical
Book & lyrics by Tom Jones
Music by Harvey Schmidt
Directed by Victoria Bussert
Choreographed by Gregory Daniels
May 13 - May 29, 2016
Hanna Theatre, Playhouse Square
A charming and romantic musical about one young couple, two "feuding" fathers and an infinite love that transcends over time, The Fantasticks whimsically whisks audiences on a journey of imagination into a world of moonlight, magic and memory. Along the way, love is found, lost and rediscovered again after a poignant realization that "without a hurt, the heart is hollow.”