Great Lakes Theater, in the midst of a search for a new executive director, has named its next artistic director. Sara Bruner will take over for Charles Fee when he retires in 2026. Bruner began her career with the company as a freshman in college, and has since amassed more than 100 acting roles here and with sister companies in Idaho and Lake Tahoe.
“She has been... playing all kinds of leading roles," Fee said. "Everything from every leading lady in the Shakespeare plays... to the Noël Coward plays and musicals. This is the first woman to lead Great Lakes Theater in our history. It's about time, and she is the right person."
She's been a director as well, helming last season's "Sense and Sensibility" in Cleveland. Bruner previously spent six years with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival before returning to Great Lakes in 2019, eventually working alongside Fee as associate artistic director.
“It's a boon to our audiences because they understand that we have succession that is seamless," he said. "Sarah grew up in our companies. She was a very young actor and went into our education programs and right onto our main stage. To grow up in a company, and, ultimately, become the leader of that company is, I think, an incredibly healthy way for succession."
Great Lakes Theater has been searching for a new executive director since last October, when Richard Parison Jr. abruptly resigned after a few weeks at the helm. Fee had no further comment about the resignation. New York-based Management Consultants for the Arts is leading the search for a replacement. Fee said that naming Bruner now is actually helpful in the midst of the search.
“I think it's going to be a real boon for whoever is looking at becoming our next executive director," he said. "You're not saying, 'I'm coming into a job and the first thing I'm going to have to do as executive director is replace the producing artistic director who is retiring in the next two years.' That is a very complex problem and not something that you wish on anyone."
Great Lakes Theater was founded in 1962. Its first director Arthur Lithgow - father of actor John Lithgow - directed Shakespeare Under the Stars productions in the 1950s throughout Northeast Ohio. While visiting venues ranging from Stan Hywet Hall in Akron to the Toledo Zoo, the troupe sought a permanent space in the early ‘60s. At the same time, a group of citizens led by Lakewood Board of Education President Dorothy Teare was seeking summer activities for the Lakewood Civic Auditorium.
The two factions combined to create what was first named the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival, premiering with "As You Like It" on July 11, 1962.
The company moved to the Ohio Theatre in Playhouse Square in 1982 and the Hanna Theatre in 2008. Notable alumni include Tom Hanks, Ruby Dee, Olympia Dukakis, Cloris Leachman and Larry Linville.
