About | Overview

Great Lakes Theater Cleveland's Classic Company

Great Lakes Theater (GLT), northeast Ohio's professional classic theater since 1962, is one of the nation's pre-eminent regional theater companies. GLT, which features a resident company of artists, brings the world's greatest plays to life each season from September through May in its revolutionary home at the re-imagined Hanna Theatre, PlayhouseSquare. The company also presents the region's annual production of A Christmas Carol at PlayhouseSquare's Ohio Theatre.

Under the leadership of current Producing Artistic Director Charles Fee, GLT has pioneered a unique and nationally recognized producing partnership with the Idaho and Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festivals featuring entirely shared seasons with a single resident artistic company. Over the past eight seasons, the companies have shared thirty productions.

In 2008, GLT opened its revolutionary new home at the re-imagined 1921 Hanna Theatre facilitated by a successful $19.2M capital campaign - ensuring the legacy of the classics in Cleveland for generations to come. GLT's efforts infused the historic theater with bold contemporary design sensibilities and state-of-the-art technologies making it one of the most innovative theater spaces in the country.

Great Lakes Theater's impressive, re-imagined home is an ideal metaphor for this great classical theater company a symbol of its commitment to community, to creating world-class theater and to thinking creatively while working collaboratively.

On its main stage and through its extensive educational outreach initiatives, Great Lakes Theater programming reaches over 75,000 adults and students each season. The mission of the Great Lakes Theater is to bring the pleasure, power and relevance of classic theater to the widest possible audience.