'HUNCHBACK', MISERY, 'BEEHIVE' and More Set for Great Lakes Theater's 2017-18 Season

Charles Fee, Producing Artistic Director of Great Lakes Theater (GLT), unveiled an ambitious, six-production array of classics to headline the company's 2017-18 season. Great Lakes Theater's fifty-sixth year is scheduled to run from September 2017 through May 2018 at Playhouse Square's Hanna and Ohio Theatres.

GLT will commence its 2017-18 season with the soaring musical epic, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, presented in rotating repertory with Shakespeare's magical comic masterpiece, A Midsummer Night's Dream (September 29 - November 5, 2017). The company's annual production of Dickens' holiday classic, A Christmas Carol (November 25 - December 23, 2017) will bisect the season. In the winter/spring, GLT will present Stephen King's thriller, Misery (February 16 - March 11, 2018) followed by Shakespeare's towering tragedy Macbeth (March 30 - April 15, 2018) and off Broadway's groovy retro-hit revue, Beehive: The 60s Musical (May 4-20, 2018).

Great Lakes Theater producing artistic director, Charles Fee, will direct Misery in the coming season. GLT resident artist, Victoria Bussert will helm the company's pair of musical productions, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Beehive: The 60s Musical. Joseph Hanreddy, who most recently directed Great Lakes Theater's production of Wait Until Dark, will return to direct the company's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. And longtime GLT artistic company member, Tom Ford will return to stage A Christmas Carol. The director of GLT's production of Macbeth will be announced at a later date.

Great Lakes Theater's 2017-18 season is supported by the residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture. Generous season support is also provided by The Cleveland Foundation and the Ohio Arts Council.

Five of the company's 2017-18 season offerings (The Hunchback of Notre Dame, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Misery, Macbeth and Beehive: The 60s Musical), will take place in GLT's revolutionary, audience-friendly home at the Hanna Theatre, Playhouse Square, while A Christmas Carol will remain in its traditional Ohio Theatre setting.

Great Lakes Theater's award-winning home at the Hanna Theatre features a unique thrust stage configuration where the audience surrounds the performance - affording attendees a uniquely intimate theater experience in which no seat is further than 13 rows from the stage.At the Hanna, patrons select from a variety of seating opportunities that include traditional seats, club chairs, lounge/bar seats, banquette couches and private box seating. Boasting a fully flexible hydraulic stage, state-of-the-art theatrical systems and a visionary "Great Room" inspired design concept that integrates the artist and audience into a single unified environment, Great Lakes Theater's Hanna home is one of the most innovative theaters in the country.

Great Lakes Theater will continue to afford patrons extraordinary access to its production process at every Hanna Theatre performance in 2017-18. The Hanna's doors always open ninety minutes before each show allowing patrons to observe the complete pre-show preparation process of GLT's actors and technical staff. Elements such as stage combat rehearsals, dance calls, prop/scenic pre-sets, technical cue rehearsals and actor warm-ups will be conducted in full view of patrons, offering GLT audiences an unprecedented glimpse into the theatrical process. Visit the Plan Your Visit page for a complete list of pre-/post-show enhancement programming.

Subscriptions to Great Lakes Theater's 2017-18 season are on sale now. An adult subscription to Great Lakes Theater starts as low as $162. Student subscriptions begin at $39 . Single tickets will go on sale in July. Regular priced adult single tickets will range from $15 - $80. Regular priced student/youth tickets for the Hanna Theatre are $13 ($26 for A Christmas Carol in the Ohio Theatre) and will be available for all performances. Further details and pricing specifics for single performance tickets will be announced in July.

Great Lakes Theater, Cleveland's classic company, has brought the pleasure, power and relevance of classic theater to the widest possible audience since 1962. The first resident company of Playhouse Square, GLT will celebrate its 36th year in downtown Cleveland this season. On its main stage and through its extensive education programming, Great Lakes Theater positively impacts the lives of over 100,000 adults and students annually.