Great Lakes Theater Launches New Classics on Tour Featuring the Midwest Premiere of THE JABBERWOCKY

The FREE, family-friendly touring production with an anti-bullying social message will visit twenty-one venues across northeast Ohio.Great Lakes Theater (GLT) will launch the world premiere its new Classics on Tour series with THE JABBERWOCKY, a FREE touring production scheduled to visit twenty-one neighborhood libraries and other public venues throughout northeast Ohio. The one-act play is inspired by Lewis Carroll's classic poem The Jabberwocky, written by Dakotah Brown, Noah Moody and Chad Shohet and directed by GLT Director of Educational Programming Lisa Ortenzi. It features a touring company of four actors. The tour commences on February 21st, continues through March 19th and is a classics-inspired, educational performance for families and school-aged children (recommended for kindergarten-fifth grade) with a strong anti-bullying social message. All performances of the touring production are free and open to the public.

Great Lakes Theater, and its Classics on Tour series, is supported by the residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture, the Community Foundation of Lorain County, the GAR Foundation and the George Gund Foundation. Generous season support is also provided by The Cleveland Foundation and the Ohio Arts Council.

"What an amazing opportunity we have here at Great Lakes Theater to bring live, free, professional theater for children into the community in the form of Classics on Tour," said David Hansen, Education Outreach Associate, about the company's annual tour. "For over 25 years, our touring productions have created meaningful dialogues with audiences at across northeast Ohio. We look forward to engaging audiences in the theatrical process again this year with this original production, created especially for elementary school-age children and their families. We are grateful to the many generous supporters who make this work possible and enable us to fulfill our mission while reaching out to the community."

In The Jabberwocky, two students band together after being bullied by classmates. To avoid their tormentors, the students follow a secret map and escape to the Tulgey Wood - where they meet a king who begs them to save his people from the fearsome Jabberwocky! Audiences will encounter colorful characters like Cheshire Cat, JubJub Bird, Bandersnatch, and a family of Momeraths as this unlikely but dynamic duo journeys to save a kingdom. Along the way, they find the courage to defeat the Jabberwocky...and apply the lessons learned to face their fears back home.

The four-actor touring company features actors Jailyn Sherell Harris, Paul Manganello, Kimberly Martin, and James Rankin, with company manager Caroline McCaughey. Lisa Ortenzi, Great Lakes Theater's Director of Educational Programming, directs the production. The design trio of Terry Martin (scenic design), Alison Garrigan (costume & puppet design) and Brian Chismar (sound design) complete the play's creative team.

THE JABBERWOCKY is a sixty-minute program that includes an introduction andpost-performance discussion. Times and dates are subject to change. Call individual venues for time/date information.

For more information visit www.GreatLakesTheater.org.