Great Lakes Theater's Production of A Christmas Carol Returns to Playhouse Square for 28th Year

CLEVELAND, OH - The stage of the Ohio Theatre, Playhouse Square will glow with good spirits and time-honored tradition when Great Lakes Theater (GLT) presents its twenty-eighth annual production of Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol, running November 26 – December 23, 2016. The production has delighted more than 700,000 people in its history, making it one of northeast Ohio’s most-loved and best-attended holiday events.

Great Lakes Theater’s twenty-eighth annual production of A Christmas Carol is sponsored by The John P. Murphy Foundation – one of the production’s inaugural sponsors. The company’s 2016-17 season is generously funded by the citizens of Cuyahoga County through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture. GLT also receives support from The Cleveland Foundation and the Ohio Arts Council. A Christmas Carol’s media sponsor is WMJI-Majic 105.7 FM. GLT’s season media sponsors are The FORM Group, Ideastream and WKSU 89.7 FM.

New in 2016, longtime GLT artistic company member Tom Ford, will stage former Artistic Director Gerald Freedman’s heartwarming adaptation of A Christmas Carol. The production features a multi-generational cast of actors, singers and dancers.

Also new for 2016, veteran GLT core acting company member, Lynn Robert Berg will become only the fifth actor in the production's 28-year history to portray the role of the story's famous holiday miser, Ebenezer Scrooge.

“The combination of Gerald Freedman’s inspired and moving adaptation, Tom Ford’s dynamic gifts as a director, our remarkable design team and our talented company are sure to delight audiences, whether they’re attending for the first time or returning to experience this holiday tradition again with friends and family,” said GLT’s Producing Artistic Director
Charles Fee.

Freedman's adaptation of A Christmas Carol is presented as a story within a story. The fictitious Cleaveland family gathers in its Victorian-era parlor on Christmas Eve to read Mr. Dickens' book. As Mrs. Cleaveland reads the story to her family, her youngest child, Master William, re-imagines familiar faces as characters in the story: the Cleaveland’s crotchety manservant becomes Scrooge; Father becomes Bob Cratchit; Mother becomes Belle, and the Cleaveland children become the Cratchits, with Master William becoming the beloved Tiny Tim. In all, more than 60 Dickens characters are brought to life on stage.

Great Lakes Theater’s production incorporates theatrical special effects to retain a strong sense of the supernatural, emphasizing the novel's origins in folk tales and myth. Designers for the GLT production blend exceptional stagecraft with dramatic effects that evoke the magical and mysterious aspects of a classic ghost story.

Great Lakes Theater’s twenty-eighth annual production of A Christmas Carol commences on Saturday, November 26th at 7:30 p.m. at the Ohio Theatre, Playhouse Square. Curtain times for all evening performances will remain at 7:30 p.m., with a 1:30 p.m. curtain time for Saturday matinees and a 3:00 p.m. curtain time for Sunday matinees. An audio-described and sign interpreted performance is scheduled for Sunday, December 4th at 3:00 p.m.

Single tickets for Great Lakes Theater’s production of A Christmas Carol range in price from $28-$75 (student tickets $26 – any performance / any seat) and are available by calling (216) 241-6000, by ordering online at www.greatlakestheater.org or by visiting the Playhouse Square Ticket Office. Groups of ten or more receive discounts and should call (216) 241-5490 x322 to make reservations.

Great Lakes Theater will also present a special Sensory-Friendly performance of A Christmas Carol for children/adults on the autism spectrum and their families on Wednesday, November 23 at 11:00 a.m. For this special performance, accommodations will be made, including a supportive audience environment, designated quiet areas, adjustments to light and sound, and online resource materials. General admission tickets for this special performance are $15 and are available for children and adults on the autism spectrum and their families only.

Great Lakes Theater, the first resident company of Playhouse Square, has brought the pleasure, power and relevance of classic theater to the widest possible audience since 1962. GLT programming reaches 100,000 adults and students annually.

Posted on: November 05, 2016

Category: Press Releases