Cleveland in HDR – The 6th City Collection

If you have never seen a play at the Hanna Theater in Playhouse Square you are missing out. The atmosphere is great and everything is modern. The Hanna Theatre opened March 28, 1921, and would go on to host such stage and film luminaries as Al Jolson, Katherine Hepburn, Henry
Fonda, Ethel Barrymore, Ginger Rogers, Helen Hayes, Mary Martin and Yul Brynner. In 2008, the Hanna underwent a renovation to add a thrust stage, re-work its seating to 550 and become the main performance base for Playhouse Square’s long-time constituent, Great Lakes Theater. Few people know that the famous Tom Hanks got his first acting job right here in Cleveland with the Great Lakes Theater Festival. He worked 3 summers with Great Lakes making $45 per week. Playhouse Square is the second largest performing arts center in the country, behind only
New York City.

For more info: http://www.playhousesquare.org/default.asp?playhousesquare=62&objId=2

Today’s Quote: Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air. – John Quincy Adams

Can you guess what this photo is? This photo was taken backstage at the historic Ohio Theater in Playhouse Square. These ropes are stretching toward a light at the top of the theater. The ropes control some of the curtains and effects in the theater. I just thought it was kind of a cool angle and now you can say you know all the ropes when it comes to the theater.

http://www.playhousesquare.org/

Today’s Quote: “A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world”. – Oscar Wilde

Today’s Photo: Welcome to the Ohio Theater!

Standing on the stage of the Ohio Theater and looking out into the seats. Here is what Wikipedia has to say about the Ohio Theater:

“The Ohio Theatre is a theater on Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, part of Playhouse Square. The theater was built by Marcus Loew’s Loew’s Ohio Theatres company. It was designed by Thomas W. Lamb in the Italian Renaissance style, and was intended to present legitimate plays. The theater opened on February 14, 1921, with 1,338 seats. The foyer featured three murals depicting the story of Venus, and the balcony contained paintings of Arcadia. Throughout the 1920s, the Ohio had a stock company and hosted traveling Broadway plays.

In 1935, the theater was redecorated in an Art Deco style and transformed into a supper club called the Mayfair Casino. The owners hoped to turn the establishment into an actual casino, but since gambling was not allowed in Ohio, the Mayfair closed in 1936. The Loew’s Theatres chain (then the parent of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) acquired the building, and in 1943 the Ohio reopened as a movie theater. A 1964 lobby fire damaged the interior, which was painted red to hide the smoke damage. Decreasing patronage caused the theater to close in early February 1969, along with the rest of the Playhouse Square theaters. Twice the Ohio and State Theatres were threatened with razing in order to build a parking lot; in 1972, when the buildings were saved by public outcry, and again in 1977. The Playhouse Square Foundation responded by obtaining a long-term lease for the theaters, and the Loew’s Building was purchased by Cuyahoga County. In 1978, the Ohio was added to the National Register of Historic Places, along with the rest of the Playhouse Square group.

Because of the extent of the building’s fire damage, the Ohio was originally slated to be the last of the group to undergo renovation, but plans were accelerated so that the theater could become the home of the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival. The $4 million restoration took less than nine months, and on July 9, 1982, the Ohio Theatre became the first Playhouse Square theater to reopen, with 1,000 seats, showing Shakespeare’s As You Like It.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_Theatre_(Cleveland,_Ohio)

Today’s Quote:

If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. It’s the hard that makes it great – Tom Hanks

Fore more info: http://www.playhousesquare.org/

Today’s Photo: The Cleveland Playhouse Lobby

From the Cleveland Playhouse website:

Founded in 1915, Cleveland Play House is America’s first regional theatre. More than 12 million people have attended over 1,300 productions at Cleveland Play House including more than 130 American and/or World Premieres. Today, under the leadership of Artistic Director Michael Bloom and Managing Director Kevin Moore, Cleveland Play House is an artist-driven theatre that serves the Greater Cleveland community by holding true to its mission: To inspire, stimulate and entertain diverse audiences in Northeast Ohio by producing plays and theatre education programs of the highest professional standards.

This year the Cleveland Playhouse will move operations to the Allen Theatre in Playhouse Square Center.

For more info:

http://www.clevelandplayhouse.com/

Today’s Quote:

“I live halfway between reality and theater at all times. And I was born this way” – Lady Gaga