Origins
Arthur Lithgow started what was going to be Great Lakes in the 1950s at Antioch College, in Yellow Springs, Ohio. During the few years in Antioch, all of Shakespeare's plays were performed. The company traveled for performances at Stan Hywet Hall in Akron, the Toledo Zoo, and Cuyahoga Falls. In 1961, Lithgow made an arrangement with Ohio Board of Education President Dorthy Teare, creating the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival. GLSF premiered July 11, 1962 with As You Like It. It continued at the Lakewood Civic Auditorium performing that play and five others in rotation.
Great Lakes moved from its original home in Lakewood, Ohio to Playhouse Square in 1982 to become the first resident company of the Playhouse Square.
Notable alumni include Tom Hanks (1977-79 as an intern and core company member, and later winner of the Cleveland Critics' circle for best actor in Festival's production of The Two Gentlemen of Verona), Donald Moffat, Larry Linville, Cloris Leachman, Piper Laurie, Obie Cytron, Jean Stapleton, Hal Holbrook and Olympia Dukakis.
Read more about this topic: Great Lakes Theater
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