The Rotary Club of Hudson was recently treated to an impressive presentation by Art Falco, President and CEO of the Cleveland Playhouse Square Foundation, who recounted the challenges and rewards of staging entertainment 365 days a year in 10 performances venues.
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A finance graduate of Bowling Green University and a resident of Shaker Heights, Falco has guided the development of Playhouse Square into the nation’s largest entertainment complex west of New York City. The mission of the Playhouse Square Foundation encompasses excellence of performances with community involvement and real estate development.
The theater district’s renaissance started with the renovation of the Ohio Theater, followed by the restoration of the State, Palace, Hannah and Allen theaters. Playhouse Square’s Broadway series, with 44,000 members, has the largest subscriber base in the country-allowing production runs of three or more weeks. “Hamilton” will be a major highlight of the 2018-2019 season. Playhouse Square also houses the Cleveland Play House and Great Lakes Theater series and is home to WVIZ-TV and WCPAN public radio.
Augmenting the Playhouse Square professional productions is a children’s theater program that teaches young people the values of culture in our society. And a related effort takes Disney musicals to impoverished grade schools who stage the productions. The school players then get the opportunity to sing in a musical at Playhouse Square.
Twenty-six local high schools also compete in the Playhouse Dazzle Awards with male and female lead winners selected to perform in New York.
Cleveland real estate developments enhance the Playhouse Square Foundation’s financial stability by creating revenue generating properties. Theses include the Residences at Hannah, the Crowne Plaza hotel, adjacent office buildings, the Hofbrauhaus and a new residential tower that will break ground in 2018. All of these projects are reinforced by a cutting-edge Playhouse Square identity program.
The overall budget for Playhouse Square has grown to $75 million per year which in turn provides exceptional cultural and employment opportunities to the Cleveland area.
The Rotary Club of Hudson is proud to welcome outstanding speakers to its Wednesday breakfast meetings and encourages anyone interested in becoming acquainted with the Club to contact Kathryn Sines, President, at sinesk@hudson.k12.oh.us.