[1] Later to become the first GLTF director, Arthur Lithgow directed Shakespeare Under the Stars, a professional summer theater troupe at Antioch College where he was a faculty member.
In 1982, the GLTF moved from Lakewood to the Ohio Theater in Cleveland to become the first resident company in Playhouse Square,[6] an historic district home to several 1920s venues.
[6] In 1994, years after she played opposite Paul Newman in The Hustler (1961), Piper Laurie performed Lyuba Ranevsky in the GLTF production of The Cherry Orchard.
Jean Stapleton, who played Edith Bunker in the comedy series All in the Family, performed on the GLTF stage in 1986 (Arsenic and Old Lace).
[6] Alongside Dorothy Teare, Lithgow established a strong orientation to educational programming for local schools delivered through student matinees as well as classroom partnerships, subsidized in part by the Cleveland Foundation.
[13] Lawrence Carra, a drama professor at Carnegie Mellon University, was the artistic director between 1966 and 1975,[14] during which time he directed a contemporary production of Hamlet based on the shooting of Robert Kennedy.
[1] During Vincent Dowling's tenure from 1976 to 1985, the company moved from its Lakewood Civic Auditorium home to the Ohio Theatre of the Playhouse Square Center in 1982.
[15] Dowling had been a veteran actor of the Dublin Abbey Theater prior to taking on this post[16] and was quoted as saying that his primary goal was to provide a drama diet for the Ohio community.
[17] Increasing the theater's prestige, Freedman successfully attracted well-known actors and directors to the GLTF stage, including: George Abbott, Jean Stapleton, Hal Holbrook, and Ruby Dee.
[20] Fee inherited more than $1 million in debt, but by making savvy decisions, such as becoming a summer-fall repertory theater, he has put the organization in strong financial standing.
[21] The theater began as a citizen-led endeavor to support community cultural engagement and maintains educational outreach as central to its mission today.