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Great Lakes Theater Festival
Tom Hanks with John and Sharon Ferchill
(Great Lakes Theater Festival)
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Mort and Natalie Epstein
(Great Lakes Theater Festival)
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Tom Hanks and Jack McGrath
(Great Lakes Theater Festival)
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Audrey and Dick Watts with Tom Hanks
(Great Lakes Theater Festival)
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Great Lakes Theater Festival
“Tom Hanks Visit"
Tom Hanks, beloved by Cleveland film fans and, most especially, the staff and supporters of Great Lakes Theater Festival, cut a serious swath in our fair city with a whirlwind visit in October of less than 48 hours. Artistic Director Charlie Fee had an absolute blast squiring Tom around town
The famed actor/producer stunned matinee-goers at a Sunday performance of "Twelfth Night," by coming out to make the curtain speech. He then dazzled 78 lucky people (many of whom paid a hefty ticket price) at a party that same night at the home of Sharon and John Ferchill in Rocky River. A certain chef, whom the Ferchills have known since he was 14, prepared a superb meal. We had a chance to watch Michael Symon work his magic in the kitchen and it was an inspiration.
Within seconds of walking in the front door, Tom had the crowd enchanted. He is wickedly funny and made everyone feel as if he were an old friend. With Tom Hanks, what you see is what you get — no high-falutin' airs for him — just a genuinely good guy.
The next day he taped a PBS show with Scott Simon in front of an audience of students; lunched with a group of young philanthropists and generally acted as a goodwill ambassador for GLTF, where he began his career 30 years ago as an intern. He has never forgotten the bond he forged then and has returned time and again when his presence was needed. He capped the day with a performance at the Hanna Theatre with conversation, film clips and a "world premiere" look at his latest production, "The Pacific," a 10-part HBO project to be shown in 2010.
This time he was here to help the theater meet a challenge grant to help raise $600,000. He may have raised some $250,000 while throwing out ideas for ways to boost the theater such as giving a season ticket to someone who may never have seen live theater. STORY BY MARTHA TOWNS/PHOTOGRAPHS BY ROBERT MULLER
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