Cleveland Play House Artistic Director Laura Kepley and Managing Director Kevin Moore appeared at the Tonys to accept this year's Regional Theatre Tony Award. BroadwayWorld caught up with them after their speech -- hear what they had to say below!
Founded in 1915, Cleveland Play House (CPH) has entertained 12 million people in its more than 1,600 productions. CPH will stage its 100th consecutive season in 2015-16, an unprecedented milestone in American theatre. Led by Artistic Director Laura Kepley and Managing Director Kevin Moore, CPH showcases the best in contemporary playwriting and fresh, imaginative productions of classics. In Kepley's words: CPH strives to be "welcoming, fun, provocative, thrilling and necessary."
CPH has long championed new work, having produced Tennessee Williams even before The Glass Menagerie. Recent premieres include plays by Deborah Zoe Laufer, Lee Blessing, Ken Ludwig and Eric Coble; developmental workshops of plays by Jordan Harrison, Heidi Schreck, and Pulitzer-prize winner Quiara Alegría Hudes (who is also working on a commission to be premiered in the Centennial Season); and originated the 2013 pre-Broadway national tour of A Night With Janis Joplin.
Education programs are of paramount importance to CPH and have been for decades, with alumni ranging from Tony Award-winner Joel Grey to Case Western Reserve University / CPH MFA alum and 2011 Tony-nominee Elizabeth A. Davis. In the past two years, CPH was awarded a US Department of Education grant to develop social emotional learning curriculum for national distribution and a United Way grant to work in three of Cleveland's most challenged schools. Even at age 100, CPH is an innovative and exciting company focused on producing excellent, important work in and for its community.
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