John Lithgow to Perform STORIES BY HEART for GLTF Benefit, 5/22

On May 22, Tony and Emmy Award-winning actor, John Lithgow returns to Cleveland for a special one day only performance to benefit Great Lakes Theater Festival (GLTF) - the classic theater company that his father, Arthur Lithgow, helped to found nearly fifty years ago.

In his touching and humorous theatrical tour-de-force, Stories By Heart, former GLTF company member John Lithgow invokes memories of three generations of family history while tracing his own life as an actor and storyteller. Directed by Jack O'Brien, and following its acclaimed Lincoln Center Theater presentation, Stories By Heartfeatures both P.G. Wodehouse's "Uncle Fred Flits By" and Ring Lardner's "Haircut."

In the hilarious "Uncle Fred Flits By," John Lithgow conjures nine outrageous characters with zany abandon to tell the story of a skeptical nephew's surprising and endearing journey with his unstoppable uncle. A wry look at Midwestern implacability, "Haircut" is a tale told by a loquacious Michigan barber who's seen it all - or so he believes. Lithgow's magical transformation is positively captivating.

In Stories By Heart, Lithgow tells of reading to this father when he was gravely ill - the same story his father had read to him fifty years before. It rallied the old man's spirits and in the sound of his father's laughter, John discovered the healing power of storytelling - and so will audiences through this extraordinary performance.

Lithgow is known for his roles as Dr. Dick Solomon on the NBC sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun, Arthur Mitchell on Showtime's Dexter and Reverend Shaw Moore in Footloose. He appeared in the films The World According to Garp (1982) and Terms of Endearment (1983), receiving the Academy Award nomination, Best Actor in a Supporting Role for each.

On the stage, he appeared in the musical adaptation of Sweet Smell of Success, winning the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. He again appeared in a musical, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, receiving the Tony nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Musical.

He has also recorded music, such as the 1999 album of children's music, Singin' in the Bathtub, and has written poetry and short stories for children, such as Marsupial Sue.He has earned multiple Emmy Awards, Tony Awards, Golden Globe Awards, as well as two Academy Award nominations.

For more information about John Lithgow's Benefit Performance on Saturday, May 22, please call Great Lakes Theater Festival at (216) 453-1068 or visit http://www.greatlakestheater.org/

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.

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