Page 31 - Summer 2022 inLEAGUE with 46th National Conference Program

Ramble TheaTRe TouRs (in oRdeR of TouRs)

In 2018, the unique Silver Hall Concert Series was launched to showcase ensembles from across northeast Ohio,
providing them with the valuable opportunity to perform a recorded concert in a large venue. The concert
series attracted 15,000 guests during the 2019-2020 season alone.

While Silver Hall is used by The Temple – Tifereth Israel congregation for religious observances and occasional
life-cycle events, Case Western Reserve has made The Maltz Performing Arts Center a destination for the
Cleveland community to enjoy classical, jazz and gospel music concerts by local and national performers
as well as the exchange of thought-provoking ideas. It is home to both Think Forum, Case Western Reserve’s
distinguished lecture series, and Cuyahoga County Public Library’s William M. Skirball Writers Center Stage.

KARAMU HOUSE In 1915, a pair of Oberlin College (in nearby Oberlin, Ohio) graduates
opened a settlement house in an area of Cleveland called “The
Roaring Third,” located at the corner of East 38th Street and Central
Avenue. With incredible vision, Russell and Rowena Woodham Jelliffe
set out to establish a common ground where people of different
races, religions, and social and economic backgrounds could come
together to seek and share common ventures.

The settlement house idea was conceived out of the principles
upon which our nation was founded: that the individual is not wholly
determined by his environment but has the capacity to transcend
it. Each person can, by his response to his environment, change
the way it affects him. The Jelliffes soon discovered that the arts
provided the perfect common ground, and in 1917, plays at the
new Playhouse Settle began. The early 1920s saw a large number of
African Americans move into the area from the South during the Great
Migration, but resisting some pressure to exclude their new neighbors,
the Jelliffes, a Caucasian couple, insisted that all races were welcome.

The Playhouse Settlement quickly became a magnet for some of the best African-American artists of the day.
Dancers, printmakers, actors, and writers all found a place where they could practice their crafts. The Jelliffes
held high standards of excellence in the arts, not for the sake of excellence, but because they knew that
pursuing excellence makes the greatest demands on the individual to fulfill the promise of his potential.

Reflecting the strength of the Black influence on its development, the Playhouse Settlement was officially
renamed Karamu House in 1941. Karamu is a word in the Swahili language meaning “a place of joyful
gathering.” It became a place where families could gather, share stories, feast, and enjoy.

HANNA THEATRE The Hanna Theatre is one of the original five venues built in the
Playhouse Square district. It was built in 1921 and closed in 1988.
It reopened again in 2008 after a major restoration campaign.
With seating for 550, the Hanna offers unique options not found in
most theatres - banquettes, bar seating, club chairs - in addition to
traditional theatre seating. The Hanna was originally envisioned by
industrialist and publisher Daniel Rhodes Hanna as part of a larger
complex in memorial to his father, late U.S. Senator Mark Hanna and
was designed by architect Charles A. Platt.

The current theatre has a three-part hydraulic thrust stage that
can lower to create a traditional proscenium stage with a full
orchestra pit. It also has a computer controlled fly system structurally
independent of the building to handle more weight. The Hanna was the last of the original Playhouse Square
theatre to be renovated.

46th National Conference & Theatre Tour July 2022 INLEAGUE | PAGE 29