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>> Theater to honor Joanne M. Lewis
>> Benefit 2012 Press Release
Theater to honor Joanne M. Lewis:
author, activist, founding Board member
CLEVELAND, Dec. 31, 2011 – Joanne M. Lewis of Cleveland Heights, who will be honored Jan. 28 at Near West Theatre’s Annual Benefit, is “devoted to the belief that ‘you can make a difference in the way the world turns.’” What she describes as “the 78 years of my life adventure thus far” have included work in education and the arts, founding and running a center on global issues, writing or editing five books, and raising five children.
Lewis recently wrote that Near West Theatre is “a sanctuary, offering within its intimate space the chance for each of us to grapple with our eternally flawed humanity. Through the power of heartfelt and profound performances, we come to share a sense of optimism.” She regularly attends the classic musicals the theater produces with people of all ages, and saw Oliver! in December 2011.
Executive Director Stephanie Morrison-Hrbek, who founded the theater in 1978, appreciates the guidance and encouragement she received in the early years from Lewis and her late husband, Robert L. Lewis. In 1983 the couple joined the new advisory board of what was then known as Near West Side Community Theatre; Joanne served for over a decade. “Joanne’s bold truth-telling, insights and wisdom have shaped mission, vision and decision-making at the theater over these almost 30 years of participation,” Morrison-Hrbek says. “In moments of difficult discernment, I always call Joanne and her recommendations are spot-on. There is no one like her in my personal and professional life. She is a source of inspiration to our community and always has you laughing amidst the profound conversations.”
Joanne Lewis’s recognition by the theater is the most recent of several honors for her work in Greater Cleveland. She founded the Global Issues Resource Center at Cuyahoga Community College and directed it for 20 years. She founded, and continues to advise, the Robert L. Lewis Academy of Scholars at Tri-C. She was a founding Trustee of the Cleveland Opera, the Footpath Dance Company of Shaker Heights, and the Fairmount Center for the Arts. She has served on the boards of such varied organizations as the Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art (now MOCA), the League of Women Voters Education Fund, and the Gun Control Federation of Ohio.
Four local history books bear her name as author, editor or contributor: To Market, To Market – An Old-Fashioned Family Story: The West Side Market (Edgewater Book Company, 1981); In My Day (1978) and In Our Day (1986), oral and architectural histories of Cleveland Heights, published by the Heights Community Congress; and My Recollections of Old Cleveland: Manners, Mansions, Mischief (1978), a biographical study of the Millionaires’ Row district.
Born in Cleveland, Lewis is a graduate of Cleveland Heights High School (1951) and the University of Michigan (1955). She also studied at the University of Geneva, Switzerland; Barnard College, New York City; and Western Reserve University, Cleveland. She has five children (Brian, Paul, David, Pavia and Clea Lewis) and nine grandchildren.
Her past honors include the Award of Achievement in Education from Northern Ohio LIVE (1996-97), the “Woman Who Dares” Award for Global Security Education from the Cleveland Section of the National Council of Jewish Women (1998), and the “Innovator of the Year” Award from the League for Innovation in the Community College (2000).
Tickets to the Jan. 28 Benefit, to be held from 6 to 9:30 p.m. at Trinity Cathedral downtown, are available at the theater’s website, www.nearwesttheatre.org , as is further information on the event. Tickets can also be purchased by phone, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, at 216-961-6391.
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Cathedral to be transformed into stage, dance floor for a night
CLEVELAND, Dec. 21, 2011 – A downtown cathedral will become a stage, a dance floor and a “Dickens street party” on Saturday, Jan. 28, when a local theater holds its unusual annual fundraiser.
Near West Theatre’s 2012 benefit, “Consider Yourself One of Us,” will be from 6:00 to 9:30 p.m. at Trinity Cathedral, 2230 Euclid Ave. It will feature a high-energy, original performance by NWT cast members as well as food and drink, a DJ and dancing, a silent auction and raffle, and other surprises. This year’s honoree is community activist, author, and founding NWT Board member Joanne Lewis.
“This will not be your typical Victorian-themed party,” said Artistic Director Bob Navis Jr. “The show, the environment, the street performers – all of it will create the feel of Charles Dickens’ London
with a Near West Theatre edge.”
The benefit is the most important fundraiser of the year for Near West Theatre, which builds community among ordinary people by staging classic musicals with large, diverse casts of all ages and also offers children’s and youth programming. Companies and individuals are invited to consider Benefit sponsorships at levels of $10,000, $7,500, $5,000, $2,500 and $1,000. As of Dec. 21, 2011, they include Spice of Life Catering Co., Euro USA, American Limousine Service, KeyBank, Weisman, Kennedy & Berris Co. LPA, Dominion East Ohio, Fifth Third Bank, Chuck and Rita Maimbourg, Medical Mutual, Charter One, Gypsy Beans & Baking Co., Lutheran Hospital, R.C. Distributors, Jan Roller and David Abbott, and the Sherwin-Williams Company.
Besides the evening’s entertainment, a single ticket to the event at $85 (or 10 tickets at $800) buys access to a festive spread of food provided by Euro USA and prepared by Spice of Life, and desserts by Gypsy Beans & Baking Co. Tickets can be purchased online here; by phoning 216-961-6391, 11 a.m. to
4 p.m. weekdays; or in person during those same hours at NWT’s business office, 6514 Detroit Ave. $50 of each ticket is tax-deductible. Event details are at www.nearwesttheatre.org/benefit.html.
Stephanie Morrison-Hrbek, the founding and executive director of the theater since 1978, is grateful for the location of the benefit. “We love the Trinity Commons concept and the openness of the Cathedral and its people to arts, music and programs that further peace and justice, education and spiritual growth,” said. “It’s a perfect match for our approach to theater as a community-building, transformative experience.”
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