HANNA THEATER

The HANNA THEATER, located at E. 14th St. and Euclid Ave., has been a mecca of live THEATER in Cleveland for roughly a century. Along with the Hanna Building and Annex in which the theater is enclosed, the Hanna opened in 1921. It was built by DANIEL RHODES HANNA, who dedicated it to the memory of his father, Sen. MARCUS A. HANNA, a theater lover and former owner of the EUCLID AVE. OPERA HOUSE (the senior Hanna’s beloved Opera House would be torn down the next year). 
The building, which encompasses the Hanna Theater, office building, and annex, was constructed of Indiana limestone. It was designed by Chas. A. E. Platt, built by JOHN GILL & SONS, and decorated by Faustino Sampietro. Both exterior and interior were based on classical architectural designs.
The first production at the 1,535-seat theater was a presentation of Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper on 29 Mar. 1921, roughly eight months before Daniel Hanna died. The most expensive seats cost $3. In ensuing years, the Hanna hosted numerous touring Broadway shows and an occasional pre-Broadway tryout, notably the world premiere of Maxwell Anderson's High Tor on 30 Dec. 1936. Weathering the Great Depression, it became the only "road theater" in the country that had been in operation for 50 or more consecutive years. 
Milton Krantz became general manager of the Hanna in 1941. Krantz was known as "Mr. First-Nighter" for his tradition of walking up the aisles and shaking hands with people he knew. After 42 years and 1,000 first nights, Krantz retired in 1983. Owned by the T. W. Grogan Co. since 1958, the Hanna was partially shuttered in the 1980s during the initial revitalization of PLAYHOUSE SQUARE. It went dark in 1989. 
 

Cleveland Memory

Built in 1921, the Hanna Theater was a cornerstone of the Cleveland theater scene. In this photograph, general manager Milton Krantz, releases a homing pigeon in front of the theater on May 6, 1976. The pigeon took thirty minutes to reach its roost in North Olmsted. Krantz was know as "Mr. First Nighter."

A renovation effort spearheaded by the Grogan Co. and Majestic Urban Revivals, Inc., was initiated in late 1993. Led by Ray K. Shepardson, a founder and former executive director of the Playhouse Square Assn., a $2 million restoration converted the theater into a multi-tiered, cabaret-style showplace. In 1999, the Hanna Theater, Building, and Annex, along with several surrounding properties, were sold to the Playhouse Square Foundation. The Hanna was fully restored in 2008—the last Playhouse Square theater to be rechristened. It reopened on 20 Sept. 2008 as the new home of GREAT LAKES THEATER FESTIVAL.

Updated by Christopher Roy  14 January 2025

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Vacha, John.  From Broadway to Cleveland:  A History of the Hanna Theater.  Kent State University Press, 2007