Hartford Stage
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Hartford Stage is one of the leading resident theatres in the nation, known internationally for entertaining and enlightening audiences with a wide range of the best of world drama, from classics to provocative new plays and musicals and neglected works from the past. The theatre has earned many of the nation's most distinguished awards, including a Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, the Margo Jones Award for Development of New Works, OBIE awards, a New York Critics Circle award, a Dramatists Guild/CBS Award and an Elliot Norton Award.
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[edit] History
Founded in 1963 by Jacques Cartier, Hartford Stage began in a former grocery store warehouse on Kinsey Street. On April 1, 1964, Othello, directed by Cartier, opened the theatre, which quickly established itself as a major cultural resource for the region, producing seasons offering a range of works from Molière to Beckett to Genet. Paul Weidner, who assumed leadership of the theatre in 1968, oversaw its move to its present home-the 489-seat John W. Huntington Theatre, designed by renowned architect Robert Venturi. Weidner continued the theatre's dedication to both classic and contemporary works, as well as representing diverse communities with productions of Ray Aranha's My Sister My Sister and Miguel Pinero's Short Eyes, with its original cast of ex-convicts. Mark Lamos became Artistic Director in 1980, bringing international recognition to Hartford Stage during his seventeen seasons with explorations of the great works of dramatic literature, most notably the plays of Shakespeare, Molière, Ibsen and Schnitzler. In January 1998, Michael Wilson became the fourth artist to lead Hartford Stage, launching the Tennessee Williams Marathon, the annual production of A Christmas Carol, the annual Brand:NEW festival, and SummerStage.
Over 260 new productions have been seen at Hartford Stage. Among them are nine plays by Edward Albee, nine by Moliere, 13 by Tennessee Williams, 22 by Shakespeare, and 55 World or American premieres, including works by Edward Albee, Horton Foote, Eve Ensler, Alfred Uhry, Christopher Durang, Beth Henley, Vladimir Nabakov, Kia Corthron, Israel Horowitz, William Luce, Theresa Rebeck, Allan Havis, [José Rivera]], Edwin Sànchez and Tennessee Williams. The theatre's reputation extends beyond Hartford across Connecticut, the nation and the world.
Most recently, Hartford Stage has sent productions of Enchanted April and The Gershwin's Fascinating Rhythm to Broadway, Tiny Alice, Necessary Targets, The Carpetbaggers Children and Tea at Five off Broadway, and touring productions to Cleveland, Houston, Cambridge, Los Angeles, Montreal and Paris. In 1975, Hartford Stage's production of Edward Albee's All Over was aired nationally on the PBS series Theater in America, the first time one of the author's works was filmed for television. In 1988, in the first exchange between an American and a Soviet theatre, Mark Lamos staged Desire Under the Elms at Moscow's Pushkin Theater and the renowned Russian director Yuri Yeremin staged A Paper Gramophone in Hartford.
The Tennessee Williams Marathon, launched in 1999, has become a distinguished celebration of the author's range of work in productions, readings, film screenings, workshops and scholarly panels and discussions. In 2003, Hartford Stage draws national attention with the premieres of three neglected Williams' plays-Now the Cats with Jeweled Claws, The Palooka and The One Exception.
From its inception, Hartford Stage has maintained a strong commitment to community partnerships, educational programs and humanities initiatives. Reviving an old collaboration, in 2000 Hartford Stage joined with the Artists' Collective for the production Oedipus, set in modern-day Africa. Through a partnership with the City of Hartford, HUD, and Theater Communications Group, the theatre developed the Oral History Project, resulting in the piece My Hartford, developed and performed by teens from the Hartford area. The theatre continues its two highly successful education programs, InterACT and Connections, reaching Connecticut students from elementary through high school. Through an association with The President's College of the University of Hartford, the theater presents provocative series of discussions and lectures.
Hartford Stage is an important institution in the life of Hartford and Connecticut, and serves as a vital home for artists from around the country, including directors JoAnne Akalaitis, Anne Bogart, Mark Brokaw, Graciela Daniele, Michael Engler, Gerald Freedman, Richard Foreman, Doug Hughes, Michael Greif, Peter Hunt, Jon Jory, Michael Langham, Kenny Leon, Irene Lewis, Marion McClinton, Emily Mann, Marshall Mason, Jack O'Brien, Lisa Peterson, David Petrarca, Bartlett Sher, Daniel Sullivan, John Tillinger, David Warren, Jonathan Wilson and Yuri Yeremin, and actors Ellen Burstyn, Jean Stapleton, Richard Thomas, Elizabeth Ashley, Phylicia Rashad, Andrew McCarthy, Dana Ivey, Campbell Scott, John Michael Higgins, Betty Buckley, Rip Torn, Calista Flockhart, Amanda Plummer, Bradley Whitford, Mercedes Ruehl, Rue McClanahan, Angela Lansbury, Marlo Thomas, Olympia Dukakis, and Estelle Parsons.
[edit] World and American Premieres at Hartford Stage
- 2005 The Learned Ladies of Park Avenue (David Grimm)
- 2004 Peter and Jerry: Act I-Home Life, Act II-The Zoo Story (Edward Albee)
- 2003 The Palooka, The One Exception, Now The Cats With Jeweled Claws (Tennessee Williams), Diosa (Edwin Sánchez), Edgardo Mine (Alfred Uhry)
- 2002 Tea at Five (Matthew Lombardo)
- 2001 The Carpetbagger's Children (Horton Foote), Necessary Targets (Eve Ensler),
- 2000 Baptiste (William Luce), DollHouse (adapted by Theresa Reebek), Enchanted April (Matthew Barber)
- 1998 Digging Eleven (Kia Corthron), Sueño (adapted. by José Rivera)
- 1997 The Gershwin's Fascinating Rhythm (Mel Marvin and Mark Lamos), Pearls for Pigs (Richard Foreman)
- 1995 Clean (Edwin Sanchez), A Dybukk (adapted by Tony Kushner)
- 1994 Bailey's Café (Gloria Naylor)
- 1993 Martin Guerre (Laura Harrington and Roger Ames)
- 1992 Hidden Laughter (Simon Gray)
- 1991 The Snow Ball (A.R. Gurney)
- 1989 Stand-Up Tragedy (Bill Cain), The Illusion (adapted by Tony Kushner), The Paper Gramophone (Alexander Chervinsky)
- 1986 Mark Twain and C.D. Warner's The Gilded Age (adapted. By Constance Congdon), Distant Fires (Kevin Heelan)
- 1985 No Mercy (Constance Congdon), America's Sweetheart (Alfred Uhry, Robert Waldman & John Weidman)
- 1984 The Mystery Plays (John Russell Brown), The Value of Names (Jeffrey Sweet)
- 1983 Dog Eat Dog (Mary Gallagher)
- 1982 The Wake of Jamie Foster (Beth Henley), The Greeks (adapted by John Barton and Kenneth Cavander), The Isle is Full of Noises (Derek Walcott)
- 1981 Is There Life After High School? (Jeffrey Kindley and Craig Carnelia), I, James McNeill Whistler (Lawrence and Maggie Williams)
- 1980 Einstein and the Polar Bear (Tom Griffin)
- 1978 Catchpenny Twist (Stewart Parker), They'd Come to See Charlie (James Borrelli), Mackerel (Israel Horowitz)
- 1977 Eve (Larry Fineberg), Past Tense (Jack Zeman), Counting the Ways and Listening (Edward Albee), A History of the American Film (Christopher Durang)
- 1976 The Estate (Ray Aranha)
- 1975 Afternoon Tea (Harvey Perr)
- 1973 My Sister, My Sister (Ray Aranha), Nighlight (Kenneth H. Brown)
- 1972 Rooted (Alexander Buzo)
- 1971 A Gun Play (Yale M. Udoff)
- 1970 The Trial of A. Lincoln (James Damico)
- 1969 The Waltz Invention (Vladimir Nabokov)
- 1964 Putting on the Agony (Joel Oliansky)
[edit] On Broadway
- 2003 Enchanted April (Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award, Best New American Play)
- 1999 The Gershwin's Fascinating Rhythm (originally produced at Hartford Stage)
- 1997 The Three Sisters
- 1991 Our County's Good (Drama Critic Circle and Tony nomination), Stand-Up Tragedy
- 1982 Is There Life After High School, The Wake of Jamey Foster
- 1981 Einstein and the Polar Bear
- 1978 A History of American Film
- 1974 My Sister My Sister
[edit] Off Broadway
- 2003 Tea at Five
- 2002 The Carpetbagger's Children (American Theater Critics Award, Best Play)
- 2002 Necessary Targets
- 2001 Tiny Alice (Lucille Lortel Award, Best Revival)
- 2000 Sueño
- 1999 The Clearing
- 1997 Pearls for Pigs
- 1991 From the Mississippi Delta, Marvin's Room (Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, Best Play)
- 1989 Other People's Money (Outer Critics Circle, Best Play)
- 1974 My Sister My Sister
[edit] On Tour
- 2002 Tea at Five
- 2001 The Glass Menagerie (Elliot Norton Award, Outstanding Visiting Production)
- 1997 Pearls for Pigs, The Trial of A Lincoln
