Andy's Summer Playhouse

Andy's Summer Playhouse
Address Wilton, New Hampshire
United States
Owner Non-profit organization
Current use Youth theater
Opened 1971
Website
www.andyssummerplayhouse.org

Andy's Summer Playhouse is a youth theater located in Wilton, New Hampshire.[1]

Andy's Summer Playhouse programs foster creative collaborations between children and professional artists who work in a variety of media: performance art, theater, dance, music, puppetry, video, set and lighting design and playwriting.[2][3][4][5][6] In addition to its unique mission to produce original and adapted plays for children,[7] the theater boasts a number of well-known alumni and staff, including several Bessie Award and Obie Award winning artists,[8] Emmy Award winning artists Paul Jacobs and Sarah Durkee,[9] Pulitzer Prize winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire,[10][11] and Caldecott Medal winning authors Brian Selznick[10][12] and Elizabeth Orton Jones.[13][14]

History

Named after children's book illustrator C. W. Anderson, Andy's was founded in 1971 by two teachers at the Mascenic Regional School, Margaret Sawyer and William Williams.[15] The Playhouse found its first home in Mason, New Hampshire, and was later relocated to a historic meeting house in Wilton.[3] From 1980 to 1993, the playhouse grew under the artistic direction of Dan Hurlin, who attracted a number of internationally recognized artists from PS 122, 8BC, The Kitchen, and other avant-garde theatre venues in New York City.[4][16][17][18] In 1994, Robert Lawson took over as Artistic Director and served until 2007.[10][19][20][21] The theater is currently led by Producing Artistic Director DJ Potter.[15]

The building

Andy's sits on the site of the original meeting house of Wilton, a log structure built in 1752 but then torn down and replaced with a larger meeting house in 1779. The second meeting house served the town for 80 years until it burned down in 1859.[22] The town voted to build a third meeting house (the building that stands today) on the same spot, at a cost "not to exceed $2,500" and the building was completed in 1860. The original Paul Revere and Sons bell damaged in the fire was recast by Henry Northey Hooper & Sons of Boston and placed in the new building, where it remains today in the bell tower. In 1883, the town moved its business to a new Town Hall located several miles to the east in what is now downtown Wilton, so the current building was sold in 1884 to a group of interested citizens and renamed Citizens Hall. It served for many years as a public meeting hall, and was taken over by the National Grange organization in 1925, and then by Wilton Lions Club in 1968. The Pine Hill Waldorf School bought the building in 1978 and for several years ran a school on the site. It was sold to Andy's Summer Playhouse on August 11, 1985.[22]

Notable alumni and teaching artists

References

  1. ↑ Rutherford, Kourtney (1 November 2012). "Currents: Experimental Theatre Education Programs". American Theatre. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  2. ↑ "Make Art: Make a Scene". MacDowell Colony Newsletter 40 (2). Winter 2011. p. 6. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Michaelson, Robert (2 July 2010). "Andy's goes to the vault". Monadnock Ledger-Transcript. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Horwitz, Andy (18 February 2004). "Talking with Dan Hurlin, part 2". Culturebot. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  5. ↑ Levithan, David; Farmer, Jonathan (2011). Every You, Every Me. Knopf.
  6. ↑ "Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce". NashuaChamber.com. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  7. ↑ "Medal Days". New York Social Diary. 18 August 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  8. ↑ Hurlin, Dan (2010). "Curriculum Vitae". danhurlin.com. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  9. ↑ "'Maxwell of Rotek' at Andy's". The Telegraph. 12 August 1982. p. 30. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "Andy's Summer Playhouse celebrates 25 years". Milford Cabinet. 5 July 1995. p. 30. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  11. ↑ "Production history of Snow Angel". Playscripts, Inc. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  12. ↑ "Production history of Byline: Amanda Danger". Playscripts, Inc. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  13. ↑ "Caldecott Medal & Honor Books, 1938 - Present". Association for Library Service to Children. ALA. Retrieved 2012-07-2.
  14. ↑ Salisbury, Jessie (30 December 2001). "A Twig with strong roots". The Nashua Sunday Telegraph. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Stanway, Eric (21 July 2011). "Andy's Summer Playhouse presents The Lost World". Milford Cabinet. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  16. ↑ Lowell, Jessica (19 May 1994). "Andy's Gearing Up for Summer Season". The Telegraph. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  17. ↑ "Washboard Jungle Benefit Concert at Andy's Summer Playhouse". The Telegraph. 20 May 1993. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  18. ↑ "Secret Garden set to unfold at Andy's". The Telegraph. 4 August 1983. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  19. ↑ "Andy's Summer Playhouse". New Hampshire Magazine. July 2007. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  20. ↑ Masek, Heidi (28 June 2007). "Transformations: Andy's Summer Playhouse". HippoPress. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  21. ↑ "Andy's Schedules Auditions March 27-29". Merrimack Journal. 20 March 1998. p. 15. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Clark, Charles E. (1 October 1998). The Meetinghouse Tragedy: An Episode in the Life of a New England Town. ISBN 978-0874518726.

Coordinates: 42°49′52″N 71°46′35″W / 42.83111°N 71.77639°W