Brookfield Theatre for the Arts

Last updated
Brookfield Theatre for the Arts
Brookfield Theatre for the Arts Logo.jpg
Logo of the theatre
Brookfield Theatre for the Arts
Address184 Whisconier Rd.
Brookfield, Connecticut
United States
TypeIndoor theatre
Capacity 135
Construction
Opened1957
Rebuilt1957, 2005
Years active1957-present
Website
http://www.brookfieldtheatre.org/

The Brookfield Theatre for the Arts is a theater located in the historic Curtis School for Boys gymnasium building in Brookfield, Connecticut, located within the Brookfield Center Historic District. The theater has a capacity of 135 people and hosts a variety of entertainment events such as films, plays, and musical performances. [1]

Contents

Every year five community productions are chosen including comedies, dramas, musicals, and classics. Additional workshops and special events are added throughout the year, such as the Brookfield Film Festival which is held by the Brookfield Arts Commission. [2] The festival lasts three days, and screens short and foreign films. [3] [4]

History

The contemporary company was established in 1957 as the "Country Players of Brookfield." [5] [6] The name appears to reference the Brookfield Players, an acting company founded in Brookfield in the 1930s by Virgil Geddes. [7] [8]

The Curtis School for Boys, as seen in 1883 Curtis School 1883.jpg
The Curtis School for Boys, as seen in 1883

Curtis School for Boys

In 1883, the Curtis School for Boys opened in Brookfield, Connecticut, after relocating from the town of Bethlehem, Connecticut. [9] [10] [11]

The school was founded by Frederick Smiley Curtis, a mentor and educator who was also the last surviving member of the Yale University Class of 1869. [12] Curtis was born February 18, 1850, in Stratford, Connecticut and earned the PhD at Yale University. He taught at West Chester University (Then known as Westchester Norman School), and then at Swarthmore College before founding the Curtis School. [13]

The school campus had seven buildings, including the rustic style stone-and-wooden beam gymnasium built in 1907. [14] [15] The school's property also consisted of main classrooms, a chapel, a barn and cottage. [16] The Curtis School closed its doors in 1943. [17]

Historic building

The Theatre is housed in the former Curtis School gymnasium, a building that was standing empty until it was purchased by the Brookfield Country Players in 1957 and remodeled as a community theater. [18] [19] A dressing room was added in the 1960s and, in the 1980s, a backstage space was constructed. [6]

The building, in rustic style, originally featured a massive stone fireplace at each end of the gymnasium. While one fireplace has been walled over behind what is now the stage, the other remains "a beautiful piece of functional architecture". [14]

Theatre

The theater organization grew to include various cultural offerings. In 2003 the name was changed to "The Brookfield Theatre for the Arts, Inc." (Brookfield Theatre) to show it is intended to be a center for creativity for the greater Brookfield region. The new lobby, dedicated in 2005, has been used for informal gatherings, workshops, cultural events, and art shows. As part of the 60th anniversary celebration, the lobby was remodeled and rededicated as an art gallery with a board member acting as curator for fine art shows throughout the year. [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brookfield, Connecticut</span> Town in Connecticut, United States

Brookfield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, situated within the southern foothills of the Berkshire Mountains. The population was 17,528 at the 2020 census. The town is located 55 miles (89 km) northeast of New York City, making it part of the New York metropolitan area. In July 2013, Money magazine ranked Brookfield the 26th-best place to live in the United States, and the best place to live in Connecticut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Connecticut State University</span> University

Western Connecticut State University is a public university in Danbury, Connecticut. It was founded in 1903 as a teacher's college and is part of the Connecticut State University System.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairfield County, Connecticut</span> County in Connecticut, United States

Fairfield County is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is the most populous county in the state and was also its fastest-growing from 2010 to 2020. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 957,419, representing 26.6% of Connecticut's overall population. The closest to the center of the New York metropolitan area, the county contains four of the state's top 7 largest cities—Bridgeport (1st), Stamford (2nd), Norwalk (6th), and Danbury (7th)—whose combined population of 433,368 is nearly half the county's total population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danbury, Connecticut</span> City in Connecticut, United States

Danbury is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located approximately 50 miles (80 km) northeast of New York City. Danbury's population as of 2020 was 86,518. It is the seventh largest city in Connecticut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yale Repertory Theatre</span> Building

Yale Repertory Theatre at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut was founded by Robert Brustein, dean of Yale School of Drama, in 1966, with the goal of facilitating a meaningful collaboration between theatre professionals and talented students. In the process it has become one of the first distinguished regional theatres. Located at the edge of Yale's main downtown campus, it occupies the former Calvary Baptist Church.

Connecticut is a state of the United States in the New England region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport</span> Latin Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Connecticut, USA

The Diocese of Bridgeport is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church located in the southwestern part of the state of Connecticut in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Hartford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Still River (Housatonic River tributary)</span>

The Still River is a 25.4-mile-long (40.9 km) tributary to the Housatonic River in western Connecticut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danbury Museum and Historical Society</span>

The Danbury Museum and Historical Society is a private museum located in Danbury, Connecticut, the purpose of which is to acquire, preserve, exhibit, and interpret the heritage of the greater Danbury area for education, information, and research. The main campus of the museum is located on 43 Main Street. It is home to five historic buildings: Huntington Hall, the 1785 Rider House, the 1790 John Dodd Hat Shop, the Little Red Schoolhouse, and the Marian Anderson Studio. The Museum also owned and maintained a sixth building: the Charles Ives Birthplace, located on Mountainville Avenue. The Ives birthplace was sold to a private bidder in 2012. Its legal name is the Danbury Scott Fanton Museum and Historical Society, Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danbury Hospital</span> Hospital in Connecticut, United States

Danbury Hospital is a 456-bed hospital in Danbury, Connecticut serving patients in Fairfield County, Connecticut, as well as Westchester County and Putnam County, New York.

New Fairfield High School is the only public high school in New Fairfield, Connecticut, United States. It enrolls approximately 500 to 700 students annually in grades 9-12 from New Fairfield, as well as students from the neighboring town of Sherman who elect to attend. The current principal of New Fairfield High School is James D'Amico.

<i>The News-Times</i>

The News-Times is a daily newspaper based in Danbury, Connecticut, United States. It is owned and operated by the Hearst Corporation.

The History of Brookfield, Connecticut extends back roughly three centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choate Rosemary Hall</span> School in Wallingford, Connecticut, United States

Choate Rosemary Hall is a private, co-educational, college-preparatory boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut, United States. Choate is currently ranked as the second best boarding school and third best private high school in America. Founded in 1890, it took its present name and began a co-educational system with the 1971 merger of The Choate School for boys and Rosemary Hall for girls. It is part of the Eight Schools Association and the Ten Schools Admissions Organization. Its alumni include many members of the American political elite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tarell Alvin McCraney</span> American actor and playwright

Tarell Alvin McCraney is an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. He is the chair of playwriting at the Yale School of Drama and a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Ensemble.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brookfield Center Historic District (Brookfield, Connecticut)</span> Historic district in Connecticut, United States

The Brookfield Center Historic District in Brookfield, Connecticut is a historic district that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. It is located in the vicinity of the junction of Route 133 and Route 25. The district represents the original settlement of the town of Brookfield and contains 67 residential, religious, and municipal buildings over a 43-acre (17 ha) area representing a wide range of architectural styles from the 18th to 20th centuries including Bungalow/Craftsman, Greek Revival, and Queen Anne style architecture. The district includes the old town hall, the Congregational Church of Brookfield, Saint Joseph Church & Elementary School, Center Elementary School (Public), the former general store, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, and the surrounding residential neighborhood. The district is architecturally significant as an accurate representation of the historical development of the original settlement of the Town of Brookfield as the buildings are well-preserved from the time they were built with minimal alterations and intrusions, including their spatial relationships to one another.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brookfield station (Metro-North)</span> Metro-North Railroad station in Connecticut

Brookfield station is a proposed passenger rail station on the Danbury Branch of the Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line, to be located in Brookfield, Connecticut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virgil Geddes</span> American dramatist

Virgil Geddes (1897–1989) was an American playwright.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Plain, Danbury, Connecticut</span> Former farming community in Danbury, Connecticut, United States

Great Plain is an unincorporated area in the City of Danbury, Fairfield County, Connecticut. A former farming community, only remnants exist of this once thriving agricultural hub. It is located in the northeast section of the city, sharing a border with the Beaverbrook area of Danbury and Brookfield, CT.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beaverbrook, Connecticut</span> Locality in Danbury, Connecticut, United States

Beaverbrook or Beaver Brook, is an unincorporated area in the City of Danbury, Fairfield County, Connecticut.

References

  1. ↑ "Brookfield Theatre for the Arts". Brookfieldtheatre.org. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  2. ↑ "Brookfield Theatre for the Arts in Connecticut Show Listings". Broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  3. ↑ "FILM FESTIVAL (BFF) Archives -". Brookfieldartscommission.org. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  4. ↑ Julia Perkins (December 13, 2017). "Brookfield Theatre for the Arts marks 50th anniversary in style". Danbury News Times. Retrieved 2018-04-20.
  5. ↑ "Brookfield Theatre for the Arts' 60th season opens with 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'". Litchfield County Times. 23 February 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  6. 1 2 "Brookfield Theatre for the Arts marks 50th anniversary in style". Danbury News Times. November 29, 2007. Retrieved 2018-04-20.
  7. ↑ Duffy, Albert (6 August 1933). "High-Grade Drama Staged At Low Cost In Summer Theaters; Virgil Geddes, Impresario, Believes Natural Cooling System, Controlled By Hinged Clapboards, Second To None". Hartford Courant. ProQuest   558335646.
  8. ↑ Barbara Page, "Remembering the Twenties," Vassar Quarterly, Volume LXXVI, Number 4, 1 June 1980.
  9. ↑ Offord, John (1 September 1910). "A Personal Touch in the Training of Boys". The New York Observer . Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  10. ↑ Handbook of American Private Schools. P. Sargent. 1919.
  11. ↑ https://www.brookfieldcthistory.org/page_historical_timeline.html Timeline of Events Brookfield Museum and Historical Society
  12. ↑ "F.S. CURTIS, EDUCATOR, DIES IN CONNECTICUT; Founder of Boys' School Was Last Surviving Member of Yale Class of 1869". The New York Times. 1930-02-11. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  13. ↑ Herringshaw, Thomas William (1913). Herringshaw's American Blue-book of Biography. American Publishers' Company. p.  205 . Retrieved 29 April 2018. Curtis School Brookfield.
  14. 1 2 Daley, Sherri (26 November 2000). "Architectural Improv: Theaters Find Unlikely Homes". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  15. ↑ Hughes, C.J. (9 June 2011). "Exurb With Suburban Trimmings". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  16. ↑ "Town-Owned Cottage, Barn Goes to Auction". Brookfield, CT Patch. 2013-02-20. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  17. ↑ "Brookfield Center Historic District, Brookfield Town, Fairfield County, Brookfield CT, 06804". www.livingplaces.com. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  18. ↑ "HISTORY OF BROOKFIELD, CONNECTICUT". Nynjctbotany.org. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  19. ↑ Marilyn S. Whittlesey (1999). Brookfield. Arcadia Publishing. p. 84. ISBN   9780738501161.
  20. ↑ "Spotlight: The Brookfield Theatre for the Arts". Onstageblog.com. Retrieved 19 April 2018.

Coordinates: 41°28′10″N73°23′27″W / 41.4693469°N 73.3908915°W / 41.4693469; -73.3908915

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.