Hartford Stage

Last updated
Hartford Stage
Hartford-stage-exterior.jpg
Hartford Stage
Location50 Church Street
Hartford, Connecticut
United States
Coordinates 41°46′11″N72°40′28″W / 41.76959°N 72.6745°W / 41.76959; -72.6745
OwnerHartford Stage Company
Capacity 489
Construction
Opened1968
Architect Robert Venturi
Website
hartfordstage.org

Hartford Stage is an American 501(c)(3) non-profit regional theatre company located on Church Street in downtown Hartford, Connecticut. Since its founding in 1963, Hartford Stage has won the Regional Theatre Tony Award (1989) and many Connecticut Critics Circle and other awards. [1] [2]

Contents

History

Founded in 1963 by Jacques Cartier, the company performed in a former supermarket until it moved to its current home at the 489-seat John W. Huntington Theatre, designed by Robert Venturi, in 1968. [3] Jacques Cartier (1963–1968), Paul Weidner (1968–1980), Mark Lamos (1981–1998), Michael Wilson (1998–2011), Darko Tresnjak (2011–2019), and Melia Bensussen (2019–present) have served as the Stage's artistic directors. [4]

Hartford Stage has produced over 80 world and North American premieres, including the new musical Anastasia , which enjoyed a two-year run on Broadway; A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, winner of four 2014 Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Direction of a Musical; and Water by the Spoonful, winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. [3] [5] Kevin Bacon starred in the Stage's adaptation of Rear Window . [6]

Hartford Stage gained national recognition under Lamos, who shook up the theatre's traditional repertoire with bolder contemporary dramas and spectacular productions of Shakespeare and classics such as Peer Gynt and The Greeks, a cycle of ancient Greek dramas. Productions that ended up on Broadway included Marvin's Room , Our Country's Good , Tiny Alice , Tea at Five , The Carpetbagger's Children , and Enchanted April . [1]

Under artistic director Wilson, the Stage reemphasized modern American classics from Tennessee Williams and Amiri Baraka. [7] Tresnjak deepened the Stage's commitment to Shakespeare and new American theatre and successfully launched musical theatre as a new programming priority. [8] Bensussen was hired to enhance the Stage's community engagement and education initiatives and diversify its repertoire. [4]

Related Research Articles

Sir Trevor Robert Nunn is a British theatre director. He has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed dramas for the stage, like Macbeth, as well as opera and musicals, such as Cats (1981) and Les Misérables (1985).

<i>Anastasia</i> (1997 film) 1997 American film directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman

Anastasia is a 1997 American animated musical fantasy drama film produced and directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman from a screenplay by Susan Gauthier, Bruce Graham, Bob Tzudiker, and Noni White. The film stars the voices of Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Christopher Lloyd, Hank Azaria, Bernadette Peters, Kirsten Dunst, and Angela Lansbury. Based on the legend of the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia and set in an alternate version of 1926, the film follows an eighteen-year-old girl, orphaned amnesiac Anastasia "Anya" Romanov who, hoping to find some trace of her deceased family, sides with two con men who wish to pass her off as the Grand Duchess to the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. The film shares its plot with the 1956 film of the same name, which in turn was based on the 1954 play of the same name by Marcelle Maurette. Unlike those treatments, this version adds a magically-empowered Grigori Rasputin as the antagonist.

Lynn Ahrens is an American songwriter, singer, and librettist for the musical theatre, television and film. She has collaborated with Stephen Flaherty for many years. She won the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award for the Broadway musical Ragtime. Together with Flaherty, she has written many musicals, including Lucky Stiff, My Favorite Year, Ragtime, Seussical, A Man of No Importance, Dessa Rose, The Glorious Ones, Rocky, Little Dancer and, recently on Broadway, Anastasia and Once on This Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regina Taylor</span> American actress (born 1960)

Regina Taylor is an American actress and playwright. She has won several awards throughout her career, including a Golden Globe Award and NAACP Image Award. In July 2017, Taylor was announced as the new Denzel Washington Endowed Chair in Theater at Fordham University.

Michael Wilson is an American stage and screen director working extensively on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and at the nation's leading resident theaters.

John Doyle is a Scottish stage director of musicals and plays, as well as operas. He served as artistic director at several regional theatres in the United Kingdom, where he staged more than 200 professional productions during his career spanning over 40 years.

Jack O'Brien is an American director, producer, writer and lyricist. He served as the Artistic Director of the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California from 1981 through the end of 2007.

Mark Lamos is an American theatre and opera director, producer and actor. Under his direction, Hartford Stage won the 1989 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre and he has been nominated for two other Tonys. For more than 15 seasons, he has been Artistic Director of the Westport Country Playhouse. In May 2023, he announced he will leave the post in January 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rachel Pickup</span> British actress (born 1973)

Rachel Pickup is a British theatre, television and film actress. Her first major role was as Kaye Bentley in the 10-part BBC TV series No Bananas, with Alison Steadman and Tom Bell. She has since appeared in many British and American TV shows and has worked extensively in theatre, playing most of the major Shakespearean heroines. She played Portia in The Merchant Of Venice at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London, opposite Jonathan Pryce.

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

Merrimack Repertory Theatre (MRT) is a non-profit professional theatre located in Lowell, Massachusetts, USA. Known for its productions of contemporary work and world premieres, the company presents a September - May season of seven plays at the Nancy L. Donahue Theatre in the historic Liberty Hall, a 279-seat theatre located adjacent to the Lowell Memorial Auditorium. MRT is the only professional theatre company in the Merrimack Valley region of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and one of three League of Resident Theatres (LORT) members in Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Institute for Advanced Theater Training</span>

The American Repertory Theater/Moscow Art Theatre (ART/МХАТ) Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University was founded in 1987 as a training ground for the new American Theater by the Robert Brustein.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael P. Price</span>

Michael P. Price is the longest serving artistic director of a professional theatre in the United States. As the Executive Director of Goodspeed Musicals from 1968 to 2014, he produced more than 235 musicals, including 75 world premiers and transferred 19 productions to Broadway, including the world premieres of Shenandoah, Man of La Mancha and Annie. His productions have won 13 Tony Awards and 33 nominations. He has also accepted two special Tony Awards on Goodspeed's behalf. In 2019, he was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame.

Jerry Ruiz is an American theatre director.

<i>Anastasia</i> (musical) Musical

Anastasia is a musical play with music and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, and a book by Terrence McNally. Based on the 1997 animated film of the same name, the musical adapts the legend of Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, who was rumoured to have escaped the execution of her family. Years later, an amnesiac orphan named Anya hopes to find some trace of her family by siding with two con men who wish to take advantage of her likeness to the Grand Duchess.

Darko Tresnjak is a director of plays, musicals, and opera, and winner of several awards, including the Tony Award. He was the artistic director of the Hartford Stage in Connecticut, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Levenson</span> American playwright and television writer

Steven Levenson is an American playwright and television writer. He won the 2017 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for Dear Evan Hansen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Kirdahy</span>

Thomas Joseph Kirdahy is an American Tony and Olivier Award-winning theatrical producer, lawyer, and activist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew López (writer)</span> American playwright and screenwriter

Matthew López is an American playwright, director and screenwriter. His play The Inheritance, directed by Stephen Daldry, premiered at London's Young Vic in 2018, where it was called "the most important American play of the century." It transferred to the West End later that year, and opened on Broadway In 2019. The Inheritance is the most honored American play in a generation, sweeping the "Best Play" awards in both London and New York including the Tony Award, Olivier Award, Drama Desk Award, Evening Standard Award, London Critics Circle Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Drama League Award, WhatsOnStage Award, and the Southbank Sky Arts Award. He is the first Latino writer to win the Tony Award for Best Play.

Nafe Edmund Katter was a stage actor and director who taught theatre at the University of Connecticut from 1957 to 1997. In 2000, Katter donated $1 million to build the 241-seat Nafe Katter Theatre, which opened in 2004 on UConn's campus in Storrs.

Melia Bensussen is an American theatre director and producer who has been artistic director of the Hartford Stage since 2019. She won an OBIE Award for Outstanding Direction for Turn of the Screw in 1999 and is Professor of Performing Arts at Emerson College.

References

  1. 1 2 Bordman, Gerald; Hischak, Thomas S. (2004), "Hartford Stage", The Oxford Companion to American Theatre, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acref/9780195169867.001.0001, ISBN   978-0-19-516986-7 , retrieved 2021-08-26
  2. ↑ "'Anastasia' Takes Home 7 Connecticut Critics Circle Awards". AMERICAN THEATRE. 2016-06-14. Retrieved 2021-08-26.
  3. 1 2 "About Us". Hartford Stage. Retrieved 2021-08-26.
  4. 1 2 "Melia Bensussen Named Artistic Director of Hartford Stage". American Theatre. 2019-01-09. Retrieved 2021-08-26.
  5. ↑ "Darko Tresnjak to Step Down as Artistic Director of Hartford Stage in June 2019". OnStage Blog. Retrieved 2021-08-26.
  6. ↑ Rizzo, Frank (2015-11-01). "Connecticut Theater Review: Kevin Bacon in 'Rear Window'". Variety. Retrieved 2021-08-26.
  7. ↑ Osborn, M. Elizabeth (2010), "Hartford Stage", The Continuum Companion to Twentieth Century Theatre, Continuum, doi:10.1093/acref/9780199754724.001.0001, ISBN   978-0-19-975472-4 , retrieved 2021-08-26
  8. ↑ Arnott, Christopher (2016-12-18). "Tresnjak Extends At Hartford Stage; 'Moonlight' Playwright Hired At Yale". Hartford Courant. Retrieved 2021-08-26.
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.