White Barn Theatre

The White Barn Theatre was a theater founded in 1947 by actress and producer Lucille Lortel on her property in Norwalk, Connecticut. The theater premiered numerous plays by established playwrights that often continued to successful Broadway and Off-Broadway runs.

Lortel founded the theater on her 18.4-acre (74,000 m2) estate at the corner of Cranbury Road and Newtown Avenue. The property is in both Norwalk and Westport, Connecticut, with about 15.5 acres (63,000 m2) in Norwalk and 2.5 acres (10,000 m2) in Westport.[1] The location was sometimes referred to as Westport, which has more theater than Norwalk. Lortel later donated much of her memorabilia to the Westport Public Library.

The theater was created from an old horse barn on the estate, and seated 148.[2] Lortel's aim was to present unusual and experimental plays, promote new playwrights, composers, actors, directors and designers, and to help established artists develop new directions outside of commercial theater.[3]

Plays

Plays produced at the White Barn include:[3]

Transfers to Off-Broadway:

  • Fatima Dike's Glasshouse
  • Casey Kurtti's Catholic School Girls
  • Diane Kagan's Marvelous Grey
  • Hugh Whitemore's The Best of Friends

Transfers to Broadway:

Writing for The New York Times about an event at the White Barn, Alvin Klein wrote that the August 25, 1996 gala, exhibition opening, stage performances, and reception was "the night of the year... memories are made of this!"[3]

At another gala a year later (August 31, 1997), in celebration of the theater's fifty years and Lortel's career as a producer, Klein wrote in the Times, "[O]ver the years, Ms. Lortel — now in her 90s — has often been quoted as saying she won't take on another White Barn season. After Sunday's celebration she could be overheard inviting two well-known performers to 'put something together and come up to The Barn next summer.'"[3]

The Dublin Players of Ireland performed at the theater for several seasons with Milo O'Shea.

On September 26, 1992, the White Barn Theater Museum was created by renovating a small area of the theater formerly used for storage.[3]

After Lortel's death

Lortel bequeathed the property to her foundation, which later proposed building a housing development and a school. This proposal was opposed by the Save Cranbury Association.[9]

In 2005, the State of Connecticut granted $450,000 to the Norwalk Land Conservation Trust to help preserve the property, which contains a pond, fields, wetlands, and woodland. Stony Brook, a Class A stream, runs through the property into a nearby aquifer.[1]

In 2006, the property was sold for $4.8 million to 78 Cranberry Road LLC, according to Westport Now magazine.[10]

In 2008, the property was purchased by the Connecticut Friends School in nearby Wilton. The school planned to expand their campus onto the property.[11] The Connecticut Friends School was not able to raise the money for their expansion.

Jim Fieber of Special Properties II submitted a plan in 2015, to build a 21-home conservation development on the property. Fieber subsequently amended the plan to a 15-home conservation development.

As of 2015, the Norwalk Zoning Commission was still considering the proposal, including demolition of the theater. Local historians were attempting to save visual art they believe to have been done in the theater by Geoffrey Holder.[12]

The White Barn Theatre was demolished July 17, 2017, after the most recent two-year effort to save it from development.[13]

References
  1. "Governor Rell Presents $6.8 Million for Open Space Grants in 24 Communities" State of Connecticut, Governor M. Jodi Rell Papers. November 17, 2005. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
  2. "The Arboretum" Religious Society of Friends (Wilton, Connecticut) newsletter, May 2006. Retrieved April 17, 2007.
  3. Biography Lucille Lortel Foundation. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
  4. La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Program: The Night Before Thinking (1974b)". Accessed April 9, 2018.
  5. Lortel, Lucille (June 28, 1984). "White Barn Theatre Opening Season of New Plays July 13". Norwalk, Connecticut: The Hour. p. 8. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  6. Klein, Alvin. "THEATER; Staging Margaret Sanger's Return". Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  7. "Lucille Lortel to Reopen White Barn Theatre with Norman Rosten Play". Norwalk, Connecticut: The Hour. July 6, 1966. p. 8. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  8. "White Barn to Open State Season Aug. 4". The New York Times. July 25, 1957. p. 27. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  9. "Save Cranbury Association" Save Cranbury Association, Retrieved April 17, 2007.
  10. Jennifer Connic, "White Barn Theatre Property Sold for $4.8 Million" WestportNOW.com (May 30, 2006). Retrieved June 27, 2011
  11. Steele, Margaret Farley (October 22, 2006). "Quaker School in Wilton Plans to Buy Theater Site". New York Times. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  12. "White Barn developer hits back hard at Zoning Commission public hearing". Nancy On Norwalk. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  13. Koch, Robert; Krasselt, Kaitlyn (July 20, 2017). "White Barn Theatre demolished". The Hour. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
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