In the winter of 1930, theater producers and Weston residents Lawrence Langner and his wife, Armina Marshall, purchased an 1835 red cow-barn-turned-tannery on what was then the fringes of Westport. As co-founders of New York’s Theatre Guild, they were excited by the opportunity to offer new plays, reinterpretations of classics and tryout new talent away from the spotlight of Broadway.
In transforming the Kemper Leather Works into Westport Country Playhouse, they chose to match the specifications of Broadway's Times Square Theatre in the hopes that plays would easily transition from Westport to Broadway. Their very first production, The Streets of New York, starring Dorothy Gish and Rollo Peters, was quickly transferred to Broadway's 48th Street Theatre. While several other plays produced in the beginning years did transfer to Broadway, the focus turned to plays that allowed some of the greatest theater stars of the day to shine in challenging roles.
Many newcomers also had early career successes at the Playhouse during the Langners' years of leadership. Henry Fonda made his Playhouse debut in The Virginian, ten years before achieving stardom in Mister Roberts. Julie Harris, Patricia Neal and even Gene Kelly as a choreographer, launched their careers on the Playhouse stage.
“Philip Langner, who had also joined his parents in the management of the Playhouse, recalled some of the highlights and challenges of producing summer theater during that early period:
Whenever a summer thunderstorm rolled in, the dialogue on stage became inaudible. "At times, you'd have to suspend the show for 10 minutes while the rain subsided," recalls Philip Langner. "Often, the electricity would go off. Then we'd use headlights we had stored in the rafters, running them off a car battery. Once we drove a bunch of cars up to the windows and shined their headlights into the auditorium.””
James B. McKenzie held the title of Executive Producer for many of his 41 years with the Playhouse from 1959 to his retirement in 2000. Innovative, McKenzie created new ventures such as Star Packages – a series of 10 summer plays that were produced for a week at different theatres around the country, including Westport Country Playhouse. He was also instrumental in saving the Playhouse from developers in 1985, leading a group of theater supporters to purchase the theater and land.
“Some of the stars of this period included Alan Alda, Cicely Tyson, Geraldine Page, Van Johnson, Charles Durning, Richard Thomas, Jane Powell, Sandy Dennis, Eileen Heckart, Robert Morse, and Stiller and Meara. Many newcomers made early appearances at the Playhouse during this period, perhaps the most celebrated discovery being a gawky teenager who earned her Equity card and received a standing ovation on opening night for her performance as The Girl in The Fantasticks. Her name was Liza Minnelli.”
The new century brought a new artistic director to the playhouse — Joanne Woodward. Under her stewardship, many of America's leading actors such as Gene Wilder, Richard Dreyfuss, Jill Clayburgh, Paul Newman and Jane Curtin returned to their stage roots to challenge themselves in exciting roles at the Playhouse.
A campaign to revitalize and renovate the Playhouse began in 2000. After securing the necessary contributions and bolstered by a $5 million state grant, the 18-month renovation began in the fall of 2003. But before closing the curtains on the Langner and McKenzie eras, the Playhouse put on a new musical version of the play that started it all on that summer night in 1931, The Streets of New York.
“Following a multi-million dollar renovation completed in 2005, the Playhouse became a state-of-the-art producing theater, preserving its original charm and character. Today, Westport Country Playhouse, a not-for-profit theater, serves as a cultural nexus for patrons, artists and students and is a treasured resource for the State of Connecticut. There are no boundaries to the creative thinking for future seasons or the kinds of audiences and excitement for theater that Westport Country Playhouse can build.”