Long Wharf Theatre is vacating its home of 57 years; will present shows in theaters and nontraditional spaces around New Haven

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 2/23/22 at 11:07am

This feels big for the regional theatre world.

"New Haven’s Long Wharf Theater will move out of its longtime headquarters and embrace itinerancy as the company seeks a fresh start after a period of extraordinary upheaval.

The leadership of the nonprofit theater is framing the move as an opportunity to reach new audiences and reimagine its operations, and the city is supporting the change, which it says will help the organization better serve the community."

[round2]

Posted: 2/23/22 at 11:30am

That's an amazing development. Seems I've been missing news of what's been going on there for a while. Is it not true that Long Wharf and its audience has mostly represented a largely white, wealthy segment of New Haven communities, with substantial public dollars in support?

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 2/23/22 at 11:52am

round2 said: "Is it not true that Long Wharf and its audience has mostly represented a largely white, wealthy segment of New Haven communities, with substantial public dollars in support?"

That's a fair assumption of a regional theatre in CT. They may be trying to branch out to reach an audience that is unsustainable.

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 2/23/22 at 12:33pm

Interesting - wonder if rent went up or what the idea is. 

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 2/23/22 at 2:35pm

It's being framed as a positive but this makes me terribly sad. Any time a theatre loses its home, I feel sad. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 2/23/22 at 2:41pm

Yes they might realize that renting space per-project becomes even more of a hassle than renting year-round. It means they don't have to be confined to a proscenium, but also makes it harder to do a quick add-on. Sometimes it also leads to funding issues and identity crises for theaters who give up a permanent home.

I don't know enough about New Haven, but is the current location really that inconvenient? 

[AC126748]

Posted: 2/23/22 at 2:52pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Yes they might realize that renting space per-project becomes even more of a hassle than renting year-round. It means they don't have to be confined to a proscenium, but also makes it harder to do a quick add-on. Sometimes it also leads to funding issues and identity crises for theaters who give up a permanent home.

I don't know enough about New Haven, but is the current location really that inconvenient?"

It's several miles from downtown New Haven, literally located in a strip-mall complex next to an Ikea. The location always struck me as somewhat weird. It's really hard to get there without a car, so if the goal is to make their programming more accessible to people who live downtown, it is an inconvenient location.

[BroadwayBen]

Posted: 2/23/22 at 4:41pm

This will be the potential death of them.   There's a lot of TCG research that shows that subscribers like a reliable location, parking and a clear understanding where they are to be.  Ritual is part of the experience.  Once you begin messing with that, they tend to lose interest because its too much work and too much unknown.   "Site specific" is popular in academic theatre, but tanks in the real world.   This is unfortunate.   

[pmensky]

Posted: 2/23/22 at 5:19pm

They’ve had a rough few years. Between their Artistic Director being fired for sexual harassment to stating that they were working on a West Side Story sequel to then claiming they never stated they were working on a WSS sequel, they’ve had a lot of negativity surrounding them. Losing their home and being transient will be a tough new path to maneuver.

[seymour krelborn]

Posted: 2/24/22 at 11:03am

This is so sad. I know some people connected to LWT who have said they simply lost their lease on the property. Glad they are taking this as a positive and restructuring their approach, but I fear this may be the end. I hope I'm wrong.