Philip Langner is 97 years old. He is a theater and film producer, known for classics like “Judgment at Nuremberg” and “The Pawnbroker.” He writes:
I have known the Westport Country Playhouse all my life.
In 1931 — when I was 5 years old — my parents, Lawrence Langner and Armina Marshall, founded what has become one of America’s most historic theaters.
Last May, I was thrilled to return to the iconic red building — once a barn, then a tannery — to celebrate Westport’s first Literary Landmark.
Three generations of the Langner were present, as a plaque was unveiled in honor of my father.
Philip Langner (front) at last year’s Literary Landmark ceremony, at the Westport Country Playhouse. Standing from left: Westport Library director Bill Harmer; Langner’s daughter Eve and granddaughters Brielle and Lauren; Playhouse honorary trustee Ann Sheffer; 1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker. (Photo/Dan Woog)
Soon after that event, I was very happy and relieved that an emergency call for donations to keep the Playhouse going successfully raised $2 million. This fundraising effort illustrated clearly that Westport residents know how important the arts — and specifically this Playhouse — are to the community.
I read the other day that “The Trip to Bountiful” recently played as a Script in Hand on the Playhouse stage.
I am very aware of this beautiful play. My family produced it on the Westport Playhouse stage years ago. before moving the production to Broadway.
Longtime Langner friends Lillian Gish and Horton Foote had great success, along with their whole company. Honoring, revisiting and reviving great plays is very important.
Equally, or perhaps even more important, is following the example set by my parents to find new plays that can begin at the Westport Country Playhouse and then move to New York. That was one of the important goals for the founding of the Westport Playhouse.
For decades, audiences packed the Westport Country Playhouse to see shows that soon headed to Broadway. (Photo/Wells Studio)
In that regard, I would like to suggest a wonderful new play. It is called “Adoption Roulette,” and is based on a true story tied to the Westport area.
I saw the play, read it twice, and found it to be moving, powerful and very timely.
[NOTE: “Adoption Roulette” is written by former Weston resident Elizabeth Fuller, and writer/director/actor Joel Vig. It is based on Fuller’s experiences when she and her husband, author John Fuller, adopted a little girl from Russia in the early 2000s. They found themselves trapped in a story with all the elements of a Hitchcock thriller. The play takes audiences through Moscow and Siberia, as the couple tries to realize their dream.]
From left: actress Sachi Parker, and playwrights Joel Vig and Elizabeth Fuller, at “Adoption Roulette”‘s performance at the Theater Artists Workshop in Norwalk. (Photo/Rose Billings)
If I were younger, I would raise the money myself and produce this play. “Adoption Roulette” could begin as a Script in Hand or a full production at the Playhouse.
I believe this play could have a commercial life on Broadway and beyond, which could give both prestige and revenue to the Westport Country Playhouse.
I look forward to many more years of the Westport Country Playhouse fulfilling an important role in the cultural life of Westport and Connecticut.
As one of my parents’ best friends, playwright George Bernard Shaw, once said, “Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable.”
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I grew up across the street from Lydia Cornell, niece of Philip Langner. I spent many fun times in the circular pool in Weston after Lydia had moved to England and would visit us in the summer. Her dad was also the stage mgr of the King and I and I got to go to the Green Room and meet Yul Brynner. Saw many productions at the playhouse. I also was an usher there and my brother parked the cars during performances. Great memories.