For decades, a rooster has served as the symbol of the Westport Country Playhouse.
It stands proudly atop the historic theater — as Dan Vener, Elaine Marino, Wendy Crowther, Susan Iseman, Lynn Untermeyer Miller, Rachel Sara Halperin, Bill Scheffler, Seth Schachter, Wendy Schaefer, Sal Liccione, Paul Cahill and Robin Friedson all knew, identifying last week’s Photo Challenge. (Click here to see.)
The rooster also perched for years on a sign above the Post Road entrance. After the 2005 renovation, it was unceremoniously dumped into a back corner of the parking lot. Eventually, the sign — and the rooster — disappeared.
But why a rooster?
I always figured it was had something to do with the Playhouse’s past life, as a barn.
To be sure, I asked ChatGPT.
I was right. The all-knowing (and usually correct) AI tool said: “The rooster is associated with the Westport Country Playhouse because of the building’s origins as a rural New England barn and its long identity as a ‘country playhouse.’
“The Playhouse occupies a historic structure that began life as an 1835 tannery, later became a cider mill, and eventually stood as an abandoned barn before being converted into a theater in 1931. The rooster weather vane atop the building became a natural emblem of that barn-and-farm heritage and has remained one of the Playhouse’s most recognizable visual symbols.
“While the Playhouse’s official history doesn’t appear to give a specific written explanation for why a rooster was chosen, the rooster itself is a classic New England weather-vane figure. Rooster weather vanes have traditionally adorned barns, farm buildings, and church steeples for centuries, making them an especially fitting symbol for a theater housed in a converted country barn.”
There you go. Generations of Westporters have known — and loved — both the Playhouse and its rooster.
If you’re new to Westport — or even been here a while — and have not yet checked out this historic and cultural gem: What are you waiting for? Click here to learn more.
Once you’ve done that, check out this week’s Photo Challenge. If you know where in Westport you’d see this, click “Comments” below.
(Photo/Seth Schachter)
(Every Sunday, “06880” hosts this Photo Challenge. We challenge you too to support your hyper-local blog. Please click here to make a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you!)
You’ve got to get to the Westport Country Playhouse more often!
Last week’s Photo Challenge showed a collection of old bottles, arrayed on a wooden beam. (Click here to see.)
They’re on display at the 91-year-old theater. (Which, as Seth Schachter notes, was a tannery long before that.)
He was one of 4 readers to nail the challenge. The others were Cheryl Saviano Petrone, Annie Keefe (who certainly should have, since she’s spent her professinal career there), and Martha Diament.
Toay’s challenge comes from Elle Bowen. If you know where in Westport you’d see this whimsical sight, click “Comments” below.
(Every Sunday, “06880” hosts this Photo Challenge. We challenge you too to support your hyper-local blog. Please click here to make a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you!)
The Long Lots Elementary School project took a major step forward last night. The Board of Finance voted unanimously to approve a $103 million request for the new building.
The final step comes tonight (Thursday, 7:30 p.m., Town Hall auditorium). The Representative Town Meeting (RTM) has 2 agenda items: to approve the same appropriation request, and to approve the actual application by the town “to construct a new elementary school, parking lot, athletic fields, playgrounds, and associated site and utility work.”
Artist’s rendering of the new Long Lots Elementary School.
=================================================
There’s a lot of news today from the Westport Country Playhouse.
Bruce Miller — archivist for the 94-year-old theater — offers these details on Tony Awards won on Sunday by Playhouse “alumni”:
Natalie Venetia Belcon won Best Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical for “Buena Vista Club.” She appeared in the 2007 Playhouse production of “Being Alive!”
Sam Pinkleton earned Best Direction of a Play for “Oh, Mary!” He was in the 2010 WCP production of “She Loves Me.”
Francis Jue won Best Actor in a Featured Role in a Play for “Yellow Face.” He was seen in this year’s Script in Hand reading of “Back Talk.”
Other Playhouse alums who worked on “Buena Vista Social Club” were set designer Arnolfo Maldonado (who designed the WCP’s “4000 Miles,” and wig designer J.Jared Janus (who, among many other plays, recently did “Theatre People.” (Hat tip: Dave Matlow)
The Westport Country Playhouse stage is not too far — geographically or artistically — from Broadway.
In addition, the Playhouse will participate in “Connecticut Open House Day” on Saturday (June 14, 1 to 5 p.m.).
The free event includes self-guided backstage tours, kids’ activities, music and food trucks.
At 1, artistic director Mark Shanahan unveils the 2025-26 productions. Anyone renewing or purchasing a subscription will be entered to win 2 tickets to an upcoming show.
One of the coolest parts of a Playhouse tour: the hundreds of head shots lining the walls, near the dressing rooms and green room. (Photo/Dan Woog)
================================================
Meanwhile, the Playhouse has just added a new solo play.
“The Goldsmith” (July 11, 8 p.m., Lucille Lortel White Barn) stems from Broadway actress Sharone Sayegh’s true family’s journey.
It’s “a treasury of stories woven through the golden jewelry passed down through her family across countries, borders, and generations. Each piece of jewelry takes us further along her family’s journey from Iraq to Israel, and then to America, where Sharone grapples for love as a first generation Iraqi, Israeli, American Jew.”
It was a powerful performance, with Broadway veterans taking on the characters and belting out 18 songs — some pop, some ballads — all written by Sophie.
The packed house gave Sophie and the actors a standing ovation.
Veteran TV journalist Anne Craig chatted with Sophie about the musical: why she wrote it, and how much of the material mirrors her own life experience.
And finally … we cannot sum up the life of Brian Wilson better than the New York Times‘ Ben Sisario does:
Brian Wilson, who as the leader and chief songwriter of the Beach Boys became rock’s poet laureate of surf-and-sun innocence but also an embodiment of damaged genius through his struggles with mental illness and drugs, has died. He was 82.
Like many “06880” readers of a certain age, I saw them in concert several times. One time, in Miami, they were young and fresh — and the opening act was a pre-“Piano Man” Billy Joel.
Decades later, at a Levitt Pavilion fundraiser, the “Boys of Summer” had morphed into a listless version of the “Grandfathers of Summer.” Brian Wilson had stopped performing long before.
But today, let’s remember his genius — and the music that made us all feel young and immortal.
(From the Playhouse to the Beach Boys, “06880” is where Westport meets the world. We rely on reader contributions. If you enjoy our work, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
This week, the Westport Country Playhouse is preparing for the September 14 gala fundraiser with Kristin Chenoweth and Mary-Mitchell Campbell, celebrating the music of Cy Coleman.
The Playhouse has undergone many changes in its 93-year history.
For a long time there was a new play every week. All summer long, audiences flocked to see Broadway stars.
Actors, meanwhile, loved the intimacy of the Playhouse — and the fun-loving, artsy little town of Westport.
This photo, from 1949, shows the cast of an unnamed show, posing outside the theater.
(Photo courtesy of Christopher Maroc, via Facebook)
Within a few years, the advent of television would change theater forever.
In this decade, COVID threatened live performances, across the country. A year ago, the Playhouse camethisclose to bankruptcy.
But now — with a new board, new artistic director, and new vision — the Playhouse pulses with life and promise.
Still, it would be hard to recreate the joy and wonder shown in the photo above.
Then again, they are actors …
(Friday Flashback is one of “06880”‘s many regular features. If you enjoy this — or anything else on our website — please consider a tax-deductible contribution. Just click here. Thank you!)
When the Westport Country Playhouse was renovated 20 years ago, the cramped lobby with its distinctive smell was transformed into a large, modern space.
Theater-goers worried that the historic posters lining the wooden walls would be lost.
They’re still there, keeping the Playhouse’s long legacy alive.
The other day, this one caught my eye:
I know nothing about the show, other than famed producer/director George Abbott’s name.
But I was sure intrigued by the ticket prices. The best seat in the house was just $2. For 50 cents, you could sit (I assume) in the balcony, with a post in your way.
“Kill That Story” was staged in 1934. The Playhouse had opened just 3 years earlier. The Depression was still wreaking havoc.
But somehow, residents found the coins, or a couple of dollar bills, to go to the theater.
50 years ago this week: All 3 Westport junior high schools opened their football seasons. Long Lots and Bedford were led, respectively, by veteran head coaches Bob Yovan and Ed Hall. Coleytown’s first-year head coach was Bill Stearns, a Staples High English teacher.
Long Lots Junior High head football coach Bob Yovan (left), assistant Tom Marshall (right), and captains, in the 1970s.
(Friday Flashback is a weekly “06880” feature. If you enjoy it — or anything else on our hyper-local blog — please support our work. Click here — and thank you!)
The Westport Country Playhouse’s last-ditch, uber-urgent, if-we-can’t-raise-it-we’ll-close $2 million fundraising appeal ended July 31.
And the 92-year-old institution appears to be within a rounding error of its goal.
Today, the Playhouse said they’ve collected $1,941,557 in cash and pledges. Donations were based on the board of trustees’ promise to transform the historic theater into “a performing arts center that appeals to a broader audience while continuing to produce theater.”
The historic Westport Country Playhouse will continue to entertain audiences, in a variety of ways. (Photo/Robert Benson)
Trustees chair Athena Adamson says, “The show will go on! We raised an amount very close to our $2 million goal by the July 31 deadline. Major gift conversations are ongoing that very soon could bring us well beyond our goal.
“Every gift is meaningful and treasured. We can thank our wonderful community who stepped up to ‘Save the Playhouse’ and shape it for future generations.”
The campaign will fund a series of single night events, including cabaret, comedy, music, play readings and speakers, from January through August 2024. From September 2024 through March 2025, the Playhouse will continue its theatrical tradition by mounting 3 productions.
Overseeing the theatrical stagings will be Mark Shanahan. A director, playwright and actor, he was recently named artistic director for the 2024-25 season.
Tax-deductible contributions continue to be accepted. For campaign information and to donate, click here. Naming opportunities are available, including engraved paving stones in the Playhouse courtyard and seat plates in the theater. For naming inquiries, contact development@westportplayhouse.org.
Click here to help support “06880” via credit card or PayPal. Any amount is welcome, appreciated — and tax-deductible! Reader contributions keep this blog going. (Alternate methods: Please send a check to “06880”: PO Box 744, Westport, CT 06881. Or use Venmo: @blog06880. Or Zelle: dwoog@optonline.net. Thanks!)
GET THE “06880” APP
The “06880” app (search for it on the Apple or Android store) is the easiest way to get “06880.” Choose notifications: whenever a new post is published, or once or twice a day. Click here for details.
