The Westport Country Playhouse recently completed a very successful run of “Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.”
Then, Bruce Miller turned his attention to another mystery.
The Playhouse archivist and cultural associate emailed a painting to “06880.”
Bruce said that Ben Doyle recently brought the artwork, which had belonged to his grandfather, to the Playhouse.
Bruce said “it appears to show the theater by the shore, possibly at Longshore near the marina. Ben thinks his grandfather may have been involved with the early planners at Longshore, and this might have been a concept they were considering.”
Close — but not quite.
The painting by Peter Dohanos — son of famed illustrator Stevan Dohanos — is actually an artist’s rendition of Stony Point. That’s the land just beyond the high red brick wall on the south side of the Westport train station’s eastbound parking lot. Stony Point is a peninsula bordered by the Saugatuck River, all the way to where it meets Long Island Sound.
Stony Point today (left of the river). The train station and tracks are at top.
Dohanos’ painting says “Westport Country Playhouse.” That’s a mystery, because it was done around the time that Stony Brook property was being considered as the home of a new “American Shakespeare Theatre.”
The idea came from Lawrence Langner. In 1930 — more than 20 years earlier –the Weston resident turned an apple orchard and old tannery into the Westport Country Playhouse.
By the mid-20th century, Stony Point was a shadow of its former elegant self. Decades earlier a New York banker, his wife and 2 daughters lived there, in a handsome Victorian mansion built around 1890. The grounds included an enormous carriage house, gardener’s cottage, barn and hothouse.
After the daughters inherited the home, the New York, New Haven & Hartford railroad purchased some of the land for a new train station. (The original one was on the other side of the river.)
The Stony Point wall today. It separates the peninsula from the train station.
The second daughter bequeathed the estate to the Hospital for the Crippled and Ruptured (whose name was later changed, mercifully, to the New York Hospital for Special Surgery).
But the property fell into disuse. Eventually the hospital sold Stony Point to real estate developers.
Which brings us to Shakespeare.
Around 1950 Langner, Lincoln Kirstein of Lincoln Center and arts patron Joseph Verner Reed had audacious plans. They wanted to build an American Shakespeare Theatre and Academy.
And they wanted it on Stony Point. Proximity to the train station was a major piece of the plan.
The price for all 21 acres: $200,000.
But according to Westport News writer Shirley Land, “the hand of fate and the town fathers combined to defeat the efforts of the theatre people.” Many residents objected.
There were also concerns that it would draw audiences away from the Westport Country Playhouse. (Others argued that a Shakespeare Theatre would enhance the town’s reputation as an arts community.)
The theater was never built here. It opened a few miles away –in the aptly named town of Stratford — in 1955.
It achieved moderate success. But in 1982 the theater ran out of money (and backers). The state of Connecticut took ownership. It closed in 1985. In 2019, it burned to the ground in an early morning fire.
The entrance to Stony Point.
Meanwhile, in 1956 Westporters Leo Nevas and Nat Greenberg, along with Hartford’s Louis Fox, bought the Stony Point property for residential development.
It’s now considered one of the town’s choicest addresses. Homes have been listed there for $14 million.
That’s quite a story. We can only imagine what might have happened had Westporters decided to support — rather than oppose — the American Shakespeare Festival Theater in Westport.
Then again, as a famous playwright once said: “It is not in the stars to hold our destiny, but in ourselves.”
ENCORE: Bruce Miller’s email included some interesting connections with the Westport Country Playhouse.
Artist Peter Dohanos’ father Stevan designed WCP program covers for many years.
Peter, meanwhile, was a Playhouse apprentice in 1949. He later became a scenic designer, and worked on “The Swimmer,” the movie filmed in Westport starring Burt Lancaster.
It was directed by Frank Perry, who had been an Playhouse apprentice in 1948. Perry also directed “Mommie Dearest,” about Joan Crawford’s abusive relationship with her daughter Christina. Christina — who wrote the book with the same title — was a Playhouse apprentice in 1957.
Frank Perry (front row, left) during his 1950 Playhouse apprenticeship. It was quite a class. Stephen Sondheim is in the top row, crouching. Also in the photo: Richard Rodgers’ daughter Mary (2nd row, 4th from left).
Ben Doyle (the painting’s owner — remember him?) is on the faculty of Blackrock Theater Company. They’ve performed on the Playhouse stage. He is engaged to Betsabeth Castro, an actress in the WCP production of “Appropriate.”
And Ann Sheffer — a former Stony Point resident, who provided much of the history of the proposed American Shakespeare Theatre described above — is herself a former Westport Country Playhouse apprentice. She was also a longtime board member.
It’s a small theatrical world indeed. And, as a famous playwright once said, “All the world’s a stage.”
Five years ago this week, Westport was just settling into the new reality of COVID.
The weekend’s nice weather had brought large crowds to Compo Beach, though the parking lots were closed. Town officials — worried about close contact (even outdoors), and cars parked all along Soundview Drive — scrambled to react.
Soundview Drive, the first weekend after the lockdown. Town officials quickly cracked down on parking there.
The Trader Joe’s line wrapped along Compo Acres Shopping Center storefronts. Only a few shoppers were allowed in at a time. The checkout line was — like every other part of life — dictated by “social distancing.”
Schools desperately tried to figure out “distance learning.”
Trader Joe’s enforced social distancing rules — with their own very recognizable font.
And that was just the first couple of weeks.
Five years later, how have we changed? What effects linger — negative or perhaps positive? What do you remember most about those uncertain, frightening days?
Earlier this month, “06880” asked readers to weigh in. Here’s what you said.
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In May we decided to move to a senior housing domicile. It was beautiful, and well-maintained. My beloved husband lived there for 5 days; then he passed (from his heart condition). A few weeks later, I was diagnosed with COVID and quarantined for 15 days in a new home, where I knew no one and was totally isolated.
So I can’t say that the pandemic treated me favorably. I’ve gotten all the shots I could possibly need to protect me against the next outbreak of something — I hope. — Bobbie Herman
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We were raising our son in a 1- bedroom apartment in Greenwich Village. Wanting more space and family, we gathered a few things and our cat, and went to stay with my mother in my hometown of Westport. We expected to be there a few weeks, a month at most.
As spring and summer passed, my husband and I got used to the spaces, the beach, the green. We got spoiled with multiple bathrooms, a convenient washing machine and drive-thru Starbucks. We got to know the town better, the stores, the people, and eventually looked into the schools. When we saw that a cute house was less than a decent 2-bedroom in our neighborhood (crazy, this was 2020) we decided to stay.
Five years later I miss New York terribly. I miss my community, and easy access to all that culture. But I am happy with our decision to stay. We have settled nicely, embraced the town that has changed so much since my childhood yet is so familiar. I knew we were settled in when we did something I would not do in the city: adopted our dog. — Juliet Koskoff Diamond
Late March, 2020: Starbucks’ drive-through was one of the few places that seemed normal. So long as you didn’t get out of your car. (Photo/Rob Hauck)
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Not for all, but it was a glorious time for my husband and I. We started the pandemic as new grandparents. Our daughter and her husband moved from the city into our home, thinking it was only temporary.They ended up purchasing a home in Fairfield. Now we have 5 grandchildren, 4 of whom were born during the pandemic (the first was 5 months before. That’s how our life changed, all for the better: It gave us an immersion of love and family time.
And we never got COVID — until last July. — Dorothy Robertshaw
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