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JUNE 2008
NEW YORK, NY: River Rep Theatre Company, the professional New York troupe that brought live, award-winning productions, a mix of drama, mystery, comedy and musicals to Connecticut audiences for nearly 20 years, has announced that they will be moving on from the theater scene there.
An announcement to friends and subscribers read: “We at The River Rep Theatre Company, after 20 years of bringing theatre to the Connecticut Shoreline, find that it is time to move on. We had high hopes that a place could be found which would enable River Rep to grow artistically, survive financially, and continue to build on its long-standing reputation.
“But after exhaustive efforts, we have been unable to secure a venue which would make it possible for us to continue to offer highly acclaimed, first-rate professional summer theatre. We — Evan Thompson, Joan Shepard, Jenn Thompson, Owen Thompson, Warren Kelley and Stephen Kunken — want you all to know how much we appreciate the love and devotion you have shown us over the years. We will always cherish the time we shared with you. It is with a heavy heart that we say to you — our partners and friends, goodbye and thank you one and all for 20 years of joy and laughter.”
This farewell prompts a look-back at the extraordinary exploits of this intrepid band. The River Rep saga began in 1987 when New York producer Jane Stanton drew the band of actors together, opening a summer season at the notable but troubled Ivoryton Playhouse. The new troupe was an immediate success, starting with Noises Off, and the Playhouse was reborn. Once described as “summer stock theater at its best,” River Rep was one of the few remaining summer theater companies in Connecticut. Neither avant garde nor experimental, the troupe was dedicated to presenting “the best-written plays and musicals,” ranging from Shakespeare to Shaw to Sondheim.
These “marathoners of theater” have since produced 96 main stage productions. Their grueling schedule — five shows in each 11-week summer season, rehearsing and performing, acting and directing, simultaneously — prompted one critic to write: “What a daunting, even frightening concept to us non-actors, it is actually a thrilling and exhilarating challenge to River Rep performers.” Much of their success, they agree, stems from being “a group of people with a deep respect for each other, working collaboratively for so many years.”
High praise has come from critics, celebrities and authors alike. After a 1989 performance of The Dresser, Warren Kelley was startled to see Katharine Hepburn in the audience. After the performance, she went backstage and told him: “You, young man, are terrifyingly good.” “I was thrilled beyond belief,” he recalls. Katharine Houghton, her niece, who hosted a fundraiser last year, wrote: “For almost two decades, I have had the pleasure of being associated with the wonderful and unique family of River Rep.... Sensitive to their audiences’ tastes, they offer to the community at large the very best of productions, providing a most valuable resource — professional live theatre.”
Rupert Holmes, the Tony Award-winning author of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, paid a surprise visit to a 2004 performance, and announced that he had seen countless performances of his work in many different theaters but that River Rep’s rendition was as he “had meant it to be.” David Auburn, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Proof, came to talk at the theatre, giving similar accolades to River Rep’s 2004 production.
Another source of pride: River Rep’s Intern Company, developed by Jenn Thompson, became one of the most noted and competitive programs for college theater students. Each year a new group of these aspiring thespians from across the country came to work as stage crews, learning from professionals, every craft from lighting and carpentry to wardrobe and acting. The latter is one reason it was such a plum — interns were often cast in roles on the mainstage, unlike most other similar theater programs.
Beyond talent and a passion for creating superb theater, River Rep’s singular achievement was their unique bond with their audiences, both intellectually and emotionally. They developed a rapport with their supporters, continuing a dialogue in talk-back sessions during each production. Off-stage, they ran into fans everywhere, and were greeted as old friends.
“We are exceedingly grateful and proud to have been a part of these communities,” Warren Kelley, River Rep’s Artistic Director, said. “Over the years, as we grew and broadened our mission, our audience went with us. They embraced us as we did more challenging work like Follies, All My Sons, A Comedy of Errors, The Mikado. The response to our presence, not to mention the work, was welcoming from the first year.”
That was evident after their closing season at Ivoryton in 2005 when fans responded with keen disappointment at River Rep’s being dark for the 2006 season. When generously offered space at the Chester Meeting House, they produced their first-ever revival, The Foreigner by Larry Shue, to an enthusiastic audience. Two Connecticut critics named it one of the “Ten Best Plays of 2007.”
Searching for a new venue, they entered ongoing and very promising talks with the proposed Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center & Theater in Old Saybrook, but ultimately found that a traditional River Rep summer season would not be possible.
The reach of River Rep extends to children’s theater through the exceptional efforts of Fanfare Theatre Ensemble, a company that has delighted children throughout the Eastern United States for more than 30 years. Headed by River Rep’s producing partners, Joan Shepard and Evan Thompson, this company has produced thousands of performances of musical adaptations of children’s classics and fairy tales — and continues to bring young audiences their all-important first introduction to live theater.
As professional actors who live in New York, River Rep members perform year-round on Broadway, off-Broadway, in regional theater throughout the country, and on television. Many of their performances have received awards and critical acclaim. Recent off-Broadway shows favorably reviewed by The New York Times include: Evan Thompson’s performance in Stretch (a Fantasia), Susan Bernfield’s play about Rose Mary Woods, President Richard M. Nixon’s secretary, and Jenn Thompson’s direction of Tennessee Williams’ The Eccentricities of a Nightingale, produced by The Actors Company Theatre. In addition, Warren Kelley’s performance as David O. Selznick in Moonlight and Magnolias at Riverside Theatre in Vero Beach, Florida, was “a smash hit.” In other news, Joan Shepard has been cast in John Clifton’s new musical Appalachian Fling that premiered at the York Theatre in May. And last season, Stephen Kunken appeared with Frank Langella in the multi-awardwinning drama Frost/Nixon on Broadway, and he will appear with him again this fall in a Broadway revival of A Man for All Seasons.
River Rep Theatre Company is located at 104 East 4th St., New York, NY. For more information, visit www.riverrep.com .
For more information on this story, contact River Rep Publicist
Helen Barnett at longriverhcb@sbcglobal.net.
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