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The Long Wharf Theatre brings excellence in theatrical programming to its audiences each year since its creation in 1965. Running six main shows a season, it has brought in famous actors and actresses such as Al Pacino (Hughie), Lynn Redgrave (The Mandrake Root), and Sam Waterston (Travesties). Located on the historic Long Wharf section of New Haven, CT, it plays a vital role in the cultural scope of the Greater New Haven area.

History

Long Wharf Theatre was the creation of Jon Jory and Harlan Kleiman, two Yale alumni who shared the dream of starting a resident professional theatre company in New Haven.

Assisted by an avid group of community leaders and patrons of the arts, they made that dream a reality in 1965 when Arthur Miller's The Crucible opened for a two-week engagement. Named for the Long Wharf port along New Haven Harbor, the theatre was built in a vacant warehouse space in a busy food terminal, with its Mainstage originally stocked with seats borrowed from a retired movie house. The first year's budget was $294,000, and the theatre played to more than 30,000 patrons.

Under the watch of Arvin Brown and Edgar Rosenblum for over 30 years, Long Wharf Theatre established itself as an important force in the regional theatre movement. Following Brown's leadership, Doug Hughes served as artistic director for four seasons.

Throughout its history, Long Wharf Theatre has created a unique home in New Haven for theatre artists from around the world, resulting in the transfer of more than 30 Long Wharf productions to Broadway or Off-Broadway, some of which include Durango, Wit (Pulitzer Prize), The Shadow Box (Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award/Best Play), Hughie, American Buffalo, Requiem for a Heavyweight, Quartermaine's Terms (Obie Award/Best Play), The Gin Game (Pulitzer Prize), The Changing Room, The Contractor and Streamers.

Under the current leadership of Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein and Managing Director Ray Cullom, Long Wharf Theatre continues to be a leader in American theatre, producing fresh and imaginative revivals of classics and modern plays, rediscoveries of neglected works and a variety of world and American premieres.

Now in its 45th season, Long Wharf is an organization of international renown with an annual audience exceeding 100,000. The theatre continues to be an incubator of new works, including last season's A Civil War Christmas by Paula Vogel and Coming Home by Athol Fugard.

Long Wharf Theatre has received New York Drama Critics Awards, Obie Awards, the Margo Jefferson Award for Production of New Works, a Special Citation from the Outer Critics Circle and the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre in 1978. Long Wharf Theatre produces an annual season of six plays on its two stages, along with children's programming, new play workshops and a variety of special events.

References

External links

• Long Wharf Theatre official website
• Please use a more specific IBDB template. See the documentation for available templates.

• 1965 establishments
• Theatres in Connecticut
• Tony Award winners
• Visitor attractions in New Haven County, Connecticut