Located in
Olney, Maryland
Olney is a U.S. census-designated place and an unincorporated area in Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located in the north central part of the county, north of Washington, D.C.
Olney was largely agricultural until the 1960s, when growth of ...
, the Olney Theatre Center offers a diverse array of professional productions year-round that enrich, nurture, and challenge a broad range of artists, audiences and students. One of two state theaters of Maryland, Olney Theatre Center is situated on in the middle of the
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
–
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
–
Frederick Frederick may refer to:
People
* Frederick (given name), the name
Nobility
Anhalt-Harzgerode
*Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670)
Austria
* Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198
* Frederick ...
"triangle." There are three indoor venues: the Historic Theatre, the Mainstage, and the Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab. There is also an outdoor venue, the Root Family Stage.
The Mainstage seats 429 patrons, with a small theatre lab added in 1999.
As of May 2016, Olney Theatre Center has won 18
Helen Hayes Award
The Helen Hayes Awards are theater awards recognizing excellence in professional theater in the Washington, D.C. area since 1983. The awards are named in tribute of Helen Hayes, who is also known as the "First Lady of American Theatre." They ar ...
s since the award's founding in 1985, and received 146 nominations. It one of only two theaters in the country to operate under an
Actors' Equity Association
The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions without a boo ...
Council of Stock Theaters (COST) contract.
History
In 1938, Olney Theatre was founded as a summer theater and restaurant by Stephen E. Cochran, attorney and judge Harold C. Smith, and theater manager Leonard B. McLaughlin.
["Ethel Barrymore Director of New Summer Theater". ''The Washington Post''. March 21, 1938. p. X9.] Olney Theatre was built on Woodlawn Lodge estate,
[ which was the site of a former roller skating rink in what was then rural Montgomery County. Cochran was the first managing director and actress Ethel Barrymore was the first associate director.][ The National Academy of Stage Training, a professional school of drama that had been founded by Cochran in 1932, moved to the Olney Theatre and began its first summer course there on June 20, 1938.]["Theater Notes". ''The Washington Post''. June 20, 1938. p. 9.] The class was taught by Dorothy Martin and George Vivian.[
Olney Theatre's first production, "The Lady Has a Heart", had its first performance on July 25, 1938.][Kirkley, Donald (July 26, 1938). "Olney Theater Elissa Landi Is The Star Of 'The Lady Has A Heart,' Presented By S. E. Cochran". ''The Baltimore Sun''. p. 4.] The play was about a butler who was elected to the parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
of Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
on a modified New Deal
The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...
platform
Platform may refer to:
Technology
* Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run
* Platform game, a genre of video games
* Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models
* Weapons platform, a system or ...
.[ The first show was sold out.][ ]Elissa Landi
Elissa Landi (born Elisabeth Marie Christine Kühnelt; December 6, 1904 – October 21, 1948) was an Austrian-American actress born in Venice, who was popular as a performer in Hollywood films of the 1920s and 1930s. She was noted for her a ...
and Leslie Denison starred, along with Gordon Richards, Howard Ferguson, and Zoyla Talma.[ Olney Theatre had a rustic feel, with inverted peach baskets serving as chandeliers and an open-air lobby with an oak tree growing in it.][ Olney Theatre advertised itself as the South's first professional summer theater.
C. Y. Stephens, an owner of ]High's Dairy Store
High's of Baltimore, LLC, doing business as High's Dairy Stores, is a chain of gas stations and convenience stores in and around Baltimore, Maryland. , the chain has 60 locations, the majority of which are in Maryland, plus four in Pennsylvani ...
s, purchased property and remodeled to become better suited for theater in 1940.
In 1946, Olney Theater was under the joint management of Glenn Taylor, Redge Allen, and Evelyn Freyman. It presented summer theater where shows featured well-known stars such as Jessica Tandy
Jessie Alice Tandy (7 June 1909 – 11 September 1994) was a British-American actress. Tandy appeared in over 100 stage productions and had more than 60 roles in film and TV, receiving an Academy Award, four Tony Awards, a BAFTA, a Golden Glob ...
, Hume Cronyn
Hume Blake Cronyn Jr. OC (July 18, 1911 – June 15, 2003) was a Canadian-American actor and writer.
Early life
Cronyn, one of five children, was born in London, Ontario, Canada. His father, Hume Blake Cronyn, Sr., was a businessman and ...
, Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several prominent films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Lif ...
, and Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes MacArthur ( Brown; October 10, 1900 – March 17, 1993) was an American actress whose career spanned 80 years. She eventually received the nickname "First Lady of American Theatre" and was the second person and first woman to have w ...
. The theater was a five-show summer stock theater
In American theater, summer-stock theater is a theater that presents stage productions only in the summer. The name combines the season with the tradition of staging shows by a resident company, reusing stock scenery and costumes. Summer stock t ...
on the straw-hat circuit, along with 238 other theaters around the country.
Players, Inc. (now known as National Players, Olney Theatre Center's touring company, was created by Father
A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...
Gilbert V. Hartke in 1949. It brought live theater and educational programming to students and public audiences across the United States and overseas.
In 1952, C.Y. Stephens invited Father Hartke to come to Olney for a meeting where he was asked to take over the theater. The two negotiated, and Father Hartke took over management of the property under his nonprofit touring company's umbrella. Stephens agreed not to charge Players, Inc. rent, and to reimburse them up to a $10,000 loss. Father Hartke then moved Players, Inc. to Olney to establish a summer theater.
After losses in 1953 and 1954, which Stephens underwrote, the decision was made to produce only five plays in 1955. Despite much critical success, Olney still sustained a loss of $3,495.61 in 1955. Consequently, Father Hartke asked William H. Graham, Sr. to serve as Olney Theatre's general manager. His work, combined with the directorial talents of Robert Moore, Leo Brady
Leo Brady (January 23, 1917 – November 18, 1984) was a multidimensional American writer and theater artist who also achieved great success as a teacher of young playwrights.
After writing some well-received plays as an undergrad at Catholic Uni ...
, and Jim Waring drew large audiences, favorable reviews, and resulted in a profit of nearly $7,000 in 1956.
In 1960, after the production of Rashomon
is a 1950 Jidaigeki psychological thriller/crime film directed and written by Akira Kurosawa, working in close collaboration with cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa. Starring Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyō, Masayuki Mori (actor), Masayuki Mori, and ...
, directed by Robert Moore, Stephens told Father Hartke that he had decided to give him the theater. Stephens gradually transferred all of the property's stock to Players, a branch of which is now known as Olney Theatre Corporation. Father became the corporation's president, a position he held for 33 years.
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Blair Lee recognized Olney Theatre as the official State Summer Theater of Maryland in July 1978.
Father Hartke died in 1986. The next year, Maryland State Arts Council designated Olney a "major arts organization", making it the only arts institution outside of Baltimore to hold such status at the time. The theater was producing five three-week productions per season, primarily from May to September.
In 1991, Olney Theatre began a capital campaign to match a $625,000 state grant. The money was to be used for much needed improvements to the facilities and to realize Father Hartke's goal of operating year-round.
Olney Theatre added two shows to its 1993 season, and it began production in April and ending around late October. A scene shop and a costume shop were added to the mainstage building. Prior sets were built outside, and costumes were built on the Crawford House porch.
Jim Petosa was appointed artistic director of the newly renamed Olney Theatre Center in 1994. Petosa renewed emphasis on 20th-century American classics, musical theater, new works, and area premieres.
From 1998 to 1999, Olney Theatre Center celebrated the 50th consecutive touring year of National Players
The National Players is the longest-running classical touring company in the United States.
Classical Touring Company
After 70 consecutive seasons of touring, this acting company has given approximately 6,600 performances and workshops on plays ...
. During these 50 years, National Players had reached 2,400,000 audience members, traveled , including ten tours outside the United States and five receptions at the White House, and gave over 6,000 performances. Olney Theatre Center began year-round performances with a seven-show mainstage season.
The Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab was built in 1999 as the first step towards a new master campus plan. A year later, Olney Theatre Center began a capital campaign for a $10.5 million expansion. In 2003, The Kresge Foundation
The Kresge Foundation is a philanthropic private foundation headquartered in Troy, Michigan, United States. The foundation works to expand opportunities in America's cities through grantmaking and investing in arts and culture, education, enviro ...
awarded Olney Theatre Center a Special Opportunities Initiative grant of $1 million. The next year, Olney Theatre Center acquired an additional for its cultural campus. In 2005, Olney Theatre Center opened its new amphitheater, the Root Family Stage at Will's Place, which gave a permanent home to its Summer Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
Festival. Olney Theatre Center held the grand opening of its Mainstage theater, a 429-seat facility with stadium seating and advanced technical capabilities. Olney Theatre Center expanded its mainstage season to eight plays and introduced its New Play Initiative with the world premiere of ''In the Mood'' in 2006. Olney Theatre Center also held its first Gala Celebration in over twenty years.
In 2007, Olney Theatre Center added a family entertainment series and formed Olney Theatre Institute, which reinforced its education initiative.
After 19 years with Olney Theatre, Petosa resigned as artistic director in 2012. Martin Platt was hired as the new artistic director. Platt resigned after six months. Jason Loewith became the new artistic director in 2013.[Marks, Peter (February 7, 2013).]
Olney finds next leader in Jason Loewith
. ''The Washington Post''. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
In 2016, Olney Theatre had a mortgage of $4.8 million, down from $6 million in 2013. The operating budget for the 2016 season was a little less than $6 million.
See also
* Helen Hayes Award
The Helen Hayes Awards are theater awards recognizing excellence in professional theater in the Washington, D.C. area since 1983. The awards are named in tribute of Helen Hayes, who is also known as the "First Lady of American Theatre." They ar ...
Further reading
*
References
External links
*
* Pressley, Nelson (August 10, 2008).
On the Boards in the Burbs: Challenging Works
. ''The Washington Post''.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olney Theatre Center
Olney, Maryland
Theatres in Maryland
Tourist attractions in Montgomery County, Maryland
Event venues established in 1938
League of Washington Theatres
1938 establishments in Maryland