Long Wharf Theatre Leaving Longtime Home, Going Mobile

This is a really unique and interesting spin on the real story which is "we can't afford to pay rent at Long Wharf anymore." Kudos to them for coming up with what could be a really innovative way to continue producing theatre in the midst of a very difficult set of circumstances. Their long time supporters from the 'burbs won't be happy and they'll essentially have to start over developing an entirely new audience, but I wish them good luck and hope they succeed. Personally, I'd respect a little more honesty, but hey - they're theatre people, so they've got to add some dramatic flair, right?!

I wonder if a wandering group of troubadors will be able to do the great set work they are known for? Some have been spectacular. I think the LWT should consider a new home that is less expensive and adequate for their needs. I hope they can find the courage to move out of NH .

Joe Papp created the Public Theater in NYC in the 1970s and took creative and innovative productions of Shakespeare to the public parks and neighborhoods everywhere. The response was awesome. By all means let's try new ways of bringing the Arts to the people by going where they are. Maybe museums should try this as well.

Long Wharf Theatre has contemplated leaving their physical location for decades. I hope that their being mobile with no central home won’t be the beginning of their end.
I would prefer that they moved to the street level and second floor of a new building near downtown. The old Coliseum lot had the tunnels underneath where stage sets and supplies could be loaded into the theater and the hotels and restaurants and other amenities are all nearby for patrons, employees and actors.
Or the Church St South site on street level would be a great anchor for a multi use building. It would make the city much more vibrant and walkable at night if you could go to a performance or play at the Coliseum site and then walk to the train stations less than 2-4 blocks away from either location, and go to nearby street level restaurants, cafes, hotels and shops around Downtown, Ninth Square, and the Orange St extension, the growing Wooster Square new builds, the Union Station redevelopment, the Church St South future project, and not too far from the Route 34 connector redevelopment, and the St Raphael’s location for the new neuroscience facility. Also locating a major chain full service grocery store on street level for another new build location downtown or in those nearby neighborhoods would provide a very important resource for this growing residential and mixed use neighborhoods that have reduce parking requirements.
The city and the developers for the coliseum site or the Church St South site should talk with Long Wharf Theatre and a major chain full service grocery store. (I would love to see a level of quality of merchandise, services and prices similar to the Milford ShopRite.).
They would be incredible anchors for the city and would draw in new retail and services oriented businesses to compliment the theatre and the new multi-unit residences and improve the connection between those downtown and downtown-adjacent neighborhoods.

“Embedding the company within the community” What does this mean exactly? An extremely vague statement from the LWT board. Where, specifically, does Long Wharf anticipate performances will be held? Surely they must have thought about that. There are not theaters on every corner in every neighborhood. This “plan” , at least as described in the article, sounds like a disaster to me and I fear will lead to the demise of Long Wharf Theater.

@johnnyc...your issues r exactly the reason for the cmnty mtgs. as it says in the article. Personally I'm glad they r moving, that long wharf area is cold and creepy. And NO access via public transportation.
There r so many vacant buildings in NH seems they should b able to find different affordable fairly easily. Here in W'ville how about that ugly building on Whalley and Fitch?
Can I put in a vote of NO to Fair Hvn or the Hill?
Thanks.

LWT is whistling past the graveyard. Until now, it has been a regional theater, drawing patrons not only from New Haven, but Fairfield, Westchester and even the city. Paul & Joanne Newman of Westport were regular patrons. It brought works from around the world to North America. I still remember my first Fugard. "The Changing Room" impressed my mother sitting front and center. Even high up on the side, my wife and I enjoyed John Lithgow's one-man show. Now, LWT wants to be just another community theater group? What a sad, lingering death.

1644, Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman have been dead for well over 20 years, as are their friends, as is a great many White theater goers. Change is necessary. Theaters all over the world are in discernment about what will theater look like into the future. The face of theater goers are changing. Theaters are rising to meet the change.

Stories/Voices/Plays/Librettos from folks who have been historically shut out of the theaters are beginning to be centered. The folks that these stories/voices/plays/librettos are about want to see themselves reflected. And they want theater to be not only inclusive but accessible... "embedding the company within community.

"Rent was not the sole problem... Upkeep and maintenance coupled with a changing audience, in addition to a pandemic creating a real tear in what we used to do! Its a new day... The hour calls for re-imagination... And not just for the arts! Education, Housing, Employment, transportation, Equity and inclusion. These are challenging and changing times!

Long Live Long Wharf Theater!

Babz - With all due respect - the Long Wharf was always available to those willing to buy a ticket regardless of being at Long Wharf or "in the community." Note, that the large venue behind Long Wharf was regularly visited by a diverse crowd for partying, music, drinking and all kinds of activities. They could have gone to the theater. They chose not to and never will unless it shows up in their neighborhoods for free. I was part of a marketing pitch to Long Wharf when Padron was hired - and his fascination with equity and community was weak and unfocused. It remains thus particularly as it comes to funding quality performances from world class performers and set designers. Woodward, Neuman and others have long been dead but other theaters are doing well which were also supported by these famous people. It is at best, on life support.

Joanne Woodward is still alive: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joanne_Woodward
Paul Newman died in 2008

At the risk of exposing my pseudonym, I was a part of a recent effort of LW's to reach out to the commmunity, and it was a deeply unpleasent experience. For years Long Wharf's Opportunities page essentially read "New Haven Need Not Apply." They only auditioned out of New York and Los Angeles, had no understudy program to speak of (in other places, understudying is an essential way for emerging actors to get some industry experience), and they did not accept any unrepresented scripts. When they did create opportunities for locals in recent years, it was for laymen (trans folk, immigrants, prisoners, etc). A great program, don't get me wrong, but not a substitute for genuine opportunities for local creatives. So when they reached out for me to participate in The Play Writers program I was excited if trepidatious to see Long Wharf opening its doors. Unfortunately the whole thing was a mess. As seems to be a pattern, the whole thing lacked clarity. Was it a class? Was it a workshop? Were we creating content for LW? The topic of payment for our work was equally muddy, although we were eventually paid for our work. They eventually landed on a Festival, after more than half the initial cohort had fallen off the program due to said lack of clarity. I said great, here's a play I've been working on, let's go. After working with Jacob and Universes, their artists in residence, I did several rewrites and handed in my final draft and waited, and waited, and waited. The details of the actual festival never really solidified until the week before it was supposed to take place. There was no marketing to speak of, despite Jacob having doing an interview with Lucy Gellman the week before. We artists that remained pushed back on the late arrival of details, and essentiall forced Long Wharf to push back the Festival to a time that would allow for more thoughtful preparation and rehearsal.

In the year 2000, I was lucky enough to be a part of Long Wharf's collaboration with Cornerstone Theatre Co. Together they created The Good Person Of New Haven with a cast of 10 professional actors and 24 New Havenites of all ages and backgrounds. One of the most moving evenings in my 40 year career was the Community Night which was a pay-what-you-can performance. The exuberance of the audience was matched by the joy of performing for them. Unfortunately, that show was a one off. Nothing happened to use the excitement and talent of New Haven at Long Wharf in that way again. I was reminded of that experience when I read about Long Wharf seeking to engage the community. They missed an opportunity 20 years ago.

This is a terrible idea. While trying to expand its audience, the theater will be losing many long-time subscribers. If you want to encourage more community participation, ticket prices should be reduced.