Theatre Three
Encyclopedia
Theatre Three occupies Athena Hall in Port Jefferson, New York
as a fully functioning, non-profit theatre company. Begun in the late 1960s, Theatre Three has become one of the premier theatre houses on Long Island
.
house where a number of famous acts would pass through weekly. As vaudeville waned, Athena Hall became used more as a movie theatre. The famous "Griswold Film Splicers" were manufactured in the very shop of the building that is now used as a second stage. This piece of machinery was used for virtually every motion picture, professional and amateur and was considered the latest technology at the time. After its use for motion pictures, it fell into disuse until it was acquired by Theatre Three. Theatre Three is a year-round, non-profit professional regional theatre that was founded in 1969. For the past 38 seasons, Theatre Three has occupied Athena Hall, a now 140+ year-old historic building in the heart of Port Jefferson.
Theatre Three's Mainstage seasons have offered a wide variety of productions including the Long Island premieres of Into the Woods
, Children of a Lesser God
, M. Butterfly
, Prelude to a Kiss, Mr. Cinders
, Someone Who'll Watch Over Me
, All in the Timing
, Dream a Little Dream
, and Pageant as well as the world premieres of The Irish Legacy, Before I Wake, and The Faculty Room.
Theatre Three's Second Stage has produced an outstanding roster of cutting-edge dramas (including Blood Knot
, The Puppetmaster of Lodz, A Man with Connections, Samm-Art Williams Home, Agnes of God
, My Sister in This House, Three Tall Women
, and Death and the Maiden
) and delightful comedies (Shirley Valentine
, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
, and The Mystery of Irma Vep
). The Second Stage has hosted such cabaret luminaries as Tovah Feldshuh
, K. T. Sullivan, Marilyn Sokol
, Julie Wilson
, Billy Stritch, and Nancy LaMott
. The Second Stage is also home to the weekly improv comedy show Friday Night Face Off.
The in-house Children's Theatre has presented programs on a wide array of subjects: the dangers of smoking (Puff-The-Not-So-Magic Dragon), honesty (The Boy Who Cried Werewolf), and race relations and the homeless (The Three Little Pigs, or Home Is Where You Hold Your Heart). An annual favorite includes Barnaby Saves Christmas to co-exist with the prominent Theatre Three's Mainstage tradition of A Christmas Carol. These programs double as entertainment and education.
The children's touring productions have included the nationally acclaimed anti-DWI
play And These, Our Friends which has been performing for the past eleven years. From the Fires: Voices of the Holocaust, the most recent addition to Theatre Three's touring productions, has been seen in schools and community centers on Long Island, as well as in Manhattan
and in four other states, for a total of over 200 performances in the past three years. They recently put into effect their newest touring production, "The Bullying Project" that touches base on the prominent issue of bullying in schools. An original musical that has received incredible attention from the first preview.
Theatre Three Productions, Inc.
Box Office: (631) 928-9100
Tickets and other information at Theatre Three's website
Port Jefferson, New York
The Incorporated Village of Port Jefferson is located in the town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the 2000 United States Census, the village population was 7,837...
as a fully functioning, non-profit theatre company. Begun in the late 1960s, Theatre Three has become one of the premier theatre houses on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
.
History
Athena Hall has occupied many uses in its long lifetime. It was built in Port Jefferson as a common meeting place for the town and at one point functioned as the high school gymnasium after a fire. The building that was built as basically a large cube was finally cut in half to produce the theatre upstairs with raked seating and lobbies and a second stage underneath. Athena Hall ultimately became a popular vaudevilleVaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
house where a number of famous acts would pass through weekly. As vaudeville waned, Athena Hall became used more as a movie theatre. The famous "Griswold Film Splicers" were manufactured in the very shop of the building that is now used as a second stage. This piece of machinery was used for virtually every motion picture, professional and amateur and was considered the latest technology at the time. After its use for motion pictures, it fell into disuse until it was acquired by Theatre Three. Theatre Three is a year-round, non-profit professional regional theatre that was founded in 1969. For the past 38 seasons, Theatre Three has occupied Athena Hall, a now 140+ year-old historic building in the heart of Port Jefferson.
Mission statement
Theatre Three is dedicated to developing an appreciation for the art of live theatre among the residents of Long Island by involving as large a constituency as possible in a rich variety of programming which includes Mainstage, Second Stage, Cabaret, and Children's Theatre productions. The development of future audiences and performers is accessed through touring programs, a dramatic academy, and workshops. Theatre Three presents a diverse program of fresh and imaginative revivals of classics and modern plays. The theatre is an arena for previously unproduced plays, and works towards their future development. The theatre provides an environment in which talent can be nurtured, encouraged, and trained in the pursuit of a professional career. It is the goal of Theatre Three to attract familiar and established theatre artists to work with the theatre's own ensemble. Theatre Three expands its Long Island base by working with other theatres throughout the country in the development of programming and artistic exchange in order to achieve its goal of being the premier professional theatre of Long Island.Programs
Each year, Theatre Three presents a Mainstage season of seven productions (four musicals, two plays, and A Christmas Carol.) The Second Stage presents an ongoing series of events including small plays, original one-acts, staged readings, and cabaret performances. The in-house Children's Theatre presents nine original topical musicals. The Touring Children's Theatre offers four original programs dealing with child-at-risk or educational issues. Theatre Three's Dramatic Academy offers three semesters each year (Fall, Winter/Spring, and Summer) with classes for ages six through adult.Theatre Three's Mainstage seasons have offered a wide variety of productions including the Long Island premieres of Into the Woods
Into the Woods
Into the Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986, and premiered on Broadway in 1987. Bernadette Peters' performance as the Witch and Joanna Gleason's portrayal of the Baker's Wife brought acclaim...
, Children of a Lesser God
Children of a Lesser God (play)
Children of a Lesser God is a play by Mark Medoff, published in 1980 focusing on the conflicted professional and romantic relationship between deaf former student, Sarah Norman, and her teacher, James Leeds. The play was specially written for the Deaf actress Phyllis Frelich, based to some extent...
, M. Butterfly
M. Butterfly
M. Butterfly is a 1988 play by David Henry Hwang loosely based on the relationship between French diplomat Bernard Boursicot and Shi Pei Pu, a male Peking opera singer....
, Prelude to a Kiss, Mr. Cinders
Mr. Cinders
Mr. Cinders is a musical. The music is by Vivian Ellis & Richard Myers, and the libretto by Clifford Grey & Greatorex Newman. The story is an inversion of the Cinderella fairy tale with the gender roles reversed. The Prince Charming character has become a modern young and forceful woman, and Mr....
, Someone Who'll Watch Over Me
Someone Who'll Watch Over Me
Someone Who'll Watch over Me is a play written by Irish dramatist Frank McGuinness. The play focuses on the trials and tribulations of an Irishman, an Englishman and an American who are kidnapped and held hostage by unseen Arabs in Lebanon. As the three men strive for survival they also strive to...
, All in the Timing
All in the Timing
All in the Timing is a collection of one-act plays by the American playwright David Ives written between 1987 and 1993. It was first published by Dramatists Play Service in 1994, with a collection of six plays; however, the updated collection contains fourteen. The short plays are almost all...
, Dream a Little Dream
Dream a Little Dream
Dream a Little Dream is a 1989 teen film directed by Marc Rocco and stars Jason Robards, Corey Feldman, Piper Laurie, Meredith Salenger, Harry Dean Stanton and Corey Haim. It was filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina. Released in 1,019 theaters, it accumulated $5,552,441. This was the third film...
, and Pageant as well as the world premieres of The Irish Legacy, Before I Wake, and The Faculty Room.
Theatre Three's Second Stage has produced an outstanding roster of cutting-edge dramas (including Blood Knot
Blood Knot
Blood Knot is an early play by South African playwright, actor, and director Athol Fugard, performed first, but only one time, in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1961, with the playwright Fugard and Zakes Mokae playing the brothers Morris and Zachariah....
, The Puppetmaster of Lodz, A Man with Connections, Samm-Art Williams Home, Agnes of God
Agnes of God
Agnes of God is a play by John Pielmeier which tells the story of a novice nun who gives birth and insists that the dead child was the result of a virgin conception. A psychiatrist and the mother superior of the convent clash during the resulting investigation...
, My Sister in This House, Three Tall Women
Three Tall Women
Three Tall Women is a play by Edward Albee, which won the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Albee's third.-Characters:* A: She is a very old woman in her 90s. She is thin, autocratic, proud, and wealthy. She also has a mild case of Alzheimer's disease. * B: B is A's 52 year-old version, to whom she...
, and Death and the Maiden
Death and the Maiden (play)
Death and the Maiden is a 1990 play by Chilean playwright Ariel Dorfman. The world premiere was staged at the Royal Court Theatre in London on 9 July 1991, directed by Lindsay Posner...
) and delightful comedies (Shirley Valentine
Shirley Valentine
Shirley Valentine is a one-character play by Willy Russell. Taking the form of a monologue by a middle-aged, working class Liverpool housewife, it focuses on her life before and after a transforming holiday abroad.-Plot:...
, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune is a two-character play by Terrence McNally.It focuses on two lonely, middle-aged people whose first date ends with them tumbling into bed. Johnny is certain he has found his soul mate in Frankie. She, on the other hand, is far more cautious and disinclined...
, and The Mystery of Irma Vep
The Mystery of Irma Vep
The Mystery of Irma Vep is a play in two acts by Charles Ludlam. A penny dreadful, Irma Vep is a satire of several theatrical and film genres, including Victorian melodrama, farce and the Alfred Hitchcock film Rebecca .-Background:...
). The Second Stage has hosted such cabaret luminaries as Tovah Feldshuh
Tovah Feldshuh
Tovah Feldshuh is an American actress, singer and playwright.-Early life:Terri Sue Feldshuh was born to a Jewish family in New York City, the daughter of Lillian and Sidney Feldshuh, who was a lawyer. She was raised in Scarsdale, New York, an affluent community in Westchester County and graduated...
, K. T. Sullivan, Marilyn Sokol
Marilyn Sokol
Marilyn Sokol is an actress, comedienne, teacher, singer, writer/director. She has won an Emmy Award, an Obie Award, and a Bistro Award. She lives in New York City...
, Julie Wilson
Julie Wilson
Julie Wilson is an American singer and actress.Born in Omaha, Nebraska and first finding a musical outlet with local musical group Hank's Hepcats, Wilson headed to New York City during World War II and found work in two of Manhattan's leading nightclubs, the Latin Quarter and the Copacabana...
, Billy Stritch, and Nancy LaMott
Nancy LaMott
Nancy LaMott was a singer, popular on the New York City cabaret circuit in the 1990s. LaMott performed twice at the White House for President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton...
. The Second Stage is also home to the weekly improv comedy show Friday Night Face Off.
The in-house Children's Theatre has presented programs on a wide array of subjects: the dangers of smoking (Puff-The-Not-So-Magic Dragon), honesty (The Boy Who Cried Werewolf), and race relations and the homeless (The Three Little Pigs, or Home Is Where You Hold Your Heart). An annual favorite includes Barnaby Saves Christmas to co-exist with the prominent Theatre Three's Mainstage tradition of A Christmas Carol. These programs double as entertainment and education.
The children's touring productions have included the nationally acclaimed anti-DWI
Driving under the influence
Driving under the influence is the act of driving a motor vehicle with blood levels of alcohol in excess of a legal limit...
play And These, Our Friends which has been performing for the past eleven years. From the Fires: Voices of the Holocaust, the most recent addition to Theatre Three's touring productions, has been seen in schools and community centers on Long Island, as well as in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
and in four other states, for a total of over 200 performances in the past three years. They recently put into effect their newest touring production, "The Bullying Project" that touches base on the prominent issue of bullying in schools. An original musical that has received incredible attention from the first preview.
Theatre Three Productions, Inc.
Box Office: (631) 928-9100
Tickets and other information at Theatre Three's website
External links
- http://www.theatrethree.com
- http://cinematreasures.org/theater/9563/
- http://www.theatermania.com/images/theater/002673theater.jpg
- http://www.theatermania.com/content/theater.cfm?intTheaterID=2673