Andy's Summer Playhouse

Andy's Summer Playhouse

Address	Wilton, New Hampshire United States
Owner	Non-profit organization
Current use	Youth theater
Opened	1971
Website
www.andyssummerplayhouse.org

Andy's Summer Playhouse is a youth theater located in Wilton, New Hampshire.^[1]

Andy's Summer Playhouse programs foster creative collaborations between children and professional artists who work in a variety of media: performance art, theater, dance, music, puppetry, video, set and lighting design and playwriting.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} In addition to its unique mission to produce original and adapted plays for children,^[7] the theater boasts a number of well-known alumni and staff, including Tony Award winning artist Lisa Kron,^[1][8] Emmy Award winning artists Paul Jacobs and Sarah Durkee,^[9] Pulitzer Prize winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire,^[10][11] Caldecott Medal winning authors Brian Selznick^[10][12] and Elizabeth Orton Jones,^[13][14] as well as several Alpert, Bessie and Obie Award winning artists.^[8][15]

History

Named after children's book illustrator C. W. Anderson, Andy's was founded in 1971 by two teachers at the Mascenic Regional School, Margaret Sawyer and William Williams.^[16] The Playhouse found its first home in Mason, New Hampshire, and was later relocated to a historic meeting house in Wilton.^[3] From 1980 to 1993, the playhouse grew under the artistic direction of Dan Hurlin, who attracted a number of internationally recognized artists from PS 122, The Kitchen, 8BC, WOW Cafe and other avant-garde theatre venues in New York City.^{[4][17][18][19]} From 1994 to 2007, the theater was led by Robert Lawson,^[20] and DJ Potter served as Artistic Director from 2008 to 2014.^[16] Both artists further solidified the organization's professional reputation, and increasingly involved alumni in the artistic and executive operations of the theatre.^{[10][21][22][23]} The theatre is currently led by Jared Mezzocchi.^[24]

The building

Andy's sits on the site of the original meeting house of Wilton, a log structure built in 1752 but then torn down and replaced with a larger meeting house in 1779. The second meeting house served the town for 80 years until it burned down in 1859.^[25] The town voted to build a third meeting house (the building that stands today) on the same spot, at a cost "not to exceed $2,500" and the building was completed in 1860. The original Paul Revere and Sons bell damaged in the fire was recast by Henry Northey Hooper & Sons of Boston and placed in the new building, where it remains today in the bell tower. In 1883, the town moved its business to a new Town Hall located several miles to the east in what is now downtown Wilton, so the current building was sold in 1884 to a group of interested citizens and renamed Citizens Hall. It served for many years as a public meeting hall, and was taken over by the National Grange organization in 1925, and then by Wilton Lions Club in 1968. The Pine Hill Waldorf School bought the building in 1978 and for several years ran a school on the site. It was sold to Andy's Summer Playhouse on August 11, 1985.^[25]

Notable alumni and teaching artists

• Henry Akona^[26]
• Sally Bomer^[27]
• Patrick Boutwell^[28]
• Rosellen Brown^[8][19]
• Matthew Buckingham^[8][29]
• Lenora Champagne^[8][30]
• Emmanuelle Chaulet^[31][32]
• Austin Chick^[33]
• Catherine Coray^[8]
• Migdalia Cruz^[8][29]
• Dancenoise^[30]
• Kyle deCamp^[8][30]
• David Dorfman^[4][8]
• Sarah Durkee^[8][9][29]
• Edward Einhorn^[27]
• Daniel Mark Epstein^[27]
• Dan Froot^{[8][34][10][35]}
• Rosanna Gamson^[36]
• Janie Geiser^[1][8][29]
• Jonathan Glatzer^[10][20][37]
• James Godwin^[8]
• Mimi Goese
• Ain Gordon^[8]
• Neil Greenberg^[4][8]
• David Greenspan^[38]
• Rinne Groff^[39]
• Sharon Hayes^{[8][10][37][40]}
• Cynthia Hopkins^[15]
• Holly Hughes^{[1][4][8][30][35][29]}
• Sam Huntington^[21]
• Dan Hurlin^{[1][21][10][35]}
• Anne Iobst^[30]
• Paul Jacobs^[8][9][29]
• Amy Jenkins^[27]
• Elizabeth Orton Jones^[14][21]
• Myles Kane^[41][29]
• Stephen Karam^[2][7]
• John Kelly^[8][30]
• Andy Kirshner^[8]
• Lisa Kron^[1][8]
• Robert Lawson^[21][20][37]
• David Leslie^[8][10]
• Elizabeth Levy^[23][37]
• Chris Lindsay-Abaire^[19]
• David Lindsay-Abaire^[1][21]
• Sondra Loring^[8]
• Linda Mancini^[8][29]
• Victoria Marks^[8]
• Jared Mezzocchi^[16]
• Tom Murrin^[8]
• Eileen Myles^[30][29]
• Jim Neu^[8][35][29]
• Julia Older^[27]
• Pat Oleszko^[8]
• Claire Porter^[10]
• Dave Quay^[42]
• Alice Reagan^[39]
• Jenny Romaine^[8]
• John C. Russell^[8][35][29]
• Dan Moses Schreier^[10]
• Brian Selznick^[8]
• Lucy Sexton^[30]
• Louise Smith^[31][32]
• Kate Snodgrass^[27]
• Henry Stram^[8]
• Carmelita Tropicana^[4][8]
• Fritz Van Orden^[43][44]
• Meiyin Wang
• Washboard Jungle^[17][18][29]
• Kristine Woods

References

1. Rutherford, Kourtney (1 November 2012). "Currents: Experimental Theatre Education Programs" (PDF). American Theatre. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
2. "Make Art: Make a Scene". MacDowell Colony Newsletter 40 (2). Winter 2011. p. 6. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
3. Michaelson, Robert (2 July 2010). "Andy's goes to the vault". Monadnock Ledger-Transcript. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
4. Horwitz, Andy (18 February 2004). "Talking with Dan Hurlin, part 2". Culturebot. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
5. Levithan, David; Farmer, Jonathan (2011). Every You, Every Me. Knopf.
6. "Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce". NashuaChamber.com. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
7. "Medal Days". New York Social Diary. 18 August 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
8. Hurlin, Dan (2010). "Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). danhurlin.com. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
9. "'Maxwell of Rotek' at Andy's". The Telegraph. 12 August 1982. p. 30. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
10. "Andy's Summer Playhouse celebrates 25 years". Milford Cabinet. 5 July 1995. p. 30. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
11. "Production history of Snow Angel". Playscripts, Inc. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
12. "Production history of Byline: Amanda Danger". Playscripts, Inc. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
13. "Caldecott Medal & Honor Books, 1938 - Present". Association for Library Service to Children. ALA. Retrieved 2012-07-2.
14. Salisbury, Jessie (30 December 2001). "A Twig with strong roots". The Nashua Sunday Telegraph. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
15. Memran, Michelle (3 May 2012). "ACCORDIONS IN THE ARCTIC: Cynthia Hopkins Sails Ahead". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
16. Stanway, Eric (21 July 2011). "Andy's Summer Playhouse presents The Lost World". Milford Cabinet. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
17. Lowell, Jessica (19 May 1994). "Andy's Gearing Up for Summer Season". The Telegraph. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
18. "Washboard Jungle Benefit Concert at Andy's Summer Playhouse". The Telegraph. 20 May 1993. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
19. "Secret Garden set to unfold at Andy's". The Telegraph. 4 August 1983. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
20. Eklund, Jane (20 March 2003). "On Location". Monadnock Ledger-Transcript. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
21. "Andy's Summer Playhouse". New Hampshire Magazine. July 2007. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
22. Masek, Heidi (28 June 2007). "Transformations: Andy's Summer Playhouse". HippoPress. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
23. "Andy's Schedules Auditions March 27-29". Merrimack Journal. 20 March 1998. p. 15. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
24. "Andy’s Summer Playhouse Names Jared Mezzocchi Producing Artistic Director: Award-winning director, educator, and multimedia theatre artist becomes the fifth leader in the history of the 45-year-old children’s theatre company.". American Theatre. 6 July 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
25. Clark, Charles E. (1 October 1998). The Meetinghouse Tragedy: An Episode in the Life of a New England Town. ISBN 978-0874518726.
26. Masek, Heidi (22 June 2006). "DaVinci to Rube Goldberg: Andy’s Summer Playhouse is all about invention". HippoPress. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
27. "Local artists contributed to 'Goldberg Variations' at Andy's". Peterborough Transcript. 6 July 2006. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
28. BAGLIO HUMPHREYS, KATHLEEN (12 August 2014). "Andy's Summer Playhouse wraps season with original production". Union Leader. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
29. "Andy's Packing Summer with Shows, Tours and Training". Milford Cabinet. 20 May 1992. p. 30. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
30. Phipps, Wanda (December 1992). "On Dan Hurlin". Mind Honey. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
31. Riffenburgh, Beau (2007). Encyclopedia of the Antarctic: Volume 1. ISBN 0415970245.
32. Stephenson, Robert (18 April 2010). "Antarctic Theatre". The Antarctic Circle. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
33. "A nose grows in Wilton for Andy's new show". The Telegraph. 27 July 1984. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
34. "Summer theater to begin its season". The Telegraph. 26 May 1989. p. 6. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
35. "Andy's children's theater plans busy season". The Telegraph. 14 May 1992. p. 38. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
36. "Nemo Sleeps". Hollis Brookline Journal. 23 August 1997. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
37. "Andy's Holds Auditions for 'Season of the Century'". Hollis Brookline Journal. 19 March 1999. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
38. "Andy’s Summer Playhouse Presents War of the Worlds" (PDF). Amherst Citizen. 28 July 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
39. "Andy's Summer of SuperHeroes Begins". Merrimack Journal. 12 July 2002. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
40. Hayes, Sharon (2013). "Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). Herb Alpert Awards. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
41. "Andy's Summer Playhouse to Present Lewis Carroll Classic". The Telegraph. 19 August 1993. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
42. "Andy's in Milford". Hollis Brookline Journal. 31 July 1998. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
43. Saturley, Michelle (28 July 2005). "Bringing NYC to Wilton: Andy’s alumni brings nigh Broadway home". HippoPress. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
44. Willis, John (2004). Theater World 58. New York: Applause Theater and Cinema Books. p. 157. ISBN 1557836256. Retrieved 21 June 2015.

Coordinates: 42°49′52″N 71°46′35″W / 42.83111°N 71.77639°W