The Schoolhouse Theater Announces Grand Reopening with John Logan’s Tony-Award winning drama Red!

Westchester County’s oldest, longest running Professional Theater reopens doors after three years closed

WESTCHESTER, NY (February 24, 2023) – The Schoolhouse Theater (TST) is thrilled to announce its official reopening on April 14, 2023. Like much of the country, the 99-seat performance space and arts center at 3 Owens Road was shuttered due to the pandemic in 2020, the same year its founder, Leandra “Lee” Pope, died. Unwilling to abandon its patrons and performers, the nonprofit theater carried on via Zoom, putting on more than 110 virtual plays in as many weeks. Having successfully launched seven productions to Off-Broadway, the Schoolhouse Theater is excited to welcome patrons back for a thrilling season of professional
theater at the highest possible standard.

The return of The Schoolhouse Theater is “very exciting,” said board chair Emily Perl Kingsley, adding: “It’s incredible. They’ve kept theater alive in this community. They didn’t just sit down and say, ‘When this is over, we’ll get back into it.’ They kept going.”

Kingsley, the recipient of 23 Emmy Awards for her writing on “Sesame Street,” praised TST for rising to the challenge that the pandemic has presented these past three years.

To kick off the season, TST will begin with a powerful three weekend run of John Logan’s Tony-Award winning drama RED. Raw and provocative, RED is a searing portrait of an artist’s ambition and vulnerability as he tries to create a definitive work in a unique setting.

WHO: Director: Owen Thompson
Cast: Patrick Lawlor as Mark Rothko

WHEN:
April 14 – April 30

  • Fridays at 8:00 PM
  • Saturdays at 3:00 PM and 8:00 PM
  • Sundays at 3:00 PM

WHERE:
The Schoolhouse Theater | 3 Owen Road |Croton Falls, NY 10560

To purchase tickets, read more about The Schoolhouse Theater, or learn about the additional two season performances, visit www.theschoolhousetheater.org

About RED by John Logan

Iconic abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko has just landed the biggest commission in the history of art: a series of murals for New York’s famed Four Seasons restaurant. Rothko works feverishly with his young assistant Ken in his studio on the Bowery. But when Ken gains the confidence to challenge him, Rothko faces the agonizing possibility that his crowning achievement could also become his undoing. RED won the Tony and Olivier Awards for Best Play of the Season.

About The Schoolhouse Theater
The Schoolhouse Theater has a long and storied history, beginning with its conception in 1983. Lee Pope, the theater’s founder, transformed an old elementary school building (1925) into a freshly minted visual arts center in Croton Falls in 1983, turning classrooms into galleries and studio spaces showing the paintings and sculpture of many Westchester’s most acclaimed artists. It is a place where new work is explored, and a place where things begin. Through classes for children, live theater, live music, Lee’s Cafe, comedy, slam poetry, storytelling and creative programs, The Schoolhouse Theater has sought to be a landmark home for all of the
arts in Westchester County.
Learn more at www.theschoolhousetheater.org.

Media Contact:

Lizzie Loughridge
lizzieloughridge@gmail.com
801-556-1077

About Schoolhouse Theater

The mission of the Schoolhouse Theater is to enhance the life of the community through live, professional, regional, theater. Our goal is to support and promote the theatrical arts, to encourage actors, directors and playwrights, as well as to support and promote other art forms. This is a wide umbrella, enabling us to create opportunities for artists to challenge themselves and grow, and to enrich the lives of student interns, senior volunteers, and audience members. All of our theater programming, including main stage productions, workshops, classes, and staged readings, introduces our patrons to award-winning playwrights as well as emerging talented voices. Our dedication to professional, earnest and creative achievement engenders pride and respect in the lives of all participants, and helps audiences and the community to develop an appreciation for and enjoyment of theater and the arts.

The Schoolhouse Theater, a nonprofit organization, is a venerable cultural center devoted to professional theater, live music, and entertainment at the highest possible standard. Our galleries host local artists, sculptors, and photographers from all over the county. We have a gift shop, a 99 seat theater, an art gallery and classrooms. We rent our space for events, weddings and seminars. We are committed to bringing new, innovative and ground breaking programs and plays to the community. It is a place where new work is explored, and a place where things begin. Through classes for children, live theater, live music, comedy, slam poetry and story telling we have sought to be a landmark home for all of the arts in Westchester County. ​ The beautiful building that houses The Schoolhouse Theater was formerly the Croton Falls elementary school. In 1983 founder Lee Popetransformed the building into a visual arts center. At that time the cafeteria, gym, and auditorium space was simply a white walled room with no risers and twelve borrowed lights. ​ In 1987, Ms. Pope invited Manhattan’s Acorn Productions to bring their recently produced play, Bedroom Farce, by Alan Ayckbourn to the building. Starring Brooke Palance and Michael Wilding, its limited run was a huge success and The Schoolhouse Theater was born. ​ Gradually over the years theatrical amenities were added and a number of talented local theater companies presented shows in the space. But it was Pamela Moller Kareman, former Artistic Director of Acorn, who stayed in close touch, and she and Lee Pope charted a clear vision of growth for The Schoolhouse with its unique intimate space. In 1998 The Schoolhouse Theater became a full fledged not for profit professional regional theater. The Schoolhouse has been honored by visits from a number of theater luminaries including playwrights Jules Feiffer, George Furth, Tina Howe, Michael Weller, and Paul Zindel, who all came to see productions of their work and lend support to our theater. We have successfully launched five productions to Off-Broadway: Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Ingmar Bergman’s Nora, S.N. Behrman’s Biography, Elaine Del Valle’s Brownsville Bred and The Enlightenment of Mr. Mole.