Commentary

A Little Big Theater

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In 1982 the Town of Manchester approached LTM and asked the theatre to take the lead in the restoration of Cheney Hall, a National Historic Landmark Building in the center of the historic Cheney Mills complex. Over a ten year period, the theatre raised $1.2 million toward the renovation of the building, which opening it in 1991 with a production of The Fantasticks. Cheney Hall, originally built in 1967 is the oldest operating theatre in the State of Connecticut, nine years older than the Goodspeed Opera House. Over the years, LTM has produced at least three and as many as five productions each year including classics such as Androcles and the Lion, Death of A Salesman, A Streetcar Named Desire and The Importance of Being Earnest. Comedy is a staple of each season. We have produced as most of Neil Simon’s works, Kaufman and Hart’s You Can’t Take It With You, Born Yesterday by Garson Kanin and Murray Schisgal’s LUV. Musical theatre has ranged from Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris to A Chorus Line, with works of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, Jerome Kern and Lerner and Loewe also gracing our stage. By the end of our current season, LTM will have presented in the neighborhood of 800 performances of 199 productions.

Today, in addition to its mainstage program, LTM produces new (and sometimes edgy) works as part of its Evenings @ 7 staged play-reading series. It operates the five week Summer Rascal Rep Theatre Camp for youngsters, presents a holiday show for children each year and also books in music programs of all kinds from jazz to classical to opera.

The theatre is run by a working board of directors and has a full-time staff, including an executive director and box office manager. Cheney Hall is also leased for a variety of events from business meetings and expos, to wedding receptions and parties.

This season, the theatre produced Marvin’s Room and Blithe Spirit. This summer Rascal Rep will present Seussical the Musical. This will be followed by the Connecticut premiere of Sing, Virgie, Sing by Wethersfield playwright, Ann Pié, and in November Lerner and Loewe’s Camelot.

Our Mainstage productions each run ten performances over three weekends and our summer shows (Sing, Vergie, Sing) run six performances over two weekends.

Located at the entrance to the Cheney Historic District, Cheney Hall is located on Hartford Road, just off I-384 in the southern part of Manchester.

We’d be delighted to have you come and join us for a performance. Call the box office at (860) 647-9824 for information and tickets.