New Harmony Theatre History
This year, New Harmony Theatre celebrates its 23rd season as a
program of the University
of Southern Indiana.
NHT has grown in prominence to become a
major regional theatre that attracts the best professional theatre
artists from all over the country.
While New Harmony Theatre has been produced by the University of Southern
Indiana since 1988, theatre has been an important part
of New Harmony since the very early days of the town. Robert
Owen’s son, William, established the first theatre in
New Harmony in 1827. During the second half of the
nineteenth century, the town was the home and headquarters of the
Goldens, a distinguished family of theatre professionals who thrived
well into the twentieth century. Murphy Auditorium was built in 1914 and
is the main stage for the current program. University of Southern Indiana began producing New Harmony Theatre at the request of Mrs. Jane
Blaffer Owen, following the financial struggles of the independent
non-profit company that had been producing in Murphy Auditorium. NHT
began using guest artists from Actors’ Equity Association, which is the
union of professional actors, in 1989, and signed a Professional Theatre
Contract with that union in 1990.
The
theatre has continued to grow since that time. In 2001,
New Harmony Theatre was promoted to more well-respected
contract level with Actors’ Equity Association. This change demonstrated
NHT’s ongoing commitment to attracting the highest quality performers
for its summer productions, including many Broadway veterans. As a
reflection on NHT’s commitment to creating an excellent working
environment for artists, three actors wrote a joint letter to the
membership of Actors’ Equity Association which was published in the
monthly newsletter, Equity News.
The letter cited “the caring and generosity” of the NHT and the
“committed, happy and infectious” spirit of the place. The letter
concluded, “If you get a chance to work at NHT, you will love it.”
As a result, New Harmony Theatre now routinely receives a small
but rarely-awarded grant from the Actors’ Equity Foundation.
In 2005, the growing prestige of
New Harmony Theatre
assured that it would have the honor of producing the world premiere of
a new play by noted dramatist Thom Thomas.
A Moon to Dance By was
well-received by audiences and critics, and brought producers from The
Kennedy Center in Washington,
D.C. and from New York
to New Harmony.
In 2007, New Harmony Theatre’s new artistic director, Lenny
Leibowitz, a highly-regarded professional director with major
Off-Broadway and regional theatre credits, staged a wildly successful
season with critically acclaimed productions of
Amadeus,
The Importance of Being Earnest,
and I Do! I Do!. He also
launched a series of play readings that will continue in 2010.
In 2008, he launched The Repertory Project, a collaboration between New
Harmony Theatre and University of Southern Indiana Theatre featuring a
company of Equity actors and USI students presenting two masterworks
from the world dramatic literature in the classic theatre model of
rotating repertory.
University of Southern Indiana's professional
Equity theatre
8600
University Boulevard - Evansville, IN 47712-3596
