They said I was crazy!!!

I purchased a house, barns, sheds and ten acres in Fort Edward in 2001 and believe it or not I commuted on weekends from my teaching job in Brooklyn. That’s 4 hours each way!
How a Dutchess County “girl” ends up teaching in Brooklyn and buying rundown property in Washington County is a long story, for another time.
I love to renovate and was very busy stabilizing the house and had totally forgotten about the 1840’s post and beam barn at the end of the complex of barns and sheds. I remember being in there once and saying this would make a good conference center, but decided that was too boring and forgot about it.
One morning, about 2 years after the purchase, I woke up with a vision. The idea of a theater was laid out before me in great detail. I had retired from teaching and this project definitely seemed to match teaching in Bedford Stuyvesant for excitement.
I had an exhilarating burst of excitement which did not seem to fade. I started telling friends and family. They all thought I was nuts! You see, the barn in question had been used as a hay and heifer barn. This equals 4 feet of manure and hay over a decade old. I found out later that God was the only thing holding the barn up.
The closest I every came to being connected with theater is the 6 years my son Rob went to acting lessons in Poughkeepsie at Estelle and Alfonso Studios. Major productions were held alt least twice a year and I was always backstage helping with quick change. My cousin Jack Koenig is a well known, award winning, Broadway actor, but I had no such desires. I’m an organizer, not an actor.
Within a week I went to Sandy Hills Days in Hudson Falls (a big 3 miles away) and stumbled across the booth of the Hudson River Shakespeare Company. I asked Andy Daly, “If I build a theater will anyone come?” He could hardly contain his excitement! He assured me that they had always wanted to have their own theater, but couldn’t afford it.
They just completed their 4th successful season this summer and are booked for 2010 season which runs from April to the end of October. http://www.hudsonrivershakespeare.org/ for the rest of their schedule, in warmer digs.

Here is why we are a seasonal theater!

Learn more about us without waiting for my next post. http://www.littletheater27.com/