Lucille Lortel (née Wadler, December 16, 1900 – April 4, 1999) was an American actress, artistic director, and theatrical producer. In the course of her career Lortel produced or co-produced nearly 500 plays, five of which were nominated for

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

s: ''

As Is "As is" is a phrase used to indicate the existing condition of something without any modifications or improvements. The term is employed in legal, business, and consumer settings to establish that an item or property is being sold or provided in i ...

'' by William M. Hoffman, ''Angels Fall'' by

Lanford Wilson Lanford Wilson (April 13, 1937March 24, 2011) was an American playwright. His work, as described by ''The New York Times'', was "earthy, realist, greatly admired ndwidely performed". Fox, Margalit"Lanford Wilson, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwrigh ...

, ''

Blood Knot ''Blood Knot'' is an early play by South African playwright, actor, and director Athol Fugard. Its single-performance premier was in 1961 in Johannesburg, South Africa, with the playwright and Zakes Mokae playing the brothers Morris and Zacharia ...

'' by

Athol Fugard Harold Athol Lanigan Fugard (; 11 June 19328 March 2025) was a South African playwright, novelist, actor and director. Widely regarded as South Africa's greatest playwright and acclaimed as "the greatest active playwright in the English-speaki ...

, Mbongeni Ngema's '' Sarafina!'', and '' A Walk in the Woods'' by Lee Blessing. She also produced

Marc Blitzstein Marcus Samuel Blitzstein (March 2, 1905January 22, 1964), was an American composer, lyricist, and Libretto, librettist. He won national attention in 1937 when his pro-Trade union, union musical ''The Cradle Will Rock'', directed by Orson Welles, ...

's adaptation of

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

and

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (; ; March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for hi ...

's '' Threepenny Opera'', a production which ran for seven years and according to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' "caused such a sensation that it...put

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

on the map."

Early life and acting career

Lortel was born Lucille Wadler on December 16, 1900, at 153 Attorney Street in the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

of Manhattan, one of four children of Anny and Harris Wadler, Jewish immigrants of Polish descent. Her father was a manufacturer of women's clothes who frequently traveled to Europe to buy designs to copy. Lortel had two brothers, Mayo (a violinist) and Seymour, and a sister, Ruth. She was raised in

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

and Manhattan, where she was homeschooled until attending

Adelphi University Adelphi University is a private university in Garden City, New York, United States. Adelphi also has centers in Downtown Brooklyn, Hudson Valley, and Suffolk County in addition to a virtual, online campus for remote students. As of 2019, it had ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York. Lortel was remembered by her friends as vivacious, outgoing, and flirtatious, and was known to be found dancing at parties well into her 80s. In 1920, Lortel (her stage name) began to study acting and theatre at the

American Academy of Dramatic Arts The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a Private college, private drama school with two locations, one in New York City and one in Los Angeles. The academy offers an associate degree in occupational studies and teaches drama and related ...

. In 1921, she briefly left the United States to continue her training under

Max Reinhardt Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born Theatre director, theatre and film director, theater manager, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his radically innovative and avant-gard ...

in Berlin. She made her Broadway debut in 1925 in the

Theatre Guild The Theatre Guild is a theatrical society founded in New York City in 1918 by Lawrence Langner, Philip Moeller, Helen Westley and Theresa Helburn. Langner's wife, Armina Marshall, then served as a co-director. It evolved out of the work of ...

's production of '' Caesar and Cleopatra'' alongside

Helen Hayes Helen Hayes MacArthur (; October 10, 1900 – March 17, 1993) was an American actress. Often referred to as the "First Lady of American Theatre", she was the second person and first woman to win EGOT, the EGOT (an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and ...

. In 1926, she appeared in Michael Kallesser's ''One Man's Woman'' at the

48th Street Theatre The 48th Street Theatre was a Broadway theatre at 157 West 48th Street in Manhattan. It was built by longtime Broadway producer William A. Brady and designed by architect William Albert Swasey. The venue was also called the Equity 48th Stree ...

in Manhattan. Lortel also appeared in David Belasco's ''The Dove,'' with

Judith Anderson Dame Frances Margaret Anderson (10 February 18973 January 1992), known professionally as Judith Anderson, was an Australian actress who had a successful career in stage, film, and television. A pre-eminent stage actress in her era, she won two ...

, and as Poppy in the touring company of '' The Shanghai Gesture,'' with Florence Reed. In 1929, Lortel played the female lead in ''The Man Who Laughed Last'' with star Sessue Hayakawa. She performed the role both on stage and on film in one of the first talking pictures.. In 1931, Lortel married paper industrialist and philanthropist Louis Schweitzer. In deference to her husband's concerns, she retired from acting in 1939.Lucille Lortel Papers, 1902–2000
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Accessed May 24, 2014.

White Barn Theatre

In 1947, "after spending over 15 years looking for a way to express herself in the theater that was acceptable to her husband" (and at the urging of actor

Danny Kaye Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky; ; January 18, 1911 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, singer, and dancer. His performances featured physical comedy, idiosyncratic pantomimes, and rapid-fire novelty songs. Kaye starred ...

), Lortel founded the White Barn Theatre in an old horse barn on her and her husband's estate in Westport/

Norwalk, Connecticut Norwalk is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The city, part of the New York metropolitan area, New York Metropolitan Area, is the List of municipalities of Connecticut by population, sixth-most populous city in Connecticut ...

. According to Lortel's wishes, the theater's mission was to present works of an unusual and experimental nature, existing as a sanctuary from commercial pressures, a place where writers could take a chance with their plays and where actors could stretch their talents. Under Lortel's guidance, the White Barn premiered plays (many of which enjoyed successful transfers to commercial theatres) including: George C. Wolfe and Lawrence Bearson's ''Ivory Tower'' with

Eva Marie Saint Eva Marie Saint (born July 4, 1924) is an American retired actress. In a career that spanned nearly 80 years, she won an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for a Golden Globe Award and two British Academy Film Awa ...

(1947); Seán O'Casey's '' Red Roses for Me'' (1948);

Eugène Ionesco Eugène Ionesco (; ; born Eugen Ionescu, ; 26 November 1909 – 28 March 1994) was a Romanian-French playwright who wrote mostly in French, and was one of the foremost figures of the French avant-garde theatre#Avant-garde, French avant-garde th ...

's '' The Chairs'' (1957);

Archibald MacLeish Archibald MacLeish (May 7, 1892 – April 20, 1982) was an American poet and writer, who was associated with the modernist school of poetry. MacLeish studied English at Yale University and law at Harvard University. He enlisted in and saw action ...

's ''This Music Crept by Me Upon the Waters'' (1959);

Edward Albee Edward Franklin Albee III ( ; March 12, 1928 – September 16, 2016) was an American playwright known for works such as ''The Zoo Story'' (1958), ''The Sandbox (play), The Sandbox'' (1959), ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1962), ''A Delicat ...

's ''Fam and Yam'' (1960);

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

's '' Embers'' (1960); Murray Schisgal's ''The Typists'' (1961); Adrienne Kennedy's '' The Owl Answers'' (1965); Norman Rosten's ''Come Slowly Eden'' (1966); Paul Zindel's '' The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds'' (1966);

Terrence McNally Terrence McNally (November 3, 1938 – March 24, 2020) was an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Described as "the bard of American theater" and "one of the greatest contemporary playwrights the theater world has yet produced," M ...

's ''

Next NeXT, Inc. (later NeXT Computer, Inc. and NeXT Software, Inc.) was an American technology company headquartered in Redwood City, California that specialized in computer workstations for higher education and business markets, and later develope ...

'' (1967); Ahmed Yacoubi's ''The Night Before Thinking'' (1974); Barbara Wersba's ''The Dream Watcher'' starring

Eva Le Gallienne Eva Le Gallienne (January 11, 1899 – June 3, 1991) was a British-born American stage actress, producer, director, translator, and author. A Broadway theatre, Broadway star by age 21, in 1926 she left Broadway behind to found the Fourteenth St ...

(1975); June Havoc's ''Nuts for the Underman'' (1977); David Allen's ''Cheapside'' starring

Cherry Jones Cherry Jones (born November 21, 1956) is an American actress. She started her career in theater as a founding member of the American Repertory Theater in 1980 before transitioning into film and television. Celebrated for her dynamic roles on st ...

(which Lortel later co-produced at the Half Moon Theatre in London); and Jerome Kilty's ''

Margaret Sanger Margaret Sanger ( Higgins; September 14, 1879September 6, 1966) was an American birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. She opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, founded Planned Parenthood, and was instr ...

: Unfinished Business'', starring

Eileen Heckart Anna Eileen Heckart ( Herbert; March 29, 1919 – December 31, 2001) was an American stage and screen actress whose career spanned nearly 60 years. Early life Heckart was born Anna Eileen Herbert in Columbus, Ohio. Her mother Esther () wed Leo ...

(1989). Ireland's famed Dublin Players performed for several seasons at the White Barn with

Milo O'Shea Milo Donal O'Shea (2 June 1926 – 2 April 2013) was an Irish actor. He was twice nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performances in ''Staircase'' (1968) and '' Mass Appeal'' (1982). Early life O'Shea was born and ...

.Biography
Lortel.org. Accessed May 24, 2014. Among the successful transfers to

from the White Barn Theatre were: Fatima Dike's ''Glasshouse'', Casey Kurtti's ''Catholic School Girls'', Diane Kagan's ''Marvelous Grey'', and Hugh Whitemore's ''The Best of Friends''. Transfers from the White Barn to Broadway include

Cy Coleman Cy Coleman (born Seymour Kaufman; June 14, 1929 – November 18, 2004) was an American composer, songwriter, and jazz pianist. Life and career Coleman was born Seymour Kaufman in New York City, to Ashkenazi, Eastern European Jewish parents, an ...

and A.E. Hotchner's '' Welcome to the Club'' (which premiered at the White Barn as ''Let 'Em Rot'') and

's '' Redwood Curtain'', later on television as a

Hallmark Hall of Fame ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'', originally called ''Hallmark Television Playhouse'', is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas Citybased greeting card company. It is the longest-ru ...

1995 production. In September 1992, a storage area near the theatre was expanded and renovated to become the White Barn Theatre Museum. The final production at the White Barn took place 2002. In 2006, after a failed attempt to save the theater, the property was sold to a

real estate developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to other ...

for $48 million. The theater's legacy has been preserved by a Lucille Lortel Foundation grant to the

Westport Country Playhouse Westport Country Playhouse is a not-for-profit regional theater in Westport, Connecticut, Westport, Connecticut. It was founded in 1931 by Lawrence Langner, a New York theater producer. Langner remodeled an 1830s tannery with a Broadway-quality ...

, which now houses the Lucille Lortel White Barn Center.

Lucille Lortel Theatre

In 1955, eight years after Lortel founded the White Barn, Schweitzer purchased Theatre De Lys at 121

Christopher Street Christopher Street is a street in the West Village neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is the continuation of 9th Street west of Sixth Avenue. It is most notable for the Stonewall Inn, which is located on Christopher St ...

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

for Lortel as a 24th

wedding anniversary A wedding anniversary is the anniversary of the date that a wedding took place. Couples often mark the occasion by celebrating their relationship, either privately or with a larger party. Special celebrations and gifts are often given for partic ...

present. For her first production in her new theatre, Lortel reopened her White Barn production of the

translation of ''

The Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a 1928 German "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, '' The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François V ...

''. The production ran for seven years, and represented a seminal moment in the history of Off-Broadway theatre, winning the only

ever given to an Off-Broadway production. The production won a Special Tony Award for best Off-Broadway show and the

Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actresses for quality featured roles in a ...

Lotte Lenya Lotte Lenya (born Karoline Wilhelmine Charlotte Blamauer; 18 October 1898 – 27 November 1981) was an Austrian-American singer, diseuse, and actress, long based in the United States. In the German-speaking and classical music world, she is be ...

. Scott Merrill was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. As ''Threepenny Opera'' continued and eventually concluded its run, Lortel produced many other plays, including

Jean Genet Jean Genet (; ; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels '' The Th ...

's ''

The Balcony ''The Balcony'' () is a Play (theatre), play by the French people, French dramatist Jean Genet. It is set in an unnamed city that is experiencing a revolutionary uprising in the streets; most of the action takes place in an upmarket brothel that ...

'' in 1960, which won the

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after th ...

for best foreign play;

's ''

The Blood Knot ''Blood Knot'' is an early play by South African playwright, actor, and director Athol Fugard. Its single-performance premier was in 1961 in Johannesburg, South Africa, with the playwright and Zakes Mokae playing the brothers Morris and Zacharia ...

'' starring

James Earl Jones James Earl Jones (January 17, 1931 – September 9, 2024) was an American actor. A pioneer for black actors in the entertainment industry, Jones is known for his extensive and acclaimed roles on stage and screen. Jones is one of the few perfor ...

;

Christopher Fry Christopher Fry (18 December 1907 – 30 June 2005) was an English poet and playwright. He is best known for his verse dramas, especially '' The Lady's Not for Burning'', which made him a major force in theatre in the 1940s and 1950s. Biograp ...

's ''A Sleep of Prisoners;'' Seán O'Casey's ''I Knock at the Door'', ''Pictures in the Hallway'', and ''Cock-A-Doodle-Dandy;'' Charles Morgan's ''The River Line'' with Sada Thompson,

Beatrice Straight Beatrice Whitney Straight (August 2, 1914 – April 7, 2001) was an American theatre, film, television and radio actress and a member of the prominent Whitney family. She was both an Academy Award and Tony Award winner, as well as a Primetime Em ...

, and Peter Cookson; and

Tom Cole Thomas Jeffery Cole (born April 28, 1949) is the U.S. representative for , serving since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party and serves as the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Before serving in the House of Representati ...

's ''Medal of Honor Rag.'' The theater provided a home for such plays as

David Mamet David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, author, and filmmaker. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony Award, Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and ''Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first ...

's ''A Life in the Theater'',

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American playwright, actor, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned half a century. He wrote 58 plays as well as several books of short stories, essays, ...

's '' Buried Child'', and

Marsha Norman Marsha Norman (born September 21, 1947) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. She received the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play '' 'night, Mother''. She wrote the book and lyrics for such Broadway musicals as ''The S ...

's award-winning '' Getting Out''. On November 16, 1981, during the run of

Tommy Tune Thomas James Tune (born February 28, 1939) is an American actor, dancer, singer, theatre director, producer, and choreographer. Over the course of his career, he has won ten Tony Awards, the National Medal of Arts, and a star on the Hollywood Wal ...

's production of

Caryl Churchill Caryl Lesley Churchill (born 3 September 1938) is a British playwright known for dramatising the abuses of power, for her use of non- naturalistic techniques, and for her exploration of sexual politics and feminist themes.

's' ''Cloud Nine'', for which Tune won the Drama Desk Award for best director, the Theatre de Lys was renamed the Lucille Lortel Theatre. During the 1983/84 season, Lortel co-produced Michael Cristofer's ''The Lady and the Clarinet'' starring

Stockard Channing Stockard Channing (born Susan Antonia Williams Stockard; February 13, 1944) is an American actress. List of awards and nominations received by Stockard Channing, Her accolades include three Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and a nomination for an Acade ...

, followed by '' Woza Albert!'', which received an Obie Award. In 1985, she produced Win Wells' ''Gertrude Stein and a Companion'' starring Jan Miner and

Marian Seldes Marian Hall Seldes (August 23, 1928 – October 6, 2014) was an American actress. A five-time Tony Award nominee, she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for '' A Delicate Balance'' in 1967, and received subsequent nominations ...

in the roles they'd originated at the White Barn. ''Gertrude Stein and a Companion'' was recorded and broadcast on the Bravo US and Bravo Canadian television networks. It received the National Education Film and Video Award for historical biographies and an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

. Other plays presented at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in the 1980s included '' Not About Heroes''; Elisabeth Welch in ''Time To Start Living;'' The Acting Company's ''Orchards'' and ''Ten by Tennessee'', which were presented by arrangement with Lortel; and the hit '' Groucho: A Life in Revue'', which went on to play in London's West End. The decade ended with the hit production of ''

Steel Magnolias ''Steel Magnolias'' is a 1989 American comedy drama film directed by Herbert Ross and starring Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis, and Julia Roberts. The screenplay by Robert Harling is based on hi ...

'' which ran for 1,126 performances. In 1992, Lortel produced Larry Kramer's '' The Destiny of Me'' which received the 1993 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play Off-Broadway from the League of Off-Broadway Theatres and Producers. That same season, the theater was home to the

Circle Repertory Company The Circle Repertory Company, originally named the Circle Theater Company, was a theatre company in New York City that ran from 1969 to 1996. It was founded on July 14, 1969, in Manhattan, in a second floor loft at Broadway and 83rd Street by di ...

's production of ''The Fiery Furnace'', starring Julie Harris in her Off-Broadway debut. The theater housed her production of Jane Anderson's ''The Baby Dance'', as well as

's '' Lips Together, Teeth Apart'', and Nicholas Wright's ''Mrs. Klein'' (produced by Lortel) and Donald Margulies' '' Collected Stories'', both starring

Uta Hagen Uta Thyra Hagen (12 June 1919 – 14 January 2004) was a German-American actress and theatre practitioner. She originated the role of Martha in the 1962 Broadway premiere of '' Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' by Edward Albee, who called her "a ...

. On October 26, 1998, Lortel unveiled the Playwrights' Sidewalk at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in order to create a permanent tribute to playwrights whose work has been performed Off-Broadway. As part of the Lucille Lortel Awards each year, one playwright is inducted to the sidewalk, having their name engraved into one of the bronze stars in front of the theater. She wanted the theater to continue after her death, so in 1999 transferred the Lucille Lortel Theatre to the Lucille Lortel Theatre Foundation, establishing a new policy of booking only

not-for-profit A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a Legal Entity, legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives. While not-for-profit organizations and Nonprofit organ ...

productions.

ANTA Matinee Series

During the mid-1950s, the board of directors for the American National Theater and Academy (this organization eventually evolved into the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

) was interested in creating a repertory theater of national standing. Lortel, then a member of the ANTA board, and feeling somewhat frustrated by the success of the ''Threepenny Opera'' (because she wanted to bring more plays into her theater), persuaded ANTA to instead support a matinee series as a "laboratory for innovation" based on the model of the work she was doing at the White Barn Theatre. With the board's approval, Lortel opened the ANTA Matinee Series in the spring of 1956 at the Theatre de Lys. She served as the artistic director of the series and was committed to presenting a program free of commercial influence. Plays were chosen for the Matinee Series without regard for popular appeal, and no financial benefit was claimed if commercial interest did develop in the course of a production. The series was presented every Tuesday afternoon and ran for twenty years. Two productions that began in the Matinee Series went on to the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy:

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three ...

' ''I Rise In Flame Cried The Phoenix'' and Meade Roberts' ''Maidens and Mistresses at Home in the Zoo'', the latter of which also played Off-Broadway. Other significant productions of the ANTA Matinee Series included

in ''Lovers, Villains, and Fools'';

in ''Two Stories by Oscar Wilde: The Birthday of the Infanta'' and '' The Happy Prince''; Siobhán McKenna in an experimental production of ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

'';

Peggy Wood Mary Margaret Wood (February 9, 1892 – March 18, 1978) was an American actress of stage, film, and television. She is best remembered for her performance as the title character in the CBS Television show, television series ''Mama (American TV ...

in G.B. Shaw's '' Candida''; a dramatic recital by

Sybil Thorndike Dame Agnes Sybil Thorndike, Lady Casson (24 October 18829 June 1976) was an English actress whose stage career lasted from 1904 to 1969. Trained in her youth as a concert pianist, Thorndike turned to the stage when a medical problem with her h ...

and

Lewis Casson Sir Lewis Thomas Casson (26 October 187516 May 1969) was an English actor and theatre director, and the husband of actress Dame Sybil Thorndike.Devlin, DianaCasson, Sir Lewis Thomas (1875–1969) ''The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' ...

(married in real life); Walter Abel,

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his mellifluous baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s and gave a memor ...

and Cathleen Nesbitt in ''An Afternoon of Poetry''; and

Orson Bean Orson Bean (born Dallas Frederick Burrows; July 22, 1928 – February 7, 2020) was an American film, television, and stage actor and comedian. He was a game show and talk show host and a "mainstay of Los Angeles’ small theater scene." He ...

in ''A Round with Ring''.

Other projects

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

*Beginning in 1960, Lortel began a series of presentations at the

which included: Seán O'Casey's ''Time To Go''; Conrad Aiken's ''The Coming Forth by Day of Osiris Jones'' and ''The Kid'';

's ''The Shepherd's Chameleon'';

's ''Fam and Yam''; Anouilh's ''Medea'';

Margaret Webster Margaret Webster (March 15, 1905 – November 13, 1972) was an American-British theater actress, theatrical producer, producer and theatre direction, director. Critic George Jean Nathan described her as "the best director of the plays of Sha ...

's ''The Brontes'';

Mark Van Doren Mark Van Doren (June 13, 1894 – December 10, 1972) was an American poet, writer and critic. He was a scholar and a professor of English at Columbia University for nearly 40 years, where he inspired a generation of influential writers and thin ...

's ''The Last Days of Lincoln''; Donald Hall's ''An Evening's Frost''; Norman Rosten's ''Come Slowly Eden;'' Ring Lardner's ''A Round with Ring''; P.J. Barry's ''Heritage''; Robert Glenn's adaptation of

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck ( ; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social percep ...

's '' The Long Valley''; Tom Rothfield's ''Chekhov in Love''; and, in 1984, Lortel's production of

's new plays '' Ohio Impromptu'', ''Catastrophe'', and ''What Where'', directed by Alan Schneider, which she later presented at the 1985

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of Arts festival, arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the ...

and in London. Broadway *On Broadway, Lortel produced Seán O'Casey's ''I Knock at the Door'' at the Belasco Theatre (1957), was associate producer of the acclaimed revival of

' ''

A Streetcar Named Desire ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of pe ...

'' at the St. James Theatre in 1973, and, after its premiere at the White Barn Theatre, produced

's '' Angels Fall'' at the

Longacre Theatre The Longacre Theatre is a Broadway theater at 220 West 48th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1913, it was designed by Henry B. Herts and is named for Longacre Square, the former ...

, where it was nominated for a 1983

Tony Award for Best Play The Tony Award for Best Play (formally, an Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre) is an annual award given to the best new (non-musical) play on Broadway, as determined by Tony Award voters. There was no award in the Tonys' first year ...

. She co-produced the Broadway production of ''

'', which won the

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards are among the most esteemed honors in New York theater, recognizing outstanding achievements across Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions within the same categories. The awards are considered a signific ...

for Best Play. ''As Is'' was also nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play. In 1986, Lortel received her third Tony Award nomination for Best Play for

's ''

''. *In 1988, Lortel received Tony Award nominations for producer in both the Best Musical and Best Play categories. She co-produced (with

Lincoln Center Theater The Vivian Beaumont Theater is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater in the Lincoln Center complex at 150 West 65th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Operated by the nonprofit Lincoln Center Theater (LCT ...

) the Best Musical nominee '' Sarafina!'', Mbongeni Ngema's play about

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

. Her production of '' A Walk in the Woods'' by Lee Blessing, which starred

Sam Waterston Samuel Atkinson Waterston (born November 15, 1940) is an American actor. Waterston is known for his work in theater, television, and film. He has received numerous accolades including a Primetime Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actor ...

and

Robert Prosky Robert Prosky (born Robert Joseph Porzuczek, December 13, 1930 – December 8, 2008) was an American actor. He became a well-known supporting actor in the 1980s with his roles in ''Thief (1981 film), Thief'' (1981), ''Christine (1983 film), Chris ...

, was the Best Play nominee and was chosen during its Broadway run to do a special performance at the

for an audience that included members of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

and

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

, then- Secretary of State George P. Shultz, Russian Ambassador Yuri Dubynin, and members of the foreign diplomatic corps while the Senate was in session debating ratification of the INF Treaty prior to the Moscow Summit. In November 1988, Lortel co-produced the London opening of ''A Walk in the Woods'', starring Sir Alec Guinness and Edward Herrmann. The international production of ''A Walk in the Woods'' continued when Lortel took the Broadway company to the Soviet Union, where it opened in Moscow at the Pushkin Drama Theatre on May 19, 1989, and then went on to the Drama Theatre of Vilnius, Lithuania.

*While producing at her own theater, Lortel continued to produce at other Off-Broadway theatres. Highlights include her productions of ''The Beckett Plays'' at the Harold Clurman Theatre and '' Rockaby'' starring Billie Whitelaw at the Samuel Beckett Theatre on Theatre Row during the 1983/84 season. These productions were given a special citation by the

New York Drama Critics' Circle The New York Drama Critics' Circle is made up of 23 drama critics from daily newspapers, magazines and wire services based in the New York City metropolitan area. The organization is best known for its annual awards for excellence in theater.Jon ...

. In 1996, Lortel produced ''Back on the Boulevard'' with Liliane Montevecchi at the Martin Kaufman Theatre. Education *Lortel established the Lucille Lortel Fund for New Drama at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

to support the production of new plays at the Yale Repertory Theater (the fund's premiere production was

August Wilson August Wilson (né Frederick August Kittel Jr.; April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) was an American playwright. He has been referred to as the "theater's poet of Black America". He is best known for a series of 10 plays, collectively called '' ...

's '' Fences''). She established the Lucille Lortel Fellowship in Playwriting at

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

in 1996.

Awards and honors

1950–1979 * Lortel received the Greater New York Chapter of ANTA Award and the National ANTA Award in 1950, 1961, and 1962 for "pioneering work fostering playwrights, directors, and actors." Her productions of ''The Threepenny Opera'' (1956), ''Guests of the Nation'' (1958), and ''The Balcony'' (1960) received Obie Awards. She received a special citation from the Obie Awards "for fostering and furthering the spirit of the theatrical experiment" (1958) and the first Margo Jones Award (1962) for "significant contribution to the dramatic art with hitherto unproduced plays."Margo Jones Award recipients
library.osu.edu; accessed May 24, 2014. * In 1975, the League of Off-Broadway Theatres and Producers presented her with a plaque citing her distinguished achievement. On the same occasion, the Hon. Abraham Beame, Mayor of the City of New York, presented Lortel with a certificate of appreciation, and New York City Council President Paul O'Dwyer signed a city proclamation citing Lucille Lortel for her cultural contributions to New York City. In January 1976, Lortel was honored by the state of Connecticut's Governor, Ella Grasso, for her efforts to promote the work of women playwrights on behalf of the United Nations' International Women's Year. In 1979, Lortel received the Villager Award for pioneering spirit in Off-Broadway. 1980s * On September 29, 1980, at an Actors' Fund benefit gala celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Theatre de Lys, Lortel was presented with a Certificate of Merit from the City of New York, and the theatre was renamed Lucille Lortel's Theatre de Lys. On April 6, 1981, the

Museum of the City of New York The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) is a history and art museum in Manhattan, New York City, New York. It was founded by Henry Collins Brown, in 1923Beard, Rick. "Museum of the City of New York" in to preserve and present the history ...

honored her with an exhibition proclaiming her "The Queen of Off-Broadway" (a title first given to her in 1962 by Richard Coe of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''). The exhibit inaugurated the Lucille Lortel Theatre Gallery in permanent recognition of her contribution to the theatre. * Lortel received the Double Image Theatre Award in December 1981, and in March 1982 she was given the American Theatre Hall of Fame's Arnold Weissberger Award. * The 38th volume of

Theatre World ''Theatre World'' is an annual United States, American theatre pictorial and statistical print publication. It includes Broadway theatre, Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, and Regional theater in the United States, regional theatre, nation ...

is dedicated "To Lucille Lortel whose vibrant spirit and untiring efforts have made immeasurable contributions to all components of the theatre by discovering and encouraging new talents, and whose devotion to Off-Broadway provided the impetus for its proliferation." In 1983, Lortel was presented with a special scroll signed by all the members of the

American Theatre Wing The American Theatre Wing (the Wing for short) is a New York City–based non-profit organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre", according to its mission statement. Originally known as the Stage Women's War Relief ...

, and her caricature was placed among other theatrical luminaries on the wall at

Sardi's Sardi's is a continental restaurant located at 234 West 44th Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue, in the Theater District of Manhattan, New York City. Sardi's opened at its current location on March 5, 1927. It is known for the caric ...

. * In 1985, she received the first annual Lee Strasberg Lifetime Achievement in Theatre Award during the 30th Anniversary celebration of the Lucille Lortel Theatre. At

, Lortel established "The Lucille Lortel Fund For New Drama", an endowment that supports the production of new theatre works. In honor of her support of new playwrights and drama,

Yale Repertory Theatre Yale Repertory Theatre at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut was founded by Robert Brustein, dean of Yale School of Drama, in 1966, with the goal of facilitating a meaningful collaboration between theatre professionals and talented stud ...

's Artistic Director Lloyd Richards presented Lortel with the framed, autographed artwork for the program of

's '' Fences'', which was the first play to be nurtured by her fund for new drama. ''Fences'' became the most honored Broadway play in history (at that point), winning the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

, four Tony Awards, as well as Drama Desk, New York Drama Critics Circle and Theatre World Awards. Also in May 1985, Lortel received an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from the

University of Bridgeport The University of Bridgeport (UB or UBPT) is a private university in Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States. The university is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. In 2021, the university was purchased by Goodwin Unive ...

. In June 1985, critic

Clive Barnes Clive Alexander Barnes (13 May 1927 – 19 November 2008) was an English writer and critic. From 1965 to 1977, he was the dance and theater critic for ''The New York Times'', and, from 1978 until his death, the ''New York Post''. Barnes had sign ...

presented Lortel with the 1985 Special Theatre World Award for her continuing discovery and encouragement of new talent. * In 1986, the League of Off-Broadway Theatres and Producers established the Lucille Lortel Awards in her name to honor outstanding productions and individual achievements in each current Off-Broadway season. (For a complete listing of recipients please go to www.lortelawards.com.) In November 1986, The Players Club saluted Lortel as "The First Lady of Off-Broadway" in a special evening presided over by

José Ferrer José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón (January 8, 1912 – January 26, 1992) was a Puerto Ricans, Puerto Rican actor and director of stage, film and television. He was one of the most celebrated and esteemed Hispanic and Latino Americans, Hi ...

with

Joseph Papp Joseph Papp (born Joseph Papirofsky; June 22, 1921 – October 31, 1991) was an American theatrical producer and director. Papp is a pioneering figure in American theater, known for creating Shakespeare in the Park, which aimed to make classi ...

acting as Master of Ceremonies. Lortel (along with Colleen Dewhurst and others) was honored by the

Women's Project WP Theater (formerly known as Women's Project Theater) is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater based in New York City. It is the nation's oldest and largest theater company dedicated to developing, producing and promoting the work of Women+ theat ...

with an Exceptional Achievement Award and by the Catholic Actors Guild with the George M. Cohan Award. * In May 1987,

Fairfield University Fairfield University is a private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1942. In 2023, the university had about 5,000 full-time undergraduate students and 1,200 gra ...

bestowed an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters upon Lortel in recognition of her pioneering the cause of new drama and its artists. She became the first resident of Westport to be honored by the Connecticut Commission on the Arts when she was presented with the 1987 Connecticut Arts Award recognizing her distinguished career as an actress, producer and artistic director. * The Lucille Lortel Theatre Collection, an archive of theatrical history and personal memorabilia, donated by Lortel, is on permanent exhibition at the Westport Public Library. This exhibition includes the 1988

presented to her as Executive Producer of the teleplay ''Gertrude Stein and a Companion''. * On April 10, 1989, the Graduate Center of the

City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...

inaugurated The Lucille Lortel Distinguished Professorial Chair in Theatre, the first theatre chair to be named for a woman, and later in the spring she was honored by The New York Public Library as a Lion of the Performing Arts, a distinctive group of people whose work is well represented in the vast collections on dance, music, and theatre in The Performing Arts Research Center at Lincoln Center. Honors continued to come Lortel's way with receipt of a plaque from The New England Theatre Conference in November 1989. 1990s * In 1990 Lortel was inducted into the

American Theater Hall of Fame The American Theater Hall of Fame was founded in 1972 in New York City. The first head of its executive committee was Earl Blackwell. In an announcement in 1972, he said that the new ''Theater Hall of Fame'' would be located in the Uris Theatre, ...

along with Joseph Papp and Lloyd Richards; and was given the rarely presented Actors Fund Medal of Honor during ceremonies at "The Lucille Lortel Off-Off-Broadway" Theatre located in the Actors' Fund Extended Care Facility in

Englewood, New Jersey Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from portions of Ridgefield Township and the remaining portions of Engle ...

. * Lortel was honored on May 20, 1991 with a reception in Governor

Lowell Weicker Lowell Palmer Weicker Jr. (; May 16, 1931 – June 28, 2023) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the 85th Governor of Connecticut. Weicker unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for presi ...

's residence in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

, on the occasion of the establishment of the White Barn Theatre Museum. * A major exhibition of her theatrical memorabilia entitled "The Theatres of Lucille Lortel" was shown in the Vincent Astor Gallery of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center from October 21, 1991, through January 4, 1992. * Honorary Lifetime Membership in the New England Theatre Conference was conferred upon Lortel on November 9, 1991, "in recognition of her outstanding contribution to theatre in New England, the country, and the world". * On February 27 and 29, 1992, Lortel received back-to-back honors—she was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award from The Christophers in New York and the Kennedy Center Medallion from the American College Theatre Festival in a ceremony at Fairfield University. * Shivaun O'Casey, daughter of Seán O'Casey, and Artistic Director of The O'Casey Theatre Company, presented the first Seán O'Casey Award to Lortel on June 22, 1992 "in honor of all her work for the theatre, for the writers and the artists, and for her many productions (15) in this country of Sean's early as well as later works". * On May 6, 1993, Lortel received the Drama League's annual "Unique Contribution to Theatre"

Award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award may be d ...

, and later that month, in the company of

Ralph Ellison Ralph Waldo Ellison (March 1, 1913 – April 16, 1994) was an American writer, literary critic, and scholar best known for his novel '' Invisible Man'', which won the National Book Award in 1953. Ellison wrote '' Shadow and Act'' (1964), a co ...

and Andrew Heiskell, was the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from the City University of New York during the annual commencement of the Graduate School and University Center at Town Hall. * The September 1993, Greenwood Press (Westport, Connecticut) publication of ''Lucille Lortel: A Bio-Bibliography'' by Sam McCready was celebrated with book parties at the Westport Public Library and at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center where a permanent tribute to her career is on display in the Lucille Lortel Room of the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive (since November 1990, the home and viewing facility for TOFT's collection of more than 2000 tapes of Broadway, Off-Broadway and regional theatre productions). * On Saturday, October 5, 1996, Lortel was a member of the first group of individuals (including Bella Abzug,

Ed Koch Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989. Koch was a lifelong Democrat who ...

and

Leontyne Price Leontyne Price ( born Mary Violet Leontine Price February 10, 1927) is an American spinto soprano who was the first African-American soprano to receive international acclaim. From 1961 she began a long association with the Metropolitan Opera. ...

) to be inducted into the Greenwich Village Hall of Fame. The 14th Annual Helen Hayes Award was presented to Miss Lortel by Hayes' son, James MacArthur, on Monday, November 26, 1996. The exhibition on her career, "The Queen of Off-Broadway" (displayed in the White Barn Theatre Museum in 1996), was mounted in the lobby of the

Miller Theatre Miller Theatre at Columbia University is located on the Morningside Heights, Manhattan, Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University. It is a performing arts producer dedicated to developing and presenting new music. Originally named the ...

on the

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

campus during February 1997, at the Westport Historical Society's Wheeler House in conjunction with the June 28 cabaret evening that honored Lortel and the 50th Anniversary of the White Barn Theatre. * On November 17, 1997, playwright

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...

delivered the first Lucille Lortel Lecture on Playwriting at

Columbia University School of the Arts The Columbia University School of the Arts (also known as School of the Arts or SoA) is the fine arts graduate school of Columbia University in Morningside Heights, New York (state), New York. It offers Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degrees in Film, ...

. The Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute honored Lortel in December with plaques installed in the New York and Los Angeles schools commemorating "her vision and generosity in making possible the preservation of the

Lee Strasberg Lee Strasberg (born Israel Strassberg; November 17, 1901 – February 17, 1982) was an American acting coach and actor. He co-founded, with theatre directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed ...

Lecture Archives". She received the League of Professional Theatre Women/NY's Lifetime Achievement Award at Sardi's on December 16, which was Lortel's 97th birthday. * On April 17, 1998, John Cardinal O'Connor presided over the dedication and unveiling of a plaque naming The Lucille Lortel Lobby of St. Clare's Hospital and Health Center at 415 West 51st Street in New York's Theatre District. Lucille Lortel 800

Death

On April 4, 1999, Lortel died at the age of 98 after a brief hospitalization in Manhattan's Presbyterian Hospital. She is buried in Westchester Hills Cemetery in

Hastings-on-Hudson, New York Hastings-on-Hudson is a administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Westchester County located in the southwestern part of the administrative divisions of New York#Town, town of Greenburgh, New York, Greenburgh in the state of New Yo ...

References

Friends episode S3 Ep22 The theater is named after her.

External links

Lucille Lortel
biography at the Internet Off-Broadway Database * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lortel, Lucille 1900 births 1999 deaths American stage actresses American theatre managers and producers Burials at Westchester Hills Cemetery 20th-century American actresses Jewish American actresses Actresses from Manhattan People from the Lower East Side 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesswomen American people of Polish-Jewish descent Actresses from the Bronx 20th-century American Jews