Theater Excellence
New London Barn Playhouse Theater Excellence
The New London Barn Playhouse has a proven track record of success. We celebrate our achievements and aspire to do more. We are on the cusp of becoming a leading performing arts and education center in New England while continuing to serve our patrons, partners, and the greater community.
With new buildings and facilities now in place our sights are set on achieving Theater Excellence through these key strategies:
Best Performances & Top Talent
Produce the best performances throughout the year by investing to retain our valued and respected staff. Attract first-rate actors, directors, choreographers, designers, and production talent. Expand year-round performances, programs, and unique offerings.
Exceptional & Accessible Education
Be valued as the region’s leading source for the full spectrum of theater education. Enrich our community’s lives through the theater arts and ensure education programs are available to all who are interested through outreach and scholarships.
Financial Sustainability & Growth
Broaden a financial model that guarantees long term sustainability and growth; ensure the Barn Playhouse remains a community focused, cultural hub for future generations
Best Performances & Top Talent
The New London Barn Playhouse has a long, distinguished history of success. The Barn has received the coveted New England Theater Conference Moss Hart Award for Theatrical Excellence and has been nominated for over 100 New Hampshire Theater Awards in the past 10 years.
Over the decades we’ve been entertained by many talented, young artists. We are fortunate to see the early careers of these remarkable actors, including standouts like:
• Ciara Renée (’10) starred as Elsa in Frozen on Broadway;
• Kennedy Caughell (‘11) starring as lead role for Beautiful on Broadway and the National Tour;
• Allison Bailey (’13) and Talia Suskauer (’15) starring as the lead roles in the National Tour of Wicked ;
• Colton Ryan (’14), Tony Nominee and appearances on Broadway, Television, and Film.
We will bring these and other “Barnies” back to perform with us in the future. Last summer we featured Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, with Kennedy Caughell, a wonderful example of attracting national talent and delivering Theater Excellence.
The 2024 season includes performances of Jersey Boys and Rent – two of the most celebrated shows in Broadway history.
We continue to expand our shoulder and off-season (Sept.-May) performances. As an example, in the spring of 2024 we presented South Pacific in concert in collaboration with Symphony NH.
However, production costs for regional theaters across the country have risen significantly because of inflation and labor market issues. Licensing fees for top shows are a significant investment. COVID led to nationwide staff turnover, so both recruitment and retention costs have risen. As the industry works toward a more equitable compensation solution, the cost of hiring, retaining, and producing steadily goes up. We have experienced this firsthand as we begin to struggle to attract top talent for certain positions. Our reputation and goodwill help us greatly, but it will not be enough going forward.
“ The Barn is a fantastic place to work and learn, and I would never have had the life or career I’ve had without it!”
~ Stephen Schwartz Composer of Wicked, Godspell, Pippin and others.
Solution
• Attract top talent to deliver excellent performances – actors, directors, choreographers, designers, production, and others.
• Continue to offer the summer theater shows you know and love, but build on that success by exploring and expanding other performances and programs (e.g., Singer/Songwriter nights, Performing Arts Presentations, Film Festivals, National Theatre).
• Provide competitive compensation and benefit packages to attract and retain top talent and staff included.
• Deliver premium performances by investing in licensing fees – higher-quality, popular shows are typically more expensive to license.
• Expand our outreach and enrichment events by offering more free events, open houses, or low cost performances and programs thus ensuring the cultural arts are available to everyone who has an interest.
• Build our NEST program through seed money and partnerships to develop new, innovative theatrical works; create an annual“incubator for new and unique work” at the Barn Playhouse.
• Develop further partnerships and collaborations like South Pacific in Concert with Symphony NH.
Exceptional & Accessible Education
One of the new additions to our repertoire of programming is the extraordinary educational options we now offer to the greater community. We not only want to raise the visibility of our education classes and programs, but also provide needed funding for further expansion of these proven and successful programs.
Our educational program has grown significantly due to the quality of instruction and leadership. Over 300 students enrolled in year-round education programs in 2023, we served almost 5,000 audience members, and served students from 67 different towns. The 2022 Fall Tour production was attended by over 1,000 audience members at Kearsarge Regional High School and Elementary School, Sutton Central
In 2023, the Barn Playhouse Summer Camp program expanded from 7 to 8 weeks, was fully enrolled, and required additional staffing and space rental. Enrollment for 2024 continues to be strong. This spring 53 students auditioned for the Junior Intern program representing an increase of 60% from 2023.
We spend $18,000 on scholarships, and there were 40 requests last year, double from the previous year. And, very importantly, we want to ensure this scholarship process is easy and fully accessible – so our policy is simple: If you request a scholarship you get it, no forms or financial material required. Everyone should have access to theater education.
Elementary, Windy Hill Preschool, Newport Opera House, and Woodcrest Living.
e continue to focus on expanding outreach as funding allows. In the spring of 2024 we piloted a transportation program driving students to and from rehearsal. This allowed new students from Warner, Sutton, and Newport to participate. We will continue the program by busing students from TLC in Claremont to attend Junior Intern performances.
Solution
• Support a year-round Education Associate to expand our program. Some specific examples include: Establish more consistent weekly children’s classes (dance, voice, improv troupe), establish more consistent weekly adult classes (acting, play writing, improv troupe).
• Expand community outreach by increasing the number of scholarships and building our transportation program (we applied for a grant for a department van, but also need maintenance support).
• Build on the Barn’s successful outreach “Improv for Caregivers” program to include the nationally praised high school program “Improv for Bystanders”.
• Develop a series of theatre workshops that bring together students with and without disabilities. The events will take place in New London, Newport, and Claremont. They will serve as pilot workshops to gauge an interest for future programing.
• Bring in acclaimed educational instructors to support a variety of classes and programs throughout the year.
• Offer more plays (vs. primarily musicals) as a different outlet for students. Plays are not typically as lucrative as musicals but can attract new students and provide opportunity for more specialized acting training.
Financial Sustainability & Growth
There is a crisis happening in America’s theaters as they struggle to recover after the pandemic. Regional theaters are staging fewer shows, giving fewer performances, laying off staff, and in some cases, closing down. There is less theater in America these days. “We’re seeing two to three organizations closing a month right now,” said Greg Reiner, the director of theater and musical theater at the National Endowment for the Arts.
At the New London Barn Playhouse, we are so thankful for our loyal patrons, partners, and strong community support. The crisis has not hit us as hard as many other theaters – but it has still hit us. When we closed due to COVID for a few weeks during the summer of 2022, it depleted our reserve funds. Since then we have tried to cut costs and search for new revenue streams.
In 2024 we increased ticket prices to help off-set some of these cost increases. But this is a shortterm solution and we do not want to increase the price of tickets significantly going forward. Our commitment is to make our shows accessible to everyone in the community.
To provide long term financial stability we are aggressively working on new funding sources. We contracted with a year-round grant writing consultant, are seeking new community partners and sponsorships, continue to explore new revenue and profit opportunities (onsite sale of beer and wine), and launched the ‘Bright Lights’ endowment program. Eventually these will help us provide the stability and growth we seek, but they take years to fully develop.
Solution
• Build a Sustaining Reserve Fund to ‘weather’ another pandemic, economic downturn, cover unexpected costs or revenue shortfalls, and sustain the fulfillment of our Mission and Vision.
• Continue to maintain and preserve our historic buildings and campus.
• Maintain competitive compensation to retain and attract top talent.
• Off-set rising inflation costs as needed until future new funding sources are in place.
New London Barn Playhouse Theater Excellence
In 2020-22 we invested in the campus by building new facilities and undertaking significant structural improvements. We now have an opportunity to capitalize on this momentum and invest in the future!
Theater Excellence Goal: $2 million
With your help we can ensure the Barn Playhouse remains dynamic and vibrant for the next generations – a community focused, cultural hub on Main Street. Invest in this unique, cherished treasure as we look forward to the next 90+ years!
The Barn Playhouse takes pride in investing in the performing arts and the greater community.
• During the summer season, we are the 3rd largest employer in New London with over 100 employees.
• Our summer theater, education, and other year-round performances and programs provide significant, life changing experiences for young artists.
• Participants gain important life skills that go beyond the performing arts… confidence, teamwork, communication, creative thinking, and problem solving.
• The skills our young people acquire from their time at the Barn Playhouse stay with them forever and give them the confidence to succeed in whatever career they pursue.
Legacy
The New London Barn Playhouse is the oldest continuously operating summer theater in New Hampshire, a distinction which has gained it inclusion in the state’s Register of Historic Places.
Since the summer of 1933 when Mrs. Josephine Etter Holmes established the New London Players of New Hampshire, the results have been outstanding. The New London Barn Playhouse’s strong reputation as a leading regional theater has resulted in numerous awards and commendations.
Theater Excellence
Brochure Design: Sarah Beabout.
Photo credits: Maxfield Productions, Mark Washburn Photography, Ridgelight Studio, Sage Tokach, Mulberry Creek