Lexington Conservatory Theatre

Lexington Conservatory Theatre was an equity summer theatre company in the Catskills town of Lexington, New York. Co-founded in 1976 by a group of professional theatre artists including Oakley Hall III, Michael Van Landingham and Bruce Bouchard, the theatre operated for five seasons at the historic Lexington House, a former hotel turned artist retreat. Hall was seriously injured in a fall from a bridge during the summer of 1978. That summer and Hall's life in the aftermath of a traumatic brain injury were the subjects of the documentary The Loss of Nameless Things.

"...on par with the Woodstock, Williamstown and Berkshire playhouse troupes," summarized Fred LeBrun in the Albany Times Union in 1978, "but with an attitude all their own."

"Their productions roared with a full-throated vitality that's never since had a regional equal, and in their offstage life, troupe members indulged in carnal and intoxicating pursuits with comparable zeal," said critic Steve Barnes, decades later. "They were on a mission to change the world, like generations of young artists before and since."

Formation
Oakley Hall III, Michael van Landingham, Thomas Culp and Bruce Bouchard met while attended college at UC Irvine, working together on productions at Irvine Repertory Theatre and American Conservatory Theater. The group of friends eventually moved to New York City to continue their careers. In 1974, Evelyn Weisberg, owner of Lexington House, met Bouchard and fellow actor Kate Kelly while operating a local educational theatre program. Learning of the nascent theatre group forming in New York, Weisberg supported the formation of the group in 1975, inviting them to take residence at Lexington House and its surrounding facilities. After extensive work on the facility over the course of several summers, the nascent company of approximately 30 members held an open house on June 3, 1976 for the surrounding community, previewing their first season amid music and square dancing. Subscription rates were $10-$12.

The first season launched on July 8 with a production of Our Town. Photographer John Margolies visited the site that summer.

Leadership included executive director Michael Van Landingham, treasurer Thomas Culp, and artistic director Oakley Hall III, later briefly joined by Abraham Tetenbaum for the 1979 season

The facility at Lexington House included an art gallery, cabaret/bar, numerous smaller cabins and two 150-seat theatres, presenting a main stage season as well as numerous staged readings and developmental works. Tickets were sold via several subscription packages in addition to single ticket sales. When LCT opened in 1976, the Barn Theatre was the primary theatre space, outfitted with seats donated from Theatre 80 in Greenwich Village, NYC. In 1978, after extensive work by the company, the River Theatre opened with the production of A Streetcar Named Desire.

1976-1980 seasons
Over the course of its first three years, the organization had grown to include several simultaneous projects. In addition to the main summer series at Lexington, LCT produced PROVOS, a new play reading series, an Upstate Tour production series aimed at serving rural communities, and a League of Women Artists focused on developing theatre opportunities for women. Company members also taught a series of theatre classes to students ages 6–18.

The theatre also supported the development of original music. In 1976, the company helped launch the Sonora Music Festival in Lexington, which continued for several seasons. In 1977, LCT featured Earful, a concert series by Joseph Lyons and future Dream Theater star Jordan Rudess. Lyons served as the music director and Rudess as associate music director, composing and performing for several shows as well. On August 14, 1978, PBS affiliate WMHT broadcast a documentary about the theatre company as part of The Summer Show series. Hosted by Joan Lapp, the production interviewed cast and crew of the production of Monte Merrick's Nurseryland.

By its third season, the company had secured significant funding from the New York State Council on the Arts and was growing its reputation nationally, with attention from critic Brooks Atkinson. In 1978, the company won a regional theatre award from The Rockefeller Foundation. In 1979, the company received a $2,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for its new play development work, and in 1980, $4,000.





Move to Albany
In 1977, the company received a Whitney Foundation award to support the search for a city in which to develop a resident theatre company. A year later, LCT staff began visiting Albany to plan such a theatre, envisioning a downtown space for a 400-500 seat facility. On April 18, 1979, executive director Michael Van Landingham and artistic director Abraham Tetenbaum held a press conference at the EBA Dance Studio in Albany, NY. They announced that the company would form a theatre in downtown Albany that followed a fall-winter-spring season, to be known as Capital Repertory Company or "Capital Rep." While they had reviewed various buildings in search of a suitable facility, they had decided that refurbishing a non-theatre building into a 450-seat theatre was the most viable option. On April 19 and 20, the company presented a series of events called "The Break In", intended to orient the community to the theatre company and its work. The event included music and video presentations, a discussion with director Lev Shekhtman, and selections of scenes from past productions.

In March 1980, LCT produced The Tavern by George M. Cohan at the Egg Theatre in Albany, under the Capital Rep name. Directed by future producing artistic director Peter Clough, it starred company members Michael J. Hume, Court Miller, Janni Brenn, Patricia Charbonneau, Sofia Landon Geier and Steve Hytner. "The idea is to make Albany the hub of our operations," Van Landingham told The Knickerbocker News prior to opening night. "We want to construct a network of productions, centered here."

By October 1980, executive director Michael Van Landingham announced that the theatre would not return to Lexington House and instead move permanently to Albany. In December 1980, the group began its first full season as Capital Repertory Theatre at Page Hall in Albany.

Legacy
LCT helped launch the careers of several notable alumni, and produced numerous world premieres as well as development workshops for emerging writers, including playwrights such as Elizabeth Diggs, Paula Vogel, Peter Parnell, Monte Merrick, Wendy Kesselman and Kathleen Betsko.

The company's descendant, Capital Repertory Theatre, continues to produce a year-round season of productions, including a new play development program.

In 2004, the feature film documentary The Loss of Nameless Things debuted on the festival circuit and later was broadcast on the PBS series Independent Lens. It chronicled the history of the company and its founder, Oakley Hall III. The film sparked renewed interest in Hall's work as well as a biopic that was in development but never produced.

In 2022, photographer and documentary filmmaker Michael Bronfenbrenner published Lexington Through the Lens, a photographic recollection of the company.

Notable alumni

 * Patricia Charbonneau
 * Steve Hytner
 * Lev Shekhtman
 * John Griesemer
 * Richard E. Council
 * Cotter Smith
 * Richard Zobel
 * Court Miller
 * Sofia Landon Geier
 * James Rebhorn
 * Kit Flanagan
 * Jordan Rudess
 * Mark Nelson

World premieres

 * Frankenstein by Oakley Hall III
 * Lazarus' Cue by Mariquita Platov
 * Nurseryland by Monte Merrick
 * The Revengers adapted by William C. Sandwick and Philip Soltanoff, music composed by Philip Soltanoff
 * Beatrice (Cenci) and the Old Man by Oakley Hall III
 * The Prevalence of Mrs. Seal by Otis Bigelow
 * Grinder's Stand by Oakley Hall III
 * Arlecchino Undone by Christopher Ceraso
 * Close Ties by Elizabeth Diggs

In addition to the company's summer productions, LCT also produced plays in New York City, Off and Off-Off Broadway.