Lexington Conservatory Theatre
"[4] "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.
In 1974, Evelyn Weisberg, owner of Lexington House, met Bouchard and fellow actor Kate Kelly while operating a local educational theatre program.
Cabaret star Julie Wilson held a fundraiser for the company in a downtown Manhattan loft, netting $7,000 in seed funding for the organization.
[7] 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.
[10] 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[11][12] 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.
[17] In 1977, LCT featured Earful, a concert series by Joseph Lyons and future Dream Theater star Jordan Rudess.
[19][20] 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.
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.
"[31][32][33] In October 1980, amidst circulating rumors, executive director Michael Van Landingham announced that the theatre would not return to Lexington House and instead move permanently to Albany.
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.
[36] 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.
