The Boothbay Playhouse

About Us:

The Boothbay Playhouse traces its origins to 1937, when H. Osgood Lacount purchased the Jasper Wyman farm on Route 27 and in April of that year H. Sherman, contractor, began construction. The theater could seat more than 300 and incorporated many features unusual for summer theater at that time including fly space, a pin rail, an elaborate trap-door section in the stage and large doors at the rear of the stage that could be rolled back to allow the outdoors to become a part of the performance. At the time the Boothbay Playhouse was considered one of the best designed summer theaters in New England. Lacount's son, Sherwood Keith Lacount, and Joseph Celi, both from Massachusetts, opened the theater on July 1, 1937 with Eugene O'Neil's Ah Wilderness. Except for the years 1943 and 1944, the theater operated under the direction of Sherwood Keith and during his last few seasons as producer, community theater groups from around New England were brought in to perform.

In 1956 the Playhouse was sold to Franklyn Lenthall, Jill McAnney and James Wilmot and they opened on July 2 of that year with the play The Reluctant Debutante by William Douglas Home. In 1964 Lenthall and Wilmot purchased the financial interest of Jill McAnney and renovated the building and grounds, adding a new wing housing public restrooms, a refreshment area and rehearsal space. They ran the Playhouse with a company of resident professional actors, and many young actors would spend a summer at the Playhouse before continuing on to successful careers in television and film.... Christopher Reeve, Tom Hulse, Maeve McGuire and Polly Holliday to name only a few. The Playhouse season extended nine weeks each summer with a different show presented each week and, as the Artistic Director, Lenthall directed over 172 plays. However the cost of running the theater became too much for Lenthall and Wilmot. They closed the 37th season of the Boothbay Playhouse on August 31, 1974 with Finishing Touches by Jean Kerr.

After 1974, the Playhouse saw several ownership changes. At various different times it was run as a restaurant, a rental venue for weddings and parties, "Miss Daisy's Petting Zoo", and a locally infamous bar/nightclub. During this time the theater seats were removed, the floor was leveled and the actors dressing rooms in the basement under the stage were converted into stalls. Each time the Playhouse changed hands a little more of its 'theater ambiance' was lost. Then in 2001 the Y-Arts Youth Chorus, an arts extension of the local YMCA, began renting the Playhouse for their musical theater productions and concerts. Constructing a temporary stage each time they performed, ducking through storeroom doorways to enter and exit the stage, and running around the outside of the building to make an entrance from the other side of the stage, it was makeshift to say the least. But it was also the start of a re-awakening of community interest in the Playhouse as a theater venue. In November of 2005, Dean and Susan Domeyer purchased the Playhouse and began renovations to return the space to its original purpose. A new permanent stage was constructed, with wing space and access to both sides of the stage. Tiered seating for the audience improved sightlines, and a new green room and dressing rooms were constructed for the actors. Using both community players and young professionals just starting their careers, the Boothbay Playhouse celebrated its re-opening on June 2, 2006.