Theatre Resource Programs
“Arts education at Ten Chimneys can be more than just an instrument to produce theatre professionals and audiences. It’s an opportunity to help develop human beings.” David Hawkanson, Guthrie Theatre
“What’s missing in this country is a sense of leadership on arts issues. Ten Chimneys could become the Camp David of the arts.” David O'Fallon, Minnesota Center for Arts Education
“The Lunts were not only great actors, but they were great human beings. And their home, Ten Chimneys, should be preserved and taken care of for all time because it speaks of graciousness, of wonderful work, of extraordinary effort and beauty. We need those memories to spur us on into the 21st century.” Julie Harris, A Home for the Arts™
Through our THEATRE RESOURCE PROGRAMS, an invitation is extended to all (profit and non-profit) theatres and established theatre-related organizations to utilize Ten Chimneys as a place to retreat, rejuvenate, and collaborate.
For decades, Ten Chimneys was a beacon to the theatre community. The “best of the best” from around the country were drawn to Ten Chimneys – and, upon arriving, were inspired. Ten Chimneys is reassuming its historic role as an important place for artistic creation, discussion, and leadership. Ten Chimneys Foundation is dedicated to being an inspirational resource to American theatre.
Theatres and theatre-related organizations interested in the possibility of hosting a program at Ten Chimneys are encouraged to contact Randy Bryant, President & CEO, at 262-968-4161 ×206 or rbryant@tenchimneys.org.
Examples of Past Theatre Resource Programs
Retreats:
A number of theatre-related organizations have held retreats at Ten Chimneys. These have included artistic retreats attached to specific productions and casts (e.g. Goodman Theatre, Victory Gardens Theatre ), as well as board and staff retreats, usually focused on long-range strategic planning (e.g. Chamber Theatre , Renaissance Theatreworks).
Creation of New Endeavors and Institutions:
Theatre Wisconsin, the statewide association of professional theatres, was “born” at Ten Chimneys. Leaders in Wisconsin’s theatre community had been trying to bring the State’s disparate groups together for many years. They communicated that having Ten Chimneys as a draw was integral to making the inaugural (planning) meeting finally happen, and that the historic context and inspirational power of Ten Chimneys made a real impact on the positive outcome of the gathering.
Conferences:
The League of Chicago Theatres brought leaders from the top institutions in Chicago to strategize on how to strengthen the future of Chicago theatre, Theatre Wisconsin held a successful conference for Trustees of theatres in Wisconsin, and UW-Milwaukee’s PTTP and leaders in the Wisconsin theatre community gathered to have a candid discussion about the challenges and future of the PTTP.
Workshopping New Productions:
The Chicago Humanities Festival workshopped and performed Noël & Alfred & Lynn (starring Rosemary Harris), Renaissance Theatreworks workshopped Red Pepper Jelly II, and UW-Milwaukee’s PTTP workshopped and performed Beloved Celestials.
Educational Programs:
The National Endowment for the Arts held its New Career Development Program at Ten Chimneys, and Theatre Communications Group held its New Initiatives Program here. Both are major educational projects of the respective organizations, focusing on the next generations of theatre professionals (directors and administrators)
Representatives from the following organizations (among others) have participated in Theatre Resource Programs:
The Lunt-Fontanne Program Center
Through decades of collaboration, leadership, and mentoring, Ten Chimneys’ log cabin Studio impacted the course of 20th-century theatre and arts. In order to fulfill its mission to extend that tradition and maintain the integrity of the estate, Ten Chimneys Foundation developed the Lunt-Fontanne Program Center to serve as the “Studio for the 21st Century.”
The Lunt-Fontanne Program Center supports educational and artistic programs, including public tours, play readings, and lectures; permanent exhibitions; Theatre Resource Programs; and high school outreach tours.
In keeping with the Lunts’ love of the natural world, Ten Chimneys’ Program Center was designed to fit unobtrusively into the sloping hills of the land that inspired and rejuvenated the greats of 20th Century theatre. The thirty acres surrounding the Program Center remain a haven for lush flora and fauna. This land, in addition to the adjacent thirty-eight acre parcel the Lunts donated to the Town of Genesee as a nature preserve, is open to tour guests and program participants, walking in the footsteps of the Lunts, Katharine Hepburn, Noël Coward, Helen Hayes, and Laurence Olivier – among countless others.
While creating only a small footprint on the landscape across the road from the historic buildings of Ten Chimneys, the Lunt-Fontanne Program Center includes: a spacious lobby, engaging exhibitions, a large program hall, a museum store, and other gracious amenities. It also provides museum archives for an expanding collection and staff offices to support the Foundation’s ongoing operations.