New London Barn Playhouse

We have been vacationing for years R and always try to grab tickets to at least a few productions. The barnyard does and excellent job of combining professional productions while retaining the small town charm that makes it unique. While necessity means scaling back some of the sets and rearranging the staging they make it work every time. Tonight we saw the sound of music. Of course it’s hard to follow up to a mega movie musical and I have seen this on Broadway but these talented actors and actresses put their own stamp on the role and will have your standing giving them their due before they are through. The usual star roles of Matia, the Captain and the Abbess were outstanding. The surprise standout for me was Leisl played by Mackenzie Dade, top shelf! hats of to the cast and thank you all for a fabulous feel good evening!

Wow. Wow. Wow. We don’t expect much when we walked in. Five minutes into their show, I know why they are sold out for the week. You feel like you are on the Broadway big production. From actors, actress, costumes, props and sets, they are going for the real deal. We would like to see them again if we could score another hard-​to-​find tickets.

The Barn Playhouse hasn’t had any Unilocal love in a couple of years, and it’s past due now. We recently saw the new production of Monty Python’s «Spamalot,» and it was hilariously silly good fun. The cast is excellent, a couple of Equity actors and some talented interns, and they prove that, like Broadway people, they «can sing and dance, sometimes at the same time.» The choreography and costumes are delightfully done, and the result is a rousing, laugh-​filled successful staging of an award-​winning Broadway musical. That specific show aside, the Barn Playhouse is a reasonably comfortable place to savor good summer rep. The seats are pretty comfy though a bit close together (we“ve experienced tighter conditions on and off-​Broadway), and everything is close to the stage. There is a balcony overhang that limits some viewing at the rear of the auditorium, and we’d suggest getting as close to the front as possible. The staff is smilingly helpful, and ticket prices are quite worth the value of the shows.

The New London Barn Playhouse is top notch when it comes to live theatre! They have an awesome series of shows each summer — primarily musical theatre productions, plus at least 2 plays. The Barn players are primarily young interns — recent college graduates or current college students who are majoring in theatre or musical theatre, from schools with exceptional reputations for their programs (Dartmouth, The Hartt School, CCM, and Baldwin Wallace, to name a few). These young people not only act in the productions, but they also design and construct the sets and costumes for each production. Equity actors from NYC are also featured in productions from time to time.
The New London Barn itself is the oldest, continuously operating Summer Stock theater in New Hampshire, a distinction which has gained it inclusion in the state’s Register of Historic Places. Shows have been produced at the Barn since 1934, and many «Barnies» who got their start at this theatre have gone on to great acclaim in the entertainment business — Sandy Dennis, Steven Schwartz (famed composer of Godspell, Pippin, Wicked served as the Playhouse’s Musical Director in the 1960s), Judy Kuhn (the original Cosette in Les Miserables on Broadway) and more!
We have traveled to New London to see productions a number of times, and have never been disappointed. In previous seasons, we have seen «Godspell», «Evita», «Thoroughly Modern Millie», «My Fair Lady», «Fiddler on the Roof», and this year saw «Carousel». Every show was extremely professional in every way and we highly recommend a visit to the Barn for a show if you are in the area — you will be wowed!