Arvin

Arvin-and-Edgar team bolsters Long Wharf Essay More than 20 years since taking over the highest positions at New Havens Long Wharf Theatre, Arvin Brown and M. Edgar Rosenblum still share an office. Its not because they are required to. Since Brown became the theatres artistic director 25 years ago and Rosenblum joined him as executive director three years later, the two have seen the theatres facilities twice expanded. What began as a rabbit warren of offices with one performing space in 1965 is now a relatively expansive complex with rehearsal rooms, production shops, offices and two performing spaces. The fundamental things are now in place, 25 years later, Rosenblum says with hard-earned humor. What is apparent is that Brown and Rosenblums shared space is as fundamental as the cement blocks and beams supporting the walls of Long Wharfs theatres the literal manifestation of their ability to work elbow-to-elbow and provide a different sort of foundation for the distinguished company. These two Connecticut Jews, theyre really this sort of married couple, says Gordon Edelstein, Long Wharfs associate director, who has staged plays at Long Wharf the past two seasons. They take vacations together with their wives. They go off to England, the fourt of them, as if theyre not bored together. I cant imagine it. On a recent winter evening, the two sit in their office, a sweater-clad Rosenblum in his familiar post at the offices only desk and a casually attired Brown sinking into one of two couches. This, Rosenblum later confides, is how they usually work. Both men appear slightly fatigued, but neither looks his age 51 in Browns case, 60 in Rosenblums. And neither, unless hes cheating, has been rendered fully gray by a quarter of a century in nonprofit theatre. It is the middle of a preview week for John Tillingers production of Adventures in the Skin Trade, and both men have been functioning as midwives, helping to create Tillingers ambitious, part-musical adaptation of Dylan Thomass unfinished work. Rosenblum has (as usual, according to his staff) been present throughout the technical and preview performance periods. A self-described techie, Rosenblum has no production manager on his staff, but instead directly oversees the production process. Brown, who is in the midst of directing a New York-bound, Joan Collins-fueled production of Private Lives, has managed to duck into rehearsals and run-throughs and tonight will see the show in its entirety. We just told somebody downstairs what this interview was about, Rosenblum says that we are the oldest living couple in the American theatre. Brown booms with laughter, as he often will at Rosenblums jibes, then adds, No, not quite. Thats Hume and Jessie, if youre talking couples. Rosenblum, in turn, breaks into a wide grin at the comparison to the venerable Cronyns. The exchange seems part of a long-running Arvin Edgar show, a spontaneous but utterly familiar pattern of play established by two friends who genuinely like and entertain each other. Apart from their obvious mutual affection, the heart of Brown and Rosenblums longevity as a team in the fraught world of nonprofit theatre seems to be a foundation of trust in the others talents and a large measure of contentment that each finds in his assigned role. I once directed a play, Rosenblum says, and it scared the life out of me. (Brown roars.) Ive always had a view that theres somebody over here whos an artistic director who has a vision of what the artistic product and process should be, and my job is to support that. I feel very powerful. I know thats a bad word, but I feel very powerful supporting that thing. That thing is, of course, the play or in this case, the play reason, which, by the admission of both men and staff members, is Browns province. Thats the hardest part of the job, says the director, who this year selected five plays for the 487-seat mainstage space and four for the 200-seat Stage II space. Its ultimately my responsibility, no matter what. I mean, I can have all the advisers in the world. Certainly Edgar has suggestions; Joey Tillinger works very closely with me on evolving the season, but in the long run, its my decision. I am judged by the program of plays as much as by any other factor. Newton Schenck, who was chairman of the board at Long Wharf for most of Browns tenure and now retains the position of board chairman emeritus, says the board stays out of season-planning decisions. We in no way tell Arvin what plays hes going to do, Schenck says. I dont suppose many artistic directors would stay at a theatre where the board dictated the artistic product. The only thing we have to be careful of is the budget, of course. We tell Arvin what we can afford, and he has to stay within that. Over the years, Long Wharf has produced 220 productions including 37 American premieres and 29 world premieres. In addition, more than 20 productions have been transferred to theatres on Broadway and Off Broadway. If subscription numbers reflect public endorsement of play choices and productions, then Brown has been judged favorably over the years. The theatres subscriptions grew to a high of 18,000 in the media-blitzed 1989-90 25th-anniversary season. That the number dropped this year to just over 16,000 is attributed, by Rosenblum, to the recession, which is proving especially fierce in New England. Comparison of Two Films EssayThere has been speculation over the years, generally in the context of a successful New York transfer, that both men might leave Long Wharf for what are perceived by some to be greener pastures. Brown and Rosenblum refute the notion. Its never been true, Brown says. No matter how inviting the opportunity, theres always been some way of incorporating it within the framework of what I do here. Also, ultimately, Id rather work here than anywhere else I mean I enjoy it more, which is what says it all in the long run. As curtain time approaches, Brown is joined by his wife, actress Joyce Ebert. They make a courteous withdrawl to join the audience in the house. The sounds of the settling crowd can be heard clearly through a speaker in the office wall. Rosenblum waits, his head cocked to listen. When the applause begins, he rises from his chair and, drawing a curtain away from a small window opposite his desk, watches the start of the play. This ones got some problems, he says, but we can fix it. ENTRANCES EXITS Irene Lewis, acting artistic director of Baltimores Center Stage for the past season, has been named artistic director. Lewis replaces Stan Wojewodsk Jr., who resigned last year when he was appointed to head the Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven, Conn. Lewis has been associated with Center Stage since 1980 as guest director and associate artist, and previously served as artistic director of the Philadelphia Drama Guild and associate director of the Hartford Stage Company in Connecticut. Lewis directed this seasons opening production at Center Stage, The Queen and the Rebels by Ugo Betti, and will helm Shakespeares Pericles and Moleires The Misanthrope later in the season. Richard Hamburger, artistic director of Maines Portland Stage Company since 1987, will resign to assume the artistic directorship at the Dallas Theater Center following the current season. Hamburgers 1990 production of Twelfth Night was Portlands inaugural Shakespeare production, and he recently directed Machiavellis The Mandrake for the company. He will helm the final play of the season, Jon Robin Baitzs The Substance of Fire, as a co-production with the Dallas Theater Center, where he first staged the play last winter. Dallas has been without an artistic director since the death of Ken Bryant in October, 1990. A search committee has been formed at Portland Stage to conduct a national search for Hamburgers successor. John Dillon, artistic director of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, has announced that he will resign to seek other artistic opportunities following the 1992-93 season. In his 15-year tenure at the theatre, Dillon has pioneered international exchange programs with companies around the world, expanded the Reps resident acting ensemble to include a variety fo artistic positions, and continually emphasized multi-racial and nontraditional casting. The Rep, a four-theatre complex, has formed a search committee to name Dillons successor. . . . Elizabeth Huddle will resign from Seattles Intiman Theatre Company following her seventh season as artistic director in December 1992. Huddle most recently directed A Midsummer Nights Dream for the theatre, which is currently co-producing its acclaimed production of The Kentucky Cycle with the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. A search committee has been formed to name her successor. The Idaho Shakespeare Festival has appointed Charles Fee artistic director. Fee is an actor, director and educator, and is currently artistic director of the Sierra Repertory Theatre in Sonora, Calif. . . . Michael Stotts has been named managing director of the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival. Stotts has been the Festivals general manager since October of last year, and previously served as company manager at the Manhattan Theatre Club . . . . Californias Marin Theatre Company has named Regina Lickteig managing director. Lickteig previously managed the PlayMakers Repertory Company in Chapel Hill, N.C. Kate C. Busch is the new director of development at Hartford Stage Company, where she will be responsible for government and community relations, long range planning and development of foundations and corporations. Busch previously served as executive director of the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York, a trade and service organization for the New York City nonprofit theatre. Canadas Stratford Festival has named Marti Maraden director of the 1992 Young Company, where she will be in charge of the training program and will direct the festivals summer production of Shakespeares The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Maraden has been affiliated with the festival for eight seasons as an actor and director . . . . Cora Mirikitani has been named program officer in culture at the Pew Charitable Trusts, a national philanthropy based in Philadelphia. Mirikitani has previously served as executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, managing director of the Japan America Theatre and, most recently, director of performing arts and film for the Japan Society. The International Theatre Institute Worldwide has reelected Martha W. Coigney for a third two-year term as president. Coigney, currently director of the U.S. Center of ITI, has been affiliated with the organization for 25 years . . . . Margaret Lioi, administrator of New Yorks Eleanor Naylor Dana Charitable Trust since 1989, has been appointed the foundations executive director.