Foundering is fun at the Long Wharf

LONG WHARF FOUNDERS AWARD RECIPIENTS CHARLES KINGSLEY (PARTNER IN WIGGIN & DANA LAW FIRM), ANNE SCHENCK (LONGTERM LONG WHARF SUPPORTER AND WIDOW OF LONG WHARF FOUNDING BOARD MEMBER NEWT SCHENCK, WHO WAS HIMSELF A WIGGIN & DANA PARTNER), VAL CAPOBIANCO (OF BRAZI’S), GORDON EDELSTEIN (WHO’S BEEN ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF THE LONG WHARF THEATRE FOR A DECADE NOW), DR. STEPHEN BRENNER (DESIGNATED LONG WHARF PHYSICIAN), MARY PEPE (CURRENT LONG WHARF BOARD CHAIR) AND TERRY JONES (YET ANOTHER WIGGIN & DANA PARTNER). PHOTO COURTESY OF LONG WHARF THEATRE.

The Long Wharf season announcement last night served double duty, since it was also a ceremony for the 2011 Founders Awards, given to those who’ve served the place for a long time in such cool capacities as doctor, lawyer or indian chief.

No Native American chieftains on hand for the ceremonies this year, but awards were doled out to:

Dr. Stephen Brenner, the designated physician who helps actors from out of town with any injuries and maladies they might incur while performing in Long Wharf plays. Brenner quipped that he “gets to know them in ways others never will; I could tell the best stories.” He’s been the house doc for three decades, which he put in perspective: “The year the theater hired was the same year that one of the actresses in the current production was born.”

Charlie Kingsley and Terry Jones of the Wiggins & Dana law firm, who brought up to the podium with them a humble Ann Schenck (widow of the late great Wiggins & Dana partner Newt Schenck, whose name graces the Long Wharf mainstage). The law firm has been a firm supporter of the theater for decades. Kingsley, who will assume the chairmanship of the Long Wharf Board of Trustees when current chair Mary Pepe’s term ends, publicly advised another awardee, Dr. Brenner, to “be thankful that the new Spider-Man play was not done here—you’d be busy for the rest of your life!”

Val Capobianco is a good neighbor to Long Wharf as the owner of Brazi’s restaurant just down the dock. Just last week, the Italian restaurant held the atmospherically perfect opening night party for the current season-ending Long Wharf production of John Patrick Shanley’s Italian-American Reconciliation. The restaurant’s a haven for many of the folks who work at the Long Wharf.

Capobianco got a rousing cheer from the audience when, after mentioning that this is “probably the best [Long Wharf] administration I’ve ever worked with”—added “I’m also glad the theater is not moving downtown.” The Long Wharf announced a few months ago that it had indefinitely postponed its longheld plans to shift operations to the center of New Haven. The theater renewed its lease in the Long Wharf food terminal—the only home the 47-year-old theater has ever known—through 2022.

The Founders Awards, board chair Mary Pepe proclaimed were named in honor of a group of founders of the theater. She didn’t mention the Long Wharf’s initial artistic director Jon Jory and managing director Harlan Kleinman, who set up the place in 1965, but rather founding board members such as Newt Schenck, Betty Kubler and Ruth Lord. There’s some reason in that approach—these are awards honoring the vibrant community which surrounds and supports the creative work that goes on within the Long Wharf’s walls. The Founders Awards represent a perspective that encompasses several artistic regimes and countless shifts in theater culture.

It’s a volunteer’s or friend’s or patron’s perspective. It’s an audience’s perspective. And there sure are plenty of doctors and lawyers in the Long Wharf audience.

Stage II was packed for the season announcement/Founders Awards event, which spilled out into the Long Wharf parking lot for beer and food, catered by Big Green Truck Pizza. The Long Wharf holds another bash June 3—the theater’s annual gala fundraiser, featuring a performance by The Midtown Men (aka the original Broadway cast of Jersey Boys—get it?). They really go all-out for those galas—the ones I’ve been at were lavish like crazy—but this thing last night in the parking lot was a real chummy throwdown of a wingding, a casual affair where you could slap an  award winner on the back, rave about the just-revealed 2011-12 season and introduce yourself to fellow audience members you might recognize from years of theatergoing, while digging into salad and New Haven thin-crust pizza.

That’s some Monday night out in Connecticut.