Lexington Conservatory Theatre

The Lexington Conservatory Theatre was a summer stock company in the Catskills town of Lexington, New York. Co-founded in 1976 by Oakley Hall III, Michael Van Landingham, and Bruce Bouchard, the theatre operated for five seasons at the historic Lexington House, a former hotel turned artist retreat.[1] Hall was seriously injured in a fall from a bridge during the summer of 1978. That summer and Hall's life in the aftermath of a traumatic brain injury were the subjects of the documentary The Loss of Nameless Things.[2][3]

Formation

Oakley Hall III, Michael van Landingham, Thomas Culp and Bruce Bouchard had attended college at UC Irvine together, and continued to work together at South Coast Repertory Theatre. The group of friends eventually moved to New York City to continue their careers. In 1969, Evelyn Weisberg, owner of Lexington House, met Bouchard and fellow actor Kate Kelly while operating a local educational theatre program. Learning of the nascent theatre group forming in New York, Weisberg supported the formation of the group in 1975, inviting them to take residence at Lexington House and its surrounding facilities. LCT launched its first season in 1976.[4]

Move to Albany

In spring 1979, LCT announced that it would form a theatre in downtown Albany, NY, that followed a fall-winter-spring season, to be known as Capital Repertory Company or "Capital Rep."[5] That winter, LCT produced The Tavern by George M. Cohan at the Egg Theatre in Albany, under the Capital Rep name.[6]In October of 1980, executive director Michael Van Landingham announced that the theatre would not return to Lexington House and instead move permanently to Albany.[7] In December 1980, the group began its first full season as Capital Repertory Theatre at Page Hall in Albany.

Notable alumni

Productions

References
  1. "LCT Announces Fifth Anniversary Season". Stamford Mirror Recorder. March 5, 1980. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  2. Oakley Hall, now and then
  3. Oakley Hall obituary
  4. Barnes, Janette (July 13, 1977). "Lexington Theatre Has It All". Stamford Mirror Recorder.
  5. "Lexington Curtain to Rise June 13". Schenectady Gazette. May 14, 1979.
  6. "LCT Seeks New Home". Stamford Mirror Recorder. October 29, 1980.
  7. de Lisle, Doug (October 27, 1980). "Troupe Leaves Lexington". The Times Record.
  8. Independent Lens - The Loss of Nameless Things - Players
  9. Forsyt, Faith (October 14, 1980). "Sofia Landon - A 1980s Renaissance Woman". Soap Opera Digest. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  10. Bigelow, Otis (1982). The Prevalence of Mrs. Seal. Samuel French. p. 3. ISBN 9780573613623. Retrieved 12 February 2023.



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