Connecticut’s arts and culture industry has had a slow recovery from the pandemic, which closed down theaters for months and made the industry’s older audience hesitant for years to return to in-person events.
Melia Bensussen and Cynthia Rider, artistic director and managing director, respectively, of Hartford Stage, and Rob Ruggiero, artistic director of TheaterWorks Hartford, have been working to not only help their organizations recover from the public health crisis, but also ensure their long-term future.
Most recently, all three leaders announced a new joint partnership that is rare in the industry.
Hartford Stage and TheaterWorks in March announced they will, for the first time, jointly co-produce a musical, the Stephen Sondheim classic “Sweeney Todd,” next year.
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The production, which will include a cast of nine actors and nine musicians and cost roughly $1 million, will be directed by Ruggiero and take place at Hartford Stage.
Organizers say a 2019 change in leadership at TheaterWorks and Hartford Stage, combined with a divisive national climate and the need to rebuild audiences and subscriber bases following the COVID-19 pandemic, helped inspire the theaters to think outside the box and pool their resources for a swing at a big production.
“I view theater as a public health initiative,” Ruggiero said. “I view theater as an economic engine. These are really hard times. We need you to support these two institutions, all of the arts organizations in Hartford and really in this country.”
In addition to the joint venture, Rider in October announced a new fundraising campaign to boost Hartford Stage’s endowment by $20 million, one of the most aggressive campaigns recently announced by a Connecticut arts and culture organization.
The Set the Stage fundraising campaign had already raised more than $9 million by last fall, and will ultimately provide a financial cushion that allows Hartford Stage to better manage downturns and invest in new educational and other programs, Rider said.