Artists Look to Develop Broadway Staples at Vassar's Pow­er­house Theater

TOWN OF POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. --- Every summer, artists come together at Vassar College, where the Powerhouse Theater offers workshops and master classes to professionals.

"Theater really exists when artists come together in the presence of an audience," said New York Stage and Film Executive Director Thomas Pearson.

Plays and musicals in all stages of development are tested and refined for audiences in the Hudson Valley.

"Audiences here are incredibly adventurous, they see work of all stripes at all stages, and that's of great value to these artists,” Pearson said.

"We don't have critics at all come to Powerhouse; that's the beauty of what we do here, is that it's out of the critical eye," said Powerhouse Theater Producing Director Michael Sheehan. "So we don't have any official openings; we just have performances."

The theater also hosts a training program for students.

"It's a program designed for young actors, directors and writers, and they take some classes everyday with some world-class faculty from New York and around the world," Sheehan added.  

The program allows professionals to work away from the pressure of the city, like playwright Lucy Thurber, who's debuting her play "Transfers."

"There's something about space and time that New York Stage and Film provide; the days feel longer, and there's more of an ability to really focus on the work and feel like you're getting the play to a better place," Thurber said.

Vassar College and New York Stage and Film have hosted various plays and musicals, including Steve Martin's "Bright Star" and Tony Award-winning Best Play "The Humans." It also hosted the first early workshops for Tony Award-winning Best Musical "Hamilton" by Lin-Manuel Miranda in 2013.

"They blew the roof off of their rehearsal room, and then we moved them to the Shiva theater, which is our smallest theater, and they blew the roof of the Shiva," Pearson said.

Powerhouse officials say there's value to creating a space just for artists and audiences.

"[It's] a place where they could be focused on the work at hand without hearing from critics, and without hearing from industry voices, and really just focus on developing the work," Pearson said.

The Powerhouse Theater season ends July 31.