JOE BRANCATO, Founding Artistic Director          ANDREW M. HORN, Executive Director

We've come a long way -- from the Barn to Off Broadway ... and beyond!

 

Under the dynamic leadership of founding Artistic Director Joe Brancato and executive director Andrew M. Horn, Penguin Rep Theatre has grown in 44 years from a summer theatre in a converted 1880's hay barn to become one of the Hudson Valley's most influential nonprofit cultural institutions.

 

Since its founding in 1977 by Brancato and Fran Newman-McCarthy, Penguin Rep has entertained more than 400,000 people with outstanding productions of 150 plays. And not just any plays either, but new works by established and emerging writers.

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Plays starring great professional actors.

 

Plays that move from Stony Point, New York across the country and around the world, from the stage to TV and film.

 

Angelo Parra's "The Devil's Music: The Life & Blues of Bessie Smith", nominated for Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Audelco and Off Bway Alliance Awards, began life at Penguin and, after a lengthy run Off Broadway, moved to the prestigious Montreal Jazz Festival, the Cincinnati Playhouse, the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, and the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise.

 

The Broadway musical and Academy Award-winning film "Finding Neverland" originated as a play commissioned and premiered by Penguin.

 

The New York Times dubbed Penguin "the gutsiest little theatre": "Guided by the skilled hand of Penguin's artistic director, Joe Brancato, the splendid performers get first-rate support, as always at Penguin, by an excellent design team."