Lindenhurst's Theater Row: 3 stages, 3 openings

Good luck getting a parking space in downtown Lindenhurst on April 22.

That night, three neighboring theaters in the bustling South Shore village will open new productions, something that rarely happens, even on Broadway. It’s a testament to how highly the arts are regarded in the town, says Shawn Cullinane, president of the Babylon Citizens Council on the Arts.

The council operates the BACCA Arts Center, where an original play, “Giselle,” is part of the opening-night action. A bit farther south on this little strip of Wellwood Avenue — "Lindenhurst's Theater Row" — the South Shore Theatre Experience will open the kitschy musical “Pete ‘n’ Keely,” and a few steps farther, Manes Studio Theater presents the Harvey Fierstein comedy “Torch Song.” Each of the theaters will also host a reception before the show.

How did the village come to have three theaters operating less than a mile apart? “I can’t tell you the magic bullet as to why that happened,” Cullinane says. “It wasn’t planned, it just organically grew that way,” he says, adding there is “certainly a great need for people to express their art and their talent. It all came together in one place.”

Village Mayor Michael Lavorata gives a lot of credit to Cullinane. “To have three theaters that run as well as they do, that are so successful is a great thing,” he says. “Shawn is always looking to do something better. He helped pave the way for a lot of this to happen.”

While there’s friendly competition, “the theaters exist well together,” says Cullinane, noting that “when you look at what each of these companies is doing, they’re uniquely different.”

Michael Blangiforti, executive managing director of Studio, says the theater doesn’t “view anyone as competition. Our philosophy is that we’re all in this together … our main objective is to bring theater to the Long Island community.”

Deborah Cascio Plezia, artistic director of South Shore Theatre Experience, echoes that sentiment. “I think everybody’s getting along, each of us does something that’s so different.”

SOUTH SHORE’S EXPERIENCE

Looking at the history of the Wellwood strip, Studio opened first in 1970 taking over a space that had been, at times, a grocery store, a pool hall and a roller skating rink.

Productions in the 130-seat theater, Blangiforti says, are generally the comedies and dramas you’ll see at smaller Broadway or Off-Broadway theaters, like the recently closed “On Golden Pond,” which marked the grand opening of Studio’s half-million dollar renovation. “We try to stick to our roots and be consistent with our history,” he says, looking back at productions that have featured major stars like Brian Dennehy, Edie Falco and Ed Asner. “Torch Song” will be a repeat of sorts — the theater did “Torch Song Trilogy” 35 years and starring Scott Hofer, who is directing the new production.

South Shore arrived on Wellwood five years ago, but the company has been around since 2009, starting at West Babylon Junior High School. It was next the resident company at BACCA for a couple of years, followed by a stint at the Edward W. Bower Elementary School in Lindenhurst before renting its current 40-seat theater, which Plezia hopes will be its last stop.

“We’ve traveled around a little bit,” she says.

Plezia describes South Shore’s offerings as “more eclectic than other theater companies … shows that aren’t done very often.”

The company will snag a premiere when it can, like Nora Ephron’s “Love, Loss, and What I Wore” in 2012, and occasionally will turn to a vintage play like “The Women” by Clare Boothe Luce. Plezia enjoys doing things “that aren’t normally performed in other places,” which is certainly the case with “Pete n Keely,” about the reunion of a former show-biz couple and which she is directing. Audiences seem to enjoy the intimate nature of their black-box setup, she says, which allows them to “be so up close you can basically taste it.”

THREE'S COMPANY

Things run differently at BACCA, where the space is used by three troupes. Encouraging artistic diversity has been the goal since the arts council bought the building around 2005 after running programs like the annual Bluegrass Festival as well as events in high schools, stores, wherever they could find space, Cullinane says.

BACCA spent a couple of years renovating the building before allowing groups to rent it for plays, concerts, art exhibits, etc. “We needed a home, a place to allow people in the community to come in and perfect their craft,” he says. “We’re providing a venue for people do what they like to do in terms of arts, education and culture.”

Still, he acknowledges the space has gravitated to theater recently. Modern Classics Theatre Company, listed as the resident company on the organization’s website, just concluded the John Patrick comedy “The Curious Savage.” Before that, EastLine Theatre had a three-week run of the Lynn Nottage play “Intimate Apparel.”

The groups using the center cooperate beautifully, says “Giselle” playwright Anthony DiFranco, even sharing the furniture and props they store downstairs. “We all like each other,” he says.

As both writer and producer, DiFranco applauds the BACCA Arts Center for several reasons — a “nice size” house meant for 60 but that can hold 75 if needed, a decent-size stage and a green room for the actors.

AN 'OFF-BROADWAY VIBE'

The entire village has an “Off-Broadway vibe,” says JoAnn Boettcher, president of the Lindenhurst Chamber of Commerce, and three thriving theaters is clearly good for business. Looking ahead, she hopes to initiate dinner-theater packages with local restaurants.

The theaters are not only drawing from Lindenhurst, but from all over, says Cullinane, “so obviously that has a spillover effect, people are going to local restaurants and bars.”

Mayor Lavorata says he’s blown away by the reaction of out-of-towners to everything going on the village. “If you’d told me 10 years ago we’d be considered a destination, I don’t think I would ever have expected to hear that.”

To have three theaters within walking distance “is incredible,” says Studio’s Blangiforti. With the new restaurants and condos that have been built, he says, there’s “really been a reinvigoration of this area … we have a little slice of Broadway right in the Lindenhurst business district.”