Frank Lloyd Wright’s West Hartford Theatre (In-Person)

Please note that this program will take place in person at the Noah Webster Library. 

In the twilight of his career, world-renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright sought to design and build something he had yet to undertake: a theater.  After working on designs over the Depression and Second World War, Wright finally saw the moment for this project to be realized here in West Hartford.  Partnering with the New Theatre, Wright and his supporters saw West Hartford as ground zero for a revitalization of the dramatic arts and create a place of art and community.  As buzz over the new construction grew, a small group of citizens saw to it that the New Theatre would not have a home in West Hartford, Connecticut.

Brett Freiburger is the West Hartford Library Local History Librarian with a passion for weaving the West Hartford story into our country’s larger narrative.  A performer in high school and college, his graduate work at Central Connecticut State University focused on the Federal Theatre Project in Hartford from 1935-1939, the only attempt at establishing an American national theatre.  Professionally, Brett has worked at a number of historical and architecturally important museums: The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, The Mark Twain House and Museum, Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum; all of which allowed him to combine a love of theatre, architecture, and performing.