Opera
  • Home
  • CHQ Assembly
  • 2025 Season
        • La bohème
        • Lincoln in the Bardo
        • Ida by Lamplight | Sitcom
  • About
        • History
        • Past Productions
        • Leadership
        • Performance Venues & Accessibility
        • Opera in the Schools
  • Young Artists
        • Young Artist Program
        • Audition FAQs
  • Alumni
  • Opera Conservatory
  • Media
  • Opera Guild
  • Donate
  • Buy Tickets
Theater
  • Home
  • CHQ Assembly
  • 2025 Season
        • The Real James Bond…Was Dominican
        • Execution of Justice
        • The Witnesses
  • About
        • Past Productions
  • Conservatory
        • Acting Conservatory
        • FutureNow Stage Directing Fellowships
        • Design Fellowships
        • FAQ
  • New Play Development
        • New Plays at CTC
        • Young Playwrights Project
  • Your Visit
  • Get Involved
  • News
        • Blog Posts
        • In The News
        • The Chautauquan Daily
        • Alumni in the News
  • Donate
  • Buy Tickets
Give
  • Home
  • CHQ Assembly
  • Make a Donation
        • Chautauqua Fund
        • Boundless
        • Endowment
        • Monthly Giving
  • Ways to Give
        • Appreciated Securities
        • Capital Support
        • Chautauqua Fund
        • Endowment/Naming
        • Gift Planning
        • Honor Your Host
        • Honorary/Memorial
        • Matching Gifts
        • Monthly Giving
        • Program Sponsor
        • Scholarships
  • Donor Recognition
        • 1874 Society
        • Bell Tower Society
        • Bestor Society
        • Daugherty Society
        • Lewis Miller Circle
        • NOW Generation
        • Foundation Membership
        • Honorary and Memorial Tree Program
  • Foundation
        • History & Mission
        • Board of Directors
        • Foundation Staff
        • Foundation Publications
        • Contact
  • Advancement
        • Institution Board of Trustees
        • Advancement Staff
        • Advancement Publications
        • Contact
        • Foundation Membership
  • Donate
  • Buy Tickets
Foundation
  • Home
  • CHQ Assembly
  • Mission
  • Board of Directors
  • Staff
  • Publications
  • Membership
  • Endowment/Naming
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Buy Tickets
  • About Us
    • News & Announcements
    • 150 Forward Strategic Plan
    • Boundless
    • Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA) at Chautauqua
    • Media Resources
    • Staff Directory
    • Washington, D.C. Office
  • Employment
  • Resources
    • FAQs
    • CHQ FAQ Google Group
    • Safety & Security Department
    • Shared Promise
    • The Smith Memorial Library
    • Post Office
    • Services & Amenities
    • Business Center
    • Chautauqua Institution Policies
    • AED Locations on Grounds
    • The Chautauquan Daily
    • Chautauqua Lake Conservation
    • Chautauqua Institution Archives
  • CHQ Assembly
  • Community Portal
  • Giving
    • Donate Securely Online
    • Boundless
    • Donor Recognition
    • Ways to Give
    • Chautauqua Foundation
    • Advancement
  • Visit
        • Plan Your Visit
          • 2025 Season
          • Visit Must-Dos
          • Experience Planner
          • Accessibility at Chautauqua
        • Eat, Drink & Shop
          • Dining
          • Heirloom Restaurant
          • Shopping & Services
          • Chautauqua Bookstore
        • Places To Stay
          • Athenaeum Hotel
          • Private Accommodations
          • Denominations and Religious Organizations
          • Nearby Accommodations
        • Explore the Grounds and Gardens
          • Maps and Directions
          • Bus and Tram Tracker
          • Plaza Cam
          • Chautauqua Lake Conservation
        • Group Travel
          • Chautauqua Travels
          • Book a Group Visit
          • Tour Operators
          • Road Scholar
          • Chautauqua on a Budget
          • Tour Chautauqua County
  • Things to Do
        • Events
          • All Events
          • Event Calendar
          • Weekly Themes
          • Experience Planner
          • Grid Calendar
        • Classes
        • Performing & Visual Arts
        • Education
        • Recreation
        • Chautauqua Cinema
        • Religion
        • Youth & Family
        • Experience Community
        • Discover CHQ
  • Gate Passes, Tickets & Registrations
        • Buy Gate Passes and Parking
          • Long-term Gate Passes & Parking
        • Buy Single Event Tickets
          • Concert Tickets
          • Lecture & Afternoon Tickets
        • Register for a Youth Program
        • Register for Special Studies Classes
  • Festival Schools
        • School of Music
          • Conducting Fellowship
          • Instrumental Program
          • Opera Conservatory
          • Piano Program
        • School of Dance
        • School of Art
        • Theater Conservatory
        • Alumni
        • Chautauqua Connections
  • Buy Tickets
  • Give
  • Donate
  • Buy Tickets

looking for something?

  • Contact
  • Blog
    • CHQ Experiences
    • BOUNDLESS
    • Announcements
    • Arts Education
    • Institution News
    • From Our President
    • Chautauqua Theater Company
    • Chautauqua Opera Company
    • Chautauqua Foundation
  • Program Suggestions
  • Quick Reference Guide to Chautauqua
  • Request Information from Chautauqua
  • Donation Requests
  • Make a Donation
  • Send Programming Suggestions
  • Staff Directory
  • Media Resources
June 17, 2019 | Institution News, Chautauqua Theater Company

Chautauqua Theater Company’s 2017 New Play Workshop ‘Birthday Candles’ Goes to Broadway

Birthday_Candles_WS-copy.jpg

Will Star Debra Messing and be Directed by Former CTC Artistic Director Vivienne Benesch

Chautauqua Theater Company (CTC), under the leadership of Artistic Director Andrew Borba and Managing Director Sarah Clare Corporandy, is pleased to announce that its 2017 New Play Workshop Birthday Candles by Noah Haidle will be opening on Broadway in 2019–2020 season. Former CTC artistic director Vivienne Benesch will direct the Broadway premiere at the Roundabout Theatre Company, and the production will star Debra Messing, best known for her lead role in the NBC television series “Will & Grace.”

Birthday Candles was originally commissioned by Detroit Public Theater (DPT) in the fall of 2016. In the summer of 2017, it received a workshop production at CTC, directed by Benesch. Benesch followed the production to DPT where it received a world premiere in May 2018. This is the first time DPT and CTC have partnered in this way: from DPT’s commission, to CTC’s workshop performance and back to DPT’s world premiere.

Corporandy, also a co-founder and co-producing artistic director at DPT, said the model has certainly played a role in the play’s success.

“We are thrilled by the treasured collaboration between Detroit Public Theatre and Chautauqua Theater Company,” Corporandy said. “Noah is a vastly talented artist and because our communities are intertwined, as are my roles within the two theaters, we have been able to support this play at every step of the process.”

“When we started the NPW program, we dreamed of this moment,” Borba said. “We have seen many of our new plays transfer to regional theaters and Off-Broadway but this is the first time one has transferred to Broadway. Our mission with new plays is to foster their growth here at Chautauqua and to help springboard them out to the national stage.”

Leading up to the Broadway debut, Birthday Candles was a finalist for the 2019 Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award, receiving a special citation prize of $7,500 at the 2019 Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville. The Steinberg Award honors the best plays that have premiered outside of New York City.

CTC is committed to supporting new plays by talented playwrights and will bring three new workshopped productions to Chautauqua for its 2019 summer season:

  • July 18–20: NPW 1, How the Light Gets In by E.M. Lewis, directed by Emilie Beck
  • Aug. 14–18: NPW 2, On the Exhale by Martín Zimmerman, directed by Patrick Walsh
  • Aug. 15–18: NPW 3, Agent 355 — music, lyrics and book by Preston Max Allen, book and dramaturgy by Jessica Kahkoska, directed by Estefanía

About CTC’s New Play Workshop Program
The (NPW) Program is the arm of Chautauqua Theater Company dedicated to fostering important new American playwrights and providing a safe and stimulating playground for artists to develop new work for the theater. As such, it is at the core of Chautauqua Theater Company’s mission as a cultural and educational organization. New play development is made possible at CTC in part by a generous grant by the Roe Green Foundation.

About Chautauqua Theater Company
Entering its 37th season, Chautauqua Theater Company is the resident professional theater and Conservatory of Chautauqua Institution. Internationally known actors, directors, designers and writers join 19 emerging artists drawn from the nation’s top training programs to form a unique company that produces a vibrant summer of work in the historic Bratton Theater. Dedicated to the next generation of theater artists, the development of new work, first-rate productions of modern and contemporary classics, and fresh insight into Shakespeare’s canon, CTC produces the best of a year-round regional theater within an eight-week summer season.

Save Your Trip

Fill out the form below to save your trip. You will receive a link to your saved list via email.

  • Hidden
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Save Your Favorites

Fill out the form below to save your favorites. You will receive a link to your favorites list via email.

"*" indicates required fields

Name*
Hidden

Notice!

You have now entered the season. Some website content may differ depending on the current season we are in: Summer or Fall/Winter/Spring. You can toggle between the two season options at any time.

Okay

Subscribe to Chautauqua Institution’s email newsletter

  • About
  • Resources
  • Sustainability
  • Contact
  • Whistleblower Policy
  • Employment
  • Ethics Point
  • Labor Law Notices
  • Privacy Policy
  • ADA Compliance
Chautauqua Institution
P.O. Box 28
One Ames Ave.
Chautauqua, N.Y. 14722

1.800.836.ARTS
Washington, DC Office
1150 Connecticut, Avenue NW | Suite 700
Washington, DC 20036
202.480.2244
  • CHQ Assembly logo
  • Privacy Policy
  • ADA Compliance

© 2022 Chautauqua Institution. Chautauqua Institution is a not-for-profit organization, dependent upon your gifts to fulfill its mission. Gate tickets and other revenue cover only a portion of the cost of your Chautauqua experience.