The thoroughfare that best defines Long Island theater, both geographically and metaphorically, is Main Street rather than Broadway.
Most of the dozen or so theater companies that call themselves professional -- or mount shows that meet professional standards -- are located downtown in villages from Elmont to East Hampton. And their selection of shows is mostly mainstream.
In Suffolk
The newest venue on Long Island,
John W. Engeman Theater at Northport, is also among the most ambitious. The Island's first year-round Actors' Equity company in 16 years -- it pays union scale and limos its actors from Manhattan -- the Engeman produces a mix of musicals and plays in its stadium-seating theater.
Three other Equity companies on the Island operate seasonally.
Gateway Playhouse specializes in lavish re-creations of Broadway musicals -- three of them at the 1,200-seat Patchogue Theater for the Performing Arts; the rest at its home-base barn theater in Bellport.
Besides its main stage fare,
Theatre Three in Port Jefferson, offers improv comedy and its annual festival of world premiere one-act plays on its basement stage. Other Suffolk theater companies include
Smithtown Center for the Performing Arts, which also stages opera on occasion, and
Airport Playhouse in Bohemia.
The Hamptons
Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor is the Island's most adventurous, with world and U.S. premieres regularly dotting its summer schedule, starring the likes of Alec Baldwin, Mercedes Ruehl and Charles Bush. In East Hampton,
Guild Hall's John Drew Theater (now under major renovation) offers at least one major production a summer.
Among the Island's many community theater troupes, where volunteers comprise the casts,
Hampton Theatre Company of Quogue stands out, both in selection of plays -- from rare classics to Long Island premieres -- and in production values. They keep theater alive in the Hamptons during the off-season.
In Nassau
The dean of Long Island producers, Frederic DeFeis, now in his 57th year at
Arena Players, eschews musicals because their rights come at a premium. He presents a repertoire of dramas, comedies and murder mysteries on Arena's main stage in East Farmingdale and edgier fare on its small second stage -- shows that might not otherwise see the light on Long Island.
Other Nassau theater companies include Hofstra Entertainment, affiliated with the university in Hempstead, and Cultural Arts Playhouse in Old Bethpage and
The Stage in Merrick.
Island-wide
Popular musicals and classic plays are a formula most companies follow on the Island. You'll see just such a mix each season on the stages of the Island's professional companies that pay far less than union wages, but have full-time professionals on staff as directors, set designers, box office personnel and part-time actors. These include the
BroadHollow Theater Company with its eponymous stage in Elmont and two others in East Islip (BayWay Arts Center) and Lindenhurst (Studio), a smaller theater that specializes in more obscure plays.
