The home of the Yale Repertory Theatre is located on Chapel Street in New Haven. Originally built as Calvary Baptist Church in 1871, the building’s steeple was removed in 1966 when it was deconsecrated and sold to become a theater. The church was designed by Rufus G. Russell, who had trained with Henry Austin.
Strongly influenced by many features of the Old State House, the Horace Bushnell Memorial Hall was built in 1930 in the Georgian Revival style. It was constructed in Hartford, near the State Capitol, as a gift to the community from Dotha Bushnell Hillyer in honor of her father, the Rev. Horace Bushnell. The building was designed by the architectural firm of Corbett, Harrison and MacMurray, which also worked on Rockefeller Center. While the exterior reflects Colonial influence, the interior is in the Art Deco style. Today, the expanded Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts remains Hartford’s main venue for concerts and can also serve as a public auditorium.
The Cheney Brothers Silk Manufacturing Company flourished in Manchester in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Nineteenth century mill village complexs, which included housing for workers, also featured entertainment venues for the community. Built in 1866, as a theater and cultural center, Cheney Hall was designed by the Boston artist and architect C. H. Hammatt Billings, who had also created the original illustrations for Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Over the years , audiences at Cheney Hall would see theatrical performances, boxing matches, high school graduations, and many famous speakers, including Horace Greeley (who had dedicated the building in 1867), Mark Twain, Susan B. Anthony, Henry Ward Beecher, Grover Cleveland and William H. Taft. The building was used as a hospital during the 1918 flu pandemic. Used as a fabric salesroom from 1925 to 1976, the building was then in bad condition, but was saved from demolition when the Cheney Brothers National Historic Landmark District was created in 1978. Restored in 1991, Cheney Hall today hosts performances of the Little Theatre of Manchester and is available for rentals.