‘Orson Rehearsed’ at Historic ‘Too Much Johnson’ Theatre

BRANFORD - The former Stony Creek Theatre in Connecticut, where Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre staged the ill-fated Too Much Johnson in 1938, will welcome an award-winning Welles-inspired event this month.

All those who attend will receive a FREE CD of the soundtrack and will be invited to stay for the Q+A following the screening with the composer and filmmaker, Daron Hagen. Additionally, Beatrice Welles, the daughter of Orson Welles, will be doing an exclusive pre-recorded announcement that will be played before the film screening.

The film of composer Daron Hagen’s Orson Rehearsed will be screened Sunday, August 29, at 1 p.m. at the Legacy Theatre in Stony Creek, a village in the coastal Connecticut town of Branford. Ticket information may be obtained online at LegacyTheatreCT.org or by calling 203-315-1901.
Article written By RAY KELLY for Wellesnet: https://www.wellesnet.com/orson-rehearsed-legacy-theatre/

“It means the world to me that Orson Rehearsed will have its premiere theatrical screening at the Legacy Theater, where Welles’ catastrophic production of Too Much Johnson hit the stage in 1938 for the first and last time,” Hagen said. “What ghosts will make an appearance I wonder? As it happens, I am currently composing an orchestral score for the 65-minute silent film that Welles shot starring Joseph Cotten for use as part of that production. I am certain that I’ll find plenty of inspiration in this lucky confluence of events!”

“It has been described by its creator as a “multi-media Joycean stream of consciousness dreamscape film/opera/concert work/ web installation comprised of the Zuzu’s petals-like memory shards of life streaming through the mind of American filmmaker, actor, activist, and visual artist Orson Welles during the last hour of his life.”
Orson Rehearsed has been shown as an official selection at numerous film festivals worldwide. It was honored with awards at the Los Angeles Motion Picture Festival, Austin International Art Festival, New Wave Short Film Festival in Munich, Swedish International Film Festival, and Montreal Independent Film Festival, among others.

It is among the many offerings presented at the Legacy Theatre, which reopened on April 23rd, 2020 after an extensive renovation.

“We are thrilled to offer a screening of Orson Rehearsed,” said Mary Lee Weber, Legacy’s community outreach manager. “It is Legacy Theatre’s first-ever Orson Welles-themed event in a theater he used to perform in.”

Once a chapel-turned-movie house near the Thimble Islands, the Stony Creek Theatre was home for community theater and summer stock productions during the Great Depression.
Welles staged Too Much Johnson in August 1938. However, technical problems forced Welles to abandon a planned silent film introduction and transitions with Joseph Cotten, Arlene Francis, and other members of the Mercury. It has been widely reported that the negative response from theater-goers and critics prompted Welles not to open the William Gillette comedy in New York that fall.

The Stony Creek Theatre served as a parachute factory during World War II and in the early 1960s became known as the Stony Creek Puppet House.

The town of Branford condemned the building in January 2007 for building and fire code violations and its future looked bleak.
The building was acquired for $475,000 by Legacy Theatre, which labored for years to raise funds to save the historic theater.
After a nearly $5 million capital campaign, this state-of-the-art restored theater on the Connecticut shoreline is now home to live theater, Broadway concerts, musicals, classes and is proud to have its “film debut” Orson Rehearsed this month.

WATCH A VIDEO TRAILER HERE