Broadway Method Academy Will Now be Known as Black Rock Theater

Connor Deane, Executive Director and founder of the respected Broadway Method Academy, has announced that the non-profit is officially changing its name.

Broadway Method Academy (BMA) has taken its final bow and the curtain rises for Black Rock Theater. There are exciting changes ahead but the heart of their program remains the same.

This change marks an exciting new era for the educational theater program as it expands to add
professional performance opportunities to its season. I was relieved to see that the theater will continue to offer classes in every facet of musical theater and produce multiple shows a year.

Deane said, “We are absolutely thrilled to make this exciting change. For nearly nine years we’ve been training young people in musical theater and now as Black Rock Theater we can offer our community so much more.”

Black Rock Theater will continue to provide professional-level training and performance opportunities for artists of all backgrounds.

“Within their Academy, students study singing, dancing, and acting in group classes and private lessons to further develop their craft,” Deane explained.

On the Black Rock Theater website, Deanne writes "We wanted to create a safe place for professionals and students to not only grow as performers, but as people. In every program and production we run, our goal is always to build community. The arts enrich the community and the BRT community is alive and well. Come join our community and be part of the magic."

The stage productions brought to life by these emerging artists connect them with working industry professionals as they move forward with the rest of their theatrical season. Teachers and students work together with the professional actors and crew to produce a full five-show season with Equity contracts.

Deane added that Black Rock Theater will continue to “operate at the intersection of artistic collaboration and education.”

Judy Primavera, one of the founders of the Jamie Hulley Arts Foundation that was formed in memory of her daughter, told me that Deane was a recipient of the Jamie Hulley Performing Arts scholarship, a four-year partial college scholarship.

Primavera and her husband Fred Hulley first saw Deane as a teen performer in Amity High School’s production of “Grease,” and then in their production of “Les Miserables.” He went on to study at University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music.

Upon graduation, Deane embarked on his dream to create a performing arts program that linked "the stars of today with the stars of tomorrow."

Primavera explained that the Broadway Method Academy had a “somewhat nomadic existence at first, yet always producing high-quality shows and offering top-notch training to its students, until it found its current home on Black Rock Turnpike.”

The Jamie Hulley Arts Foundation has been a "Creative Partner," a very loyal sponsor of Deane’s big dream," since 2014 and plans to continue their generous support.

Just a few of the always impressive Broadway Method productions that I have been invited to review at the Fairfield space include “Cabaret,” “Carrie,” “American Idiot,” “Sweeney Todd,” and the “Sound of Music,” as well as the production of “Disney’s Newsies” that was performed at Westport Country Playhouse in 2020.

The Board of Directors of the theater remains intact with members Kathleen Donahue, Rhonda Eleish, Burke Ellington, and Joan Waricha, who serve alongside Deane.

Black Rock Theater will continue to operate at their location at 1935 Black Rock Turnpike in Fairfield. Their website is blackrocktheater.org. Donations to their annual fun may be made on the website or by mailing a check to Black Rock Theater at 1935 Black Rock Turnpike, Fairfield, CT 06825.

The theater hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony with the town’s First Selectwoman on May 3.

The next professional production for Black Rock Theater will be “Anything Goes,” directed by
Tony Award winner Cady Huffman, which will open on June 17 at the theater.