The little theater with the longest run
Le Petit Théâtre du Vieux Carré began in 1916 as the New Orleans chapter of the Drama League of America. At first it was a group of theater lovers who put on plays in one another’s drawing rooms—primarily that of league member Mrs. Goldberg. When “serious” Irish playwright, Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany (he was also the chess and pistol-shooting champion of Ireland), visited New Orleans in 1922, he galvanized local thespians to get more serious about their art. The chapter bought the property at the corner of St. Peter and Chartres Streets for Le Petit Théâtre, which soon became the premier place to see live theater in the South. Over the next 95 years, Le Petit was recognized as one of the leading community playhouses in the nation.
In 2009, facing severe financial difficulties, the “Little Theater” started to unravel. First, the board of governors laid off the artistic director and staff, and then, in 2010, they announced the cancellation of the rest of the season. Enter Dickie Brennan of the Brennan restaurant empire, who felt the city must not allow its signature theater to disappear. He made a deal to buy 60 percent of Le Petit’s building for a reported $3 million to establish an on-site restaurant, which allowed the theater to pay off past debts and create a sizeable endowment. The theater and the restaurant then underwent a multimillion-dollar renovation.
Info
Address 616 St. Peter Street, New Orleans, LA 70116, +1 504.522.2081, www.lepetittheatre.com | Hours For tickets and performance schedule, visit the theater’s website| Tip With the recent restoration and reopening of the two other historic theaters—the Joy Theatre (1200 Canal St) and the Saenger Theater (1111 Canal St)—there is the dream (if not quite the plan) of recreating a theatrical sector in New Orleans along Canal Street, to become “Broadway South.”
An upgraded theater space with new dressing rooms, offices, rehearsal rooms, lavatories, and even a new ticketing system, along with Brennan’s adjacent restaurant, Tableau, were all in place when Le Petit reopened with much fanfare and community support in 2013. With an eye toward the future, the theater also launched an educational outreach program to foster the performance arts among local youth.
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