Bucks County Playhouse inspires, entertains and engages audiences with theatrical productions of new and classic plays and musicals featuring Broadway and Hollywood artists. We provide innovative arts education and community programs that celebrate the performing arts.
Located between Philadelphia and New York, Bucks County Playhouse opened in 1939 in a converted 1790 gristmill after a group of community activists, led by Broadway orchestrator Don Walker, rallied to save the building. The Playhouse quickly became one of the country’s most famous regional theaters, featuring a roster of American theatrical royalty including Helen Hayes, Kitty Carlisle, Colleen Dewhurst, Shirley Booth, Lillian Gish, Grace Kelly, Robert Redford, Bert Lahr, Walter Matthau, Angela Lansbury, Bernadette Peters, Alan Alda, Tyne Daly, Liza Minnelli and Audra McDonald and remained in continuous operation until December 2010. In 2012, the Playhouse re-opened thanks to the efforts of the Bridge Street Foundation, the nonprofit family foundation of Kevin and Sherri Daugherty, and Broadway producer Jed Bernstein. Terrence McNally’s Mothers and Sons, starring Tyne Daly, received its world premiere at the Playhouse in 2013 and opened on Broadway in February 2014, where it was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play. This returned the Playhouse to its roots as an incubator for Broadway, including The Fourposter starring Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn, Neil Simon’s first play Come Blow Your Horn, and Barefoot in the Park starring Robert Redford and Elizabeth Ashley. The past year’s record-breaking lineup included Robert Harling’s Steel Magnolias starring Susan Sullivan (“Castle”), Patricia Richardson (“Home Improvement”) and Jessica Walter (“Arrested Development”).
