The Barnstormers Welcome Joe Longthorne as Interim Artistic Director

Joe Longthorne

The Barnstormers Theatre board of directors is pleased and excited to welcome Joe Longthorne as Interim Artistic Director.  Joe plans to honor the fine heritage of the theatre and bring a fresh perspective with diverse, socially relevant productions to our stage.  The Barnstormers will be celebrating its 91st season this summer with an exciting lineup of performances, and patron health and safety in mind.

Joe’s infectious enthusiasm, energy and extensive entrepreneurial background in theatrical management were the key drivers in the board’s selection process.  In addition, Joe’s finance background and experience in production, marketing, strategic planning, acting and equity negotiations bring a robust skill set to the theatre, ensuring The Barnstormers is positioned to be artistically relevant moving forward.  

“I am so very humbled and thrilled to be appointed interim artistic director of this historic American theater.” said Joe. “I made my professional debut onstage at The Barnstormers Theatre in 2010 in a summer production of A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, a production which also featured another former artistic director, Cope Murray.  I have quite literally grown up at BST over the years, personally and professionally.  My predecessor Bob Shea, cast me in that first production of Forum, and my great task ahead is continuing the strong traditions of his wonderful stewardship, while envisioning a new path forward for the future of live theater in Tamworth and the White Mountains of New Hampshire.”  

In Mystery of Edwin Drood

“I look forward to shepherding The Barnstormers out of the pandemic and into a new world, full of vibrant possibility.  In whatever time allows during my tenure, my solemn promise to our devoted audiences is that The Barnstormers is committed to presenting robust and imaginative theater, and will be an artistic home for all.  We stand proudly with Black Lives Matter, we oppose Asian Hate, and we will make space to tell stories that reflect the world around us.  The mission statement of The Barnstormers is to keep vital the value, spirit, and tradition of fine summer theatre– let that vitality buoy us endlessly towards the never-ending joy of what only live storytelling can provide.”  

Joe Longthorne is a Tony Award Winning Producer, General Manager, Blogger, and Theatrical Entrepreneur.  Joe is a managing partner at Fourth Wall Theatricals, a firm specializing in General Management, Ticket Inventory Management, and Broadway Group Sales.  Favorite Lead Producing credits include Our Dear Dead Drug Lord by Alexis Scheer, Off-Broadway at the WP Theater, and OSCAR at The Crown by The Neon Coven which recently played a 2019 run at 3 Dollar Bill.  Favorite Co-Producing credits include Waitress Broadway, US National, and London Productions, Oh Hello on Broadway, and The Band’s Visit on Broadway (for which he received a Tony Award) and US National Tour.  Joe also served as the Director of Ticketing for the 2018 Tony Awards.  Proud graduate of The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, and current MBA candidate at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.  Joe is the founder and CEO of Creative Finance with Broadway Joe.  www.CreativeFinanceBroadwayJoe.com.

As an Actor, Joe has appeared in 11 productions on The Barnstormers Theatre stage.  Joe had the pleasure of playing Sam Craig in the 2012 production of OUR TOWN directed by Bob Shea, which is the role that The Barnstormers founder Francis Cleveland played in the original Broadway production of the same play.

Joe helped produce and direct the inaugural NYC Gala “A Night For The Barnstormers Theatre” in the spring of 2018.  The 2018 Gala raised over $3,000 in funds directly supporting the theater, and has become a cherished annual tradition over the last few years.

In Lend Me a Tenor

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