Long Wharf Theatre mourns the death of M. Edgar Rosenblum, the organization's executive director from 1970 to 1996, serving alongside Artistic Director Arvin Brown during an era of unprecedented commercial and artistic success.
Rosenblum died Saturday evening in his home in Woodstock, New York. He was 78. "Edgar was a knowledgeable and efficient managing director," said Founder Trustee Ruth Lord. "He meant a lot to the institution and I'm very sad to hear of his passing."
During Rosenblum and Brown's tenure,
Long Wharf Theatre productions regularly extended their runs on Broadway or in other venues, helping to bolster the theatre's reputation internationally and placing it at the vanguard of the nation's regional theatres. In the late 1970s, the theatre was given back-to-back Pulitzer Prizes for The Shadow Box and The Gin Game in addition to being an incubator of other award-winning work.
"His impact on this was enormous," Brown said. "I think that the main reason for our success was the way we were able to work together as a team ... He completely respected my area and I completely respected his. We never had any trouble keeping our areas connected but separate. I am very grateful for our partnership. When we both stepped down and life separated us, we were the longest running act in American theatre and there was a reason for that. It was because of trust. I don't think it could work if the two people involved didn't trust each other."
In many ways, Rosenblum revolutionized the position of managing director, supporting the quest to make relevant and exciting art through prudent development, marketing and managing of the theatre's operations and long term planning. "Edgar was a towering figure in the regional theatre movement - one of the great and most important
Managing Directors of his generation," said Artistic Director
Gordon Edelstein, who served under Brown and Rosenblum as associate artistic director in the 1990s. "He was a real model for generations to come. His love for
Long Wharf Theatre was fierce, as was his love for the work on the stage and people who made it. There is no one in the history of this institution who gave more than Edgar."
Rosenblum could be tough - a stern yet fair negotiator - and his ostensibly gruff exterior served him well in handling the minutiae of the theatre's business. While on the outside Rosenblum might have conveyed that he was all about the numbers, those who knew him well knew otherwise. Brown recalled that Rosenblum fought for actors to be paid as much as possible, and was genuinely concerned about his staff members' welfare. He pushed Brown to make bold artistic choices by providing unstinting support. "He loved to give the impression that he was gruffer than he really was. He was a very emotional guy and had a deep connection to the art," Brown said.
Rosenblum left
Long Wharf Theatre in 1996, serving with New York's Circle-in-the-Square and the Theatre for a New Audience. He is the former chairman of the board of the American Arts Alliance, founding president of the National Corporate Theatre Fund and former president of the League of Resident Theatres.
For more information about
Long Wharf Theatre, visit
www.longwharf.org.
Long Wharf Theatre (Gordon Edelstein, Artistic Director; Ray Cullom, Managing Director), in its 45th season, is recognized as a leader in American theatre, producing fresh and imaginative revivals of classics and modern plays, rediscoveries of neglected works and a variety of world and American premieres. More than 30 Long Wharf Theatre productions have transferred virtually intact to Broadway or Off-Broadway, some of which include Durango by Julia Cho, the Pulitzer Prize-winning plays Wit by Margaret Edson, The Shadow Box by Michael Cristofer and The Gin Game by D.L. Coburn. The theatre is an incubator of new works, including this past season's A Civil War Christmas, by Paula Vogel, and Coming Home, by Athol Fugard. Long Wharf Theatre has received New York Drama Critics Awards, Obie Awards, the Margo Jefferson Award for Production of New Works, a Special Citation from the Outer Critics Circle and the Tony® Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre.
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