The 1980's were the founding decade of The Schoolhouse Theater. Spurred on by her desire to bring high quality art to Croton Falls, Lee Pope purchased the old schoolhouse building in 1983. Soon, she forged an alliance with the burgeoning Acorn Players (led by Brooke Palance, Pamela Moller Kareman, and Jane Myers), who staged the first professional production at The Schoolhouse, Alan Ayckbourn’s Bedroom Farce, after a brief run Off-Broadway at the Interart Theatre. From there, The Schoolhouse immediately set about creating one-of-a-kind theatrical experiences for our audiences, including producing a United States premiere (Cecil Jenkins’ Our Own Red Blood) and hosting stars like Michael Wilding and Brooke Palance on stage and Elizabeth Taylor in our audiences.