"I feel that working at the Lab was a watershed experience: the enthusiasm I was able to embrace in that environment literally spilled over into all other regions of my personal and artistic life. I have no doubt my opportunity on Broadway is an offshoot of that wellspring."
Liz Gilbert
Lab Company Actor 2007
A Man for All Seasons, American Airlines Theatre
"The first time I felt like a professional director was my first summer at the Hangar Theatre. And that wonderful, odd, Lego-like castle on the lake was to be an artistic home for me for five magical summers. Creating work for and with Bob Moss and the Ithaca community was a profoundly important time in my creative development, and I truly cannot imagine my career without that possibility–rich experience.”
Michael Mayer
Lab Company Director 1999
Winner, 2007 Tony Award
Best Direction of a Musical Spring Awakening
"For me, the Lab Company was like a collision of inspiration and reality. You have no creative limitations, but there are some considerable practical limitations, so you learn to focus your ideas. You figure out what is essential, what is powerful within the realm of what is possible. Also, you have the freedom to risk–even to fail–which is a huge freedom. And you have the opportunity to be treated like a professional, to be taken seriously, and that gives you the confidence to take those risks, which is so gratifying."
Kathryn Kawecki
Lab Company
Scenic Designer 2005
MFA Scenic Design, North Carolina School of the Arts
"The 2006 Hangar Theatre Lab Company gave me an opportunity to explore my craft, instrument, and creativity in a way that was simultaneously exciting and challenging while making new lifetime friends and networks. In addition, I got the opportunity to perform in th Mainstage production Bloodline: the Children of Argos that summer and, two summers later, was cast in The Overwhelming which gave me an opportunity to perform with and learn from equity actors."
Lindsey McWhorter
Lab Company Actor 2006
MFA Acting, Brandeis 2008
"If you are a fearless theatre artist–actor, designer, director or writer–and you want to grow and stretch yourself while working with collaborators who are as fierce as yourself, the only place to go is to the Hangar's Lab program."
Mathew August
Lab Company Director 1999
Director, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas
"As a result of assisting a mainstage sound designer during my time with the Lab Company, I was offered and accepted the position of Assistant Audio Engineer at Syracuse Stage. Without the Hangar and the Lab Company, this opportunity would never have come my way. Last summer we heard repeatedly about the clout that comes with the Lab Company, but I had no idea how true that was until I was offered this job. Syracuse Stage mentioned that one reason they were offering me the position was that they knew, because of the Lab Company, that I was ahead of everyone else who applied. The Hangar has a very special place in my heart: my experience with the incredible work and the incredible people who create that work have been nothing short of inspiring."
David Huber
Lab Sound Designer, 2008
Assistant Audio Engineer, Syracuse Stage
"I wouldn't have a career without the lab. From that summer on nothing ever seemed impossible again. The lab allowed me to put into practice the truth that theatre can truly happen anywhere and that what appear to be hurdles are really opportunities for immense freedom and creativity."
Joe Calarco
Lab Company Director 1994
Director, Author, Shakespeare's R&J
"Of all the fellowships and companies in which I've been involved, the Hangar's Lab Company was the most supportive and energizing. It provides an exceptional environment to explore, create and play, and connects you with a diverse, driven pool of collaborators. My first summer at the Hangar was, without a doubt, one of the greatest and most fulfilling of my career."
Kerry Whigham
Lab Company Director 2007
Assistant to Douglas Carter Beane, Xanadu
"The Hangar Theatre Lab Company was an amazing experience for me. I had the opportunity to work with incredible actors, writers and directors who I still keep in touch with. I had the chance to train with wonderful mentors and do 5 shows in 11 weeks, which showed me that if I can accomplish what I did at the Hangar Lab then no project was too challenging. Plus, my summer at the Hangar eventually connected me to getting my Equity card."
Lanna Joffrey
Lab Company Actor 1998
Actor; Author of Valiant
"Since my first production in the Wedge in 1998, the Hangar Theatre has been my true artistic home. Though its extraordinarily valuable to me that the Hangar has PRODUCED three of my plays, what has been of more value ultimately has been the thoughtful and honest NURTURING and DEVELOPING of these works and my voice as a writer. Without this true sense of community, I don't believe I would have continued to grow as a writer or dare to imagine the scope and possibility of my present and future work."
Kenny Finkle
Lab Company Playwright
Author, Indoor/Outdoor
"My first professional directing opportunity was as a Drama League director for the Hangar Theatre's Lab Company in 1994. That summer was the first time I'd ever been to Ithaca– and it changed my life forever. I made friends and colleagues with whom I'm still working today. I created theatre–some of it truly great and some it awful, quite frankly–which was personal, bold and new. I discovered much about who I am as a person and as a theatre artist that summer. I also fell in love with the Hangar and with Ithaca. Six years later I became the Hangar's artistic director! I've been so lucky to participate in the Lab Company as a director, to work with the Lab Company as a mentor and artistic director, and to watch so many great theatrical productions in the Wedge and on the KIDDSTUFF stage created by Lab Company artists over the years. My life–and the American Theatre overall–is better because the Lab Company exists. Any young theatre artist who is brave and committed and eager to take artistic chances should seriously considering spending a life-changing summer in Ithaca."
"I feel that working at the Lab was a watershed experience: the enthusiasm I was able to embrace in that environment literally spilled over into all other regions of my personal and artistic life. I have no doubt my opportunity on Broadway is an offshoot of that wellspring."
Liz Gilbert
Lab Company Actor 2007
A Man for All Seasons, American Airlines Theatre
"The first time I felt like a professional director was my first summer at the Hangar Theatre. And that wonderful, odd, Lego-like castle on the lake was to be an artistic home for me for five magical summers. Creating work for and with Bob Moss and the Ithaca community was a profoundly important time in my creative development, and I truly cannot imagine my career without that possibility–rich experience.”
Michael Mayer
Lab Company Director 1999
Winner, 2007 Tony Award
Best Direction of a Musical
Spring Awakening
Kathryn Kawecki
Lab Company Scenic Designer 2005
MFA Scenic Design, North Carolina School of the Arts
"The 2006 Hangar Theatre Lab Company gave me an opportunity to explore my craft, instrument, and creativity in a way that was simultaneously exciting and challenging while making new lifetime friends and networks. In addition, I got the opportunity to perform in th Mainstage production Bloodline: the Children of Argos that summer and, two summers later, was cast in The Overwhelming which gave me an opportunity to perform with and learn from equity actors."
Lindsey McWhorter
Lab Company Actor 2006
MFA Acting, Brandeis 2008
"If you are a fearless theatre artist–actor, designer, director or writer–and you want to grow and stretch yourself while working with collaborators who are as fierce as yourself, the only place to go is to the Hangar's Lab program."
Mathew August
Lab Company Director 1999
Director, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas
"As a result of assisting a mainstage sound designer during my time with the Lab Company, I was offered and accepted the position of Assistant Audio Engineer at Syracuse Stage. Without the Hangar and the Lab Company, this opportunity would never have come my way. Last summer we heard repeatedly about the clout that comes with the Lab Company, but I had no idea how true that was until I was offered this job. Syracuse Stage mentioned that one reason they were offering me the position was that they knew, because of the Lab Company, that I was ahead of everyone else who applied. The Hangar has a very special place in my heart: my experience with the incredible work and the incredible people who create that work have been nothing short of inspiring."
David Huber
Lab Sound Designer, 2008
Assistant Audio Engineer, Syracuse Stage
"I wouldn't have a career without the lab. From that summer on nothing ever seemed impossible again. The lab allowed me to put into practice the truth that theatre can truly happen anywhere and that what appear to be hurdles are really opportunities for immense freedom and creativity."
Joe Calarco
Lab Company Director 1994
Director, Author, Shakespeare's R&J
"Of all the fellowships and companies in which I've been involved, the Hangar's Lab Company was the most supportive and energizing. It provides an exceptional environment to explore, create and play, and connects you with a diverse, driven pool of collaborators. My first summer at the Hangar was, without a doubt, one of the greatest and most fulfilling of my career."
Kerry Whigham
Lab Company Director 2007
Assistant to Douglas Carter Beane, Xanadu
"The Hangar Theatre Lab Company was an amazing experience for me. I had the opportunity to work with incredible actors, writers and directors who I still keep in touch with. I had the chance to train with wonderful mentors and do 5 shows in 11 weeks, which showed me that if I can accomplish what I did at the Hangar Lab then no project was too challenging. Plus, my summer at the Hangar eventually connected me to getting my Equity card."
Lanna Joffrey
Lab Company Actor 1998
Actor; Author of Valiant
"Since my first production in the Wedge in 1998, the Hangar Theatre has been my true artistic home. Though its extraordinarily valuable to me that the Hangar has PRODUCED three of my plays, what has been of more value ultimately has been the thoughtful and honest NURTURING and DEVELOPING of these works and my voice as a writer. Without this true sense of community, I don't believe I would have continued to grow as a writer or dare to imagine the scope and possibility of my present and future work."
Kenny Finkle
Lab Company Playwright
Author, Indoor/Outdoor
"My first professional directing opportunity was as a Drama League director for the Hangar Theatre's Lab Company in 1994. That summer was the first time I'd ever been to Ithaca– and it changed my life forever. I made friends and colleagues with whom I'm still working today. I created theatre–some of it truly great and some it awful, quite frankly–which was personal, bold and new. I discovered much about who I am as a person and as a theatre artist that summer. I also fell in love with the Hangar and with Ithaca. Six years later I became the Hangar's artistic director! I've been so lucky to participate in the Lab Company as a director, to work with the Lab Company as a mentor and artistic director, and to watch so many great theatrical productions in the Wedge and on the KIDDSTUFF stage created by Lab Company artists over the years. My life–and the American Theatre overall–is better because the Lab Company exists. Any young theatre artist who is brave and committed and eager to take artistic chances should seriously considering spending a life-changing summer in Ithaca."
Kevin Moriarty
Lab Company Director 1994
Artistic Director, Hangar Theatre 2000–2007
Artistic Director, Dallas Theater Center 2007–present