As Curtain Up celebrates its 25th anniversary, the opening of The Road Less Traveled Theater is yet another testimony to the commitment of both the theater arts community and patrons alike in presenting and celebrating great theater in WNY.

How lucky are we?

Someone who considers himself VERY lucky indeed is Scott Behrend, Artistic Director and co-founder of the Road Less Traveled Productions. To anyone involved in Buffalo�s theater world, Scott�s name, good work and enthusiasm are very familiar.

Eighteen months ago, it became apparent that it was time for RLTP to acquire a permanent home base. Three years of floating around various Buffalo stages, offering RLT�s one-of-a-kind premiere performances of new works by local playwrights, had proven to be a successful and exhilarating ride. In 2003, RLT�s initial world premiere of the play �Project� by resident playwright and RLT co-founder, Jon Elston, earned 4 Artie nominations, including the categories of Best New Play (Elston) and Best Director (Behrend). Not bad for the first time out of the gate. �Project� was chosen to travel to NYC�s prestigious International Fringe Festival in 2004, for a six-performance run.

RLT�s next project was the staging of Elston�s �Interrogation Room� which garnered Arties for Best New Play and Best Supporting Actor as well as another nomination for Berhend�s Directing. Elston�s play brought RLTP to national attention when they received the 2003 National Literary Prize. �Interrogation Room� was read at Washington, DC�s Kennedy Center�s New Works Series and received a staged reading at the Circle-In-The�Square Theater in NYC.

Road Less Traveled Productions was fortunate to find a home at Buffalo�s New Phoenix Theater for the 2005 season that featured two more Elston premiers, �Private Viewing� and �The Peddler�s Bones,� along with Darryl Schneider�s �Two To The Head.� Scott and Jon both realized the benefits that inhabiting a stage for more than one production offered them. It not only provided a sense of continuity for their �gypsy audience� and patrons, but also allowed for more elaborate staging of their productions.

The seed was planted; the Road Less Traveled Productions would begin to look for a home of its own.

The January 2006 season continued in the same frenetic swirl. Around this time, Behrend was presented with an opportunity to make his NYC directing debut. He was selected as Assistant Director for the prestigious Roundabout Theater production of Joe Orton�s �Entertaining Mr. Sloane,� starring Alec Baldwin. The opportunity to work with Mr. Baldwin began a mutually rewarding relationship that produced a fortuitous �tipping point� in the future of the RLTP�s quest for a stage of their own.

Encouraged by Mr. Baldwin to follow his dream of finding a permanent theater for the RLTP, Scott did what he did best; he put on a show! The sold out event featured a reading by Mr. Baldwin, of the play �Art� that turned out to be a major fundraising event for Road Less Traveled Productions. In large part, due to the generosity of the Margaret Wendt Foundation and Mr. Baldwin, along with overwhelming community support, RLT Productions was prepared to quickly move ahead in acquiring a stage of their own when the Market Arcade space became available. A mere 6 months later, on Sept. 8th, 2006, the Road Less Traveled Productions presented their opening night performance of Buffalo playwright Emmanuel Fried�s �The Dodo Bird� on their own stage.

In only three short years, RLTP had produced 9 phenomenal plays, a slew of glowing national press
and many artistic awards. This was heady stuff for a couple of young guys from Buffalo, working hard, following their dreams.

Scott and Jon�s energy and enthusiasm were �on stage� when I recently stopped by to chat about RLT's opening night, Curtain Up and future plans for the Road Less Traveled Productions.

Scott took a long pause and laughed when asked what life was like now that the Road Less Traveled Productions had its own theater. �Where does one begin?� he said. Where indeed? It was evident that he was more than comfortable directing not only the RLTP�s �The Dodo Bird� but also �directing� the opening Buffalo�s newest Downtown theater.

�Buffalo has a great theatrical tradition,� said Scott. The RLTP�s mission places the playwright in the forefront by providing a forum for writing and producing world premier productions of new works by local writers. This is a brave course for a new theater company. While many long established venues concentrate on programs of proven favorites, RLTP is committed to taking social and artistic risks in the belief that there is an untapped, perhaps younger audience, for new works that tackle contemporary issues. This may sound like a bit of a contradiction, given the fact that RLT�s first play to grace their new stage was Emannuel (Manny) Fried�s �The Dodo Bird.�

�Our revival of �The Dodo Bird� was very much in keeping with the RLT mission,� said Scott. �The success of this play is proof of that. �Dodo� was a major work that had been seen all over the country, yet had not been staged in Buffalo for many years. It�s a play set in a steel mill tavern of Buffalo�s past and the struggle of men to survive in changing times. We were surprised that the local media didn�t focus more on the fact that this was a Buffalo-based play exploring issues that effected many people in WNY, let alone that Manny is Buffalo�s oldest living playwright.�

�Another point that we don�t want to be overlooked is the fact that we are the first new stage to be built from scratch in Buffalo in a long time,� said Scott. With seating around 100 (including handicapped areas), it�s an intimate yet exciting setting where the creative process can be closely observed. The stage features state of the art lighting and sound.

Scott continues, �You can see and smell that something wonderful is happening in Downtown Buffalo. We could have chosen NYC or Chicago to invest our time and talent in. But we believed that Downtown was the perfect place for RLTP to be. We love being involved in the theater community of Main St. Just look at the Medical Corridor, the new Burchfield-Penny, the Darwin Martin House! Buffalo will shine through the arts and cultural venues. RLTP is committed to investing in this city�s amazing talent and resources to help effect these current changes. It�s a leap of faith for all of us. We see people wanting to live and spend time again in Downtown Buffalo.�

There is indeed a buzz about the new Road Less Traveled Theater. BRO readers still have an opportunity to see �The Dodo Bird� which runs through Sunday Oct. 8th. The next RLT production is the world premiere of Buffalo playwright Darryl Schneider�s play �The War Room,� a powerful social drama that explores the meaning of �pro soldier� and �anti war.� It opens on Friday Oct 27th and runs through Nov. 19th.

Jon Elston�s work returns to the RLTP stage on April 13th with his comedy �Buffalo Movie� a play that asks the question: Buffalo is ready for the big time; but is the BIG TIME ready for Buffalo?

We think it is!

(Scott Behrend left and Jon Elston right on the stage of "The Dodo Bird")

The Road Less Traveled Productions Theater
@ the Market Arcade Film & Arts Center
617 Main St.
716.629.3069