NEW HOPE, PA \u2014 Bucks County Playhouse is mourning the passing of Robert Redford, the Oscar-winning actor, director and founder of the Sundance Institute and Film Festival. He was 89.<\/p>\n
Redford made his professional stage debut at Bucks County Playhouse in 1959 in \u201cTiger at the Gate.\u201d Later that year, he made his first Broadway appearance in \u201cTall Story.\u201d He returned to the Playhouse in 1963 to star in Neil Simon\u2019s pre-Broadway production of \u201cNobody Loves Me,\u201d regarded as Redford\u2019s breakout role. The Playhouse production, directed by Mike Nichols, moved to Broadway in October 1963, where it was retitled \u201cBarefoot in the Park.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf all the starry names that have appeared at Bucks County Playhouse over the years, I\u2019ve been most impressed with Robert Redford\u2019s two stints on our stage (Grace Kelly is a close second),\u201d said Alexander Fraser, producing director of Bucks County Playhouse. \u201cHis first Playhouse role, \u2018Tiger at the Gate,\u2019 was a retelling of the Trojan War, with Redford as Paris \u2014 a very handsome party boy. His memoir even recounts the director\u2019s command that he dye his hair blond.”<\/p>\n
Mildred Natwick and Robert Redford Barefoot in the Park in 1963. (Bucks County Playhouse Archive)<\/p>\n
Robert Redford appearing in “Tiger at the Gates” in 1959 at the Bucks County Playhouse. (Bucks County Playhouse Archive)<\/p>\n
Robert Redford’s headshot in 1959. (Bucks County Playhouse Archive)<\/p>\n
Kurt Kasner, Mildred Natwick, Elizabeth Ashley and Robert Redford in \u201cNobody Loves Me\u201d (\u201cBarefoot in the Park\u201d) (Bucks County Playhouse Archive)<\/p>\n
Fraser continued, “The second play, \u2018Barefoot in the Park,\u2019 made him a star when it moved to Broadway. I wrote to him in 2019, inviting him to our 75th anniversary celebration. He replied immediately, reflecting on fond memories of New Hope and the importance of the Playhouse to his career. Because of COVID-19, he said he wasn\u2019t traveling, but he sent his best. We\u2019ll remember him with the greatest respect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Related Story<\/h3>\n
Robert Redford, Oscar-Winning Actor, Director And Indie Patriarch, Dies At 89<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Bucks County Playhouse, steeped in theatrical history dating to its 1939 founding by a roster of theatrical royalty, is celebrating the 13th anniversary of its 2012 reopening and restoration. With more than 75,000 patrons each year, the Playhouse continues to help lead the economic resurgence of New Hope and the surrounding community.<\/p>\n In 2014, Tony Award-winning producers Alexander Fraser, Robyn Goodman and Josh Fiedler assumed leadership of the Playhouse, helping it reclaim its reputation for attracting top-tier Broadway and Hollywood talent. Productions of \u201cCompany,\u201d starring Justin Guarini, and \u201cThe 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee\u201d were named to The Wall Street Journal\u2019s Best of Theatre list in 2015. In 2018, the Journal again recognized the Playhouse \u2014 and Artistic Associate Hunter Foster \u2014 for its acclaimed production of \u201c42nd Street.\u201d The following year, the publication hailed the Playhouse as \u201cone of the best regional theaters on the East Coast.\u201d<\/p>\n Box-office records have been repeatedly broken by signature productions including \u201cBuddy: The Buddy Holly Story,\u201d \u201cSteel Magnolias\u201d (directed by Marsha Mason), \u201cMillion Dollar Quartet,\u201d \u201c42nd Street\u201d and \u201cGuys and Dolls\u201d (all directed by Foster), as well as \u201cMamma Mia!\u201d (directed by Artistic Associate John Tartaglia and choreographed by Shannon Lewis).<\/p>\n A brief pause during the pandemic did not diminish the theater\u2019s momentum. Bucks County Playhouse continued producing onstage and onscreen throughout 2020, culminating in a live summer season in 2021 that welcomed an increasing number of first-time audience members. The 2023 season featured standouts such as Jonathan Larson\u2019s \u201cTick, Tick … Boom!\u201d (directed by artistic associate Eric Rosen, who returned in 2024 to helm the audience and critics\u2019 favorite \u201cAnastasia: The Musical\u201d), \u201cThe Bridges of Madison County,\u201d directed by Foster, and \u201cThe Rocky Horror Show,\u201d starring Frankie Grande. Irving Berlin\u2019s \u201cWhite Christmas\u201d became the highest-grossing show in Playhouse history.<\/p>\n In 2024, more than 40 percent of the audience were first-time attendees, drawn to record-breaking productions of \u201cGrease!\u201d and \u201cAnastasia: The Musical.\u201d The Playhouse continues to attract top creative teams \u2014 artists who relish the chance to work on the historic stage where Grace Kelly, Robert Redford and Jessica Walter began their careers.<\/p>\n Robert Redford Began His Career On The Bucks County Playhouse Stage<\/a> originally appeared on the New Hope-Lambertville Patch<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NEW HOPE, PA \u2014 Bucks County Playhouse is mourning the passing of Robert Redford, the Oscar-winning actor, director and founder of the Sundance Institute and Film Festival. He was 89. Redford made his professional stage debut at Bucks County Playhouse in 1959 in \u201cTiger at the Gate.\u201d Later that year, he made his first Broadway […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2026948,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[370843,373338,373340,373341,373339,333528,368026,341553],"class_list":["post-2026947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","tag-alexander-fraser","tag-bucks-county-playhouse","tag-grace-kelly","tag-mike-nichols","tag-professional-stage-debut","tag-robert-redford","tag-sundance-institute","tag-the-playhouse"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Robert-Redford-Began-His-Career-On-The-Bucks-County-Playhouse.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2026947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2026947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2026947\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2026948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2026947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2026947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2026947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}