Adrienne Grant couldn’t wait any longer.
For the past five years, she’s told people she would sell the Arundel Barn Playhouse to the right theater producer. She didn’t quite get her wish. Grant is selling the barn that she helped save 18 years ago to a buyer that plans to operate it as a music hall.
“It was as close to a theater as I could get,” Grant said. “I feel sad that it is not going to continue as a theater but happy that it is going to be a place for artists to entertain folk.”
Vinegar Hill LLC is set to buy the theater from Grant for an undisclosed price, with a closing in late December, a Vinegar Hill spokesman said.
Grant, 79, opened the theater in 1997, rescuing a barn that had been part of the local landscape for a century and recycling it as a summer theater. A director and choreographer, she hired young actors out of college and helped launch the careers of a Tony Award winner, a Broadway producer and a generation of performers, backstage artists and administrators.
She had hoped to make it to 20 years but is selling now because she is fatigued. She got sick after the season closed and lacks the energy to begin preparing for the next season. She is producer and director, handling the business and artistic operations.
“I probably still could have done one of the jobs, but doing two was really pushing it. Most people don’t have any idea what I did every day, but it’s a lot,” said Grant, who lives in Kennebunk. “To hire people to do those jobs, it would be pretty expensive. Our revenue did not support doing that.”
Bradford Kenney, executive artistic director at Ogunquit Playhouse, said the theater community loses a trusted collaborator with the closing of the playhouse. He and Grant cooperated in planning their seasons, he said. “While it make us sad to see the Arundel Barn Playhouse close, we applaud Adrienne and her staff for the years of great summer musical theater and for the wonderful memories that she created for our area,” Kenney said in a written statement.
Mark Robinson, a spokesman for Vinegar Hill, said the theater would reopen in the spring featuring live bands. The space also will be available to community and school groups, he said.
Vinegar Hill is operated by business partners Tim Harrington and Debbie Lennon.
“It’s a very unique space, and Adrienne has done some fabulous work there,” Robinson said. “It’s become a landmark in town. It’s a great space.”
Grant said she hopes the theater will be remembered for producing good shows in a comfortable environment. “I think our legacy is one to be proud of, and I’m feeling confident the new owners really love the barn.”
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