The 365 Campaign to Restore Our Historic Barn
Give us a year and we’ll give you a hundred more.
Please join The 365 Campaign and pitch in $1 per day for one year to finish the historic Crosby Barn. You will help Cape Rep meet our $190,000 matching grant from the Mass Cultural Facilities Fund and reach our ultimate goal of $1,400,000 to complete the project.
The Barn is…
A New Theater
A Home for Education
A Place for Community
Imagine yourself sitting, glass of wine in hand, enjoying a brand new play presented in-the-round, or seated at a cocktail table enjoying a cabaret performance, or walking into an immersive theater experience where the story happens all around you.
Or walking by on a summer’s day when all the windows are open and you can hear singing from within; when you peek inside, you see a company rehearsing choreography for a show soon to open, or young actors deep into scene work for their acting class with the professional conservatory.
Or dropping in on an open Young Company (YoCo) or Veterans Company (VetCo) rehearsal in the winter, taking an acting class or drop-in dance class, enjoying a concert, catered dinner, dance party, lecture, movie…
Or simply visiting one of Massachusetts’ rare historic barns open for public view.
That is the Crosby Barn.
With the renovation of The Barn Cape Rep embarks on an exciting phase of new possibilities, even as the company fulfills its mission to rehabilitate the historic structures on campus. The Barn’s flexible space will allow us to build work in a wide variety of styles. It will enable exciting creative designs and offer amenities like a bar and a catering kitchen. It will provide a much needed rehearsal hall that can be used when shows are running at the Indoor Theater. And best of all, The Barn will allow us to expand our educational offerings and move us toward our goal of providing extensive professional performing arts training. Once complete, we will have saved one of Brewster’s historic structures and restored it for use within a thriving, year-round performing arts campus.
GET INVOLVED
Donate
Please consider making a donation to the Crosby Barn Project so we can reach our $750,000 goal. Please contact us for more information on special giving opportunities.
Volunteer
Do you have a special set of skills that you might lend to the Barn Project? Is fundraising your passion? We would love to have you involved. The committees working to complete this renovation are actively seeking additional members, whether you have expertise in construction, landscaping, marketing and development, special events and more. Get in touch an we can talk about where best to put your talents to use! 508.896.1888 or email us at staff@caperep.org.
THE RENOVATION:
PHASE 1: Completed 2018
Phase 1 involved lifting the Barn and adding a full basement foundation to house all of our theatrical assets (scenery, platforms, props, etc.)
PHASE 2A: Completed July 2021
Phase 2A is the full historic restoration of the exterior of the Crosby Barn and it includes a new, wider entryway, the repair and reinforcement of the original floor, and the addition of a small wing for future bathrooms. Skilled craftsmen have already begun the beautiful work of restoring the Barn’s historic architectural elements, including windows and doors, interior paneling and the recreation of the cupola.
PHASE 2B: To begin winter 2023
Phase 2B will complete the interior renovation of the Barn including a dynamic theatrical space. The interior finishing will include an acoustically treated ceiling, infrastructure to accommodate stage lighting, audio-visual equipment, scenic effects and movable staging, and seating that allows a variety of configurations. In the adjoining addition, there will be new fully accessible restrooms, and a brand new kitchen and bar facility. The interior space of the Barn has been designed in conjunction with Charcoalblue, one of the world’s leading theater and acoustics consultants.
THE TEAM
Catalyst Architecture & Interiors is a diversified architectural firm with an office located in Yarmouthport, MA founded in 1969 providing comprehensive architectural and consulting services to a wide range of Commercial, Civic and Residential clients throughout Cape Cod and Southeastern Massachusetts.
Cape Associates, Inc. is a third generation family business now owned by the grandchildren of founder Lester F. Langhans, Jr.. A full-service custom home builder that offers design, permitting and cost-estimating services, as well as renovation and improvement services like painting, tiling and millwork.
Charcoalblue is the world’s leading, multi-national theater, acoustic and digital design consultancy. Since our foundation in 2004, we have grown to a team of over seventy with studios in London, Bristol, Glasgow, New York, Chicago and Melbourne.
THE BARN PROJECT WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF:
- The generosity of the townspeople of Brewster through the Community Preservation Act Grant program, which, in part, supports historic preservation projects.
- The Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund, a program of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, administered through a collaborative arrangement between MassDevelopment and the Mass Cultural Council.
- The Fred J. Brotherton Foundation
- Zudy
- Preston Scott Cohen
- Generous contributions of many individual supporters of this theater company
SOME HISTORY OF OUR SITE, AND THE CROSBY BARN:
The Crosby family, beginning with Tully Crosby, is one of the founding families of the town of Brewster, Massachusetts. By blood and by marriage, the Crosby and Nickerson families together gave the entire eastern portion of the Town of Brewster its cultural and economic identity.
Patriarch Nathan Crosby’s homestead comprised not only the site currently occupied by Cape Rep, but also the site we know as the “Crosby Mansion”, which is now owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and leased to the Town of Brewster. Nathan Crosby’s sons, Nathan Jr. and Isaac, and their sons Albert and Isaac F. respectively, engaged in business together as merchants and importers.