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Lean Ensemble Theater

Lean Ensemble Theater – “The Conversation Starts when the curtain goes down.” Myla Lerner

Eight years ago, Blake White had an interest in starting a theater company on Hilton Head.  A patron suggested that he speak with Myla Lerner, a Tony Award-winning Broadway producer living in New York City who has a home in Palmetto Dunes.  They met at a coffee shop and started the discussion about Blake’s vision for the Theater Company and the next steps to get the company started.  Blake created a 501c and Lean Ensemble was born with Myla as the Chair of the Board.

According to Myla, the name came from the plan to be financially lean but also from the goal to leave the audience wanting to “Lean in and listen and then talk about what they heard.” Talkbacks offer the opportunity to exchange ideas and share comments and experiences between the Company and audience. Lean places vital importance in its core values to listen, learn, respect and play.

There are two other community connections with Lean. Joe Maguire, who splits his time between PD and East Lansing, Michigan, met Myla through a PD neighbor connection.  Joe also serves on the Lean Board and brings past theater board experience. Jerry Durkin, our current POA Chairman, has been a professional actor since 2006 and has performed in 30 stage productions including several Lean productions.  In December, Jerry will be playing an irascible old Irish farmer in the beautiful John Patrick Shanley play “Outside Mullingar”.

The 2023-2024 Season includes:

  • The Mountaintop – A gripping reimagination of events the night before the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. October 19 – 29, 2023
  • Outside Mullingar – A compassionate, delightful work about how it’s never too late to take a chance on love. December 7 – 17, 2023
  • Around the World in 80 Days – Danger, romance and comic surprises abound as five actors portraying 39 characters traverse seven continents in one of the great adventures of all time. January 11 – 21, 2024
  • Fun Home – A refreshingly honest, wholly original musical about seeing your parents through grown-up eyes. March 21 – 31, 2024
  • Proof – Catherine has spent years caring for her brilliant but unstable father. Now, over the long weekend that follows his death, a burgeoning romance and the discovery of a mysterious notebook draw Catherine into the most difficult problem of all:  How much of her father’s madness – or genius – will she inherit.   May 9 – 19, 2024

Friday night performances and Saturday matinees include talkback sessions.  Purchase tickets or learn more about Lean Ensemble Theater at https://www.leanensemble.org/.