Brookfield Theatre for the Arts

In 1883, the Curtis School for Boys opened in Brookfield, Connecticut, after relocating from the town of Bethlehem, Connecticut.[9][10][11]

The school was founded by Frederick Smiley Curtis, a mentor and educator who was also the last surviving member of the Yale University Class of 1869.[12] Curtis was born February 18, 1850, in Stratford, Connecticut and earned the PhD at Yale University. He taught at West Chester University (Then known as Westchester Norman School), and then at Swarthmore College before founding the Curtis School.[13]

The school campus had seven buildings, including the rustic style stone-and-wooden beam gymnasium built in 1907.[14][15] The school's property also consisted of main classrooms, a chapel, a barn and cottage.[16] The Curtis School closed its doors in 1943.[17]

The Theatre is housed in the former Curtis School gymnasium, a building that was standing empty until it was purchased by the Brookfield Country Players in 1957 and remodeled as a community theater.[18][19] A dressing room was added in the 1960s and, in the 1980s, a backstage space was constructed.[6]

The building, in rustic style, originally featured a massive stone fireplace at each end of the gymnasium. While one fireplace has been walled over behind what is now the stage, the other remains "a beautiful piece of functional architecture".[14]