Ten Chimneys Documentary Premiere “This Place Matters! Ten Chimneys”
Brilliant new documentary film explores the lives of Alfred Lunt & Lynn Fontanne and their creation of Ten Chimneys, which became a creative haven for stage and screen legends.
New York, NY (Thursday, September 25, 2025) – An exciting new documentary entitled This Place Matters! Ten Chimneys is set to premiere on Monday, October 6, 2025, at the legendary Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in New York City. The film explores the lives and loves of one of the most fascinating and influential couples in theater history – Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. Often referred to as “the first couple of the Broadway stage,” they had three great loves: each other, the stage, and their Wisconsin estate called Ten Chimneys. A studio for artistic work and expression and the spiritual home for leading theater artists from the mid-1920s through the 1960s – celebrated actors, writers, and directors journeyed to Ten Chimneys to relax, rejuvenate, and collaborate on projects that became milestones of American theater. The documentary features luminaries of the American stage including Alan Alda, Jason Alexander, Carol Channing, Tyne Daly, Colman Domingo, Olympia Dukakis, Barry Edelstein, Joel Grey, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Alfred Molina, David Hyde Pierce, Phylicia Rashad, and Lynn Redgrave, with narration by Lunt-Fontanne Fellow, Sharon Lawrence. Additional information can be found at tenchimneys.org.
“Aside from seeing their names on a Broadway theater, many people don’t know much about the incredible legacy of Alfred and Lynn,” explains Randy Bryant, President & CEO of the Ten Chimneys Foundation. “They nurtured and cultivated Ten Chimneys, so it became a creative refuge for some of the most important names in stage and screen – Noël Coward, Helen Hayes, Orson Welles, Laurence Olivier, David Belasco and Alexander Woollcott, among others all spent time honing their craft at Ten Chimneys. We hope this film will allow the world to see their magnificent contributions to American theater.”
Today, due to the determination and vision of noted theater historian, Dr. Joseph Garton, the Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program carries on the Lunts’ legacy of mentorship for Broadway and regional theater actors from across the country at Ten Chimneys. Through this groundbreaking program, the top actors in the country are given a rare and special opportunity to grow artistically, renew their passion for their art form, deepen their commitment to mentorship, and form a national community of Lunt-Fontanne Fellows. The historic context and the inherent inspiration of Ten Chimneys is why Ten Chimneys Foundation’s inaugural Master Teacher, Lynn Redgrave, said that “this program simply couldn’t happen anywhere else,” and why participating Fellows have all talked about the experience being “transformative” – true for actors and museum guests alike.
For more than four decades, Lunt & Fontanne were considered the King and Queen of the Broadway stage, revolutionizing theater with innovations that we now accept as commonplace: overlapping dialogue, turning their backs to the audience, passionate physical contact, and a level of truth and realism in everything they did that simply could not be found on the stage prior. They retreated to Ten Chimneys every summer for personal and artistic rejuvenation. Ten Chimneys was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2003, for the significance of its owners to the history of performing arts, and for its distinctive architecture and decoration.
This Place Matters! Ten Chimneys offers a rare look into the lives of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, their beautiful home, and the legacy that keeps artists coming back time and again, as well as theater lovers visiting Ten Chimneys for a look at the legend.
About Ten Chimneys
The one-of-a-kind Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program takes place at Ten Chimneys – the National Historic Landmark estate lovingly created by theater legends Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, widely considered the greatest acting couple in the history of American theater. This beguiling Wisconsin landmark offers a one-of-a-kind environment for the work of the Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program. Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne constructed Ten Chimneys to be the perfect working retreat for themselves and a circle of friends comprising the best-of-the-best in American theater. Today, Ten Chimneys is open to the public as a House Museum and a national resource for American theater. Tours of Ten Chimneys not only celebrate the one-of-a-kind collection the Lunts amassed during their lifetime, but also honor the values found in every corner of their lives, both on stage and in the house they called home for more than half a century.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
Mentioned in This Press Release
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