YOUNGSTOWN PLAYHOUSE Battle ends; Lenhoff to return

Anthony Donofrio was elected interim president of the Playhouse board.
YOUNGSTOWN -- A celebration was set for 7 p.m. today at the Youngstown Playhouse on Glenwood Avenue to welcome back Bentley Lenhoff as executive director, ending a stalemate between the Playhouse board and the Save Our Stage Committee.
At a board meeting Monday night, Lenhoff was hired back for $1 per year. He will announce a comprehensive plan Thursday for the Playhouse.
Board members resign
Two unidentified board members resigned at Monday's meeting, according to a press release.
"We'll be toasting the past and the future. We will come together as one group whose only goal is to preserve and strengthen the Youngstown Playhouse," said Anthony Donofrio, an attorney and board member voted in as interim president of the board Monday.
"As a board, we inherited an organization that was deeply troubled and have worked very hard to resolve the current controversy," he said.
Tonight's gathering was to include members of the Save Our Stage Committee, a group that had sought the resignation of board members and the installation of Lenhoff as executive director. The board earlier this summer rejected Lenhoff's offer to return as executive director to deal with major financial problems facing the long-established community playhouse.
Threatening to sue
The SOS group and some season ticket holders were threatening to sue the board this week unless they agreed to hold another annual board meeting, saying the July 19 annual meeting was illegally held.
Lenhoff, 74, who moved back to the Valley from Harbor Springs, Mich., to assist the Playhouse, said he was grateful to the Save Our Stage Committee for the attention it brought to troubling issues affecting the Playhouse. He said the current board inherited countless problems, including financial instability.
Lenhoff previously led the Playhouse from 1965-85.
John E. Ballantyne Jr., one of the leaders of the SOS committee, said he and other committee members are looking forward to working with others to secure the future of the Playhouse.
"The Playhouse is a community asset," Ballantyne said. "We have the energy, enthusiasm and now, with Lenhoff, the leadership to save the Playhouse."
The new director is urging people to attend a performance at 7 p.m. Saturday planned several weeks ago as a benefit for the Playhouse. The performance will showcase some of the actors, singers and dancers who have appeared or who will likely appear on the stage in the future.
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased by calling (330) 788-8739. Tickets also may be purchased at the door Saturday evening.