Youngstown Playhouse and family remember Bentley Lenhoff

YOUNGSTOWN

The curtain came down on Lyndean Lenhoff-Brick’s theater career after what she thought was a bravura performance in a high school play, in which she played the lead role.

“Everyone else was being greeted with congratulations and bouquets of flowers,” said Brick. “My father came backstage and told me, in no uncertain terms, that I couldn’t act, sing, or dance. He said I was too literal, so I’d better seriously consider becoming a lawyer because that’s a profession where being literal is appreciated.”

Looking back on the memory, Brick sees the fatherly review and advice as both humorous and sage.

“It’s hilarious,” she said. “And he was more wise than I realized at the time.”

Her father was Bentley Lenhoff, a highly regarded theater professional and former director of the Youngstown Playhouse, who died July 8 at age 85. “Exit Stage Left,” a memorial event to celebrate Lenhoff’s life, was held Saturday evening at, of course, the Youngstown Playhouse. In true theater spirit, the programs handed out to those attending were designed to look like a playbill.

Brick; her sister, Alyssa Lenhoff-Briggs; and their mother, Nancy Lenhoff; took time before the memorial to share their memories of Bentley Lenhoff and their thoughts about being back in the place he loved so dearly.

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