And then there are the summer playhouses.

"Once Upon a Mattress," which was nurtured at the Tamiment Playhouse, the summer playhouse in the Poconos, followed in 1959.

Other summer playhouses in idyllic settings also attract top acting talent (the Williamstown Theater Festival in Massachusetts, for example).

The state's newest professional summer playhouse, the renamed and renovated Sharon Stage is also one of its oldest.

Dorset, for instance, was an exquisite little place, standing around an oval green, full of,beautiful white clapboard houses, with a summer playhouse and an old church and an enormous inn.

A schedule of the state's professional summer playhouses follows.

In 1994, the Casino de Charlevoix opened its doors in what was once the Manoir Richelieu's summer playhouse located at Pointe-au-Pic.

That would seem a sure wayfor a summer playhouse to shore up its professional identity, and the Candlewood Playhouse in New Fairfield aims to do just that.

Inaugurated June 24, 1994 the Casino de Charlevoix was established in the Manoir Richelieu's former summer playhouse on the cliffs of Pointe-au-Pic, a panoramic site visited by vacationers for over a century.

Dabbling as assistant producer of a summer playhouse in Ridgefield was small change, compared to Broadway.