Jump The Brandywiners

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Santoro debuted with the Brandywiners in 1994 as a “flashlight boy,” guiding performers as they safely navigate their way offstage. Since then, he’s volunteered in multiple ways and figures he devotes 35 hours each week to the group as its president.

Some of that time is in leadership, using his skills developed as a manager at Nemours Children’s Health System, and before that in multiple jobs at Disney and the U.S. Coast Guard. Some of that is in mundane work, like delivering Wizard of Oz costumes to a local high school because the Brandywiners since the pandemic have struggled to find volunteers.

They vowed to do better

The origin of the Brandywiners began when Tatnall was disappointed in the quality of an operetta that she had seen and boasting that she and her friends could do better. She enlisted Laird (a 22-year-old college student) to direct The Pirates of Penzance. He asked his uncle, Pierre S. du Pont, if they could perform it at Longwood Gardens.

They stuck with operettas and comic operas until 1954, when they branched out into Broadway musicals with Brigadoon. The Brandywiners echoed its concept – it’s the story of a mysterious village that appears for only one day every 100 years – by producing it every 10 years through 1994.

They paused on the encores because attendance for its extravaganzas was falling from a thousand people each night to 400 or 500 because fans of the arts were enjoying a wealth of new and different offerings. Over the last 15 years or so, Santoro said, only four shows have been profitable.

But if Ragtime is considered successful, he hopes the group could also add a third annual production, a concert with minimal staging, and he thinks Brigadoon would be a great fit for 2024.

Other possibilities include performances downstate, so there’s a budget for buses to transport the cast of Oliver! for popups beyond its July 26-29 run at Longwood.

Members are seeking a multi-use facility that the Brandywiners can lease for classes, rehearsals, performances and other activities.

All along, they have received huge support in ticketing, marketing and logistics from Longwood.

“Without Longwood, the Brandywiners would not exist,” Santoro said.

Vision, mission and values

During the pandemic, the volunteers who led the nonprofit thought like a business to craft vision, mission and values statements. They also decided to “take a stand on how the arts can play a positive role in today’s issues,” Santoro said, by making posts on the company’s website and social media.

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