THIS PLACE MATTERS! TEN CHIMNEYS Film to Premiere at Lunt-Fontanne Theatre

A new documentary entitled This Place Matters! Ten Chimneys is set to premiere on Monday, October 6, 2025, at the 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-1920's through the 1960’s – 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.

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.