The Mirror Theater was founded by Sabra Jones in 1983, who was also the Founding Artistic Director. The first program of the theater was the Mirror Repertory Company (MRC). Founding members of the company included Eva Le Gallienne, John Strasberg, and Geraldine Page. Sabra Jones reached out to Ellis Rabb, artistic director of the APA Phoenix Repertory Company, John Houseman of the Mercury Theater, and Eva Le Gallienne of the Civic Repertory Theatre Company. The company was intended to be "an alternating repertory company in the classic sense" of actor-manager leadership,Simonson, Robert. "Mirror Rep Presents HGRS, Pendleton's Bard With a Bonus Conflation." Playbill. PLAYBILL INC., 25 Sept. 2006. Web. 10 Jan. 2017. which Rabb, Houseman, and La Gallienne pioneered. Alternating repertory refers to when one company performs a variety of plays in the same season with the same actors, which was formerly a mainstay of theater tradition. This system has been attributed with helping actors grow in their craft through a wide variety of roles.Bennetts, Leslie. "Repertory Companies Offer Classics and Camp." The New York Times, 17 Jan. 1986. Web. 10 Jan. 2017. MRC was funded in its inception primarily by philanthropist Laurance S. Rockefeller, with additional donations from philanthropists and actors such as Paul Newman, Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, and others.

First productions

Alice in Wonderland

MRC's founder and artistic director, Sabra Jones, produced Eva Le Gallienne's adaptation of “Alice in Wonderland,” directed by Le Gallienne and co-directed by John Strasberg, with Kate Burton, daughter of Richard Burton, in the title role as her Broadway debut. This production, recommended to Jones by Le Gallienne, was a staple of the Civic Repertory Company and was intended to initiate the Mirror Theater Ltd. The production was on Broadway at the Virginia Theatre, now the August Wilson, in NYC. Designer Patricia Zipprodt was nominated for a Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for her costume designs on the “Alice in Wonderland” revival."Alice in Wonderland." IBDB - Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League, n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2017. They were exact recreations of the John Tenniel drawings for the original publication of the book Alice in Wonderland. This theme of artistic sensibility to the original art work was also carried through in the sets by famed designer John Lee Beatty. The sets and costumes were called “exquisite” by the New York Times. The production attracted great attention at the time for its financing, which marked the highest budget to that date of $2,000,000.00, but which was also backed by members of “The Four Hundred” who rarely invest in theater productions. Backers included Anthony D. Marshall, Laurance S. Rockefeller, Brooke Astor, and C. Douglas Dillon, among others. This production also marked the first time that a public television station invested in a show, WNET13, which later produced a version for television as part of PBS’s “Great Performances” series. MRC Founding Producing Artistic Director Sabra Jones brokered this deal and became Creative Consultant for the television production. In the “Great Performances” broadcast, “The White Knight” was played by Richard Burton, father of Kate Burton, the only time the two ever appeared together on film. Others in the televised production were Colleen Dewhurst, Nathan Lane, Željko Ivanek, Maureen Stapleton, and Eve Arden. The “Great Performances” broadcast is still available to view online.

Sabra Jones, in her first production, had the innovative idea of asking WNET-13 for an investment in this production of a literary classic. WNET-13 invested in the production and in return received the production rights for television. This marked the first time that one non profit had invested in a commercial production for the purpose of securing income. As a result, Sabra was named a creative consultant for the film and also was responsible for securing through her star, Kate Burton, the services of Kate's famous father, Richard Burton, to play the White Knight for WNET-13. This was the only time that Kate appeared on film with her father. In the credits for the film, Sabra Jones is thanked for her assistance (along with Laurence Rockefeller, Brooke Astor, and Anthony D. Marshall).

Cast of Alice in Wonderland Nancy Killmer as Singer/Eight of Hearts Kate Burton as Alice Mary Stuart Masterson as Small White Rabbit/Four of Hearts John Remme as Mouse/Three of Hearts/Tweedledee James Valentine as Dodo/Mock Turtle John Miglietta as Lory/Seven of Hearts Rebecca Armen as Eaglet/Pig-Baby/Two of Hearts Nicholas Martin as Duck/Dormouse/Train Guard Curt Dawson as White Rabbit/White Knight John Heffernan as Caterpillar/Ten of Hearts/Sheep Geddeth Smith as Fish Footman/Cheshire Cat/Ace of Hearts/Man in White Paper Claude-Albert Saucier as Frog Footman/Five of Hearts/Goat Edward Zang as Duchess Richard Sterne as Cook/Nine of Hearts Macintyre Dixon as Mad Hatter Josh Clark as March Hare/Front of Horse Geoff Garland as Two of Spades Robert Ott Boyle as Five of Spades/Tweedledum Steve Massa as Seven of Spades/Leg of Mutton Brian Reddy as Queen of Hearts Richard Woods as King of Hearts John Seidman as Knave of Hearts Marti Morris as Six Of Hearts Skip Harris as Three of Clubs Cliff Rakerd as Seven of Clubs/Back of Horse Edward Hibbert as Gryphon/Old Frog Mary Louise Wilson as Red Queen Eva Le Gallienne as White Queen

1980s repertory seasons

Pre-production for first season

The Mirror Theater formed a board of directors in advance of the first season. In 1984, John Elting Treat, a noted philanthropist and member of the U.S. National Security Council under Presidents Carter and Reagan, became Chair of The Mirror. He followed Morton Leavy, Esq. a renowned theatrical attorney on Broadway, and John Breglio, also a New York attorney and producer of the 2006 revival of A Chorus Line. The board at that time included Sam Spiegel—the producer of films On the Waterfront, The Bridge on the River Kwai, and Lawrence of Arabia—Archie E. Albright, then President of the Foreign Policy Association, Patricia Kennedy Lawford, wife of actor Peter Lawford and sister to the late President John F. Kennedy, and Anna Sosenko, celebrated producer and songwriter.

All were board members when the Royal Shakespeare Company sponsored The Mirror's first Benefit. Geoffrey Dench, brother of Judi Dench, was Master of Ceremonies. Guests included lauded actors Jeremy Irons, Derek Jacobi, and Sinéad Cusack. Derek donated his prosthetic nose from the RSC production of Cyrano de Bergerac to be auctioned off at the Benefit, where it was purchased by actor Jon Cryer. The Mirror's 3rd Benefit, in 1986, took place at the illustrious Limelight nightclub with Frank Zappa as Master of Ceremonies. Titled “Rock the Rep,” the Benefit auctioned off such items as an autographed David Bowie tuxedo and a pair of David Lee Roth’s tights.

First season

MRC’s first repertory season included productions of Rain by John Colton, Paradise Lost by Clifford Odets, Inheritors by Susan Glaspell, and The Hasty Heart by John Patrick. By this time, the company included actors Anthony Hopkins, Maxwell Caulfield, Julie Harris, Juliet Mills, Mason Adams, David Cryer, Matthew Cowles, and Tom Waites, as well as director Austin Pendleton.

Company designers were Ron Placzek (scenery), Heidi Hollman (costumes), Mal Sturchio (lighting), and Rob Gorton (sound). The productions were initially presented at a small 70-seat Off-Off-Broadway theater at the Real Stage Acting School on West 46th St. (the building was then owned by the Local One Stage Hands Union).

Benedict Nightingale in the New York Times lauded the company in a review entitled “Dramas From the Past that Speak to the Present” and challenged the public by saying “what chance is there for a new repertory with serious pretensions in the theatrical winter of New York today?”

On the strength of Benedict Nightingale's New York Times review, a group of backers moved the MRC off-Broadway to the Theater at St. Peter's Church. Its first repertory season was budgeted at $675,000.00 and was financed primarily by Laurance S. Rockefeller. The New York State Council of the Arts, AT&T, and the CBS Foundation also contributed. Geraldine Page was named Artist-In-Residence. The season garnered critical attention.

The company's work on the revival of John Patrick’s The Hasty Heart received praise; Rain, directed by John Strasberg, was noted primarily for the leading role of “Sadie Thompson,” played by MRC's Artistic Director Sabra Jones, whom Mel Gussow termed “the only reason to see the production” and who usually played only minor roles in productions. Jones chose the season's plays, aided by John Strasberg's memories of his father Lee telling him the history of the Group Theater.

The first season of repertory was dedicated to The Group and to the Royal Shakespeare Company. For this season, Paul Newman, Dustin Hoffman, and Al Pacino joined the Mirror as Major Donors in response to a matching grant from Laurance S. Rockefeller.

Second season

MRC's second season was announced in the New York Times and included revivals of both Robert Bolt’s Vivat! Vivat Regina! and Jean Giraudoux’s The Madwoman of Chaillot, alongside Booth Tarkington’s Clarence and Shakespeare's Richard II, which was to be directed by Ellis Rabb. Arthur Storch joined the company at this time to direct Clarence.

Artist-in-residence Geraldine Page won positive reviews as both “Queen Elizabeth” in Vivat! Vivat Regina! and as the eponymous Madwoman in The Madwoman of Chaillot, as one reviewer stated, “Miss Page delights.”. Vivat! Vivat Regina! also featured Geraldine Page’s real life grandson Elijah William Burkhardt as the infant (and future King) “James”

The Madwoman of Chaillot also featured F. Murray Abraham, who joined MRC the week after winning his Oscar for Best Actor for his work in Amadeus because he wanted to work with Geraldine Page, Madeleine Sherwood, Carrie Nye, and Jane White.

Three productions of the MRC's second season are available for viewing at the NY Public Library for the Performing Arts: The Madwoman of Chaillot starring Geraldine Page and F. Murray Abraham; Clarence, starring Geraldine Page and David Cryer; and Vivat! Vivat Regina!, starring Geraldine Page and Sabra Jones.

Third season

In MRC's third season at St. Peter's Church, Elizabeth Franz joined the company for the U.S. Premiere of Maxim Gorky’s Children of the Sun, while Tovah Feldshuh, who spoke of the repertory experience as “the greatest work you can do as an actor,” joined to appear in a revival of William Saroyan's The Time of Your Life directed by Peter Mark Schifter.

Acknowledgement by Geraldine Page

In 1986, MRC Artist-in-Residence Geraldine Page won the Oscar for Best Actress for the film The Trip to Bountiful. In her acceptance speech, Page thanked the Mirror Repertory Company. The award was presented by fellow MRC member F. Murray Abraham.

Arts In Education, Maine, London, and 1990s productions

After the death of Artist-in-Residence Geraldine Page in 1987 The Mirror Repertory Company continued with a focus on Arts in Education, including celebrated Shakespearean productions within the NYC schools. The arts in education program was devised by Sabra Jones and taught by Co-Artistic Director John Strasberg and company member Thomas McAteer, under Jones's guidance. With Strasberg working regularly in Europe, McAteer gradually assumed more of the program's running.