Cornerstone Productions: Comedic Entertainment And Endless Magic

I arrived to the Cornerstone Productions preshow bustle of Sunny Side Up. The small theater located in is a patchwork of hilarious props, oversized costumes and singing cast members. When you hear someone say “go to your happy place.” I think what they’re really saying is pay a visit to Cornerstone Productions. 

If you haven’t had the opportunity to visit Cornerstone theater, you’re letting the best in our quaint hamlet pass you by.

Co-founders Hunter Charnow and Karl Gasteyer began Cornerstone productions as a traveling theater company in 2000 and performed at major venues such as the Tropicana and Foxwoods. Enticed by the idea of finding a permanent theater, three years ago the duo approached owner Bill Dougherty. They reached an agreement to convert one of the theaters into a stage and built the business from the ground up.

Charnow, a Brooklyn native with a background in marketing, worked for his family’s business in the garment district. For a change of venue he moved to a Vermont farm, raised draft horses, logged and offered hayrides. He met his future wife and actress and together in 1983 opened a theater company called Peaches Theater Music Hall. 

In 1991, Charnow claims to have met two of the most important people in his life the first was his daughter and the second was Karl who he met at the Southeastern Theater Conference.

“You couldn’t help but spot the energy coming out of this guy, he’s an amazing talent,” Charnow said. “Karl was sitting at the head of a table and he had everybody laughing and that’s when I knew he was the guy I wanted to work with.” 

Karl Gasteyer, cousin of Saturday Night Live’s Anna Gasteyer, graduated from Old Lyme High School in 1982, attended college receiving a bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts and headed to New York in pursuit of acting jobs.

Gasteyer taught tap dance at an inner city magnet school, impersonated Martha Stewart at Bruce Springsteen party, and taught theater at Quinnipiac University.

Much like the Vaudevillian acts Cornerstone emulates, Charnow and Gasteyer are two very different acts but yet complementary to one another. 

“I have this talent that doesn’t have an opportunity to be seen,” Charnow said. “My job is to fill the house. I have this audience, I am the conduit and that's magic for me.”   

Charnow is all business but from inception to stage, Gasteyer handles the rest.

“I started out loving performing but now I love facilitating performers,” Gasteyer said. “I enjoy all aspects of production and direction. I usually write the music and come up with the basic concept and collaborate with other people.” 

Cornerstone’s most recent production, Luna’s Sea, is a collaboration with the .  Gasteyer said,” You really have to go to New York to see the type of performance puppetry in Luna’s Sea.“  Charnow added, ”The Aquarium is incredibly supportive and I am proud of all our shows, but this one is very unique.” 

Although both Gasteyer and Charnow said it’s tough to run a theater in the current economy, they both seem to forage onward producing original comedic entertainment and seemingly endless magic to share with all of Mystic.