Alec Baldwin to Star In ‘All My Sons’ at John Drew

“All My Sons,” the 1947 play by Arthur Miller that launched the playwright’s career, will be presented at Guild Hall from June 9 through June 28 with Alec Baldwin and Laurie Metcalf in the leading roles. Stephen Hamilton, co-founder of Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, will direct.

“This was a role that Alec was always looking for,” according to Barbara Jo Howard, Guild Hall’s director of marketing and communications. “Steve and Alec were batting that idea around for several years until the timing finally clicked into place.”

The play, directed by Elia Kazan on Broadway, was based on a true story about the approval of defective airplane engines by the Wright Aeronautical Corporation and Army inspectors.

Mr. Baldwin will play Joe Keller, who was exonerated after being charged with shipping damaged aircraft cylinder heads that led to the deaths of 21 pilots. He blamed his partner and former neighbor, Steve Deever, who was ultimately convicted and sent to prison. Joe’s wife, Kate, portrayed by Ms. Metcalf, knows her husband is guilty but lives in denial.

The play focuses on the Keller and Deever families, who are haunted by the crime that hangs over them. The confrontations that ensue lead to the revelation of a shameful secret that has dire consequences for everyone.

Miller wrote “All My Sons” after the failure of his first play, “The Man Who Had All the Luck,” which closed after four performances on Broadway. According to the playwright, the success of “Sons” “made it possible to dream of daring more and risking more.”

Each year, the summer theater program is developed by a committee of theater experts who may or may not be members of Guild Hall’s board, who work with the department heads, Ruth Appelhof, the executive director, and Ms. Howard.

“We meet and talk about what we think we should be showing and what we think we can show,” said Ms. Howard. Timing is crucial, she explained, since it involves determining the best time for a program and whether the talent is available at that time. The committee considers the theater world at large, the local community, and what would bring people in to the community.

Another landmark of the summer program will be a show by the Beach Boys, who will perform on July 3 at 7 p.m. Though it will be primarily a fund-raiser, with dinner to follow and tickets priced at $1,000 and up, a number of performance-only tickets, starting at $145, will be available.

The theme of this year’s Garden as Art program will be farm-to-table, with visits to select estate properties that produce not only lush gardens but also sustainable harvests of organic produce. Several also raise livestock. The panel discussion, to be moderated by Brian Halweil, editor of Edible East End, will include Kate Baldwin of Amber Waves Farm in Amagansett and Tony Piazza, an East End landscape designer.

Other theater highlights include “On and Off the Runway,” a three-part series organized by Pamela Fiori, former editor of Town and Country, who will interview notable fashion icons; performances by the New York City Ballet and Ballet Hispanico; an evening with David Sedaris; the return of “Stirring the Pot: Conversations With Culinary Celebrities,” with Gregory Zakarian kicking off the series, and the Big Apple Circus.

While the complete program is still in formation, details about most of the events can be found at guildhall.org.