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07/27/2022 08:30 AMA few months before Schuyler Beeman gathered his first sheep flock in Guilford, he was on stage in Italy during a world tour with Isabella Rossillini – who, as it turns out, also loves sheep.
There’s no easy way to define the incredibly creative lifestyle Schuyler has crafted since coming off that tour and back to his hometown in 2019. He’s the founder, farmer, and shepherd of Arbor Farm in North Guilford – a place where “farming and the farm itself invites a symbiotic relationship between art and argriculture,” as he describes.
In 2019, Schuyler also turned his thoughtful and talented agricultural interests into a burgeoning gardening business, Lodestar Gardens. And, of course, he’s also triple-threat theater professional and then some: singer, dancer, actor, choreographer, and director.
Luckily for the shoreline, several of Schuyler’s passions will converge with two local events in August. On Saturday, Aug. 20, as a member of the Guilford Agricultural Commission (GAC), Schuyler will help shine a spotlight on the unveiling the new Guilford farm map and brochure. The 11 a.m. event on the Guilford green will also kick off an afternoon of open house farm visits.
On Monday, Aug. 22, as a member of the Ivoryton Playhouse Board of Trustees (and as one who has performed, choreographed and directed at the playhouse), Schuyler is sharing his new solo cabaret, Broadway at the Ivoryton.
Giving Back to Guilford
As an appointed member of the GAC, Schuyler is especially excited to be helping out with planning a special event promoting Guilford’s new, updated farm map and brochure. It features a full-color, fold-out map, together with directions and descriptions of what can be found at approximately 30 farms in town.
“It’s exciting. And just so happens one of my first lambs is on the cover of the brochure — no big deal!” says Schuyler, who also simply feels, “...sheep saved me” (more about that later).
The brochure was funded with a grant from the state’s CT Grown program, which also provided extra money to do an event. That’s all Schuyler needed to hear.
“An event? I know how to do an event! We have created this unveiling ceremony we’re having on the Guilford green on Aug. 20, at 11 a.m. And then we’ll have a few farms that will set up on green between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.; and an open farm tour that day from noon to 4 p.m.”
Come to the Cabaret
Shoreline fans of Schuyler may instantly recognize him from past cabaret performances including Three Bags Full, which played at Guilford First Congregational Church in 2020 and (revised) 2022. Yes, the title is a joyful ode to the cabaret’s stories and songs about sheep and the shepherding work Schuyler says “recharged” him and ultimately became a way of life.
His new cabaret, Broadway at the Ivoryton Playhouse is a night filled with memorable Broadway musical songs that brought down the house at the Ivoryton over the years, as experienced by Schuyler.
“Basically, it’s chronicling my life as a kid in the audience, to then being on that stage as a performer and choreographer, and now being on the board of trustees; and talking about my experience working in the commercial musical theater world.”
Tickets are available now at ivorytonplayhouse.org/summer-cabarets
It’s the second in the Summer Cabaret Series Schuyler is producing and directing for the Ivoryton. The series started off with Sounds of the Seventies on July 11.
Blending Two Worlds
Schuyler says he owes a lot to Ivortyon Playhouse, which helped to launch his professional theater career.
“Ivoryton has been my home theater for everything. It was my first professional gig in the summer of 2006, right before college. My first professional choreographer’s gig was there. It’s where I got my equity card.”
An only child, Schuyler grew up in Guilford with his parents, Mary and Jeff. The Guilford High School (GHS) Class of 2006 alumnus was a regular in GHS musicals, including playing Sky Masterson (Guys and Dolls) as a senior. But even back then, he was blending his love of agricultural life with a love of the stage.
“My first show at GHS was in the Pippin ensemble - but the duck that was in that show was my duck,” says Schuyler. “Agriculture has always been my thing, since I was a kid. I grew up right on the Guilford green, and when I was a kid I had chickens. And that was before everybody had backyard chickens. I had a rotating flock that I was raising for egg production, and I would sell eggs off my porch. I’ve always been an animal person.”
Schuyler went on to earn his Theatre degree (with an elementary education minor) at Middlebury College (Middlebury, Vermont). There, he performed in student and faculty directed productions, while also becoming an All-American Division III Swimmer and setting multiple records for Middlebury. Schuyler is currently the assistant swim coach at Wesleyan University (Middletown) under his former head coach from Middlebury.
“It’s a favorite job of mine for sure. And I get to sing the national anthem at home meets,” says Schuyler.
Schuyler’s musical chops and affinity for animals came together in another career opportunity, as an animal handler with William Berloni Theatrical Animals. He did the Broadway and off-Broadway work for nearly 10 years.
“I was the person behind the scenes with the dogs,” for shows including Annie, Wizard of Oz, and Legally Blonde, says Schuyler.
By this point, Schuyler was also working with some other animals – sheep. He started out “farm sitting” at a Maryland farm belonging to the family of a friend from college. Between other work, he would return to Shepherd’s Hey Farm (Comus, Maryland) as often as possible.
“Between gigs, I would go to Maryland and would be recharged by being around sheep and all this beautiful, farming atmosphere.”
The farm is known for its high-quality wool. As his shepherding knowledge grew, he went on to help out with managing the flock and building it during those visits.
Schuyler was lured back to the stage by a very unique opportunity – the chance to work with an icon of the acting world, Isabella Rossellini. With his animal handling skills and performing skills, Schuyler was the perfect fit for her theatrical conference, “Link Link Circus.”
“Isabella needed a puppeteer in this show,” who could also handle animals, including the show’s canine star, Darcy, Schuyler explains.
“I’m not a puppeteer, but I’m a dancer and I can learn things,” says Schuyler, who got the gig. “And it just kind of so happened, when in the rehearsal process in New York City, I starting bringing my musical theater shtick to the table, and she kept loving it. After being behind the scenes for so many years, to be recognized for something that’s in my DNA by someone like Isabella Rossellini was amazing.”
The performance took the stage at famed theaters across Europe. It was a fabulous experience, but Schuyler says he found himself missing something – the time he could spend working with sheep.
“When you’re traveling with a superstar, you’re staying some of the most amazing hotels; eating the most amazing food; but that wasn’t what I wanted to be doing. I was missing sheep. I was missing that grounding aspect,” he says. “That being said, Isabella is the kindest, most ingenious person I have met, and she’s an animal person, too. The show we did together was all about animal behavior; basically, a lecture on how communication plays a role in animals.”
Rossellini has her own farm on Long Island. Schuyler says he almost ended up there, instead of Guilford, helping to manage her farm, which includes a flock of sheep.
Instead, Schuyler decided to come back home, for many reasons.
“I’m an only child, and I want to be close to my parents,” he says. “And I love Guilford, and I couldn’t think of any other place that I wanted to be. To me, Guilford is the perfect place. I can be where I am in North Guilford, which feels like Vermont’s Middlebury hills, and that agricultural landscape; and I can drive 20 minutes out, and I’m on the shore. What more can I ask for?”
Staying Social
Schuyler keeps his farm fans and performance fans updated on social media including his Instagram page @arborfarmct, where he also shares a link to his Patreon page. The Patreon page is open to subscribers and invites a deeper look into the daily art of Schuyler’s farm life (including some impressive singing to his sheep and/or singing about sheep).
“To me, I’m passionate about helping the earth in any way I can. I try to do that with my farm practices as being a regenerative agriculturalist; and I have to scratch the itch of my creative side,” he says. “So when I do shows about my sheep, it's marketing, and it’s also me just getting to share my love of them, and to get people excited about investing in sheep and their products You get to see a lot of that on my Patreon -- the shows that I do, and all that kind of stuff.”
Schuyler also calls the Patreon page his “digital diary of the farm.”
“For $3 a month, you get a little more than you would get on my social media; you get the thought process; and it helps to sustain farm,” he says. “Of the subscribers I have, that money I generate is so helpful for me as a farmer. Another reason I wanted to come back to Guilford was I wanted to preserve our agricultural heritage. But being a farmer in Connecticut, and especially Guilford, can be really difficult. It’s expensive.”
Schuyler also uses social media and email blasts to spread the word when his farm’s various products become available, such as fresh mutton. Fun fact from Schuyler: mutton is the healthiest red meat for humans to eat — it has the closest ratio of Omega 3’s to Omega 6’s.
“I feel very fortunate, when I’m selling products, I do a little post on Instagram or a little email blast and I’ll sell out, for the most part.”
While he clearly has a fondness for his animals -- even naming the newer ones after Broadway musical stars or characters (his ram, Guido Contini, is named for the famous ladies man character in Nine) “...I’m not a sanctuary, I’m not a fiber farm -- everybody here has a job,” says Schuyler.
Except, he admits, for a couple of bantam chickens -- Big Boy and Flossie.
“Their job is to make me laugh,” he says.