My closest equivalent to BK's Huntington Hartford experience would be the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami -- where I, too, saw Ann Sothern in The Glass Menagerie. And Stop the World. And Luv. And so much more. You know, I never looked back on seeing those plays and musicals as a life changing thing...but of course they were.
The very process of getting down there from Fort Lauderdale in my early teen years was part and parcel of the experience, transitioning from being driven by my parents, to taking the bus (Greyhound variety) by myself, to getting my license and eventually being permitted to drive there.
The Playhouse was run by Zev Buffman who I knew nothing about then but his name was always prominent. He later opened the Parker Playhouse in Fort Lauderdale where I saw just a few things (such as Merman in Call Me Madam) before going off to school in Cleveland.