June | 2017 | Intimate Excellent
Annie Barker with fellow interns at LA County Arts Intern Summit.
by Annie Barker
This past week, I left my desk at the Fountain Theatre to join my fellow interns at the Los Angeles County Arts Commission Summer Intern Summit. During this all-day event, I had the opportunity to meet with the over 130 interns that work at different non-proft arts organizations across Los Angeles county. While we come from different schools, backgrounds, and organizations, we are connected through the love of the arts. This event brings us together for a day of workshops, conversation, tours, and much more.
I started my morning off with two workshops–Creative Organizing: The Role of Art in Advancing Justice Movements and What Happens Next: Advice from Former Interns. In the first workshop, we had the opportunity to talk about how we can use different art forms to voice political and social concerns. This relates perfectly to the Fountain Theatre and our current production Building the Wall. The quote that really resonated with me during this talk was “Artists are the gatekeepers of truth. We are civilization’s radical voice.” I truly believe that at both the Fountain Theatre and beyond, I have the ability to create change through art.
The second workshop helped me understand the possible paths that my career could follow as I look forward to my senior year. A double major in English and Theatre, I often worry about my future. Through this workshop, my worries were put to ease with simple advice from Center Theatre Group‘s Camille Schenkkan. At the time, her career path seemed aimless. However, this is the time in one’s life that one must do and try everything. It is through the not knowing that you find your path.
After lunch with some of the other LMU interns (they are SIX of us) and some dancing led by CONTRA-TIEMPO, we headed out to tour different arts spaces in Santa Monica. Through the afternoon, we explored City Garage Theatre, Highways Performance Space, and the 18th Street Arts Center. Originally from Portland, I am still learning about all of the different venues around LA. It is so inspiring to see different artists in their element and home, creating work that they are proud of.
While the day was jam-packed with activity, I left The Broad Stage feeling more inspired and excited for the next six weeks of my internship. While the commute can get long sometimes and early mornings are not my thing, my position with Fountain Theatre and the LA County Arts Commission cannot be traded for anything in the world. Not only am I learning the skills needed to work in non-profit theatre, I am working with people who love the work they do. Everyday, I get to go to an office with people who not only love theatre, but they work to create change through this beautiful, crazy art form. Here’s to another six weeks of adventures with my family here at the Fountain Theatre.
This internship is sponsored by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.
Posted in Arts, Arts education, arts organizations, Fountain Theatre, internship, Los Angeles, non-profit organization, performing arts, plays, Theater, theatre
Tagged 18th Street Arts Centre, Arts Internship Program, Building the Wall, Camille Schenkkan, Center Theatre Group, City Garage Theatre, Fountain Theatre, Highways Performance Space, intern, internship, LMU, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, summer internship, The Broad Stage, theater, theatre
Victoria Platt and Bo Foxworth in ‘Building the Wall’
By Stephen Sachs
One play was written more than 400 years ago, the other last October. Both written by playwrights worried about the future of their countries. One author took months to pen his work, the other took one week. One writer has been dead 400 years, one is very much alive, chronicling the current political crisis of his time with a dire new play now playing on our Fountain stage. Both authors and their plays have been in the news in recent weeks, igniting a firestorm of national conversation on the role of theatre to express political outrage, and its fundamental right and responsibility to do so. The Fountain Theatre is a voice in that debate.
As many know, The Public Theater’s production this month in New York of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar drew fire from Right-Wing Conservatives for its depiction of the ruler as a petulant Trump-like politician with blondish hair and a sullen Slavic wife. Outrage from Conservatives targeted the play’s depiction of Caesar’s assassination, missing the larger meaning of the play, as if director Oskar Eustis was advocating the killing of the current president. Delta Airlines and Bank of America withdrew their corporate sponsorship. Right-Wing groups hired demonstrators to picket the venue and harass theatergoers. Protesters heckled the live performances and wildly stormed the stage to stop the play mid-show. The demonstrators’ feeble attempts may have halted a performance momentarily but, in each instance, the show went on. If anything, it drew national focus to the very thing it schemed to suppress. Art cannot be stopped.
Most discouraging to me, the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency that hails itself as providing all Americans with diverse opportunities for arts participation, distanced itself from the production by releasing a statement declaring that NEA funds were not used to support this staging of Julius Caesar. An ironic stance for a federal arts agency whose very existence Trump has vowed to destroy.
‘Julius Caesar’ at The Public Theater, NY
Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, the Fountain Theatre has been running our sold-out world premiere of Robert Schenkkan’s new play, Building the Wall. It is a riveting drama set in the near future exposing the vulnerability of one man caught up in the horrific unraveling of Trump’s anti-immigration policies. Robert and I knew the play would generate some interest from the press. Neither of us anticipated the avalanche that has ensued. We’ve been bombarded by interview requests from everywhere. The play and the Fountain production were featured in national news outlets across the country, like the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and TIME magazine. Plus international coverage in the UK and France. “Theatre in the Age of Trump” is now suddenly a hot topic.
The Public Theater’s production of Julius Caesar and the Fountain Theatre’s production of Building the Wall coincided this month. Newspapers on both coasts featured stories on both productions, with Oskar Eustis and Robert Schenkkan speaking out boldly for not only the right, but the necessity of freedom of speech and unrestricted artistic expression in this country. The subject of ‘The Politics of Theater’ became a significant Arts cover feature in last Sunday’s Los Angeles Times.
The Right-Wing protesters who stormed the outdoor Delacorte Theatre in Central Park no doubt never read Julius Caesar and certainly knew little about it. They focused on the killing of the king, unaware of the greater warning the tale foretells: Beware when you get what you want. A tyrant in power mandated to save the republic can lead to the destruction of the very republic he vows to protect. Shakespeare demands us to recognize that more than a ruler is assassinated in this tragedy. It is democracy itself that is murdered.
Julius Caesar and Breaking the Wall expose the same fatal wound within ourselves. Our susceptibility to become what we hate. Rick’s slow and seamless transformation in Building the Wall, from well-meaning Trump follower to death camp superintendent is so nightmarish and appalling because it seems somehow plausible. This is how Schenkkan and Shakespeare caution us. This dark truth is perfectly crystalized by Shakespeare when Cassius warns, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.” It is not fate, but weakness of character that forces a person to act against his will.
Playwright Robert Schenkkan in rehearsal, Fountain Theatre
“The danger is always giving over your moral calculus to the state,” Robert Schenkkan has said. Fighting a tyrant does not mean imitating him. Julius Caesar no more advocates the killing of a king than Building the Wall promotes the mass detention and extermination of immigrants. Neither play is about genocide or the murder of a tyrant. Each is about the killing of social and political order, played out in the souls of specific human beings. Building the Wall is a razor-sharp two-character play that takes place in one room. Two people in extreme close up.
Shakespeare based his play Julius Caesar (some say he stole entire sections of it) from Plutarch’s biography of the ruler. Of his examination Plutarch said, “It is not histories I am writing, but lives.”
Plays, too, are about lives, not ideas. Good plays, plays that matter and live forever, have compelling themes and thought-provoking viewpoints and concepts but they are told through the dramatization of human lives. The power of Building the Wall lies in how it puts a human face on the inhuman. It reveals the dichotomy of opposites alive in one man: the wish to do what is right versus the inability to see, and speak out against, what is wrong.
For all of us at the Fountain Theatre, Building the Wall is more than a play. It is a defining moment, one of many that help set our compass as a company and as artists. Who are we? Why do we do what we do? What is our service, our responsibility, to the community, to our nation?
This administration fears artists for the same reason it has banned TV cameras from live press briefings. It is terrified that the American people will see the truth. Our role as theatre artists, like that of a free press, is to be truth-tellers. And to fight for the freedom to speak it, through art.
I am so proud that the Fountain Theatre took the stand of leadership in launching Robert’s new work, and that it continues to ignite this firestorm of conversation, artistic soul-searching and journalistic examination. That our world premiere production is not only still running after four sold out months but has been extended through August is a testament to its urgent necessity and the overwhelming will expressed by our audiences to engage.
When art and politics collide like this on a local and national level, theaters like ours, and the art we create, become indispensable not only to our city, but our nation.
Stephen Sachs is the Co-Artistic Director of the Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles.
Posted in Art, artist, Arts, arts organizations, Drama, Fountain Theatre, government, Los Angeles, new plays, non-profit organization, performing arts, plays, playwright, playwriting, Theater, theatre
Tagged art, Bank of America, Building the Wall, Delta Airlines, democracy, Fountain Theatre, freedom of speech, Julius Caesar, Los Angeles Times, National Endowment for the Arts, NEA, new play, Oskar Eustis, Plutarch, Public Theatre, Robert Schenkkan, Shakespeare, theater, theatre, Trump
Victoria Platt
Sold out for four months and extended for the second time, Building the Wall and the Fountain Theatre have even more to celebrate: the return of Victoria Platt to our Fountain stage. Last seen at the Fountain as Roxy in Cyrano, you may recognize her from such popular TV shows as All My Children and The Chicago Code. Taking over the role of Gloria in our smash hit world premiere of Building the Wall, Platt begins performances this Saturday, June 24th. This second and final extension runs to August 27th.
In between her crazy rehearsal schedule, Victoria took time to talk about her roots, her love for the Fountain Theatre, and the importance of theatre in the age of Trump’s America.
Where are you from? What’s your background?
I was born and raised in Queens, NY to a Polish father and West Indian mother. I have 8 siblings and there was 1 bathroom. That says it all! I started performing as a kid and then attended the High School of Performing Arts in Manhattan (the Fame school). I enrolled at Hunter College but work kept rolling in and I chose work.
What initially drew you to this project/script?
I heard about the production and how amazing it was but I was in a play at the same time so didn’t get a chance to see it. Then Simon Levy (Fountain Theatre’s Producing Director) emailed me about auditioning for the extension. I know Robert Schenkkan’s work and this play in particular is beyond relevant for our time so I was really excited about the possibility.
After the election, many theatre artists declared that their work was more important than ever. Do you agree with this and how does Building the Wall relate?
I do agree. There was a time when the common goal of artists was to challenge, to awaken, to question the status quo and hopefully incite change. At some point it became about foreign sales and social media followers and witty sound bites. This election seemed to remind the artistic community of our responsibility in the world. Why most of us got into this business to begin with. Building The Wall is looking directly at the issues and asking some really important questions.
Victoria Platt and Bo Foxworth in ‘Building the Wall’
What is it like to join a hit production that has been sold out for four months?
It’s like trying to jump onto a moving train! A bit challenging. I’ve done this before however, with The Fountain’s production of Cyrano. My goal is to find that delicate balance between giving the other actors a familiar anchor while also honoring the truth of my own interpretation and performance. Bo and [director] Michael Michetti have been really wonderful in allowing me the space to find things on my own as well as offer the tried and true shortcuts. I’m not too proud to take a short cut!
How does it feel coming back to the Fountain Theatre?
I love The Fountain; seeing productions here and working here. They’re really dedicated to bringing thought provoking and challenging work to the community. They’re actively involved and take responsibility for making the world a better place in a tangible way, all the way down to providing a stamped and addressed postcard that patrons can send to the president! It makes working with them even more inspiring and I feel compelled to match their dedication, passion and commitment.
Posted in Acting, actors, Arts, arts organizations, Drama, Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, new plays, non-profit organization, performing arts, Theater, theatre
Tagged actor, actress, All My Children, Bo Foxworth, Building the Wall, Cyrano, Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, Michael Michetti, Robert Schenkkan, Simon Levy, theater, theatyre, Victoria Platt
The Fountain Theatre is pleased to announce that esteemed financial adviser Miles Benickes has joined its Board of Directors. Miles Benickes is Managing Director for Municipal Trading and Executive Vice President for Hilltop Securities Inc.
“Going to the theatre has always been a part of my life since growing up in New York in the 1950’s,” says Benickes. “Thanks to my parents, I have a collection of Playbills that go even further back, to the Yiddish Theatre in New York in the 1920’s. Becoming a member of The Fountain Theatre Board of Directors is an exciting new step in my lifelong theatrical journey. I look forward to helping to ensure that The Fountain continues to entertain, educate, enlighten and engage the diverse audience of Los Angeles for many years into the future. ”
Miles is a leader in the financial services industry. He began his career as a municipal bond sales representative with Stern, Brenner & Co., the predecessor firm of M.L. Stern & Co., in July 1975. With the establishment of M.L. Stern & Co. in September 1980, Miles became one of the firm’s municipal bond traders. In December 1991, he was designated as Director of Fixed Income Trading and Marketing with responsibility for all taxable and tax exempt bond activities. With the purchase of M.L. Stern & Co. by Southwest Securities, Inc. in March 2008, Miles assumed responsibility for managing the California municipal bond trading activities of the Dallas based NYSE firm. He was a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Bond Dealers Association of America and is a member of the Los Angeles Municipal Bond Club. Miles was the President of Arcola Pictures Corporation and currently manages the activities of the successor DBA of Arcola Pictures which has proprietary interests in such motion pictures as Mutiny on the Bounty, Move Over Darling, Tony Rome, Lady in Cement and The Detective as well as the Daniel Boone television series. He is a member of the Writers Guild of America, West.
Miles is a member of the Music Center Leadership Council. He has been an active member of Center Theatre Group’s Inner Circle since 1994 and has served as an Inner Circle Ambassador since 2007. He and his wife, Joni, are the founders and co-chairs of CTG’s Artists and Educators Forum, a support group dedicated to encouraging new works and engaging new audiences. He is an avid supporter of numerous arts organizations throughout Southern California including CTG’s Block Party, Los Angeles Master Chorale, UCLA School of Film and Television, Writers Guild Foundation, The Drama League, Ojai Playwrights Conference and The Old Globe Theatre.
Miles was born and raised in New York and remembers his first Broadway show was New Faces of 1952, which included Eartha Kitt, Paul Lynde, Carol Lawrence and Mel Brooks. He graduated with a BFA from the UCLA Film School in 1968. He and his wife, Joni, have four children, Erika, Allyn, Torrie and Jason — all avid theatergoers. They have three granddaughters, Hailey, Greer and Zoey. He enjoys tennis (he met his wife while giving her tennis lessons), biking, travelling and spending time with his family.
“We are thrilled and honored to have Miles join our Board,” beams Co-Artistic Director Stephen Sachs. “He not only brings an abundance of financial expertise, organizational wisdom and a depth of Board experience — he’s a lifelong theatre lover. The Fountain is fortunate to have him on the Board and in our family.”
Posted in Arts, arts organizations, Board of Directors, Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, non-profit organization, performing arts, Theater, theatre
Tagged Arcola Pictures, Board of Directors, Center Theatre Group, CTG, Fountain Theatre, Hilltop Securities, Joni Benickes, Los Angeles, Miles Benickes, Music Center, Mutiny on the Bounty, Stephen Sachs, theater, theatre
Chef Baltazar Gaytan
If you’ve visited our Fountain Café in the last three months, you’ve already noticed the number of changes occurring. With its cheese and delicious snicker doodles topped with black Himalayan salt, its savory pastries, improved wines, finer coffee, its warm and inviting atmosphere, the Café is becoming the place to visit before and after shows here at the Fountain Theatre. Your Fountain Theatre experience is not complete without a drink on our rooftop patio, deep in discussion over the play you just saw.
We cannot talk about the Café’s stunning transformation without hailing our new breakout chef, Baltazar Gaytan. Originally from Salinas, California, Baltzar studied at Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts Academy in Pasadena and is wowing crowds with his inventive baked goods and dedication to the Café.
The Fountain cafe busy and buzzing.
While Baltzar’s skills speak for themselves, we sat down for a little Q&A to learn more about the Fountain’s chef and mastermind of the Café, as well as his goals for the future.
Tell us about your background. Where did you grow up and study cooking?
I grew up in a family of six with a single mother in Salinas, CA. We weren’t the most financially stable family, but it taught me to be resourceful and creative with my limited ingredients. A few years after high school, I decided to take a leap and decided to refine and expand my culinary knowledge at Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts Academy in Pasadena, CA.
Was there one person or one event in your life that turned you on to cooking?
During my gap years, my mother became more ill due to a genetic kidney disorder that my family carries. Unfortunately, this brought on a great deal of dietary restrictions, limiting her to an incredibly bland diet. After doing more research, I began to understand what grains and proteins she could have, giving me the ability to make her flavorful dishes despite her restrictions. While she was stubborn about this at first, she began to look forward to see what I’ve created for her. The joy that I gave to my mother when she eat was the point when I decided that I had a talent and it should be shared with others to enjoy.
What is it about cooking that fuels your passion?
I love the magic that I get to make. I mean, look at some of the plates that chefs are doing. They are works of art. We have an open mind to where we almost never say no. If no answer is provided, we seek that knowledge in the hopes of having a culinary breakthrough. The one who discovers the perfect potion. Chefs can play mad scientist, we just try and try until we figure out the perfect potion.
The outdoor balcony of the Fountain cafe.
Had you been to the Fountain Theatre before becoming the new chef?
I have once back in January to see Bakersfield Mist. I was visiting my childhood best friend Marisela Hughes (Fountain’s Box Office Manager). I enjoyed the theatre and its intimate, classic theatre ambiance.
How did you become the new chef at the Fountain?
By faith actually, when I decided to move down to Hollywood, the Fountain has been looking for a chef to take over after Bakersfield Mist. Marisela was helping me look for a job and this one seemed to be the perfect match. The universe will tell us when to make a move. And if we don’t make them our selves, well, sometimes the universe will force us to make that change. It’s a growing opportunity and effect that is designed to happen.
Chef Baltazar
What kind of changes are you making to the new cafe? How is it now different?
When I walked into the café for the first time as Chef, I saw this vision of comfort, warmth with a little bohemian/Mediterranean chic, lanterns and a garden. Patrons can have a nice romantic dinner underneath the open sky with a glamorous view of the skyline of downtown LA. So here I am, providing quality product made by myself. I’m now providing as many in-home goods as I can possibly produce. Part of this is introducing a cheese course, our first introduction to savory goods. From there we work our way up based on demand and profit. I’d like to turn the Café into a bistro with warm foods and table-side service, being open on days that there isn’t a show going on. Great Performing Art should be accompanied by great food. I’m seeing brunches and dinner parties before the show happening in the future.
What are you hoping to achieve with the new Fountain cafe?
Success! I want to introduce myself as an artist and introduce the beauty in culinary arts. How ones own imagination can go beyond just the eyes, but into taste the stimulate memories and sensors—just like in the theatre.
Fountain folk enjoy the cafe on a warm summer night.
What words would you choose to describe the new Fountain café?
Welcoming, peaceful, fun, adorable, hidden oasis, no sense of time and space. These are a few words of which I’ve already heard people say about the New Café
How do you see a Fountain patron’s dining experience in the cafe complementing their experience of seeing a play here?
Well you’d start off with getting a great parking space. Not just that but you’re going to save yourself time. From transporting from place to place and, lets be real, finding parking in LA on a Saturday evening isn’t the most pleasant of task. But once you get here you’ll feel like you’re just at home. In an intimate setting just like our theatre, only a select few will be joining you in a journey that is unique, artistic and creative. No two menus will be alike. The Fountain Café will be the most exclusive dinning destination in Hollywood.
What can we look forward to in the cafe? Any new items or ideas you can share for what’s coming?
We’ve already implemented new items to the café such as gourmet cheese plates and freshly baked beer bread, complete with bacon marmalade and freshly whipped honey butter. We use fresh herbs from the herb garden that I began to grow on the porch, in many of the items now being served. I make a classic from a classic (i.e. PB&J Cookie) I’m letting you enter my mind of culinary imagination, where there is no walls. Brunch and dinner before the show are all on the horizon for the Fountain Café.
More on our website
Posted in arts organizations, cafe, Fountain Theatre, Hollywood, non-profit organization, performing arts, Theater, theatre
Tagged Bakersfield Mist, Baltazar Gaytan, cafe, chef, cooking, food, Fountain Theatre, Hollywood, Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts Academy, Los Angeles, Marisela Hughes, theater, theatre, wine
Judith Moreland and Bo Foxworth in ‘Building the Wall’ at Fountain Theatre
Now in its 3rd sold-out month, The Fountain Theatre’s acclaimed world premiere of the powerful new play Building the Wall has been extended to August 27th.
In the newest play by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan (The Kentucky Cycle, All the Way, Hacksaw Ridge), the Trump administration has carried out his campaign promise to round up and detain millions of immigrants. As a writer interviews the former supervisor of a private prison, it becomes clear how federal policy has escalated to a terrifying, seemingly inconceivable, yet inevitable conclusion.
Directed by Michael Michetti, the original cast features Judith Moreland as Gloria, and Bo Foxworth as Rick. Victoria Platt will assume the role of Gloria starting June 24th.
The Fountain Theatre’s world premiere, the first in a series of productions taking place across the U.S. as part of a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere, has received national and international attention from TIME magazine, The New York Times, Washington Post, BBC News Hour, Radio Canada, Agence France-Presse, Breitbart News and more. The Los Angeles Times calls it “L.A.’s Hottest Ticket!”
“A REVOLUTIONARY NEW PLAY”— TIME magazine
“L.A.’S HOTTEST TICKET… terrifyingly plausible… should be seen and shuddered over, if only to heighten our collective vigilance.” — Los Angeles Times
“PACKS PUNCH AFTER PUNCH”—Daily News
“MESMERIZING… logically illustrates, step by step, how fascism can gradually take root among people who abhor it.” —The Hollywood Reporter
“COMPELLING… Don’t miss this play” — KCRW
“RIVETING… an urgently important call to arms” — Arts In LA
“A TOUR DE FORCE… riveting, harrowing and illuminating” — Broadway World
“ONE HELL OF A SCARY PLAY… a necessary wake-up call to action.” — EDGE
“GRIPPING… timely and relevant” — LA Splash
“SEE IT WHILE YOU CAN” — People’s World
More Info/Get Tickets
Posted in actors, Arts, arts organizations, director, Drama, Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, new plays, non-profit organization, performing arts, plays, Theater, theatre
Tagged Bo Foxworth, Building the Wall, Fountain Theatre, Hollywood, Judith Moreland, Los Angeles, Michael Michetti, National New Play Network, new play, NNPN, Robert Schenkkan, Rolling World Premiere, theater, theatre, Trump, Victoria Tilford, world premiere
Hello Fountain Family! My name is Annie Barker and I will be the Production Intern at the Fountain Theatre this summer. I’m an incoming senior at Loyola Marymount University, studying Theatre Arts and English because I thrive under the looming cloud that is inevitable unemployment. Outside of the theatre, I love going to Disneyland, volunteering at animal shelters, and searching for a good cup of coffee.
I grew up in the rainy city of Portland, Oregon. I found comfort within the rows of Powell’s City of Books. A voracious reader, I would always ask my dad what the books he was reading were about. He would respond with “a man searching for the meaning of life.” As a nine year old, this response was incredibly annoying. As I’ve gotten older though, I’ve realized the importance of this question. As a result, I seek to write, create, watch, and perform stories that follow the convoluted path to the meaning of life.
I am interested in any and all aspects of the theatre, though I have found the greatest joy and rewards in acting, directing, and playwriting. This past fall I made my full-length directing debut with Neil LaBute’s reasons to be pretty. This project helped me confirm my love for directing, leading me to my current project—a senior thesis production of Ruby Rae Spiegel’s Dry Land. While choosing to do a play about abortion at a Catholic Jesuit university may seem challenging, it is the challenge that makes me want to tackle this piece head on.
Theatre people love using the phrase blessed. Take a quick glance in any program and you will see “so-and-so is so blessed to be…” However, I believe that blessed is the only way to describe how I feel to be working with Fountain Theatre this summer. I cannot wait to dive into this work, helping a theatre company do the exact thing I aspire to do in all of my work—creating work that matters, stimulates conversation, and pushes us to examine our own lives and purpose.
That being said, I am so honored to be a part of this family and look forward to the craziness and creation this summer will entail. Let the journey begin!
This internship is sponsored by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.
Posted in Arts education, arts organizations, Fountain Theatre, internship, Los Angeles, Outreach Program, performing arts, plays, Theater, theatre
Tagged Annie Barker, Dry Land, Fountain Theatre, intern, internship, Loyola Marymount University, Neil LaBute, Powell’s City of Dance, Ruby Rae Spiegel, summer intern, summer internship
The Shubert Theatre, New York.
The Fountain Theatre has been awarded a 2017 grant in the amount of $15,000 from The Shubert Foundation to support the general operating of the organization. The Shubert Foundation provides grants only to organizations that have an established artistic and administrative track record, as well as a history of fiscal responsibility.
The award marks the second year in a row that the Fountain Theatre has received support from the Shubert Fountain. This year the award amount was increased.
“This grant is a substantial award from a foundation whose mission is to lend support to theatres of varying sizes across the country,” notes Barbara Goodhill, Fountain Director of Development. “This is another step up forward in a year of growth for The Fountain.”
Barbara Goodhill
Theatres are evaluated individually and with appropriate allowance for size and resources. The standard for awarding these grants is based on an assessment of each organization’s operation and its contribution to the field. Artistic achievement, administrative strength and fiscal stability are factored into each evaluation, as is the company’s development of new work and other significant contributions to the field of professional theatre in the US.
The Shubert Foundation, Inc. is dedicated to sustaining and advancing the live performing arts in the United States, with a particular emphasis on theatre. The Foundation’s Board of Directors believes that the most effective way to encourage the artistic process is by providing the general operating support that reinforces the structure that nurtures its development. Accordingly, The Foundation does not earmark its awards; all allocations are unrestricted.
The Shubert Foundation, Inc. was established in 1945 by Lee and J.J. Shubert in memory of their brother Sam, and is the sole shareholder of The Shubert Organization, Inc., which currently owns/operates 21 theatres: 17 on Broadway, one Off-Broadway theatre (The Little Shubert), and one each in Boston and Philadelphia. The Shubert Archive, a working repository of more than 10 million theatrical documents and related items, operates under the aegis of The Shubert Foundation.
“We sincerely thank the Shubert Foundation for its ongoing support,” said Fountain Co-Artistic Director Stephen Sachs. “The Shubert name is synonymous with excellence in the American Theatre. It’s an honor for us to be recognized by one of the most highly respected foundations and organizations in our field. “
Posted in Arts, arts organizations, Fountain Theatre, grants, Los Angeles, non-profit organization, performing arts, Theater, theatre
Tagged arts, arts organizations, award, Barbara Goodhill, Fountain Theatre, grant, Los Angeles, Shubert Foundation, Shubert Theatre, Stephen Sachs, theater, theatre