FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 12, 2012
Contact: Robin Reid, Communications Director
Madison Community Foundation
608-232-1763 or rreid@madisoncommunityfoundation.org
Madison Community Foundation Funds Theater Productions
Madison Community Foundation recently awarded $137,250 from the Pleasant Rowland Great Performance Fund for Theater to four theater companies who will be performing in the Overture Center for the 2012-2013 theater season.
“Theater in Overture greatly enhances the cultural and economic vibrancy of our community,” said Kathleen Woit, Madison Community Foundation President. “These grant awards support a variety of theater experiences for all ages, including not only the performances themselves, but also school and retirement facility outreach, workshops, talk backs, and a writing festival.”
The Fund for Theater endowment provides competitively awarded annual funding to Wisconsin-based professional theater companies to present work in the Overture Center.
The 2012 Pleasant Rowland Fund for Theater Grant awards are:
Forward Theater Company
$75,000
44 Plays for 44 Presidents, FTC Monologue Festival Soul Food, Collected Stories, Good People
Now a resident company in Overture, Forward Theater launches its fourth season with a collection of plays never before presented locally and providing discourse on issues of interest to area audiences. Forward will also be offering matinees this season for the first time.
CTM
$25,000
And Then They Came For Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank
This award-winning, multi-media play incorporates videotaped interviews, historical photos and film into the staged performance that will draw older audiences, especially teens and young adults. This production promises to be unlike anything done to date in the Playhouse.
Four Seasons Theater
$25,000
She Loves Me, The Gershwin Songbook, Avenue Q
Four Seasons Theater embarks on an ambitious year featuring extraordinary local talent both onstage and backstage. First is the classic musical She Loves Me, with music and lyrics by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick (Fiddler on the Roof). Production of The Gershwin Songbook, the third installment of the Great American Songbook Series, will include community outreach performances at senior centers, schools, and civic events. The final production of the year, Avenue Q, is a Tony-winning rock musical with puppets, live performers, and an on-stage rock band.
Opera for the Young
$12,500
Family Opera Day – Cinderella in the Playhouse
Opera for the Young will present its 3rd Annual Family Opera Day with two performances of the new play Cinderella in the Playhouse at Overture Center for the Arts. There is no cost to participants. The performances will be complemented with workshops in theater, music and design with assistance from Madison Children’s Museum and Madison Youth Choirs.
The mission of the Madison Community Foundation is to encourage, facilitate, and manage long-term philanthropy.
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