Annual Report Fiscal Year 2021
Sara Porkalob in Dragon Mama. Produced by American Repertory Theater in 2019, virtually released in 2020. Photo by Gretjen Helene.
Founded over forty years ago, Theatre Forward fosters collaboration between America’s prominent regional theatres, connects them to funding and resources on a national level, and advocates for the arts in America. The Theatre Forward cohort comprises a network of 19 leading theatres in as many separate cities, providing an efficient conduit for funders to support important cultural institutions and their communities on a national level.
505 Eighth Avenue, Suite 2504 | New York, NY 10018 | T. 212 750 6895 | www.theatreforward.org TO THEATRE FORWARD FUNDERS At this writing it has been fifteen months since the COVID-19 pandemic forced theatres across the country to close. We imagined it would be a period of weeks, or perhaps a few months, before normal operations would resume. As time passed and the severity of the pandemic became more apparent, theatre executives courageously faced the unavoidable and made difficult but necessary decisions to downsize and, in many cases, to cut salaries for remaining staff, and take programs and fundraising events online.
During this dark period, Theatre Forward and its valued partner-donors remained committed to providing funds for general operating support, workforce stabilization, education programs, and the advancement of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) within the theatres and their communities.
In May of 2020, Theatre Forward was proud to administer a $1 million COVID-19 relief grant program on behalf of the Hearst Foundations. And in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021, grants and donations from individuals, corporations and foundations made it possible for Theatre Forward to distribute $870,000 to its member theatres.
Now, more than a year later, theatres are beginning to reconstitute in anticipation of raising the curtain on stages across the nation. Seasons have been announced and hiring is underway at many theatres. Challenges remain: working capital accounts have been depleted, making it more difficult to mount new productions and do the work that helps inspire and advance local communities. Theatre Forward will press on vigorously to raise more funding and provide more resources to member theatres in the coming year. Theatre Forward will continue its efforts to support the core work of the theatres onstage, as well as their education programs, advancement of EDI and environmental sustainability.
As always, we are deeply grateful for our donors’ support, and look forward to continuing our partnership in fiscal year 2022.
Sincerely, Theatre Forward
2 ACTORS THEATRE OF LOUISVILLE - Nathan Hinton and Shaun AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATER - Rachel Morrison Bengson in Where the Mountain Meets the Sea. Produced in The Thanksgiving Play. Produced virtually by A.C.T.’s MFA as part of the 2020 Humana Festival of New American Plays. Acting Program (2020). Photo courtesy of A.C.T. Photo by Jonathan Roberts.
CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE - Teaching artist Eugene Sumlin and GUTRHIE THEATER - Michael Hanna, Sally Wingert, Sarah the CARE program (Compassionate Arts Remaking Jane Agnew, and Joy Dolo in Twelfth Night (2020). Photo by Education). Photo courtesy of Cleveland Play House. Dan Norman.
THEATRE FORWARD MEMBER THEATRES Actors Theatre of Louisville* Cleveland Play House* Long Wharf Theatre* (Louisville, KY) (Cleveland, OH) (New Haven, CT) Alley Theatre Dallas Theater Center Manhattan Theatre Club (Houston, TX) (Dallas, TX) (New York, NY) Alliance Theatre Denver Center for the Performing Arts The Old Globe* (Atlanta, GA) (Denver, CO) (San Diego, CA) American Conservatory Theater* Goodman Theatre Seattle Rep* (San Francisco, CA) (Chicago, IL) (Seattle, WA) American Repertory Theater* Guthrie Theater* Trinity Repertory Company* (Cambridge, MA) (Minneapolis, MN) (Providence, RI) Arena Stage Hartford Stage Walnut Street Theatre (Washington, DC) (Hartford, CT) (Philadelphia, PA) Center Theatre Group* (Los Angeles, CA) *Founding Theatre THEATRE FORWARD FUNDERS List as of June 2021 $100,000 and Above $5,000-$9,999 $500-$1,499 Bank of America AudienceView † Decker Anstrom Hearst Foundations The Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation Diana Buckhantz Morgan Stanley Floyd Green III Ben & Nikki Clay The Schloss Family Foundation Roe Green* Cathy Dantchik Richard K. Greene Dorothy Strelsin Foundation $50,000-$99,999 Nancy Hancock Griffith* Dramatists Play Service Citi KLDiscovery James Haskins Sue Ann Lonoff de Cuevas Patti & Rusty Rueff Foundation Scot Safron $25,000-$49,999 Michelle Schwartz Debbie Saline, Veritext The Augustine Foundation Raja Sengupta $250-$499 Pamela Farr & Buford Alexander John Thomopoulos Anonymous (1) Goldman, Sachs & Co. Travelers Harry Abrams MetLife Foundation $2,500-$4,999 Madelyn Adamson Lisa Orberg Michelle Cenis Gary Bagley Daniel A. Simkowitz & Mari Nakachi DLR Group Richard Dean $15,000-$24,999 Christ Economos* Lucy Anda Hardison Mitchell J. Auslander & Kimberlee Abraham Lucy Fato & Matt Detmer* Ian Hochman Bloomberg Philanthropies Joyce & Gregory Hurst Robert Levin Steven & Joy Bunson Louise Moriarty & Patrick Stack* Marla Moskowitz-Hesse Paula A. Dominick Elliott Sernel & Larry Falconio* Noelle Norton EY Allison & Thomas Tam* Patrick Owen The Maurer Family Foundation Mary Beth Winslow & Bill Darby* Anne Pasternak Pfizer, Inc. Joseph Yurcik* Steven Showalter Gretchen Shugart & Jonathan Maurer Carl Sylvestre $1,500-$2,499 George & Pamela Smith* Joseph Baio & Anne Griffin* TD Charitable Foundation John R. Dutt* Theatre Forward is grateful to all donors including James S. & Lynne P. Turley* David Schwartz & Amy Langer* those who contributed less than $250 this fiscal year. $10,000-$14,999 Michael A. Wall* Visit theatreforward.org for an updated 990. Aetna Financial Statements are available upon request. Judy R. Bartlett Dorsey & Whitney LLP * National Society Membership Bruce & Tracey Ewing † Includes In-kind support Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. S&P Global
THEATRE FORWARD BOARD CHAIRMAN MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE AT-LARGE Tom Parrish, Trinity Repertory Company Mitchell J. Auslander, Willkie Farr & Richard K. Greene, Citi Meghan Pressman, Center Theatre Group Gallagher LLP Raja Sengupta, Wolters Kluwer Thomas C. Quick Gretchen Shugart, Theatre Forward Jeff Ryder, Cleveland Play House PRESIDENT John Thomopoulos, Ernst & Young Michelle Schwartz, American Express Pamela Farr Tim Shields, The Old Globe BOARD OF DIRECTORS Brian Siegel, Bank of America VICE-PRESIDENTS Lucy Anda Hardison Daniel A. Simkowitz, Morgan Stanley Steven Bunson, Goldman, Sachs & Co. Judy R. Bartlett, Prudential Financial James S. Turley Paula Dominick, Wells Fargo Jennifer Bielstein, American Conservatory TREASURER Theater EMERITUS Steven Showalter, American Repertory Michelle Cenis, Wells Fargo Raymond Boyce Theater Robert Barry Fleming, Actors Theatre of James E. Buckley Louisville Christopher Campbell SECRETARY Floyd Green III, Aetna/CVS Rena De Sisto Bruce R. Ewing, Dorsey & Whitney LLP James Haskins, Guthrie Theater Rosalyn & Irwin Engelman Jeffrey Herrmann, Seattle Rep John G. Miller Kit Ingui, Long Wharf Theatre Evelyn Mack Truitt Mari Nakachi Michael A. Wall
THEATRE FORWARD STAFF Gretchen Shugart, Executive Director Liv Amundsen, Communications & Patron Services Associate Carl Sylvestre, Director of Development Alexandra Doxey, Operations & Events Associate