ANNUAL REPORT 2016 26th Anniversary Simply Shakespeare
Smokey Robinson and Tom Hanks in a Motown Much Ado! September 20, 2016 marked the 26th year of Rita Wilson and Tom Hank’s support of Shakespeare Center and their signature Simply Shakespeare fund raising event. The performance featured Smokey Robinson as the vocal artist and featured Tom Hanks and a company of stars in a Motown Much Ado About Nothing. The benefit performance took place at UCLA’s Freud Playhouse for a sold-out audience. The funds generated benefit Will Power to Youth, a White House awarded arts- based youth employment initiative; and Veterans In Art, which is an arts-based training and employment initiative targeting chronically unemployed veterans who are referred to SCLA by the West Los Angeles Veterans Healthcare Vocational Rehabilitation Department. Partnership with Santa Monica Blossoms Summer Residence at Santa Monica College! Veterans In Arts and Mainstage Performances Find a Home ! The growing partnership between Shakespeare Center, the West Los Angeles Veteran Healthcare System and Santa Monica College took many steps forward this year. A formalized Memorandum of Understanding facilitated the creation of an Apprentice Company that presented 10 performances of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. We also sustained SCLA’s 30 year-old tradition of fully-professional, union-contracted productions with this summer’s Twelfth Night, that ran for 18 performances. Both productions were supported by a 31 person-strong veteran workforce. The vets were referred to Shakespeare Center by the West LA Veterans Healthcare System’s Vocational Rehabilitation Department, which focuses on helping ‘Chronically Unemployed’ vets and vets diagnosed as ‘Severely Mentally Ill.’ Of the 31 vets engaged and employed, 26 enrolled in college accredited Technical Theater courses, while receiving paid on the job training in live theatrical production. “ . . . the pleasure of this production can seem as miraculous as the farfetched happy ending.“Charles McNulty LA Times SCLA Co-Chair Mee Semcken visits with SMC’s President Kathryn Jeffries and Don Girard, SMC’s Senior Director of Government Relations and Institutional Communications. FY 16 ANNUAL REPORT 2 of 6 Will Power to Youth Grows With major funding from the Dwight Stuart Youth Foundation and the City of LA’s Department of Cultural Affairs, and in concert with the LA Unified’s Office of Linked Learning, SCLA doubled the number of Will Power to Youth summer jobs it created for LA’s most vulnerable youth. Two summers ago 30 were hired, last year 60 were employed. Will Power to Youth was held at East LA Performing Arts High School and RFK High School for Performing Arts, Mid-Wilshire. Will Power’s evidence based outcomes include dramatically increased likelihood of high school graduation, stronger performance on state-wide English language acquisition skill testing, improved grade point average, consistent high school attendance, and dramatically reduced likelihood of engagement with the juvenile justice system. Will Power Goes to Schools The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles partnered with the East Los Angeles Performing Arts Magnet (ELAPAM) and the Huntington Library, Art Museums, and Botanical Gardens for the fourth year in a row. Lead teaching artist BJ Dodge worked 4 days a week for 12 weeks with the ELAPAM production of Twelfth Night. 3 other SCLA artists joined Ms. Dodge to lead workshops in acting, voice and diction, and stage combat to support the production. Veteran WPY teaching artist Akeime Mitterlehner led workshops to help the young artists connect thematic ideas to theatrical design choices. Ms. Mitterlehner was also mentor to the stagecraft class, partnering with classroom teacher Daniel Guzman. A total of 45 students worked on the production which was performed at their school and at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens for an audience of family, friends, and peers. SCLA was also able to support the theatre program at the Los Angeles High School of the Arts, located on the RFK Community Schools campus. SCLA’s Chris Anthony assisted LAHSA classroom teacher Annie Simons as she prepared to direct Hamlet. Teaching artists Khanisha Foster and Tony Sancho coached 28 students in the school’s production of Hamlet. SCLA teaching artists also served as Spanish language interpreters for family and friends attending one of the evening performances
FY 16 ANNUAL REPORT 3 of 6 2016 Executive Committee In January, The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles was pleased to announce the election of its 2016 – 2017 Board Officers Mee Semcken, Co-Chair; Michelle Itzkowitz, Co-Chair; Craig Darian, President; Nathan Hochman, Secretary; Diana Timuryan, Treasurer; Michael Narvid, Chairman Emeritus. Mee is President of Lee Consulting Group since 2004. Prior to this position, she was a partner at Garcia McCoy, and Senior Vice President at Marathon Communications. She served as Vice President of Corporate Real Estate and Public Affairs at Warner Brothers and was the City of Los Angeles’s City Council Liaison for the Community Redevelopment Agency. She received her Juris Doctor degree from Southwestern University School of Law. She was appointed by California Governor Jerry Brown to serve as the Designated Local Authority for the former Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles. Mee Semcken, Co-Chair Michelle is a Senior Strategist and Conference Organizer at Capital Group’s American Funds. Formerly a Capital Group Marketing Specialist and a Capital Group Meeting Planner, Michelle is a graduate of the University of Hartford, and began her volunteer service at Shakespeare Center as a Junior League Board Fellow. Michelle is skilled in mutual funds, investment strategies, asset allocation, asset management, event management, social media, and marketing strategy. Michelle Itzkowitz, Co-Chair Craig is an Executive, Producer, and Businessman in the entertainment industry who has owned and operated several companies, and has served in several senior management positions for publicly-traded and privately-held companies. As Co-Chairman & CEO of Occidental Entertainment Holdings Group, Inc., Craig currently presides over five operating divisions that includes: a dozen sound stages; three dozen office buildings, and more than a million square feet of production, editorial and executive office space; and a wide range of lighting, grip, props, and highly technical services including virtual studio and motion capture stages. He is additionally Co-Chairman & CEO of Tricor Entertainment, Inc., which is involved in production, international Craig Darian, President distribution, and theaters in various parts of Asia. Nathan J. Hochman, the former head of the US Department of Justice’s Tax Division, practices complex civil and criminal litigation with a focus on white collar criminal defense, tax controversy, securities, and environmental matters. Through the law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, he represents individuals and organizations involved as targets, subjects, or witnesses in state and federal criminal investigations and related grand jury and pre-trial proceedings, conducts internal investigations, and handles complex civil litigation, arbitrations, trials, and appeals. He is a former President and current Commissioner of the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission. Nathan Hochman, Secretary Diana Timuryan is Vice President and Operations Manager at Pacific Western Bank. A recognized leader in operations and management, Diana currently manages the largest producing financial center at PWB. She has overseen four mergers and FDIC takeovers, ensuring that each office produced quality audits. Her banking career began at Bank of America. She was recruited by IMC Inc., to oversee their banking and human resources. Ten years ago she joined Pacific Western Bank, Diana is very involved in the community, and currently sponsors the Emergency Shelter at Maryvale Children’s Home in Rosemead. She provides financial education and financial support to the Center and its children. FY 16 ANNUAL REPORT 4 of 6 Diana Timuryan Treasurer Michael Narvid is the founder and senior partner of Narvid Scott LLP, which evolved from an earlier firm, Narvid, Glickman, Scott and Frangie. Michael was formerly a business and real estate litigator for a major San Francisco law firm. For the past 35 years, Michael has concentrated his practice in corporate and real estate law. He serves a general counsel to national, regional, and local medical practices, law firms, accounting firms, real estate developers, entertainment companies, manufacturers, restaurant and food service operators, and intellectual property based companies. Michael was formerly a commissioner and President of the Social Services Commission for the City of Michael J. Narvid Los Angeles, a member of the Los Angeles County Citizens Planning Council, an advisory group to the Chair, Long Range Planning County Planning Commission appointed by the Board of Supervisors, and President of Hidden Hills Homeowners Association, serving a community of 2,000 residents. Bard Board of Directors Mee Hae Semcken, CO-CHAIR Michael Narvid, CHAIR EMERITUS Jessica Harper Rita Wilson Lee Consulting ! Narvid Scott LLP! The Playtone Company! Jennifer Hazel Quiesenberry Michelle Itzkowitz, CO-CHAIR Marshall Bissett Followed by a Bear Ben Donenberg, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR The Capital Group Productions! Spencer Churchill IN MEMORIAM Craig Darian, PRESIDENT Parkway Production Steven Maples Ethel Narvid, Founding Chair Occidental Entertainment Accounting! Rock-It Cargo! Group Holding ! Frank J. Sherwood, Founding Angel Gilbert J. DeGloria Shelly Myers Nathan Hochman, SECRETARY Walt Disney Parks and Kissinger Group! Patrick Stansfield, Board Director Morgan, Lewis, Bockius! Resorts ! Sharon Pregerson Diana Timuryan, TREASURER Sy Exter Private College Counselor/! Pacific Western Bank! Jacobs Engineering! Educational Consultant! Funders The Ahmanson Foundation HBO Melody Hobson Squid & Squash Foundation Alan Mirman Heidi McKenna Merle Hilliard Charitable Trust Stephanie Walters Ann Elise Reinhart Huntington Library & Art Gallery Merrill Lynch Stephen Deschenes Annenberg Foundation Imagine Entertainment Michael Ryan Steve & Allison Martini Avery & Andy Barth Jack McMorrow Michael & Judy Narvid Steve & Linda Darling Barbara Burbank James Dodenhoff Michel Scott Susan Weingberg Barbara and Kim Guggenheim Jann Wenner Michelle H. Chen Sy Exter Bella Skin Institute (Anna & Jeffrey J. Abrams & Kathleen Michelle W. Itzkowitz The David Geffen Foundation Carlos Guanche) McGrath Midler Foundation The Elise Reinhart Trust Bob Weinberg Jerry & Linda Bruckheimer Milton Wolf The Garland Foundation California Arts Council Jim & Ann Gianopulos Mitchel Dolins The Green Foundation Capital Group Joan & David Hill Monica & Phil Rosenthal The Horn Foundation Carlos and Anna Guanche John Frankenheim Nathan Hochman The Karsh Family Foundation Carol and James Collins John & Beverly Stauffer NBC Universal The Marilyn & Jeffrey Foundation Foundation Neal Miller Katzenberg Foundation Catherine Kaufman Johnna Plaga Occidental Entertainment Group The TR Family Trust Rosalinda O’Neil Joy Picus Holdings Inc. The Weingart Foundation Christopher Knight Judith Chipps Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. The Wunderkinder Foundation Christopher Byrnes Katherine Elgin Pacific Western Bank Veronica Whithorne Los Angeles County Arts Katherine Price Phil Israels Weinberg Family Foundation - Commission L S Gold Family Trust R &L Donner Trust Richard & Diane Weinberg Craig Darian Land of the Free Robert Cogman William C. Allen Creative Artist Agency Larry Bridges Rock it Cargo USA Yehuda R. Fishman David Shaffner Lauren Deutsch Ron & Cheryl Howard Family Disney VoluntEARS Leslie S. Sweet Foundation Dwight Stuart Youth Fund Linda Ainsworth Rosalinde & Arthur Gilbert Edwin J. Lucks Lisa Rowley Foundation Esther Netter Loeb & Loeb Rosenthal Family Foundation Exploring the Arts Luanne Wells The Rose Hills Foundation Faucett Catalyst Fund Maddy Roth Russell B. Faucett Feinberg Foundation Margaret M. Black Ruth Galanter Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund Maria Shriver Sandra Rapke Fidelity National Title Group Mark Strunin Sharon Pregerson George Molsberger Marta Price Sherry Johson Harry Pregerson Melissa & Ira Lupides Sony Pictures
FY 16 ANNUAL REPORT 5 of 6 Transforming SCLA Now… and soon. With keen interest in providing lead support for the transformation of our downtown studio kindly expressed by The Ahmanson Foundation, Shakespeare Center has assembled a team of experts including Award-Winning Architect Zoltan Pali, structural engineer Nabih Youssef, and Illig Construction. This esteemed team has begun determining the approach to transforming our downtown facility into a signature gateway facility to Downtown LA’s cultural 1st Street corridor. Revenue and Expenses SCLA Staff Ben Donenberg Executive Artistic Director Chris Anthony Director of Youth and Education Lauren Deutsch Resource Development Consultant Marina Oliva Program Director and Operations Manager Jerry Scharlin Business Affairs Manager, Special Projects, and Board Management
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