SCR Holds Annual Meeting, Elects Officers for 2009-10, Announces Completion of ‘Act Now for SCR Challenge’ Campaign
COSTA MESA, CA – At South Coast Repertory’s Annual Meeting on July 22, Board President Wylie A. Aitken introduced the slate of officers for 2009-10 (all of whom will remain in place from the previous season) and announced completion of the “Act Now for SCR Challenge” Campaign that helped meet the theatre’s Annual Fund goal.
“I am pleased to say that I—and the other officers—have agreed to continue in our leadership positions, working with the Board of Trustees to help secure the future of SCR.”
Aitken added that the theatre, its Board and the community at large had responded strongly to difficult times encountered by SCR, due to last fall’s economic downturn. In specific, five Board members initiated the “Act Now for SCR Challenge,” pledging to match every new and increased donation up to $160,000, and that challenge was exceeded by $40,000.
The theatre received more than 800 donations during the four-month Campaign, bringing the final figure to $360,000. Trustees who led the way were Aitken, Sophie Cripe, Lawrence M. Higby, Damien Jordan and Tod White. “Overwhelming response to this Campaign, combined with budget cutbacks earlier this year, have allowed SCR to officially complete its 45th consecutive season in the black,” Aitken told the Board.
Annual Meeting Highlights
Officers re-elected to serve during SCR’s 46th Season are Thomas B. Rogers, Vice President, Advancement; Tod White, Vice President, Development; Damien Jordan, Vice President, Finance; and Linda Hovee, Vice President, Community Relations.
New members welcomed to the roster are Susan H. Bowman, Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Facilities, Emulex Corporation, Costa Mesa; Brian K. Drake, Audit Partner, KPMG, LLP, Irvine; David W. Krajanowski, Managing Partner, SingerLewak, LLP, Irvine; and Robert E. Palmer, Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP, Irvine.
Pat Hancock and Dean M. Samsvick completed their nine-year tenures as Trustees and were recognized for their service.
Elected to SCR’s Honorary Board were Julianne Argyros and Tim Weiss, who have contributed time, service and other substantial assistance to the theatre. Betty Eu Huang was elected to the Emeritus Board, an honor rendered for her meritorious service to SCR. All of these outstanding community leaders continue to actively support and participate in the life of South Coast Repertory.
2008-09 Season Highlights
Total attendance for 2008-09 was over 130,000 for the five-play Segerstrom Stage season, the four-play Argyros Stage season, the three-play season of Theatre for Young Audiences and the holiday shows A Christmas Carol and La Posada Mágica (The Magical Journey).
Among the 45th Season’s achievements was the sixth successful year of SCR’s Theatre for Young Audiences, which included 27 free performances for over 9,000 Orange County school children, thanks in part to major grants from The Nicholas Endowment and The Segerstrom Foundation.
More than 1,400 people, including 50 representatives from 41 theaters and arts organizations across the country, attended the Pacific Playwrights Festival (PPF), May 1-3, 2009. The twelfth annual PPF continued SCR’s tradition of developing new work, with a weekend of five play readings and full productions of two world premieres, Richard Greenberg’s Our Mother’s Brief Affair on the Segerstrom Stage and Lauren Gunderson’s Emilie—La Marquise Du Châtelet Defends Her Life at the Petit Théâtre at Cirey Tonight on the Argyros Stage.
Instrumental in helping SCR commission, develop and produce world premieres and support PPF and a full array of play development programs was The Shubert Foundation with special thanks to The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, The National Endowment for the Arts, Edgerton Foundation and Elizabeth George Foundation.
The Educational Touring Production of Indian Summer by Richard Hellesen and Michael Silversher played 83 performances in 60 locations to over 20,000 school children, with strong underwriting support from Bank of America and The Capital Group Companies Charitable Foundation.
After the Annual Meeting, Trustees gathered in the SCR lobby for cocktails followed by the Annual Dinner, which included a large-screen retrospective of the 2008-09 Season, with the theme “Collected Stories.” Hosted by SCR Founding Artists Richard Doyle and Hal Landon Jr., the presentation highlighted each play and reflected on similar productions through 45 seasons.
Twenty-three individuals and five corporations were presented with framed mementos for their generous gifts that helped underwrite the 45th Season.
SCR’s 46th Season opens on the Segerstrom Stage September 18 with Stephen Sondheim’s Putting It Together, underwritten in part by Haskell & White LLP. This celebration of the legendary musical genius, devised by Sondheim and Julia McKenzie, will be directed by Nick DeGruccio. Artistic Director Martin Benson will direct the world premiere of Julie Marie Myatt’s The Happy Ones, set in Orange County, California in 1975, which opens the Argyros Stage season on October 2.
Prior to these exciting openings on SCR’s two stages, the Orange County social season will kick off on September 12 with SCR’s Gala Ball, “Nothing But Blue Skies,” chaired by Bette Aitken at the Balboa Bay Club & Resort in Newport Beach.
