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Press Release - Hearst Foundation


Hearst Foundation Gives SCR $75,000 for Education

COSTA MESA, CALIF. (Oct. 14, 2009) The Hearst Foundation, Inc. has awarded South Coast Repertory a $75,000 grant for this season’s educational programs. The grant will support SCR’s extensive educational programming, including:

  • Theatre for Young Audiences, an annual series of three plays based on the finest and most beloved children’s literature. This season’s series includes two world premieres – new adaptations of Margaret L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time and the Chinese folktale Ben and the Magic Paintbrush, as well as a musical version of Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business. SCR provides free tickets to its TYA shows to nearly 10,000 Orange County schoolchildren, and provides curriculum-based study guide companions for teachers.
  • Neighborhood Conservatory, free after-school classes for low-income children taught by the same acting professionals who teach in SCR’s tuition-supported Conservatory. The teachers go into schools, community centers and other neighborhood locations and teach mime, improvisation, creative drama and acting over a 10-week session. SCR also provides scholarships to some students in those classes so that they can continue their studies in the Young Conservatory.
  • MyStage, a new, free membership program for 15- to 25-year-olds that encourages long-term theatre participation. MyStage participants receive $10 tickets, supplementary materials and invitations to special events, all designed to enhance the theatre-going experience for young audiences.
  • Theatre Access, an outreach program that provides free tickets to underserved high-school and college students. This season’s Theatre Access program will include a study guide for August Wilson’s Fences, a play in SCR’s season and on California list of recommended works of literature for high-school students.

The $75,000 grant is one of several provided to SCR by the Hearst Foundation over the years, including a generous 1997 contribution that created the William Randolph Hearst Endowed Education and Outreach Fund.

The Hearst Foundations are national philanthropic resources for organizations and institutions working in the fields of education, health, culture and social service. The charitable goals of the foundations reflect the philanthropic interests of publisher/philanthropist William Randolph Hearst. In 1945, Mr. Hearst created the Hearst Foundation, Inc. In 1948, he established the California Charities Foundation, renamed the William Randolph Hearst Foundation in 1951. Both foundations operate independently from The Hearst Corporation.