OneRoot Foundation Makes Special Grant to SCR

The OneRoot Foundation has stepped forward to make up for the National Endowment for the Arts’ withdrawal of a $20,000 grant to South Coast Repertory (Artistic Director David Ivers and Managing Director Suzanne Appel) supporting the production of The Staircase by Noa Gardner.

The OneRoot Foundation, founded by the Pyle Family of Newport Beach, is a “philanthropy established in education and fortified in the calling of service and support.” Trustee David A. Pyle, a noted Orange County philanthropist, Founder and CEO of American Career College and Shareholder and Trustee of West Coast University, said the gift was made in honor of his father, actor Denver Pyle. Best known for this role as Uncle Jesse in the CBS series “The Dukes of Hazzard” (1979-85), Denver Pyle appeared in more than 200 films and television programs.

“The OneRoot Foundation is proud to support South Coast Repertory through this donation. We believe in doing what is right, seeing the NEA pull its funding the day of the opening with no warning, was disappointing to say the least,” said Robert May, executive director, philanthropy of the OneRoot Foundation. “We wanted to make it right and assure that South Coast Repertory had the funding required to complete The Staircase. We support the vision of SCR to engage and enrich our community with outstanding programs.”

On May 2, the play’s opening night, SCR was notified via email of the grant’s withdrawal, one of 560 pulled grants representing more than $27 million nationwide. Once David Pyle alerted May about the withdrawal, he reached out to Wendy Hales, executive director of the Argyros Family Foundation, a major SCR supporter named in part after Julianne Argyros, for whom the Julianne Argyros Stage is named and an honorary trustee.

Hales put May in contact with Appel on May 8 and their phone call resulted in the OneRoot Foundation offering to fill the budgetary gap left by the NEA’s withdrawal. May cited his family’s 25-plus year tradition of attending SCR’s annual production of A Christmas Carol and the organization’s impact on its community as additional motivation for the foundation’s support.

The OneRoot Foundation’s grant helped support 53 full- and part-time theatre technicians and artisans, seven union actors, stage managers and musicians, nine designers and their assistants and two creative staff members, along with Gardner and Director Gaye Taylor Upchurch.

“The incredible generosity of the OneRoot Foundation is a huge vote of confidence in our impact, and the mission of South Coast Repertory to advance the art of theatre in service to our communities,” Appel said. “We are so grateful for this gift from OneRoot Foundation and the Pyle family, and honored to illuminate the human experience through theatre for Orange County. We deeply believe that access to excellence in the arts is something every community in our country deserves. Over $27 million in funding was revoked from hundreds of arts organizations by the National Endowment for the Arts across the country so far this year. If our friends and neighbors are inspired by OneRoot Foundation’s generosity, we ask them to contact their local representatives to affirm the value of the NEA.”

Concurrent with the news of the OneRoot Foundation’s grant, SCR filed an appeal to the NEA to reinstate the withdrawn award. SCR maintains its production of The Staircase meets the administration’s new guidelines prioritizing funding for projects benefiting skilled laborers and Tribal communities. According to the Department of the Interior, Native Hawaiians should be treated with the same protections as other groups where the word “tribal” is used.

The Staircase told the story of a Native Hawaiian family and celebrated Hawaiian culture through ancestral myths, legends and music as it explored the relationship between Hawaii and the U.S. mainland. In addition to Gardner being a Native Hawaiian playwright, the cast featured three Native Hawaiian actors and a Native Hawaiian Dramaturg/Music Director—Mehanaoakala Hind.