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The challenge, launched on Dec. 3 to coincide with #GivingTuesday, a national day of philanthropy, and runs through Tuesday, Dec. 31.
The Newman's Own Foundation Challenge Grant will help the playhouse build long-term organizational capacity and stability, increasing awareness of the playhouse’s role as an important nonprofit cultural resource, and inspiring loyal patrons to invest beyond the price of a ticket.
“We are honored to receive this grant from Newman’s Own Foundation,” playhouse Managing Director Michael Ross said in a statement. “We’re equally grateful that so many in our community have a deep love for this theater, and hope that friends from throughout the region will take advantage of this dollar-for-dollar match.”
With only one-third of the non-profit’s operating costs paid for via ticket sales, the playhouse hopes the Challenge will inspire audiences, and particularly subscribers, to invest in the theater’s mission.
“Westport Country Playhouse is a cultural treasure bringing innovative, humorous, and thought-provoking programming to the entire region,” Newman’s Own Foundation Managing Director Lisa Walker said in the statement. “We hope the Foundation’s challenge grant will inspire many people to join us in supporting the valuable work of the Playhouse and the important role it plays in the community.”
The playhouse and the foundation share a common connection in Paul Newman. Newman’s Own Foundation is the independent foundation created by Newman to continue his philanthropic legacy. Together, Paul Newman and his wife, actress Joanne Woodward, former playhouse artistic director, were instrumental in creating the playhouse as it exists today.
“The Grant will help to establish the Playhouse as not just a place to see great theater, but as an invaluable resource for our community that depends on a broad spectrum of support from individuals as well as institutions,” Ross added in the statement.
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