Notions I Subscribe To
Notions I Subscribe ToThis past Friday evening, I was about to start eating dinner when the phone rang.
I don't ordinarily answer my phone during meals -- heck, ask anyone if I answer the telephone at all, and they're bound to tell you I don't -- but when I checked the caller ID, I found an unknown 212 area code number ending in a zero pop up on the screen. I don't know what possessed me to answer, but I did.
Twenty minutes later, I found myself as a new subscriber to the Manhattan Theatre Company. To be honest, it wasn't really a very hard sell. I've enjoyed quite a few outstanding, and usually always riveting productions -- mostly at their restored Biltmore Theatre on Broadway, but also a couple over at New York City Center Stage I.
Of course, this is no ordinary subscription where I'm merely paying for tickets (in this case a grand total of 14 for seven productions over the coming year). The lion's share of what I agreed to is a charitable donation for this rarest of rare commodities on the Great White Way: a not-for-profit theatre company.
As you may recall from my nonstop coverage of the recent Broadway stagehands strike, the Manhattan Theatre Club is one of only three non-profit Rialto theatre companies. The other two are Lincoln Center and Roundabout Theatre Company -- both renowned for their range of musical and straight play offerings.
Quite frankly, I love to give. Period.
If you ask me what I would most like to be when I "grow up," I'd probably tell you I wish I could be a philanthropist. While there's nothing quite as admirable as volunteer work, my long work hours just don't enable me to physically offer my helping hand as often as I'd like.
So instead, I try to give as much as I possibly can to the 501(c)(3) organizations that I believe can make a difference, whether it's in helping feed those less fortunate or in providing medical care, or in finding a cure for any number of diseases. Or, naturally, the one where I hope others can be challenged and enlightened, as well as entertained: live theatre.
This is the second not-for-profit theatre company to which I currently subscribe and donate. For the past three years, I've proudly supported Chicago's Steppenwolf -- a worthy investment in the arts if ever there was one. I've never doubted for one moment that every penny I've donated has been worth it. If ever I had second thoughts, they were dashed when I saw how involved Steppenwolf is with its local community, particularly through its outreach to Chicagoland's middle and high schools via its Subscriber School Program.
My only other subscription ever was with Minneapolis' Guthrie. But that was years before they moved into their incredible new facility. Yet I know the vital role this institution has taken on in the Twin Cities, and their own incredible profile of community involvement only continues to grow.
So what was it about the Manhattan Theatre Club that inspired me to give? They asked me.
Which leads me to ask you, have you ever subscribed and/or donated to a nonprofit theatre? I'd love to know which ones and why you subscribed.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Broadway, Charitable Organizations, Chicago, Guthrie, Manhattan Theatre Club, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Special Messages, Steppenwolf, Subscriptions
posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Wednesday, January 23, 2008
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