Dear Fellow theater-lover,
I moved to the Tri-Valley in 2002 in order to create a professional theater company for a community that did not have one of its own. I’ve since fallen in love with the area, and the company that I dreamed about has come to be. Shakespeare’s Associates, proud producers of the Livermore Shakespeare Festival, is going strong, despite these difficult economic times. Most likely, you joined us for A Midsummer Night’s Dream or The Seagull this summer at Concannon Vineyard. Like me, you probably gazed at the sunset and the moonrise, and marveled at how beautiful Livermore is, and thought, between laughs, about how lucky we all are to live here. Like me, you probably thought about how great it is that the folks at Concannon welcome us onto their property for the festival, and how magnificent those costumes looked against that Victorian house under theatrical lighting. Many volunteers shared that sunset with you, and professional artists from all over the Bay Area braved traffic to be with us, sharing their talents and training.
The summer was a success, according to happy audience members, critics, and the bank. Our new visitors’ package with Hawthorn Suites and Uncle Yu’s at the Vineyard was a resounding success, making it easier and more comfortable for out-of-town guests to spend the weekend with us. We are firmly in the black, and intend to stay there.
With this sense of solidity, we, the board and staff of “SA”, are moving forward with plans for LSF 10: Romeo & Juliet and, (from the author of Shakespeare in Love), Tom Stoppard’s The Real Thing. It will be our Summer of Love. In order to recreate our success, we need your help. Non-profit theater works on an income model of part charged/part donated. In order to keep the ticket prices low enough for most citizens to afford the event, we rely on donations of time, money and services to balance the budget. It is true that no donation is too small or too large. Please join in the generosity of many Tri-Valley businesses and individuals and give what you can to make next year’s festival a success.
You may drop us a note with your donation guiding your gift to the area of our programming that you feel most passionately about: professional artist salaries, youth/intern programs (these high school and college students are a tremendous part of our success!), strengthening the administrative infrastructure of the local arts institution that we are rapidly becoming. Please also let us know if you can join us in other ways: volunteering, board service, marketing our programs through your business. … There are so many ways to play a part. Please don’t hesitate to call us.
Thank you for the great summer we just shared. I look forward to next year.
Sincerely,
Lisa A. Tromovitch
Producing Artistic Director
PS If you are member of LLNL – you may give through the H.O.M.E. Campaign!