2013 Benefit
Use the Trinity Commons entrance from Prospect Avenue just east of E. 22nd St.
Please Join Us for Near West Theatre’s Annual Benefit:
You Can't Stop the Beat!
… as we honor generous Near West Theatre supporters Chuck and Char Fowler
Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013
6:00 to 9:30 p.m.
Trinity Cathedral, 2230 Euclid Ave., Downtown Cleveland (use Prospect Ave. entrance)
Click here to buy tickets online through Feb. 13
Purchase by phone at 216-961-6391, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays through Feb. 13.
Ticket sales start at the door at 6:00 p.m.
You’ll experience:
• An energetic performance by Near West cast members
• Food, beer, wine and soft drinks
• Desserts and coffee
• Dancing and a live DJ
• A silent auction and raffle highlighting the best that Cleveland has to offer
Tickets are $85 (or a 10 pack of tickets for $800!)
Questions? Call 216-961-9750.
Sponsors
Director Sponsors--$7,500
Euro USA Foods
Producer Sponsors--$5,000
American Limousine Service
Choreographer Sponsors--$2,500
Dominion East Ohio
Richard Fleishchman + Partners Architects
KeyBank
Chuck & Rita Maimbourg
Medical Mutual of Ohio
Panzica Construction Co.
PNC
Tucker Ellis LLP
RPM International, Inc.
Designer Sponsors--$1,000
Jim and Anne Schoff
R.C. Distributors
The Sherwin-Williams Company
Fifth Third Bank
Stone Mad Pub Grille & Bocce
Cohen, Rosenthal & Kramer LLP
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Hans Holznagel, Near West Theatre 216.961.9750 - hholznagel@nearwesttheatre.org
Cathedral to be transformed into stage, dance floor for a night
CLEVELAND – A downtown cathedral will become a stage and a sock-hop dance floor on Saturday, Feb. 16, when a local theater holds its unusual annual fundraiser.
Near West Theatre’s 2013 benefit, “You Can’t Stop the Beat,” will be from 6 to 9:30 p.m. at Trinity Cathedral, 2230 Euclid Ave. It will feature a high-energy, original performance by NWT cast members as well as food and drink, a DJ and dancing, a silent auction and raffle, and other surprises. This year’s honorees are philanthropists Char and Chuck Fowler, lead donors toward the theater’s new home which will be under construction this spring in the Gordon Square Arts District.
Hostess of the evening will be actor and musician Jordan Cooper as the character Edna Turnblad from Near West Theatre’s 2012 production of Hairspray, the Broadway Musical. Guests are encouraged, if they wish, to dress in late-50s-early-60s attire.
The benefit is the most important fundraiser of the year for Near West Theatre, which builds community among ordinary people by staging classic musicals with large, diverse casts of all ages and also offers children’s and youth programming. Companies and individuals are invited to consider Benefit sponsorships at levels of $10,000, $7,500, $5,000, $2,500 and $1,000. As of Jan. 25, they include American Limousine Service, Dominion East Ohio, KeyBank, Chuck and Rita Maimbourg, Medical Mutual of Ohio, Panzica Construction Co., R.C. Distributors, The Sherwin-Williams Co. and Tucker Ellis LLP.
Besides the evening’s entertainment, a single ticket to the event at $85 (or 10 tickets at $800) buys access to a festive spread of food provided by Spice of Life Catering and desserts by Gypsy Beans & Baking Co. Tickets can be purchased online here; by phoning 216-961-6391, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays; or in person during those same hours at NWT’s business office, 6516 Detroit Ave., Suite 9. $50 of each ticket is tax-deductible. Event details are http://www.nearwesttheatre.org/benefit.html.
Stephanie Morrison-Hrbek, the founding and executive director of the theater since 1978, is grateful for the location of the benefit. “We love the Trinity Commons concept and the openness of the Cathedral and its people to arts, music and programs that further peace and justice, education and spiritual growth,” said. “It’s a perfect match for our approach to theater as a community-building, transformative experience.”
Near West Theatre 2013 Benefit Honorees: Char and Chuck Fowler
“We claim this ground for love!” These words, proudly shouted out at the groundbreaking for Near West Theatre’s new home on November 27, 2012, come to mind again as we honor Char and Chuck Fowler, whose investment, leadership and love have brought us to this phase in our journey to a new performance facility.
First introduced to Near West through Jim and Anne Schoff, Char and Chuck began attending performances over a decade ago and can often be seen filling entire rows of seats with their grandchildren at our shows.
Char has always understood the connection of arts, children, and learning. She served as a librarian in an elementary school in Indiana and started a theater group producing several plays a year. Since moving to Cleveland 25 years ago, she has been astounded and amazed by the breadth and quality of arts opportunities in our community and region.
In 2010, Char and Chuck stepped forward to make a major investment in Near West Theatre’s campaign to build a new performance center. Strategically, they created a $1 million challenge grant to motivate other donors to contribute as well as to inspire action by Near West’s leadership to complete a succession plan and create an endowment.
After further study, they encouraged Near West to build its performance center using super-energy-efficient Passivhaus methods. This plan fit squarely with Chuck and his dedication to sustainability practices as noted through his commitment to Fairmount Minerals and the Fowler Center for Sustainability at Case Western Reserve.
Char and Chuck realized the need to increase the momentum of the project, and so on September 5, 2012, Char approached the GSAD board and informed them that she and Chuck would boost their total commitment to $2M with two stipulations: (1) the theater be named the Morrison-Hrbek Auditorium and (2) that groundbreaking must occur sometime in the fall of 2012.
Indeed, on November 27, 2012, several hundred people gathered around a ceremonial fire at the future site of Near West Theatre’s new facility for a unique groundbreaking experience. Artistic Director Bob Navis Jr. and Stephanie claimed the ground with a call- and-response litany while wooden stakes with colorful ribbons were firmly planted in the ground by members of the Near West community who were, literally and figuratively, stakeholders! Near West’s values of truth, beauty, freedom, love, barrier-breaking, inclusion, diversity, art for social change, financial support, and thinking big were among those proclaimed.
Thanks to the generosity of the Fowlers and their family foundation, 87 percent of the $6.8 million of the Gordon Square Arts District campaign for our new building has been realized. We are now closer to the dream of a home that will carry forth a 35-year legacy of transformative theater. We will have the space to share the power of our mission with more community members of all ages and backgrounds. Accessibility, healing and connectedness will be experienced year-round!
Finally, in addition to being generous, Chuck and Char Fowler are very unpretentious and easygoing people. They like to party and have participated in many sock hops in their day! We look forward to dancing with them tonight!