SET THE STAGE 2017 Encore Society Newsletter
2016-17 HIGHLIGHTS As we bring another year to a close at New Conservatory Theatre Center, we wanted to share a few exciting updates from our Encore Society: In 2017, we welcomed new member Gary L. Lomax! Thank you for making a commitment to support NCTC’s future. NCTC received a bequest from longtime supporter Dr. Richard Viehweg, as well as a final installment from the Estate of Jerome Geller & Kenneth Sullivan. With these gifts, NCTC has been able to bolster the quality and reach of our programming, realizing a lasting impact on LGBT and Allied arts in our community.
Ameriprise Financial provided a substantial grant to support our productions and theatre programs for children, youth, and adults. As many members of the Encore Society may recall, Ameriprise partnered with NCTC to host an informational seminar on estate planning in Fall 2015. We wish to express our gratitude to Ameriprise Financial for their steadfast support of NCTC, and we look forward to continuing our partnership into the new year!
NCTC has given our Encore Society brochure a fresh look, with updated information on your legacy gift’s meaningful influence. Click the Encore Society logo to check out the new brochure:
GIVING – A REFLECTION FROM ENCORE SOCIETY & NCTC BOARD MEMBER DAVID BEERY
David Beery (right) with his husband, Norman Abramson (left). Norman & David are Season Producers for the 2017-18 season.
GIVING I don’t remember the source of my commitment to giving money to cultural organizations. It certainly was not from my parents. There was no family tradition of giving. Nor was there particular interest in the arts.
I was provided piano lessons, for which I had no particular talent. Even so, I deluded myself at one point that I should apply to Oberlin. There were infrequent tickets to classical concerts at the local college. I once took my childhood best friend to a concert by the opera star, Helen Traubel. I was enthralled. Frankie was bored, perhaps aghast. He went to cowboy movies. I sought movies with greater substance. In high school, I surreptitiously acquired tickets to performances I thought beyond the appreciation of my parents: Gilbert and Sullivan, opera, ballet, even the ice follies.
I was creating my own individuality, my own value structure. In return, the art world rewarded me, as it has my husband, Norm Abramson. For that gift to both of us, we have chosen to give back.
GIVING, CONT. I have specific reasons for giving: Choice. I have chosen NCTC as a primary beneficiary because its work merges with my belief in the significance of theater, and with my wish to celebrate the unique viewpoint gay artists contribute to our larger culture. Repayment of Pleasure. I donate to the arts in general and to NCTC specifically, because of the years of pleasure, rewards, and learning that the arts have provided me. Giving conveys the appreciation I have for the talent that has measurably enriched my life. Values. I believe that my sexuality nourished a value system that I would not have had otherwise. Growing up gay creates a unique sensibility. Having lived through restrictions on my own life, I am sensitive to injustices inflicted on others. Being a member of a minority, I value diversity. Seeing division around me, I aspire to a society of inclusion. But also a society that still recognizes and admires differences. These values are inherent in the arts. NCTC encompasses them season after season. Perpetuity. Charity reaches beyond our selves. Culture continues beyond our lives. I feel an obligation to contribute to the continuation of the culture to which I have committed myself. Granted, what I give will not make a great difference in the larger scheme of things. But it will do its bit. The NCTC Encore Society provides a doorway to the future.
GIVING, CONT. These are my perspectives. Norm shares the same goals. Our mutual decisions for donations, our personal involvement, and our frequent attendance at performances enrich our relationship. And we both want to leave something after we are gone.
I have no children to leave an inheritance. Norm does have children. After the consideration of his family, our estate goes primarily to cultural organizations. This is our recognition of something greater than the individual, greater than ourselves, greater than today. Neither Norm nor I (nor any of my readers) are Andrew Carnegie or Bill Gates. In today’s dollars, Andrew Carnegie would have a wealth equivalent to 372 billion dollars. Bill Gates? A piddling 79 billion dollars. Both of them have promoted giving one’s wealth to benefit the public good. Most known for his donation for the construction of libraries, Carnegie gave virtually all his wealth outside his family. Bill Gates, along with Warren Buffett, encourage the super wealthy of today to give away at least half of their wealth while they live. But the super wealthy do not make up the fabric of society. Nor will they be supporting small arts organizations. They will not be giving to NCTC. What Norm and I give to the future is every bit as important to us as their gifts are to Bill Gates or to Warren Buffet. And we can support what they will not.
I value NCTC. I am happy my husband and I can promote its future.
ENCORE SOCIETY MEMBERS GET ALL DECKED OUT!
Photos from our 2017 Gala honoring Ed Decker; *Denotes Encore Society member Top Row, left to right: Founder & Artistic Director Ed Decker* & Senator Scott Wiener; Caroline Shores, Ed Decker*, Robert Beadle*, Maria Pitcairn, & Playwright Del Shores; Center Row: Alan Ferrara & Dr. Allan P. Gold*; NCTC Board Chair Jeff Malloy*; Bottom Row: Gala Co-Chairs & Board Members Chris Yaros* & Andrew Smith; Ed Decker* & NCTC Board Member Andrew Nance*