Asking supporters to take a bow
“When the Eagle landed on the moon, I was speechless, overwhelmed, like most of the world. Couldn’t say a word. I think all I said was, ‘Wow! Jeez!’ Not exactly immortal...” Walter Cronkite
Right now I feel like Cronkite’s words about the moon landing were brilliantly eloquent compared to my simple, “Thank You,” but truly, thankful is exactly what I am. OK, overwhelmed, excited and exhausted too.
For the eighth consecutive year, Curtain Call ended at the top of the leaderboard for Fairfield County Giving Day; this year raising more for our nonprofit theater than any other organization, with a total of about $120,000 from nearly 1,200 supporters. That’s astounding!
Since shutting down on March 13 last year, we have been mostly dark. Several online events, as well as a series of 23 outdoor nights of entertainment, plus two short-term indoor productions, have kept us going. But it is the incredible generosity of our community that has sustained us.
As Stamford’s only year-round nonprofit producing theater company, we are blessed to have so many loyal patrons and fans. Asking for money from that same group is one of the most challenging parts of my job, but ask I must. What’s truly heart-warming is that when I ask, people respond.
As always, I am most thankful to Juanita James and the entire team at Fairfield County’s Community Foundation for making this event possible. Without the funds raised through last year’s event, we would have likely had to make drastic staffing cuts. But all of the foundation’s hard work would mean nothing without the dozens of sponsors, most notably, Bank of America, led by Southern Connecticut Market President Bill Tommins. Bill’s support encourages others to do the same ... to all Fairfield County nonprofits, he is a hero!
For this year’s Giving Day, nearly 15,000 participated raising — in just 24 hours — $2,250,154 for 394 nonprofits serving Fairfield County. Since its inception in 2014, Giving Day has raised more than $11.55 million, benefiting over 1,800 nonprofits through 118,252 donations. Wow!
So, as I look ahead to a brighter — mostly vaccinated — spring and summer, I can rest assured that Curtain Call will be here, ready to welcome our patrons back. Our future plans are still unclear as we await guidance from the state, but, because of your support, our future is secured.
Congratulations to all other participating nonprofits ... especially our colleagues in the Arts and Culture arena. Our organizations have been among the hardest hit this past year. so Giving Day has been a blessing.
To all of our friends far and near, I hope my invasion of your inboxes and Facebook pages was entertaining, informative and maybe even made you smile a bit. I promise, no more than one email a day, and likely less than that, for a while.
In the early months of the pandemic, it would have been easy to look at our cultural landscape as being as bleak as a Dickensian workhouse. But the support we had received from Giving Day 2020 — mere days before the lockdown — assured me that we would survive.
Dickens once wrote: “Reflect upon your present blessings — of which every man has many — not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” Who am I to disagree with Dickens? I am so very grateful for the blessings you have bestowed upon us at Curtain Call!
On behalf of the Board of Directors, our staff, volunteer performers and student participants, thank you for your unwavering support. It will keep us going till we can get back to producing at normal capacities.