December – 2012
One year ago to the day at a board meeting of the League of Independent Theater, I proposed a half-baked, hare-brained scheme to drive some much-needed money to the independent theater territory. The Board thought it over, kicked it around and said “Yes, see if you can make it work.”Randi Berry, a board member of LIT, called me the next day and said she loved the idea and wanted to do anything she could to make it a reality.
And now, 365 days later, Randi is the Executive Director of the LIT Fund, a brand-new nonprofit organization, a foundation that supports, protects, strengthens and sustains independent theater community in the five boroughs of New York City. A foundation created by independent theater artists for independent theater artists. This remarkable turn-around, from idea to actual thing in one year, is due to three things, I believe.
- Randi’s determination and focus
- Your belief in the idea
- And the power of a good idea at the right time.
We launched in August and have about seven thousand dollars in the Fund. We have companies as young as three years old and as old as seventy (thank you Living Theater!) working together. Off-Broadway has joined us. Individual donors have recognized and responded to the spirit of self-reliance and self-determination that the Fund celebrates and honors.
We are just starting, of course, but think about this for a moment:
One year ago the Fund was just an idea. A year later it is in the world and you are part of it and it is working.
Where will we be a year from now?
I don’t know, but if this is where we’re starting, then I have high hopes and I’ll be very glad to be there, wherever it is, with all of you. Thank you for joining, thank you for contributing, thank you for working for all of us, together. Have a very happy holiday. In us we trust.
