Thursday October 14 '10

AFTRA Industry Cooperative
Fund Awards $65,000 Grant to Looking Ahead

The Actors Fund recently received a $65,000 grant from the AFTRA Industry Cooperative Fund (AICF) to support the creation of a new position for our Los Angeles-based Looking Ahead program, created to help professional young performers (9 – 18) and their families thrive amid the unique challenges of working in the entertainment community.


Thanks to this very generous grant, we're proud to welcome Bonnie Wong as our new Youth Services Specialist. A recent graduate of USC with a bachelor of arts from the Annenberg School of Communication, Bonnie has already started planning events for the kids in the program — and we welcome her to the Looking Ahead team!

And check out some of the fun Bonnie will have in store, by helping kids in the...Looking Ahead Leadership Program!


In September, young performers ages 15 to 18 kicked off the first meeting of the Looking Ahead Leadership Program at The Fund's LA office. The teens meet monthly with Education Counselor, Laura Campbell to enhance their leadership and communication skills, plan Looking Ahead social and community service events, and attend an annual all-day leadership retreat in Santa Monica in October. Parents are able to meet simultaneously with Social Worker, Heather Vanian, discussing helpful topics for parents dealing with issues in the industry.

Donate today and help young performers find balance, share experiences and prepare for the future through Looking Ahead!

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In this issue...

The Actors Fund Work Program helps...JoAnn

AHIRC presents EVERY ARTIST INSURED TOUR 2010-11
"Time to make the donuts" - a Country Kitchen for The Home

5 Questions for... Trustee, Jeffrey Bolton

Faces of The Fund - Phyllis Newman
Glenn Close joins The Normal Heart 25th Anniversary

Holiday Shopping on The Actors Fund Store
Letters to "Stokes"

The Actors Fund Work Program helps...

By the time she was in her late teens, JoAnn Willette was a student at UCLA and acting in movies and a television series. But shooting demands were so high that she had to drop out of school. Fast forward — and today JoAnn is a single mother of two and the sole bread winner of her household. She never stopped working, but her job opportunities fell short because she didn't have her degree. She networked, and began volunteering: as a casting director, managing a busy hospital switchboard, producing, location scouting and teaching. Despite her best efforts, she was still unable to get hired or earn enough money to meet her family's needs.

She was feeling stuck and discouraged. So many jobs required a bachelor degree to be considered. Fortunately, she connected with The Actors Fund Work Program (AWP). Michael Salerno, Western Region Manager for AWP, helped JoAnn focus on her needs, dreams and aspirations, encouraging her to do what filled her heart. With Michael's support and insight, JoAnn gained the confidence to secure the financial assistance she needed — she even got a parking permit — and is now back at UCLA to complete her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Currently, she's working as the casting director for the Los Angeles Theatre Center — and looks forward to exploring other options in entertainment, to pair with her acting career.

Donate today so The Actors Fund Work Program can continue to help artists like JoAnn.

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AHIRC's Every Artist Insured Tour 2010-2011

Since its inception in 1998, The Actors Fund's Artists Health Insurance Resource Center(AHRIC) has had one goal: to have every artist in this country insured. With the passage of the health care reform bill, we are closer than ever to realizing this goal!

So we are proud to announce AHIRC's EVERY ARTIST INSURED Tour 2010-11. In the coming months, The Fund's AHIRC team of health insurance experts, through partnerships with local arts organizations, will reach out to performing arts and entertainment professionals, as well as visual artists, across the country, with seminars and workshops to help explain how health care reform offers new and affordable options for coverage.

The first stop on the tour is Kansas City on November 20 and 22, followed by dates in Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Newark, Chicago, San Francisco, New Orleans, and Dallas/Forth Worth! So forward this to your friends and spread the word! You can visit www.ahirc.org/everyartistinsuredtour for the latest information, as cities are still being added.

And remember — AHIRC will come to you! To set up a seminar for artists in your community, contact Jim Brown, The Actors Fund's Director of Health Services, at 917.281.5966, or email jbrown@actorsfund.org.

AHIRC's EVERY ARTIST INSURED Tour 2010-11 is presented thanks to funding from Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC).

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"Country Kitchen" Dedicated at The Lillian Booth Actors Home

The "Country Kitchen" is a brand new buffet style food area soon to be available at The Lillian Booth Actors Home where residents can literally help themselves to delicious meals. This new dining style will introduce residents to a revolutionary concept that will foster a more homelike environment and enable more choices and personal food preferences.

The Kitchen was dedicated last month in memory of Michael Vale, a veteran theatre and television actor best known for his appearance as "Fred the baker" in the Dunkin' Donuts television commercials. Mr. Vale's 15 year stint as the Dunkin' Donuts spokesperson, and the unforgettable slogan, "Time to make the donuts," helped to make this campaign one of the longest running in television history. Michael's wife Nancy made a very generous gift to The Fund through a Charitable Trust to honor Michael's memory.

To find out more about donating to The Fund through Planned Giving and our Edwin Forrest Society, contact Wally Munro, Director of Planned Giving at 917.281.5928 or email wmunro@actorsfund.org.

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Five Questions for...
Jeffrey Bolton
Managing Director of Neuberger Berman, Trustee of The Actors Fund, and In the Spotlight member.

Q: How did you get involved in supporting The Actors Fund?

A: I attribute my success in business to my experience in the theatre. I am extremely grateful and I was seeking for a way to give something back.

Q: Prior to your career in finance, you were a successful actor (Tulsa in the Broadway cast of Gypsy with Ethel Merman in New York and on the National Tour, among your credits). Can you share a memorable moment from your performing career?

A: I was hired to be the lead production dancer at the famous Copa Cabana. In order to work in a night club you had to prove you were at least 18 years of age. Unfortunately I was 17. I asked my good friend, Alan Berkowitz, if I could borrow his birth certificate. When I presented it to the Copa Cabana management they questioned the name change. I told them I always hated my name and decided to make a dramatic change. They accepted my feeble excuse.

Q: In tough times, people often view the performing arts and entertainment industries as somehow less crucial, or frivolous. In your opinion, why support The Actors Fund?

A: It's always tough times for theatre people. Work is so uncertain. You can't turn away from people when they are in need.

Q: Do you have a favorite memory of a Special Performance or event that you've attended in support of The Fund?

A: It's hard to isolate one performance. They are all great — the cast is performing for their peers which always elevates the experience.

Q: What might someone be surprised to know about you?

A: When I first joined Gypsy I was hired as the Swing Boy (understudy to all the other boys) and understudy to the back end of the cow. I have a framed contract stating so. My mother was disappointed. She wanted to know why I couldn't at least be the understudy to the front of the cow!

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Faces of The Fund - celebrating our supporters, in front of and behind the scenes, helping everyone in entertainment.

Phyllis Newman
Founder, The Actors Fund's Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative

Phyllis Newman is an American theatre treasure whose career spans over seven decades and nearly every medium of entertainment. Her electrifying, towel-clad performance as Martha Vail in the Jule Styne/Comden and Green musical Subways Are for Sleeping earned Phyllis her first Tony Award. And in 2009, she accepted her second — the newly created Isabelle Stevenson Award — for her tireless activism as founder of The Fund's Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative (PNWHI).

As a breast cancer survivor, Phyllis created PNWHI to address the countless concerns and challenges facing women in the entertainment industry when dealing with a serious medical condition, and she's still going strong: acting, writing and raising awareness about women's health.

Speaking of which — this year's Nothing Like a Dame: A Party for Comden and Green celebrates the world and work of Phyllis's husband Adolph Green and his remarkable partner Betty Comden — with surprising performances, great songs, film clips, stories and a glimpse into a glamorous world of the theatre from a glamorous time. And a cast including Nancy Anderson, Polly Bergen, Charles Busch, Mario Cantone, Victoria Clark, Debbie Gravitte, Amanda Green, Hunter Ryan Herdlicka, Mark Kudisch, Aaron Lazar, Donna McKechnie, Jessica Molaskey & John Pizzarelli, Julia Murney, Hal Prince, Noah Racey, Lee Roy Reams, Mary Testa, Zakiya Young, along with Phyllis and others!

So get your tickets today!

"This is a crucial time, as everyone knows. Work is scarce but health problems don't take a hiatus. So join me on November 1st, along with this fantastic cast, as we gather to support all the women in our lives!" —Phyllis Newman

Fun fact: Did you know Phyllis was the first woman to host The Johnny Carson Show?

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Glenn Close Joins the 25th Anniversary Staged Reading of The Normal Heart

Emmy, Golden Globe and Tony Award winning actress Glenn Close has joined the all-star cast of The Normal Heart! This Monday, October 18, producer Daryl Roth, in association with The Actors Fund and Friends In Deed, will present a one-night-only staged reading of Larry Kramer's ground-breaking play, The Normal Heart on Broadway, directed by Joel Grey, and also starring Victor Garber, Jason Butler Harner, John Benjamin Hickey, Joe Mantello, Michael Stuhlbarg, Patrick Wilson, Jack McBrayer and Glenn Close.

The Normal Heart focuses on the terrifying early years of the AIDS epidemic in New York and the criminal silence of official America in dealing with it. It is a thrilling night of theatre and not to be missed. Get your tickets today!

VIP tickets ($500 or $1,000), include premium seating, an invitation to the post-show cast
reception and a special listing in the souvenir program.

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The Actors Fund Store

with one click — Holiday shopping just got easier!

We've collected an array of fun holiday gifts for that special someone! Broadway CDs, the whimsical children's book, Lights on Broadway, autographed by our Chairman Brian Stokes Mitchell, Morticia's Nails nail polish, courtesy of The Addams Family star Bebe Neuwirth and Essie Cosmetics, as well as our classic coffee table book, Curtain Call: 125 Amazing Years of the Actors Fund.

There's our cap, mug and Actors Fund water bottle as well. Shop, purchase Special Performance tickets, donate in someone's honor, or become a member for access to the best seats in the house — all in a few clicks.

Proceeds support The Actors Fund, so your gift is doing a double duty! Now that's generous!

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Letters to "Stokes"

Dear Stokes,
As an artist in the theatre community, I've been a recipient of services through The Fund's Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative. I'd just like to send my thanks to the social workers at The Fund, who helped me out when I most needed it during chemotherapy after extensive cancer surgery that prevented me from working. The work they do is essential to helping so many women in our community who have nowhere else to turn! Brava Phyllis and thank you to The Actors Fund!
— Zoe Morsette, Broadway prop designer

Dear Zoe,

Thanks for writing! As you know, when women come to The Fund after a serious medical diagnosis they are often overwhelmed with concerns about their ability to work, family issues, managing basic bills as well as medical bills, and coping both physically and mentally with a challenging medical situation.

Through PHWHI, our social workers help women negotiate the steps that follow a serious medical diagnosis, giving them the nurturing support that they need.

Donate today to help women in health crisis.

Have a question on your Actors Fund membership? Or maybe a thought to share with your fellow Actors Fund supporters? We’d like to hear from you. Email Brian Stokes Mitchell, our Chairman of the Board, and you could read his response in our next eNews.
Letters may be shortened for space requirements. Please include contact info.

The Normal Heart, The Walter Kerr Theatre, 10/18

American Idiot, Producer's Picks, The St. James Theatre, 10/24

Nothing Like a Dame: A Party for Comden and Green,The Laura Pels Theatre, 11/01

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