Spotlight on “9 to 5, The Musical” Sponsors
By The Advancement Team
Our “9 to 5, The Musical” Show Sponsors not only support the substantial licensing rights, they also make sure we have lights that enhance the show through the innovative design. They guarantee that this production’s sets and sounds engage our audiences through the low notes to the high. They ensure that our costumes dazzle, and the creative work of our volunteers, artists, and staff makes a dramatic impact.
As Venice Theatre opens this first big musical of its 75th Diamond Anniversary Season, we celebrate this production’s Show Sponsors, like friends and steadfast supporters Donna Bardgett, Don Cavern, and Eric Watters, who retired this year as Director of Development and is our Scrooge Emeritus. And Dick Foster andnMary Rau-Foster, who generously and tirelessly give their time, talent, and treasure to the theatre to make it more resilient and more fun!
Show Sponsors like Frank and Elaine Pagliaro, who sponsored The Marvelous Wonderettes: Dream On last season, and Gary Hill and John Schultz of the Schultz-Hill Foundation, who began sponsoring our productions in 2020, host show-night parties, bring crowds of friends, and share their love of the arts that we hope to see reflected in all of society. And we are so grateful that our hard-working construction firm, Magnum Builders, signed on for another season to raise us up in more ways than one. Thank you, Michael Baltzer, Clint Riley, Ralph Abela, and your fantastic team!
For 9 to 5, The Musical, our staff also wishes to thank one particular Show Sponsor, Carole Freeland Raymond. Carole started like all of us do: attending a show here and there. She loved what she saw, heard, and felt so much, she became a season subscriber, a Presidents Club member, a Show Sponsor, and, in 2019, she joined our Board of Directors.
In September 2021, that board and staff named its arts education center The Carole Freeland Raymond Center at Venice Theatre, in recognition of Carole’s transformational generosity, kindness, and care. A former pilot and city planner, Carole was used to working in fields traditionally reserved for men, which seemed to make her 9 to 5, The Musical sponsorship ideal.
“It seems somewhat ironic that I am sponsoring 9 to 5, The Musical. Because of a huge number of public hearings in the evenings and teaching flying on weekends and after office hours, I was never 9 to 5!” Carole shared.
Throughout her life, she has led with intelligence and integrity, making decisions that support thousands of families and businesses. She has raised a daughter who is a successful lawyer in D.C. and she actively plans a future for Venice Theatre as a board member and Next Act Capital Campaign Committee member.
Carole inspires young women, and young men, among our students, volunteers, and staff, and in every area she encounters. We look forward to a day when her namesake—the Raymond Center—will be completed after so many setbacks, first the pandemic, then the hurricane.
It has been a workhorse of a building, serving as storage space as the Boldt Technical Arts Center was renovated in 2021, as a hospitality hub during the 2022 aactWorldFest, and now as a temporary theatre. Venice Theatre has had to weather so many obstacles.
This past spring, an anticipated $6,000,000 from the Office of Housing and Urban Development for hurricane damage was denied Venice Theatre. This was funding the theatre has been counting on for more than a year. The theatre is suffering a critical financial gap. Revenues from the completed Jervey Theatre are essential. It needs considerable and immediate additional help.
Stand with our wonderful 9 to 5, The Musical Show Sponsors, patrons, and Next Act Donors, so that we can celebrate that day when we host a campus-wide Grand Opening and celebrate Venice Theatre’s next 75 years.