I (heart) Chicago Theatre

I was extremely proud to be asked to talk about Chicago theatre’s Haiti relief drive on Dean Richards’ show on Sunday morning. And we should all be proud of the efforts our community has put in. Not everybody has a show running but so many people have stepped up to participate. I got an email from Oracle this morning saying that they will be donating a portion of ticket sales, and that the instructors for their classes will be donating the income from that, Broadway In Chicago has collected over $75,000, lots of theatres are sending out the information in their eblasts, Greenhouse Theater has put a great piece up on their website, Chicago Cabaret Project is collecting at their performances, and the list goes on and on.

We rock. What else can I say. If you are participating and you haven’t let us know please email me or Ben so we can get a complete list.

Deb

Chicago Theaters Support Haiti Relief Efforts

Many people have been asking what the theatre community can do in response to the disastrous earthquake in Haiti last week. The League is organizing everyone to collect donations from our patrons in whatever way we can over the next week (technically January 22-31). There are a number of ways in which you can encourage your patrons to help:

• Collect donations directly from your patrons and give the money directly to the American Red Cross which has set up a fund for direct relief to Haiti. A sample announcement is below.
• Add the sample paragraph below to your patron emails.
• Put a link on your website or facebook page.

Broadway In Chicago will be collecting donations after every performance this week of DREAMGIRLS, ANNIE AND MAMMA MIA, and they will be putting a link on their e-blast that goes out to 600,000 people; Second City will be collecting donations from their audiences and will match that contribution with their own.

Please let us know if you will be participating. We’d like to keep track of everyone who does. Email or give us a call if you have any questions.

All best,
Deb

CURTAIN ANNOUNCEMENT
Thank you so much for attending tonight’s performance of [name of show]. It is hard to imagine as we sit so comfortably in our seats that over 3 million people in Haiti are going without water. In response to the devastating earthquake in Haiti on Tuesday, January 13, The League of Chicago Theatres has enlisted the support of our theatre as well as the over 200 theatres in Chicago to raise funds for the people of Haiti. We will be collecting donations as you exit the theatre – no donation is too small or too large to make a difference. One hundred percent of your donation is being directed to the Red Cross. Please be as generous as you can and thank you for sharing your time with us today.

E-MAIL OR WEBSITE BLURB
In response to the devastating earthquake in Haiti last Tuesday, The League of Chicago Theatres has enlisted the support of the over 200 theatres in Chicago to raise funds for the people of Haiti. You have always been so generous to support our theatre – now you have the chance to support over 3 million people in need of something as basic as clean water. Please click here and give as generously as you can to the Red Cross.