Geffen Playhouse Education Report 2011-2012

GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE REPORT TO THE VIDAL SASSOON FOUNDATION REPORT TO THEIMPACT COMMUNITY OF YOUR SUPPORT ON THE LIVES OF THE 22,000 CHILDREN AND ADULTS SERVED THROUGH OUR EDUCATION ANDADULTS OUTREACH PROGRAMS, 2010!2011 WHAT YOUR SUPPORT MEANT TO THE 22,591 CHILDREN AND SERVED THROUGH OUR EDUCATION AND OUTREACH PROGRAMS, 2010!2011

our material riches will avail us little “All if we do not use them to expand the opportunity of our people.

— John F. Kennedy

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Dear Geffen Playhouse Supporter:M & GIL Years from now, when the world looks back on this !me — a !me already labeled “the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression” — people will study who the heroes were. Who, instead of pu"ng their heads in the sand to wait for be#er !mes, reached out to help those in need?

Certainly, you will be counted among the heroes — among those who gave generously despite the almost universal pressure to reduce spending at all costs, no ma#er who and how many people were in need of a helping hand.

Your gi$ to the Geffen Playhouse during our 2010 to 2011 year gave some of the most disheartened, disenfranchised children and adults across Los Angeles the opportunity to experience relief, hope, connec!on, perspec!ve — the intangibles that are so urgently needed in these !mes and that are so cri!cal to propelling children and adults to see beyond their immediate circumstances and work towards be#er lives.

On the following pages, you will see a frac!on of the evidence of what your generosity meant to the 22,591 children and adults who directly benefited from it. There are thousands more le#ers, emails and notes from those who par!cipated in our Educa!on and Outreach Programs this past year and who wrote or called to share their gra!tude.

This is just a snapshot of how your generosity translated into improving lives and futures.

As this report to you was being finalized, my dear friend, Gil Cates, our extraordinary founder and leader, passed away. Gil and I shared a deep passion for the Geffen’s work in the community. He was so deeply honored that you invested in the theater’s mission and programs and in the people, schools, organiza!ons and communi!es we serve. In his memory, we dedicate this document, and send our most sincere gra!tude to you on behalf of Gil, our en!re Board, and everyone here at the Geffen Playhouse.

Frank Mancuso Chairman of the Board

Table of Contents: Impact of your support on those served through the Geff ffeen’s: Programs for Disadvantaged Elementary School Youth Story Pirates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 UCLA Partnership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Saturday Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Programs for Disadvantaged Middle & High School Youth . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Programs for the Most Underserved and Disadvantaged of Los Angeles CREATE Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Golden Ticket Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Additional Information: Talk Back Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Board of Directors & Trustees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Advisory Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Story Pirates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Tribute to Gil Cates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64

Pictured left: Duke Doyle, the director of the Geff ffeen Playhouse Story Pirates Program , congratulates a student from 20th Street Elementary whose story came to life as a performance in front of the whole school this past Spring.

About the Geffen’s Story Pirates Program: Our Story Pirates Program brings highly-trained teaching ar!sts to over 20 Title 1 schools and 8,000 disadvantaged youth across Los Angeles who are struggling with language arts proficiency, and through proven, highly-engaging programming centered around the art of storytelling, celebrates the ideas and poten!al of all young people with las!ng results on their skills, crea!vity, confidence and learning.

Schools and Communities Served through the Geffen’s Story Pirates Program: 116th Elementary, Wa#s 74th Street Elementary, South Los Angeles 20th Street Elementary, South Los Angeles Braddock Drive Elementary, Culver City City Terrace Elementary, East Los Angeles Coeur D’Alene Elementary, Venice Downtown Value Elementary, Downtown Los Angeles Gardner Street Elementary, Hollywood Highland Elementary, Inglewood Humphreys Avenue Elementary, East Los Angeles Juan Cabrillo Elementary, Hawthorne Lorena Street Elementary, East Los Angeles

Marlton Elementary, Crenshaw Mayall Street Elementary, North Hills Mayberry Elementary, Silver Lake Nora Sterry Elementary, West Los Angeles Point Fermin Elementary, San Pedro Rockdale Elementary, Eagle Rock Santa Monica Boulevard Community Charter, Hollywood Toluca Lake Elementary, North Hollywood Wilshire Crest Elementary, Miracle Mile

Pictured right: Wilshire Crest Elementary School students

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The difference your support made to the disadvantaged elementary school youth we served through our

Story Pirates Program:

GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE SATURDAY SCENE PROGRAM

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The Need: Deficiency in basic wri!ng skills has been singled out as one of the biggest concerns American business leaders have about high school graduates and even about college graduates. In a recent survey by the Conference Board, 81 % of business leaders stated that their high school graduate hires were deficient in wri#en communica!ons.1 A study of high school graduates found that nearly three-quarters (72 percent) were deficient in basic English wri!ng skills.2 Poor wri!ng skills also con!nued to be a problem among college graduates. Nearly half of all business leaders surveyed reported that college graduates were deficient in wri!ng. “The future workforce is here, and it is woefully ill-prepared,” the report concluded.3

Our Response: When we asked the LAUSD teachers how we can best support them in their efforts to improve the wri!ng skills of their students, across the board the teachers asked the Geffen Playhouse to play a major role in both mo!va!ng and teaching students — at a much earlier age than high school — how to write with fresh, crea!ve approaches.

The teachers pointed out that one of the biggest challenges is that many of their students have zero self-confidence about their ability to write, and clearly feel shame about this and fear about falling even further behind. The teachers talked about how cri!cal it is to have experiences that give kids the freedom to develop their skills in wri!ng in a much less pressured and threatening environment and in one that makes learning how to write fun.

We found through our research that one of the best models in the U.S. for mo!vating and teaching children to write is a New York-based program called “The Story Pirates.” This past academic year, we developed a formal, official partnership with the Story Pirates Program whereby we are now the “West Coast” home for the program. We have the model in place (a$er audi!oning, interviewing, hiring and training over 40 outstanding Los Angeles-based actors and teaching ar!sts). Thanks to your support, the Story Pirates Program served more than 8,000 children in over 20 Title 1 schools this past year, with the following outstanding outcomes.

Proven Impact: • Percent of teachers who responded that a$er par!cipa!ng in the Story Pirates Program, their students showed significant improvements in their wri!ng: 86% • Percent of teachers who rated the program’s impact on students who were struggling with wri!ng as “Outstanding”: 100% • Percent of teachers who reported that a significant number of their students developed higher levels of confidence in their wri!ng abili!es: 100% • Percent of teachers who reported that a$er par!cipa!ng in the Program, a significant number of their students seemed to like wri!ng more: 100% • Percent of teachers who reported that a$er par!cipa!ng in the Program, their students wrote more o$en: 86% • Percent of teachers who would “Highly Recommend” our Story Pirates Program to other teachers and schools: 100% 6

Thank you for making the Story Pirates Program an outstanding and powerful resource for inspiring youth to write.

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I can’t possibly thank the Geffen and its supporters enough for the incredible work that the Story Pirates did with my students this year. Story Pirates used humor to help students relax and overcome their fear of self-expression. Emphasizing that ‘every idea is a good idea,’ the Story Pirates made a powerful connec!on with the students. They were able to encourage even the most reluctant writers to express their ideas in wri!ng.

The Story Pirates were excep!onally willing collaborators. They adjusted their workshops to make connec!ons to the students’ curriculum. Their wri!ng lessons made connec!ons with our science and social studies curriculum. In addi!on, Story Pirates helped students explore a variety of wri!ng domains. Students wrote an expository descrip!on, a comedy, a persuasive essay, and a fic!onal narra!ve. Throughout the process, students were encouraged to explore new ideas, and were given strategies to help them revise their work. Finally, students were able to see their ideas come to life as the Story Pirates worked their magic on stage.

Our students have been inspired by the joy and excitement of wri!ng and live theater.

They were cap!vated by the actors’ ability to bring the students’ own ideas to life on stage. The actors did an amazing job of demonstra!ng how much fun it can be to write stories, and then to bring them to life with drama and humor. Thank you for providing such an unforge#able educa!onal experience for them.

Dennis Hagen-Smith Na"onal Board Cer"fied Teacher Toluca Lake Elementary School

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GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE STORY PIRATES PROGRAM

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Thank you for giving so many disadvantaged children the tools and inspiration they need to be successful.

From the teachers who par"cipated in our Story Pirates Program this past year:

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Before the Story Pirates came to our class, my students would write something as fast as possible and turn it in with the a"tude, ‘I’m so done with this.’ But the Story Pirates taught them about the art and importance of revising and pushing themselves crea!vely.

They spent a lot more !me on their wri!ng a$er being in the Story Pirates Program, and their wri!ng improved tremendously.

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The quality of the wri!ng my students turned in at the beginning of the year was painful.

By the end of the year, a$er Story Pirates ignited their passion for wri!ng and taught them how to write, the quality of their wri!ng had vastly improved.

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In my 20+ years of teaching, I have tried a thousand different tac!cs for trying to get my fi$h grade students to understand and embed the concept of ‘mood’ into their wri!ng.

The Story Pirates were able to teach them how to do a$er less than a week!

Remarkable.

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Thank you for helping so many children discover their own success in writing as well as a life-long passion for writing and creativity.

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Another great thing the Story Pirates Program did for my students is that it gave them one of their first experiences of real success. This is huge for these kids who struggle so much with everything: reading, wri!ng, math, English. The Story Pirates made each child feel like their ideas and words really ma#ered. Instead of hearing all the !me how far behind they are or how ‘low performing’ our school is, they were being celebrated for their contribu!ons and accomplishments as writers. It showed me what a difference it makes when we expect our kids to succeed, when we help uncover what they can do instead of focusing on what they can’t.

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I had one student who simply refused to write, all year long — un!l the Story Pirates came. I even told the Story Pirates that they didn’t need to worry about working with him because he was so shut down. But they did, of course. And for the first !me all year, he actually completed and turned in a wri!ng assignment. Simply huge.

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My students struggle with English. They are ashamed of their struggles with reading and wri!ng in English. But the Story Pirates made them feel safe to let loose and to explore their crea!vity. It worked like magic. They wrote more in English, started reading more. I saw their grammar improve. They felt real pride in their wri!ng and reading abili!es in English and in their crea!vity for the very first !me as students.

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GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE STORY PIRATES PROGRAM

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Thank you for giving disadvantaged youth the opportunity to work with, learn from, and be inspired by outstanding artists.

From the teachers who par"cipated in our Story Pirates Program this past year:

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Another huge indicator that the Story Pirates Program worked was that on Tuesdays (the days Story Pirates were coming), there were no absences! I checked with the other teachers in our grade and all five of us experienced the same thing – no absences on Tuesdays. The only thing we could point to was the Story Pirates! The program actually mo!vated our students to come to school – which is above and beyond what it did for their wri!ng skills!

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One of the biggest things I love about the Story Pirates Program is that it builds wri!ng stamina. Before the program, my students would grudgingly turn in a half a page for a wri!ng assignment. A$er the Story Pirates were here, they were turning in five pages of wri!ng at a !me – no exaggera!on!

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Story Pirates had an impact on their reading, too. I no!ced that they read a lot more afterwards.

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The program made a huge difference for all of my students, on mul!ple levels — wri!ng, crea!vity, self-esteem. There was a girl in my class who was from an abusive environment at home. She was struggling across the board at school. The Story Pirates didn’t know this. They selected her story as one of the ones they performed in front of the whole school. The acknowledgement and posi!ve reinforcement she received from her peers immediately a$erwards and for the rest of the year helped her in so many ways. It completely changed her a"tude about school. An incredible story.

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Thank you for helping us bring to life a program that helped children on multiple levels.

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It is hard to put into words how much Marlton School loves The Story Pirates. The troupe’s lively, crea!ve performances have helped to breathe new life into the o$en mundane instruc!onal lessons on wri!ng. Marlton is a Title 1 school where the majority of the students are considered at risk and have families with low incomes. Marlton also has a unique blend of general educa!on students and students who are predominantly deaf and hard of hearing. Story Pirates’ performances engage our en!re student popula!on and have provided wonderful visual s!mula!on and communica!on for all. From the ini!al ‘idea storm’ presenta!on, students are mo!vated to be imagina!ve. Students watch in amazement as the ideas they share with the actors are performed and turned into hilarious presenta!ons. The Story Pirates provide the students with a different perspec!ve on the wri!ng process and help the students witness the connec!on between wri!ng and tangible outcomes.

The stories the students generate in the classroom a$er the ini!al Story Pirate visit are wri#en with enthusiasm and ease. Their imagina!ons flow freely and teachers encourage them to take possession of their stories minimizing any instruc!onal interven!on.

The results are wonderful. The students complete and submit their stories with a sense of pride and accomplishment. Story Pirates return with ingenious performances of students’ work. Our auditorium is filled with laughter and excitement. Teachers and students alike were thrilled to see that the actors had even taken the !me to learn and incorporate some sign language into their presenta!ons. Story Pirates performances are quickly becoming the most an!cipated events of our school year.

Bev Hale Teacher, Marlton School

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GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE STORY PIRATES PROGRAM

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Schools Served through the Geffen’s Partnership with the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television Accelerated Charter School, South Los Angeles Catskill Avenue Elementary, Carson Delevan Drive Elementary, Glendale Gault Street Elementary, Van Nuys Magnolia Avenue Elementary, Koreatown Manchester Elementary, Inglewood Marvin Avenue Elementary, Mid-City Middleton Elementary, East Los Angeles West Hollywood Elementary, West Hollywood Wilmington Park Elementary, Carson

“An education without the arts is an incomplete education that fails to develop the full potential of individuals, communities, and societies. The arts have a powerful cognitive dimension and are an important way of understanding the world, different from, but just as valuable as, the sciences.”

Harvard Graduate School of Education

Pictured right: Students from Gault Street Elementary are captivated by the play.

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The difference your support made to the disadvantaged elementary school youth we served through our

UCLA Partnership and Tour of How Raven Stole Fire and Other Stories:

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Thank you for helping us support and nurture the talent and training of UCLA Theater Arts Students as they bring a new play to life for children . . .

This past year, we partnered with the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television to write, develop and produce How Raven Stole Fire and Other Stories — a new play using shadow and sculptural puppets to bring Na!ve American crea!on stories to life for elementary school children and to create a teaching ar!st curriculum that is ac!ve, engaging and addresses California Standards. A$er the play was co-created through a collabora!on between Geffen ar!sts and UCLA Theater Majors, we worked with UCLA Professor Patricia Harter, head of UCLA’s Teaching Ar!st Program and ArtsBridge Program, to develop lesson plans and class ac!vi!es around the play and to train UCLA students to teach highly engaging workshops for the children around cultural storytellling. UCLA students not only performed in the tour of the play to 10 Title 1 Schools, they also taught pre and post-show classroom workshops for each classroom that the children and teachers loved.

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. . . and as they learn how to make history and learning come alive for children in Title 1 Schools across Los Angeles.

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The collabora!on that has developed between the Geffen Playhouse and UCLA’s Department of Theater and Teaching Ar!st Program has been enormously beneficial to the program and to its students. The students receive arts-based training with a professional theater, mentoring, and gives theater undergraduates an opportunity to perform on a professional stage and in front of a child audience. Thanks to the Geffen’s donors, we have been able to develop and tour this play and give students the opportunity to provide meaningful arts experiences to underserved popula!ons throughout Los Angeles.

The Geffen Playhouse’s willingness to reach out to K-12 students in order to close the gap in arts educa!on, par!cularly in a !me of belt !ghtening in all professional houses, speaks loudly about the Geffen’s priori!es and provides a powerful model to students that the need to be involved in the youth community is an essen!al part of the theater.

Patricia Harter, Professor UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and Director, ArtsBridge Program

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GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE PARTNERSHIP & SCHOOL TOURS WITH UCLA 15

About the Geffen’s Saturday Scene Program: Through the Geffen’s Saturday Scene Program, more than 1,600 disadvantaged toddlers and children gained access to a year’s worth of live children’s theater arts experiences, interac!ve workshops with actors and/or our Educa!on Team, Talk Backs with our casts, and other one-of-a-kind experiences to s!mulate their crea!vity, learning, reading, and passion for the arts.

Canfield Elementary School Carden of the Foothills School Carpenter Community Charter School Challengers Boys & Girls Club Chaparral Elementary School Children’s Ins!tute Children Youth & Family Collabora!ve Children’s Community School Claude Pepper Senior Community Center Conejo Valley Unitarian Universalist Church Create Now! Crestwood Hills Recrea!on Center Cultural Educa!on Project Downey Student Scholarship Fund Early Years School Echo Horizon School Everybody Wins Fi$y-Fi$y Leadership GlenOaks Elementary School Founda!on Hadassah Southern California Hermosa Beach Educa!on Fund Israel Levin Senior Center LA County Dept of Children and Family Services Lockwood Avenue Elementary School Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center

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Marengo Elementary School New Direc!ons Northridge Hospital Norwalk-La Mirada Student Scholarship Fund Notre Dame Academy Elementary Parents for Carpenter Penny Lane Reading Is Fundamental of Southern California Saint Mark School Seven Arrows Elementary Shane’s Inspira!on Sheenway School and Cultural Center Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies Silvercrest Senior Residence St. Bonaventure High School St. Monica’s Senior Ministry Sunnyside Preschool Superior Street Elementary Temple Judea The Temple Isaiah Tri School Theatre University Synagogue West Hollywood Elementary West Valley Occupa!onal Center Westside Community Adult School

The difference your support made to the disadvantaged toddlers and children we served through our

Saturday Scene Program:

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The Need: Children’s early experiences impact their future development and school readiness.1 Eighty-five percent of children’s core brain structure is developed by age four, providing the founda!on for their future health, academic success, and social and emo!onal well-being.2 The early years are clearly a cri!cial !me to help s!mulate their brains and to lay the founda!on for a life!me of learning.

Yet studies show that children living in poverty have significantly less access to the enriching, s!mula!ng experiences that are cri!cal to their development.3 By age three, children in low income families have heard 30 million less words than children in affluent families.4 When entering kindergarten, the average cogni!ve score of the na!on’s poorest children is 60% lower than the na!on’s most affluent children.5

Our Response: To help s!mulate the minds and development of young children, the Geffen Playhouse created Saturday Scene — high-quality, highly entertaining live theater events for children and their families that are offered most Saturday mornings.

This past year, we held over 20 Saturday Scene Shows and gave over 1,600 toddlers, children and their parents (or caregivers) who are from low income families the opportunity to a#end, free of charge.

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Thank you for giving the most disadvantaged toddlers and children in Los Angeles access to the joy and one-of-a-kind learning that comes from live theater.

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The Geffen’s Saturday Scene Program helps our city’s most vulnerable children — children who are living in poverty and who are under tremendous stress. These are children who desperately need !me to be children. They need opportuni!es to have fun, to dream, to experience the joys of life. Being able to a#end Geffen Playhouse shows is a joy for them. It not only gives them the freedom to laugh and have fun, it only s!mulates their imagina!ons like nothing else can, introduces them to new concepts, new ideas, new stories that they learn from and carry with them beyond the one-day experience. Saturday Scene also gives them something to look forward to, to talk about with their families and siblings, and we know that it inspires them to read and to want to see more. We deeply appreciate the !ckets you give to us so that we can distribute them to the families we serve who are most in need of crea!ve s!mula!on, relief, and inspira!on of live theater.

Dr. Jeff Catania The Children’s Ins"tute

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GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE SATURDAY SCENE PROGRAM

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Thank you for giving disadvantaged children from all over Los Angeles the opportunity to experience the one-of-a-kind magic of high-quality live theater.

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I shall never forget the special light in the eyes of the four youth I took out of South Los Angeles for the first !me in their lives to see live theater at the Geffen Playhouse. It did so much for them to be nurtured by the theater. The Geffen is a ray of light that children in this community can follow for inspira!on and fulfillment. They are locked out without you!

Dolores Sheen, Teacher Sheenway School

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Thank you for giving children the opportunity to meet and interact with actors, directors, and other professional artists.

Through our Saturday Scene Program, children are given the opportunty to be “Kid Reporters.� Before each Saturday Scene Show, Kid Reporters interview the actors backstage (as pictured above). Then, they go home and write a story about their experience and what they learned from the ar!sts and the experience of live theater.

We also offer children the opportunity to ask ques!ons of the cast a$er each show. The en!re audience is encouraged to give feedback on the performance, ask ques!ons about what inspired the actors to become actors or what they think of their characters. The cast also comes to the main lobby a$er the performance to personally meet and greet the children and to pose for photographs and autographs.

Our deepest apprecia!on to all for making this highly interac!ve and highly engaging Saturday Scene Program a source of learning, fun and inspira!on to so many children in our community.

GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE SATURDAY SCENE PROGRAM

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Youth, Schools and Organizations Served through the Geffen’s Student Matinee and School Tours Programs for Middle and High School Youth Student Ma"nees of Ruined and Superior Donuts Carver Middle School, South Los Angeles City Year, Downtown Communi!es in Schools, West Los Angeles Crenshaw High School, Crenshaw Determined to Succeed, Santa Monica Gompers Middle School, Wa#s Hamilton High School, Cheviot Hills Hollenbeck Middle School, East Los Angeles Hollywood Arts, Hollywood Jeff Griffith Youth Center, West Hollywood Jenesse Center Youth, South Los Angeles Locke II Charter High School, Wa#s Markham Middle School, Wa#s North Hollywood High School, North Hollywood Stevenson Middle School, East Los Angeles Urban Possibili!es, Downtown Venice High School, Venice Youth Mentoring Connec!on, Mid-City Youth Policy Ins!tute, Downtown Tour of Romeo & Juliet Bancro$ Middle School, Hollywood Dana Middle School, San Pedro Delevan Drive Elementary, Glendale Emerson Middle School, Century City Hollenbeck Middle School, East Los Angeles Le Conte Middle School, Hollywood Liechty Middle School, Downtown Pacoima Middle School, Pacoima Southeast Middle School, South Gate Pictured right Edi Gathegi starred as Franco in our production of Superior Donuts.

His role and talent in this play was a huge inspiration to the youth we served, as was his willingness to participate in Student Matinees and “Talk Backs” with the students.

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The difference your support made to the disadvantaged

Middle & High School Youth we served through our

Student Matinee & School Tours Programs:

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The Need: The na!onal gradua!on crisis has reached epidemic propor!ons.1 More than one million students across the United States drop out of high school each year.2 Moreover, nearly one third of all high school students, and nearly half of all African Americans, La!nos and Na!ve Americans, fail to graduate from public high school on !me.3 This crisis is especially pronounced in California, where one in five of our youth fail to graduate from high school.4 While students fail to finish high school for a myriad of reasons, in a recent survey of ethnically diverse high school dropouts, more than half of the respondents said that the major reason for dropping out was that they felt their classes were uninteres!ng and irrelevant.5 The consequences of the gradua!on crisis are both painful and sustained.

Dropouts are much more likely than graduates to be unemployed or living in poverty, in prison or on death row, unhealthy, or single parents with children who drop out of high school themselves.6

Our Response: Studies a#est to the success of arts programs as a means to prevent the disengagement that usually predicts dropping out.7 Arts educa!on has a measurable impact in deterring delinquent behavior and truancy problems, and students at risk of not successfully comple!ng their high school educa!on cite their par!cipa!on in the arts as a reason for staying in school.8 But arts programs have been dras!cally reduced or even completely eliminated in Los Angeles County public schools over the last few years in the wake of the recession and the State’s budget crises.

We are determined to play a major role in inspiring disadvantaged middle and high school youth to stay in school and to dream big in life. This past year, we joined forces with the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools — one of the largest school turnaround projects in the Country — to bring theater arts programming to schools serving the most disadvantaged youth who have li#le or no access to the arts.

Through your support, over 700 profoundly disadvantaged middle and high school youth a year now have access to outstanding, year-round opportuni!es to experience live theater, meet and talk to highly inspiring ar!sts and other crea!ve people who have overcome many challenges in life to complete their high school educa!ons, go on to college and/or achieve other big goals in life.

Proven Impact: Percent of students who reported that their experiences with Geffen Playhouse plays, ar!sts and teachers were highly inspiring: 100% Percent of students who responded that they would love to con!nue in the program and to see more plays in the future: 98% 24

Geffen Playhouse President Gil Cates welcomes an audience of high school students to a Talk Back with the cast a%er a performance of our play, Superior Donuts.

Thank you for helping bring high impact arts programs that help change the life trajectories of disadvantaged middle and high school youth.

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More than 60 research projects about the impact of arts educa!on on student learning found numerous ways in which studying the arts nurtures other learning. Educa!on in the arts not only fosters specific skills, but also improves students’ self-confidence and mo!va!on to learn, par!cularly among poor and other at-risk students.

Children have different ways to get excited about learning. Not all of them are in the classic mold of being excited by mastering reading skills and math facts. And we fail these children if we don’t give them alterna!ve ways to light and fan that first spark.

Marshall Smith, Director, Educa!on Program Molly Eng, Director, Performing Arts Program The William and Flora Hewle# Founda"on

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The Geffen Playhouse provides not only exposure to theater for low income students, but also comprehensive educa!onal programming surrounding each theatrical experience. We manage 22 schools with about 20,000 low income students. We have been very impressed by the Geffen’s commitment to serving the most disadvantaged youth and schools in East LA, South LA, and Wa#s.

Michael Tuck, Chief Execu!ve Officer Partnership for Los Angeles Schools

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GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE PROGRAMS FOR MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOL YOUTH 25

Thank you for giving disadvantaged youth the opportunity to interact with artists and others who are positive role models.

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It has been a great pleasure to work with the Geffen Playhouse through our partnership with Youth Mentoring Connec!on, enriching the lives of at-risk youth in Los Angeles, o$en through arts programming. The Geffen has graciously opened its doors to our HBO employees who serve as mentors to teens, and our HBO staff have become a fixture over the years at Geffen workshops and programs. It’s so rewarding to bring these high school students to the theatre, many of them for the first !me, and to par!cipate in a live arts experience that we enjoy as thoroughly as they do. Our contribu!on is no match to the valuable experience they have bestowed upon our youth and to our community.

From Ruined to Superior Donuts — the Geffen’s plays are world-class. Their outreach programs, excep!onal.

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Cris! Catlin Office of Corporate Social Responsibility HBO

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Thank you for giving highly inspiring arts experiences to disadvantaged high school youth.

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I felt like we had just won the lo#ery a$er you called to offer our students !ckets to see the play, Ruined, and to a#end the pre-workshop. We rarely get opportuni!es like this.

The students were really moved by the play and so grateful. They loved the workshop program before the play, too. I had students who woke up to get to school extra early the next morning (by 7:30 am) to get to me before school started to tell me how affected they were by the play and the program. I don’t know how to thank the Geffen for inspiring all of this.

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Phyllis Spadafora Teacher, North Hollywood High School

GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE PROGRAMS FOR MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOL YOUTH 27

Thank you for giving world-class arts experiences to gifted high school students who are economically disadvantaged and who have little or no access to the arts.

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I would like to thank you for giving us the opportunity to see Ruined. It was an eye-opening experience for me, and I probably would never have known about the situa!on in the Democra!c Republic of the Congo without seeing this play.

As an Armenian, the concept of genocide is not foreign to me: my forefathers suffered greatly under the O#oman regime. However, I was ashamed by the fact that while I live here in peace and comfort, there are people on the other side of the Earth for whom the concept of peace does not exist, for whom comfort is the absence of u#er devasta!on, for whom violence, rape, and murder are commonplace. I understand now that regardless of their ubiquity, these facts of life, violence, rape, and murder, do not hurt any less.

I am going to begin college in a year, and when I get there, I will decide what to do with my life. However, if you ask me now what I want to become, I would say that I want to be a surgeon, so that I can help these vic!ms of war. I am a pacifist by nature, but for me, pacifism is more than a simple avoidance of violent conflict, it is also an ac!ve sen!ment to reverse its effects on humanity. Once again, thank you for your invita!on to this enlightening play.

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Khatcher O. Margossian Student, North Hollywood High School

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Thank you for giving youth whose schools have little or no arts programming left the opportunity to experience the classics.

“

During the 2010-11 school year, the Geffen brought Romeo and Juliet to our middle school. Since the text is required at the 9th grade level, it was extremely beneficial for our middle school students to get a head start on their high school coursework. Ninth grade is the year that most students drop out, so any toehold they can get in the curriculum is helpful.

Also, the wonderful performance of an abridged version of Romeo and Juliet brought the play alive in ways that a classroom teacher simply cannot. Even the most advanced eighth-grader cannot perform all of the subtle!es in the text. The show kept all the highlights — the romance and the ac!on — and the students responded extremely well.

In addi!on, two of the Geffen's teaching ar!sts came and worked with our students to create puppets. Students in middle school are some!mes reluctant to be the center of a#en!on, so providing a proxy through which they can perform is helpful. In addi!on, one of the teaching ar!sts came and prepped the students for Romeo and Juliet. That was also very beneficial, as even the best teacher can have a hard !me selling Shakespeare.

I am extremely grateful to the Geffen Playhouse. The Geffen's ongoing support of our program is invaluable.

”

Ma#hew Kennedy Theatre & Film Teacher Performing Arts Department Head Bancro% Middle School & Performing Arts Magnet

GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE PROGRAMS FOR MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOL YOUTH 29

About the Geffen’s CREATE Program: Through the Geffen’s CREATE Program, more than 1,800 underserved and disadvantaged youth, young adults, adults and seniors gained access to a year’s worth of theater arts experiences, including !ckets to our main stage plays, interac!ve workshops with our teaching ar!sts, Talk Backs with our casts and Geffen Playhouse Ar!s!c Team and other highly mo!va!ng, one-of-a-kind experiences.

Organizations served through the Geffen’s CREATE Program: Affordable Housing for the Aging An!-Defama!on League Being Alive Beverly Hills Adult School California Lawyers for the Arts Challengers Boys and Girls Club Children Youth and Family Collabora!ve Choreographer’s Theatre Ensemble Claremont McKenna Human Rights Center Claude Pepper Senior Community Center Create NOW! Crestwood Hills Recrea!on Center Cultural Educa!on Project East Los Angeles College Fi$y-Fi$y Leadership Heal the Bay Hispanic Seniors Club

Hollywood Arts Holman United Methodist Church Inside Out Community Arts Israel Levin Senior Center Kol Ami Mutual Amputee Aid Founda!on Mokichi Okada Assoc./The Lotus Project New Direc!ons Oasis West LA PATH Ventures Reading is Fundamental of So. California Russian American Choir Santa Monica Emeritus College Self Realiza!on Fellowship Sheenway School and Cultural Center Silvercrest Senior Ci!zens Residence SRO Housing

St. Monica Senior Ministries Step Up On Second Thomas Safran Senior Residences Urban Possibili!es West Valley Occupa!onal Center – AEWC West Valley Occupa!onal Center – CBET Westside Community Adult School Zeta Rho

Geographic Reach of the CREATE Program (based on location of the partner organizations):

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The difference your support made in the lives of the 1,800 youth, young adults, adults and seniors served through the Geffen’s CREATE Program:

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Ruined, Lynn No#age’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, featured outstanding, highly inspiring performances by Quincy Tyler Berns!ne and Condola Rashad, and the en!re cast.

The play underscored the abysmal oppression of women and use of rape as a weapon of war in the Democra!c Republic of Congo as well as the extraordinary resilience of the women who survive.

According to Interna!onal Medical Corps, women in the Democra!c Republic of Congo (DRC) are raped at a rate of nearly one per minute. Nearly two million women have already been raped in the conflict-affected DRC where rape has long been used as a weapon-of-war to destabilize communi!es and tear apart families.

Thanks to your support, we were able to invite through our CREATE Program women from The Lotus Project, a shelter in Los Angeles for developmentally disabled women who have been sexually abused, to see Ruined this past Fall. What follows is how the women responded to the experience.

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Thank you for giving victims of rape and sexual abuse the opportunity to heal by helping women on the other side of the world.

“

The Geffen’s play, Ruined, provided a healing opportunity for the developmentally disabled women we serve who are vic!ms of abuse and violence. Survivors of rape themselves, these women wanted to help the women of the Congo a$er seeing Ruined.

For months a$erwards, they raised money by recycling their water bo#les and through other projects. They sent this money to the Interna!onal Medical Corps to help the women of the Republic of Congo have surgeries to repair the physical wounds of being raped.

Thank you for allowing the women we serve feel proud and useful, for inspiring them to reach out to help heal and support women on the other side of the world.

Susan Brislin MOA Founda!on

”

GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE CREATE PROGRAM

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“

More than anything I have read or heard, the Geffen’s play, Ruined, allowed me to internalize the confusion, anger, pain, frustra!on, sadness, sympathy, and most of all, the unbelievable strength that the women of the Congo possess. I know that I will never be able to truly understand what the women have suffered and overcome, but I believe experiencing this play was the closest that any person can get. Ruined is incredibly powerful, and is an impressive tool in raising awareness of the effects of the war in the Congo. Unlike a flyer or a news ar!cle, Ruined reaches to your core, and will make it difficult to forget what so many women have gone through and con!nue to be threatened by.

Carly Graber, Student Claremont McKenna College

“

”

I am incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to see Ruined at the Geffen Playhouse.

Ruined provided me with valuable lessons that I have implemented into my outlook on life.

First and most significantly, the dire situa!ons of the characters in the play made me value so many of the things I have consistently taken for granted. If they managed to maintain a rela!vely posi!ve outlook on life despite their struggle and pure bad luck, there is no reason that I shouldn’t be able to do the same.

Second, Mama Nadi’s emerging romance with Chris!an reminded me that not all men are abusive and violent. In fact, ‘good’ fish are abundant in the sea. In the words of Sheryl WuDunn, author of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, ‘We have all won the lo#ery of life.’ Ruined help me to internalize this fact.

Sara Birkenthal, Student Claremont McKenna College

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”

Thank you for helping us tell the stories that motivate people to realize new possibilities for themselves and others.

“

The people we serve are very inspired by the opportunity to see plays at the Geffen through the CREATE Program.

I will never forget how one woman in our program responded to the Geffen’s play called Ruined. An African-American woman now in her 50s, she had grown up in foster homes, but eventually became a homeless teenage pros!tute.

Throughout the play she cried and she laughed, whispering to me many !mes, ‘I can relate on so many levels’ to the plot that was unfolding on the stage. The front of her dress was soaked with tears as we le$ the theater.

At the !me she saw Ruined, she was in a program to earn her Drug and Alcohol Counselor Cer!ficate. Seeing this play helped her complete this highly challenging program.

She is now working as a counselor at a center in South Los Angeles and is determined to invite the women at this center to become part of the CREATE Program so that they, too, can ‘look up, dress up, and see new possibili!es.’

Susan K. Brislin, MA, Occupa!onal Therapist Mokichi Okada Associa"on (MOA)

”

GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE CREATE PROGRAM 35

Maggie Siff and Polly Draper starred in The Escort, the new play we commissioned from Jane Anderson and produced this past year.

Both actresses par!cipated in “Talk Backs” with members of our CREATE Program, including disadvantaged women and girls.

The incredible cast of Ruined not only performed in a special ma!nee performance for over 500 disadvantaged high school youth, they also stayed a$er each Tuesday Night performance to provide “Talk Backs” with audiences each week that included disadvantaged women and girls and cons!tuents served through our CREATE Program.

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Thank you for helping to educate and empower disadvantaged women and girls, and for sending them the message that they matter.

“

50/50 Leadership is a nonprofit organiza!on dedicated to empowering women and girls as leaders. Our cons!tuents are people who cannot afford theater !ckets. And thanks to the Geffen’s CREATE program, most of them are seeing theater for the first !me in their lives.

This past year, the Geffen’s play, The Escort, spoke to us all — that we are all part of the equa!on when women are abused. Entertainment o$en is a vehicle for messages that need to be spread, and we were thrilled that both The Escort and Ruined helped spread the word that women are s!ll badly treated and that cultural norms o$en do not spread the idea of equality.

We so appreciate not only being able to give the disadvantaged women and girls we serve !ckets to see the Geffen’s world class plays, but also to show them that someone cares, and to give them a moment to get away from their cares. Thank you to all.

Pauline Field Execu!ve Director 50/50 Leadership

”

GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE CREATE PROGRAM

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The Need: Roughly 40,000 of California’s children (ages 6 to 17) are in the foster care system. These kids are usually shu#led from one foster family or ins!tu!on to another, with the average foster youth experiencing 15 to 20 different placements by the !me they turn 18. Many of these kids end up homeless or incarcerated. Educa!onal a#ainment among youth in foster care is low. Only 54% complete high school. While 70% of them hope to go to college, less than 3% go on to earn a four-year degree.1 Around 12,000 runaway youth from all over the world live on the streets of L.A, which is also the “Homeless Capital of the U.S.” with over 35,000 homeless children (living in shelters or with their homeless families).2 We’re also the “Gang Capital of the World,” with 80,000 gang members ac!ve in 1,200 gangs. L.A. has the highest juvenile incarcera!on rate (20,000 youth) in the en!re country, with a recidivism rate of about 85 percent.3

Our Response: All of these kids struggle with feelings of hurt, distrust, anger and despair. Yet it's been proven that youth involved in crea!ve arts projects show reduced signs of violence and recidivism, have longer concentra!on spans, greater self-esteem and are be#er able to communicate without resor!ng to violence.

Through your generosity, we have been able to partner with some of most outstanding organiza!ons serving this popula!on and build a year-round source of inspira!on, crea!ve s!mula!on and connec!on for the foster and homeless youth they serve.

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Thank you for helping bring relief, joy and hope to youth who are living on the streets or in foster care, and for opening up whole new worlds for them.

“

The children and youth that CREATE NOW serves are troubled and dealing with major challenges in their lives like overcoming abuse and neglect, finding a place to live, and ge"ng off of drugs. The Geffen performances help bring relief, joy, and hope. They plant seeds that can later blossom into career goals. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity to share the fantas!c plays at the Geffen with the vulnerable children we serve.

Jill Gurr Create Now

“

”

The mission of It’s Time for Kids is to reward foster and proba!on youth for posi!ve behavior with recrea!onal and cultural programs. Of all of the programs we provide, the Geffen’s plays have the most significant impact. As many of our kids have never even been outside of their neighborhoods, a#ending a play and watching live actors is incredibly exci!ng for them. It truly opens up a whole new world. They also learn how to interact comfortably with a demographic outside their own and prac!ce social skills we have taught them. And finally, it gives them a source of normalcy — that they have experienced what their peers o$en take for granted. A$er seeing a play, our kids always say they want to go back, but without your CREATE program this would not be possible.

Our sincere apprecia!on for enablilng us to bring at-risk kids to your performances.

Kendall Wolf, Execu!ve Director It’s Time for Kids

”

GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE CREATE PROGRAM 39

“

Our mission is to nurture and cul!vate inner city youth of all ages. Most of our young people have never been to a theatre produc!on. They have never rubbed shoulders with other cultures and never interacted with people “from the other side of town.” The Geffen Playhouse CREATE Program gives them cultural growth as well as an encounter with the performing arts at the highest level. Without the contribu!ons of your donors to make this possible, these life experiences would never happen.

The Geffen’s play, Superior Donuts was so rewarding. The playwright showed us that when people of different cultures are thrown together for an extended period, some!mes we find the humanity in others we hadn’t known existed. We appreciated the fact that the lead character could care so much for the welfare of someone of another race that he overly extends himself in coming to the aid of his new friend. This helps build a sense of community and we at Zeto Rho are working to create just that.

Lou Bea#y, Jr. Zeta Rho Founda"on

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”

Thank you for giving students of all ages the opportunity to experience and learn through live theater.

“

Most of my students are seniors living on very limited incomes. They love theater but never would be able to experience your wonderful plays without this program. The play we par!cularly loved this past year was Superior Donuts.

Many of my students have been so inspired by what they have seen at the Geffen that they have gone on to start new careers in their golden years. Plays as the ones we have been blessed to see have shown them the possibili!es of living their dreams.

You have enriched all our lives, especially in the current economy. We all look forward not only to the plays but to the s!mula!ng discussions we have at the CREATE mee!ngs and workshops. I thank the Geffen for all that they do to bring theater to those who otherwise would go without it in their lives.

Audry Linden Beverly Hills Adult School

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GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE CREATE PROGRAM

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The Need: Youth who enter the foster care system have been exposed to abuse or neglect, are trauma!zed by being removed from their homes and o$en end up being moved to mul!ple placements, thus losing the chance to form meaningful connec!ons.

Youth who transi!on to adulthood from the foster care system o$en struggle to become self-sufficient without the help and support of a caring adult or the compassionate understanding of their communi!es.

These young people are rarely prepared by caregivers or caseworkers to face the challenges of adulthood and as a result they o$en struggle to secure stable housing, to find and maintain employment, to pursue and a#ain their educa!onal goals, and to posi!vely connect with their communi!es. In fact, last year, 20% of the 1,500 youth who aged out of the foster care system became homeless.1

Our Response: Through your support we have built a partnership with Hollywood Arts and other organiza!ons that provide cri!cal support to young adults who are coming out of the foster care system and/or who are homeless or at risk for becoming homeless.

These young people now have the Geffen Playhouse’s CREATE Program to look forward to, feel part of, and feel proudly associated with. They o$en tell us that just knowing that someone has made a gi$ on their behalf so that they can see plays every six weeks and to a#end special workshops and recep!ons is a huge boost to their confidence and feeling that they are supported and connected to the community — that there are many people out there roo!ng for them.

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Thank you for helping young adults who are transitioning out of foster care and who are homeless or at risk for homelessness build meaningful connections to the community.

“

Hollywood Arts is dedicated to helping young adults who are transi!oning out of foster care, who are homeless or at-risk for becoming homeless develop the self-esteem, cri!cal life skills and opportuni!es that will allow them to transi!on into produc!ve lives (including entry-level employment, internships and secondary educa!on).

Our students o$en do not have access to cultural experiences that can educate them, reflect the world that we live in, and challenge their percep!ons. O$en, their daily lives are centered around their experiences in shelters or on the streets. They are young and resilient, but it is o$en difficult for them to imagine lives outside of their current circumstances. Through your CREATE Program, they have not only been able to have a beau!ful night out at the theater, but they have also been truly inspired in their daily lives. It has created a forum for intellectual conversa!on between the students and has opened their eyes to other ways humans interact.

We are truly grateful to the Geffen Playhouse and to your supporters who help make this program happen. You have greatly changed the lives of our youth.

Meer-Michelle Rana Director of Student Development Hollywood Arts

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GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE CREATE PROGRAM 43

The Need: There are more people living with HIV/AIDS here in Los Angeles County than anywhere else in California.1 Right now, over 62,000 individuals — including thousands children — are living with HIV or AIDS, many without the support systems they need to fight this insidious disease.2 Among those most impacted by HIV/AIDS are children and adults who are living in poverty.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, individuals living below the poverty line are five !mes as likely as the na!on’s general popula!on to be HIV-posi!ve, regardless of race or ethnicity.3

Our Response: We are honored to partner with an outstanding organiza!on — Being Alive — that helps people in Los Angeles who are living with HIV/AIDS and who are also challenged by the stresses of living on li#le or no incomes with very li#le family or other support systems.

Through your gi$ to the Geffen Playhouse and our CREATE Program, Being Alive members gain access to a year’s worth of world-class plays, workshops and other opportuni!es to feel inspired by art, ar!sts, and the comfort of knowing that the larger community cares about their lives and well-being.

We are honored to have this opportunity to support people who are figh!ng for their lives, and to help play a role in bringing them relief, inspira!on and hope.

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Thank realthose hopewho and are relief to those who are Thankyou youfor forgiving helping facing serious suffering from serious issues while also living in poverty. health challenges likehealth HIV/AIDS while also living in poverty.

“

You have no idea how valuable being part of the Geffen’s CREATE Program is to the people we serve, as most are living with HIV/AIDS and are well below the poverty level. Everyone who walks in and sees a produc!on at the Geffen Playhouse walks out transformed. This program has also brought our older and younger members together, and has engaged them in lively discussion, which is truly a wonderful thing. It has been a great outlet for our members. Thank you for this tremendous opportunity.

Craig Taylor Board Member Being Alive

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GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE CREATE PROGRAM 45

The Need: There are outstanding organiza!ons across Los Angeles County, working 24/7 to feed, clothe and house people and families who, for whatever reason (domes!c abuse, job loss, catastrophic illness, former incarcera!on, addic!on, and more) find themselves without the ability to afford housing. These organiza!ons take care of the urgent needs of over 80,000 homeless children and adults every day. Many help adults put their Amputa"ons areand trauma"c for childrenposi!ons. and resumes together gain jobexperiences training or entry-level adults, no ma#er whether they are the result of a sudden tragic accident or partand of awork, planned response a devasfood, shelter though, manyto people remain stuck in a Even with ta"ng disease like diabetes. state of homelessness, unable to sustain employment or sobriety that would help stabilize their lives and li$ them out of poverty. What’s s!ll In addi"on to the shock losing a limb and the majoris exmissing?

Many believe theofroot cause of homelessness an abysmal lack pense of prosthe"cs (which are o%en not covered byand in- neglect that of self-worth, brought on by years or decades of abuse surance), newly-disabled are o%en overwhelmed people received as children.pa"ents Since a parent treated them as if they were respond to them. by the fear of how the public is going to worthless, they embraced that as reality, and lived their lives with that Instead of going out, many amputees stay inside, one and only that possibility — that they are indeed,become worthless. sedentary, overweight, and deeply depressed.

Our Response:

Gil Cates always said that theater exists to explore the possibili!es of who we are and who we can be. We are honored to share the stories we bring our CREATE Program, we working began a partnership toThrough life on stage with people who are very hard to secure a solid with the Mutual Aid Amputee Founda"on -- including the largest people who are foothold on a life of much greater possibili!es, support group for amputees in the Los Angeles area. homeless.

With your support, were able to inviteJones-Johnson children and — who gave up This past year, we metwe a woman — Eyve#e adults who had recently undergone amputa"ons theUrban Possibilia highly successful career as a television producer to to start inspira"on of live Geffen not onlyorganiza!on to experience !es, a nonprofit thatthe uses theater arts andthethe art of storyater and of spending "me with other CREATE members, telling to help people who are homeless realize new possibili!es for but also to feel thePossibili!es support and acceptance ofmissions the larger themselves.

Urban works with four in Downtown community a warm and wholehearted welcome Los Angeles toand iden!fy individuals who are working hardfrom to get out of all of us herebut who support their in emo"onal, physical, fina- because homelessness who are stalled their progress, essen!ally nial, and spiritual they lack any sense of self-efficacy. Through her six-month program and a recovery from the limb loss. individuals travel from Skid new partnership withnightmare the GeffenofPlayhouse, Row to see plays at the Geffen, meet other people in our CREATE Program, interact with ar!sts through our Talk Backs with the casts, and more. And once a month, our Educa!on Team goes to Skid Row to provide those in the Urban Possibili!es Program with workshops that help digest and explore the meaning of what they have seen on our stage.

We are honored to work with Urban Possibili!es and the truly incredible people the organiza!on serves, and to witness the transforma!on of so many lives and futures.

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Thank you for helping people who are homeless find the inner strength they need to get on a much better path in life.

“

Michael was born into poverty, abuse and shameful neglect. He became homeless in his teens. He survived addic!on and more than his share of self-loathing. He lives at a mission in Downtown Los Angeles. He joined the Geffen’s CREATE Program (through our partnership with Urban Possibili!es, a nonprofit organiza!on dedicated to helping the homeless become contribu!ng ci!zens). Michael is now an honor student, soon to receive his cer!fica!on to become a drug and alcohol counselor. He was gracious enough to pen this le#er to us:

‘As I gaze out of the window of the Los Angeles Mission, I think about how blessed I am to be a par!cipant in this program — where two groups have come together to promote the inner possibili!es of each person. Urban Possibili!es and the Geffen Playhouse fight hand in hand through the smog of life and the overcast of doubt in the inner city to improve our conscious contact with our undiscovered selves, so that people like me can grow through art, plays, connec!ng with others. I wish I could share with you how cultured I am now because of the plays I have seen at the Geffen, how sociable I am now because I got the opportunity to connect with people at the Geffen — people I only thought existed in storybooks, or how I now see how art can change your life. I am someone who used to sleep in graveyards because I thought that was what I deserved. But now this has helped me realize that I have so much more to offer, and so much more to give.’

We are deeply indebted to the en!re Geffen Playhouse family. We are inspired by your vision and to borrow a phrase from Michael, eternally grateful.

Eyve#e Jones-Johnson Founder & Execu!ve Director Urban Possibili"es

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GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE CREATE PROGRAM 47

The Need: Since 2001, America has sent almost 2 million of our sons and daughters to war. 1 Every day, more than 150,000 American service members are risking their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. But this barely makes the evening news; last year when thousands were killed or wounded, war coverage accounted for less than 3 percent of U.S. Network news.2 The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may have slipped somewhat from the public’s a#en!on, but America’s troops, veterans and their families need their country’s support more than ever.3 As combat forces are drawn down and troops are beginning the “surge home,” they will be reintegra!ng into civilian life as the country is struggling with an historic economic crisis. These veterans and their families are facing economic hardship, family strain and o$en severe mental health issues.4 Because they make up a miniscule percentage of the American public, today’s veterans o$en feel isolated, unable to find local peers who share their experience. This is par!cularly true of those serving in the reserve component who return from combat directly to a civilian community rather than to a military base.

Clearly, there is an urgent need to proac"vely and significantly support our new veterans as they return home from service and face a myriad of new challenges and hardships.

Our Response: For several years, we have partered with New Direc!ons, an outstanding organiza!on that moves veterans from homelessless and addic!on to self-sufficiency and sobriety. We have also welcomed veterans who are recovering at the Veterans Administra!on Greater Los Angeles Hospital. Through our CREATE Program, veterans in both programs have shared countless evenings at the Geffen, thoroughly enjoying the experience of being out in the community, seeing plays that both challenge them and s!mulate conversa!on and catharsis, and more.

But this year, inspired by one of our Board Members, Susan Mallory, who is passionate about the Geffen doing significantly more outreach and service to veterans and their families, we doubled our commitment and service to this very special popula!on. We reached out to four addi!onal outstanding organiza!ons serving veterans including UCLA’s Opera!on Mend, The Soldier’s Project, West Los Angeles Vets, and the United States Veterans’ Ar!sts Alliance. With your support this past year, we developed partnerships with these organiza!ons which will eventually enable us to formally serve over 400 veterans and their spouses and children a year, free of charge, with outstanding programs that welcome them home with the honor, compassion and celebra!on they so clearly deserve.

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Thank you for helping us honor and serve Veterans and their families.

“ “

New Direc!ons’ mission is to empower veterans and to facilitate their successful return to their families and society. Seeing plays at the Geffen is more than simply entertainment; it is also a highly and much-needed cathar!c, educa!onal and healing experience for the homeless veterans in our residen!al recovery program. Socializa!on ac!vi!es such as those the Geffen provides are also absolutely essen!al. They give our par!cipants a lot to look foward to, which helps them greatly to stay mo!vated and on track in their treatment and recovery.

We’ve also found that your program helps our residents formulate employment plans, as they begin to imagine themselves in careers associated with the arts and nonprofit service, all inspired by the Geffen and the people, ideas and opportuni!es presented by your theater. We deeply appreciate all of the opportuni!es that you have provided to each and every one of the veterans who has par!cipated.

”

Rachel Feldstein, Associate Director New Direc"ons

GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE CREATE PROGRAM 49

The Need: Amputa!ons are trauma!c experiences for children and adults, no ma#er whether they are the result of a sudden tragic accident or part of a planned response to a devastating disease like diabetes.

In addi!on to the shock of losing a limb and the major expense of prosthe!cs (which are o$en not covered by insurance), newly-disabled pa!ents are o$en overwhelmed by the fear of how the public is going to respond to them.

Instead of going out, many amputees stay inside, become sedentary, overweight, and deeply depressed.

Our Response: Through our CREATE Program, we began a partnership with the Mutual Aid Amputee Founda!on — the largest support group for amputees in the Los Angeles area.

With your support, we were able to invite children and adults who had recently undergone amputa!ons to the Geffen not only to experience the inspira!on of live theater and spending !me with other CREATE members, but also to feel the support and acceptance of the larger community and a warm and wholehearted welcome from all of us here who support their emo!onal, physical, financial, and spiritual recovery from the nightmare of limb loss.

Born without legs, the incredible Katy Sullivan (pictured left) is a Board Member for the Mutal Aid Amputee Foundation who has dedicated her life (when not acting on shows like “My Name is Earl”) to helping children and adults who have lost limbs to take control of their lives She is pictured with Melody, a bilateral aboveknee amputee.

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Thank you for helping those in our communty who have recently experienced the nightmare of limb loss.

“

Being part of the Geffen’s CREATE Program brings great hope to people who have been through a lot. It helps them stay inspired, too. It has given our amputee community the opportunity to see experiences outside of their normal scope and has le$ people changed in posi!ve ways.

In many cases, people who are newly disabled feel very much alone and afraid to venture out. The Geffen’s CREATE Program has been a great way to encourage individuals who are new to their disabili!es to get out in a public environment. It’s one thing to have a family member or a friend keep bugging you to ‘get out of the house and do something.’ Being invited by the Geffen to come see plays is quite another. It has made our community feel very special and has been incredibly mo!va!ng, inspiring and fulfilling for them.

A number of the people we serve have seen something of themselves in your plays.

The Break of Noon really hit home for one member who had been through a major lifechanging accident. Seeing the play made him see on a deeper level what people go through when their lives are turned upside down. He saw the show at one of your Tuesday Night Talk Backs and was able to share his experience with the audience, which had a great impact on him and also on the rest of the audience.

”

Katy Sullivan Board Member Mutual Amputee Aid Founda"on GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE CREATE PROGRAM

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Thanks to your generous support of our CREATE Program, over 1,800 disadvantaged youth and adults were able to enjoy our produc"on of Maestro, The Art of Leonard Bernstein, starring Hershey Felder.

52

Thank you for giving new immigrants from Russia, Africa and all over the world the opportunity to learn about and feel more welcome, inspired by and at home in their new homeland.

“

Coming from the very cultural city of Moscow, I miss theater very much. I find my refuge in the plays at the Geffen. As a senior ci!zen, I do not have the financial means to pay for !ckets and to visit cultural events. I am really thankful to the Geffen for the chance to par!cipate in the cultural life of my adopted city of Los Angeles. I cherish the opportunity to see all the gi$ed actors and to follow the plots of the plays. This gives me an opportunity to live my life in full, not just pass the !me un!l I die. We live in an era of instant gra!fica!on. But there is nothing like the old fashioned magic of theater. This magic cannot be replaced by anything else. Life becomes a lot warmer because of this program, because of the Geffen Playhouse.

Thank you and God Bless America!

Ann Levitansky Russian American Choir

�

GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE CREATE PROGRAM 53

About the Geffen’s Golden Ticket Program: Through the Geffen’s Golden Ticket Program, more than 100 profoundly disadvantaged senior ci!zens who were iden!fied by our partners as socially isolated gained access to a year’s worth of theater arts experiences, including !ckets to our main stage plays, recep!ons before each play, interac!ve workshops with our teaching ar!sts, and other highly s!mula!ng, social and crea!ve experiences.

Organizations and People served through the Geffen’s Golden Ticket Program: Country Villa Terrace Felicia Mahood Senior Center Gay and Lesbian Elder Housing Organiza!on, Triangle Square Salva!on Army Silvercrest Senior Residence Sunset Hall

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The difference your support made to the seniors served through our

Golden Ticket Program:

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The Need: In Los Angeles County, one in three senior ci!zens suffers from social isola!on — the absence of contacts and interac!ons between an older person and a social network.1 Social isola!on exacerbates physical and mental health problems. In older adults it has been associated with the incidence of depression and suicide.2 Social isola!on has also been iden!fied as a precipita!ng factor in the ini!al diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, heart disturbances, arteriosclerosis, and other chronic disabili!es.3 Researchers also recently determined that social isola!on in older adults increased their risk of developing demen!a by 51 percent. The risk of Alzheimer’s was about twice as great in those repor!ng a high degree of loneliness.4 Many experts now agree that that social isola!on may create a chronically stressful condi!on that accelerates aging and causes significant suffering among the elderly.5

Our Response: Two years ago, when we realized that the economic crisis would create an even greater need for programs like ours that help bring comfort and connec!on to people in need, we developed The Golden Ticket Program and invited four of our community partners to help iden!fy seniors who are socially isolated and who could significantly benefit from opportuni!es to experience the intellectual, social and crea!ve s!mula!on of seeing live plays and a#ending highly interac!ve workshops throughout the year with our teaching ar!sts.

In partnership with the Salva!on Army Silvercrest Center, Sunset Hall, Gay and Lesbian Elder Housing, Felicia Mahood Senior Center, and Country Villa Terrace, we welcomed seniors to our Golden Ticket Program who are suffering from social isola!on, including those who recently had to give up driving or living in their homes because of a health issue or because their re!rement incomes were decimated when the economy imploded; seniors who were thriving in their careers but forced to re!re and are now feeling useless and empty; and seniors whose sons and daughters are too overwhelmed by their own jobs, families, and financial challenges to have significant !me to spend with them.

Proven Impact: Percent of the seniors who par!cipated in the Golden Ticket Program this past year who reported that they feel significantly less lonely and isolated because of the program: 100% Percent who reported that the program was a significant source of intellectual, crea!ve and social s!mula!on: 100% Percent who said that the program significantly improved the quality of their lives: 100%.

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Thankyou youfor forhelping helpingsignificantly bring hope to peoplethe who are struggling Thank improve quality of life for with serious health challenges. lenges. from social isolation. disadvantaged seniors who are suffering

“

Evie Smith came to live at the Salva!on Army this past year, right a$er she turned 78. She had no family to live with or to help take care of her. She knew no one living at the home.

Sensing her loneliness and concerned that she would fall into a deep depression, we immediately asked her if she would want to be part of the Geffen’s Golden Ticket Program – to see plays all year-long and par!cipate in workshops to discuss the plays with Geffen teaching ar!sts, plus transporta!on and pre-show recep!ons – all offered at no cost.

Even though Evie had never in her life been to a theater to see a live play, she signed up to be part of our Golden Ticket Program and a#ended every play and workshop we offered this past year. ‘I am so grateful to the people who make this possible,’ she recently told me. ‘It has been a thrill for me to discover theater. A great thrill. I am now passionate about theater. I have met so many wonderful new friends through this program as well.

I enjoy our !me together, going to the theater and discussing the plays. The Geffen has made me a be#er person.”

We are so lucky to be part of this program. It has enhanced the lives of our seniors in so many meaningful and no!ceable ways. These are people who are intellectually curious and hungry for cultural s!mula!on. A#ending your plays has added a richness and excitement to their lives that has completely upli$ed them and expanded their minds. The program has helped prolong their interest in leading engaged and vital lives. It has been a resounding success and we are forever grateful.

”

Amy Malina The Salva"on Army, Silvercrest Senior Residence

GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE GOLDEN TICKET PROGRAM

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Thank you for giving youth and adults the opportunity to formally interact with and learn from the outstanding casts, playwrights, directors, and other artists who participated in our Talk Back Program: Our deepest apprecia!on to the ar!sts, directors and playwrights who par!cipated in our Talk Backs: Hershey Felder in Maestro, The Art of Leonard Bernstein Playwright and Cast: Hershey Felder Ruined Playwright: Lynn No#age Cast: Quincy Tyler Berns!ne Cherise Boothe Tongayi Chrisa Carl Cofield Russell G. Jones Simon Shabantu Kashama Tom Mardirosian Ron McBee Por!a Condola Rashad David St. Louis Stephen Tyrone Williams

Superior Donuts Playwright: Tracy Le#s Director: Randall Arney Cast: Brian Abraham Ron Bo"#a Gary Cole Paul Dillon Mary Beth Fisher Edi Gathegi Damon Gupton Kathryn Joosten Ma# McTighe

The Escort Playwright: Jane Anderson Director: Lisa Peterson Cast: Polly Draper James Eckhouse Maggie Siff Gabriel Sunday

The Break of Noon Playwright: Neil LaBute Cast: Kevin Anderson Tracee Chimo Catherine Dent John Earl Jelks

GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE TALK BACK PROGRAM

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Thank you from our Board of Directors and Trustees Frank Mancuso Board Chair Former Chair/CEO MGM & Paramount Pictures Gilbert Cates* President and Producing Director, Geffen Playhouse Patricia Kiernan Applegate Philanthropist Randall Arney Ar!s!c Director, Geffen Playhouse Dr. Gene D. Block Chancellor, UCLA Harold A. Brown Partner Gang, Tyre, Ramer & Brown Mary Ann Cloyd Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers Kirsten Combs Philanthropist (not pictured) Robert A. Daly Chairman & CEO, Rulemaker Inc. Dennis Doty Cates/Doty Produc!ons

John Ebey Re!red, Merrill Lynch

Jeffrey Katzenberg DreamWorks Anima!on

Mark Fleischer Partner, Venable, LLP

Glorya Kaufman Philanthropist

David Geffen The David Geffen Company

Michael B. Kong CEO, Modern Luxury Magazines

Herbert M. Gelfand CEO, De Anza Corp.

Chairman Emeritus

Dr. Gerald S. Levey Re!red Dean, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA

Patricia L. Glaser Partner, Glaser, Weil, Fink, Jacobs, Howard, Avchen & Shapiro

Carla Malden Author

Adi Greenberg Philanthropist

Susan Mallory President, Southern California Northern Trust

Arthur Greenberg Partner, Greenberg, Glusker, LLP Martha Henderson Execu!ve Vice President City Na!onal Bank Quincy Jones CEO, Quincy Jones Media Group Joan Kalous"an Director, Union Bank

Ginny Mancini Philanthropist Susanna Midnight Philanthropist Ron Meyer President, Universal Pictures Leslie Moonves President & CEO, CBS Television

Jerry Moss Chairman, Almo Sounds

Teri Schwartz Dean, UCLA School of Theater, Film & Television

Ken Novice Managing Director, Geffen Playhouse

Richard Sherman The David Geffen Company

Steven A. Olsen Vice-Chancellor Finance & Budget, UCLA

Victoria Mann Simms, Ph.D. Philanthropist

Jerry Perenchio Chartwell Partners LLC Bruce M. Ramer Partner, Gang, Tyre, Ramer & Brown Founding Chairman Lawrence Ramer Chairman, Ramer Equi!es Inc. Pamela Robinson Hollander The Robinson Company Loren Rothschild Sycamore Hill Capital Group Linda Bernstein Rubin Philanthropist

Andy Spahn President, Andy Spahn & Associates Fred Specktor Crea!ve Ar!sts Agency Steven Spielberg DreamWorks Studios Cynthia P. Stafford Philanthropist Howard Tenenbaum Keyes Automo!ve Group Steve Tisch The Steve Tisch Founda!on Dr. Charles E. Young Former Chancellor, UCLA Chairman Emeritus * In Memoriam

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ADVISORY BOARD

EDUCATION & OUTREACH TEAM

DEVELOPMENT TEAM

Thank you from our Advisory Board and from our Education & Development Teams . . .

Pictured left to right, top to bottom rows EDUCATION TEAM:

DEVELOPMENT TEAM:

Lanre Idewu Producer, Queen Nefertari Produc!ons

Debra Pasqure#e Director of Educa!on and Outreach

Regina Miller Director of Development

Wendy Kurtzman Cas!ng Director

Michael Faulkner Educa!on Coordinator

Adrian Pasdar Actor, writer, director

Connor White Resident Teaching Ar!st and Teaching Assistant

ADVISORY BOARD: Michael Centeno Chair, Advisory Board Vice President, Transamerica Anne#e Blum Interna!onal Consultant, Interface Programs Stephanie Carson Community Partner Jo Champa Actress Debra Davis President & CEO, Davis Communica!ons Group, Inc.

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Rollin Ransom Partner, Sidley & Aus!n, LLP Allen Shay The Edward A. and Ai O Shay Family Founda!on

Valarie De La Garza President, De La Garza PR

John Sonego Associate Dean of External Affairs, USC School of Policy, Planning and Development

Priscila Giraldo The David Geffen Company

Miranda Tollman Community Partner

Kirsten Hansen Community Partner

Laurie Ziegler Branded Entertainment Marke!ng

Eric Heer Senior Vice President Personal Investment Management Capital Guardian Trust Co.

Anthony P. Zinge Vice President The Private Bank JP Morgan

Duke Doyle Story Pirates Director and Producer Jamie Salka Chief Execu!ve Officer, Story Pirates Gabe Jewell Execu!ve Assistant to the CEO of Story Pirates

Ellen Catania Director of Major Gi$s & Founda!on and Corporate Partnerships Jessica Brusilow Rollins Associate Director of Donor Rela!ons Jamie Sherman Development Manager Liz Sellier Development Associate Sco# Kriloff Development Assistant

. . . and from all of the actors/teaching artists who served as Story Pirates

STORY PIRATES Duke Doyle, Director and Producer Story Pirates at the Geffen Playhouse Chris"na Anthony James Asmus Jen D'Angelo Khalia Davis Lauren Flans Dan Foster Aaron Graham Ryan Harrison Briggs Ha#on Lucas Held Marcel Hill Graeme Hinde Mary Holland Cory Howard Lindsey Jacobson Zoe Jarman Michael Joyce David Kerns Jason Kessler Leslie Korein Lauren Lapkus Martha Marion Jessica McKenna Tim McGovern Kate Mulligan Peter Moses Aparna Nancherla Ashley Opstad

Kelly O'Sullivan Lucas Peterson Josh Rachford Erika Rankin Jessica Reiner-Harris Hunter Seagroves Benjamin Siemon Alexis Simpson Danny Tieger Rebecca Warm Lauren Weisman Connor White Nayla Wren Rolo Franswa

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WITH MUCH LOVE AND THANKS TO:

Gil Cates

Within minutes of the news that Gil Cates had passed away on October 31, 2011, the tributes started pouring in from folks all over the world, even as people were s!ll in shock and disbelief that it was true. Even to all of us at the Geffen Playhouse who knew we were working with a legend in the film, television and theater world, and a man whose kindness, wisdom and wit were legendary as well, the outpouring was remarkable.

Google his name right now and you will find over 100,000 tributes, from a front-page story and two features in the Los Angeles Times on November 1st and pieces quo!ng Steven Spielberg’s thoughts about Gil (“the most liked person I knew . . . ”) to the pieces about him that ran in newspapers distributed in the most remote areas of Asia, Africa and the world. Reflec!ons on Gil and on what he had given us all were everywhere.

Without fail (and rightly so), most tributes reference Gil’s legendary role as 14-!me producer of the Academy Awards or refer to how he “packed several life!mes worth of achievement” into his dis!nguished career in film, television, and theater, including founding and leading the Geffen Playhouse for 17 years (even as he s!ll filled major roles with the Directors Guild of America and other important organiza!ons).

We share in the collec!ve outpouring of genuine apprecia!on for this remarkable man.

For us though, the story of Gil Cates and the legacy he leaves is no where close to complete without a few volumes wri#en about what he quietly and so de$ly built, and le$, for those way off the radar screen from most of the world.

When Gil founded the Geffen Playhouse, he was determined to create a world-class theater that would not only be a great treasure for those who know and love theater, but also, a vital source of inspira!on and hope for thousands in our community who have none. As you can see from reading this report, he succeeded.

From day one, Gil’s vision for this theater included making sure that programs were in place to welcome with open arms the most disenfranchised, disconnected and disadvantaged children and adults of Los Angeles. He immediately hired a team to help him set up programs not only to get the power and inspira!on of live theater and theater ar!sts out to the most underserved schools in the most disparate neighborhoods of Los Angeles, he also set up programs to reach out to people in our community who are the least likely to have access to arts experiences, or even to know what the arts could bring to their lives, but who could benefit from them the most.

No ma#er how pressing the financial pressures were to sell every seat in the house each year, Gil was clear (in no uncertain terms) that the theater was to be shared with children and adults who could use some upli$ing, catharsis or sense of connec!on to the world, even when they had not a dime in their pockets to help pay for it. con!nued on next page GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE TRIBUTE TO GIL CATES 65

(Con!nued from previous page) The last thing Gil wanted was for anyone to live without the arts in their lives. He was angry about the decima!on of arts programming in the schools. He made sure the Geffen Playhouse helped fill the great void in children’s lives. When most other arts ins!tu!ons were cu"ng back on their Educa!on and Outreach Programs, Gil doubled ours.

It is no exaggera!on to say that Gil was grateful for each and every check or dona!on that came in to support the Geffen’s Educa!on and Outreach Programs. He would insist upon signing every thank you le#er. We would email him each !me a grant came in, too, and literally minutes later, he would run up the stairs, shou!ng, “Hurray, hurray!” as if it were the first he had ever received.

Giddy, like a li#le kid, he was thrilled, each !me, not only about what the dona!on would mean to our Educa!on Programs and to the people we serve but also in knowing that there are people out there (you) who understand the value of theater and the urgent need to support it so that it will con!nue to be a vital resource for so many.

With Gil’s passing, we have spent a great deal of !me reflec!ng not only on what he brought to the world but how we will move forward and con!nue his legacy. Our en!re team is more inspired than ever to work even harder to bring the one-of-a-kind inspira!on and learning opportuni!es of live theater to significantly more children and adults in need.

Thank you for your extraordinary support this past year, which we know meant the world to Gil, to the children and adults who so clearly benefited from it, and to all of us here at the Geffen Playhouse.

WITH LOVE TO GIL AND APPRECIATION TO ALL Sincerely,

Regina Miller Director of Development

Debra Pasquere#e Director of Educa!on & Outreach

Ellen Catania Director of Founda!on & Corp. Partnerships

Randall Arney Ar!s!c Director

Behnaz Ataee General Manager

Ken Novice Managing Director

A QUICK LOOK AT THE NUMBERS SERVED THROUGH OUR EDUCATION AND OUTREACH PROGRAMS 2010-2011 Program

Children & Youth Served

Adults Served

Total Served

Schools Served

Nonprofit Orgs Served

8,235

366

8,601

21

0

2,900

100

3,000

10

0

1,607

828

2,435

18

23

3,000

100

3,100

10

0

469

242

711

11

9

512

2,045

2,557

7

34

n/a

110

110

n/a

5

383

1,532

1,915

n/a

n/a

268

132

162

26

37

17,374 Children & Youth

5,455 Adults

22,591 Individuals

103 Schools

108 Nonprofits

STORY PIRATES

UCLA TOUR

SATURDAY SCENE

MIDDLE SCHOOL TOUR

STUDENT MATINEES

CREATE

GOLDEN TICKET

TALK BACKS

TICKET DONATIONS

68

TOTAL served during our 2010-2011 Year

Endnotes: Page Six (Wri!ng Crisis Wri!ng Skills of American Youth) 1. “Are They Really Ready to Work? Employers’ Perspec!ves on the Basic Knowledge and Applied Skills of New Entrants to the 21st Century Workforce,” The Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, Partnership for 21st Century Skills, Society for Human Resource Management, October 2006.

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

Page Eight (Importance Children’s Early Experiences/Early Learning) 1. California Report Card 2011-12, Se"ng the Agenda for Children, Children Now Page 29.

2. Ibid, Page 28.

3. Ibid, Page 28 4. Ibid, Page 28.

Page Twenty-Four (High School Drop Out Crisis) 1. Staying in School, A Report by the Cneter for Arts Educaiton, October 2009, Page 5.

2. Ibid, Page 5.

3. Ibid, Page 5 4. California Report Card 2011-12, Se"ng the Agenda for Children, A Report by Children Now, Page 38.

5. Staying in School, Page 5 6. Ibid, Page 5.

Page 38 (Youth in Foster Care and/or Homelessness) 1. Facts reported by our nonprofit partner, It’s Time For Kids website: h#p://www.its!meforkids.org.

2. Facts reported by our nonprofit partner, It’s Time For Kids website: h#p://www.its!meforkids.org.

3. Facts reported by our nonprofit partner, It’s Time For Kids website: h#p://www.its!meforkids.org.

Page 42 (Youth Aging Out of the Foster Care System) 1. According to the California Community Founda!on, Cri!cal Needs Fund, h#ps://www.calfund.org.

Page 44 (Youth and Adults Living with HIV/AIDS) 1. Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, HIV Epidemiology Program Division of Communicable Disease Control and Preven!on.

2. “Sta!s!cs and Trends in HIV Infec!on and AIDS.” AIDS Project Los Anglees. www.APLA.org. July 2010.

3. Maugh, Thomas H. “Poverty and HIV are strongly linked, CDC Survey finds.” Los Angeles Times, July 20, 2010.

Page 48 (Veterans) 1. Suppor!ng Our Troups, Veterans and Their Families: Lesssons Learned. A Report on the Iraq Afghanistan Deployment Impact Fund (IADIF) of the California Commun!y Founda!on, November 2009, page 12.

2. Ibid, page 12.

3. Ibid, page 12.

4. Ibid, page 12.

Page 56 (Isolated Senior Ci!zens) 1. According to a large-scale needs assessment of older residents conducted in 2008 by the County of Los Angeles, the City of Los Angeles Department of Aging and the Los Angeles County Commission on Aging (LACCOA).

2. and 3. Crea!vity Ma#ers, The Arts & Aging Toolkit, page 23.

4. and 5. Taking Control of Brain Health, www.aarp.org/health/brain

THANK YOU 69

Founded in 1994, the Geffen Playhouse is a nonprofit organization dedicated to enriching the cultural life of Los Angeles through plays and educational programs that inform, entertain and inspire.

The Geffen Playhouse is very proud of our affiliation with UCLA, including our partnership with the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.

For more information about the Geffen Playhouse, please call us us at 310.208.6500.

Geffen Playhouse 10886 Le Conte Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90024 Federal Tax ID#: 95-4492653