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THE FOUND THEATRE
Celebrating 35 years of Avant Garde Theatre in Long Beach!
Founded in 1974 by Cynthia Galles and friends.
Join us for these special anniversary events!
The Found Theatre, 599 Long Beach Blvd., Long Beach (corner of 6th St. and Long Beach Blvd.). The Metro Blue Line 5th St. station and a Passport shuttle stop are located directly in front of the theatre.
FOUND THEATRE'S EMERGENCY DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS FUNDRAISER RAISES CLOSE TO $4,000 IN ONE NIGHT!
The Found is thrilled to announce that its emergency fundraiser for Doctors Without Borders' Haiti relief effort, held on Sunday, January 17 at 7 p.m., collected $3,818 for the international aid group. Organized in four days, the event attracted an incredible line-up of professional musicians, comedians, and other performers who played for a standing-room-only crowd. The eclectic evening included the full gamut of entertainment styles from stand-up to improv, bluegrass and country to pop, rock, punk, and reggae. Response from performers was so overwhelming, that additions to the line-up had to be cut off two days before the event.
Although the theatre is small, the generosity of performers and attendees at this "pay what you can" event was not.
"Considering that we can seat about 70 people, I would have been thrilled with a donation to DWB of $1200 or $1500," said the Found's executive director, Virginia DeMoss. "But performers and audience members alike contributed way beyond what any of us could have imagined. Doctors Without Borders is an incredible group that has a fantastic record for putting its funding into real, on-the-ground action rather than administration and fundraising, which helped earn them the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999. They were already one of the few medical groups onsite in impoverished Haiti before the earthquake, and although all three of their facilities were destroyed, they were immediately up and running in temporary quarters. We chose them as the beneficiary of our fundraiser because nobody makes a dollar go farther in real action than they do."
In addition to contributions at the door, attendees donated for drinks provided by the theatre and the Starbucks store at 500 Long Beach Blvd., plus a huge array of baked goods provided by Found supporters and members of the community. In addition, artists Mickey Edtinger (mickeyme.com) and Willy JeanPaul (Jeanpaulfineart.com) donated original works of art that were auctioned off.
"Every bit as satisfying as the substantial check we are able to send to DWB was the opportunity to work with the nicest, most generous and talented people anywhere," said DeMoss, "most of whom called us up after receiving our plea from friends and the local media for performers, bakers, helpers, etc. With people like this, anything can be accomplished. A million thank yous to everyone who performed, worked the event, baked, helped get the theatre ready, etc.
The line-up of performers (in order of appearance), included the following artists. Please support them at their next gig!
*Singer/songwriter Kerry Getz with Rolly Devore (kerry-getz.com; myspace.com/rollydevore)
*Local favorites TED Bluegrass (myspace.com/tedbluegrass)
*Actress/writer Jane Galloway
*Singer/songwriter Susan Picking (myspace.com/susanpicking)
*Comedian Scott Boxenbaum (myspace.com/scott boxenbaum)
*Long Beach trio 2nd Wind
*Haitian jazz and reggae musician Willy JeanPaul (Jeanpaulfineart.com)
*Comedian Lizzy Cooperman (myspace.com/lizzycooperman)
*Cherry Spitz improv and sketch comedy (cherryspitz.blogspot.com)
*The Found's own diva Joyce Hackett
*Comedians Dorothy and Sophia Spirus (dorothyspirus.com)
*Folksinger Laura Lindahl
*Duo John Alden and Debra Barbre
*Singer Nicole Thordsen
*Singer/songwriter Ames (myspace.com/amesflamesevil)
*Punk duo Evil Beaver (evilbeaver.us).
*Magician Monte Julian
What A Night!
The Found's 35th Anniversary Gala
Thirty-five thank yous to all of you who attended the Found's big anniversary party. What a great night: Red hot music by the 18-piece Hollywood Canteen Swing Band with vocalist Marcia Ford; fantastic food from Long Beach restaurants; dance and costume contests; and a silent auction, raffle, and Dysfunctional Family Xmas Store created by Ricci Dedola and Lindsay Shields. You all really helped put the "fund" and the "fun" in fundraiser.
There are so many people and businesses to thank; hopefully they're all covered below. Please, please patronize these great local businesses, whose generosity made this whole evening possible!
Entertainment:
Hollywood Canteen Swing Band with Marcia Ford: myspace.com/hollywoodcanteen or 562/495-2260.
Mo Jones (dance instructor extraordinaire): dancewithmo.com or 714/345-7230.
2nd City Council Gallery + Performance Space (Cheryl & Dwight Bennett): (2ndcitycouncil.org) or 562/901-0997.
Food:
212 Bistro: 562/439-8822.
4th St. Deli: 562/256-7901
Ela Mesa International Market & Cafe: 562/856-5748
Mosher's Gourmet: 562/432-6267 or moshersgourmet.com
Naples Rib Co.: 562/439-7427 or ribcompany.com
Papa's Chocolates: 562/434-9170 or papaschocolates@hotmail.com
Starbucks Coffee, L.B. Blvd. store: 562/590-5996
Sunnin Lebanese Cafe: 562/433-9000 or sunnincom
Auction/Raffle/Store Items & Gift Certificates:
2nd City Council Gallery + Performance Space: 2ndcitycouncil.org
Alive Theatre: alivetheatre.org
Aquarium of the Pacific: aquariumofpacific.org
Atlantic Studio: atlanticstudio.com
Clever Vintage: clevervintage.com
About Face (By Patti): 562/598-2119
Flowers By Vickie: flowersbyvickie.com
The Found Theatre: foundtheatre.org
The Garage Theatre: thegaragetheatre.org
iexercise personal training: iexercise.com
King's Pine Ave. Fish House: kingsfishhouse.com
Long Beach Playhouse: lbph.com
Long Beach Symphony: lbso.org
Mahe Restaurant: eatatmahe.com
South Bay Fit Camp: southbayfitcamp.com
Sunset Gondola: sunsetgondola.com
We also thank these Found Theatre friends and family for their generous donations to our raffle, silent auction, and Dysfunctional Family Xmas Store: Arts & Services for Disabled (artsandservices.org); Kirstin Andersen Beaver, Nanci Andersen, Mike Brown, Ellen Butler, Azure Carter, Carol Churchill, Ricci Dedola, Wrayanne DeMoss, Harry and Linda Galles, Drayfus Grayson, Lois Greene, Carol Grimes, Bette Hackett, Brenda Harris, Monique Hilliard, Polly Huggins, Chris Lee, Lauren Nave (aka Loretta Lordy Lovejoy); Mindy Nettifee, Faith Rivera, Claire Sharp, Lindsay Shields, Alan Sondheim, Gloria Spurgeon-Smith, Amber Tamblyn, Leslie Thornton.
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Coming in February 2010!
A DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY DILEMMA: WWJD? (WHAT WOULD JOLENE DO?)
The hopeless Bleeker Family returns in a brand-new Dysfunctional Family show! Stay tuned for dates and details!
A SHORT HISTORY OF THE FOUND
Small, experimental theatres have a remarkably short shelf life, often owing to lack of money, poor management of financial resources, uncontained egos, and even the dreaded “artistic differences.” For The Found to survive for 35 years is a testament to the generosity and perseverance of its company members and loyal supporters...and to the genius, passion and resourcefulness of its founder and artistic director, Cynthia Galles.
In 1974, Galles and a small band of fellow UCI graduates produced their first show in a Long Beach church, then “found” a small space of their own at the corner of 7th & Orange. When that was razed to make way for progress (Domino’s Pizza and a 99 cent store), the expanding family of Foundlings moved to a space on 7th St. near Long Beach Blvd., where they thrived artistically for 20 years. It was always Cynthia’s dream to have more performance and storage space, plus high ceilings to accommodate better lighting, and after 10 years of working tirelessly with the City of Long Beach, its Redevelopment Agency and Arts Council, that dream was borne out in a brand-new space in CityPlace, made possible by the City’s progressive “One Percent For Arts” program. As icing on the cake, the brilliant Garage Theatre company took over our old home on 7th St., allowing us and the community to continue experiencing great live theatre there.
Sadly, for us and the entire artistic community, Cynthia never really had the opportunity to explore the limitless possibilities of our new space. Soon after the move in December 2004, she was rediagnosed with cancer, and in spite of one of the most courageous battles anyone has ever waged, passed away in November 2005 with far too many creative endeavors left undone. Cynthia was truly the magic and the driving force behind the Found, but the entire Found company stepped up to fill her enormous shoes. She continues to inspire and energize us with her life-long vision of creating “fine live theatre with a social conscience and a sense of humor.” We hope you’ll join us for some of our 2009 events celebrating Cynthia and our first 35 years.
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