American Legacy Theatre has received a $200,000 donation, ensuring significant growth in its in-classroom theater education program.
The company is now on a trajectory to serve twelve times the number of students each year thanks to the five-year pledged gift from Tom and M.C. Brennan to expand access to theatre arts education through the theater’s in-classroom work.
“This gift is truly transformational,” said Matthew David Gellin, executive artistic director and CEO. “Thanks to their foresight and commitment to community, M.C. and Tom have allowed us to better meet the needs of our region and be more flexible in partnership.”
Tom Brennan is the founder and CEO of Norwood-based School Outfitters. School Outfitters, founded in 1998, is one of the country’s largest providers of furniture, fixtures and equipment for schools; its product catalogue ranges from chairs to headphones, bulletin boards and more. School Outfitters serves every major school district and most charter and private school networks across the country. It routinely ranks as one of the region’s largest private companies with $150 million in revenue. It recently converted to being owned by its 500 employees, beginning the process of ownership succession.
American Legacy Theatre, founded in 2016, seeks to inspire social change.
Since 2018, the flagship program Students Create Change has worked in classrooms to give students the platform to voice their ideas about the social issues they care about most. Students Create Change has given students the training and support they need to write, design and act in their own original production.
The grant has allowed the company to hire an assistant artistic director, Julie Locker.