Dear Friend,

One year ago today my office was broken down on the side of the road, its four wheels reduced to three. But the air-conditioning still worked in the truck, and I finished casting our first production on the interstate before the phone died.

Please join me in a big smile when you see below what you have helped us accomplish during this month alone:

Increasing staff: Joining Frank Bluestein, Caroline Harrison, Karen Martin, and me this month are artists and Education Program specialists Stephanie Shine and Brittany Morgan, as well as our first intern, Zain Yunus.

Doubling the Barbara B. Apperson Angel Fund: The City of Germantown awarded TSC an $89,000 grant to double our education efforts in Germantown. The vote was 4-1. Every middle and high school student who wants to see Shakespeare or play in the workshops will now be able to do so. Thank you for your mighty show of support at City Hall with us. Please thank our Aldermen!

Building an amphitheatre: The City of Germantown allocated $250,000 to design and build the first phase of an al fresco outdoor amphitheatre for the entire community's use. We began work on this project and design (with Eric Haugen and Bob Phillips) nearly three years ago, assisted on last year's conceptual plan for a model civic and arts park, and are now on the verge of creating something very special in Germantown for TSC's first use in autumn 2010.

Piloting the Education Program Residency: St. Mary's Episcopal School is partnering with us to create a five-part, in-school Residency in which we get the students dancing, fighting, directing professional actors, and using the language and life of Shakespeare as a humanities platform from which to look at the works of Marc Chagall, listen to the compositions of Bela Bartok, consider the findings of Dr. Carl Jung, and wonder at our spirituality through the origins of astrology this September and October.

Receiving our first grant: The Tennessee Arts Commission awarded us a matching grant of $7,100 to support our hiring of local artists for our production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Impacting the Community and Economy: Dr. David H. Ciscel, Dean of the Business School at Christian Brothers University in Memphis, recently (and generously) completed TSC's first Economic and Social Impact Study for the next five years. It is impressive, and is already posted at tnshakespeare.org. We are projected to have a $1.5 million impact on the Germantown area in 2009-2010. By 2013: a $2.4 million impact. Of course, we are focused on the social impact, and I look forward to you reading that narrative. It is inspiring.

Launching the Endowment: Who says you're too young to have one? Read on to discover the extraordinary announcement last week by Memphian, Connie Abston.

Isn't this a humbling perspective and update? We're a long way from a truck with a flat and dying cell phone. This is because of you, and for you.

With gratitude,

Dan

Witness the heart of much-loved TSC supporter Connie Abston (pictured). For her Memphis birthday, to which her family and friends flew from all over the country last week, Connie was the one who gave the present: to her husband Dunbar Abston, Jr. and TSC. Connie announced The Dunbar Abston Fund for Sustainable Excellence and a cornerstone gift of $100,000.

The Fund will live in perpetuity in Dunbar's name and will be a primary funding source for TSC. Its objective is to ensure TSC hires professional, classically-trained artists and teachers for all of its organizational life. Managed by the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis, we will grow this Fund over the next three years to $1,000,000, at which point the Fund will form a pillar of TSC's endowment.

Dunbar is the perfect namesake and catalyst for this Fund. He has been a long-time civic leader and much-respected teacher of the classics, literature, and humanities in Memphis, and he is singularly devoted to intellectual renewal. Dunbar is a gentleman of scholarship and service. Connie is a woman of care and grace. Together, they honor Tennessee Shakespeare Company and our mission with extraordinary generosity and love.

If you would like to make a gift to honor Connie and Dunbar and their commitment to our professional preservation, please call Dan at (901) 759-0620.

More than 90 guests filled the banquet hall of Ronnie Grisanti's with music, laughter, and the sounds of Shakespeare in multiple languages, thanks to our teachers from the Tennessee Governor's School for International Studies.

We had a first at Ronnie's: four finalists instead of three! The Judges couldn't decide between Dr. Austin Ahanotu from Ghana, Larry Tores from New Mexico, Tad Foote of Tennessee, and Robert Hanusovsky of Tennessee. Our illustrious panel included Ms. Tommie Pardue; Germantown Assistant City Administrator Andy Pouncey; and the legendary Marguerite Piazza.

After the audience weighed in, the Judges pronounced Larry Tores (pictured above, with his fellow teachers) the night's winner for claiming that love "looks on tempests and is never shaken..." from Sonnet 116.

Larry won two tickets to TSC's fall production of A Midsummer Night's Dream; dinner for two at Grisanti's; and he, along with each month's winner, is invited to play again at our Gala on September 21. That night's audience favorite will win a walk-on role in Dream!

Jim Figley entered the drawing for a trip for two to Stratford-upon-Avon, and won Monday's mini-drawing for a copy of Dream. Jim is still entered to win the grand prize, and you can be, too! Call 901-759-0604 to find out how.

Click here to see the evening's photos.

Join us for the next Much Ado Monday in Collierville at Jim's Place Grill on Houston Levee Road on Monday, July 27 at 6:30 pm. Tickets are available by clicking here, or by calling TSC's Box Office at 901-759-0604.

Here is a sneak peek at two of the vacation destinations that could be yours at our Gala auction on September 21:

Scarborough, Maine
Bid to win one week near Portland in south Maine. A perfect getaway for two couples, this two-bath luxury Condo sleeps four and is one of only 20 units in the community. You will overlook the Scarborough Marsh, which spans approximately 3,100 acres. Scarborough also offers lovely sandy beaches and the rocky coastline made famous by local artist Winslow Homer, whose home is now open for tours.

You will be within driving distance to the hub of Maine's cultural center of Portland: restaurants, theatre, symphony concerts, kayaking, sailing, hiking, and art await you in this city of 100,000.

Cumberland Island, Georgia
This barrier island off the Georgia coast has a rich history as one of the first landing points in the "new world." Now, it is 95% National Park Preserve, and allows no new buildings among the southern mansions of a time gone by. Pristine maritime forests, a canopy of live oaks, and wide marshes whisper the stories of both man and nature. The secluded island boasts wonderful fishing, over 335 species of birds, and 21 miles of undeveloped beaches with roaming deer, bobcats, and wild horses.

The house is well-appointed, sleeps eight, offers three full bathrooms, kitchen, and overlooks the River running through the Island. For an early look at the island's official website, and to start planning your trip, click here.

As a professional theatre company, TSC hires professional actors, choreographers, designers, and musicians from the Mid-South and around the country.

As a not-for-profit organization, we know that none of this would be possible without the hands-on support of volunteers in our home community: we need your expertise, your volunteerism, your good ideas, and your time.

Our volunteer organization, "The Groundlings," is named for the beloved group of audience members in Shakespeare's day who paid a penny to stand on the ground at the lip of the stage and talk back to the actors. They were the heart of the audience.

We have a steadfast group that we would like to double this season for our expanding needs in ushering, organizing mailings, hanging posters, office administration, and organizing special events.

Consider this your official invitation to come out and play.

Please e-mail your areas of interest and contact information to Caroline Harrison at tnshakespeare@gmail.com.

And thank you for helping us build something special - from the ground up.