Published: Sunday, February 12, 2012, 2:00 AM
By James T. Mulder / The Post-Standard
Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival Ed Sayles is the Producing Artistic Director for Merry Go Round Playhouse and the upcoming Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival. Sayles talks about the festival and its impact on CNY. Video by Stephen D. Cannerelli (2:24) Watch video
Auburn, N.Y. ? Jerry Bisgrove could have set up a charitable fund to feed the poor when he decided to share some of his financial fortune in 2007 with his hometown of Auburn.
But he wanted a bigger bang for his buck.
So the Arizona philanthropist?s charitable foundation plowed more than $4 million into the fledgling Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival. Organizers of the multivenue summer festival, which debuts this year, hope to turn Auburn into a musical theater mecca that draws more than 150,000 visitors annually, creates jobs and revives the city?s economy.
Stephen D. Cannerelli / The Post-Standard The Merry-Go-Round Playhouse?s Youth Theatre presented The Bingley Brothers Circus for kindergarteners at Millard Fillmore Elementary School in Moravia on Wednesday January 18, 2012. Scott Gibbs as Happy the Clown imitates a circus animal. Stephen D. Cannerelli / The Post-Standard
Bisgrove said the potential economic payoff to the community from backing the festival is much greater than it would be with a traditional charitable cause, such as feeding the poor.
?This can generate jobs and millions of dollars,? Bisgrove said. ?I like my upside better.?
Bisgrove, 66, has helped spark a wave of entrepreneurial philanthropy that?s having a big impact on Auburn. HisStardust Foundation and two other private foundations with Auburn roots ? the Fred L. Emerson Foundationand the Schwartz Family Foundation ?have put up more than half of the $10 million raised so far in startup funding for the festival.
The philanthropic activity surrounding the festival bears little resemblance to traditional charitable giving.
For one thing the festival is a riskier-than-usual investment for foundations.
Dan Fessenden, executive director of the Emerson Foundation, which has put nearly $1.5 million into the festival, said foundations are taking that risk because of the project?s potential economic impact.
?In a community like Auburn we need some double-digit returns,? he said.
The wave of philanthropy also is different because the foundations are doing much more than writing checks. They are active participants in the project, not passive spectators.
Please follow the rest of the article on The Post Standard
Source: http://thefantasticks.org/2012/02/philanthropists-bet-big-on-auburn-theater-fest/
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