A Letter From Harry Groener

My name is Harry Groener. You may be familiar with my work in theater, television or film. If you don’t know me, you can search for me online and see that my passion for the arts started in a ballet company in San Francisco and has continued from Broadway to Broadway – Broadway and Brand that is. I am talking about Antaeus Theatre Company which resides in the new Kiki & David Gindler Performing Arts Center in Glendale. I am reaching out to you and encouraging you to support this company that I am so proud to be part of. From the time Dakin Matthews and Lillian Garrett-Groag gathered some L.A. actors together and began the journey from borrowed rooms and fax machines at The Taper Annex to a warehouse, and tiny spaces in NOHO, to our shiny new digs in Glendale, we have pursued preservation of existing classics and the search for new ones.

I am a proud Founding Member. However, in 2004 I had an epiphany regarding my home theater and my relationship to it. My wife Dawn Didawick and I performed in a production of Chekhov x 4 in The Bear and for me it was like coming back to the well. There was a kind of renewal as an artist that reignited my passion for theater and my commitment to Antaeus as an actor and an audience. I wanted to help my company grow and thrive. I get to do that by having the privilege of performing in iconic roles such as King Lear and Big Daddy in last year’s award-winning production of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. I get to do that by serving as a Board Member. I get to do that by being an Ambassador for Antaeus all around the country as I work in other theaters and cities. I get to do that by reaching out to you today to ask you to contribute to a theater company devoted to bringing you world-class theater, to bringing arts and education programs to our community at William Tell Aggeler Opportunity High School, Homeboy Industries, New Village Girls Academy, and Hoover High School, and to training theater artists in our Academy who want to hone the skills necessary to accomplish the tasks that classical theater requires of its actors. I chose well when I put my passion to work for Antaeus.

I hope you will join me by supporting us as an audience member and as a donor through a contribution today. I do, and I know that my donation is supporting all of the above and more. Give your regards to Broadway and Brand in any way you can by supporting Antaeus Theatre Company.

Sincerely,
Harry Groener