A new nonprofit fund called Places Please Project will provide $500,000 in rental relief to New York City-based theater workers who have been out of work and struggling to pay rent as Covid shut down the industry for more than a year.
“Even as theater begins to reopen, its workers still grapple with uncertainty,” said writer-musician Kyle Jarrow, Co-Founder and President of Places Please Project, in a statement. “Those who’ve left New York City are struggling to return, and many of those who’ve remained are at risk of having to leave.”
Led by board members Jarrow, Tootsie actress Lilli Cooper, Big Fish composer Andrew Lippa, Downstage Media founder Annie Schiffmann and New York SongSpace founder Kara Unterberg, Places Please Project is geared toward New York’s theater artists, designers, musicians, technicians and administrators.
Watch on Deadline
Funded in part by an anonymous donor who pledged a $50,000 matching grant, Places Please Project plans to raise funds, assess applications, and administer the funds between now and April 2022. The anonymous gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar through July 10.
Said Jarrow, whose book for the Spongebob Squarepants musical was Tony-nominated, “Theater is a core part of New York City’s identity, and New York City is a core part of the theater industry’s identity too. We want to help keep theater workers in New York City, and help bring back those who’ve left.”
For more information, visit Places Please Project.
