Huntington Theatre Co. Launches $15 Ticket Community Membership Program

Huntington Theatre Company announces today the Community Membership program, a new initiative designed to reduce the cost barrier of attending live theatre for those with limited income. The program allows members to purchase tickets to any performance without restriction for just $15. Membership is free and available through partnerships with agencies and organizations that serve limited-income populations.

Sovereign Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Santander Holdings USA, is the program's lead supporter with a gift of $25,000 to help underwrite ticket subsidies.

Piloted over the last 18 months, the program has already leveraged partnerships with over 100 non-profit agencies that focus on socioeconomic issues including housing and poverty such as Urban Edge, Parker Hill Head Start, and Friends of Grove Hall Library. A complete list of participating organizations appears at the end of this release. More than 1,200 members are currently enrolled in the program and have purchased over 2,800 tickets to Huntington productions since January 2012'sGod of Carnage. The Community Membership program serves residents from many urban Boston communities including Charlestown, Dorchester, East Boston, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, Roslindale, Roxbury, South Boston, and the South End.

"One of our fundamental priorities is to make the Huntington a reflection of the city of Boston both onstage and in our audience," says Artistic Director Peter DuBois. "The Community Membership program enables those who think theatre tickets are otherwise too expensive to come to the plays they are interested in seeing."

"The Community Membership program is designed so its members can develop the same sort of deep, sustained relationship with the Huntington as our subscribers," says Managing Director Michael Maso. "By offering a $15 ticket to any available seat, our goal is to transform regular theatre attendance for our Community members from a rarity to a regular practice."

"I don't go out much due to financial constraints. I hadn't been to the theatre outside my son's high school in years, and it has been a huge treat to go to two plays last fall," says a Community Member. "It's not all the time you have a lot of money to go to the theatre, so to have something affordable means that I can enjoy theatre and come often," says another. Hear from more Community Members about their experience with the program at huntingtontheatre.org/community-membership.

"Sovereign?Santander is proud to support Huntington Theatre Company and its Community Membership program," said Sonia Alleyne, Sovereign Bank vice president of Community Relations and Foundation Manager, New England. "Live theatre and the arts are important to an individual's cultural development and help bring communities together. We are happy to join with Huntington to offer members of our community affordable access to the joy and enrichment of high quality theatre."

Organizations serving low- or moderate-income communities that might be interested in enrolling its members or individuals interested in learning more about the program are invited to contact Community Coordinator Candelaria Silva-Collins at 617 273 1626 or csilva@huntingtontheatre.bu.edu.

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