One slip and life changed in the ordinary instant for Christopher Parr. Here’s the story of our largest single medical payout to date.
Financial-aid recipient: Christopher Parr is the founder and artistic director of the St. Vrain Theatre Company in Longmont. He started the company eight years ago to create performance opportunities for local college students during the summer months. Chris has performed or directed in eight fully staged productions, while also providing production support for local high school productions – most recently last’s week’s Frederick Theatre staging of “The Music Man.”
His medical story: On Jan. 19, Christopher slipped on some ice walking out his front door and broke his shoulder. He underwent emergency surgery at the Ortho Spine Center of the Rockies in Fort Collins and will be recovering for several months. He had no insurance to cover the $20,000 procedure, so he was presented with horrible a pre-surgical financial “offer”: Pay in advance (which in this case meant putting the full expense on his father’s credit card at 18 percent interest) and they would give him a 20 percent price reduction. Otherwise: Pay the full $20,000 over time. With very little time to process the decision, Christopher’s parents put the expense their credit card, while quickly drawing up papers spelling out that Chris would have to pay the obligation back in full in monthly installments over many years. A the same time, a friend suggested Christopher look into The Denver Actors Fund.
How we helped: Because of our incredibly generous donors, as well a burst of recent fundraising efforts such as the all-teenager “Future Is Bright” cabaret, the Denver Actors Fund Board of Directors approved the single largest medical payout in our history: $14,902. That’s the amount the Parr family put on their credit card, minus $1,765 Chris’ friends had raised to date through a gofundme campaign. The two efforts combined took Christopher out of a deep financial hole that it may well have taken him a decade to dig out from.
‘THE WORK THE DENVER ACTORS FUND DOES IS VERY NEEDED AND APPRECIATED.’
A message from Christopher Parr: “I am beyond grateful that the Denver Actors Fund was able to help me and my family. The theatre has always been my second family and to know they are there for me and my family is amazing. I hope that people will keep helping the Denver Actors Fund because the work they do is very needed and appreciated.”
How you can help us replenish: This single gift represents more than half of the essential funds we raised on Colorado Gives Day 2021. If you would like to help the Denver Actors Fund to replenish, simply mail checks made out to The Denver Actors Fund to P.O. Box 11182, Denver, CO, 80211. Or use this donation link. Your donation will be applied to the replenishment of the Denver Actors Fund’s general fund.
Read more Denver Actors Fund testimonials by clicking here
Note: At the Denver Actors Fund, anonymity of aid recipients is presumed and fully protected, unless and until the recipient chooses to have his or her story told.
HOW YOU CAN HELP US REPLENISH:
To DONATE the Denver Actors Fund, please CLICK HERE (with our humble thanks)
ABOUT THE DENVER ACTORS FUND:
Video above: The Denver Actors Fund receives the Colorado Theatre Guild’s 2016 Community Impact Award.
The Denver Actors Fund is a modest source of immediate, situational relief when members of the local theater community find themselves in medical need. To date, the Fund has allocated more than $920,000 to artists facing medical need. In addition to financial relief, a team of more than 100 Denver Actors Fund volunteers offers good neighborly assistance including meal prep and delivery, child care, transportation, errands, construction, pet-sitting and more. For more information, visit our web site at DenverActorsFund.Org.
HOW TO APPLY FOR AID:
To apply for Denver Actors Fund aid: Fill out this brief online form here
MORE WAYS TO HELP:
DONATE BY MAIL:
Send checks made out to the Denver Actors Fund to:
P.O. Box 11182
Denver, CO 80211
SUPPORT THE EVENTS THAT SUPPORT US:
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14: Our friends at Town Hall Arts Center are continuing on their incredible promise to designate one performance per run with 100 percent of all proceeds from ticket and concession sales to be donated to The Denver Actors Fund. Spend your Valentine’s Night with your sweetie at one (or two or three, depending on your perspective) of the best and bloodiest Broadway love stories of all time, “Little Shop of Horrors.” Town Hall is hosting a love-themed costume contest that night. Come dressed as your favorite couple from musical theatre and you will win two complimentary tickets to any upcoming Town Hall production – and receive two complimentary drink coupons. Come at 6 p.m. for drinks, walk the red carpet and play in the photo booth. The audience will choose the winning costume. Tickets only $25. Tickets -–> 303-794-2787 or townhallartscenter.org.
- Directed by Bob Wells
- Music Direction by Donna K Debreceni
- Choreography by Kelly Kates
- Production Stage Manager: Emily McIntyre
CAST:
- Carter Edward Smith as Seymour
- Abby McInerney as Audrey
- Preston Adams as Audrey II
- Charlie Schmidt as Orin
- Jim Hitzke as Mr. Mushnik
- Anna Maria High as Crystal
- Faith Goins as Ronnette
- Rajdulari as Chiffon
- Understudy: Aaron Szindler
MUSICIANS:
- Donna K Debreceni: Piano
- Scott Alan Smith: Guitar
- Larry Ziehl: Percussion
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24: Our wonderful partners at Miners Alley Playhouse continue their jaw-dropping, groundbreaking, trendsetting, life-saving commitment to dedicate ALL PROCEEDS from one designated performance of each run to go to The Denver Actors Fund. Next up: “Moon Over Buffalo,” Ken Ludwig’s enduring comedy about an acting couple (think the Lunts), who are on a tour in 1953 where everything that could go wrong does go wrong. These kinds of nights are truly what is keeping our balance steady during these unsteady times. All told, since 2014, Miners Alley Playhouse has generated more than $50,000 in donations too The Denver Acors Fund. If you plan to go see the comedy classic, please consider attending at 7:30 P.M. on THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24. The show is directed by Rory Pierce and runs through March 20. Miners Alley Playhouse is located at 1224 Washington Ave., in Golden. Call 303-935-3044 or go to minersalley.com
- Director: Rory Pierce
- Production Stage Manager: Lexi Holtzer
- Scenic Design: Peggy Morgan Stenmark
- Costume Design: Steffani Day
- Lighting Design: Vance McKenzie
- Scenic Dressing and Props Design: Elizabeth Scott-McKean
- Fight Choreographer: Amy Arpan
- Scenic Carpentry: Jonathan Scott-McKean and
Jeremy Althoff - Production Crew: Samantha Piel and Clara Hoppe
- Show Control Programming: Jonathan Scott-McKean
- Videography: Ray Bailey
- Volunteer Coordinator: Maryjo Calandriello
CAST:
- Larry Cahn: George Hay
- Abby Apple Boes: Charlotte Hay
- Edith Weiss: Ethel
- Amy Gray: Rosalind
- Jason Maxwell: Howard
- Christopher Berghoff: Paul
- Tim Fishbaugh: Richard
ONGOING: “Quarantine Week by Weak” is a new photographic coffee-table book by Susannah McLeod and her wife, Chloe McLeod, who chronicled their home life during the COVID19 shutdown with a light-hearteded photo series documenting their lives during quarantine. They produced more than 35 sets of humorous photos comparing the beginning of quarantine to later in the “stay-at-home” period. Susannah pulled out her camera and we started to play,” said Chloe McLeod. As popularity for the series grew on Instagram and after a feature in Westword, the couple started exploring options to publish the series as a book to benefit The Denver Actors Fund. To order, visit http://mcleod9creative.com/shop/quarantine-week-by-weak-photo-book. This project is generously sponsored by: The Albritton Family; Natalie Bowen and Jim Corbett; Dave Dyer; Julie Dyer; and Denise Gentilini and Lynette Prisner. Additional support provided by Angie Flachman and Sandy Birkey at The Publishing House and Sandra Lee Stuart.
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