Ogunquit, Maine – Tuesday, May 28, 2019 – In a first-of-its kind partnership for professional regional theater in the U.S., the Tramuto Foundation and the Ogunquit Playhouse are teaming up to transform the theater experience by eliminating barriers that prevent participation in the performing arts, while reducing social isolation.

The Maine-based Tramuto Foundation announced Friday evening that it has awarded its 2019 Life’s Bulldozer Moments Award to the Ogunquit Playhouse, endowing a $300,000 grant to create the Tramuto Foundation and Ogunquit Playhouse Human Rights Partnership. The grant is the largest foundation grant ever awarded to the Playhouse and will allow the venerable theater to deliver an innovative experience to individuals who currently face physical, emotional and cultural barriers that may prevent the enjoyment of the live theater experience. 

The intial phase of the partnership will focus on combatting lonliness and isolation among Maine’s seniors, a growing epidemic that endangers health of older adults, particularly those living in rural regions of the country.

The Tramuto Foundation was founded in 2001 by Donato Tramuto, CEO of Nashville, TN-based Tivity Health, to provide scholarships to students in need and to support organizations that are focused on improving the lives of others. The award is named after Tramuto’s book,  Life’s Bulldozer Moments: How Adversity Can Lead to Success in Life and Business. Now in its 7^th printing, the book illustrates how Tramuto overcame a series of hardships — what he describes as ‘life’s bulldozer moments’ — to become a compassionate corporate leader and philanthropist who is focused on making life better for others. 

“Through our Life’s Bulldozer Moments Award, the Foundation seeks to honor the incredible work of the Ogunquit Playhouse, a revered New England art institution that helps create joy and spark passion in people of all ages and backgrounds,” Tramuto said. “The Playhouse’s ongoing work to make the world more vibrant and accessible to all individuals aligns perfectly with the mission of the Foundation. We continue to be great fans of the Playhouse and are thrilled to partner with its incredible staff and actors to deliver a unique and special experience to people across the region. 

“Working for human rights is not just about responding to something based on creed or religion,” Tramuto said. “It also involves working for inclusion, and this year we are focusing on seniors struggling with isolation.”

“The theater is an experience like no other,” said Bradford Kenney, Executive Artistic Director for the Playhouse. “Live performances have the ability to move people in ways that create deeper connections to themselves, to their community and to the world around them. We are so grateful to the Tramuto Foundation for this incredible partnership and are excited our work will help transform the way people of all abilities experience the magic of live theater.”

The first project to be undertaken by the Tramuto Foundation and Ogunquit Playhouse Human Rights Partnership is closely aligned with Tramuto’s national focus on combatting social isolation, particularly among aging adults, who, because of physical disabilities or cultural circumstances, may be unable to attend theater performances. Studies have shown that social isolation is a growing epidemic and carries with it health risks equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes per day.

The Playhouse will partner with the Wells Ogunquit Senior Center at Moody, the Institute for Integrative Aging at St. Joseph’s College and Playhouse volunteers to offer 100 people in need deeply discounted tickets to an August 22nd matinee of ‘Murder on the Orient Express.’  In addition to the show, the Playhouse will transport individuals to the venue, where they will be treated to lunch and will take part in roundtable discussions with actors and staff about the show. They will also receive a copy of the book by Agatha Christie on which the show is based and will be provided with the tools to create and maintain relationships with their fellow theater patrons. 

Later this year, the group will be invited to come back together to re-connect and discuss the differences between the play and the book. The follow-up meeting is intended to help facilitate lasting friendships and a love of the arts. 

In addition to the engagement project, the Human Rights Partnership will focus on making the theater and live performances more inclusive of people with disabilities. For example, the Playhouse will emphasize storytelling that illustrates individuals who have overcome adversity.

Through the years, Artistic Director Kenney envisions producing American Sign Language (ASL) interpreted performances on the main stage, casting differently-abled actors, producing autism-sensory friendly performances and using auto description for visually impaired attendees. 

The Tramuto Foundation and the Ogunquit Playhouse have a history of working together to empower individuals and expose them to the joy of the arts. In 2016, the Foundation gave the Playhouse a $50,000 grant to provide tuition assistance for underprivileged children seeking to attend the popular summer theatre program, which provides weeklong theatrical training to youth of all ages and culminates in a production performed on the Playhouse’s main stage. The Tramuto Foundation also previously funded state-of-the-art assisted listening devices for the Playhouse’s patrons.  

The grant to the Ogunquit Playhouse is part of the Tramuto Foundation’s ongoing commitment to human rights issues. The foundation has also supported a range of other initiatives to address human rights, including a $1 million grant to Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights to launch a national initiative on Workplace Dignity and Inclusion.  

About the Ogunquit Playhouse

The Ogunquit Playhouse produces the finest Broadway musicals each season with performances Tuesday through Sunday, from May through October. A 501c3 not-for-profit organization listed on the National Historic Register, the Ogunquit Playhouse is located on Route One in Ogunquit, Maine. For more information, visit Ogunquitplayhouse.org.