Laguna Playhouse Raises More Than $25,000 For Jose Andres' World Central Kitchen

Laguna Playhouse announced today that through the generosity of its audiences, the Playhouse has raised over $25,000 to donate to Jose Andres' World Central Kitchen. The Playhouse started collecting the donations following the performances of I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, "What A Fool Believes - Tribute to The Doobie Brothers" and its most recent production of A Chorus Line. Laguna Playhouse staff from all three shows met audience members in the lobby following their respective performances with collection buckets for donations. Comments Executive Producing Director Ellen Richard, "The generosity of our Laguna Beach community cannot be overstated. What started out as our way to help feed the people of Ukraine and indeed, people all over the world, became a true outpouring of incredible generosity from our extraordinary subscribers, audiences and donors. We were overwhelmed by the outpouring of support and were thrilled to send a check for just over $25,000 to this extraordinary organization."

ABOUT WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN

WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN (WCK.org) is first to the frontlines, providing meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises. WKC builds resilient food systems with locally led solutions. World Central Kitchen started with a simple idea; when people are hungry, send in cooks. Everyone knows that food is central to life and family all over the world. It all began in 2010 after a huge earthquake devastated Haiti. Since those early days the WCK journey has taken them all over the world. WCK fed an island after Hurricane Maria destroyed Puerto Rico. They fed tens of millions struggling through the Covid-19 pandemic. Put boots on the ground when a blast devastated Beirut, bushfires ripped through Australia, and a volcano transformed a Spanish island.

WCK was under a bridge with thousands of asylum seekers in Texas, in a demolished Kentucky town after brutal tornadoes, on the Louisiana coast when yet another enormous hurricane made landfall. WCK is first to the frontlines, providing meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises. They build resilient food systems with locally led solutions. They train aspiring chefs in skills and safety to build their careers and the food economy. They advocate for more hunger relief and better nutrition. And WCK launched a Climate Disaster Fund: a $1 billion commitment over the next decade to support communities impacted by the climate crisis. Because food is not a luxury reserved for the lucky few. It's a universal human right to live free from hunger.

For more information on all shows and programming visit www.lagunaplayhouse.com. LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE is located at 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.

About Laguna Playhouse

Founded in 1920, the historic Laguna Playhouse is one of the oldest continuously-operating not-for-profit theatres on the West Coast and is proud to be an active participant in the celebrated Laguna Beach arts community. From classic plays and musical comedies to the current off-Broadway smash, cutting edge and traditional music exhibitions, dance festivals and stand-up comedy performances, Laguna Playhouse brings the magical experience of the performing arts direct to over 80,000 patrons each season.

Laguna Playhouse educational programming includes year-round classes, productions by and for children and teens (Youth Theatre) and is one of the few companies in the region that offer a curriculum-based professional theatre-touring program, TheatreReach, which aligns with the California State Standards for literature, history and performing arts curriculum.

Laguna Playhouse has been recognized in for the past five years as one of Orange County Register's "Best of OC" in the category of Live Theatre. The Laguna Playhouse has featured many talented performers on stage, including Ed Asner, Leslie Caron, Hershey Felder, Harrison Ford, Melanie Griffith, Val Kilmer, Gregory Harrison, Dan Lauria, Hal Linden, Wendie Malick, Rita Rudner, Charles Shaughnessy, French Stewart, Loretta Swit, and Bette Davis.