$5 million pledged to Laguna Playhouse

Gift from Suzanne and James Mellor, largest ever for theater, will allow long-planned expansion project to move ahead.The Laguna Playhouse has received a pledge of $5 million from Suzanne and James R. Mellor of Laguna Beach. The money will be used for a long-planned expansion of the nonprofit theater organization.

This is the largest gift in the history of the Laguna Playhouse and may be the largest philanthropic contribution ever made to a nonprofit organization in Laguna Beach, said Richard Stein, executive director.

“We checked with all the major nonprofit groups, and the largest donation was $1 million,” Stein said.

The Mellors announced their gift to the Laguna Playhouse leadership at a dinner party held Nov. 14 for visiting Irish playwright Bernard Farrell.

Stein said the gift is “a tremendous springboard” for the theater’s long-standing plans to build a second facility, but that more money will need to be raised to bring the plan to fruition.

“This is truly a watershed moment in the 85-year history of the Laguna Playhouse,” said Sophie Cripe, president of the Board of Trustees.

“We are deeply appreciative of the leadership roles Suzanne and Jim play in our theater. They have made the Laguna Playhouse a major part of their lives, and have repeatedly shown their devotion to our efforts. Now, with their extraordinarily generous gift, we are on the road to fulfilling our vision of this great theater’s future.”

The Mellors became involved with the Laguna Playhouse after they moved to Laguna Beach permanently in 1997. Suzanne Mellor co-chaired the theater’s 80th anniversary gala in 2000 and James served as president of the board of trustees in 2003. Both currently serve on the board.

James Mellor is chairman of the boards of USEC, a global energy company, and AmerisourceBergen Corporation. He also serves on the boards of Computer Sciences Corporation, Net2Phone Inc., the Scripps Research Institute and the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Previously, he served as chairman and chief executive of General Dynamics, where he continues to serve as a director and consultant.

Suzanne Mellor is an advisor to the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., and is a charter member of that organization.

The Mellors have three children and nine grandchildren.

“Suzanne and Jim are beloved by all who know them at the Laguna Playhouse, and we will be eternally grateful for their marvelous contribution,” Stein said. “For those of us who work in the theater, bringing stories to life every day on our stage, this is an occasion that will long be remembered and often retold. Thanks to the Mellors’ remarkable generosity, we know that our plan for a state-of-the-art theater facility is achievable.”

In 1998, the playhouse purchased an office complex at 580 Broadway, considered the ideal site for expansion since it is next door to the existing Moulton Theatre. With the Mellor donation, the Laguna Playhouse is actively engaged in planning its new facility and will announce those plans at a later time, Stein said.

“We are revisiting our earlier plans,” Stein said. “We need to expand, because we are maxed out. Subscriptions are up 14% this year, and the theater doesn’t have any downtime for repairs.

“There’s a synergy when you have multiple theaters, and we feel a keen need here for more space.”

The Laguna Playhouse is one of the region’s largest nonprofit resident professional theater companies and is the oldest continuously operating theater company on the West Coast, founded in 1920.

In the 1990s, the leadership team of Stein and Andrew Barnicle, artistic director, transformed the Laguna Playhouse to professional status from its amateur origins. Among its accomplishments have been the production of two national tours (“Copenhagen” in 2002 and Julie Harris in “The Belle of Amherst” in 2000-01).

The playhouse is the first nonprofit resident professional theater outside of New York to have a cast album produced of one of its musicals (“Gunmetal Blues,” 2000).

The theater has also seen the transfer of its productions to Los Angeles (“The Last Session” and “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,” 1998) and San Jose (Mitch Albom’s “Tuesdays With Morrie,” 2004, co-produced with San Jose Repertory Theatre), and the production of numerous premieres, including its current U.S. premiere production of Farrell’s “Many Happy Returns.”