Footnotes

Formerly in the Collection of Laura Pels née Josette Jeanne Bernard (1931-2023)
In addition to her monumental role in the support and survival of nonprofit theatre companies, Laura Pels devoted her life to advancing the work of playwrights and making theatre more accessible to the general public. Born in a village near Bordeaux, France, Ms. Pels studied drama in Paris, but ultimately decided a stage career wasn't the right path for her. While in London in her twenties, she met her first husband, Adolphe Meeus, a translator for the United Nations. The couple moved to New York City soon after marrying in 1956. They later divorced and Ms. Pels would later marry the media executive, Donald A. Pels in 1965. Her second husband was President of Lin Broadcasting and in the 1980s, he made significant and fruitful investments in cellular communications.

Mr. and Ms. Pels quickly put their newfound wealth to work, donating over $1million to Tony Randall to assist with the foundation of the National Actors Theater, which aimed to produce financially accessible productions of plays by classic playwrights. Through this endeavour, Ms. Pels developed close working relationships with playwrights such as Arthur Miller and Harold Pinter. Following the couple's divorce in 1993, Ms. Pels became the namesake and President of the Laura Pels International Foundation for Theatre. She regularly attended the theatre across New York City, as often as three times per week, largely in search of productions and companies to sponsor – over the years, her foundation has supported many highly esteemed institutions including but not limited to the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and perhaps most notably, the Roundabout Theatre Company, where a performance space is named in her honour. The Laura Pels Foundation's former Executive Director, Hal Witt, once noted that Ms Pels read every single script that was ever submitted for funding. Treasurer of the Laura Pels Foundation, Jack Brister, estimated that throughout Pels' time with the foundation, it granted over $5 million to nonprofit theatres across the USA. Laura Pels' lifelong passion has had a deep and lasting impact on American theatre.