Theater News

MCC Receives $1 Million Through the Gary Platt Musical Initiative

The initiative will support the development of new musicals over five programming seasons.

Marc Platt (right) with son Ben Platt. The family has gifted $1 million to MCC through the Gary Platt Musical Initiative.
Marc Platt (right) with son Ben Platt. The family has gifted $1 million to MCC through the Gary Platt Musical Initiative.
(© David Gordon)

MCC Theater has announced a $1 million gift from the Gary Platt Musical Initiative to be put toward the development of new musicals. The initiative was formed in 2019 by Julie and Marc Platt and their family to honor the memory of their uncle and great-uncle, Gary, whose lifelong love of musical theater instilled in them a passion for this unique storytelling art form. The gift will begin supporting the production of new musicals during the 2019-20 season, and will continue to support projects over five programming seasons.

MCC recently built its first permanent home in the Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space, which allows the company to increase the number of its annual productions, expand its programming initiatives, and deepen MCC's commitment to provoking conversations and the exchange of ideas between artists, audiences, and young people.

"We are truly grateful to Marc and Julie for launching the Gary Platt Musical Theater Initiative," said Bernie Telsey, co-artistic director of MCC Theater, speaking on behalf of the company's artistic leadership. "Gary Platt's love for musical theater lives on with multiple generations of the Platt family, and we are honored to build upon that legacy through this initiative and the opportunity it gives us to inspire and support new voices who have important things to say through this uniquely powerful storytelling art form."