The Lake Worth Playhouse recently received a sizable gift from an anonymous resident for future investment.
The playhouse is the oldest operating theater in the county. Its building was constructed by brothers Clarence and Lucien Oakley in 1924 to present silent films and vaudeville acts. The Lake Worth Playhouse was established in 1953, and took over the historic Oakley theatre in 1974.
Now, 74 seasons in, the playhouse has received a $1 million donation — the largest gift the organization has ever received. The nonprofit’s executive director, Shoshana Davidowitz, says she was thrilled to hear the news.
“When I became executive director in 2024, one of my goals was an endowment for the theater for several reasons. The biggest one being that I wanted to make sure that this playhouse was around long after I am gone,” she said.
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The donation is going toward a providing a reliable source of funding for the foreseeable future — through investments.
Davidowitz says that while the funds are not going into the theater’s operating budget, it allows the playhouse to dip into its rainy day fund to help with daily business.
“In the day-to-day we won't see much of a difference, but we will be able to infuse some of our programming with maybe some additional things that we couldn't before,” she said.
“We're one of the only community theaters in this area ... and I just think it's so important for us to keep our ticket prices low so that everyone can really enjoy the theater. And that's one of the things that these sponsorships and grants and community support do.”
One of Davidowitz’s main concerns prior to the major gift was the upkeep of their theater. Now more than 100 years old, she says they’re continually fixing, renovating and updating the theater for a comfortable patron experience.
“That just takes a lot of funds and a lot of time. And so some of that money that we've set aside in our operating fund for something that would come up that we wouldn't expect, could now maybe be used for some of those things,” she said.
As far as the endowment goes, Davidowitz says she and her team are working on assessing the playhouse’s needs and moving forward as they need to — otherwise, it’s showbusiness as usual.
