After year of packing the smell of the greasepaint and roar of the crowd into the small, cramped Experimental Theatre, the dream of a new theatre for AU is on its way to reality.

The $2 million naming gift of Harold and Sylvia Greenberg has transformed a former movie complex located at 4200 Wisconsin Ave. into a new 300-seat state-of-the-art theatre preparing for grand-opening celebration events in March and April of 2003.

On learning the dream will become reality, AU's Gail Humphries-Mardirosian, director of theatre and musical theatre, underscores its importance: "We compete with the top schools in the country for performing arts, and the only limitation has been our formal performing space. Recent studies show that universities that have built new facilities experience a 20 percent increase in the number of majors," and suggests the new space might result in increased arts enrollment at AU as well.

Theatre is not the Greenbergs' only performing arts interest. In Palm Beach where the couple lives in the winter, they hold season tickets for the opera, and Sylvia serves on the board. "To tell you he's an opera lover would be stretching it," however, she says with a laugh.

Harold chuckles and says he has learned two things in his 61 years of marriage: "Whatever makes my wife happy makes me happy." And on a more serious note, "One of the greatest things that ever happened to me by marrying into her family was the quality education I got on the importance of charity, the importance of sharing, of being concerned with other people to the maximum you are able. That was a gift," he says.

AU President Benjamin Ladner applauds the Greenbergs' many gifts to AU: "Sylvia and Harold Greeenberg are among the best friends American University has. Their support through the years for scholarships, facilities, and board service has been exceptional. The most recent gift for the theatre is a profound affirmation of their love of AU and the arts."
Support for AU has been a family devotion for more than thirty years. It was Sylvia Greenberg's father, Abraham Kay, who provided the funds for the Kay Spiritual Life Center, dedicated in 1965. Subsequently, Sylvia served as an AU trustee from 1971 to 1994. Ten years ago, the Greenbergs established the Sylvia and Harold Greenberg Endowed Scholarship fund that provides two students in the department of performing arts with tuition and living costs each year.

"We meet with all the recipients," says Sylvia, and "that really stimulated us to give this gift." She admits to being "a frustrated actress," but said she, "never really pursued it because I was a little too shy." Her husband explains that his wife has taken a very personal interest and become close to the young performers over the years, "She has a very close concern for them, and still corresponds with several," he adds.

Of course, "you can perform in a basement," Sylvia Greenberg says, but, "that poor little place, with its seats-it just wasn't conductive…"she laments, her voice trailing off. Her husband affirms, "we always had this in mind to build a theatre for performing arts," and Sylvia Greenberg enthusiastically adds, "Their productions are going to be fantastic [in the new location]. It really makes me feel good to help these young people."

--Written by Shaunna Bennett, American Magazine, Fall 2001

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