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The Winter’s Tale 1958
a a a a a a a a a a a a vision that has come closer to to realization in in a a a a a a a a a a a a shorter time than its its founders ever dared to to hope In the four years of of its its existence it it it it has has won a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a large measure of of critical and and popular acceptance Annual attendance has has risen from an an an an an an an estimated sixty-five thousand thousand in in 1955 to over one hundred and and and fifty thousand thousand in in the summer of 1958
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“ I ther developments had brought the the the estimated cost of the the the the project from five to to eight hundred t t t t t t t t was during the the the last six weeks of of the the the 1957 season that the the the the sale of of standing room became
thousand and and then eventually to to more than a a a a a a a million dollars That such a a a a a a a a a sum could be raised without federal state
or or or municipal help for a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a project that that was still little more than a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a hope is a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a tribute to that that haphazard but but miraculous combination of of personal initiative private generosity and •
organized munificence which characterizes U S cultural
life in our time Three quarters of a a a a a a a a a a a million dollars were donated by foundations private contributions totaled
over half a a a a a a a a a a a million million in in amounts ranging from two dollars to the the quarter of a a a a a a a a million million contributed by Joseph Verner reed Other gifts included shrubs trees electrical
equipment rent-free premises in in in in New York paintings thirty thousand feet of of Guiana teakwood from the the the Government of of of the the the the French Republic and and the the the the proceeds
from a a a a diversity of of theatrical benefits ”
a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a pleasantly regular habit at at at the the the the Festival Theater
By Labor Day for the the the the the first time in in in its its history the the the the the festival was operating in in in the the the the the black In the the the the the brief span of of o its its fits third season the the the the company out of of o of weekly profits had repaid the the full costs of o of fits its three productions ”
“ T T he American Shakespeare Festival Theater
was conceived built and manned in in pursuit of