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Syracuse Stage Receives Major Donation Syracuse Stage Receives Major Donation

By Audrey Glynn

The signage outside Syracuse Stage.
© 2023 Audrey Glynn

Audrey Glynn: Syracuse Stage is back for their 23-24 season. The season comes with a donation aimed to bring new works and voices that has become the Julie Lutz New Play Development Fund. Joanna Penalva, Syracuse Stage’s director of communications, says this fund is right in line with the theatre’s mission.

Joanna Penalva: It’s going to allow us to really expand new programming, and not just any new programming, but programming by artists of color, playwrights that we don’t normally hear from.

Audrey Glynn: Julie Lutz was an astronomer and a professor, paving the way for women in all industries to follow their dreams, but especially in science. But what makes this donation even more special is that Lutz never stepped foot inside Syracuse Stage.

Joanna Penalva: Because of COVID she saw the work we did online through streaming, so because of this access to our work in ways that had never been accessible before, she was able to experience the commitment Syracuse Stage has to these new voices.

Audrey Glynn: The donation comes just in time for the theatre’s fiftieth anniversary season. So as theatre seats, similar to these, get filled in this season, the memory of Julie Lutz will come with it.

Audrey Glynn: Lutz was known to be a champion of the arts with a passion for education and diversity. Penalva says Syracuse Stage is committed to this legacy of a pioneer astronomer.

Joanna Penalva: “By allowing new voices, it really brings stories home and ties them to local issues that are happening in our community.”

Audrey Glynn: Penalva says the donation is being placed in a restrictive fund so the impact will last for decades. Reporting in Syracuse, Audrey Glynn, NCC News.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC NEWS) — As another season of Central New York theater begins for Syracuse Stage, a recent $1 million donation is now the Julie Lutz New Play Development Fund. The fund, donated from the estate of the late Julie Lutz, is aiming to bring in new works and voices to Syracuse Stage. 

Joanna Penalva, Syracuse Stage’s director of communications, says any donation can help the missions and goals of the Syracuse Stage staff, but this specific fund is right in line with the theater’s mission. 

“It’s going to allow us to really expand new programming, and not just any new programming, but programming by artists of color, playwrights that we don’t normally hear from,” said Penalva. 

While this donation is already making an impact for Syracuse Stage, Julie Lutz never stepped foot inside the Syracuse Stage theater before she passed. But her dedication to the arts throughout her whole life made her brief history with Syracuse Stage make complete sense. 

“Because of COVID she saw the work we did online through streaming, so because of this access to our work in ways that had never been accessible before, she was able to experience the commitment Syracuse Stage has to these new voices,” said Penalva. 

Lutz was a pioneer for women in astronomy. Her goal was to be an astronaut, but opportunities such as these were slim for women as she entered the world of STEM. She received a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois and spent a large portion of her career as a college professor at Washington State University. 

Lutz’s son-in-law, Robert Hupp, is currently the artistic director of Syracuse Stage, making it even more clear why she was driven to this specific center of arts. 

Syracuse Stage is also celebrating its 50th anniversary season. Penalva says the fund and the anniversary are a perfect storm for the theater’s goals moving into the next 50 years.

“By allowing new voices, it really brings stories home and ties them to local issues that are happening in our community,” said Penalva. 

The donation is being placed in a restrictive fund where the Syracuse Stage staff has the intention to make this meaningful donation last for decades to come.

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