Dear Friends of the Theatre:

 

The very best thing about theater is the collaboration it takes to create a strong production. Everyone sharing their unique skills and artistry with the focus of creating a beautiful work of art. It is the same for the ariZoni Theatre Awards of Excellence board of directors.  Each member a dedicated supporter of theater in the valley sharing their talent to raise awareness of theater and celebrate and support the more than 35 community theaters that participate in the ariZoni Theatre Awards adjudication process and celebration.

 

Over the past year as a pandemic left many in our community without work and theater doors shuttered; the ariZoni Theatre Awards of Excellence organization was able to donate more than $15,000 to some individual artists and theatrical organizations.  We also produced a fully virtual celebration that featured more than 100 Arizona theatre artists as performers and presenters and beautifully showcased the nominees and recipients.  Thanks to Scottsdale Arts and the tech team at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, Rebecca Weinstein, and video editor Ray Banna of Reel Joy Productions the show looked professional and went off beautifully.

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I have honestly lost count as to the number of years I have served on the ariZoni board.  I first joined to learn more about the organization and get to know more theater artists.  I stayed because celebrating the work and people and artistry of Arizona theater is a passion and expanding the scope of the ariZoni organization to become an even greater resource for the theater community, encouraging collaboration among those theaters and providing support in a variety of ways. I am honored to serve as president and look forward to continuing to work with all of you. If you ever have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email me at meribetharizoni@gmail.com!