FRIENDS of UIS Performing Arts Center

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FRIENDS of UIS Performing Arts Center are donors who play a pivotal role in fostering opportunities within our local community. FRIENDS provide vital support for performances by renowned artists, essential enhancements to our facilities, and enriching experiences for local children. Donations to FRIENDS are recognized through a membership program that provides unique benefits based on the level of giving.  If you’re looking for the best seat opportunities and a VIP experience from start to finish, this is the membership for you.

For an overview of all membership levels and benefits, click here.

Because of donors like you:

Sensory friendly performance by folk music artist, Chris Vallillo.

Staley Class Acts performance for school-age children.

Checks can be mailed to:
FRIENDS of UIS Performing Arts Center
University of Illinois at Springfield
One University Plaza, MS PAC 397
Springfield, IL  62703

Make check payable to: UIS PAC FRIENDS

Special Project HIGHLIGHT

This quarter we are highlighting
Our Stage / Our Voices

Our Stage / Our Voices is a program
formed to take a leadership role in
cultivating an environment whereby
members of historically
underrepresented communities
address the issues of inequality in the
regional performing arts with the goal
of achieving diversity and inclusion.

To learn more about this amazing
program or to show your support
through donation, click here.

Donor HIGHLIGHT

Gary Philo

Picture: Gary (white shirt) with other CFA’s and a screech-in Master of Ceremonies at Bridie Malloys in St. Johns, Newfoundland.

As the stage lights dimmed in Sangamon Auditorium on April 14, the 2,000 fans who came to watch the Tony-awarded winning musical Come From Away were asked to imagine themselves as one of the nearly 7,000 stranded passengers forced to land in Gander, Newfoundland on September 11, 2001.

Longtime FRIENDS of the Performing Arts Center Gary Philo, one of the patrons in the crowd that night, didn’t have to imagine that moment; he simply had to remember it. Philo was airborne on United Airlines Flight 943 to Chicago from Paris while the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks happened.

“We had no idea what was going on at the time,” said Philo, one of 6,000 stranded refugees that landed on 27 planes in St. Johns, Newfoundland. “The Captain notified us that the US air space was closed and we would be landing in St. John’s.

While Come From Away made its Springfield debut this past season, the show has been touring nationwide since 2018. Philo knew the musical was receiving critical acclaim, but had been reluctant to go because he thought it would be hokey and could never live up to the experience.

“But it wasn’t,” he said. “It was amazing. They totally captured it. There were times when I was tearing up. We did all of that same stuff.”

“I just never thought it would live up to what I thought it should be about,” he said. “And then, of course, it did.  In reality, the events of the day were far more bizarre and tragic than anything we, the passengers, had envisioned. It seemed like a dream to me. Surreal. Impossible.”

Philo can’t recall how many shows he and his wife, Deborah, have been to at UIS over the past 17 years as members of FRIENDS, but they plan to continue both traditions for quite a while.

“I love the theatre,” he said. “But what I really like about FRIENDS is getting the presale tickets. That was my main motivation and it’s a big plus.”

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