Broward Performing Arts Foundation Celebrates Members of the Robert B. Lochrie Jr. Founders’ Club

Lynn LaBate, Jim LaBate, Monet Sabel, Ty Sutton, Polly Sutton (Courtesy of Broward Center for the Performing Arts)

Everything was “Beautiful” for members of the Robert B. Lochrie Jr. Founders’ Club attending a reception in their honor at the home of James and Lynn LaBate. This prestigious membership group supporting the Broward Center for the Performing Arts was named for Lochrie, the founding and long-time chairman of the Broward Performing Arts Foundation.

A brief rain shower just before guests arrived did not dampen anyone’s spirits, and the party spilled out onto the patio overlooking the seventh hole of the Rees course at Coral Ridge Country Club. Jim LaBate, a longtime board member of the Foundation, welcomed guests, thanked them for their support and spoke of the important work being done by the Broward Center in the field of arts-in-education. A special treat was a cameo performance by Monet Sabel, star of the Slow Burn Theatre Co.’s production of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.

Matt Organ, Lisa Kitei, Ann Burris, Robert Lochrie (Courtesy of Broward Center for the Performing Arts)

The Founders’ Club comprises donors who have made cumulative gifts of $100,000 and above to the Broward Center and who maintain their membership with annual gifts starting at $10,000. In citing the growth of this group, Lisa Kitei, president of the Foundation, reported that it was established in 2008 with 12 patrons and today it has 200 active members. The reception is an annual event to thank them for their generous support.

Monet Sabel, Bonnie Barnett, Ty Sutton, Carol Kalagher, Carole Nugent (Courtesy of Broward Center for the Performing Arts)

For more than 40 years, the Broward Performing Arts Foundation has been instrumental in providing support for the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. The Foundation was established in 1985 to deliver the required private funding to build the Center and create an endowment to sustain its operations. Over the years, the Foundation has successfully raised funds to support the Broward Center’s innovative and diverse programming, arts-in-education initiatives, community engagement activities and capital projects. In 2021, the Foundation completed a $30 million capital campaign to renovate and restore the iconic Parker Playhouse. Prior to this, it raised $60 million to complete the Encore! capital campaign to renovate, renew and revitalize the Broward Center.