Adrien Brody, best known for his Oscar-winning role as Wladyslaw Szpilman in Roman Polanski's 2002 film The Pianist, has made a major donation to For the Good, Inc., announced president and CEO Cassandra Harris-Lockwood K'74 on June 19. For the Good, Inc., is an independent nonprofit agency that promotes community development in the city of Utica, N.Y.
Brody's gift will support community service programs such as the Study Buddy Club, which matches at-risk middle and high school students with successful Hamilton College and Utica College students for tutoring and mentoring relationships.
Upon making his gift, Brody said, "For the Good provides programs and services that I thoroughly support, reaching young people and adults in need of helping hands to ensure that they do not fall through the cracks in our society." He especially applauded the Study Buddy Club for its effectiveness in the area of gang prevention.
Harris-Lockwood thanked Brody directly for his charity, saying, "There is no way to fully express my thanks for your generosity and compassion. Perhaps word of your philanthropy will move other men and women of means, who possess your level of conscience and purpose, to support the new paradigm of community development."
Brody's gift will also benefit the agency's summer production of The Wizard of Was, a musical parody of L. Frank Baum's classic children's story, written by Harris-Lockwood, and featuring popular songs from The Wiz and The Wizard of Oz. The musical follows the travels and exploits of Dorothy, a young Utican, as she seeks to eliminate drugs and violence from her community. The production, which is to be performed in the Stanley Theater and Performing Arts Center, will require the talents of more than 100 area children, teens and adults. Hamilton College Professor of Music Michael Woods will serve as musical director. Auditions start June 30.
Considering recent renovations to the Stanley Theater, Harris-Lockwood believes the moment has arrived for the reinstitution and revitalization of a Theater Arts Program in Utica. "Mr. Brody's generous gift couldn't have come at a better time," she said.
