{"id":8539,"date":"2025-04-03T12:03:37","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T15:03:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/?p=8539"},"modified":"2025-05-23T09:40:43","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T12:40:43","slug":"astor-theatre-gets-life-changing-donation-from-jw-murphy-foundation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/2025\/04\/03\/astor-theatre-gets-life-changing-donation-from-jw-murphy-foundation\/","title":{"rendered":"Astor Theatre gets ‘life-changing’ donation from J&W Murphy Foundation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Astor Theatre is the oldest performing arts space in Nova Scotia. (File photo by Ed Halverson)<\/p><\/div>\n

UPDATED APRIL 3, 3:15 P.M.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Astor Theatre in Liverpool has secured $500,000 in funding from the J&W Murphy Foundation.<\/span><\/p>\n

The five-year commitment will give the Astor $100,000 each year to help beef up its programs and promotion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lynn Cochrane, vice-chair of the Astor Theatre Society, told QCCR that it\u2019s a game changer for Nova Scotia\u2019s oldest performing arts theatre.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is significant. It\u2019s huge. This is the largest donation the theatre has ever received,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re thrilled. It will be life-changing for the theatre.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Cochrane said the board began discussions with the J&W Murphy Foundation about a year ago on a plan to make the Astor sustainable.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo the Murphy foundation is giving us an opportunity to set ourselves up for future success.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The J&W Murphy Foundation was established in 2008 by the late Janet and Dr. William Murphy, longtime Liverpool residents. Dr. Murphy co-founded the thriving Mersey Seafoods in 1964.<\/span><\/p>\n

The foundation contributes to a wide variety of charitable causes, especially in Queens County.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lisa Murphy, chair of the foundation, told QCCR that she views the donation as an investment in a cherished centrepiece of the community.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Astor has always meant a lot both to the town and to our family. Our mom was a huge supporter of the arts,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf what we have done is perceived as a vote of confidence, then we\u2019re also happy about that, because it\u2019s intended to be. … <\/span>We\u2019re thrilled to be privileged enough to be able to extend this funding that can help settle some of the swirling concerns that an organization such as the Astor has struggled with over the years and to enable them to build on that to secure their future. I can\u2019t think of Liverpool without the Astor. I cannot imagine the town without the Astor.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Murphy says she hopes the foundation\u2019s contribution will help the Astor secure funding from other donors, and to help the theatre cover operating expenses. But she says it’s up to the board to decide where it will do the most good.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur grant is specifically to say, free up your resources to think bigger.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no wishlist. We speak about a vote of confidence, we are saying that we\u2019re trusting the leadership of this organization to make responsible decisions about what it wants to do with it. And they are in the best position to set the direction of the society. \u2026 That\u2019s not for us to say.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In the first year of the five-year commitment, Cochrane says the board will work on improving its fundraising, including creating a donor database. It will also create a cohesive marketing plan to help grow the Astor\u2019s audience and its revenue.<\/span><\/p>\n

That will include a new website. Cochrane says the board is in talks now with professionals in corporate fundraising and marketing and communications.<\/span><\/p>\n

And they\u2019ll work on getting the community more involved in their programming, asking people what kinds of shows they\u2019d like to see.<\/span><\/p>\n

The theatre\u2019s board also plans to expand the Astor Academy in the second year of the funding, to bring in outside theatre professionals to give more training to youth and seniors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Astor, like all arts centres, operates on one-third of its revenues from (government) grants, the other third is from revenues actually generated from concerts, events, and the other third is from donations,” Cochrane said. <\/span><\/p>\n

“We really want to shore up the donation side. We come to the end of the year and we tend to be hand to mouth.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Cochrane said people will likely start to see the results of the Murphy family\u2019s investment in the fall.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe board is thrilled. It\u2019s a very generous donation at a time that the theatre is really going to have an opportunity to benefit from it, and hopefully make it live on for another 100 years.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Astor Theatre opened in 1902 and was originally known as the Liverpool Opera House. It hosted local and touring shows until silent films were introduced in 1917. Many Canadian and international artists have performed at the theatre over the years, including the Royal Shakespeare Company, Rufus Wainwright, and even Mr. Dressup.<\/span><\/p>\n

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Listen to the audio version of this story below<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/murphyastordonationapril325.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UPDATED APRIL 3, 3:15 P.M.\u00a0 The Astor Theatre in Liverpool has secured $500,000 in funding from the J&W Murphy Foundation. The five-year commitment will give the Astor $100,000 each year to help beef up its programs and promotion. Lynn Cochrane, vice-chair of the Astor Theatre Society, told QCCR that it\u2019s a game changer for Nova […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,5],"tags":[1160,2156,38,3021,1421,3020,206,2661,2392,3019,1675],"class_list":["post-8539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community-news","category-news-posts","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-culture","tag-astor-theatre","tag-astor-theatre-board","tag-astor-theatre-society","tag-corporate-donation","tag-donation","tag-jw-murphy-foundation","tag-lynn-cochrane","tag-murphy-family","tag-performing-arts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8539"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8539\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8546,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8539\/revisions\/8546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}