Call it the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University.
The record and movie mogul, and current co-producer of “The Music Man” on Broadway, has donated $150 million to the Yale School of Drama. They’ve renamed the school for him, and students will attend tuition free.
Geffen, who made his name in the music industry with Geffen Records, went on to become a hugely successful producer on Broadway and one third of the Dreamworks triumvirate. His name is on a lot of prestigious buildings including UCLA Medical Center and Lincoln Center’s Philharmonic Hall.
Now he’s going to be written into history at Yale, where Meryl Streep and so many other famous actors have honed their craft.
The school writes: “a loving gift of this magnitude leaves us thrice-blessed: with a jubilant observance of the power of live theater; with a humbling reminder of our responsibility for the quality of training we offer to present and future students; and with the thrilling promise of those students’ talents for making art that promotes wonder, empathy, and understanding in the world, for generations to come.”
For me, David Geffen did enough when he started Asylum Records, gave us Crosby, Stills &Nash, Joni Mitchell, and Laura Nyro, and The Eagles. And he dated Cher! Who knew there would be all this largesse? Mazel tov!
