Youngstown Playhouse’s Hearts for the Arts will keep beating.

The program, which was funded through a $60,000 grant from the Youngstown Foundation, provided free tickets during the Playhouse’s 100th anniversary season for those who might not be able to attend otherwise.

John Cox, playhouse board president, said the idea was hatched during a conversation last year with foundation President Lynnette Forde.

“I was saying how we were trying to find different ways of getting different clientele to come through the doors,” Cox said. “She said, ‘It would be nice to be able to fill those seats, wouldn’t it?’ After an hour, we got done talking, and she goes, ‘If anything we talked about makes sense to you, write up a proposal.'”

Cox proposed setting aside 150 tickets for each performance on the Playhouse’s main stage during its 2024-25 season and 200 tickets for every Playhouse Youth Theatre performance, and the foundation funded it. It also funded free school performances for the youth shows.

“We had almost 6,000 people come through — new people, different people,” Cox said. “We were getting letters from people. We got thank yous from them. The Youngstown Foundation even was getting letters from kids thanking them for the opportunities and things like that. It was a really great program.

“I got a letter from a little boy who said, ‘I have never seen a play in my life before, and now I want to do this for the rest of my life. I saw a guy kiss a girl on stage, and someday, maybe I can kiss a girl on stage.’ I almost peed my pants. That was his entire reason for wanting to walk on stage. I’m like, ‘Dude, you and about 90 other dudes I know that got into theater.”

Cox was surprised how quickly the program grew, attracting everyone from parents with a lot of children who couldn’t afford tickets for the whole family to senior citizens on a fixed income. And the Playhouse staff kept track of the requests and didn’t find people abusing the program by asking for tickets for multiple productions.

He does see room for improvement in the second year.

“Maybe staying in better contact with the Youngstown city schools and the people that run their theater departments,” Cox said. “We had one or two contacts, and there were a couple other people who said, ‘I didn’t know about this,’ and ‘Nobody told me.’ So I want to make sure that the word gets spread more through all the school systems, not just Youngstown, and let them know these tickets are available.”

Cox also would like to reach out to places such as shelters that cater to families trying to escape abusive situations.

Shows in the Moyer Room at the Playhouse weren’t included in the program because that theater holds less than 100 people, and Cox said they haven’t decided yet how it will work at the Playhouse’s downtown Youngstown performance space at the Morley Building, 220 W. Boardman St.

After plans were announced last year to acquire the former home of the Oakland Center for the Arts, an anonymous donor provided the necessary funding to renovate the third-floor space, Cox said.

Most of the work is cosmetic. The biggest construction component is creating two separate dressing rooms. The old theater had one large dressing room with dividers.

Everything is on schedule for the theater to be ready for Nicky Silver’s play “The Lyons,” which is scheduled to open March 20, 2026.

“I’m meeting with general contractors next week to get a couple different bids to get at least the front of the house all taken care of before Christmas,” Cox said.

Hearts for the Arts didn’t start last season until after the opening production of “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” because there wasn’t enough time to apply for the grant after coming up with the idea. Cox said they will start the program with the remaining funds from the initial grant and will apply for a renewal. The grant reimburses the Playhouse at a discounted rate for the tickets distributed.

“We’re not getting full price for any of those, but it helps us augment our season and it helps get people through the doors,” he said. “It’s nice to have full houses.”

Those who want to participate in the program should call the box office at 330-259-9651 and ask for “Hearts for the Arts” tickets.