New Endowment Dedicated to Broadway Established at the Gallagher Bluedorn

CEDAR FALLS, IA — 9/21/2026 — The Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center is pleased to announce the establishment of the Gallagher Bluedorn Broadway Endowed Fund thanks to the generous support of Nancy and Ira Simet. 

Nancy and Ira Simet, both former chemistry professors at UNI, have a passion for Broadway and are longtime Gallagher Bluedorn patrons. A New York native, Ira’s family has deep connections to Broadway. His mother and father’s first date was to go see a show on Broadway, and he himself regularly attended, hopping the subway and picking up rush tickets to any and all available shows. He and Nancy now have a relative that works as a company manager for Broadway productions. 

After joining the Gallagher Bluedorn’s annual trip to the national booking conference in New York this past January, Ira was able to see how much of an investment it is to put on Broadway shows. Between his and Nancy’s love of Broadway and seeing an opportunity to make a lasting impact at the Gallagher Bluedorn, they were thrilled to establish this new endowment and make Broadway available for generations to come. “We wanted to help bring a wider variety of shows to the Gallagher Bluedorn and to make it possible for more people in the community to come see Broadway!”

This will be the first fund to be directly designated for Broadway support at the Gallagher Bluedorn. It will go straight to supporting all the costs associated with presenting Broadway shows. In addition, it can also be used to provide additional funds needed to secure bigger or newer Broadway productions that would otherwise be inaccessible to us due to higher costs. “We are incredibly grateful for Nancy and Ira’s vision and initiative to create this exciting new opportunity and their passion for impacting future generations at the Gallagher Bluedorn,” says Anne Lefter, executive director of the Gallagher Bluedorn. 

Thanks to the Simets’ generosity, this fund ensures that Broadway will ALWAYS have a home at the Gallagher Bluedorn.

Contact Information

Questions may be directed to Bethany Brooks, Director of Development, at 319-273-3672 or bethany.brooks@uni.edu, or Samantha Doering, Director of Marketing, at samantha.doering@uni.edu.