The grant, which represents a $35,000 increase for the Goodman over last season, is part of a record $17.6 million funding that the Shubert Foundation announced for not-for-profit companies in 2009.

"The Goodman's artists, staff and trustees are incredibly grateful to the Shubert Foundation for its extraordinary support of Goodman Theatre," said executive director Roche Schulfer. "The Foundation's visionary longstanding commitment to unrestricted general operating support is one that is unprecedented, unrivalled and extremely generous — and has had an enormous impact on the growth of the American theatre over three decades. We thank the Shubert Foundation for enabling our artists to create to the highest standards of excellence."

In addition to the Goodman, recipients of the Shubert Foundation's $275,000 grant to "organizations with demonstrated track records of artistic achievement, administrative strength and fiscal responsibility" included Lincoln Center Theater and South Coast Repertory.

The Shubert Foundation, Inc. is dedicated to "sustaining and advancing the live performing arts in the United States, with a particular emphasis on theatre and a secondary focus on dance."

The Foundation's board believes that the most effective way to encourage the artistic process is by providing the general operating support that reinforces the structure that nurtures its development. All allocations are unrestricted. The Shubert Foundation, Inc. was established in 1945 by Lee and J.J. Shubert in memory of their brother Sam, and is the sole shareholder of The Shubert Organization, Inc., which currently owns/operates 21 theatres: 17 on Broadway, one Off-Broadway theatre (The Little Shubert), and one each in Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, DC.