April 30

I've just returned from seeing Jesus Christ Superstar at the Carson Center. This past Friday I attended Little Shop of Horrors at the WKCTC. I do my best to see and support other arts events in our community.

This morning the Paducah Sun Current carried an article about the Market House Theatre Ultimate Derby Party fundraiser. I was quoted as the Market House Theatre "owner". This isn't the first time that I've been called that. Both April and I are often called that by the kids who take classes and do shows at the theatre. When we tell them that we are only employees of the theatre they are always surprised. The surprise is even bigger when I tell them that the people of our community are really the owners of the theatre. People who support the theatre by making a minimum donation of $40 each year are the owners. The board of directors are elected by the owners of MHT. Board members act as owner representatives in the decision making process. The board has hired me to be the CEO of MHT. That means that I oversee the plays the theatre puts on and supervise all of the employees. I make decisions as to how the theatre operates its business. The board decides on where the theatre is headed for the future and raises funds to help cover the part of the operations not covered by ticket sales. So the answer is no. I'm not the owner of MHT in the sense of a business owner, but I do believe passionately in the ideals that the theatre stands for. April and I give money each year for a membership so that we can support the theatre and others can see that we believe in what the theatre represents. So in a larger sense you can say that I am one of the "owners" of the theatre. I share that ownership with almost 150 others in the community who support MHT by making a membership contribution.

This morning I finished working on the budget to present at the finance committee this afternoon. We are just finishing paying off a couple of bank loans for copiers and ticketing equipment we purchased on a lease to own a couple of years ago. That will help the budget next year. After that, I spent some time working on publicity for the Derby party this weekend. I worked with Jim Keeney to move some large pieces of flooring from the turntable so we can get Anything Goes taped out so they can rehearse Thursday night in the mainstage. Kelly Salchli came in and began to paint on our backdrop for Zink. Kelly is a terrific artist who does murals in peoples homes. April and I won Kelly's services at a school auction last year and had Kelly come in and paint a beautiful windows on my daughter Jade's bedroom walls. The painted window looks out onto an enchanted land. Butterflys are painted on various points around the room.

Zink rehearsed tonight and got through the last two scenes of the play. Zink still has a great deal of scenery to finish by Sunday afternoon's technical rehearsal.