May 14

Yesterday I went with the Story Theatre troupe to Hendron Lone Oak Elementary and helped setup for the performance of The Three Little Kittens. April was helping with the screening for the Gifted Talented program at Clark Elementary school in the morning, then running to WKCTC to do a workshop for Librarians on the use of theatre in teaching and then going straight to Hendron for the performance. The 300 kids at Hendron had a great time with the show which uses the play to teach about telling the truth. In the play the kittens don't tell the truth about what happened to their mittens. Throughout the play the actors interact with the audience asking for their help. Momma Cat (April) asks the kids if they have rules at their house and then has some of the audience kids tell what those rules are. She reminds the kittens that they have chores to do and that she needs their help to keep the house clean. When the kittens don't tell the truth Momma Cat asks the kids for ideas on what to do to punish the kittens for not telling the truth. This 35 minute musical is very high energy as the kittens play and dance throughout the show. I took lots of photographs of the The Three Kittens for the MHT archives.

After the show I returned to MHT to meet with Diane Byrd the director of Anything Goes to discuss the sets for the show. After the meeting with Diane the service repair technicians from Sears was here to repair our dryer. We had just replaced our washer less than 2 months ago. The dryer was purchased ten years ago. The dryer can't be repaired so I'll be out looking for a dryer this week.

I then prepared for the City Commission meeting at which MHT did a short presentation to give information to go with our city funding request. We requested $25,000 from the city for several programs and to help us with the maintenance on the Market House Building which is owned by the city. The commission meeting was held at 5:30 pm and the ordinance supporting funding for the Symphony and the Carson Center was also approved.

This morning I gave a tour to 48 middle school students from South Marshall County Middle School. It usually takes an hour to tour our buildings and do a short acting workshop with the kids. The cost for the tours are free. The only restriction is subject to scheduling.

We do tours and workshops for other groups including the Paducah Leadership class. After the tour today I helped Jim by carrying the step units and platform units across the street to the main theatre for Anything Goes. Then it was off to Rotary.

I am a Rotary member and the speaker today was an intellectual rights attorney. This subject at first glance may not seem to have much to do with the Market House Theatre but it is very important. We pay for an annual license with Ascap and Bmi for all of the preshow, intermission, and scene change music that we use. In addition if we use a song during a play as an integral part of the play we have to secure royalty permission for that song as well. It can get very expensive.

Some plays that we receive the rights to produce also include a copyright on certain types of scenery, costumes and movement that the original Broadway company used. This restriction prohibits us from recreating the Broadway show and requiring that our production be unique to the Market House Theatre. Some shows have been so restricted that many theatres refuse to produce the plays- an example is Les Mis. The barricade used in the Broadway show is copyrighted as scenery and groups are not allowed to reproduce that barricade. However the script calls for a barricade so the theatres are often left in a quandary as to whether they can produce a show without certain scenic elements.

Rehearsals continue tonight for Anything Goes. Saturday Zink goes back into production. I'm currently working on press releases for the summer drama classes, the Lunch Box theatre show of The True Story of the Rabbit and the Hare, and auditions for MY Way.

Marsha Cash is seeking volunteers for the Lower Town Music festival to work in the Buzzard Bros. Booth at the festival. Buzzard Bros. have graciously allowed MHT to partner with them as a fundraising event on Friday- Sunday May 23-25. Contact Marsha Cash if you can work this event!