Holiday

Well it's the end of the week and the end of the calendar year for MHT . A few meetings and rehearsals will happen between now and Jan. 5 but the theatre is shut down as of 5 pm today until 9 am on Jan. 5. The box office will reopen on January 6 at noon. Most of the MHT staff are heading off to various parts of the country to be with their families over the holidays. Some left town this afternoon headed up to New York and others will leave later in the break.

Wednesday the board meeting was held at the Cochran house and we shared lots of good food and conversation along with the meeting. We addressed some difficult issues the theatre is facing and made some cuts in our budget. We are seeing a drop in contributions and fundraising income from last year and as a result have decided to cut the operating budget by 3% to reflect the drop in income. I was extremely proud of all of the staff. They chose to take a 3% cut in pay in order to keep from laying off anyone. Everyone one of the staff is dedicated to helping the theatre succeed and throughout the year the staff donates supplies and materials paid for out of their own pockets to help keep our expenses down.

Thursday, April and I, treated the staff and their families to dinner at Pizza Inn and then a group of us went ice skating. We had Alexis, Jim, and I were the only staff members brave enough to get on the ice and kids Peggy (Bookkeeper Sandy Harbins daughter), Elisabeth (Jim Keeney's daughter), and Jade (April and my daughter) joined us on the ice. It was a warm evening and we were the only ones on the ice for about 30 minutes which was great fun.

This afternoon the staff traded gag Christmas gifts and I ended up with a key finder that when you whistle it tells you where you left your keys. The rest of the staff thought that was perfect for me. Some of the other gifts were a balloon animal kits, glasses that make Santa's and snowmen appear when looking at Christmas lights, silly calendars, and other fun items.

Other than trading gifts today was spent finishing up odds and ends. Some mailings went out and Jim and I set up the walls for Southern Comforts. Phil Counts the director came down and we talked through the set and we discussed some changes but overall he approved the set for the show.

Auditions for Ramona Quimby, Having our Say, The Sugar Bean Sisters and The Wizard of Oz are set for Jan. 12 & 13. The Kentucky Arts Council grant is due on Jan. 15. The Christmas Murder Mystery for Lone Oak High School has been rescheduled for January17. Lots to do when we get back.

Have a Happy Hanukkah, and a Merry Christmas and we will see you in 2009!

Look for the next directors blog after Jan. 1. Ho Ho Ho and a Happy New Year!!