The MHT board will meet in a regular meeting this Wednesday. At the meeting the theatre will choose our 47th Season which will open in Sept. 2010. A recent article in American Theatre magazine listed the 11 most produced plays of the year. The list includes Proof, Doubt, Art, Wit, Crowns, and the Glass Menagerie all of which MHT has produced. MHT entered Proof in the state and regional competition and brought home several awards.
This weekend I spent several hours cleaning the carpets in the main auditorium in preparation for the new chairs. I finished up this afternoon cleaning the aisles and the lobby. Tomorrow we will start loading chairs into the theatre to start making rows. Recognition Plus is working on the plaques for the arms of the chairs and the row and seat number tags as well.
I've included two photos with the blog to show the old chairs stacked up at the theatre warehouse space and the auditorium empty of chairs except for the last three rows.
Volunteer Al Knudsen (who is also acting in the play God's Favorite) has painted the set for God's Favorite. He is doing a nice glaze paint technique and the set is coming along extremely well thanks to his hard work along with Director Diane Byrd and other cast members who have helped.
There was an arts group meeting today at the River Heritage Museum and we all shared dates and information on upcoming events and possible dates for next season along with fundraiser dates. It really is important for all of us to work together to make Paducah a thriving arts community. The next couple of months are jam packed with plays, symphonies, shows at the Carson Center, the Teen Spirit show at the Yeiser, lots of films at Maiden Alley Cinema, and events happening around the city. Paducah was also ranked third in Southern Living Magazine as one the top small cities in Kentucky.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Closer
We are close to accomplishing a couple of goals! First our survey that has been emailed to everyone that MHT has an email address for. We would like to get at least 750 responses. We are currently at 635! If you haven't done so please take our brief 10 question survey online. You can find the link to the survey at our website www.mhtplay.com Help us finish this project up so we can use the results for our strategic planning retreat Feb. 20. We have just a couple of days left to fill out the survey.
The second goal is our chair campaign. As of yesterday we had raised enough funds to do all but the last row. We still need to raise about $4,000 to cover the purchase and shipping to finish the project. You can still honor someone or yourself with a plaque on the arm of a new chair for a $250 donation. We are also selling the old seats which have been removed from the theatre. The "vintage" chairs are $100 for an aisle seat, $75 for an interior seat. If you buy more than two interior chairs we drop the price of additional chairs down to $50. Lots of people have snapped up the old chairs as a piece of history from the theatre. Call the box office for information.
Rehearsals are in the last couple of weeks for God's Favorite which opens Feb. 4. The set is in the final build stages and volunteers are needed to help paint and help hang the masking drapes. Betty Wise has been in several days this past week helping paint.
Rehearsals also are underway for Boy in the Girls Bathroom. The set was taped out up in the classroom yesterday and April starts staging the show tonight.
The play selection committee is reading the final play for consideration and should have a season proposal completed by next week. That proposal then goes to the board of directors for approval. After that the rights are secured for the production (which generally requires us to put money down as a deposit on the shows), we then develop logos and descriptions and then look at budgeting. So far the season is shaping up for lots of roles for all ages. Our formula is a large cast and a small cast musical, two comedies and a comic drama. Other shows for the youth season and studio season are still being reviewed. We will announce our new season at the Curtain Call fundraising event on March 19.
The second goal is our chair campaign. As of yesterday we had raised enough funds to do all but the last row. We still need to raise about $4,000 to cover the purchase and shipping to finish the project. You can still honor someone or yourself with a plaque on the arm of a new chair for a $250 donation. We are also selling the old seats which have been removed from the theatre. The "vintage" chairs are $100 for an aisle seat, $75 for an interior seat. If you buy more than two interior chairs we drop the price of additional chairs down to $50. Lots of people have snapped up the old chairs as a piece of history from the theatre. Call the box office for information.
Rehearsals are in the last couple of weeks for God's Favorite which opens Feb. 4. The set is in the final build stages and volunteers are needed to help paint and help hang the masking drapes. Betty Wise has been in several days this past week helping paint.
Rehearsals also are underway for Boy in the Girls Bathroom. The set was taped out up in the classroom yesterday and April starts staging the show tonight.
The play selection committee is reading the final play for consideration and should have a season proposal completed by next week. That proposal then goes to the board of directors for approval. After that the rights are secured for the production (which generally requires us to put money down as a deposit on the shows), we then develop logos and descriptions and then look at budgeting. So far the season is shaping up for lots of roles for all ages. Our formula is a large cast and a small cast musical, two comedies and a comic drama. Other shows for the youth season and studio season are still being reviewed. We will announce our new season at the Curtain Call fundraising event on March 19.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Changes in planning
It was a difficult week. With the news of the death of Mary Jane McGuire we were all in a kind of shock. It was also the week for the Kentucky Arts Council grant to be submitted no later than Friday at 5 pm. During the week we found out that the date of our Curtain Call auction event was also the date that Lourdes Hospital had selected for the American Cancer Society fundraiser Dancing with the Stars. We try not to compete with other fundraising events if at all possible. When we selected our date last July there was nothing scheduled on March 27. However things happen. The committee chaired by Valerie Pollard got together and decided to move our date, even though we already had advertising out, in order to not conflict with the Dancing With the Stars event which also has some Market House Theatre supporters involved in. So after a lot of schedule shoving, phone calls to make sure that no one knew of any other conflicts and April being gracious enough to sacrifice her final dress rehearsal for the Footlights troupes in the theatre space, we moved the date up to March 19. The Footlights troupe shows will be the next day on the 20th. We held the Feb. MHT newsletter from going to press until we could make that change.
Jim Keeney, Mike Brewer, Jeff Spicer, and Steve Schwetman all pitched in and moved the majority of the old seats to the warehouse last Thursday. We still have a few at the theatre but the auditorium is almost totally empty now. We will try to shampoo the carpets and get the new seats ready for their debut. The company shipped us the wrong arms on the chairs without the space for a plaque but they are now shipping the correct ones and we should have them all installed before Feb. 4 when God's Favorite opens.
It always seems like there is plenty of time to finish up the details to avoid the last minute rush on the grant and yet it always seems we are down to the wire. I submitted the grant online by 3 pm in the afternoon. But because of problems getting my supporting materials to load onto a disc I walked into the post office at 4:55 pm to get the grant package postmarked by the 5 pm deadline.
Saturday the funeral service for Mary Jane McGuire was held and many of the Market House Theatre performers and friends were there to honor Mary Jane. I was asked to be a Pall Bearer to represent the Rotary Club of Paducah and was honored to do that and represent MHT as well. I've thought a lot about the many shows and events I worked on with Mary Jane. I will miss her. She was a dear friend.
Saturday morning I met with Cindy and Bonnie and Ross Daniels to discuss the auditions for Cinderella Enchanted. That show should be lots of fun and we had a good meeting about the classic love story that has lots of modern overtones and humor in it as well. Saturday night I worked on a model of the set for April for Boy in the Girls bathroom set. It will be a challenging show to produce with the many scenes and locations that are needed. Many of the scripts today are written like movie scripts where characters walk from one location to the next with no break in the dialogue. Audiences don't like to sit through lots of scene changes anymore so we have to incorporate the scenery transitions into the action of the play.
Monday evening is play selection committee and hopefully we will narrow done the choices to our final slate of plays. We have several good plays to pick from. The challenge is to build a season out of them.
Jim Keeney, Mike Brewer, Jeff Spicer, and Steve Schwetman all pitched in and moved the majority of the old seats to the warehouse last Thursday. We still have a few at the theatre but the auditorium is almost totally empty now. We will try to shampoo the carpets and get the new seats ready for their debut. The company shipped us the wrong arms on the chairs without the space for a plaque but they are now shipping the correct ones and we should have them all installed before Feb. 4 when God's Favorite opens.
It always seems like there is plenty of time to finish up the details to avoid the last minute rush on the grant and yet it always seems we are down to the wire. I submitted the grant online by 3 pm in the afternoon. But because of problems getting my supporting materials to load onto a disc I walked into the post office at 4:55 pm to get the grant package postmarked by the 5 pm deadline.
Saturday the funeral service for Mary Jane McGuire was held and many of the Market House Theatre performers and friends were there to honor Mary Jane. I was asked to be a Pall Bearer to represent the Rotary Club of Paducah and was honored to do that and represent MHT as well. I've thought a lot about the many shows and events I worked on with Mary Jane. I will miss her. She was a dear friend.
Saturday morning I met with Cindy and Bonnie and Ross Daniels to discuss the auditions for Cinderella Enchanted. That show should be lots of fun and we had a good meeting about the classic love story that has lots of modern overtones and humor in it as well. Saturday night I worked on a model of the set for April for Boy in the Girls bathroom set. It will be a challenging show to produce with the many scenes and locations that are needed. Many of the scripts today are written like movie scripts where characters walk from one location to the next with no break in the dialogue. Audiences don't like to sit through lots of scene changes anymore so we have to incorporate the scenery transitions into the action of the play.
Monday evening is play selection committee and hopefully we will narrow done the choices to our final slate of plays. We have several good plays to pick from. The challenge is to build a season out of them.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Sadness
It is with a great deal of sadness that I share the news that long time musical director Mary Jane McGuire has passed away. I don't know all of the details but from what I know Mary Jane apparently passed away in her sleep. It is still too early to know about funeral details but when I find them out I will post them on the theatre's website and send out information by email. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mary Jane's family. We will all miss her.
Friday, January 8, 2010
First Week of 2010
The first week back after the holiday break is playing catch up. I have to give a special thanks for going above and beyond their job description to Marsha Cash and Rhiannon Dodds. Marsha is a former nurse and on Thursday evening just after closing Marsha and Rhiannon helped me by removing the nerve block that I had implanted for my shoulder surgery. Both of them tried to get raises out of me as they threatened to rip off with glee all the surgical tape from my shoulders if I didn't give in. Unfortunately I told them I have a high pain threshold so they were out of luck. My shoulder is recovering quickly and we all had a good laugh and my thanks for their help.
April is set for Footlights to begin Saturday morning. She has also been working preparing for the auditions for There's a Boy in the Girls Bathroom. Even with the snow days this week it has been hectic for April as she has begun work on plays for Lone Oak, Clark, Concorde and Ballard Elementary schools in addition to the MHT play and Footlights.
Marsha besides playing nurse has been trying to catch up on tax receipts and thank you letters for all of the donations that we have received at the end of the year. Rhiannon has also been hard at work with ticket sales and school matinee follow-up for Boy in the Girl's Bathroom.
Aaron Spoden who is home from college for a couple of days came in to help Jim Keeney and they put up the basic walls and platforms on stage today for God's Favorite to move onstage Monday.
I spent the morning out at WKCTC meeting with Constance Frank who teaches the Introduction to Theatre Classes. She is taking a 6 week medical leave for some surgery and the college has asked me to fill in for her until she returns. I taught Introduction to Theatre and Technical Theatre production at WKCTC a few years ago and really enjoyed the experience. So starting Monday I will put back on my teaching hat and help out.
Cindy Miller was in today and she wrote and laid out the February newsletter which we hope will go to the printer as early as next Monday. Cindy, Bonnie Daniels who is directing Cinderella and I will meet next Saturday to talk about music and scenery. Cindy and the rest of the Strategic planning committee looked over the final draft of the online survey today and we should be ready to send out emails with links for people to participate next week.
Debra Harned who volunteers to do our program layout is also working on the program for God's Favorite which goes to press 3 weeks before the show opens. While we just began 2010 there is lots going on that relates to 2011.
April is set for Footlights to begin Saturday morning. She has also been working preparing for the auditions for There's a Boy in the Girls Bathroom. Even with the snow days this week it has been hectic for April as she has begun work on plays for Lone Oak, Clark, Concorde and Ballard Elementary schools in addition to the MHT play and Footlights.
Marsha besides playing nurse has been trying to catch up on tax receipts and thank you letters for all of the donations that we have received at the end of the year. Rhiannon has also been hard at work with ticket sales and school matinee follow-up for Boy in the Girl's Bathroom.
Aaron Spoden who is home from college for a couple of days came in to help Jim Keeney and they put up the basic walls and platforms on stage today for God's Favorite to move onstage Monday.
I spent the morning out at WKCTC meeting with Constance Frank who teaches the Introduction to Theatre Classes. She is taking a 6 week medical leave for some surgery and the college has asked me to fill in for her until she returns. I taught Introduction to Theatre and Technical Theatre production at WKCTC a few years ago and really enjoyed the experience. So starting Monday I will put back on my teaching hat and help out.
Cindy Miller was in today and she wrote and laid out the February newsletter which we hope will go to the printer as early as next Monday. Cindy, Bonnie Daniels who is directing Cinderella and I will meet next Saturday to talk about music and scenery. Cindy and the rest of the Strategic planning committee looked over the final draft of the online survey today and we should be ready to send out emails with links for people to participate next week.
Debra Harned who volunteers to do our program layout is also working on the program for God's Favorite which goes to press 3 weeks before the show opens. While we just began 2010 there is lots going on that relates to 2011.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
January 6
Although MHT was closed for the Holidays there has still been activity going on behind the scenes. It has been a rough week for me getting back into the swing of things. I had shoulder surgery on Monday and although the recovery looks good and should progress quickly I will be glad when things smooth back out a bit. The grant for the Kentucky Arts Council is due a week from Friday and that will be the focus for the rest of this week and most of next for me.
Jim Keeney along with a volunteer is trying to move the Best Christmas Scenery to the Warehouse along with the old audience chairs to make room for the new chairs and the God's Favorite set. I obviously haven't been much help with that moving project. A new volunteer Thomas has been a big help. We could still use some help to move the chairs and the flats and platforms.
Marsha and I counted today and we have over 172 of the old chairs left for sale. There are about 5 aisle seats left. I will post the complete number of chairs and parts on the website this week. If anyone is interested in buying the old chairs contact me for a price on multiple chair purchases. If I don't get any response before the end of the month I'll put them on eBay. Get your orders in now!
Betty Wise came in today and took down all of the Christmas and Holiday decorations. She did an outstanding job of decorating the theatre lobby and the box office and our sincere thanks go out to her for her hard work.
The strategic planning committee has been working with Kristin Williams on our survey that is about to start online this month. We are doing this survey before we hold a strategic planning meeting in February. Hopefully this survey along with some of the results from the survey we did for Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming will be helpful as we develop a strategic plan outline for the theatre's future. Constance Alexander from Murray will be our facilitator for the strategic planning meeting.
The play selection committee met on Monday evening and has narrowed the list for next season down to about 10-15 plays to choose from. Diane Byrd and the cast of God's Favorite are back in full rehearsal mode and will transition from the classroom to the stage next Monday. April will hold auditions next Monday and Tuesday for There's a Boy in the Girls Bathroom. Footlights starts this Saturday regardless of weather (she never cancels because of kids coming from so many different locations.)
Jim Keeney along with a volunteer is trying to move the Best Christmas Scenery to the Warehouse along with the old audience chairs to make room for the new chairs and the God's Favorite set. I obviously haven't been much help with that moving project. A new volunteer Thomas has been a big help. We could still use some help to move the chairs and the flats and platforms.
Marsha and I counted today and we have over 172 of the old chairs left for sale. There are about 5 aisle seats left. I will post the complete number of chairs and parts on the website this week. If anyone is interested in buying the old chairs contact me for a price on multiple chair purchases. If I don't get any response before the end of the month I'll put them on eBay. Get your orders in now!
Betty Wise came in today and took down all of the Christmas and Holiday decorations. She did an outstanding job of decorating the theatre lobby and the box office and our sincere thanks go out to her for her hard work.
The strategic planning committee has been working with Kristin Williams on our survey that is about to start online this month. We are doing this survey before we hold a strategic planning meeting in February. Hopefully this survey along with some of the results from the survey we did for Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming will be helpful as we develop a strategic plan outline for the theatre's future. Constance Alexander from Murray will be our facilitator for the strategic planning meeting.
The play selection committee met on Monday evening and has narrowed the list for next season down to about 10-15 plays to choose from. Diane Byrd and the cast of God's Favorite are back in full rehearsal mode and will transition from the classroom to the stage next Monday. April will hold auditions next Monday and Tuesday for There's a Boy in the Girls Bathroom. Footlights starts this Saturday regardless of weather (she never cancels because of kids coming from so many different locations.)
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