The week began and ended with planning and meetings. The strategic planning retreat which was last Saturday led to a week of getting information and working on details as well as preparing for shows.
Boy in the Girl's Bathroom rehearsals are proceeding along slowly. The young cast is working hard to move through the process of being off-book. For those who don't know that is the process of taking the scripts out of the actors hands and their having to do the scenes memorized. The adults are doing well but a few of the younger actors are struggling a little. This weekend will be time spent by all of the actors going over and over their lines so that when we start the final week of rehearsals before opening they are solid with their lines.
April and I continue to work on refining the design for the set. I've moved through several design ideas going from large puzzle pieces to lined paper on the walls. We have settled for a style similar to the drawings in the book Diary of a Wimpy Kid. There are a couple of key images in the show that we will try to incorporate into the drawings on the walls of the set. In addition since we want the comedy and to really show through we will be using a variety of bright colors for the wall backgrounds.
Tuesday the Cinderella Cast met for the first time to get their schedules and their scripts and music. The theatre paid for AccompanEase which is a computer software that all cast members can use to rehearse their music. AccompanEase works with Rodgers and Hammerstein and has many of their titles on it. Cast members download the software onto their computers and then they can play back all the songs from the show and hear only their parts or only the orchestra or any variation. Songs can be slowed down, speeded up, or even changed keys. Bonnie Daniels the director of the show can use the software to choreograph and rehearse the dance numbers. The sound for the AccompanEase is simple midi generated music not suitable for performances. This is simply a rehearsal tool.
Wednesday was the board of directors meeting where we finalized several items that we had been studying. One of those was ticket prices for next year. We raised ticket prices for Season Ticket holders by $1 per show. Regular season tickets went from $80 for the entire season to $85. Senior season tickets went from $70 for the entire season to $75. We expanded what used to be the child ages 12 and under ticket to a student ticket ages 21 and under. The student ticket will cost the same as the Senior Season ticket at $75.
In addition the board voted to change single ticket prices. The new prices will reflect a two tier structure. We dropped the single ticket prices for the Saturday matinee from $19 to $15 for all ticket buyers. All other performances will now have a $18 single ticket price. Students ages 21 and under will be able to buy tickets at $15 for all non musical performances along with groups of 10 or more ticket buyers. Musical tickets will be $20 for all performances except the Saturday matinee which will be $16 for all seats. Students and groups will be able to buy $16 tickets to the musicals. The theatre has struggle with consistently rising expenses for lumber,fabric, and production materials to build the sets, costumes and props. The board felt strongly that we remain an incredible value compared to other performing arts ticket prices in Paducah. Plans were also finalized for the Curtain Call auction on March 19. Invitations were addressed and were to hit the mail this weekend.
Thursday the Wedding Belles cast had its first rehearsal. We had a great time reading through the script and all of the actresses are spending the weekend looking up the pronunciation for over 20 different kinds of flowers mentioned in the script. We start staging Wedding Belles in the classroom rehearsal space Monday night after I get through with the Boy in the Girl's Bathroom rehearsal on the Mainstage.
Friday saw meetings with a financial group from the Strategic planning session. We went over information from the American Association of Community theatres and the Theatre Communications Group comparing all aspects of MHT's financial operations with other theatres across the country. We compared budgets, marketing expenses, ticket sales both prices and number of seats sold as well as number of productions and performances, fundraiser expenses and contributed income as a percentage of total income from various sources, salaries, number of employees, utility and maintenance costs and a lot more. The group spent two hours pouring over about 60 pages of comparison information. These comparisons and work by this group will begin the budget process for the theatre for 2010/2011 season which begins in 4 months!
Friday afternoon was spent in meetings with arts and city representatives to brainstorm and decide on a grant application for a project from the National Mayors Initiative Forum and the National Endowment for the Arts. A consensus was reached on an idea for a grant proposal and it is now up to a couple of people from the arts and the city to put together a proposal for city commission review Tuesday and a 3 page proposal to be sent to the NEA by March 15.
March is starting off with the theatre working as hard as ever. We are having a very good year hitting all of our income and expense goals so far. We hope that trend continues through the last four months.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Week of auditions and planning
This past week was spent on grants, auditions and planning. Saturday from 9:30 to 3:30 Constance Alexander led the Market House Board and some of our Trustee group in a day long look at the major issues facing the theatre. The theatre board came up with the top three questions that we then tried to come up with strategies that addressed these issues. The questions dealt with business models for future growth and sustainability, future facility needs, and future staff and volunteer resources.
There is a board meeting on Wednesday and we will continue to address many of the issues raised at the meeting. As the theatre works through the issues we will make sure that everyone at the theatre is kept up to date with what is being accomplished behind the scenes.
Cinderella and Wedding Belles Auditioned last week. It was a real relief for me that so many people auditioned for both shows. I was nervous when I asked Bonnie Daniels to direct Cinderella. I wondered if we would get the talent to come out for a director most people didn't know and a show that many men think is just for women. We have a very strong cast. Bonnie agonized over several roles because she had so much talent to chose from.
I also had lots of new and veteran actresses audition for Wedding Belles. Both shows will have a read through on Tuesday night.
The arts groups in Paducah and the City are currently generating ideas for a grant possibility that just became available. The deadline is March 15th for the proposal so many of us are scrambling to get together to discuss options. Last Friday I participated in a teleconference on this grant. Paducah is very fortunate to have lots of hard working arts and civic leaders who want to see the arts thrive. Emails are flying fast and furious as we come down to the wire to apply.
There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom posters came in to be put up. The billboard went up on Park Avenue last week and April moves her rehearsals from the classroom to the main stage this week. Jim has been trying to get the scenery built for the show but I've been out of the office so much this past week I'm afraid he hasn't been able to do much. April is anxious to get her design finalized for the show. Bonnie wants us to get together to talk about her design for Cinderella and I have barely begun thinking about a design for Wedding Belles. It's hard to believe that we have only 4 months left in the season. I don't know why it always surprises me. It seems as if the season has just started and suddenly we are down to the last two shows.
April is still trying to work out the Story Theatre touring cast and schedule. That is proving difficult to get everyone's schedules coordinated. Murder for Hire will start rehearsals soon for the April and May shows scheduled.
There is a board meeting on Wednesday and we will continue to address many of the issues raised at the meeting. As the theatre works through the issues we will make sure that everyone at the theatre is kept up to date with what is being accomplished behind the scenes.
Cinderella and Wedding Belles Auditioned last week. It was a real relief for me that so many people auditioned for both shows. I was nervous when I asked Bonnie Daniels to direct Cinderella. I wondered if we would get the talent to come out for a director most people didn't know and a show that many men think is just for women. We have a very strong cast. Bonnie agonized over several roles because she had so much talent to chose from.
I also had lots of new and veteran actresses audition for Wedding Belles. Both shows will have a read through on Tuesday night.
The arts groups in Paducah and the City are currently generating ideas for a grant possibility that just became available. The deadline is March 15th for the proposal so many of us are scrambling to get together to discuss options. Last Friday I participated in a teleconference on this grant. Paducah is very fortunate to have lots of hard working arts and civic leaders who want to see the arts thrive. Emails are flying fast and furious as we come down to the wire to apply.
There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom posters came in to be put up. The billboard went up on Park Avenue last week and April moves her rehearsals from the classroom to the main stage this week. Jim has been trying to get the scenery built for the show but I've been out of the office so much this past week I'm afraid he hasn't been able to do much. April is anxious to get her design finalized for the show. Bonnie wants us to get together to talk about her design for Cinderella and I have barely begun thinking about a design for Wedding Belles. It's hard to believe that we have only 4 months left in the season. I don't know why it always surprises me. It seems as if the season has just started and suddenly we are down to the last two shows.
April is still trying to work out the Story Theatre touring cast and schedule. That is proving difficult to get everyone's schedules coordinated. Murder for Hire will start rehearsals soon for the April and May shows scheduled.
Friday, February 12, 2010
God, Frankfort, and Glass Slippers
It has been a wild week indeed. First my apologies to Joey Judd for leaving his name out of the supporting cast in my last blog entry. That will teach me to post something without proofing it thoroughly.
God's Favorite continues to do great box office with a great word of mouth. There are shows tonight, Saturday afternoon, Saturday evening, and Sunday afternoon. Tickets are still available for the Sat. and Sun. matinees.
On Wednesday I left at 4 am and drove to Frankfort for Arts Day. Symphony Director Darlene Dryer rode with me and we arrived in Frankfort by 8:15 (9:15 eastern time) for our first appointment of the day 30 minutes later. We visited with most of the Western Kentucky legislators and had time to talk about the arts and their importance. I was really pleased to have hard facts and figures about the economic impact of the arts in the greater Paducah area. Generally when people talk about the value of the arts it is in the quality of life and the educational benefits. In this really difficult budget time period it was important to talk about how many jobs were created by the arts programming in our area. Over 819 jobs are created in our area because of the arts. To give a better sense that makes the number of full time jobs supported by the arts industry in the Greater Paducah area about the same size as James Marine, Wal-Mart, and Harrah's Casino. In addition the arts in the Greater Paducah area provide over $2.6 million dollars in state revenue and approx. $1 million in local government revenue. Those returns come from an investment of approx. $150,000 for the total community. That is a huge return on investment.
Everyone is going to have to share in the pain of this economic recession. It is important for elected leaders at all levels of government to look at the return on investment in these tight times and make informed decisions. Too many times the arts are looked at as a feel good nice thing to do and not a jobs and economic impact engine. We made a strong case for the small arts funding that has already been cut several times to not be cut any further. May Louise Zumwalt with the Quilt Museum and Darlene with the Symphony and I all went to a reception in the evening where we had a chance to talk with the Governor's wife who raised in LaCenter KY. She talked about her fond memories of Paducah growing up. The three of us from Paducah came the farthest of anyone in the state to make our case for support. We are all waiting to see what happens in Frankfort concerning future support. We are fortunate in Western Kentucky to have some very capable people representing us.
Today at lunch the Strategic planning committee met with Kristin Williams to go over the results of our recent Internet survey. There were some surprises and some things that we all had a gut feeling about but the survey verified it. We will take these results to the board strategic planning meeting on Feb. 20. I will post the results after that meeting.
Last Sunday during the performance we noticed a smell of something burning in the theatre offices. We traced it to a computer that was warm and shut it down. On Tuesday we turned the computer on to back up everything on it and it began to smoke. The power supply was apparently worn out. We replaced the computer yesterday and all the data is intact. Four of our computers in regular use are over almost 10 years old. We still have one we use occasionally that is about 12 years old. We have certainly got our money's worth out of them. We had hoped to change out most of the old computers one at a time over the course of the next couple of years. We are looking at accelerating that a little.
Auditions for Cinderella and Wedding Belles are next Monday and Tuesday. I'm really hoping that we get a good turnout of men and women. There are great roles for both in Cinderella. Wedding Belles has seen lots of perusal scripts checked out for women in their 40's and up. Auditions start at 7 pm at the theatre.
God's Favorite continues to do great box office with a great word of mouth. There are shows tonight, Saturday afternoon, Saturday evening, and Sunday afternoon. Tickets are still available for the Sat. and Sun. matinees.
On Wednesday I left at 4 am and drove to Frankfort for Arts Day. Symphony Director Darlene Dryer rode with me and we arrived in Frankfort by 8:15 (9:15 eastern time) for our first appointment of the day 30 minutes later. We visited with most of the Western Kentucky legislators and had time to talk about the arts and their importance. I was really pleased to have hard facts and figures about the economic impact of the arts in the greater Paducah area. Generally when people talk about the value of the arts it is in the quality of life and the educational benefits. In this really difficult budget time period it was important to talk about how many jobs were created by the arts programming in our area. Over 819 jobs are created in our area because of the arts. To give a better sense that makes the number of full time jobs supported by the arts industry in the Greater Paducah area about the same size as James Marine, Wal-Mart, and Harrah's Casino. In addition the arts in the Greater Paducah area provide over $2.6 million dollars in state revenue and approx. $1 million in local government revenue. Those returns come from an investment of approx. $150,000 for the total community. That is a huge return on investment.
Everyone is going to have to share in the pain of this economic recession. It is important for elected leaders at all levels of government to look at the return on investment in these tight times and make informed decisions. Too many times the arts are looked at as a feel good nice thing to do and not a jobs and economic impact engine. We made a strong case for the small arts funding that has already been cut several times to not be cut any further. May Louise Zumwalt with the Quilt Museum and Darlene with the Symphony and I all went to a reception in the evening where we had a chance to talk with the Governor's wife who raised in LaCenter KY. She talked about her fond memories of Paducah growing up. The three of us from Paducah came the farthest of anyone in the state to make our case for support. We are all waiting to see what happens in Frankfort concerning future support. We are fortunate in Western Kentucky to have some very capable people representing us.
Today at lunch the Strategic planning committee met with Kristin Williams to go over the results of our recent Internet survey. There were some surprises and some things that we all had a gut feeling about but the survey verified it. We will take these results to the board strategic planning meeting on Feb. 20. I will post the results after that meeting.
Last Sunday during the performance we noticed a smell of something burning in the theatre offices. We traced it to a computer that was warm and shut it down. On Tuesday we turned the computer on to back up everything on it and it began to smoke. The power supply was apparently worn out. We replaced the computer yesterday and all the data is intact. Four of our computers in regular use are over almost 10 years old. We still have one we use occasionally that is about 12 years old. We have certainly got our money's worth out of them. We had hoped to change out most of the old computers one at a time over the course of the next couple of years. We are looking at accelerating that a little.
Auditions for Cinderella and Wedding Belles are next Monday and Tuesday. I'm really hoping that we get a good turnout of men and women. There are great roles for both in Cinderella. Wedding Belles has seen lots of perusal scripts checked out for women in their 40's and up. Auditions start at 7 pm at the theatre.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
God's Favorite Opening
With two performances already completed of the God's Favorite the response has been very positive. The plays main themes and comedy resonates with audiences and the performers are doing a terrific job with their parts. Diane Byrd's direction keeps the comedy and the humor well paced.
April has been rehearsing the footlights plays and was happy to see that almost all of the youth who are in footlights were there today. This is a performance trimester which means that all of the kids need to be there every Saturday in order to get the play rehearsed and ready for performance on March 20. Last weeks snow didn't help with many of the local kids missing while the out of town kids made it in. Not only are we teaching performance skills and teamwork but at times it feels like we are teaching commitment as well. When a person agrees to be in a play they join a group of people who all depend on the members of the group to be there. When a person is missing from rehearsal then that part of the whole is missing. Each performer in a show from the person who is onstage with the most lines to the person who enters for only one line are critical to creating the play. That person with only a couple of lines can make or break the whole production.
God's Favorite has two leading performers who do an outstanding job with the show. But those wouldn't be as good without the supporting characters who setup the scenes and create the context for the plot. Lisa Humphrey, Landon Baker, Allyson Tracy, Dvonne Miller, and Steve Schwetman all do a great job. In addition Valerie Pollard who is the stage manager and calls all of the lights and sound cues, Debbie on sound and Kiersten(don't know if I spelled her name correctly) on lights, also make the play come to life. Leave the lights up just a few seconds too long at the end of a scene or cut off a sound cue a few seconds too early and the punch lines and comedy don't work.
With the Super Bowl this weekend we think of sports teams and they work they have to do to win the game. With the cast and crew of God's Favorite this is something they have to do with every single performance. The six weeks of hard work and rehearsal are paying off with the audience response.
The new chairs received lots of compliments Thursday and Friday night. We are still tweaking the spacing between rows and the offsets to maximize audience comfort and sight lines. We should have it just about right by Sunday afternoon. The difference of a single inch here or there make a big difference.
April has been rehearsing the footlights plays and was happy to see that almost all of the youth who are in footlights were there today. This is a performance trimester which means that all of the kids need to be there every Saturday in order to get the play rehearsed and ready for performance on March 20. Last weeks snow didn't help with many of the local kids missing while the out of town kids made it in. Not only are we teaching performance skills and teamwork but at times it feels like we are teaching commitment as well. When a person agrees to be in a play they join a group of people who all depend on the members of the group to be there. When a person is missing from rehearsal then that part of the whole is missing. Each performer in a show from the person who is onstage with the most lines to the person who enters for only one line are critical to creating the play. That person with only a couple of lines can make or break the whole production.
God's Favorite has two leading performers who do an outstanding job with the show. But those wouldn't be as good without the supporting characters who setup the scenes and create the context for the plot. Lisa Humphrey, Landon Baker, Allyson Tracy, Dvonne Miller, and Steve Schwetman all do a great job. In addition Valerie Pollard who is the stage manager and calls all of the lights and sound cues, Debbie on sound and Kiersten(don't know if I spelled her name correctly) on lights, also make the play come to life. Leave the lights up just a few seconds too long at the end of a scene or cut off a sound cue a few seconds too early and the punch lines and comedy don't work.
With the Super Bowl this weekend we think of sports teams and they work they have to do to win the game. With the cast and crew of God's Favorite this is something they have to do with every single performance. The six weeks of hard work and rehearsal are paying off with the audience response.
The new chairs received lots of compliments Thursday and Friday night. We are still tweaking the spacing between rows and the offsets to maximize audience comfort and sight lines. We should have it just about right by Sunday afternoon. The difference of a single inch here or there make a big difference.
Monday, February 1, 2010
God's Favorite Tech rehearsal
Yesterday was the technical rehearsal for God's Favorite. The crew came in for the first time and the lighting and sound were added along with costumes. A funny moment came when Al Knudsen playing Sydney Lipton rushes onstage after a bolt of lightning has come so close that it sets Sydney's rain coat on fire. Al came rushing onstage and Tom Dolan grabbed the seltzer bottle and sprayed the back of Al with it. They had never rehearsed this with the real seltzer bottle before and when Tom sprayed Al suddenly whirled around looking at Tom with a "What did you just do to me!" Tom and Al started laughing but quickly got things back under control.
The beginning of the show is a difficult tech moment and it took us several tries to get it right. The shows starts with the stage in darkness and the sound of a clock striking midnight. As soon as the last chime is heard the french doors onstage are opened setting off an alarm. Actors run on stage turn on the lights and run to a panel to shut off the alarm. Immediately after the alarm stops the telephone rings. While this may seem simple it is quite complex to work through for first time crew members at a tech. At one point got stuck in a loop and struck 14 times, then when the doors opened instead of the alarm going off the phone rang. It is also hard to see when the actors hand reaches the light switch in the dark for the lights to come up so we had to practice that as well. Actor Landon Baker who is supposed to answer the phone kept picking it up at different points in the ring and it is hard to stop it mid ring so the phone would sometimes keep ringing after he picked it up or stop ringing just before he picked it up. Eventually all was worked through and we moved on. Most often the hardest part of a show is actually starting the show with the several people who all have to work together.
The new chairs are in place. Today I pick up the row and seat numbers to apply to the chairs. The plaques for the arms are being made and we will pick those up hopefully Wednesday. They shipped the wrong arms for the chairs so we will be replacing over 150 arms with new ones that have the cut out for the seat plaques. This is in addition to finishing the set for the show. Al Knudsen has done a great job of painting the set. He came in and did a nice glaze on the upper wall section and a marble effect on the lower section. We are still working on how to easily install and remove the upper section for Act Two when the set has to look as if it has burned down in a fire.
Opening night is Thursday and we are in good shape. The show if very funny and the cast and Diane Byrd the director have done a great job. Ilist Paducah has done a nice feature on the show with some publicity photos and a video clip I took a week ago of rehearsal. We are promoting the group of 10 or more discount with $2 of each ticket sale from the group going to support Paducah Cooperative Ministry Food Bank.
The beginning of the show is a difficult tech moment and it took us several tries to get it right. The shows starts with the stage in darkness and the sound of a clock striking midnight. As soon as the last chime is heard the french doors onstage are opened setting off an alarm. Actors run on stage turn on the lights and run to a panel to shut off the alarm. Immediately after the alarm stops the telephone rings. While this may seem simple it is quite complex to work through for first time crew members at a tech. At one point got stuck in a loop and struck 14 times, then when the doors opened instead of the alarm going off the phone rang. It is also hard to see when the actors hand reaches the light switch in the dark for the lights to come up so we had to practice that as well. Actor Landon Baker who is supposed to answer the phone kept picking it up at different points in the ring and it is hard to stop it mid ring so the phone would sometimes keep ringing after he picked it up or stop ringing just before he picked it up. Eventually all was worked through and we moved on. Most often the hardest part of a show is actually starting the show with the several people who all have to work together.
The new chairs are in place. Today I pick up the row and seat numbers to apply to the chairs. The plaques for the arms are being made and we will pick those up hopefully Wednesday. They shipped the wrong arms for the chairs so we will be replacing over 150 arms with new ones that have the cut out for the seat plaques. This is in addition to finishing the set for the show. Al Knudsen has done a great job of painting the set. He came in and did a nice glaze on the upper wall section and a marble effect on the lower section. We are still working on how to easily install and remove the upper section for Act Two when the set has to look as if it has burned down in a fire.
Opening night is Thursday and we are in good shape. The show if very funny and the cast and Diane Byrd the director have done a great job. Ilist Paducah has done a nice feature on the show with some publicity photos and a video clip I took a week ago of rehearsal. We are promoting the group of 10 or more discount with $2 of each ticket sale from the group going to support Paducah Cooperative Ministry Food Bank.
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