6-27-2011

We are in the last week of our fiscal year. We are still having rehearsals and performances right down to the end. Last Friday and Saturday the 101 Dalmatians Kids camp put on a performance of their show. With only 8 rehearsals the cast did a great job of bringing the 30 minute musical to life. Saturday's performance was also a benefit for the Project Hope No Kill Animal Shelter. Audience members brought in large bags of dog food, cat food, and cleaning supplies. In addition they made financial donations of $140 for the shelter. Some of the pets that were up for adoption were brought to the studio theatre and after the show both cast and audience members visited the real animals.

Sunday afternoon the Story Theatre cast of Little Red Riding Hood rehearsed in the main theatre in preparation for 6 performances this week at the McCracken County Library Tuesday and Wednesday with performances each day at 10 am, 1 pm, and 3 pm.

This Friday, July 1, the ballet class will be putting on their performance of Sleeping Beauty in the studio theatre for parents. That performance marks the first one of our next season.

Staff members are already taking some vacation days this week as we try to get recharged for another season. In addition we are doing some major maintenance on some of the buildings the theatre owns. With all the rain we have lots of water damage from this past spring that needs repair. We recently just completed tuck pointing the studio theatre and the administrative office building parapets along with the base of the back wall behind the studio theatre. Water had eroded the bricks over the past few years and was starting to do structural damage. We turn now to repairing the roofs on the three buildings. After those are repaired we can then repair the damage to ceilings and walls inside the buildings. MHT budgets over $15,000 a year to maintain the buildings. While we don't own the main Market House building the theatre is responsible for all the maintenance inside our portion of the building and on all the heating and cooling units. All of the buildings are on the national historic register. They need constant care and repair.

One week from the end or our current fiscal year it is looking very positive that we will end the fiscal year in the black for the second consecutive year, even with a down economy. The theatre continues to grow its programming and increase the number of participants we serve. The board of directors has done a great job of fundraising and the Curtain Call committee led by Valerie Pollard did an outstanding job of raising funds. Additional income from the Walking Ghost Tours and big box office shows with great performances from the casts of Alice in Wonderland and Annie boosted single ticket income above budgeted goals. In addition the theatre staff has worked extremely hard to keep costs low and work with small budgets. Those extra funds will help cover the cost of some of the repairs that I mentioned above.

As we say goodbye to our 47th season we are well into planning and evaluating programming and operations well beyond our 48th season. We completed an organizational assessment in January of 2011 and hope to begin the second phase of a facility assessment this summer. This assessment will look at existing facilities and evaluate support and market demand for possible expansion of those existing facilities.