Although its fall break for many of the schools in our area we've been working on The Little Red Hen Story Theatre tour set. Rehearsals are in progress for the show which begins touring in November. Willy Wonka has also been in rehearsal and set construction is going on for that show as well. Auditions for A Christmas Story are next Monday and Wednesday evening at 6:30 pm in the classroom above the studio theatre located at 120 Market House Square next to Etcetera Coffeehouse. Lots of great roles are available for adults and kids.
The Masquare Ball is in high gear getting ready for Saturday October 20. We are pulling scenery and getting the decorations together for the event. Look for either Mike Muscarella or David Mast to appear at various moments around town in a pink bunny suit to raise money in their competition to see who will play Ralphie, in a cameo walk on role in A Christmas Story in a special performance. The Masquerade Ball committee has come up with some really terrific auction items and Laura Duff with A Pampered Palate has an incredible menu planned for the event.
Ghost Tours begin Friday October 12 and have some new stories along with your favorites. It is always amazing to me how much unusual history is all around us that we walk by every day. This years stories include a riverboat captain who cursed all that go up and down the Ohio River and a haunted elevator right in the heart of the downtown area. Tickets are available online or by calling the box office.
Congratulations to Head BBQ Judge Michelle Hequembourg (recently in 9 to 5) on another great year of BBQ judging. I was thrilled to be a part of the festivities again this year as a Ribs judge and can tell you that it was lots of fun! After 9 to 5 closed we said goodbye to Robert Carter who headed off to Louisiana and to Ian Mills who headed back to Boston. The 9 to 5 cast did a great job!
Play selection committee had its first meeting last Monday night with chair Denise Bristol heading up the group. We have a big challenge to select a 50th anniversary season to top the 49th! The call was put out to poll audiences and actors as to what their favorite shows were from the past 49 seasons. Lots of great titles were mentioned. We will do a blend of MHT beloved plays from the past and some new plays next season. Post your favorite plays on the MHT Facebook page that you would like to see us do for the 50th Anniversary. The one play I've always wanted to do but we just can't do it on our stage is Peter Pan. It's really difficult to fly people other than straight up and down when you have no offstage wing space.
MHT just received our audit from last year. We made a couple of decisions mid year that created a deficit at the end of the fiscal year for the first time in 3 seasons. We did extensive roof repairs and tuck pointing on the 3 buildings MHT owns. In addition we did the 2nd phase of a 3 phase study on MHT programming for the future and those costs exceeded our income for the year. The MHT board made the decision last year to make those long term investments using the surplus we had acquired from the previous 2 years of operations in the black to pay for the overage. Without those long term expenses MHT still managed to balance our operational and programming income and expenses which is still a strong sign of MHT's financial position. The theatre ended the year with a zero balance on our line of credit.
