Archive from the Directors Desk this past July 2013

Over the course of the past 6 months I have been writing a monthly letter to donors.  I was asked to share some of those letters with others on our site.  So here is the July letter.

JULY 2013

Reflections on Les Misérables 

The theatre has received so many donations and cards of appreciation in honor of Les Misérables.  People stop me on the street to tell me how proud they are of Market House Theatre and this production.  One of the cast members told me just last week that he was the most proud of being involved in Les Misérables at the Market House Theatre out of anything else he has done in his life.

It is difficult not to reflect back on all of the efforts that make a show like Les Misérables possible, and I realize that this show is not something that just happened this year, but has really been years in the making.  Twenty years ago someone asked me if we would ever do Les Misérables, and I remember laughing and saying “not a chance!”  Yet a year ago, we agreed to do it. (Not without hesitation, though!)

We build on each production every year, creating the possibility to become more than we currently are.  Many of the cast members of Les Mis have grown up in April’s Footlights classes and been involved in Youth and Adult productions.  The theatre has taken on major challenges in the past years by putting on Beauty and the Beast, The Wizard of Oz, Willy Wonka Jr., Hairspray, and more.  Each of these productions required us to reach beyond our current abilities and capacity.  Hairspray last year required a large African-American youth cast of singers and dancers.  Willy Wonka Jr. presented design and technical challenges so as to allow the action to flow through many locations.  Beauty and the Beast presented major costuming challenges.  We constantly have to open ourselves up to reach out to new performers and new audience members. We also have to challenge ourselves each year to earn the trust donors have placed in us.  Their support makes truly amazing things happen.  

Les Misérables required us to use all the tools that we have built on over the years and to add additional ones to the mix as well.  We have again “exceeded” our capacity for what we should have been able to accomplish, pushing our facilities, performers and staff beyond their limits.  (Our 25-year-old lighting system died less than 48 hours before the show opened, so we had to create a temporary one, finishing the light cues 30 minutes before the house opened on opening night!)

Doing this show is a reaffirmation of the years of work that led up to it and of what we continue to do each time a new audition is announced.  For so many years, people have asked me how we were going to top the show we had just done.   We just keep doing what we believe in and keep challenging ourselves to grow.  We keep opening ourselves to invite in new people with every audition, and we strive to make sure that every child gets the chance to discover and grow the talent inside of them to share with others.  We keep investing in more opportunities for all ages to grow.  That’s how we top the show we have just done.  Godspell, which auditions July 8 & 9, will be the next show onstage to follow Les Mis.  Godspell is about a group of strangers who band together to form a community.  A community that tells stories with the power to change lives.  I can’t think of a better show to follow our current production.

Board Member Spotlight:  Chip Bohle

Board Member Chip Bohle is rotating off after 6 years of service, the last few as Treasurer of the theatre.  Chip has been instrumental in guiding the financial planning these past few years as the theatre has grown, experiencing facility issues and budget challenges.  Chip’s history with the theatre goes back many years.  All of the members of the Bohle family have appeared on the Market House stage at some point.  Chip’s debut on the MHT stage was in Oklahoma!, and he has appeared in numerous productions since then.  In 2009, Chip’s wife Denise was the Wicked Witch in Wizard of Oz, while Chip and their daughter Leah played Munchkins and other roles in the ensemble.  (Yes Chip was a 6’+ munchkin!)  Most recently, audiences were treated to Chip’s performances in Escanaba in da Moonlight and Duck Hunter Shoots Angel.  Chip served several years on the board before his most recent term, including serving as Board President in 1999.  After taking a few years off, Chip’s return to the board in 2007 provided us with a historical perspective to the many challenges the theatre faces.  

From the very beginning, the Bohle family has invested their time and personal resources into the theatre.  For several years, regardless of whether or not he was personally involved in the show, Chip would come to me before the end of the year and ask what the theatre needed for the big musical that it couldn’t afford.  Did we need more musicians, a set piece, or a costume that we really wanted but were just out of our reach?  Chip would give the theatre a check to make those things happen.  Chip provided the leadership on the fundraising committee for several years, overseeing the Casablanca events in his early board terms, and most recently, being the first to step up to sponsor the Masquerade Ball, helping to make this fundraiser a success.  

Many years ago, Chip helped to put in place the term limits for board members that require the theatre to seek out new individuals to take on board duties and bring in fresh ideas.  Chip is not afraid to be a “no” vote in a meeting when he believes the theatre needs to reconsider an action, but he  never hesitates to support the decisions of the board and work tirelessly to make the theatre a success.  Chip has made clear that while he may be leaving the board, his passion for and his commitment to the theatre will continue.  Market House Theatre and Paducah are so fortunate to have Chip and his family as a part of this and many other community organizations.