Friday of last week I went over and setup the sound system for Clark Elementary school and Willy Wonka. April is directing the school production. They rented sound equipment from Rowton Audio and from the Market House Theatre. Wonka had its final dress rehearsal Monday afternoon and did its benefit performance on Monday March 29 in the evening. April and I are working for MHT doing this show but we also are working to make it a good show because our daughter, Jade, is in the cast along with lots of other Market House Theatre Youth performers. They had a school performance Tuesday afternoon and had their final performance Tuesday night at 6 pm.
Tuesday morning April did 3 performances at Ballard County Elementary School. The students there performed The Great Westward Movement. A play about the people who settled across the mid-west and into California, Oregon and Washington. April had two kids out sick for the first show, one of the performers began throwing up between the second and third show and was sent home and a few kids who said they didn't feel good before the 3rd show. She calmed down the kids who were thinking they might be getting sick and then scrambled to get other kids to cover the parts for the 3 missing kids. The kids did a great job (even those who thought they might be getting sick) and she finished up in time to head back to Clark for their performance.
The cast of Wedding Belles have been rehearsing during the evenings this week not only getting off book but dealing with all the props. Kris, who has never done a show with MHT before was trying desperately to memorize the entire script thinking she had to know her lines and everyone elses. When I told her that was not the case at all she was very relieved. I think there is probably a common misconception about learning lines. Generally you memorize your lines and the cue line right before your line. Kris was trying so hard to think of her next line before she had to say them. My answer to her is that the key is to listen to the person who is speaking to you. The best actors can't think of their lines at all before they speak them. They are a natural response to the cue lines. In fact if you are trying to think about your line before you have to say it that's bad. Often during rehearsal and I will stop the action and correct a problem and then go back and try to run a section again. I have to find a natural starting point which give them a context or the actors have no idea what their lines are.
People always comment about how much memorization is needed to do a play. The secret is to listen to the other actors and just respond to what they say. A good playwright has already given you the tools to make that easy.
Thursday Bonnie Daniels met with Creatures of Habit to go over costume ideas and colors. We talked through changes and how different costumes needed to function with dance movement and with color and texture choices related to the characters. Before meeting with Creatures of Habit she and I spent time going over conceptual and spatial ideas for the different scenes and how we might do the transformation from pumpkin to carriage and ball gown. We all took the ideas from our meeting and then will go back and work some more on the concept. This is a process that will lead to a final design. Often we start work on parts of the show long before we have finalized all the details. Theatre is a collaborative process. I can only laugh when people assume that I have an idea fixed in stone from the outset and it never changes. Working together we end up with a much better product than we could individually have created.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
March Madness
While MHT doesn't have a basketball team in the NCAA final four, March has certainly been an exciting and exhilarating month.
We opened There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom on March 11 and with school matinees and public performances it closed on March 16. The show had great attendance in both school matinees and public performances. The cast did a great job and April's direction was terrific. While we had several technical challenges in producing the show, it went off without a glitch. The show had over 20 scene changes with set pieces moving on, rotating around, and flying flowing seamlessly from one moment to the next in the show.
Three days later the theatre had been totally turned around with all the seats taken out and replaced with tables and chairs and the Curtain Call fundraiser was held Friday evening March 19. The theatre raised thousands of dollars Friday night to help support our adult and youth programming.
Immediately following the fundraiser last night the board and many volunteers turned the theatre around again and took out all that we had created for the fundraiser and returned it to performance ready for the Footlights final dress rehearsal that started at 8 am this morning. This afternoon we sold out the Footlights troupe shows.
Tomorrow we have the Elementary and Middle School Footlights Troupe shows and then we turn tear down the set and build Wedding Belles which opens in just a couple weeks. Tuesday the MHT Trustee donor group will meet to discuss the results of the Board of Directors Strategic Planning retreat that was held just 4 weeks ago. Wednesday the March Board of Directors meeting will continue that dialogue and finalize dates for next season.
March came in like a lion and is going out in the same fashion. We currently have Wedding Belles, Cinderella, The Murder Mystery Troupe, and Story Theatre all rehearsing. Wedding Belles, Murder Mystery Troupe and Story Theatre all have performances in April.
We have final four excitement every month!
We opened There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom on March 11 and with school matinees and public performances it closed on March 16. The show had great attendance in both school matinees and public performances. The cast did a great job and April's direction was terrific. While we had several technical challenges in producing the show, it went off without a glitch. The show had over 20 scene changes with set pieces moving on, rotating around, and flying flowing seamlessly from one moment to the next in the show.
Three days later the theatre had been totally turned around with all the seats taken out and replaced with tables and chairs and the Curtain Call fundraiser was held Friday evening March 19. The theatre raised thousands of dollars Friday night to help support our adult and youth programming.
Immediately following the fundraiser last night the board and many volunteers turned the theatre around again and took out all that we had created for the fundraiser and returned it to performance ready for the Footlights final dress rehearsal that started at 8 am this morning. This afternoon we sold out the Footlights troupe shows.
Tomorrow we have the Elementary and Middle School Footlights Troupe shows and then we turn tear down the set and build Wedding Belles which opens in just a couple weeks. Tuesday the MHT Trustee donor group will meet to discuss the results of the Board of Directors Strategic Planning retreat that was held just 4 weeks ago. Wednesday the March Board of Directors meeting will continue that dialogue and finalize dates for next season.
March came in like a lion and is going out in the same fashion. We currently have Wedding Belles, Cinderella, The Murder Mystery Troupe, and Story Theatre all rehearsing. Wedding Belles, Murder Mystery Troupe and Story Theatre all have performances in April.
We have final four excitement every month!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Bathroom Tech
The technical rehearsal for Boy in the Girl's Bathroom ended just before 6 pm today. The cast had a delicious meal of lasagna, salad, bread and cookies provided by board members Cindy Miller, Heather Dorr, and Sid Hancock after the tech rehearsal. The last three days have each been 16 hour work days for both April and I, and Jim has put in a full weekend as well getting ready for the rehearsal. Zach Story, a Lone Oak Middle Student who is April's assistant for the show asked technical director Jim Keeney yesterday while we were setting light cues "So you guys work here all day getting ready for the rehearsals?" To which Jim replied in a very nice way-"Did you think all this happened by magic?" Last night we took apart and reconfigured the sound equipment to add in the wireless microphones for the actors who animate the stuffed animals in the show.
We have almost 80 light cues, 35 screen changes, 40 sound cues. and about a dozen piece of scenery that move on and off the stage. Before the rehearsal today I asked Jim to rework the bed and how it moved on and off the stage. It wasn't working as fast as we needed to make the changes. Anything that takes longer than 30 seconds is unacceptable when you have over two dozen scene changes. Many of the changes after today's rehearsal are now completed in 10-15 seconds. He spent a couple of hours redesigning what had been working in rehearsal but now needed to work much faster. We must have rehearsed how to get the classroom desks off and getting the bedroom on about a dozen times today until we were sure it could be done quickly every single time in just a few seconds.
April is working with Wyatt and Chance who playing the young boys on becoming more expressive with their voices, faces, gestures, and body. Wyatt has several scenes with stuffed animals that talk and move around. Trying to get his face and body to react as if the animals are real would be a challenge for anyone. Both of the boys in the show get beaten up by one of the girls. I've had to teach one of the girls how to throw a punch and put someone in a headlock. The boys have to learn to react as if they have been punched. All of the kids in real life wouldn't dream of getting in a fist fight with someone else.
It's also a learning process for the adults and younger kids that acting isn't just saying your lines. Your face has to react to what other people are saying. Your arms and body are expressive using gestures. We react both physically and vocally to others. April must have worked one scene several times at least to get 4 boys to walk onstage as if they were looking for a fight but not really wanting to get in one. Trying to work on two levels at the same time is something first time actors no matter whether adults or children always seem to have a difficult time with. Bradleys father in the play loses his temper and yet he doesn't walk into a scene angry. We have to see what sets him off. We have to see him struggle with not getting angry. We have to see him frustrated by his son who always has some excuse and blames someone else for his faults. The wonderful part is watching the boy slowly change over the course of the play.
For me one scene in the play always makes me angry no matter how many times I see it. It is a scene when the parents of one of the children demand that the principal fire the school counselor so that they can put more computers in the classroom. It doesn't matter how much good the counselor is doing for their child or others.
The parents demand the counselor tell them what their child wanted to talk about. When the counselor refuses the parents get very upset stating that a child doesn't get to have secrets. That children's feelings and confidences they share with others don't deserve the same respect as an adults. The sad/funny thing is that the child only wanted to talk to the counselor about inviting a boy she likes to her birthday party. The counselor told the young girl that she needed to get permission from her parents first before she could talk to her.
In the same scene a very funny moment occurs when the same parents make up a very strange example of a child who might run around biting others on their backside. What would the counselor do if the child bit her? This funny, yet sad scene is all too real in modern education it seems.
There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom has lots of levels that will appeal to both children and adults. Even in the technical rehearsal, focused on lights and scenery and sound there were some wonderful moments that made me laugh and think as I watched the play.
We have almost 80 light cues, 35 screen changes, 40 sound cues. and about a dozen piece of scenery that move on and off the stage. Before the rehearsal today I asked Jim to rework the bed and how it moved on and off the stage. It wasn't working as fast as we needed to make the changes. Anything that takes longer than 30 seconds is unacceptable when you have over two dozen scene changes. Many of the changes after today's rehearsal are now completed in 10-15 seconds. He spent a couple of hours redesigning what had been working in rehearsal but now needed to work much faster. We must have rehearsed how to get the classroom desks off and getting the bedroom on about a dozen times today until we were sure it could be done quickly every single time in just a few seconds.
April is working with Wyatt and Chance who playing the young boys on becoming more expressive with their voices, faces, gestures, and body. Wyatt has several scenes with stuffed animals that talk and move around. Trying to get his face and body to react as if the animals are real would be a challenge for anyone. Both of the boys in the show get beaten up by one of the girls. I've had to teach one of the girls how to throw a punch and put someone in a headlock. The boys have to learn to react as if they have been punched. All of the kids in real life wouldn't dream of getting in a fist fight with someone else.
It's also a learning process for the adults and younger kids that acting isn't just saying your lines. Your face has to react to what other people are saying. Your arms and body are expressive using gestures. We react both physically and vocally to others. April must have worked one scene several times at least to get 4 boys to walk onstage as if they were looking for a fight but not really wanting to get in one. Trying to work on two levels at the same time is something first time actors no matter whether adults or children always seem to have a difficult time with. Bradleys father in the play loses his temper and yet he doesn't walk into a scene angry. We have to see what sets him off. We have to see him struggle with not getting angry. We have to see him frustrated by his son who always has some excuse and blames someone else for his faults. The wonderful part is watching the boy slowly change over the course of the play.
For me one scene in the play always makes me angry no matter how many times I see it. It is a scene when the parents of one of the children demand that the principal fire the school counselor so that they can put more computers in the classroom. It doesn't matter how much good the counselor is doing for their child or others.
The parents demand the counselor tell them what their child wanted to talk about. When the counselor refuses the parents get very upset stating that a child doesn't get to have secrets. That children's feelings and confidences they share with others don't deserve the same respect as an adults. The sad/funny thing is that the child only wanted to talk to the counselor about inviting a boy she likes to her birthday party. The counselor told the young girl that she needed to get permission from her parents first before she could talk to her.
In the same scene a very funny moment occurs when the same parents make up a very strange example of a child who might run around biting others on their backside. What would the counselor do if the child bit her? This funny, yet sad scene is all too real in modern education it seems.
There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom has lots of levels that will appeal to both children and adults. Even in the technical rehearsal, focused on lights and scenery and sound there were some wonderful moments that made me laugh and think as I watched the play.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
5 minutes to post
It is 5 minutes before I have to go over to Boy in the Girls Bathroom rehearsal. Then run straight out of that to Wedding Belles Rehearsal. We have stage the first act of Wedding Belles in 4 days. I'm exhausted from running from one stage to the next. Working on an NEA grant for the city, meeting with the RAMP River Area Master Plan- consultant, ordering scripts for April for next season to look at, securing the rights for the summer drama camp, trying to read murder mystery scripts so we can do a show in 5 weeks for that, getting ad copy for Wedding Belles program, putting in bios and information for wedding belles photos, getting logos and contracts for next mainstage season and adjusting some dates for other events for next year.
This weekend will only get worse with tech on Sunday and a great deal of lights, sound, and scenery to finish. Oh and I took photos today to send to a writer at the NEA who is doing an article on the Market House Theatre for the NEA quarterly magazine. One of their interviewers is trying to locate studio space so they can do an interview for a podcast. I need another 2 of me just to stay even. Oops rehearsal time!
This weekend will only get worse with tech on Sunday and a great deal of lights, sound, and scenery to finish. Oh and I took photos today to send to a writer at the NEA who is doing an article on the Market House Theatre for the NEA quarterly magazine. One of their interviewers is trying to locate studio space so they can do an interview for a podcast. I need another 2 of me just to stay even. Oops rehearsal time!
Saturday, February 27, 2010
February wrap up
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.
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.
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.
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