2007 Board of Directors

Transcription

1 AACTFest 2007 Wrapup! The weekend of February 9-11 was the weekend to remember for Wisconsin Community Theatre enthusiasts. The Verona Area Community Theatre played host to the 2007 Wisconsin AACTFest. A must-do event for Community Theatre people. This year we were once again privileged to have three outstanding and well known adjudicators for our festival. Cheryl Starr is a professor of theatre and education at UW Eau Claire, where she teaches acting, costuming, and works closely with the children s theatre program. Cheryl has considerable experience with, and a love for community theatre. John Munsell is a well-known face to Wisconsin community theatres. John is a retired Professor of Theatre from UW Superior and has always been an active supporter of community theatre. He has adjudicated at several past festivals and always receives high ratings from the audiences. Our final adjudicator was Geoff LeonardRobinson from Jacksonville, Florida. He has worked in community theatre most of his life and was founder of Rivers Bend Community Theatre in Evansville, Indiana. Geoff has acted in many different community theatre productions and has a reputation as an excellent adjudicator. Geoff has adjudicated many state and regional AACTFests. Friday was a day filled with rehearsals and tech meetings, ending with a welcome reception at the Super-8 motel. It was a time to catch up with old friends and make new ones. With supplies of snacks and libations as lubrication, the wheels of networking turned until the wee hours of the morning. Saturday began early with continuing rehearsals and a tour of the Electronic Theatre Controls facility in Middleton. The morning continued with the first two performances of the festival. Leading off was Sun Prairie Civic Theatre s production of Rick Lewis musical, G.I Jukebox A 1940 s Stage Door Canteen. Next on the program was Last Lists of My Mad Mother by Julie Jensen which was presented by the Redbud Players from Columbus. After a short break for lunch it was time for more productions and adjudications. Beginning the afternoon was the Phoenix Theatre from Redwing with their performance of Tennessee Williams A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur. La Crosse Community Theatre finished off the afternoon with Deborah Brevoort s The Women of Lockerbie. Once again there was a meal break which saw many of the festival participants patronizing (or perhaps terrorizing) local restaurants. Having refreshed themselves with food and drink, the audience returned to the theatre for the Beaver Dam Area Community Theatre s Western Civilization! The Complete Musical (Abridged). Closing out the performance schedule was the Village Playhouse of Wauwatosa with their production of the Tectonic Theatre Project s, The Laramie Project. But the fun wasn t over yet by any means. While the adjudicators were off deliberating and deciding, people were picking up the items they d WACT News March Page 1

2 won at the WACT silent auction. Besides the usual assortment of miscellany, this year there was also a plethora of Broadway cast recordings (courtesy of Music Theatre International) and signed posters from the Broadway tour of The Producers and the 25 th Anniversary tour of Cats. Then it was off to VACT s rehearsal facility for the festival gala. The building was decked out in sets and props, past and present and once again stocked with an ample supply of food and drink. Sunday morning the Verona MAC Center was the site of the awards brunch and the WACT annual meeting. During the annual meeting Dee Baldock, Frank Peot, and Russ Stetler were thanked for their service on the WACT Board as their current terms of office were expiring. The annual meeting also saw the presentation of the first WACT awards for excellence. Elaine Jellings from Sun Prairie Civic Theatre was presented with the individual award and the La Crosse Community Theatre received the organizational award. After the annual meeting was concluded, it was on to the awards portion of the brunch. Selected to proceed to the Region III festival was La Crosse Community Theatre s production of The Women of Lockerbie with the Village Playhouse of Wauwatosa s, The Laramie Project selected as the alternate. All in all a good time was had by all. Remember to mark off February 22-24, 2008 for the off year conference March 23-25, 2007 Michigan AACTFest 2007 South Haven, Michigan March 23-25, 2007 Indiana AACTFest 2007 Terre Haute, Indiana April 13/14, 2007 Illinois AACTFest 2007 Palatine, Illinois Upcoming Events April 27-29, 2007 Region III AACTFest 2007 Schaumburg, Illinois June 18-24, 2007 National AACTFest 2007 Charlotte, North Carolina February 22-24, 2008 WACT Off-Year Conference Barron, Wisconsin 2007 Board of Directors On Sunday February 11, 2007 the Wisconsin Association of Community Theatre held elections for the Board of Directors in conjunction with their annual meeting. Elected to new three year terms on the Board were Dee Baldock, Frank Peot and Darrell Wagner. Following the Annual Meeting, the new Board of Directors met and elected officers for the next year. Bob Kafka was elected President, Frank Peot was elected Vice-President, Lynn Ruhl was elected Secretary and Dee Baldock was elected Treasurer. Donna Thompson was appointed to the Board to fill out the unexpired term of Marie Peterson who had resigned from the Board Board of Directors President Bob Kafka Vice-President Frank Peot Secretary Lynn Ruhl Treasurer Dee Baldock Members at Large Allen Ebert Carla Gallun Mark Holten Jeannie Pitsch Donna Thompson Darrell Wagner WACT News is published quarterly by the Wisconsin Association of Community Theatre for its members and is annually distributed to an expanded list of known community theatre organizations and interested individuals. Publication dates are March, June, September (expanded list) and December. Volume 5 Number Wisconsin Association of Community Theatre All Rights Reserved WACT News March Page 2

3 Theatre Alphabet Soup Have you ever been confused by the seemingly endless collection of theatre organizations and their acronyms? It s certainly understandable considering the number and variety of organizations and their associated acronyms. So let s try and shed a little light on the subject. The first community theatre organization in Wisconsin was the Wisconsin Idea Theatre Conference (WIT) which was established in Skipping ahead to 1973 we see the formation of the Wisconsin Theatre Association (WTA) which was an umbrella group encompassing professional, children s, secondary school, and university and college in addition to community theatre. The community division was the Wisconsin Community Theatre Association (WCoTA). By 1990 a number of the WTA divisions were no longer active and WTA was dissolved. In true community theatre fashion, the night after the vote to dissolve, people grabbed their drinks, got out of the hot tub and gathered in a conference room to plan what would happen next for community theatre in the state. What happened was the Theatre Association of Wisconsin (TAW). TAW was an informal organization and mainly ensured that there was an AACTFest in Wisconsin every two years. By 2001 interest in a true community theatre organization had reached critical mass bringing us to where we are now the Wisconsin Association of Community Theatre, WACT. Nationally, the pattern has been very similar. In 1958 the American Theatre Association (ATA) was formed as an umbrella organization with the American Community Theatre Association (ACTA) as the community theatre division. ATA dissolved in 1986 and the community theatre division reformed as the American Association of Community Theatre (AACT). Association (and also Oklahoma), ICTL is the Indiana Community Theatre League, ITA is the Illinois Theatre Association, and MACT is the Minnesota Association of Community Theatre. And finally, FACT was the Festival of American Community Theatre AACTFest s predecessor. Region III AACTFest The next step in the AACTFest process after the Wisconsin festival in Verona is the Region III Festival in Schaumburg, Illinois. Region III consists of Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. The regional festival will take place April 27-29, 2007 at the Prairie Center for the Arts in their 442 seat proscenium theatre. The headquarters hotel for the festival is the Marriott Chicago Schaumburg. The hotel is only 2 miles from the theatre and has a pool, sauna, whirlpool and fitness center. (Be advised that the Marriott is a totally non-smoking hotel) Performance sessions will take place on Friday and Saturday at the Prairie Arts Center. The festival will conclude with an awards brunch on Sunday at the Marriott. More information can be found at or So come to Schaumburg and show our support for the La Crosse Community Theatre and! Useful Websites Celebrating the Musicals of Yesterday and Today Information and resources on musical theatre Supplies for the Visual Display Industry A source for props normally used for the visual merchandising industry Just in case you re not confused enough; here are a few other acronyms you may hear slung around. CTAM is the Community Theatre Association of Michigan, OCTA is the Ohio Community Theatre WACT News March Page 3

4 Former Village Playhouse of Wauwatosa member, Judy Schoenfeld is the Production Stage Manager for the current Broadway production of The Grey Garden. Elaine Jellings was the recipient of the first WACT Individual Excellence Award and the La Crosse Community received the first Organizational Excellence Award. Eleanor Smith has retired as the Executive director of the Ohio Community Theatre Association after having served the organization for more than 15 years. We wish Eleanor all the best on her retirement. Joyce Leahy has taken over Eleanor s position and we with her the best of luck in her new role. Bravo is where we recognize special achievements or actions by and for community theatre. If you have an item for us, it to newsletter@wactweb.org and we ll publish them as space permits. WACTFest 2008 Conference The site for the WACT 2008 Off-Year Conference was announced in Verona at the annual meeting. The Spotlighters in Barron, Wisconsin will be our hosts February 22-24, Under consideration is a "Readers Theatre/Workshop" event. New plays would be solicited and read with an "expert" on hand to talk about the script, what works, what doesn't, how it might be improved, etc. There would also be other varied workshops that are yet to be determined. And of course there would be the traditional Friday night welcome party, Saturday Gala and Sunday Brunch. If anyone has suggestions as to what they'd like to see, feel free to submit them to Helen Blumer at heblumer@chibardun.net or spotlighters@chibardun.net. WACT News March Page 4 AACTFest Rules The 2007 AACTFest cycle is inexorably winding its way towards the national festival. Now is the time the AACT Festival Commission works on changes to the festival handbook for the 2009 festivals. Now is your chance to sound off about rules you think should be added, changed, or deleted. Every festival is slightly different so the input of the people who are involved in every level of every festival is critical to the festival process. So if you have ideas for changes you can send them to Bob Kafka (BKafka@wactweb.org), who will forward them on to the Festival Commission or to Jon Kerkhoff (festivals@aact.org), the AACT Vice-President for Festivals. If possible, it s best to submit your suggestions prior to the Festival Commission meeting in June so they have a chance to be discussed by the entire Festival Commission. However, they will take written suggestions until August 31. This may seem to be early for a cutoff date to the people in this area, but the new handbook needs to be ready in time for the earliest of festivals which start almost a year prior to the time frame in which Wisconsin festivals are held. Obvious (Or Not?) Are the answers to obvious questions always obvious? See if you know the answers to the questions below (answers on page 6). 1) How long did the Hundred Years War last? 2) Which country makes Panama hats? 3) From which animal do we get catgut? 4) In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution? 5) What is a camel's hair brush made of? 6) The Canary Islands in the Pacific are named after what animal? 7) What was King George VI's first name? 8) What color is a purple finch? 9) Where are Chinese gooseberries from?

5 Wisconsin AACTFest 2009 (Already)? AACTFest 2009 already? It may seem like the distant future. However, putting on a successful festival requires time and effort on the part of the hosting group. We would strongly encourage groups to consider hosting the 2009 state festival. Hosting a festival is a fantastic opportunity to support community theatre. It also gives your group a chance to show off what it can do and be a good fundraiser in the process. It would be ideal to have a host in place prior to the 2008 Conference in Barron. In this way an announcement can be made of the time and place a full year in advance. Announcing early provides companies thinking of entering the opportunity to budget and plan to be a participant at AACTFest Anyone interested in hosting Wisconsin AACTFest 2009 (or any future conference) should contact Frank Peot, 1747 Pennsylvania Avenue, Sun Prairie, WI, (FPeot@wactweb.org), or any other member of the WACT Board of Directors There are hosting guidelines available to help with your organizing and planning. In addition, members of the WACT Board of Directors are available to visit your theatre and/or attend your board meetings to answer questions and offer assistance. Future WACT News What would you like to see in future issues of WACT News? We re always looking for new ideas so just drop us a note at newsletter@wactweb.org. Or if you have an article you d like write that s even better. Articles that are already written are OK too. Answers To Obvious Or Not 1) How long did the Hundred Years War last? 116 years 2) Which country makes Panama hats? Ecuador 3) From which animal do we get cat gut? Sheep and Horses 4) In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution? November 5) What is a camel's hair brush made of? Squirrel fur 6) The Canary Islands in the Pacific are named after what animal? Dogs 7) What was King George VI's first name? Albert 8) What color is a purple finch? Crimson 9) Where are Chinese gooseberries from? New Zealand National AACTFest 2007 Hosting a festival is not the daunting task it may seem at first. And WACT is fortunate to have several top AACTFest experts available for help and guidance. It can, without a doubt, be a fun and enriching experience for your group and your entire community. WACT News March Page 5

6 Wisconsin Association of Community Theatre Board of Directors President -- Bob Kafka 2418 North 111 th Street #2 Wauwatosa, WI Vice President -- Frank Peot 1747 Pennsylvania Avenue Sun Prairie, WI Secretary -- Lynn Ruhl 3528 South Toldt Circle Milwaukee, WI Treasurer -- Dee Baldock 6394 Grandview Road Verona, WI Member at Large -- Allen Ebert th Street South La Crosse, WI Member at Large -- Carla Gallun 223 East Maple Avenue Beaver Dam, WI Member at Large -- Mark Holten 100 Berkley Road Apt 9 Verona, WI MHolten@wactweb.org Member at Large -- Jeannie Pitsch 1605 Heide Lane Marshfield, WI (715) JPitsch@wactweb.org Member at Large Donna Thompson 708 North Maple Avenue Marshfield, WI DThompson@wactweb.org Member at Large Darrell Wagner 3537 East River Drive Green Bay, WI (920) AACTFest 2007 Awards Back Stage Award Phoenix Theatre A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur Excellence in Acting Molly Mae Hoffmann Excellence in Acting Toni Tengblad Excellence in Acting Erico Ortiz The Laramie Project Excellence in Acting Mark Wyss The Laramie Project Excellence in Acting in a Supporting Role Sean McDevitt Excellence in Musical Ensemble G.I. Jukebox, A 1940's Stage Door Canteen Excellence in Ensemble Acting Western Civilization! The Complete Musical (Abridged) Excellence in Directing Allen & Karen Ebert Excellence in Scenic Design Dillon McArdle Excellence in Costume Design Cheri Sailors WACT News March Page 6

7 Upcoming WACT Member Productions March 1-11, 2007 Cemetery Club Chippewa Valley Theatre Guild March 9-25, 2007 The Foreigner Waukesha Civic Theatre March 16-April 1, 2007 You Can't Take It With You La Crosse Community Theatre March 23-31, nd Annual Original One Act Festival Village Playhouse of Wauwatosa March 23-31, 2007 Cheaper by the Dozen Sheboygan Theatre Company April 12-22, 2007 Camelot Sun Prairie Civic Theatre April 20-29, 2007 Stand and Deliver Racine Theatre Guild April 26-29, 2007 Good News Chippewa Valley Theatre Guild May 4-20, 2007 The Importance of Being Earnest Waukesha Civic Theatre May 4-20, 2007 Big: The Musical La Crosse Community Theatre May 18-June 10, 2007 Gypsy Racine Theatre Guild May 25-June 2, 2007 Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Sheboygan Theatre Company June 8-24, 2007 Whose Wives Are They Anyway? Waukesha Civic Theatre June 15-24, 2007 Disney's Cinderella Kids La Crosse Community Theatre June 22-30, 2007 Annie, Get Your Gun Verona Area Community Theater July 4, 2007 Pistol Packin' Sal (FREE event!) Sheboygan Theatre Company Is your show not listed here??? All organizations who are WACT members can have their show listed on the WACT website and in WACT News. Just send your schedule to In Community Theatre There Are No Strangers, Only Friends You Haven t Met Yet. WACT News March Page 7

8 WACT Membership Form Return form to: WACT c/o LCCT PO Box 1852 La Crosse, WI Name Contact Name (Organizational Members) Address Mailing Address City Telephone Web Site (Organizational Members) State Zip Code Individual $15.00 Organizational $50.00 Additional Donation to WACT (Donations to WACT are tax deductible) TOTAL Please make checks payable to WACT -- All memberships run from August 1 to July 31 Wisconsin Association of Community Theatre PO Box 1852 La Crosse, WI 54602