Yes, I totally agree with you, and that was how our CT used to run. But a few years back our by-laws were changed to read ?The affairs of the CT shall be managed by or under the direction of its members.  The membership shall be the administrative and policy-making center of the CT.? The by-laws committee chair convinced us it would make it easier to get more people involved with this wording. At that time we were all active members, all attending the meetings, all involved. So it didn?t seem like the change was a bad thing.  Sly like a fox, the by-laws committee chair knew exactly what he was doing. Now our hands are tied and we can?t change anything.  It?s hard to get anything accomplished when many a good idea goes into discussion purgatory never to resurface. If we do agree on something for a vote, the notice goes to the members and gets voted on after 30 days.  We come back for a vote and they change their minds again and it goes back into discussion. It is a joke.  Unfortunately, our board members have no real power, their votes are no more important than any inactive member?s proxy vote. Any paid or lifetime member can vote in any meeting, on any motion, financial or not. They don?t need to be active, or even in attendance at any meetings. There are no other requirements for who can vote.

Generally the committee, who is elected at the beginning of every year.

I make the decisions for my theatre.  I have a board (which will eventually make the initial decisions ... ) but the final decisions will always fall to me.   I welcome any and all suggestions and weigh them carefully, but decisions ultimately come down to me, the director/CEO. 

Our board makes the day to day decisions, and then big decisions such as changing by-laws, Purchases over $5,000 ect...are made at the bi annual general membership meeting.  However to have voting rights, you must be an active member which means that you have paid your membership dues and have participated on one show (acting, crew, directing, ushering, box office one night...etc).  And you have to be present to vote.  We only need a quroum of the members PRESENT to have a vote pass.  This has helped us avoid a lot of problems because only the people doing the work and taking an active interest in the theater are having a say.  If you don't show up...you don't get a vote and don't complain about it later because you chose not to participate.    That stance has worked well for our theater and made things relative easy to get done.  I hope this helps and I wish you luck with your current situation.

In theory, the board votes on decisions.  For play selection, I think any members at the meeting can vote.  If you have been in any of our shows, you are automatically a member (not a board member).  In practice, our president sort of runs things, and we select whichever play we can afford and someone volunteers to direct.