Tonight is the first meeting we've advertised to the public, so we hope to have more people to offer their time and money as word gets out.  Initially, we'll probably do some small productions in restaurants or the community center.  I've written eight murder mystery plays which have been performed professionally on scenic railroads and in restaurants in the area I moved from.   We could do these to raise some funds.  I'd waive the fees I get for royalties, directing, and acting. 

We also plan to have membership dues, solicit sponsors, and do other fundraisers.  It all takes time.

 

 

 

As far as I know, West Virginia does not have a statewide community theater organization.

The first meeting, no one showed, the second we had three and last night, the first one advertised to the public, we had one, besides my husband and myself.  I have an e-mail list of 15 people who are interested and I've spoken to a few others, but they obviously don't look at this as a priority.  I'm very discouraged.  Since I'll be acting in a professional equity show in a few weeks, playing Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music, I've decided to put the community theater attempt to rest until January. 

We are located near Morgantown.  Yes, I'd like to have that contact information. 

Thanks!

 

Hi guys!  I've been busy getting A Man For All Seasons up and going.  It opened last Friday.  It is by far the most technically complex show we've done.  Plus we are adding a bathroom to our theater.  Our audiences have grown so much that the intermissions take too long.

As Kathy said we started VERY small.  We have five directors but meet rarely.  When I started the group, I made an agreement with myself.  I would do everything: produce, direct, scrub the bathrooms, you get the idea and when I felt over worked I'd close up shop.  Now I have lots of help but it took several years.  I think most new theaters need someone to do that.

We started out doing mostly readers theater because of the easier production values.  We performed in back rooms at restaurants, conference rooms, people's living rooms and even corners at bars (didn't work) - any place that didn't charge rent.  At that time we didn't get much for donations and 95% of our money came from ticket sales.  We charged $5.00 for tickets and our biggest expense, by far, were the royalties we paid.  Over the next two years our audiences grew from high single digits and low double digits to 20 to 30.  As our audiences grew, so did the actor pool and our volunteer base.

Then in 2002, we discovered our local Grange building.  We found out about it because the State Grange office was putting it up for sale.  The Grange building was unheated, the roof leaked, was rat infested and smelled of mold.  Myself and a few non theater types convinced the Grange officials to give us another chance.  Our theater group took over responsibility for the inside of the building and the other group took over the outside of the building.  Our theater agreed to pay what we could, when we could for rent.  To make a long difficult story short, it is now a wonderful performance space.  We have 60 theater seats (donated by a nearby theater) and our last two shows have averaged nearly 75 people.  Even better, the Grange is rented almost every weekend we don't want it.  We schedule the use of the Grange so we get what time we want then offer the rest to other groups.

The reason I tell you this is that I have found that there are several stages to an organizations life.  Early on, everyone thought we would fail or get tired and quit and many didn't want to get involved.  When they saw that we were doing good stuff, we attracted actors and volunteers.  After a couple of years we had reached the level of credibility that brought in a few small donations - for special projects in the $1,000 range - like buying a few par lamps and a small dimmer.  Or two small JBL speakers.

When we found a permanent home our credibility took another jump after we fixed up the inside (the other group had a member who donated money for a new roof).  Now I have to turn actors, directors away.  I still keep a very close hand on everything we do to insure that our reputation for quality isn't hurt.  We now get grants from our Community Foundation and others.  We have a dedicated group of large donors and money is not a problem anymore.  For example, last winter, we went out to raise $2,500 to insulate the ceiling at the Grange.  I wrote personal notes to about 15 potential donors and in three weeks we had almost $5,000.  People who used to give $100 to $250 now give $500 or $1,000 or $1,500.  That would not have happened two or three years ago.

A Man For All Seasons is our 9th production this year.  I have personally produced all of them, did tech for all of them and directed six of them.  We have done two full productions, three locally written ten minute play productions and some readers theater and other stuff.  When A Man For All Seasons closes, I'm off till January then we start all over again.

If you are interested I would be more than happy to provide you with a copy of our By-Laws which describe in some detail our particular Board positions. Let me know. You can reach me at:

 

act@silverstage.org

 

Break a leg!

Frank L. Sawyer

Silver Stage Players: Chairman 2006-07