Board members present:
| X | Alex Night | X | Jered Biard |
| X | Brad Story | X | Robby Burt |
| X | Julie Ulmer | X | Ann Glenn |
| X | Bill Hays | EXC | Jessica Kropp |
| EXC | Linda G. Johnson | EXC | Robert Canterbury |
| EXC | Lamar Austin | X | Rudi Timmerman |
| X | Amanda Baker | EXC | Gini Burt |
Guests:
Meeting was called to order by President Alex Night at 5:30 PM
- Secretary’s Report: Minutes from previous meetings had previously been sent out by email. Ann moved we accept minutes as submitted. Rudi seconded the motion and minutes were approved.
- Treasurer’s Report: Arvest (general fund) approximately $810.00
Union Bank (Building) $14,874.87
First Financial (concessions) $1348.91
- Brad made a motion that we move $2000 from the building fund to the general fund to cover immediate expenses. Rudi made an amendment that the transfer be considered as a loan. Rudi seconded. Motion passed.
- Office Report—Alex –
- Bensons will be discussed at the next meeting. Bill mentioned we spent $3000, but no further discussion at this time.
- Alex is working on commercial memberships, initially sending out letters for personal renewals first. Alex has received 4 responses out of 23 so far, plus five “returned to sender” due to wrong address. The plan is to mail personal renewal requests but call businesses.
- We received $500 from a donor who is passionate about PCDC families and donated 10 tickets for them to come to the show this Sunday.
- Ticket sales are picking up for The Fantasticks, some from out of town and many newcomers to Mena, some mentioned seeing the fliers around town.
- We now have a Tik Tok account; Alex, Stefani Collins, and April Burt are in charge of posting. Jered cautioned about putting even 6 second video clips without sound from The Fantasticks. Alex will doublecheck what is allowed.
- Rudi mentioned we have over 3000 contacts on FB.
- Artistic Director Report—Judy
- Judy sent in report via email to Alex and Julie.
- She encouraged us to be sure and attend The Fantasticks
- We should get our friends to come to see it also!
- Did all the posters get put up? YES, we did!
- Is there a survey going into this program about publicity again? YES, there have been some edits done to the last one according to previous meeting discussion.
- Be sure everyone knows the dates for Clue auditions which will be Tuesday, August 8th at 6-8 PM, Thursday August 10, 6-8 PM, and Saturday, August12 at 10-noon.
- Amanda has all the ushers and box office. Bill has concessions covered for The Fantasticks
- We will check out Advertising and Promotion for advertising.
- House—Brad
- The Green room is being cleaned up, Robert Canterbury is helping.
- Robby is working on lights for the show.
- Judy has a lead to sell Audrey II.
- Brad is still working to get in touch with James Earl Turner.
- Brad will be gone next board meeting, but we should send any building need requests to Brad ASAP.
- Rudi suggested we need protective coating for the insulation in the roof. He asked Brad to contact Insulation Works or Quill Hostetler to check out the situation.
- Brad will also have Alvin’s check out our heating unit before winter.
- The AC has been very expensive this summer. Be sure to check the green room AC when securing the building, the green room was set at 62 and was not turned off. Anyone using the building in the summer needs to be aware of AC temps and not run it at low temperatures when no one is going to be in the building for long hours or days.
- Lamar was absent, but there was a question about whether or not it was a mistake not to put a Christmas show on this year. There seems to be interest, and some board members expressed hearing members of the community are disappointed. Could we possibly do “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever?” Or possibly something like “A Christmas Carol” that is under public domain? (The version Brad did a few years ago was not under public domain,) We were reminded that the Lyric Players are scheduled to do a performance in December at the theatre as well as two performances at The Ouachitas. Ann said it would not feel like a fully produced Christmas show, The discussion temporarily took a pause.
- There was some discussion about “The Play That Goes Wrong” and if it is too ambitious for a first-time director to tackle the particularly difficult set issues involved in the play. Director Jocelyn Biard is highly motivated and wants to do the full-length version, not the Junior Version. More people need to read the script (including people outside the play selection committee?) and this needs to be addressed relatively soon as this play is slated for February.
- Alex asked that we wait to talk about this and a few other upcoming play selection possibilities until after The Fantasticks is over to give more people time to read scripts and form opinions.
- IT Report—Jered –
- Jered is busy working on programs and details for the weekend opening shows. Someone else may need to make more copies for the second weekend. He will be out of town most of the week, but he will have the estimated amount of programs ready for this weekend.
- When we contact corporate sponsors, be sure to remind them to send artwork for graphics.
- Box office—Amanda –
- Amanda has box office covered for The Fantasticks.
9. Publicity—Julie –
- Julie met in person with Ethan Nahte and Alexis James at the Pulse and we are back on track with them. They let the previous ad person go from their staff. They are printing an article on The Fantasticks that should be in today’s paper with a photo and our ad will appear this week and next and Ethan was writing up KENA announcements for the show. They are very willing to help us and appreciate their membership and the complimentary tickets.
- The Star voluntarily paid a visit to the Fantasticks rehearsal and wrote a great review. I still sent an article and photo to them for this week, hopefully it will appear in tomorrow’s paper.
- If we are doing the program publicity survey, also include the “Chamber Tracks.” They regularly print the advertising I send them for free.
10. Readers Theatre – Ann
- Two performances this past week with great reactions from audiences.
- Mt. Ida museum may be interested in having them perform. Julie gave contact info from Ethan Nahte to Ann.
New Business:
- The Just 4 Fun Players seems to be setting up for doing mainly dinner theatre. There was some discussion on whether or not they may prefer to leave from under the umbrella of OLT. No action was taken.
- Bill is seeking a Walmart grant, but we need a new password. It was suggested he set up a new account if possible.
- Per earlier discussion, Rudi made a motion that we do a Christmas show this year. Bill seconded. Discussion took place before the vote about doing a small show for adults, as this is the year for adults to do the Christmas show. The lateness of this decision is a concern, but it was pointed out that Christmas is still 5 months away. “The Gift of the Magi” (Lyric Players) is scheduled to play at the theatre on December 9th (Saturday.) Friday and Sunday at The Ouachitas. It was suggested the possibility of adding a short show or choir performance to the Readers Theatre performance. As the motion remained on the floor, the vote resulted in seven YAY’s, one NAY, and one abstention to pursue a Christmas show.
- Amanda moved that we research the options for a Christmas show and put it to an email vote ASAP. Rudi seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.
11. Adjourn
- Bill motioned to adjourn. Ann seconded, and the meeting adjourned at 6:56 PM.