Date : February 20, 2025
Board members present:
| X | Jered Biard, President | X | Robert Canterbury, |
| X | Zeke McPherson, Vice-President | EXC | Ann Glenn |
| X | Julie Ulmer, Secretary | X | Linda G. Johnson |
| X | Bill Hays, Treasurer | X | Jessica Kropp |
| X | Alex Night, Past President | X | Mikayla Barber |
| EXC | Amanda Baker | X | Stef Moore |
| X | Gini Burt | X | Rudi Timmerman |
| X | Robby Burt |
Secretary’s Report: The minutes from January 16, 2025 were sent out electronically. Bill made a motion that the minutes be accepted. Robert seconded, the motion carried, the minutes were accepted.
President’s report: Jered Biard
Jered called the meeting to order at approximately 4:55 PM
Publicity Report – Zeke
There has been lots of engagement on the show “One Wife Too Many” on Facebook. Zeke said boosting the post seemed to get significantly more likes and shares.
He is considering doing the first week only for ads, and doing Facebook purchased ads (around $10) for the second week. After discussion, the board seemed to think that we are saving enough money on publicity since we only purchase ads from one paper now instead of two, that we can afford to keep two ads over two weeks in the Star as well as utilize Facebook’s ads.
After questions regarding radio coverage, Zeke reminded the board that the ads on the radio during community announcements are free. As such, they are at the whim of the radio announcer on frequency and length.
Treasurer’s Report: – Bill Hays
Arvest (General Fund): $7,629.48
First Financial (Concessions): $4,521.55
Union Bank (Building Fund): $4,149.87
If you use the debit card, you must put a note on the receipt designating the expense and give it to Bill.
We have a few hundred dollars in interest and about $15,000 in the Edward Jones account.
A copy of the January 2025 minutes is on file at the banking institutions, so the designated signatories do not have to bring in a separate copy. Please report to all three banks and Edward Jones to sign the signature card ASAP if you haven’t already done so.
Concessions – Bill No report
Office Report—Alex Night
In the last month we have one new commercial membership. Mountainview Methodist Church
The new heater in the office is working great! Alex is happy. L
If you are in the office and the last one to leave for the day, please leave the heater on when you leave; it is on a thermostat and will monitor itself.
Artistic Director Report/Play Selection Report—Judy Kropp
This truly has been a very busy month for me.
The first piece of business I feel we should talk about is a no discrimination policy. In this day and age we need to approve a policy such as this to secure that all feel welcome in our facilities.
“The success of the Ouachita Little Theatre depends on the effective utilization of qualified people, regardless of their race, creed, color, age, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, or disability. We strive to guarantee a safe space for all participants and audience members”.
I believe this policy should be approved by the board, then all directors and all those that participate as one of our volunteers along with board members, should sign off that they agree to this. Please have discussion and a vote, if possible. I believe we should also post this policy in our theatre.
Discussion: regarding the necessity and purpose of this statement follows:
Some people thought a little different phrasing would be beneficial to the statement’s validity and responsibility. Others questioned the need for the statement at all. Most of the group seemed interested in endorsing such a statement. Discussion encouraged board members who are interested in phrasing a similar statement are welcome to write their own paragraph in keeping with the intention of the original paragraph sent by Judy. All Board members are welcome to an open email exchange between board members. Julie will send out the text as written by Judy on February 22, and everyone is welcome to add their thoughts. Please “respond to all” so everyone can stay up to date. No vote was taken to give people time to process their thoughts and opinions on the subject. Bill moved that we table this discussion until next meeting. Rudi seconded it. The motion carried.
Julie then continued to read Judy’s Artistic Report on her behalf.
From Judy: Thank you for your quick responses. I want to again thank the Play Selection Committee for reading plays in less than a week, discussing, and then approving plays. Thanks to the board also for approving plays so we could go forward with the Spring play. I also cancelled our contract for Jimmy Buffett’s play as well as got the royalties and etc. for the current upcoming play, All I Ever Needed I Learned in Kindergarten. The Play Selection committee is in process of reading Frozen and will be ready to bring it to the board at the next meeting. (Note: not all play selection committee members have had access to read Frozen. There is a limited number of digital perusal copies available at one time. We may have exceeded our limit for this one.)
I have spent hours updating and correcting the Directors Book as well as all the Appendixes. Julie and Zeke are in the process of editing my writing. I have previously printed off the book for a director and will continue to do that. I believe each revision makes it even better and gives more info to our directors. I always do a lot of research as I work on the book to make sure it is good concerning our theater but also on top of all things concerning the overall theater community and our volunteers.
Discussion: everyone would like to read it on their own time as the meeting is running long. Jered suggested we make comments on a digital copy Julie will send to the entire BOD.
Julie continued reading on Judy’s behalf:
From Judy: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang stuff has started arriving and is ready for the director to begin her process of preparation.
I am awaiting dates from Zeke for the fall play to get the royalties etc. finalized. These dates will definitely affect the December play which will be part of the decision concerning Frozen.
I have also been working with Zeke and Julie on guidelines concerning directors.
Report on Musical Director’s handbook:
Guidelines for Ouachita Little Theatre Musical Directors
By Judy Kropp, Artistic Director
Our guidelines have been put together with the sole purpose to ensure for a positive experience for directors, their casts and crew. We want all to succeed and feel supported in their new role. These guidelines are NOT hard, fast rules you must obey. The OLT feels it would be best if you could complete these recommendations.
Work with at least two different directors to see their styles and to see which suits your own personality. All directors are different and execute their tasks differently and you need to experience that. The best scenario, one that we would encourage, would be to work as a cast member and also as a crew member with different directors. The way the director manages each role is different and yet noteworthy.
Be an assistant director under a director for at least one show. This director would be approved by the board. Mentors could also be recommended to you to be sure you have a quality experience that will truly answer your questions and prepare you for the role of Director.
The Artistic Director could also supplement your training with a workshop or one-on-one time. As such, you should be given opportunities to : schedule practices, block a scene, speak with volunteers (painters, costumers, and publicity, etc.) be aware of the budget, and help report to the board,
You will be given a director’s handbook and will be expected to sign off that you have read it all. If you have questions, those questions should be addressed by a member of the board or Artistic Director.
A Director is the person that has been encouraged to direct a specific play or musical. That person is in charge of all things and “the buck comes down to them.”
The Musical Director is responsible for “all things music”. This includes training the singers, directing an ensemble of musicians to accompany, or running the performance tracks during a show. A person who performs at least two of the jobs listed above can be listed as the Musical Director. They are not in charge of budgets, vision, costumes, etc. The role is comparable to other directors such as Lighting Director, Sound Director, and work under the direction of the Director and support the roles of the other technicians and crew members.
There are other roles that can be filled by musicians.
Vocal Coach- teaches the singers their parts and how to sing;
Accompanist- plays the music for the performance;
You need to work with a theatrical production at the OLT as a cast or crew member.
You must also be an assistant director with a musical production
You need to understand the role of the Musical Director, the Choreographer, and the Director and how they work together. All other Crew directors have more extended roles. That understanding is immense when considering the success of the show!
It is important to have musical knowledge including musical timing and the importance of lyrics. The ability to read music is very important, and it would be recommended that you can play an instrument such as piano or guitar.
END OF ARTISTIC DIRECTOR’S REPORT
BOD SHOULD CHECK EMAILS FOR WAYS TO COMMENT
DIRECTLY TO JUDY ANYTHING YOU HAVE TO
ADD OR SUGGEST
House— Zeke McPherson
Bill reminds us that the water bill is still running high, about $137.
Jered has given Zeke a work list, including work on the toilet upstairs,
Jered asked us to watch for a potential leak coming from the roof. He saw a small puddle by the stairs on stage-right side.
The question was asked as to how we can get on the roof for inspection. Rudi said a forty-foot ladder will get us on the roof, but REA has a cherry picker and have let us use it before. Zeke said he may know someone also with a cherry picker, and he will pursue.
Jered addressed concerns regarding our current key situation. We now have a shortage of keys. The building was re-keyed and keys given out were recorded on file in the office a few years ago, but it is no longer accurate. The building probably needs to be re-keyed in the near future. People getting off the board need to turn their key(s) back in. Directors, Assistant Directors, and technical directors need to have their own keys for the duration of the show. If they are not board members or relatively permanent custodians of a department, they should turn their keys in when their show is done,
Handicapped parking update: –Stef checked it out, got the measurement requirements. We will need to buy a couple of signs. The template for painting the parking spots is expensive. Maybe we could borrow one?
IT Report—Jered Biard –
Jered ran into some microphone issues on the Wives show. He bought some more equipment on E-bay and the sound is much better now,
Box office—Amanda-
No report
Social – Linda
Linda reported that the Benson Awards will be Friday May 30 at the Crossing. Dinner is at 6:00 PM and awards begin at 7:00 PM. The theme is “Masquerade.”
Voting and nominations for future Benson awards were discussed. One suggestion is to have the Board vote for the nominations vs. having the membership nominate the nominees. Gini suggested considering forming an “Academy” made up of members who commit to seeing all (or almost all) the shows and having them make up nominations going forward.
There was a lot of discussion. There were many suggestions, from general audiences nominating their favorite performers from the program right after seeing the play, to having the Board only choose nominees and voting on the categories. The issues involved focused on “how involved should the membership be as well as how ‘fair’ it is to have people voting on only what they saw.” It puts small plays that may have been very good at a definite disadvantage for awards. It can, in some cases, be a “popularity contest.” It was pointed out that not including the membership in voting is to ignore a tradition from the very first Benson Awards to the present. As it appeared that no general consensus will be reached on this topic tonight, this discussion for future Bensons is tabled until later. But Linda needs an answer for this year’s voting process immediately,
Linda emphasized that since we already have our nominations for this Benson season, we need to decide how this election process will run for this year. The general consensus for this year is to do it as we did last year, ballots sent electronically to all members to vote on the nominees presented on the ballot. One new thing will be added. We will add a note to the members viewing the ballot requesting that they only vote for the shows they have seen, ignoring the ones they haven’t seen.
Linda also brought up the topic of whether or not OLT is going to sponsor the responsibility of the cost of the dinner or not. There was much discussion on this as well. RSVP’s will be necessary from those invited which include members of OLT as well as anyone nominated and their guest(s). Jessica moved that we use the Hibachi Trucks to cater the food which will cost about $10 per person and that OLT pay for the cost, while asking for open donations at the door from attendees. Stef seconded it and the motion passed.
12. Readers Theatre – Ann – No report
Old Business
Elections are coming up! Mikayla, Robby, Stef, Rudi, Jessica, and Ann make up the nominating committee and should be looking for new people to fill vacant slots. Julie announced she will not be running for any office this coming season, so we definitely will need a new secretary. Mikayla volunteered to be election chairman, and Jessica is her assistant.
New Business
14. Adjourn.
Gini motioned that the meeting be adjourned, Robert (?) seconded the motion, and it passed. Jered adjourned the meeting at 6:45 PM.