December 2006 Board of Directors Meeting
Board Members Present:
Frank Buczolich (President)
Tim Johnson (Secretary)
Janice Clevenger (Treasurer)
Roy Sillings
Ben Aldred
Russell McGee
Susan Anderson
Also Present:
Sara Johnson (Webmaster)
Jennifer McGee
David Nosko
Minutes from November Meeting
Ben moved to approve, Roy seconded, ayes unanimous.
Treasurer’s report
Hadrian
$- 11.32 Costumes
$- 18.95 Props
$- 1070.00 Expenses previously reported
$+ 805.00 Ticket sales previously reported
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$- 594.27 Final total
Dracula
$- 1488.98 Expenses (props, people, etc.)
General Expenses
$- 160.00 storage
Final balance $+ 2176.47
Susan moved to approve, Ben seconded, ayes unanimous.
Webmaster’s Report
The Web site had 20,014 hits last month, almost exactly the same as the previous report, so things are still going well.
Old/Current Business
Dinner Theater and the Irish Lion
Things were worked out to allow Dracula to finish its run and Christmas Carol to also be performed at the Lion after all. However, some of the concerns that lead to the confrontation with them in the first place indicate that it might be better to move on to other venues for future shows.
Christmas Carol
The show is going well. The matinee performance (the Sunday before the Board meeting, also opening day) had a good turnout of 30 people. The following night’s turnout was not as large, but we collected more money in begging. The script being used is Russell’s adaptation that was used last year, but Bill has presented it such that it comes off as a completely different show. There have been good comments from the audience.
Social Circles
Ben asked for someone to help produce in terms of getting dates set up and stuff. Auditions will be at the beginning of January. Four scenes will potentially be added. Set construction (i.e. building boxes) will probably start once the semester ends.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
David spoke to some people on the City of Bloomington Commission on the Status of Black Males about doing this play. Their feed back was, “Why do Uncle Tom’s Cabin when there are more pressing issues today?” His thought now is to do something in the vein of Uncle Tom’s Cabin that addresses some of the pressing issues for the African-American community today, and he will be attending meetings in December and January toward that end. He still intends to incorporate a panel discussion or round table for an educational opportunity after the show. It has been suggested that the show be pushed back to February as well, to coincide with Black History Month. Frank suggested looking into one of the two AME churches in town.
Directors’ Symposium
We are still looking for a producer. Lee Hadley has been contacted about it, but has not given an answer yet. We should have enough to fill the Symposium, although there are a few things that have been proposed and not really followed up on, it’s mostly just a matter of getting organized.
Fiddler on the Roof
Susan has decided to postpone Fiddler to allow her to better prepare for it.
Checking Account
Tim has been added to MCCT’s account to be able to sign checks. He suggested that he could carry a debit card for the account, which would allow him to take care of purchases directly or order things online rather than having to reimburse people. This would also allow us access to our account online. His suggestion was approved by unanimous “aye”s.
Promotional Director
It is our intention to post for a person to fulfill the sort of role that Allen Pease did before he had to resign—fund raising, public relations, and so forth. Interns seem the most likely prospect for an unpaid position. Frank has asked for input as to what should be included in the job description.
New/Upcoming Business
More Venues
When we were initially looking for alternate venues, Shalom Center was very interested in having us in their space. The notice was just too short this time, but it’s something to keep in mind for future productions. Max’s Place on Seventh Street is also quite willing to work with us for dinner theater shows. Also, Max’s Place will allow us to charge admission and does not care if we do controversial productions, and weekend performances are OK there. They are not usually open on Mondays, but would be willing to open on Mondays for us. Susan suggested looking into venues that have Bingo, which implies a big open space, probably with tables that could be moved out of the way. We were also reminded that Windfall Dancers offered us space which we haven’t looked into yet.
New Play Proposals
Janice suggested that we do a full-length Japanese play she has found but does not wish to take on the production herself. She also had two shorter plays to propose, possibly for the Symposium, intending to do one or the other, not both. (Please refer to the handout presented for more information.) David also said he and Roy had been talking about doing a night of Kafka. Russell suggested a movement-oriented production as a collaborative effort with Windfall in their space.
WFIU
There is an in-kind sponsorship option with WFIU which would give us 21 radio spots (the equivalent of $2000) and get us listed with them in exchange for logos and such in our programs, posters, web site, etc. We would need to have everything ready for any show taking advantage of this two months in advance.
Annual Meeting
We will need to schedule the annual meeting soon and figure out who is up for reelection. We will also need to figure out where to have it.
Meeting Adjourned
Susan moves to close the meeting, Ben seconds, ayes unanimous.