Los Alamos Little Theatre Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
Dec. 6, 2011 Kate Ramsey Present: John Gustafson, Kate Ramsey, Jim Sicilian, Richard Klamann, Warren Houghteling, Kaki Kelly, Gracie Cainelli, Roxanne Tapia Absent: Todd Graves, Bobbie Simpson Visitors: Wayne Kohlrust, Patrick Webb, Patrick MacDonald, Laurie Tomlinson CALL TO ORDER: 6:03 pm
SPECIAL PRESENTATION: Update on PAC Refurbishment
Wayne Kohlrust, LA County • Wayne Kolhurst reports that the PAC renovation is going well. They have replaced siding with insulation and plan to start on the roof next week. There was a potential for relocating one of the phone lines but one of the phone lines was damaged and should be fixed tomorrow. There is a 60 amp electrical panel on the backstage area is not grounded at all, but the county will take care of grounding the panel. There were a few junction boxes that are improperly wired and those will also be repaired. He would like us to work with an electrician to do an assessment of other wiring to make sure they are grounded. The project is scheduled to be completed in February depending on the weather. The motion detector on the side door with the light seems not to work, they will be replacing it and there will be new fixtures in the parking lot to illuminate the lot better. Jim had questions about the windows and is there a solution to continue to use the windows as a light source. The windows that were uncovered will continue to remain uncovered and the windows that were covered will be recovered and painted black with plywood. Wayne said to specify if there was a window that was covered that we would like to be uncovered to let him know. Gracie said she noticed that a window is the prop room is now open and she was wondering if the county can shut the window because there is a 1-­‐2 inch gap at the top. ADMINISTRATIVE BUSINESS
Minutes from Last Meeting (K. Ramsey) • Richard moved and Jim seconded the November minutes. The minutes were approved, with the change that paying for the overhead projector was not yet approved. Treasurer's Report (B. Simpson): • Bobbie was not present at the meeting, however did send us the most recent financial statement. The board reviewed the statement and no major concerns came up.
Mail (B. Simpson): Bobbie was not present at the meeting House Report (T. Graves): House report: nothing reported, Concerns (G. Cainelli): An LALT member has been sick with pneumonia. A board member is also moving away in January. NEW BUSINESS Proposal: Tango Performance (6:30 pm: Paula Couselo and Alp Findikoglu / Cainelli): • Paula and Alp are tango dancers and teach at the senior center Monday nights. There is a group that has toured Argentina and will be doing a concert in Abq on Oct 19. The group coming in from Argentina is instrumental. They will provide both the concert music and dance music for the local tango dancers. Paula has been talking to them about coming to do a concert here on Oct 18. The group would charge $1000 to come perform at PAC. They are asking the board if LALT would be willing to sponsor the event for the community. They would present it as a history of Tango starting with the 1800s. Paula and Alp would dance, as well as their students. They would charge tickets, as well as pursue fundraising such as approaching the Lodgers Tax Board, The Arts Council, and the Elks. • They are requesting a budget of $1500. The $1500 budget is an upfront expense to LALT and will be offset by ticket sales. Money from the other fund raising activities will go first toward bringing in a grand piano (if possible) and then toward the show expense They would need to sell 100 tickets at $20 a piece to cover expenses. $175 of the budget would be used for promotional material. They think they can get regular theatregoers to attend as well as music/dance goers. John asked the question of what will happen with the profit made by the event. It would be the profit for LALT. • The spacing of PAC was a concern as the board inquired how the event would be set up. The orchestra would be on the stage, and the dancers would be on the floor. The orchestra is only a quartet, so it would be easy to fit them on stage. Richard brought up the issue that a set may be being built so the stage may not be completely available. They suggested they go with the upright piano, which it possible that we may need to pay someone to move the piano. The minimum space needs to be 10x20 feet. Richard wanted to know if they could fit in a 10x10 (the band). Richard suggested it would be possible to do the entire performance on the floor; it is the preference to have the band on the stage. While the November show will have to provide time for the performance, and likely some rehearsal, it should not be impacted by this show otherwise. In particular, the Tango show will have to work around the use of the stage, lighting and sound system by our November show. • Richard moved to approve the tango show and reserve the building for this event, but it is also understood that there may be a set on the stage. The Board will need to let the director of the November show know of this event once the next year’s show season is chosen. Roxanne seconded the motion, and the motion was approved, with one abstained. New Year’s Eve planning status and actions (Cainelli): • NYE: Gracie needs clean-­‐up crew for NYE. Richard proposed to charge $45, have only one kind of ticket, have CB Fox sell the tickets. Cary and Bill agreed to work on tickets. Richard’s personal preference is to not increase the prices and to have a full house. Jim moved, Kaki seconded, and the motion to have tickets sold at CB Fox was approved. For the motion of ticket prices-­‐Kaki moved and Richard seconded. Board approved ticket prices to be $45. Richard proposed that the board allot up to $300 for publicity purposes for NYE. Warren seconded, and the publicity budget was approved. Richard proposed the number of attendees we give to Cowgirls will be up to Richard, Gracie, and Roxanne; Roxanne seconded the motion. The motion was approved with the condition that the number will not be over 150. Gracie asked how much we should charge cast and crew. Richard moved that they try to estimate and charge $20 for cast and crew if they are working on the show. Kate seconded, motion was approved. December 30 will be set up for NYE and the clean-­‐up will take place on Jan 1. 2012-­‐13 Play proposal presentations • Murdered to Death (Patrick Webb and Patrick MacDonald): The Patricks explained that the show is a comedy/murder mystery show. The show is like Clue, with every character having a motive to commit the murders. There is a single set. Cast is 5 women, 2 men, and a 2 act play. Sound and light cues are simple. Patrick MacDonald will serve as the mentor. They have not yet secured a producer. As a last resort, Roxanne would produce the show. Preferences are Jan, March, Sept, and November. Patrick thinks the show would be good for competition; however it would be difficult to cut for competition. Patrick was in a production and did see this as an audience member. Patrick will try to find a producer before the decision date • Woman in Black / Picasso at the Lapin Agile (Laurie Tomlinson): The Picasso play is very funny. The play is written as a one act, but it was presented as a two act play. The cast has 7 male characters and 2 female. This is a Steve Martin play. One set in a café. Not a lot of lighting and sound effects. Carol Hogsett has agreed to write her name down to produce. Would like any slot except for January. November is her preference. Jim suggested that we might want a backup producer, or a producer mentor to help Carol with LALT resources. The Woman in Black is a thriller; however all of the scariness is done with lighting and sound. There is use of a scrim and a lot of the action takes places on the scrim. Lighting and sound are a critical element to this show. The cast is two men, and a woman who appears but does not have any lines. • VanChocStraw: Mimi did not attend this board meeting to propose this play, but plans to attend the next meeting. John Gustafson, who has agreed to produce, commented that the playwright is a local in Abq It is a sentimental and sweet play but it also makes you think. The concept is they are trying to put together a 5000 piece puzzle. The cast is 4 women, 1 male, no children. John felt that the play could be cut successfully for competition. Note: It was decided that the meeting to decide on play proposals would take place on January 10th, with January 3rd still continuing as the regular board meeting. Any remaining proposals have the opportunity to present at the January 3rd meeting. Child Safety Policy (Houghteling/Gustafson): A contract based on the child policy was administered during the auditions for the Giver. This contract is going to be tried during the Giver and we will see how successful it is. Budget: 1,000 Clowns (Cainelli): 1000 Clowns budget: The total budget for 1000 Clowns was $2600. Gracie explained that the budget was padded for props, set building, and set decorating. Warren moved, Kate seconded, motion was approved. Proposal: Spring Acting Workshops (Houghteling/Tapia): Richard moved to accept the proposal, Kate seconded, motion to have the acting workshops as described was approved. Dec. 17 fund-­‐raising event (Tapia): Roxanne wanted everyone to be aware that there would be a madrigal dinner at the Elks Lodge to fundraise for LALT. Insurance Review (Cainelli):The Board gave Gracie the approval to pay the insurance premium as described. Sign permit – LA County (Ramsey): Kate explained that the county instructed her to fill out the incorrect form for the sign permit. The cost for the permit will be $25 instead of $100 and we should get the permit in time to publicize 1000 Clowns. Additional agenda: Approval of Overhead Projector (Gustafson and Ramsey): The Board approved to split costs with LALO ~$60 for the purchase of a new overhead projector. OTHER ISSUES/ANNOUNCEMENTS: Kate noted that an LALT member expressed concerns about people bringing animals into PAC, when some may be allergic. The board decided this would be an issue needing further discussion at the next board meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 8:50pm. NEXT MEETING
Board Meeting Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2012 @ 6:00 PM