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Community Theatre Association of Michigan
CALLBOARD
NOVEMBER 2014
Registration open for AACTfest
Owosso Community Players excited to
host Michigan AACTfest in March 2015
The best and brightest of Michigan’s community
theatre organizations will be on full display in
mid-Michigan as the Owosso Community Players
host the 2015 AACT State Festival.
The festival will be held at the newly renovated
Lebowsky Center, part of the Shiawassee Center
for the Performing Arts, in downtown Owosso.
The $6 million facility, which was almost completely lost to a tragic fire in 2007, reopened in
May, 2014, after an extensive capital fundraising
campaign.
wonderful experience hosting the festival in the
past and we’re happy to have the opportunity
to open our doors to Michigan’s theatre community again,” said festival chair Cheri Ramirez, pictured below with ED Ryan Bladzik..
Lodging accommodations are arranged through
the OCP’s official hotel and conference partner,
the Comstock Inn and Conference Center
(www.comstockinn.com) at a special rate of
$100 per night for AACT Festival registrants.
“We could think of no better way to celebrate the
rebirth of the Lebowsky Center than by welcoming theatre lovers and groups from around the
state and host the 2015 AACT State Festival,”
said Ryan Bladzik, Executive Director (pictured
right). The registration deadline for both individuals wanting to attend the festival and for
groups wishing to compete is February 28, 2015.
Final schedule of performances will not be determined until after the deadline.
Complete registration information is on the OCP
website listed at the end of this article.
The Lebowsky Center is a 500-seat, LEED-silver
certified proscenium arch theatre with state of
the art technology and vibrant accommodations
for cast, crew, and patrons.
The Owosso Community
Players
last
hosted
the
AACT
State
Festival
in
2005, prior to the
tragic fire. “It was a
The 2015 AACT State Festival will begin on Friday, March 27 and conclude with the annual
awards brunch on Sunday, March 28. Group
and Individual registration and festival information
can
be
found
at
http://
www.owossoplayers.com/shows-and-events/
aact-state-festival-2015/.
Helping Community Theatre thrive in Michigan since 1951.
The Prez Sez…
2012-2013 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Are you getting ready for AACTfest? From the buzz I
hear around the state, this will be a great year! Because all three levels of the competition will be in
Michigan this year, there is an extra incentive to participate … either as a competitor or simply as an observer!
President - Mary Lou Britton
Grosse Pointe Theatre
[email protected]
Vice President - Michael Schacherbauer
Riverwalk Theatre, Lansing
[email protected]
Secretary - Betsy Willis
From personal experience, I can remember wishing
we would come in second so that we didn’t have to
pack up everything and head off to some distant city
to perform at the next level. (It’s not the performing
that’s the problem, but rather the fundraising and
arrangements to get everyone to the same place at
the same time!)
Old Town Playhouse, Traverse City
[email protected]
Treasurer - Christy Frick
Gratiot County Players
[email protected]
At-Large Members of the Board
But this year is different! It’s all in Michigan! (See
the dates below on the calendar.) So, even if your
Board decides to not participate, you still have the
opportunity to see some of the greatest theatre in the
land.
Joanne Berry................. [email protected]
Bay City Players
Kristen Chesak ....... [email protected]
Kalamazoo Civic Theatre
Jill Patchin ...................... [email protected]
Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
November is the traditional month to count your
blessings! I am thankful for the many beautiful
friends and memorable moments that have entered
my life because of my love of theatre. Thank you to
all my CTAM friends for enriching my life.
Tracy Tiffany [email protected]
Twin City Players, St. Joseph
Suzan Witt ....................................... [email protected]
Tawas Bay Players
Executive Secretary
............. [email protected]
Nancy Peska
Mary Lou Britton
Gratiot County Players
Affiliated with American Association
of Community Theatre
Callboard Staff
Editor ................................................. Mary Lou Britton
Contributors .............................. Members of the Board
CTAM Calendar
This is the official newsletter of the Community Theatre Association of Michigan, issued monthly to all group and individual members with e-mail addresses on record. Distribution is by e-mail
with a link to the newsletter on the association website. Back
issues are available on the association website at
www.communitiytheatre.org. Correspondence to the Callboard
should be sent to the Editor at [email protected].


Productions and dates should be sent to the Editor.

Show photos should be carefully selected and sent to the
Editor, along with identifying caption and permission from
photographer for us to publish said photo..
Short informational articles are accepted and will be used
on a space-available basis.
Updated e-mail and postal addresses are maintained by the
Executive Secretary Nancy Peska and should be sent to her at
[email protected].
2
Nov. 8, 2014
Regional Directing Workshop at Tawas
Bay Players (see page 6)
Nov. 14-16, 2014
The Leadership Conference, hosted by
Old Town Playhouse, Traverse City
Nov. 16, 2014
CTAM Board meeting, Traverse City
March 27-29, 2015
State AACTFest
Hosted by Owosso Players
April 16-19, 2015
Region III AACTFest
Hosted by Midland Center Stage
June 22-28, 2015
National AACTFest
Hosted by Grand Rapids Civic
Last call for Theatre
Leadership Conference
The 2015 Theatre Leadership Conference is
only weeks away, so you’re running out of time
to make your reservations. See the CTAM website for all the information; a copy of the registration form is on Page 8 of this newsletter.
The dates are November 14-16, 2014
The place is Traverse City’s Old Town Playhouse, 148 E. 8th St., Traverse City
The cost to “fully participate” is $125 for individuals whose theatres are CTAM Group Members and $150 for individuals who are from
theatres that are not CTAM Group Members.
The cost for “observers” is $50 for participants
from CTAM Group Members and $75 for those
whose theatres or businesses are not Group
Members.
Awards chair Terry Jolink, left, with 2014 McKenna winner Kevin
Arnett.
Kevin Arnett wins 2014
McKenna Award
The 2014 Robert A. McKenna Award winner is
Kevin Arnett, nominated by Grand Rapids Civic
Theatre. The award, pictured below, was presented at the Fall Conference Saturday evening
banquet by Awards Chair Terry Jolink.
A block of rooms has been reserved at the Park
Place Hotel in downtown Traverse City. The
rate is $89.95 plus taxes per night for single or
double occupancy. To make hotel reservations,
call 231-946-5000 (The toll free number on the
hotel website does not have access to group information). Even though it is late and past the
hotel’s registration deadline, refer to CTAM or
Community Theater Association of Michigan to
see if the special rate for the conference is still
available.
Kevin has been involved with theatre his whole
life. Starting out with Bay City Players, Kevin
and his family were involved in every aspect of
the theatre. From his dad building sets, designing….to his mom directing and selling tickets – I’m pretty sure Kevin and his siblings
were right there with them. Before Kevin moved
to Grand Rapids, he was volunteering his time
with Bay City with lights and sound.
No doubt you have questions. Please feel free to
email Betsy Willis or call her at 231-838-0269
and she will be more than happy to fill in the
blanks.
With CTAM, Kevin served on the Board for
many years and for a long time served as the
CTAM Treasurer. He is still active with the
board as a volunteer and continues to track the
Accreditation information and hours. He has
been a member of AACT and has served as the
AACT Region III liaison and State liaison. His
involvement with the State and National organizations has been long served.
Kevin was involved with the Scholarship auditions for many years and was a timer for many
of the state AACTFest competitions.
Bay City’s Pit & Balcony opened their season with Company, to rave
reviews! A terrific cast, above, made a great night of theatre for their
audiences.
The McKenna Award is presented annually to
an individual who is involved in community
theatre at the local and state levels. Nominations are due by July 1 each year.
3
Adjudication: A great
learning experience for
everyone
Why adjudicate?
Why should we have our production adjudicated? We did what we wanted to do. We’re
satisfied with the results. Are you really satisfied that your production is the best that it
could have been? Why not listen to someone
outside your group review your production –
someone who is trained in the adjudication
process? Adjudication involves more than a
listing of what the adjudicator liked or disliked.
It includes an evaluation of what works in the
production or what doesn’t work and why it
does or doesn’t work. The “why” is the important element. The adjudicator evaluates the
various aspects of the production and tries to
help the director, cast, and crew learn from
their experience. Even if you don’t agree with
comments of the adjudicator, you have been
given some food for thought. Chew on it. Remember it when working on your next production.
CTAM has several trained and experienced adjudicators available. The CTAM treasurer has
set aside enough funds to provide one free adjudication per season for up to ten groups.
Take advantage of this gift from your state organization. Contact Adjudication Chair Joanne
Berry to make arrangements. Once you’ve had
your one freebie, the fee to help the adjudicator
with travel expenses is $50. A few groups are
having all or most of their productions adjudicated.
Adjudication Training
During the past year, several people have expressed interest in adjudication training. During the National AACTFest in June in Grand
Rapids, there will be a training class. You
must register for the festival and pay an additional fee for the class. This is an unique opportunity to take adjudication training with
people from all over the country.
Some who are interested in the training may
not be able to attend the national festival.
Since CTAM usually has a training class during
4
Hardbody Truck for Sale!
Pit & Balcony Theatre (Bay City) has
closed the curtain on their first play of
the season (Hands on a Hardbody) and
are looking to sell the truck used on
stage. It is a 1997 Ford Ranger XLT
(Nissan Hardbody). It is wired for headlights, taillights and a horn, and has a
new paint job, but the engine, transmission, radiator and gas tank have been
removed. Finding the truck is not an easy
task, so if this play is on your upcoming
list, you might want to talk to our friends
at Bay City! Price: $2500.
For dimensions and other questions,
please contact Gary Reid directly at 989992-9475 or [email protected].
our state festival, we would consider doing it if
there is enough demand. We have always had
excellent classes with outstanding instructors
who have adjudicated at a number of festivals,
including the national festival. These are adjudicators such as Shirley Harbin, Michael
Fortner, Ross Roland, and Ron Ziegler.
Our classes are usually small and therefore
provide adequate opportunities for practice
during the festival.
If you take the CTAM
class, you would have to register for the festival
and pay an additional fee for the class. Please
let me know ASAP if you are interested in a
CTAM-sponsored class. If we have enough people register to cover the cost of the trainer’s expenses, we will organize the class. Please contact Joanne Berry if you would be interested.
Board Appointments for 2014-15
Below are the Board and Committee assignments for the current CTAM year. Many thanks to the
generous members who have agreed to serve for — in most cases — another year. If you would like
to get involved in CTAM by serving on a committee, please contact the individual chair responsible,
any of the Board members, or President Mary Lou Britton. We could use your extreme creativity
and expertise!
POSITION and BOARD RESPONSIBILITY
President -- Mary Lou Britton
Contracts
Correspondence
Parliamentarian
Executive Secretary
COMMITTEE CHAIR AND MEMBERS
Nancy Peska
Nancy Peska
Kristen Chesak
Nancy Peska
Programs and Services, Internal -- Betsy Willis
Awards
Terry Jolink, chair
Directory
Nancy Peska
Historian
Kim Boysen (Kalamazoo Civic)
Nominating committee
Vince Weiler, chair. Kristen Chesak, Jill Patchin
Programs and Services, External -- Tracy Tiffany
Accreditation
Betsy Willis, chair. Kevin Arnett, statistician
Adjudication
Joanne Berry, chair. Michael Schacherbauer, Art Nemitz
Playwriting Contest
Vince Weiler, chair
Script Library
Sauki Amdursky, Librarian. Preston Misner
Membership -- Suzan Witt
Group Memberships
Individual Memberships
Suzan Witt, chair. Jill Patchin
Tracy Tiffany, chair. Suzanne Kline, Jim Taylor
Education and Advocacy -- Joanne Berry
Advocacy
Affiliations
Education
Joanne Berry, chair.
Joanne Berry, chair.
Joanne Berry, chair. Art Nemitz, Nancy Peska, Michael
Schacherbauer, Vince Weiler.
Marketing -- Jill Patchin
Marketing
Newsletter
Website and Social Media
Jill Patchin, chair.
Mary Lou Britton, editor
Dave Wahr, chair. Bill Anderson
Fund Development -- Jill Patchin
Fundraising, Donations and Grants
CTAM Merchandise
CTAM Trip
Joy Butler, Christy Frick
Tracy Tiffany, chair. Suzan Witt.
Art Nemitz, chair. Jill Patchin
Long Range Planning -- Kristen Chesak
Long range planning
Constitution and by-laws
Kristen Chesak, chair. Mary Lou Britton, Board
Kristen Chesak, chair. Joanne Berry, Betsy Willis, Karl
Heidemann, Chancey Miller.
Conventions and Festivals -- Michael Schacherbauer
Theatre Leadership Conference 2014
Traverse City, Betsy Willis
AACTfest state 2015
Owosso
AACTfest Regional 2015
Midland, Emily Anderson, chair
AACTfest National 2015
Grand Rapids, Mary Jo DeNolf, chair
Fall Conference 2015
Mary Lou Britton, chair. Suzan Witt, Assistant Chair
Spring Conference 2016
TBD
Fall Conference 2016
Suzan Witt, chair
Theatre Leadership Conference 2016
Traverse City, Betsy Willis
AACTfest 2017
TBD
Finance -- Christy Frick
Scholarships
5
Christy Frick, chair. Karl Heidemann, Kevin Arnett
Tips ‘n Tricks
from AACT
Regional Director’s
Workshop November 8 in
Tawas City
Here are a few tips, lifted
from the AACT website
for your amusement and
edification!
To Dye For
Recently costume consultant Charlotte French
purchased a large quantity of buttons, cheap.
Trouble was, they were
not the right color for her immediate needs.
Then an idea struck, and presto! Some navy
blue Rit dye transformed a group of these buttons from brownish gray to bluish gray. "You
often find cards of buttons on sale," she says,
"and usually you have to go with the color you
get. Of course, dye isn't going to change a
bright red button to navy blue, but if the button is light colored--and most of them are--you
should be able to tint it enough to work with a
particular costume."
Sweet Surprise
"Finger Jell-O" makes a good (and easily made)
substitute for prop candy, says theatre consultant Charlotte French. French learned this
when she had to come up with a plate of exotic
candy for a production of Kismet. "You can cut
it to any size, and it's not messy," she explains.
"It's easy to eat, not filling, and doesn't stick in
the throat like some real candy. The sugar-free
kind doesn't leave a sticky residue, either."
A workshop for all aspiring community theater
directors will be held at the Tawas Bay Players’
theater on Saturday, November 8th from 9:002:00 pm. The theater is located at 401 Newman St. in East Tawas.
For $20, participants will receive lunch, a copy
of Jim Carver’s Manual on Community Theater
Directing and formal accreditation hours from
CTAM. WitzEnd will supply water, coffee and
doughnuts.
This workshop is for any and all people interested in community theater: Experienced directors, potential directors, and even actors will
learn something at this educational and FUN
day! Topics to be covered are Preparing the Production Concept, Blocking, Auditioning Actors,
Rehearsals, and Directing Actors.
Pre-registration is required.
Please text or
leave a message with your contact info at
989.820.5257 or email [email protected].
That's Oil, Folks!
The product's "real" uses (at least as advertised) are to stop squeaks, protect metal from
rust, and free sticky mechanisms. But in the
new (and immensely entertaining) WD-40
Book, authors Tim Nyberg and Ken Massey discuss a host of other uses of this familiar backstage fixture: removing glue from fingers; removing lipstick stains; unsticking a computer
keyboard and mouse; deterring wasps from
building a nest under eaves; and removing
gummed labels and duct tape residue.
Steam and Clean
Birmingham Village Players and their production of Songs for a
New World.
6
Is the inside of your backstage microwave oven
beginning to look like the Carlsbad Caverns?
It's easy to happen when many people use the
same oven and don't clean up after themselves.
You can steam-clean the oven by boiling a bowl
of water inside. The steam softens the grease
and dried food particles so that you can wipe
the oven clean. If spills are particularly gruesome, cover them with a wet paper towel and
run the oven on "high" for 10 seconds. This will
loosen most baked-on food.
What’s playing around Michigan this fall ?
Riverwalk Theatre, Lansing
Center Stage, Jackson
Gratiot County Players
Manistee Civic Players
Port Austin Community Players
Rosedale Community Players
Village Players of Birmingham
Stagecrafters, Royal Oak
Northland Players, Cheboygan
Heart of the Hills Players
Old Town Playhouse, Traverse City
Old Town Playhouse, Traverse City
Clarkston Village Players
Community Theatre of Howell
Grosse Pointe Theatre
Flint Community Players
All-of-Us-Express Children's Theatre
Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Kalamazoo Civic Theatre
Monroe Community Players
Players Guild of Dearborn
Southgate Community Players
St. Dunstan's Theatre, Birmingham
Master Arts Theatre, Grand Rapids
Muskegon Civic Theatre
Farmington Players
Hartland Players
Kalamazoo Civic Theatre
Riverwalk Theatre, Lansing
Holland Civic Theatre
Old Town Playhouse, Traverse City
Bay City Players
Box Factory for the Arts, St. Joseph
Cadillac Footliters
Gratiot County Players
Lapeer Community Theatre
Manistee Civic Players
Pit and Balcony Theatre
Players de Noc, Escanaba
Twin City Players, St. Joseph
Wyandotte Community Theatre
Grosse Pointe Theatre
Blithe Spirit
The Addams Family
Grease
Agatha Christie Made Me Do It
Annie
Drinking Alone
Songs for a New World
Other Desert Cities
Damn Yankees
Cole
On the Verge**
Once on This Island*
Fool for Love
Shrek, the Musical
A View from the Bridge
Miracle on 34th Street
The Frog Prince/Remarkable Puss-in-Boots*
Mary Poppins
Grand Ole Music
Greater Tuna
South Pacific
1940's Radio Hour
Candy Mansion Caper*
Sanders Family Christmas
A Christmas Story
Leading Ladies
It's A Wonderful Life- Radio Play
Shrek, the Musical
Cinderella*
Christmas Show
A Christmas Story
A Christmas Carol
Ten Minute Plays
Sorry! Wrong Chimney!
Christmas in Nashville
The Christmas Schooner
Miracle on 34th Street
Spamalot
Dashing Through the Snow
The Christmas Schooner
Parallel Lives
The Music Man, Jr.*
Oct 23-Nov 2, 2014
Oct 24-Nov 2, 2014
Oct 24-Nov 2, 2014
Oct 24-Nov 2, 2014
Oct 24-Nov 2, 2014
Oct 24-Nov 8, 2014
Oct 24-Nov 8, 2014
Oct 31-Nov 16, 2014
Nov 1-8, 2014
Nov 6-21, 2014
Nov 6-22, 2014
Nov 6-9, 2014
Nov 7-22, 2014
Nov 7-16, 2014
Nov 9-22, 2014
Nov 13-23, 2014
Nov 14-22, 2014
Nov 14-Dec 14, 2014
Nov 14-22, 2014
Nov 14-16, 2014
Nov 14-Dec 7, 2014
Nov 14-22, 2014
Nov 14-23, 2014
Nov 21-Dec 14, 2014
Nov 21-Dec 7, 2014
Nov 28-Dec 20, 2014
Nov 28-Dec 7, 2014
Nov 28-Dec 14, 2014
Nov 28-Dec 7, 2014
Nov 29-Dec 13, 2014
Dec 4-13, 2014
Dec 5-14, 2014
Dec 5-6, 2014
Dec 5-13, 2014
Dec 5-13, 2014
Dec 5-13, 2014
Dec 5-14, 2014
Dec 5-14, 2014
Dec 5-13, 2014
Dec 5-28, 2014
Dec 5-6, 2014
Dec 6-7, 2014
* indicates youth productions; ** indicates second stage productions, if submitted.
Please be sure to fill out your Dues Renewal Form completely, as that is the source for this information on shows! If your
information is incorrect or missing, please send the correct information to The Editor to be corrected or included in the next
issue. A more complete list is also available on the CTAM website.