A couple quick theatre things…and one other.

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Hope the theatre entries aren’t getting boring.

Well, I’m writing for myself a lot, too, so I’m probably gonna write them even if you get bored. Sorry.

1) Name Change: We’re going with the Williamston Theatre now. We’ve eliminated the word “Project”. Any thoughts on that? Feel free to share, I’d enjoy hearing them.
2) This weekend I was named “Best Director of a Drama 2005” by the Ann Arbor News. That was nice, it’s nice to have someone recognize your work, and it’ll look good on the resume and hopefully be useful as we build the Williamston Theatre!
3) For anyone interested, here’s the “Year in Review: The Artistic Director Rambles” piece I wrote for our next newsletter.

The Williamston Theatre, 2005: A year in review!
(Subtitled: “The Artistic Director Rambles”)

What a year it’s been! Everyone here at the WT has been working hard to bring live, professional theatre to Williamston. At the same time, we’re all working around the state (and in Emily’s case, out of state) to pay the bills and pad the resumes!

The Williamston Theatre has had a good year though. Some things we accomplished:

We held our first major fundraiser! After drinks and hors d’oeuvres we took a whole busload of wonderful people down to Chelsea to see Bus Stop at the Purple Rose Theatre Company. Since Purple Rose is an old stomping ground for all 4 of WT’s founders, it felt like the right thing to do. The theatre is a similar size, and the work is always excellent. It was a nice way to show folks the type of space we want to create, and the quality of the work we’ll produce!

Later in the year, we held a series of play readings. Audiences got to see Additional Particulars, Rounding Third, Music From A Sparkling Planet and The Nerd! Play readings are a ton of fun – the actors do the roles with script in hand, not much staging is involved, and the audience gets to imagine most of the action as it’s being read by the Stage Manager! The readings were a big success – watch for several of those shows to be produced in our first couple of seasons!

Also, we participated in Williamston’s Arts Fest! For a one-time-only performance, we had 3 very funny actors do a series of 10 minute comedies. We had a nice crowd for our first ever outdoor performance, and got rave reviews from everyone at the Arts Fest!

In 2005, a momentous event in the history of theatre in Michigan took place; The Michigan Theatre Festival. For the first time ever, 9 theatres in Michigan worked together to produce a 5 day “Festival of New Plays” called The Michigan Theatre Festival. Although we are a young company, the Williamston Theatre was asked to be a part of this event. It was a great honor, and a huge success. Such a success, in fact, that it’s being repeated this year! Keep an eye out for the announcement: the Michigan Theatre Festival is coming again in June 2006!

During 2005, some of the staff also worked on other theatre projects, as well, separate from the Williamston.Theatre. Emily appeared in shows at the Detroit Repertory Theatre and the BoarsHead Theatre in Lansing, and worked her administrative and fundraising magic for the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor. John appeared in the award winning production of Bus Stop at the Purple Rose, and won awards for his performance! John also spent some time out-of-state with legendary director Marshall Mason in his production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Meanwhile, back in Michigan, Tony directed several shows this year, and won the 2005 Ann Arbor News Award for Best Director for his production of Summer and Smoke at the Performance Network in Ann Arbor. Artistically, a very good season for the WT staff!

Sooooo….that about covers it…oh no, wait. There are a couple of other things…

We have a home.

Yes. We have a home. The Williamston Theatre is now located at 122 S. Putnam, Williamston Michigan, 48895. A beautiful building for us to work and create in has been provided by the incredible generosity of our Founding Donors, Steve and Deb Zynda. It’s not a theatre yet. That’s going to take a little work. We’ll get there, though!

Please, stop by and see the building. Drop in and visit – we’d love to see you!

And, one other change. We’re now the Williamston Theatre. We’re officially dropping the “Project”. Moving into our new space, it felt…

Well…it felt…Unsure. Temporary.

And we are neither of those things.

So…Thank You. Thank you for being a part of who we are. Thank you for paying attention in 2005.

Thanks, in advance, for being with us in 2006.

Big things are coming.

4) Spent the day in my office, in the building today with John, Chris and Emily working as well. For the first time, all of us working in our building together. Creating our own future. It was a great day.
5) The Non-theatre thing mentioned above: TiVo rocks. Just watched my TiVo’d episode of Arrested Development. First time watching a TiVo’d show. I’m gonna like this!! 🙂

17 thoughts on “A couple quick theatre things…and one other.”

  1. I think removing the word “project” is a good idea. Using “project” to describe it makes it sound like something you’re working on until finished and then you’ll move on to the next. I think you want The Williamston Theatre to be a little more permanent than a project. It’s true that currently it is still a project because it still isn’t done being put together, but you may not want to convey that to readers. haha
    Take care and good luck.

  2. TiVo
    Have you had a chance to watch live tv time delayed yet? It great to come in about 10 minutes after a show starts and be able to fast forward thru the ads. The only draw back to this is you lose the time if you channel surf.
    Also Congrats on the space. It was great to get a chance to see it before the changes start. Be sure and take pics at every stage of construction. It might make for a nice lobby book during the process so people can see the changes over time. Just a thought.
    Happy New Year and I’ll get the lighting information in the mail for you today.
    Later
    Spencer

    • Re: TiVo
      I watched one show with the time delay, and paused it and rewound just because i could!! It’s so cool!
      Appreciate your lighting thoughts, and thoughts on whatever! Talk to you soon.

  3. Congratulations! Awards rock 🙂 Did you get to make a speech?
    When there wasn’t a physical theatre you needed “project” but now that there is you don’t. Makes total sense.

    • Thanks, Mary! I was gonna make a speech, but as I got up to the mic I had a wardrobe malfunction and Justin Timberlake appeared out of nowhere to apologize. It was really odd.
      Okay, none of that’s true, but it made me laugh!
      Thanks for the thoughts on “project”, too. That seems to be the consensus, and I’m glad!

  5. Rockin’
    Congrats on the “Best Director” Award. YAY! It is so nice to see that you are getting some wonderful and much-deserved recognition.
    Love that you are dropping the “Project” too. It’s not really a project anymore, but a reality.
    I’ll see you on Sunday. I’m e-mailing you directions.
    Love,
    Annie
    p.s. I missed Monday’s Arrested Development because my Tivo didn’t change to the right fucking channel. I cried. Watch out–Tivo can occasionally break your heart

  6. Proud
    I am so proud of you! I tell everyone that I know that my brother is one of the founding members of a brand new theatre. Seriously, you don’t realize how cool that is, especially to those of us with significantly less exciting careers in things like…Accounting. (How did I get so lame?)
    Anyway, back to you…living the dream…it’s amazing. I’m jealous.
    As for the dropping of Project from the name, I’m torn…I liked the name with Project at the end. But I can see why it would be more appealing to the public without it.

    • Re: Proud
      Thanks Gina! I’m very excited about how it’s going. Of course, right now I have barely enough income to pay my bills, and I’m anxiously awaiting the time when we get things moving well enough to get a salary! So, don’t be too jealous!
      Accounting isn’t lame. Just the accountants. Oh, wait, that didn’t come out right. What I meant to say was your job’s not lame, you just need to make me a sandwich. Oh, wait, that’s not right either…

        • Re: Proud
          You actually have a much cooler title than Accountant!
          Either way…no sandwich? Seriously, I meant it about that no money thing…any sandwich would be great. As long as it’s roast beef and swiss cheese on rye with mustard. and a pickle. cut diagonally. and a milkshake. okay, now I’m hungry…

          • Re: Proud
            Mmmm….sandwich….how about I buy you the stuff, and you make your own sandwich? And make me one…baby’s hungry. Roast beef and cheddar on wheat with mustard. And barbecue Krunchers. And a chocolate cake.
            And OK smarty pants…what’s my prestigious title? You don’t even know do you?!

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