Board of Directors January Meeting
WEDNESDAY Jan 7, 2004 7 pm
Minutes

The meeting was called to order at 7 pm.
Present at the meeting were T.J. Rand, Maye Hart, Mo Demers, Jan Pinard, Meggin Dail. Ernie Bass was absent. Dee Dee Pitcher was a guest.
The Secretary's Report from the November meeting was approved as read.
The Treasurer's Report was presented by Mo Demers and after some discussion was approved as presented.

Old Business
Shows: Maye reported on the Children's Theatre Workshop, which has a cast and crew of 40. The first rehearsal was held that afternoon, and Maye reported that she believes the show will go very well. Meggin reported that A Thousand Clowns held its first production meeting last week. Auditions are scheduled for January 18th and 19th. Set issues may or may not be ironed out. Tentative rehearsals are scheduled for Sun., Mon., and Wed. Since Meggin cannot be there for Sunday auditions, TJ will be there to help out. Meggin will get Maye the audition forms. Meggin had no report for 12 Angry Men. Mo reported that she will be upstairs on Mon and Wed evenings rehearsing for competition.

Winter 2005 Show -Discussion was tabled on this matter (See Other)
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State Fair - A discussion was held regarding NHTA's nominations for awards and website. Mo reported that she has been assured that we have been adjudicated, that they have all the information, but they just haven't put it on the website. There was a discussion about how NHTA narrows the field and selects the nominees for Best of the year. The awards are the first week of February. Mo will find out when the cut is announced.
Building: Costume Shop - Due to Irene Hall's husband's ankle problem, nothing much has changed in the costume shop recently. Hopefully, work will begin again soon. T.J. reported that nothing was new on the roof and obtaining bids from contractors to repair it. Maye reported that Jim Hart had contacted a structural engineer regarding the 2nd floor, and that he confirmed Jim's reasoning as to how to fix the sag in the floor. Jim will be drilling holes, measuring for the rods and installing then as soon as possible. Meggin and T.J. reported that we are getting mixed signals from the Mr. Bleckmann regarding the Gray Building. He did not wish to fix the broken window, nor did he want us to do it. He did give us permission to plow the parking lot on Fayette St. T.J. will remind Ernie that he was supposed to find out about Town zoning, taxes etc, regarding that building.
Production Manual: Meggin reported that it was not completed, and said it was just a matter of putting the pieces it together and the inserts. She asked for another week to finish is, which the Board granted.
Ad Campaign: T.J. reported that the book was at the printer ready to roll. He needed a quantity. The Board discussed encouraging recycling on the programs, and suggested that we make this a part of intro speech before each show.
Competition -Mo reported that her first rehearsal will be Monday. She just contacted NHCTA for a manual, and she will be attending a meeting on Saturday for all entrants. She needs someone to run lights
Dame Awards Committee/Annual Meeting/Board elections T.J. reported that the committee will get together at the end of the month. It was suggested we put out a call for committee volunteers in the Newsletter. We are waiting to hear from Ernie and Jan as to whether they will seek another term on the Board. We are also looking for other nominees.
Old Home Day Committee - Bea Pszonowsky will head up the Old Home Days Float committee. T.J. reported he has found a fife and drum corps that will march for $350, which would go along with a 1776 theme. The Old Home Days theme this year is Wild Wild West. We discussed how on earth we could tie those two themes together. Maye reminded everyone we have a commitment to decorate and ride on the Rotary float. T.J. is looking for a sponsor for the fife and drum corps, as a separate entry

New Business
Encore! 2004 -Dee Dee Pitcher was present at the meeting at the Board's invitation. She began by stating that she had no idea why she had been asked to attend the meeting as the Encore Director had not been given the opportunity previously. The Board was interested in helping her out with finding an accompanist since Phil wasn't doing the show this year. Dee Dee felt that she could find someone herself. She also reported that she has disgruntled cast members because of minutes recorded for the September Board meeting. She took out minutes from September meeting and quoted from them regarding a discussion about solos versus choral singing. It was clear that a misunderstanding had occurred about the minutes, and about the Board's intentions with regard to Encore. We then discussed Encore in general; the importance of having one person deal with Larry Mossbrucker, the good reviews Dee Dee and her cast have gotten at Steele Hill and at Chichester. Dee Dee stated that she likes doing Encore, she wants to continue to do it, but that if the Board wants to change directors or direction, we need to find someone who reads music and who has been a member of the cast for at least to years, so that they know how the show works and how it succeeds. The Board reaffirmed their commitment to having Dee Dee direct Encore, and to the format of Encore, which emphasizes choral singing and not solo performances. Dee Dee reported that she will hold auditions on Sunday, February 29th at 7 pm and on Tuesday, March 2, at 7 pm, pending finding an accompanist. TJ offered his help if Dee Dee needs it. We discussed buying new equipment for Encore, in particular a new keyboard, especially if a new accompanist does not have their own. The Board decided to wait and see if we need to buy a keyboard for Encore. Dee Dee then reported that she has many numbers picked out for this year's show, including songs from 1776, Footloose, Little Shop, Simon and Garfunkle. The Board then discussed age limits Encore cast members. Maye said that she had previously set age 16 as the low limit, provided there was parental permission. At this point, the Board went off the record.
When the Board went back on the record, they confirmed that the Old Home Days Encore Show would be held on Friday July 16th. Meggin offered to help out with that show. Dee Dee reported that she still needs a stage manager, and Meggin said she may be able to help with that. Dee Dee reported that Irene Hall has asked to be producer, and it was agreed that Meggin will help by overseeing the production. Dee Dee then asked for the Board's thought on age limits, and collectively the Board made and passed a Motion that no persons under the age of 18 shall participate in any Pittsfield Players production where alcoholic beverages are served.
Thurston Carpenter/Freese Bros. Tribute Maye reported that she was discussing a possible Memorial Concert in honor of Thurston Carpenter with the Freese Brothers. She had also talked to Frank Donovan of Delta Dental regarding possible funding. It was agreed that Maye would talk to Ann Carpenter first, and then Frank Donovan and report back to the Board.
Christmas 2004 - Mo reported that she is tinkering with an idea for the show, and Meggin is too. Mo wants to write a small musical, with the focus of using women as much as possible. It was agreed that Meggin and Mo will collaborate and they will bring a proposal to the Board. It was requested that the newsletter include a request for additional proposals for Xmas shows.
Accounting Program - Mo reported on her progress setting up the accounting system. The Board received an estimate from Capital Alarm Systems for a Sprinkling System for the theater. The estimate will be filed. The Board agreed that Roof comes first. It was agreed that we would try to form a Subcommittee, to include two member of the Board, to review all that needs to be done on the theater and make a list of priorities.

Other - It was agreed that all donators to the Players would receive a receipt. Mo reported that the Town of Pittsfield has abated the second half of our taxes. Mo reported that, as we agreed at our November meeting, the CD has been closed, and that money transferred to a money market account at a higher rate of interest.
The Mailing List is going on Mo's computer, so she can eventually have it all in QuickBooks. Mo has put it into Microsoft Access, which can communicate with QuickBooks. She has separated the list into various categories, such as members, donators, businesses, anyone who gives us money. There are some discrepancies. Maye explained that she usually sends out a pay-your-dues nasty gram in October, but didn't this year because of State Fair. It was agreed that one year from a donation you get newsletter, and that members would have a three month grace period on paying dues. Mo reported that Mail merge can be done in Word, and that we can make better use of mailings once we've transferred the mailing list to that system. Maye will give Mo a copy of mailing labels so we can get that up and running.

It was agree that we would continue to read materials for the replacement play for next winter. The selection month will be in March, with possible slippage to April. Mo has a copy of Bleacher Bums, which Ernie liked. Maye brought in a play called Belles. The Board will be doing extensive reading in the next month or two to find a good replacement.
Maye reported that the final LCHIP report had not been completed yet, but that she would have that done and notarized in the next week. We may owe them money after the final tallies are made.
The next Board meeting is scheduled for Friday, February 13, 7 pm at Maye Hart's House.
A motion was made to adjourn and was passed unanimously.

Adjourn