Hi everyone!
Thank you to everyone who came out to the parent meeting tonight! If you weren’t able to be there you’ll be hearing from me hopefully within the next week or so via phone. If there is something I’ve learned over the last 5 years it is that if the lines of communication are open and flowing between you all and myself everything is easier.
I attached those two documents to this email so that you all can save them to your hard drives, desk tops, print out 4 for all the different places you keep your dates or whatever you need to do. :)
What we talked about tonight……I left my notes at school so this is from memory…if I forget something I’ll send a follow-up email.
- Show Fee – please just reach out to me if this is not do-able for your family. The only reason I didn’t put it in the audition packet is because I didn’t want money to be a reason someone didn’t audition. I think theatre should be inclusive for ALL people. Truly I could ramble about this over a cup of coffee but I’ll spare you. At the latest (unless we agree on a payment plan) this is due in cash or check by January 17th. Make checks out to "Faubion Theatre”. Here is a break down of how I’m using the money. Please do not hesitate to ask for a payment plan or to tell me you can only swing half the cost, I understand!
- $10 choreography fee
- $10 script
- $20 costume
- $10 show t-shirt
- That’s $50 total that will ALL go toward your child’s show success!
- Bethany Lorentzen is the show’s choreographer. She’s really really great at what she does, very good with the kids and extremely professional. She has undergone a background check and all district paperwork needed. She is a choir teacher in Grand Prairie and my own personal voice teacher. (I still act in the DFW area) She’s an independent contractor though and as such she shouldn’t be approached with any grievances. Please come to me, I’m an MISD employee and can deal with anything. I have told her to be professional and firm on the cast because I expect certain things from them. We have a really strong program at Faubion and your children were cast because they are AWESOME. It’s a good thing to expect greatness from them, they are fully capable.
- Ways to make sure you are connected!
- Remind Texts – Send the message @edbak to the phone # 81010
- On Facebook search for Faubion Theatre and join the group!
- On Instagram search for fmsdramamama and follow me! (it’s not my personal account, it is purely the school account)
- We will always sell tickets at the door but we will also be using ShowTix4U.com heavily from now on. It’s a really great system and just expedites the process of buying tickets so much! It also keeps us from dealing in so much cash.
- A show blog link will be sent to you over thanksgiving break! On it will be so many things – all the information you could need and it will be constantly updated. Info included on that will be.
- A place to upload show bios with an example
- A place for parents to sign up for a crew to serve on
- Costume examples
- Set examples
- Prop examples
- All of the music from the show so students can listen to it on their devices
- Choreography videos so students can practice at home
- Accent video links for my Mae Petersons
- Probably more great info that I cannot currently think of! :)
- Students will need to have a solid black shirt for their headshots. Those headshots will go in the program and I’m a bit OCD about them all matching in the general look. I’ve even had students wear their parents shirts before and if they are big we just safety pin them in the back so you can’t tell! Honestly I’ll probably bring some of my own black shirts from home for that purpose but it just saves time if we don’t have to do that much. Head shots will be scheduled later when I set up deadlines for myself for the program.
- Strike System – students need to be held accountable for their actions and it is our duty to teach them responsibility, reliability, a good work ethic and following through on their word/things they have said they would do. I will be keeping track of “Strikes” (think demerit system) throughout the process. They get one warning and then 3 strikes. If they get 3 they lose one show. Things they can receive strikes for are……
- Needing redirection more than 3 times in an hour time period.
- Breaking props or costumes on purpose
- Playing with props or costumes that don’t belong to them
- Missing rehearsals with no notice or explanation, that weren’t on their conflict sheet
- Cursing backstage or other name-calling
- Physical violence or the threat of it
- Wandering in the school when they are supposed to be in the auditorium, my room or choir room
- If they are rude to myself, the choreographer or music directors – or any adult volunteering their time that doesn’t deserve rudeness.
- I think we determined that orchestra didn’t have any conflicts, that I was forgiving all band sectional conflicts as all clear on my end except for 2 weeks before the show opens (not including spring break) and hopefully you all know that me and choir work incredibly well together so if there was ever a conflict we would easily work it out with each other. Liz Turner and I eat lunch together every day and get along incredibly well so that will never ever be a problem. Honestly I pride myself on being as flexible as possible and being determined to work around other school events and programs so that students can be involved in anything they want to be in these formative years. I just need to be well informed of everything beforehand! Also know that I am pretty dead set on having them those last 2 weeks because that is truly crunch time. Please keep in mind I’m juggling 90 schedules and doing my best!
- Ad Sales is something I’ve always wanted to put more emphasis on but never seem to have the time or energy. I have paperwork I have drawn up and it will be on the blog. If you know anyone who would want to advertise in our program or you want to buy an ad to congratulate your actor I think we should capitalize on all of that!
- We drew who would perform each show but I honestly cannot currently remember it – I know some people including my stage manager wrote it down though so look for that email later. We did determine it though! In a rudimentary and very unbiased way! Haha You will have that information way early and can tell your family!
- Students will be in ALL shows in some capacity. Large roles will be in the ensemble on their “off” nights because everything just sounds better and more full with more voices!
- If everyone pitches in just a little bit no one will have to do a ridiculous amount of helping/work. This is a cast of 70 and a crew of 20 and that’s a huge team. We got this! Please do your best to find a way to help you feel comfortable and confident in, even if it’s just working concessions or taking money for tickets at one performance. That helps more than you realize! Thank you! Honestly I’ll tell you two things that always seem to stress me out the most are the program and getting food ordered for them on show nights.
I’m almost positive I’m missing things but that’s still a ton of information to digest right now! Thanks for your time! I know you all have busy lives – much respect for raising these incredible, sweet and talented kids in the midst of everything else you have going on. :)
~Ms. Riley~
No comments:
Post a Comment