Done Another Round of Crazy--Monster Update
I have volunteered with Saskatoon Summer Players since we moved back to Saskatoon, 8 1/2 years ago. Since then, I have done West Side Story, Pirates of Penzance, Kiss Me Kate, Cinderella, and been M.C. for The Broadway Bash on 3 occasions. They should not be confused with Gateway Players (now defunct) with whom I performed in Becket: or the Honour of God, The Mouse Trap, And Then There Were None and a privately produced version of Monkey Business.
Last year I decided to try and take more of a leadership role with SSP and I allowed myself to be nominated to the board of directors. I've been acting as Secretary since then. The "on paper" commitment is one meeting per month and a second one in November for the AGM and I keep and distribute the minutes. As happens with me occasionally, things have managed to get out of control.
Summer Players has been attempting a restructuring during this last year for a number of reasons that I won't go into. The result is that there has been more work than would be usual for the board. A short term pain--long term gain sort of thing. Add to this that Gateway Players decided to fade into the dustbin of theatre history without so much 10 minutes notice. The only inconvenience here was that we were splitting the rent on the building in which we worked. We couldn't find a partner, couldn't pay the entire sum and couldn't find a suitable space to rent so we bought a property in Dalmeny. We have moved all our materials there and plan to do all our major set construction and costume storage. That still leaves us needing to rent for rehearsal, but that's not a particular burden.
Let me be clear. Compared to most of my fellow board members, I don't feel that I did too very much at all. It was still a lot more than I bargained for.
Recently I agreed to help out with our newsletter. That was a major time sink. We tried to rush it out just after the new year. I'm mostly pleased with how it turned out. If you feel like you've missed out on our musical theatre news, feel free to download a .pdf copy.
The Broadway Bash was a success this year. I wore a tux, sang Give My Regards to Broadway and acted as host for the 3 performances. Leora painted her skin green and sang Defying Gravity, from the Musical Wicked (which, btw, we are going to see this summer). I was kept pretty busy during the whole thing, so I wasn't able to produce my characteristic photo bonanza. Rumor has it that Dad shot some video, but I haven't seen anything yet (hint, hint, Mom). Sometimes practicing can be nearly as fun. Not on this occasion. I was pretty bored during rehearsals but loved performing in the show.
To top off my busy year, I have taken a permanent position at the library. Meaning that I have gone from a schedule that is completely flexible to one that is entirely out of my control. It rankles, but I'm trying to get used to it. I do get to do a few of the more interesting jobs such as, children's story time, some collection management and selecting and managing displays. It has been 11 years since I haven't been able to make my own schedule. Perhaps I crazy to have given that up. Time and my bank balance will tell.
That's about it. I've covered quite a bit, but you know that there is only one thing that I'm thinking about at the moment, anyway.
Last year I decided to try and take more of a leadership role with SSP and I allowed myself to be nominated to the board of directors. I've been acting as Secretary since then. The "on paper" commitment is one meeting per month and a second one in November for the AGM and I keep and distribute the minutes. As happens with me occasionally, things have managed to get out of control.
Summer Players has been attempting a restructuring during this last year for a number of reasons that I won't go into. The result is that there has been more work than would be usual for the board. A short term pain--long term gain sort of thing. Add to this that Gateway Players decided to fade into the dustbin of theatre history without so much 10 minutes notice. The only inconvenience here was that we were splitting the rent on the building in which we worked. We couldn't find a partner, couldn't pay the entire sum and couldn't find a suitable space to rent so we bought a property in Dalmeny. We have moved all our materials there and plan to do all our major set construction and costume storage. That still leaves us needing to rent for rehearsal, but that's not a particular burden.
Let me be clear. Compared to most of my fellow board members, I don't feel that I did too very much at all. It was still a lot more than I bargained for.
Recently I agreed to help out with our newsletter. That was a major time sink. We tried to rush it out just after the new year. I'm mostly pleased with how it turned out. If you feel like you've missed out on our musical theatre news, feel free to download a .pdf copy.
The Broadway Bash was a success this year. I wore a tux, sang Give My Regards to Broadway and acted as host for the 3 performances. Leora painted her skin green and sang Defying Gravity, from the Musical Wicked (which, btw, we are going to see this summer). I was kept pretty busy during the whole thing, so I wasn't able to produce my characteristic photo bonanza. Rumor has it that Dad shot some video, but I haven't seen anything yet (hint, hint, Mom). Sometimes practicing can be nearly as fun. Not on this occasion. I was pretty bored during rehearsals but loved performing in the show.
To top off my busy year, I have taken a permanent position at the library. Meaning that I have gone from a schedule that is completely flexible to one that is entirely out of my control. It rankles, but I'm trying to get used to it. I do get to do a few of the more interesting jobs such as, children's story time, some collection management and selecting and managing displays. It has been 11 years since I haven't been able to make my own schedule. Perhaps I crazy to have given that up. Time and my bank balance will tell.
That's about it. I've covered quite a bit, but you know that there is only one thing that I'm thinking about at the moment, anyway.
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