Open House Reminder

Reminder that the OHPAA board will be holding a public open house at the Empress on Tuesday, March 3, 2009, from 7 to 9 PM. This event is open to all patrons, volunteers or anyone else that has an interest in OHPAA or the Empress Theatre. The purpose of the open house is to take feedback from patrons and volunteers about how well we are doing. Come tell us your thoughts.

Last Chance for 2nd Anniversary Gala Dinner Reservations!

If you haven't made your reservation for the 2nd Anniversary Gala yet,... do it now!

The caterer needs a guest count no later than Wednesday, October 15th, so we need to have all reservations by that time.

Don't miss out on this great party for all of our Empress Theatre friends. Call the box office at (801)347-7373 right now, or make your reservation on line at the Empress Theatre's website.
Tell your friends to get their reservations in now too!

In addition to the dinner, there will be an awards ceromony, a preview of the 2009 season, and afterwards an evening of dancing the night away.

Second Anniversary Gala & '09 Season Kick-Off

Mark Saturday, October 18, 2008 on you calendar!

That's the day we'll be celebrating the 2nd anniversary of the reopening of the Empress Theatre! And well be kicking off the 2009 Season Ticket Sales!

We're having a gala party, starting at 7:00 PM, with dinner, an awards program and a sneak peek at the 2009 season, followed by dancing. The affair will be held at Rocky Mountain Raceway, 6555 W 2100 S, Magna. Tickets for dinner, the program and dancing will be $45/couple or $25 per person. If you just want to come for the program and dancing, it's $7.50 per person. Businesses can purchase their own table for up to 8 people for $160, and will get a placard with their business name on the table.

We'll also be kicking off our 2009 season-ticket sales at the gala, so you won't want to miss it.

Dress will be semi-formal, with coat and tie suggested. Call the box office at (801) 347-7373 to reserve your tickets now!

Other Stages

OK, this post is only for those of you that have already seen Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. If you haven't seen our show on the Empress Theatre stage, then go reserve you tickets now...

Go ahead, I'll wait.

Got 'em reserved. Good!

Laura Bedore was kind enough to invite my family to the dress rehearsal of Twelve Dancing Princesses which opens tomorrow night at the Off-Broadway Theatre and runs through August 18. It was the most fun I've had at a non-Empress Theatre show this season!

Laura directed, and also stars as the Fairy Godmother/Narrator/Wicked Witch, and features more than a dozen actors who have graced the Empress Theatre Stage in recent months. Brady Flannagan, Nate Unck, Aldo Gomez from The Jesters Royale (with Nate playing a Jester... When he's not pretty in pink); Scott Ferrin and Aubrey Vickers from It's a Wonderful Life; Patrick Aldeman, Brinana & Brooke Bedore from Midsummer Night's Dream and Chris Aldeman and Drew Keddington from Much Ado About Nothing; Jourdan Dixon from "Work in Progress." There weren't any printed programs, so I'm sure I missed a couple of folks.

I'm not going to spoil the show for you, but there are some wonderful surprises. There is something for everyone: Opera, French cuisine, buff jocks, ledherhosen, hot latin lovers, aristocrats in powdered wigs and frogs in need of kisses.

If you only get to see one show this month... Well, I gotta tell you to go see Seven Brides, because that's my job. But if you can see two shows this month, go see Twelve Dancing Princesses. You won't be disappointed.

Oh, and what a wonderful way to take a ride on 'Max.' We caught Max at Smiths (8000 W & 3500 S) at 5:59 PM and arrived about 6:40 at OBT, which is just across Main Street from the 3rd South Trax station.

4th of July Thank You's

A big special thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate the 4th of July Empress Theatre Style!



Suzanne, Michele, Pam, Tammy, Dr. Haggart, Douglas, Amy, Ginny and all the ushers and tour guides and other people whose names I don't have who helped with the yard sale and the theatre tours. We made a little over $800, which is good money for a yard sale. I'm not sure we made enough to justify doing all the work everyone did again, but we're that much closer to our goal of raising the down payment on the Empress! Way to go!



Steve, Liz, and all the cast of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and the cast of "Jesters Royale" (It was as big a surprise for me as it was for you) for your presence in the parade and for passing out the fliers. A special personal thank you to Adam McKinlay for rescuing Amy and Ephraim with the 4-wheeler.



Laura Bedore, KOSY-FM and Green Team Utah for providing our parade announcer. As usual, Laura was terriffic!

More Surprises

What do you get when a theatre cleans out its property and set storage, and needs to raise $12,000 in a big hurry? One Super-Colossal Yard Sale!

We are tentatively scheduling this mega event for July 4th in the theatre's parking lot. We've got a snow mobile, a couple of electronic organs, a fountain, and some other stuff, but (and this is the cool part) we need more stuff to sell. So all of you that agreed to clean out the garage for your Dad's (that's a hint for those of you who have no money for a Fathers' Day gift) this weekend now have something to do with all that stuff.

It's a perfect win-win-win!

Dad gets a clean garage, you get to make a donation to your favorite charity, and we get to sell the stuff to help raise the $12,000 we need to make the down payment on the Empress Theatre. And you'll feel so much better when it's done. Just bask in it.

Now for those of you who don't have garages, don't have fathers, or just want more to bask in: we need volunteers to put the whole show together. Call, email, text or stop me or Joline on the street to volunteer. But volunteer now.

This is going to be so much fun!

And all this was in Magna!

Somedays I have a hard time thinking about what I want to post. Not today! My wife had to work last night, and that left me with the kids... Well sorta.

Mirinda was running lights for closing night of The Foreigner (which had a really good crowd with a large contingent from the Harmon Home Senior Center in West Valley! It's always nice to see busses parked outside the theatre, and last night there were 2 of them!) Damia was rehearsing Big Bad Musical in the basement of Zions Bank. Since Lessa has left for Boot Camp in South Carolina, that left me with Mara, Peter, Neeva, Meyrick and Ephraim.

Mara & Peter wanted to go see Foreigner one last time, so I took all five of the kids to the show. Ephraim was too wiggly to sit through it, and Meyrick wasn't far behind, so I left Mara and Peter and took the three younger ones...

To the concert in Pleasant Green Park sponsored by the Arts Council of Magna! 'Seriously Evan' was playing. I chewed Starr Campbell out for not getting me date information sooner so I could post it in advance, so now I'm stuck with only being able to report after the fact. Neeva and Meyrick played in the playground while Ephraim and I listened to the music. For you Seriously Evan fans out there, the trio is going into the studio this morning to begin cutting an album.

I find it remarkable that there are so many different things going on in Magna. And the list keeps growing! There are two or three more concerts in the concert-in-the-park series; OHPAA and the Arts Council are teaming up to sponsor a Cultural Arts Celebration in August. The Arts Council is sponsoring an art contest and exhibit over the 4th of July. The Magna Parade is getting better every year. (There's a big surprise coming with the parade this year, but it gets its own post. So stay tuned!)

Amy was so jealous when she got home from work!

Programs for Big Bad Musical

Okay, so here's what happened...

We had a smash hit with Joseph, that covered our expenses and allowed us to reimburse some long outstanding purchases and cover some other deferred expenses.

"An Evening of One Act Plays" was an educational program, not a major production. It was artisticly and educationally successfull, but it didn't make us any money. We may have even lost a bit on the deal. But that's why we're a non-profit organization.

We hoped that The Foreigner would ride on Joseph's coattails and be successful at the box office. Based on this expectation, we committed cash to secure the rights to Big Bad Musical and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. And we started putting money into Seven Brides.

Well, Foreigner didn't do as well as we'd planned. It was a risky show for us to do. It's not well known outside of theatre circles, and it has some language and situations that some find objectionable. It just wasn't what our audience wanted. It's a wonderful show, and Porter and the cast have done a marvelous job with it. But we just didn't draw the paying audience we expected for it. Hopefully, when all the beans are counted, it will have covered its expenses.

But Foreigner hasn't put any cash back into the till.

Meanwhile...

For our big productions, we have a contract with Theatre Publications to actually publish the book. They have the right to sell some of the advertising, so they underwrite a large portion of the printing bill. So those big 32-36 page full color programs don't cost us very much. And we are able to sell advertising to help defray some more of the costs.

But our smaller shows and educational programs are not covered in the contract. One-Acts and Young Performers' Theatre isn't expected to draw large audiences, and we'd never recoup the cost of the big programs without selling a lot more advertising than we've been able to do so far. We've only had a couple of volunteers step up to sell ads, and they've had marginal success. (though they've been more successful than I was when I tried doing it for a living in Las Vegas!)

We were able to have the programs for One-Acts printed for $200. When I asked about doing the Big Bad programs, and I was ordering only half as many, the quote was $250. That was a pretty steep increase. And we're cash tight.

So, here is a specific need for donations or sponsorships. We need to raise enough cash to cover printing the program for Big Bad, and we need some additional cash to cover the cost of printing flyers and postcards and doing our other marketing things. If we can raise $500, we can do 500 black and white, 8 page programs and have color postcards and flyers printed. If we can raise $750, we can have the programs in color. For $1,000 we can do 16 pages in color.

(No. We're not in danger of closing up shop. We have a temporary cash shortage. But we do still have a long way to go before we'll be financially comfortable and able to reach our goals. I always look at these little situations as opportunites. Lets see if we can raise some cash to meet this need! As an educational program, this is one of those things that has value beyond the price of admission.)

So, I'm going to ask you to either make a donation, become a sponsor, or help us find some sponsors for Big Bad Musical. (BTW, I already have one $50 pledge... From one of our friends in Holladay!) The deadline to submit the program to the printer is Monday, so don't procrastinate.

UPDATE: As of 11:40 this morning, I have received a committment from one Friend of the Empress for a $50 - $100 donation, but she won't be able to make it until June 25 when she returns from Brazil. Another of our friends has agreed to put a full page ad in the program. And finally, we've received a $200 donation through Google Checkout. That's $325 we've raised so far. Lets keep going!

UPDATE: Got an email from Joline a few minutes ago. Kathy Wilcox just made another donation for $100. Kathy you Rock!

UPDATE 6/9/2008: Jan Lowder just donated $100 via Google Checkout! This is awesome!

Dance the night away or big picnic in the park?

Would you rather dance the night away or chill out at a big picnic in the park with friends? Over the last month, there have been more than 100 visitors to this blog, but only 12 of you have voted in the poll in the left margin. There are five days left, go register your vote. Do it right now!
The big picnic is in the lead at the moment, followed a close second by the formal gala.
While I'm on the subject... Who'd like to help plan either of these events?

The Value Beyond the Price of Admission

Every now and then I am confronted by someone who complains, as did a commentor in today's Tribune (see the comments associated with the letter): "What is it about dance, theater, opera and symphony, that they can't finance themselves like so many other artistic genres?"

This person is probably suffering from a common delusion that most of the operating money for live theatres like the Empress and organizations like OHPAA come from government grants. For the record, OHPAA received a whopping $3,000 in government subsidies last year; compared to over $500,000 in donated cash, volunteer labor, and materials from private sources and over $70,000 in earned income from ticket sales, etc. And that was just our first year of operation. We expect to make about $150,000 from ticket sales this year.

Nevertheless, the question is valid and deserves an answer. I think however, that we must first reframe the question slightly. Dance, theatre, opera, and symphony and all of the other performing and fine arts are all able to "finance themselves," but they don't do it strictly from the money collected from admission to events or sale of artifacts. These art forms are funded by a combination of "earned income," sponsorship revenues (from the sales of advertising and promotional partnerships) , and donations or grants from private and public sources.

For what it's worth, TV, movies and even professional sports wouldn't make it on admissions alone. They need sponsors and they get subsidies too! There is just a different mix and visibility, as well as different production & distribution efficiencies.

Next, I think we need to ask the question: Why is this this model used? This question is really two questions: What are the alternative models and why is this model chosen over them? And Why does this model work at all?

We can take up the first question at a later time, but for today, lets examine the 2nd. Why is it that "dance, theatre, opera and symphony" can finance their art and the operation of their venues with tax subsidies and private donations?

What value exists in the performing arts that justifies governmental subsidy programs like the Salt Lake County Zoo, Arts, and Parks program or a grant from the Utah Arts Council or the National Endowment for the Arts? What prompts a charitable foundation like the George S. and Delores Dore Eccles Foundation to establish arts as a philanthropic focus? What inspires a private donor to write a check for several thousand dollars and give it to an organization like OHPAA? And what's up with all the donated labor and time?

I have my thoughts on this, but I think I'm going to leave the question open for today. Instead, I'd like to hear your ideas about why it is even possible for a performing arts organization to acquire funding beyond what it can earn from the sale of tickets. Click on the comment link below and tell me what you think.

Return with an Honorable Broken Leg...

Two of our favorite Empress actresses, Catherine Cripps (Narrator in Joseph) and Mandi Jensen (Narrator in Joseph and Kim Macafee in Bye-bye Birdie) have received performing mission calls from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Both young ladies will be spending their summer performing in Nauvoo, IL. They leave this Friday for "the City of Joseph."
Only 20 performers, out of hundreds that apply, are selected for this 4 month Church Service Mission.
I wasn't taking notes when I talked to Catherine yesterday (I was eating a ham sandwhich at her farewell open house), but if I remember correctly, they will be performing in Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo, Just Plain Amanda, Sunset by the Mississippi, and High Hopes and River Boats - A Nauvoo Adventure. (Okay, I cheated and looked it up.) They could be doing up to six performances per day! (And I thought they worked hard doing four performances of Joseph over two days!) And they may have chorus parts in Joseph Smith, the Prophet of the Restoration. (I guess they just like doing shows about prophets named Joseph.)

Blog Makeover

Boy, take a day off, and when you come back all of the furniture's been moved....

Do you like the new look of the blog? Manelle Oliphant, the illustrator who has done several Empress Theatre posters and other art work for OHPAA and the Empress Theatre found the key under the mat, slipped in and added all of this cool artwork.

Manelle not only draws and paints these yummy pictures, but she does layout work too. (She's been the art director for our last three programs and has done some of the ads. When she isn't doing the art herself, she coordinates the other artists that do it.) Go check out her blog and see some of the other stuff she's willing to share on the Internet.

She makes me want to write a children's book just so I can have her illustrate it!

By the way, we are always looking for others to join our "art department." Writers, artists, photographers, or if you just like hangin' around with 'em, if you have an interest, give me a shout.

"O brave new world"

The Star Trek: Tempest seems to be coming along nicely.

"O brave new world that has such creatures in't"

I'm so grateful that the Klingons developed the art to such a high state. Here are a few snipets of Shakespeare in Klingon:

Sonnet #18 -- "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"
qaDelmeH bov
tuj pem vIlo'choHQo'.SoH 'IH 'ej belmoH law', 'oH belmoH puS.jar vagh tIpuq
DIHo'bogh Sang SuS ro'.'ej ratlhtaHmeH bov tuj leSpoH luvuS.
rut tujqu'
bochtaHvIS chal mIn Dun qu' .rut DotlhDaj SuD wov HurghmoHmeH, HuvHa'.'ej reH
Hoch 'IHvo' Sab Hoch 'IH, net tu'.'u' He choHmo', San jochmo' joq
quvHa'.
'ach not wovHa'choH jubbogh bovlIj tuj,'ej not ghomHa'choH Hochvetlh
'IH Daghajbogh,'ej "QIbwIjDaq bIleng" not mIy Hegh nuj,bovmey DaDontaHvIS,
DojwI' nIHajbogh!
tlhuHlaH 'ej legh, wej 'e' lumevchugh nuv,vaj yIntaH
bomvam, 'ej DuyInmoH quv.
Translated by Nick Nicholas. KLI, 1994.
----
Khamlet (Hamlet) III.i.55ff. ("To be, or not to be....")
Khamlet: taH
pagh taHbe'. DaH mu'tlheghvam vIqelnIS.quv'a', yabDaq San vaQ cha, pu' je
SIQDI'?pagh, Seng bIQ'a'Hey SuvmeH nuHmey SuqDI','ej, Suvmo', rInmoHDI'? Hegh.
Qong --- Qong neH ---'ej QongDI', tIq 'oy', wa'SanID Daw''e' jecho'nISbogh
porghDaj rInmoHlaH net Har.
Translated by Nick Nicholas & Andrew Strader.
KLI, 1995.

The Photo is of Brent Spiner, as LCDR Data, performing the role of Prospero from The Tempest in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Emergence." According to "Memory Alpha" The Tempest was a partial inspiration for the film, Forbidden Planet, which in turn was a major inspiration for Star Trek's creator, Gene Roddenberry. Patrick Stewart played Prospero in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production from July 28 - Oct 12, 2006.

"The hour's now come; the very minute bids thee ope thine ear. Obey and be attentive."

Liveth Long and Prospereth Ye

What do William Shakespeare, Gene Roddenberry, and the Empress Theatre have in common? You'll want to beam over to CONduit, on May 23rd at 8:00 P.M. to find out. Rumor has it that some of our Empress players will reveal their true alien characters as they perform Shakepeare's Tempest.

To boldly goeth where none hath gone before...