Tech. Meeting May 26th - Minutes

The Technical Meeting minutes are available for those interested. They have been sent around to SMs and those on the technical committee. Please e-mail me (matlseng@hotmail.com) if you would like a copy.

All SMs please read - especially the last part containing my challenge for all casts (mwa ha ha!)

~That is all~
T!

Promotions and Marketing Meeting - June 2nd

To all those interested in shouting from the roof tops how wonderful SDF is:

There will be a Promotions and Marketing meeting this Thursday, June 2nd at 5:30pm in JHE 265. Minutes will be posted.

If interested but cannot attend please e-mail me - matlseng@hotmail.com - and let me know.

~That is all~
T!

Garage sale!

A little note to you all from Kasia, who doesn't have blog access because the internet is silly- enjoy!

Hello All,

A wonderful fundraising idea has developed, that being we should have a garage sale. This way you can get rid of some old junk and help raise money! The idea was that everyone would try to donate a box of stuff (or whatever possible) and get together one day on a weekend in late
June (we were thinking of the weekend of June 18th or June 25th).

Also we were hoping to hold this garage sale on one of your lawns!? it would be ideal if we could set up at a location that was either on Sterling or Main St, basically a high trafficked pedestrian area. So if you would be willing to volunteer your front lawn for this garage sale please send a reply to mcmaster_sdf@yahoo.ca as soon as you can, and tell us what day would be best for you.

To further make this a success we need help from all of you. To get a better idea of who can help in what way, again reply to mcmaster_sdf@yahoo.ca and say if you can/think you can:
1)Donate stuff
2)Volunteer a vehicle to pick up donations a day before the garage sale
3)Volunteer a vehicle to help take away any left over donations to a charitable organization
4)Volunteer your time selling at the garage sale
5)Volunteer your time to help set up the garage sale
6)Lend us a tarp, or table(s) to set up stuff on
7)If there is anything else that you think would be helpful that you can provide tell us!

So that is about all for now. Hopefully someone out there is willing to let us use their lawn for this great cause (come on it benefits us all in the end!!) and then we can get the plans for this garage sale rolling!

Hope to hear from you all soon,

-Kasia Niewiadomski
Fundraising Coordinator

Bios

Good Morning Everyone!

You may be wondering, "Wow. I have written this amazingly fantastic bios for the festival program but have no clue on who to send it to." Well, your question is now going to be answered.

I have set up sdfbios@hotmail.com for all of the festival participants to send their bios to. Just as a refresher, here are the requirements for the bios:

1. They are to be no more than 100 words in length.

2. They should be typed in Word format, if possible.

3. They are to be received by June 15. Bios sent after that date will not be included in the program.

If there are any problems, questions, inquiries or conflicts, email sdfbios@hotmail.com and I will try and get back to you.

Bryan
Stage Manager for 'The Taming of the Shrew'

ed.j6.jl

Donate Your Beer Bottles!

If you have empties lying around the house that you'd like to donate to the festival, we'll try to pick them up for you!

Follow the link below and fill out the form to let us know you'd like to make a bottle donation. Feel free to pass this link on to your friends.

Empties Donations

Original Works -- Call For Scripts (again)

Hi everyone,

The Original Works Series needs some more scripts! You can submit your original work by emailing mcmaster_sdf@yahoo.ca with your electronic copy. Deadline is June 13. Works should be under an hour, unproduced (except in the case of productions done in educational settings), and should not require more than 6 actors.

Thanks!!

ed.jl.m27

Festival Calendar

Tori asked me to post this:

Festival Calendar

It has major production deadlines on it for the different shows.

IRIS Auditions - June 4

From the MSU Information Update. Find out more at www.msu.mcmaster.ca/listserv/update.php#21.

---

Welcome Week Drama (IRIS) Open-Call/Interviews

The First Year Experience Office is looking for enthusiastic individuals to be a part of IRIS. This drama production is student written and produced and we are looking for individuals of all degrees of experience.

Check out our web page for further details at: http://fye.mcmaster.ca/ww/IRIS.htm

Date: Saturday, June 4

Time: 9:35 am - 2:00 pm

Location: Chester New Hall 104

More money! Coke & Student Affairs

Hi everyone..

In the past week we've had two more sponsors: Coke Fund ($500) and Student Affairs (Dr. Phil Wood and Dr. Fred Hall - $500).

Also, for those of you who have signed up for the commuter challenge June 5-11, remember that there is free pancake breakfast on June 3 at 8 - 10 am, with Peter George serving up the pancakes! When you see him, thank him for the sponrship! :)

For those who haven't signed up -- click below.
List the festival as your department.

Click here.
http://act.mcmaster.ca/cchallenge/CC_2005/Commuterchallenge2005.htm

ed.jl.m27

Shrew Crew: Rehearsal Calendar Updated

The rehearsal schedule up to June 14 has been posted on the Padua site.

Click here.

Lyanne's Birthday Party

Lyanne (from Shrew Crew) is having a birthday get-together on Friday at 9:00 PM at Village West (in Westdale).

Anyone from the festival is welcome to come!

Fundraising Meeting - May 27th

There will be a Fundraising Meeting this Friday (May 27) at 3:00pm in TSH 719.

~That is all~

Technical Meeting; May 26th

There will be a Technical meeting May 26th (Thursday) at 5:30pm in JHE 323.

~That is all~

T!

Change is good.

Do you have a change jar where you throw all the loose coins you get that are too heavy to carry around? Wondering when you're ever going to get around to rolling all those coins?

Why not donate your coin jar to the festival?

We'll do all the rolling for you - and you'd be helping us raise the money needed to put on the great shows we're developing.

Don't want to completely deplete your coin collection? What about just donating all your nickels? Or all your pennies? Or anything worth less than a quarter? Every little bit helps. Canadian Tire money also counts! We could use it to help buy construction materials.

We've installed a donation jar in my house where any of us can collectively throw our loose change as we feel inclined. What about setting up a similar jar in your house? Would your family or friends be willing to put a jar in their houses? Would your boss let you put a jar out at work? These are just ideas, but maybe one of them is right for you! Click here if you'd like to download a jar label.

If you would like to donate a jar you can bring it to Rob and Jared's house for rolling. Email Jared if you need directions. If you've got a heavy load we may be able to pick your donation up from you instead. Email Jared (click here) to make arrangements.

Thanks everyone. Hope rehearsals are going well!

Links: Theatre Ontario & ArtsAlive.ca

Tori sent this out yesterday. I'm posting it here to make sure everyone gets a chance to check out the links.

The Theatre Ontario site has a great listing of theatre-related occupations with descriptions. The site also has loads of other great stuff – including free workshops for actors starting out and counselling services to address questions.

http://theatreontario.org/content/careers_in_theatre.htm

The ArtsAlive site is amazing – very thorough with video interviews and great links for further resources.

www.artsalive.ca

These look like really cool resources. Tell the rest of us what you think - if you'd like - by commenting below.

Tonight: Boston Pizza Party!

A reminder to everybody about the festival night out at Boston Pizza tonight.

Click here to see the details.

And remember that if you're willing to help Steve talk to classes tonight, meet in JHE 317 by 6:40 PM. Same goes on Thursday.

Guess what I'm about to talk about...

It's everyone's favourite treasurer with a Public Service Announcement. Again. As usual.

I'm going to be at the Boston Pizza shindig tomorrow night. If you have not paid your membership fees, it is acceptable and even ENCOURAGED to do so. However, if you e-mail me I remain at your disposal to meet and pick up membership forms any afternoon or evening this week.

If you have some reason why you can't pay- you can't meet with me, you're flat broke, you aren't cast yet (which is actually the reason for two outstanding fees)- TELL ME! We can work something out. I won't bite you, I don't know where you've been.

Oh, and "I'm not in a play, I'm just a volunteer" is not a reason. Tori and Rob are just volunteers, but they were the first to pay. I'm just a volunteer, but I still managed to give myself the ten dollars. Which was an interesting experience.

In conclusion, GET YOUR MONEY IN! (and sorry about the quadruple post- I kept getting errors)

Welcome Lindsay!!

Please join me in welcoming Lindsay, our new Box Office Manager/Front of House Manager (BOM/FoHM)!!

If anyone is interested in volunteering for either Box Office or Front of House, or knows someone who is, please let Lindsay know (harwool@mcmaster.ca) .

Medical Forms Due Thursday

A reminder that 2 sealed copies of your completed medical form are due to your Stage Managers by May 26th (this Thursday).

~That is all~

T!

Fundraising: Help Wanted

[ This message is for everybody. ]

Steve needs some help letting night classes know about the festival and collecting donations. If you wouldn't mind lending a hand, here's what to do:

On Wednesday and/or Thursday, go to room 317 in JHE by 6:40 PM.

If you can bring an extra jar for collections, that would be cool. Steve can print off labels for you.

Steve will organize you and let you know where to go after that. It shouldn't take too long.

If you have a shrew crew rehearsal on Thursday, but would like to help, you can be excused for a little while to help Steve. Just come back to rehearsal afterwards.

If you're planning on coming out to give a hand, please email shrewcrew2005@hotmail.com so that we can let Steve know help is on the way!

Thanks everybody!

Going Home For The Weekend? Bring Back Tools!

Hey Guys!

If you're going home this weekend please bring tools back to Hamilton to build stages!

If you can get your hands on tools like drills, hammers, saws (power or not), electrical cords, extension cords, drill bits, ratchet sets, etc. it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

Michelle and Steve

Volunteer Coordinators

You're late, you're late, for a very important date...

Ladies and gentlemen, if you do not have your membership fees in yet, it is OFFICIALLY LATE. I only have excuses for three late fees- the rest of you are currently receiving the evil googily eye.

Though it has been suggested that I go to your houses and rifle through your sofa cushions for loose change, I'm just a bit too lazy to go through all that trouble. So here's the plan. E-mail me at rosa.draconum AT gmail DOT com (which I typed strangely to prevent spam bots) and we can set up a meeting time and location. I'm available in the afternoons and evenings from Tuesday the 24 to Friday the 27.

And remember, production teams and staff (that's anyone on any sort of a comittee, even if you aren't in a play) have to pay, too!

Juggling: Not just for jesters anymore!

This message is for everyone, but I hope the Shrew Crew chorus pays particular attention. :)

---

Do you know how to juggle? Wouldn't you like to learn?

Juggling isn't just for jesters anymore. In fact, much to the general chagrin of the UJMAC (Union of Jesters, Mimes and Clowns*), juggling can be learned off the internet! For some really decent instructions and helpful hints visit the site below:

The Internet Juggling Database

Why should you learn to juggle, you ask?

• It helps with concentration.
• It develops hand-eye coordination and rhythm.
• It's a busker-worthy skill.
  

It can also be a good teamwork exercise, once you get the basics down and can try some combination tricks.

Check out the site and feel free to comment below!

* I have no idea if this union actually exists.

Festival Party: Boston Pizza - Wednesday

Come join us for our first festival-wide celebration this Wednesday, May 25th at 8 PM at the Boston Pizza on Main Street!

Come relax and meet the people involved in the other shows in the festival!

If you'd like to come, please e-mail us (mcmaster_sdf@yahoo.ca) so that we have a ballpark figure to give to Boston Pizza.

Hope to see you all Wednesday!

Steve and Michelle
2005 SDF Volunteer Coordinators

Trojan Women -- Monologue Resource

Here's an email Julie Ella passed around:

I was looking on the internet for ideas for the chorus monologues and found this site.

http://web.amnesty.org/actforwomen/conflict-index-eng

I found this site very powerful and hope it can help other chorus members with thier monologues. the rest of the cast can look at it as well to get an idea of what we're trying to do.

see ya,
Julie Ella

Shrew Crew: Your June Schedules

Could everyone on the Shrew Crew please send any updates or changes to their personal schedules for June to shrewcrew2005@hotmail.com?

Bryan and I are going to be making the June schedule this weekend. Please try to have your info in to us by Friday at 8:00 PM.

Please use the spreadsheet we sent you if at all possible. It saves us a bunch of time. If there are any isolated days or times when you have other commitments in June, please note them in your email.

Thanks everybody.

Programs!

Yup, another post from me. I'm getting as bad as Jared! (I kid, I kid)

Anyway, I've been getting questions about ads for the programs, and here's how it's going to work.

Prices:
$25 for quarter page
$50 for half page
$100 for full page

Advertising in the program also gets you a lovely little ad on the SDF webpage (yes, it did say otherwise before. Rob is right, I was wrong)

Ads are to be given to the lovely Kasia, and money goes to me. Yay!

Sponsorship from Dr. George

Well, today I met with Dr. George, and he has put forth $500 for our festival! I also hear that we should hear back from Coke very soon.

ONE MORE DAY

It's the ever-loving, green-eyed treasurer again, with an important message!

Tomorrow is the LAST DAY to get your membership fees in! *insert minor chord*

Stage Managers, I'll be in the Student Centre tomorrow by the fireplace from 1-3 and you can hand in the money for your shows then. Actors, crew and people on various comittees who haven't given their money to an appropriate person can give it to me then as well. For those of you who don't know me, I'm the girl with the brown fedora- which would make a good name for a Film Noir.

All the cool kids are handing in their membership fees. Don't you want to be cool?

Costumes

This message goes out to all the plays.

I will be moving the costumes from Theatre Brantford within the next two weeks to a storage area, and as a result, I might be able to borrow a few of their costumes. Now, I can't make any promises that 1) I'll find anything appropriate and that 2) they will let me borrow them.

Nonetheless, if there is a costume that you feel might be difficult to find, let me know and I will be on the lookout when I move those costumes. I will require general measurements as well of the people for whom the costumes are for.

You can respond to this posting.

Sincerely, Jaclyn (Terrible False Deception)

Fundraising: Some Advice Online

I found this site today.

www.grassrootsfundraising.org/howto/index.html

I think it could be a great resource for us. For instance, check out these articles:

The Ten Most Important Things You Can Know About Fundraising

Fifty-Three Ways For Board Members To Raise $1000
(don't be afraid, you don't have to be a board member to get something out of this one)

The "Dear Kim" archive has a lot of good info in it as well. You can find it here on the site.

Original Works meeting: reminder

A reminder to those involved in the Original Works Series that we will have a meeting again on Thursday, May 19 at 3:00PM in TSH 719. All are welcomed.

Shrew Crew: Fundraising

One of the things we'll be doing at the Thursday rehearsal is talking about fundraising.

As some of you know, building the outdoor stage costs a lot of money. It would also be nice to have some money for costumes and props. There are a couple people who will be taking care of festival-wide fundraising, but I'd like us to try to come up with a couple of ways we, as a group, can help.

If you can, before Thursday, try to write down 2 or 3 ideas for ways we could raise some capital. You can either bring your ideas to rehearsal, or put them in a comment on this posting.

Shrew Crew: Character Ideas & Tongue Twisters Posted

Some of the tongue twisters we're using in rehearsal and our version of the Trinidad chant have been put up on Padua Online.

The list of character ideas for the chorus are up there too.

Link: Improv Advice

I found this page which gives some neat advice on improvisation. I thought it might be something both actors and directors might be interested in. Might help in rehearsals...

Click Here.

I think some of you have some good experience in this area. If you have any advice of your own, feel free to add a comment to this message.

Shrew Crew: Launch of Padua Online

Announcing the launch of Padua Online - the online home of the Shrew Crew.

You can link to Padua Online from the links list on the right. You can also click on the title of this message.

The rehearsal calendar is up on the new site. A few pictures are there as well.

Let Jared know if you have any suggestions for the site.

Shrew Crew: Feel Free To Speak Up.

Did you know you can add a comment to these blog postings? Learn how here.

Shrew Crew Chorus: May 12

The first 3 members of the Shrew Crew (cast or crew) who post a comment to this message get a prize at their next rehearsal.

One More Week

Hello hello, this is your friendly neighbourhood treasurer with an important public service announcement:

After today, it's one week until membership fees are due! That's right, ladies and gentlemen, one week to hand over ten dollars of your hard earned cash to your stage managers, Tori, Rob or myself.

Remember, EVERYONE has to pay the membership fee. This includes the production teams and administrative types. Forgetting is forbidden!

Thank you, and have a nice day!

Meeting with Dr. Peter George

Hey everyone.. good news.

We've set up a meeting for next week with the President & Vice-Chancellor of the University, Dr. Peter George to discuss support that the university might be able to give to the festival!

We'll know next Thursday how things work out.. sounds hopeful though!

Rob

Terry Fox Run Team

The 25th Annual Terry Fox Run to raise money for cancer research will be held on September 18. There's going to be a run site right here at McMaster, starting from the student centre. People collect donations and walk, run, blade or bike a course around campus.

Last year the Summer Drama Festival had a team participating in the run. We managed to raise over $900 for cancer research! The team has been registered again for this year and our goal is to raise $1000. Everyone involved with the festival is welcome to join the team. Friends can join too!

I'm hoping that people from different parts of the festival will join, so that we can get to know each other through the occasional group walk/run or fundraising event over the course of the summer.

Join the Team!

Click the link above to register.

If you have any questions about the team, please email me. If you'd like to learn more about Terry Fox, the Terry Fox Foundation or the Terry Fox Run, please check out the Terry Fox Run website.

Theatre Volunteer Opportunities at HTI

Hamilton Theatre Inc. (HTI) is a community theatre group in downtown Hamilton:

"Our musical theatre group has been a training ground and a place for theatre people to hone their art since 1956. Acting, singing, dancing, designing sets, designing costumes, working and playing together has made our company one of the most successful theatre companies in Southern Ontario."

The company is currently looking for volunteers to work on a production of Once Upon A Mattress. The show will run in November. Auditions are in early June. If you are interested in any of the following positions, please contact the producer Darren Barlow.

Costume Designer - starts in July - must be able to sew

Set Designer - starts in July - must be able to help build set

Musical Director - starts in June - must be able to play piano during performances and run vocal rehearsals

Props - starts in August - find and make props

Publicity - starts immediately - act as a liason between the producer and the media

Stage Manager - starts in September

All positions are volunteer, except for the Musical Director who will be compensated financially.

Feel free to email either Darren or Jared if you'd like to learn more about HTI.

Meeting Minutes Available Online

We've started posting meeting minutes online so that everyone can keep themselves informed about the behind-the-scenes aspects of the festival. The files have been posted at this site:

http://www.summerdramafestival.com/files/productionfiles.html

Anyone involved with the festival is welcome to take a look. To add a bit of security, the page asks for a password. The password is "sdfopen".

The following files have been posted:

Administration Meeting - May 6, 2005
Tech Meeting - May 5, 2005

Fundraising Meeting - May 11th

There will be a Fundraising meeting tomorrow (May 11th) at 4:00pm in TSH 719. All those interested are welcome to attend. If interested but cannot attend, please e-mail the Festival main address and let us know.

Tori (and Rob)
mcmaster_sdf@yahoo.ca

Our New Treasurer - Chris McLeod

Please join me in welcoming our new Treasurer, Chris McLeod! Yay! (And you thought you could leave us ... :-)

Chris will be taking over money matters from here on in. Any money related question should be asked of her.

T!

Minutes Available

Meeting minutes from either the Technical Meeting on May 5th or the Administration Meeting on May 6th are ready. If you would like a copy, please let me know.

Tori
- MatlsEng@hotmail.com -

Admin. Meeting - Agenda

The agenda for the Administration meeting on Friday, May 6th at 5:30pm in JHE A114 is as follows:

1. Welcome
2. Appointment of recording secretary
3. Quick overview of Administrative areas - possible breakoff into groups
4. Fundraising brainstorming – setup of Fundraising committee
5. Marketing Strategy brainstorming – setup of Promotions and Marketing committee
6. Treasury – those interested
7. Other Business
8. Closing

T!

Staircase partnership made..

Another piece of news: We have booked our fundraising event "Original Works Series" at the Staircase for June 26, July 3, 10, 17 at 4 p.m., and tentatively booked the theatre for performances of This is A Play/Terrible False Deception.

Website Updated

Rob's latest updates to the website have been uploaded. Click here.

Women's Studies Programme Sponsorship!

More good news -- Women's Studies Programme will put forth $250 towards the festival! Thanks to Dr. Fast (acting director) for that!

In other news, SOTA is pleased so far with our organization, and they want to meet next week to sort out what we need and what they can provide..

Mac Alumni Association partnership struck!

Hey everyone -- some great news:

The Alumni Association is going ahead with organizing our reunion BBQ on July 22nd. We provide name lists, and they will do the rest: budget, mail-outs, invitation design and copy, booking of meals, tickets, and so on. They are also willing at the moment to book the space for us in outside University Hall (the courtyard) for the festival as our academic supporters. Additionally, they are throwing promotional support behind us via email and their website.

This is our second major partnership in a week -- and an exciting one at that!

Rob

Shrew Crew: Pictures

If anyone ends up taking pictures at get-togethers or rehearsals, and has electronic copies, could you please send them to me?

Technical Meeting - Thursday

The details of the Technical Meeting have been set. It is important that SMs and ASMs attend. All welcome.

What: SDF Technical Meeting
When: Thursday, May 5th; 10:30am
Where: JHE 219

Finalized agend to be posted Wednesday.

Tori
-MatlsEng@hotmail.com-

Admin. Meeting - Time and Place have been set

What: SDF Administrative Meeting
When: Friday, May 6th; 5:30pm
Where: JHE A114 ('new' part of building - seciton closest to IAHS/MoMac)

Agenda will be posted Thursday latest.

Tori
- MatlsEng@hotmail.com -

Shrew Crew: Rehearsal Schedule For May Ready

The Shrew Crew rehearsal schedule for May is ready.

You can view it on this web page.