Letters to Holly

Wednesday, June 4

Reading Material

The theatre script committee met again last night. The fearless leader has instituted a July deadline to choose the plays, and we now know how many we need -- four: a comedy, a farce, a drama, and a mystery. The musical, Christmas show, and kid's show will be picked by other folks. We were given a grade sheet showing what scores the scripts have so far. We were also assigned new scripts. I have eight. EIGHT. I don't know any of these shows, unlike with the last batch, but I'm already in the second act of the first script, a mystery-comedy.

I had no idea how expensive the big shows are. Hello, Dolly! will cost the theatre $3,500 just for the royalties. That's based on a 300-seat house. If we tried to sell tickets for the entire high-school auditorium, we'd have to cough up $9,000. The director is getting $5,000. I had no clue directors made that much money.

We toured the new theatre home after the meeting. it's the former Legion hall. It needs renovations badly, but it's a nice stage space. We'll have to use another space for musicals because the echo will ruin those shows. Inherit the Wind, a show I had high hopes for, won't be produced this year. We're still trying to present a flashy season with high-profile titles to raise money; the renovation expenses could run past $300,000.

I'm the youngest of the committee, but I feel like I can contribute decent opinions on the material. I don't feel like a token member, and I suspect I'm being groomed as new blood for the theatre.

Picture of the Day
Don't ask where he keeps the steering wheel.

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