Despite the fact that we have been celebrating our 40th anniversary this past year, attendance for the Grand Marais Playhouse productions this summer has been down. Does this spell gloom and doom for the Playhouse? We don’t think so, but we will be focusing on what we can do to continue to keep our Playhouse afloat and to meet the desires of our community. This monthly column seems the perfect place to inform our faithful patrons of our status.
First, however, we just have to say thanks to the many people who made our summer productions such a joy to watch. Despite attendance being down, we maintained our high quality productions. The plays were all delightful.
The most recent play, Play
On,
had my mother-in-law and me practically rolling on the floor it was so funny! What a relaxing break it was to sit in the theater and enjoy such a light-hearted story. Kudos to all the individuals involved in the theater productions this year.
On a more serious note, we are planning to hold a Town Meeting in January 2011 in hopes that we can look at restructuring our schedules and focus to maximize our attendance, the monies we have, and to meet the artistic needs of Cook County. We will be surveying Playhouse members prior to this meeting in hopes that we can obtain some information to present at the Town Meeting.
We hope everyone— Playhouse members and nonmembers— will be thinking about ideas we might consider to help us weather the current downturn in the economy.
We thank the many businesses who purchase advertising from us and have been so generous in donations and the like.
We thank our members as well. Membership gives many benefits, including ticket discounts, e-mails on different events, and makes it easy to participate in the Playhouse since members are up-to-date on our productions.
In return, the Playhouse receives the benefit of some stability. This fall might be a great time to consider becoming a member.
Finally, mark your calendars for the next production at the Playhouse, our Christmas production will be The Best
Little Christmas Pageant
Ever—
a play that is a favorite for many. As you may recall, we produced this play five years ago. It will be fun to see the new faces that we are sure will show up for the auditions.
Playhouse Board Member
Maureen O’Phelan provides
this behind the scenes look
at Grand Marais Playhouse
activities.
Leave a Reply