Reflecting back a little more than a year...
Successfully capping 2009 off with our fall (and very successful) musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat brought well deserved accolades to our incredibly talented director, Christine Mac Neil. Not only does she possess this amazing ability to direct, think on her feet and practically run a small city, she is also known as a tour de force on stage. Sadly Christine has taken her talent, her passion for the theatre and her family and moved away.
We all know it takes more than one person to bring success to the stage... there is always so much work to do behind the scenes and one of the most demanding jobs is producing. Chris Lang seems to have this one under his belt. I cannot even begin to imagine the ideas that run through his head when he is devising a plan to market a show. Marketing requires artistic skill, patience, time, money (which means small budgets) and someone willing to climb ladders. Thank you to Wendy for putting together the tickets and keeping track of where, when and how the tickets are produced, collected, sold, etc. The organization of that is so appreciated.
Another producer who really knocked our socks off with this past successful fall musical production is Joe Scheubel. Confident and eager, Scheubel came to a board meeting in January, 2011 with a proposal and a vision. Having just successfully closed two stage musicals, Joe pitched his proposal for Pirates of Penzance. It was very impressive. Not only did Joe produce a wonderfully successful show, but he graced us once again with his talent on the stage as the Pirate King.
The positive reviews from the public, cast and crew were endless.
Every year we have fantastic costumes, props, actors, singers, directors, stage crew and a whole lot of other talented people who come out to contribute to the success of the show. Someone who seems to work and work and work and does an amazing job every time, who also graces us with a performance or two is our sets/construction master, Tim Pierce. Without any hesitation he is always there with hammer in one hand and paint brush in the other to help bring the artistic director’s vision to the stage. Tim works very hard to save us as much money as possible. He uses and reuses, is creative, builds beautiful sets, has incredible patience and is always successful in what he sets (no pun intended) out to accomplish.
The Sooke Harbour Players Society board of directors is made up of a mixed breed of characters for sure! We have business owners, high school students, retirees, government workers, stay- at-home moms, etc.
Our treasurer Deena Burnett really does deserve a medal. I can imagine the work that goes into taking care of our company financially and I am so very grateful for her knowledge and skill.
A special thank you to Chris Robertson (Deena’s husband), a.k.a. photographer...you are always there snapping photos and making sure we have memories in print.
Having youth on any sort of arts board should be essential for any business to succeed, at least in my opinion. Taylor Caspersen (youth mentoring assistant) and Leah Kelley (secretary) are very important to us. The integrity, commitment, determination, eagerness to gain more knowledge, respect, and shared passion these two young people have for Sooke Harbour Players is staggering. Lessons to be learned here people.
Leah, attending high school, maintaining an incredibly high GPA in school, volunteering with several organizations, applying to elite universities, applying for scholarships and holding herself to a high standard are all qualities that make me want to be a better person.
Then we have Taylor, always smiling, definitely creative, a little quirky, full of wonderful ideas, and the first to offer help, over-the -moon talented musician and song writer Taylor Caspersen.Taylor brings talent, thinks outside box and always looks at the bright side.
So let’s talk talent shall we... let’s see... over the past few months one of our board members, after taking a bit of a break, has taken the stage by storm yet again. Lisa McCormack was just brilliant in Pirates of Penzance. Not only can this woman belt it out like nobody’s business, but she has an incredible eye for costumes, sets, blocking and directing. Lisa is also a wealth of artistic knowledge... acting, singing, dancing, coaching, character studying...the list goes on.
What would a board be without more behind the scenes board members who step out from behind the scrim? Script library director, Linda Green-Abraham possessing many on the stage experiences brought those to her first directing debut — Pirates of Penzance. With the support of gifted musical director Robyn Cathcart and experienced and talented mentoring director Marjorie Baskerville, Linda was able to bring her vision to the stage and give the audience an amazing, professionally produced, beautifully executed fall musical.
Something we all have in common is history. What is important is how that history is preserved and documented. Sooke Harbour Players has 30 years of history...WOW! I believe that history is sacred and so does our past president Mike Kelley. Mike has taken on the task of putting together the documentation and history of Sooke Harbour Players.
I must say, ‘paperwork’ isn’t the only thing Mike is passionate about or really good at. Mike is also a wonderful president, actor, singer, and producer.
Sooke Harbour Players is made up of everyone and their spouses who contributed so much time, made compromises, sacrifices, drove out of their way, changed work schedules, shared their talent, blood, sweat and tears, made food platters and beautiful cakes (Stephanie Schuebel), sang in the chorus, helped back stage, helped fundraise and anyone or anything else I may have missed.
That’s a wrap!
Bobbie-jo Peterson
President
Sooke Harbour Players