It takes a lot to run a theater; it takes passion, dedication, hours of effort, and the drive to share your art with the community.
It also takes everyone’s favorite five letter word: money.
At the Majestic, part of our annual budget includes a line item for $100,000 in donations. We need this donation support to function for three reasons:
In the name of the theater being self-sufficient, we are only allotted $10,000 from the City of Corvallis General Fund per year to support operations.
To help keep our ticket and concession prices as low as we can so that access isn’t restricted to folks.
To provide high quality support to our numerous volunteers, which requires significant staffing and material costs.
So, the rationale is that if folks love what we do, then they’ll help support us by providing $100,000 in donations, or approximately 20% of our operating budget. For this fiscal year (June 2015 to July 2016) we’re currently at $52,210. Which is great! Just over halfway there.
But we want to get it ALL the way there, so we need your help!
Rather than just hitting the streets with a jar or sending out letters asking for help, we’ve decided to revive a beloved tradition here at the Majestic and turn it into our annual year-end fundraiser: The Majestic Follies!
What the heck is a folly? According to the dictionary, it’s a theatrical revue, a showcase.
What will the Majestic Follies be? The Majestic Follies will be a celebration of all things Majestic; past, present, and future. What could you see? Songs and bits from shows in our past (or our future). Scenes from an upcoming production. A dance from one of our many dance companies. A magician….A bit o’ panto…the possibilities are endless, really. Essentially it will be a bunch of skits, scenes, and numbers, all tied together with a common narrative by an MC…in this case, our Theatre Supervisor Jimbo Ivy and whoever else he can convince to climb up and help him.
So who puts together all this stuff? As usual, YOU DO! With a little help from the Majestic, of course.
We need you to propose, rehearse, and present all the wonderful acts that will be part of the Follies. We’ll do what we usually do; produce, promote, help with tech and organization, but as usual it will be our amazing army of volunteers doing all the real work. What sort of things are we looking for? Here’s our list of desirable qualities for a Folly:
Short. We’re talking 3-5 minutes and done.
Minimal set, costumes, and props. Unless you can walk on in 30 seconds or so, it prolly won’t work.
Simple. If it’s a song, it should either use tracks or our grand piano (again, unless you can drag an orchestra on stage in 30 seconds…).
Easy. With a rough guess of forty acts to get thru over two evenings, the thing to keep in mind is ease of operation. There will be minimal on-site rehearsal, so keep that in mind. Our blackshirts are miracle workers, but even they have limits.
We’ll be accepting bits and proposals from any group that thinks they could do something fun over the two nights of Follies that we will produce on June 17 & 18, 2016. Tickets will be $20, as it is a fundraiser, and we will have opportunities for raffles and additional donations as we watch the live total for our donations climb as the months approach.
What if you don’t want to be on stage , but still want to help? We will need all sorts of folks to help with other aspects of the Follies, such as:
Blackshirts, or backstage folks, to help with tech and the huge level of organization that it will take to get this amazing feat done. Also, Front of House Volunteers to make the event go off smoothly.
Folks to help with our raffle. That’s right, we’re doing a raffle! We need folks to hit the streets asking for donated items, services, and other things that local businesses would be willing to let us raffle off in support of the Majestic.
Folks to help with our EPIC BAKE SALE! That’s right, we’re hitting all parts of the holy trinity of fund raising: a show, a raffle, and a bake sale! And if our volunteer potlucks and cast parties are any indication, there are plenty of awesome bakers out there.
All these powers combined, we will watch this ridiculously typical fundraising thermometer rise and rise between now and June 19th until it explodes in a metaphorical shower of fiscal security for the Majestic.
So, in summation, right now you need to be thinking about one of the following 5 Ps:
PERFORM in a folly; get a group together to sing, dance, improv, juggle, panto, or play your way to immortal fame.
PROVIDE support by being a part of the blackshirts or helping organize/work the event.
POUND the pavement and help nab raffle items from our amazing local businesses.
PREPARE delicious baked goods and be part of our EPIC BAKE SALE!
PROMOTE the Majestic Follies! Even if you can’t help in another way, sharing, spreading, and maybe even excessively shouting the word is important too!
And lastly, what do you get for all this effort? How about the satisfaction of knowing you helped the Majestic hit their donation goal and be safe for next year? How about the extreme amount of fun we’re all going to have together? Okay, well, how about your name on a giant gold star in the lobby?
No, we’re not kidding. Everyone who works on The Majestic Follies, in any way, will have their name affixed upon a giant gold star that will be proudly displayed in the lobby during the 2016-17 season in honor of all of the work and passion that went into our year-end fundraiser.
So, ready to get started?!
Email jimbo@majestic.org and help us make The Majestic Follies a fitting end to our first full season in this new era as part of the Corvallis Parks and Recreation department!