Majestic Volunteers and Patrons,
After two years of operating under the system established during our initial months of City management, we were ready to change how our mainstage theatre season was chosen. Over the past five months, there have been monthly forums at which the proposal process was discussed by volunteers, staff, and patrons. What resulted was a change from myself selecting the proposals with input from the community to the use of a play reading committee selecting them through a process. The basic elements of the process are as follows:
1- The Play Reading Committee will be recruited through an application process from January to May. The members are chosen from the applicants to fill 5-7 demographic slots; a director, an actor, a theatre technician or designer, a music director, and two slots to be filled by either patrons or any of the previous demographics. Other factors taken into consideration in choosing the PRC will be a balance or age, gender, and other factors in an effort to represent our community as a whole. The recruitment process for our first PRC will begin on 5/10/17 and proceed until at least the primary five positions are filled. I will act as an adviser to the PRC, but will not have vote when it comes to selecting shows. I will also act as the mechanism for choosing the PRC members from the applicants based upon the factors outlined in the forums.
2- Directors will submit proposals for the upcoming proposal season from June through August. The slots that they can propose for will be determined by myself with input from the community at large. We are dropping all prohibitive requirements for proposing that had been in place before, aside from two key factors. First, a person cannot propose a show for the season if their partner, a significant other, or direct family member, is on the PRC. Secondly, the applicant must have previously directed at the Majestic, or served as an Assistant Director, Stage Manager, or other senior crew position. The rationale behind this is so that they are familiar with the production process at the Majestic. Without that familiarity, the task is much harder, and it isn’t difficult to fill one of these roles before directing. Depending on future seasons, there may be a potential for a “rookie” slot, specifically meant for first time directors as a way for new folks to enter the process. However, the slots for the Fall 2018-Spring 2019 season (which is what this next proposal process will be selecting) have not been defined yet.
3- The PRC will then read the plays submitted, meet with the submitting directors, and call upon experts from the community for specific information. In October, the PRC will release the season via the Majestic website and social media outlets at which time crew recruitment and the pre-production process will begin.
There are obviously a myriad of procedural details and “but how are you going to do this?” bits that you may have questions about. For the most part, we have a general structure that we’re going to go with and then tailor and update the process as we go after seeing what works and what doesn’t. This is a new device and so it will obviously change a lot during the first few times we use it.
So, if you have an interest in being a member of the Play Reading Committee, keep an eye out for an invite to apply next week on the website and Facebook, or email me at jimbo@majestic.org and I’ll be sure you get the info.
If you’re interested in directing for our 18-19 season, start getting your dream shows in order and keep an eye out for the proposal slots and process information which will be conveyed through the same mechanisms by June 1st.
Thanks to all who came to the forums and voiced their ideas! It was a fun process and quite smooth. We will be soliciting feedback throughout this change to a new process, so remember that the best way to be heard and help guide the course of the Majestic is to come to forums and be involved!
Best,
Jimbo Ivy
Theatre Supervisor