Majestic Volunteers & Patrons,
Over the past five months dozens of Majestic volunteers and patrons have helped to create a new system by which we choose what plays and musicals we present for our mainstage theatre season in Starker Auditorium. After months of forums, the concept of a volunteer play reading committee emerged as the preferred method, and so in May we began accepting applications for the seven member committee. From over a dozen applicants, seven were chosen to fill the committee based upon their experience with aspects of theatrical production, their representation of demographics in our community, and traits that were asked for by the volunteers who formed the new concept. The play reading committee for the 2018-2019 Majestic Mainstage Theatre season are: Mike Aronson, Joshua Burlock, Rachel Kohler, Aruna Kumar, Jim Martinez, Leigh Matthews Bock, and Jeannette Miller Mickenham. These intrepid volunteers will spend the next five months reading plays, speaking with directors, consulting with myself, and in October will announce the season that they have chosen from the proposed shows. How will they do this? During the last few months, we talked about that quite a bit at our forums, but we mainly decided that the exact details of how the process should work will really be best discovered by doing it rather than loading a lot of theory into it prior to beginning. So, with a few basic concepts, our seven member committee will be trailblazers for this new process.
The slots for the 2018-2019 Majestic Theatre mainstage season are:
Fall 2018 Mainstage Play
Performance Dates: 7 performances September 28, 2018 through October 7th, 2018
Fall 2018 Mainstage Musical
Performance Dates: 10-12 performances November 2nd, 2018 through November 18th, 2018
Note: Large Musicals Will Receive Preference (20+ Cast)
Winter 2019 Mainstage Classic/Modern Play
Performance Dates: 7 performances February 1st, 2019 through February 10th, 2019
Classic/Modern Slot Definiton: Plays published prior to 1960; from Aeschylus to Albee. Will accept good arguments for plays published up until 1980 as being modernist in the form of a scholarly paper in the 8-10 page range with a minimum of five sources. 🙂
Spring 2019 Mainstage Play
Performance Dates: 7 performances April 5th, 2019 through April 14th, 2019
Spring 2019 Mainstage Musical
Performance Dates: 10-12 performances May 3rd, 2019 through May 19th, 2019
Note: Large Musicals Will Receive Preference (20+ Cast)
As you can see we’re adding a fifth mainstage show to our season, as well as mandating a classic/modern piece. How do you propose? It’s easy!
Just email me at jimbo@majestic.org and tell me that you’re interested in proposing and I’ll set a meeting with you. Don’t get scared, don’t prepare too much unless you really want to. Essentially, we will meet so that I can walk you through the process and get you our Production Handbook so that you can make the best proposal possible. No biggie. But do it as soon as you know you want to propose a show. The deadline for submitting a proposal for the 2018-2019 season is August 1st, 2017. The season will be announced mid-October 2017.
You can propose for more than one slot, or more than one show per slot, but in the end only one of your proposals will be accepted for the season.
There are only two restrictions on who is eligible to submit a proposal:
You cannot submit if your partner, spouse, or direct family member is on the Play Reading Committee.
You must have extensive experience with the spaces, systems, and production process at the Majestic Theatre post January 2015. The most common way to have this is that you have either directed a show here or have filled a senior crew role on a production, such as stage manager or assistant director since January 2015. Eligibility is determined by Theatre Supervisor Jimbo Ivy.
Common Question: “What if I haven’t done that yet?” Then do it this year and be able to submit next time! We have four great shows coming up that need senior crew help! The reason we will require this is that it is much harder to train and work with a person that hasn’t worked in the space or with our process before. We want you to know the Majestic and how it works before trying to lead a production here.
We’re excited to being our the proposal season for the 18-19 season with our brand new play reading committee! Thanks in advance to these fine folks for all the time they’ll be spending in meetings and reading plays and thanks to all of the amazing volunteer directors who will be proposing!
Sincerely,
Jimbo Ivy
Theatre Supervisor, Corvallis Parks and Recreation