Monday, March 26, 2012

Welcome to the Showboat!!


Hello Showboat Employee!

Let me begin by saying that I am so very excited to get a chance to work with each and every one of you - I adore the productions in our lineup for this year, and I cannot wait to begin our exciting journey together!

There are several things I need to make sure you all know so that you are fully prepared for this summer. Some of this information may not be new, but please read everything carefully so that you are as prepared as possible and know what to expect when you arrive at the Boat.

Contracts
You will be receiving your contract via e-mail in the coming days. It will very closely resemble the Template attached. When you receive your actual contract, please make sure that the correct details have been filled in. Also attached is the Warning & Fine System, which I hope will be a completely superfluous formality, and the Job Description mentioned in the contract. If you have any questions about these documents, please do not hesitate to ask. Once you receive your contract, please send signed copies of the contract, job description, and warning and fine sheet to me at:
Tommy Iafrate
510 Wigwam Hollow Circle
Macomb, Illinois 61455.
I hope to receive your contract before April 15, 2012.

Bios & Headshots
It is already time to begin thinking about our summer playbills! So, I will need your 50-word bio and a digital copy of your headshot. You may e-mail those to me at Tommy@summer-stock.org by April 15.

Schedule & Days Off
As I discussed with many of you, the rigors of summerstock can be grueling. A typical daily schedule involves rehearsals, performances, or work calls from 10am-1pm, 2-5pm, and 7-10pm every day, six days a week. There will be many exceptions to these hours (camp and HONK
rehearsals start at 9am, production meetings and publicity appearances are often held before morning rehearsals or over breaks, photo calls and audience Q&As are held after certain performances, etc.). While we try to schedule a full day off every week, that is often impossible; at the very least, you will have a "day off except for show," where there will be no rehearsals or work calls before or after the performance.

“Camp Once Upon a Time” & HONK, Jr.!
If you are an actor employed during the first two weeks of July, you will be helping out with “Camp Once Upon a Time” or with the CAST Teen production of HONK, Jr.! HONK will need a musical director (the show's accompaniment is tracked, so this is mostly about teaching vocal parts - killer piano chops are most definitely not necessary!), and the Camp will need a choreographer and a bevy of counselors. The camp is divided into several groups (most likely 1st-2nd grade, 3rd-4th, 5th-6th, and 7th-8th), each of which will have a counselor or two assigned to them. Counselors will teach the kids about theatre, and put on a short play related to the camp's fairytale theme. You have a lot of freedom here - to choose songs that you'd like to include, to write a script that involves all of your campers, and to have fun getting the kiddos excited about theatre! If you have a preference which of these possible assignments you'd like (HONK MD, camp Choreographer, or a specific age group in the camp), let me know and I'll try my best to accommodate your request!

Workshops
The Showboat has a really wonderful CAST Teen program (or "intern program") that involves area high school students in the company. They are a bunch of hard-working, dedicated theatre enthusiasts who want to learn as much as possible while working at the Boat for the summer. They will all be in at least one mainstage show (most are in BYE BYE BIRDIE), will serve on a tech crew for a mainstage show, perform in other productions on the Boat (including their
production of HONK, Jr! and three TBA children's theatre productions), and help out in countless other ways. They make the Boat run - we honestly could not function without their help. This is a program I hold very near to my heart because my first summer at the Boat was spent as the Intern Director; I adore the enthusiasm and openness embodied by this age group, and particularly by the kids involved in this program from the greater Clinton community.
One of my favorite elements of the CAST Teen program is that the professional company members all give unique, hour-long workshops to the interns so that they can learn first-hand from theatre practitioners what various elements of our jobs entail. Start thinking about what areas of theatre you're particularly passionate about, and how you might be able to offer those skills in an introductory workshop with the interns. Kristin, our 2012 Education Director, will be in contact with you early in the summer to help you decide on topics and schedule workshops.

You represent the Boat
The Showboat is looked up to in the Clinton community. Our performers are sometimes recognized in town, and people very well may view you as rock stars! Know that, as representatives of the Boat, you have the power to represent our team very well (and thereby ensure a more enthusiastic and appreciative audience), and contrarily, to represent us poorly (and hurt our reputation within the community, as well as our ticket sales). Word travels fast in Clinton. . . which is great, because it means that our awesome work can really pay off through word of mouth! In order to help this happen, please behave yourselves when you are out and about town. If there are Showboat employees engaging in scandalous debauchery about town, it will assuredly get back to the Board, so please make sure that the reputation you create for yourselves and for us is a positive one.

I could mention hundreds of other things, but I think I've blathered on for long enough! If you have any questions, please feel free to call, text, or e-mail any time. I hope your current projects are going well, and I anxiously await the start of the summer when we can officially begin working on projects together!

Tommy Iafrate
Producing Artistic Director
Clinton Area Showboat Theatre

Wednesday, March 14, 2012