page last updated: Jul 15, 2002 at 2:36 AM CST
In attendance: Madelyn Andre, Dawn Begin, Scott Begin, Tina Farmer, Chuck Kaffka, Anne Kowalczyk, Shannon Lisewski, Pat McHugh, Angela Martin, Betty Neil, Ellie Shunko, Joey Tassin, Barry, Megan and Bethany Zurawicz.
1. Reading of the minutes
2. Old Business
A. Condolences to a PAC Rat: Our condolences to William "Micheal David" Mezger on the passing of his grandfather, Wiliam Henry Mezger earlier this week.
B. Barry's 50th Birthday wrap-up: A fun time was had by all (especially Barry) at his 50th B-Day bash on Saturday, June 22nd. Thanks to everyone who attended, and special thanks to Angela Martin for the "special" cake. Next June, expect another Big Bash as it will be Megan's Hawaii Five-Oh as well as Barry and Megan's 20th anniversary.
C. Great America wrap-up: Thanks to everyone who attended Great America on Sunday, June 23, including: Paul Braun, Tessa Johnson, Bill Mezger & sister and friend, and Bethany Zurawicz. A fun time was had by all, even though it was hotter than hades.
D. Fourth of July wrap-up: Due to the incompetence of the people in charge of the Dolton parade, we decided not to attend this year's parade. (We're still waiting for a response from them!) Instead, a laid-back afternoon was spent by a few people at Clan Z's watching "Junkyard Wars" on TV.
E. Report on Rats Playing Elsewhere: Tina Farmer and Raymond Cleveland appeared in M*A*S*H at a theatre in Hobart, IN. Tina reports there was no complete script, few costumes, no makeup, no props and "Let me put it this way: There's NOTHING in Hobart, IN." Despite all the adversities, everyone in the cast still likes each other and a good time (in the end) was had by all. The 80 seat storefront theatre performed to sold out houses.
Dawn Begin and her pal Elyse Klemchuk starred as chorus singers in Oklahoma. Here are two pics of Dawn in costume. Dawn regaled us with stories of clueless directors, choreography being started two days before opening, no attention being paid to makeup or costumes and more war stories associated with fledgling theatre companies. As usual, the show came together at the last possible minute. Dawn said she will never take the Kindig Performing Arts Center for granted again (there's no place like home... there's no place like home...). Also noteworthy: Chicago radio jockey Steve "Disco Demolition" Dahl's sons were in the show and Steve himself donated money to help pay for the sound system.
3. New Business
A. PAC Rats Fall Show: We have found three directors to direct a series of one-act plays for a PAC Rats show scheduled for Friday and Saturday, October 25 and 26, and Friday and Saturday, November 1 and 2.
Peggy Matanic will direct A Sunny Morning by Jose Cuervo Quintero, Andrea Angela Martin takes on the all-male cast of If Men Played Cards As Women Do, and Betty Neil has selected Ludlow Fair. Megan Zurawicz volunteered to act as production manager. All directors need to get character descriptions and synopses to Ellie right away so audition notices, press releases and web pages can get done.
A more creative name than "An Evening of One Acts" would be helpful. If a good idea hits you, please hit Ellie with it at ssctheatre@aol.com. Suggested so far: "Mood Swings" and "It Was A Dark and Stormy Night."
B. Summer Theatre Cleanup: Phase one of cleanup (Costume shop) is 98% complete. Phase 2 (scene shop) is in progress. We donated 42 bags of costumes and (so far) scrapped 4 platforms and pitched a lot of useless junk. Phase 3 (Lobby Prop Room) is set for Monday - Thursday, July 22 - 25 from noon to 10pm each day. Phase 4 (Lighting areas) is set for Monday - Thursday, August 5 - 8 from noon to 10pm each day. Please join in on the fun. (If you want to see before and after pictures, check out the web pages. Start here: Costume Shop - Before)
C. Fund-raising Opportunity: Our College President, that wacky George "I want a smoke machine!!" Dammer, has asked PAC Rats to sell pop and popcorn at three gazebo concerts in July. The dates are: July 17, 24 and 31. The concerts begin at 7pm, so we'd need to be set up and ready to sell at 6:00pm. We will sell 3 pound bags of popcorn for $1and cans of soda for 50 cents each. So far, Scott, Dawn, Shannon, Angela and Tina have said they would help. We also have gigs in the theatre, so more folks will be needed as Joey, Beth and Lyn will be needed in doors.
Please email Ellie or Paul if you can help out. WE NEED THE MONEY, so please come on out!
D. Bristol Renaissance Faire outing: Our annual pilgrimage to see the Bristol Renaissance Faire is set for Sunday July 28. We will be leaving from Clan Z at 9am. Dressing in costume is always highly recommended. Those meeting up with the rest of the troupe should check with Angela for the specific meeting time and place. A group photo will be taken for the web pages.
E. Future play/entertainment outings: We are looking for ideas for future play/recreational outings. The following is a tentative list of future outings from now to the end of summer:
August:
Also Suggested:
Go see your fellow Rats in their endeavors outside of SSC! Chuck Kaffka will be running lights for the Drama Group's Bye, Bye Birdie July 22 through Aug 11, Gary Peters is in two plays: Shante's Reality Check at the Athenaeum Theatre July 12- August 4, and in late September will play a lead in The
Saga Continues....The Saints and the Aints, which will perform in Chicago on the southside and Kim Dildine has been cast in Harvey, a show the City of Hammond is doing downtown somewhere.
Check out the Post Meeting Updates web page for more details on these upcoming productions.
F. January Kiddie Show: January kid show is "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp." Auditions are in November. Five women and five men are needed. No ladies and gentlemen of the court for this show, however, we will need people who will act solely as stage crew. There are five locations needed for the story. Ellie and Vern are discussing revolving set pieces to make the most of the space. Performances are Saturdays, January 11 and 18 (11am and 2pm) and Monday through Friday, January 13 through 17 at 10am and 11:30am each day. A third performance per day, at 1pm, will be offered to homeschoolers and other car pool types upon request.
5. New New Business (i.e.: Things that didn't make it to the agenda)
A. Graduation Kudos: Pat McHugh has a Bachelors in Business Accounting! Yay Pat! Welcome to the world of the unemployed, Pat!
B. New Election: Those present agreed it was high time to give Paul "6 Terms and Still Going" Braun a break from being not only the president, but every other "office" for the PAC Rats Theatre Company. It was decided that Mr. Spenalzo should be elected as Chairman of the Board of Rats Trustees with George and Georgina Spelvin as additional trustees. More information on scheduling a formal election and all that that entails at the next meeting.
C. Different Concessions Ideas: After deciding to sell cans and not cups of pop at the upcoming Gazebo Concerts, Chuck suggested we attempt other methods of selling beverages besides the old 2 liter bottle side step. The pros and cons of a "real" soda fountain machine were hashed out and ultimately discarded as the cons outweighed the pros. It was decided that two or three "bottom spout" containers (such as sun tea jars) would be purchased for selling juices and tea at shows. Chuck graciously volunteered the absent Diane to pick up these items and they will be given a test run at the Fall Show.
D. History Committee: While cleaning up the various rooms in the theatre, Joey ran across a couple of boxes stuffed with photographs from past shows. Since she couldn't name half the people in the pictures, Joey suggested starting a History Committee to go through the photos and archive them properly. Also suggested was making a collage of past shows to put on display in the lobby. Ellie graciously volunteered the absent Diane Kaffka to work on this project because Diane would probably remember just as many people as Ellie would (and then some). See what happens when you can't make it to a meeting, Diane? A date of Friday, August 23 has been set for this project. We will begin at 7pm in the lobby. Pizza will be served!
E. Movie Night for July 15: has been cancelled. Rescheduling will be announced later.
F. Scene Reading Night(s): It was suggested by Chuck "I got a million ideas" Kaffka that we reinstate a scene reading night event or three. This entails getting together with a mix of theatre folks from all over, grabbing your favourite scene from your favourite play and reading it on stage with little or no rehearsal. This was great fun last time we did it. Everyone thought this was a cool idea. Scheduling in advance is needed, so we'll tackle that at the next meeting.
G. Speaking of Charles: For privacy reasons, Ellie doesn't think the details are appropriate for the web page, but Chuck and Diane want to thank everyone for all their good thoughts and wishes for A Reason Some Of You Know About. Also appropriate for public knowledge is a hearty "Yay!" for the Reason Some Of You Know About.
H. The next PAC Rats meeting will be on Thursday, August 1st at 7:00pm in the PAC Lobby.
6. Meeting was adjourned at 9 something pm.
Minutes were taken by Joey, typed by Megan and (finally) put up on the web by Ellie.
page last updated: Jul 15, 2002 at 2:36 AM CST