The Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Houston
Board of Directors Meeting
November 11, 2004
The meeting was held at the house of Cathy Comeaux-Wright. Present were Steve
Robbins, Ralph Katz, Alan Buck, Alan Dalby, Mary Metz, Mary Speer, Jenny Davis,
George Eiband, Christy Larimer-Compson, Bill Bridges, Jim Robinson, Judy Pushkin,
Dru Anne Lundquist and Cathy Comeaux-Wright.
Steve called the meeting to order at 7:40pm. Ralph motioned to accept the September
minutes as amended, was seconded by Jenny. The motion carried unanimously. Ralph
also motioned to accept the October minutes as amended, was seconded by Jenny. The
motion passed unanimously.
Steve addressed the Election of Officers. Ralph motioned that the slate of previous
officers be accepted “as is” for another 2 year term, was seconded by George. The
motion passed unanimously.
Steve addressed the Election of Foundation Representative. Jim Robinson said that the
Foundation Board has assessed itself with regard to its members. They want to bring in
additional members from the Society, and propose an amendment to the by-laws. Under
the existing by-laws, David Forest’s 5 year term expires at their annual Foundation
meeting. Since it expires, it is our obligation to elect someone for his position. Jim is
proposing that CPA, Joe Maniscalco, take David’s place. He was comptroller of Jim’s
company in the past, senior VP with American General Life, is now retired by does
consulting work, and is a generous donor to the Foundation. George motioned that the
by-laws should be amended to expand the membership of the Foundation to no less than
7, no more than 15, and that the terms of each member will also be reduced from 5 to 3
year terms. Seconded by Alan B.. The motion passed unanimously. The Foundation
will then re-elect David Forest as Treasurer.
Alan gave the Treasurer’s report and account balances are as follows:
Operating Account - $51,558.07
Legg Mason - $21,839.58
Linder Fund - $9,788.80
Merrills Lewis - $873.82
Alan anticipates collecting $4900 from VAT and 3 honorariums came from the Buxton
account. The Buxton Celebration party was underwritten by Bill Bridges, and was very
much appreciated. Ralph gave Steve a check as a contribution for Alistair’s fare to come
over for the Celebration. Jenny motioned to accept the treasurer’s report and was
seconded by Ralph. It passed unanimously.
Steve gave the Fund Raising report in Sidney’s absence. Steve was contacted by
Martin Wolff, a former chorus member, who referred him to his company, New Field
Exploration, to request a donation. We have also received the rejection letter from
Burlington Resources.
Jim Robinson, who serves as Chairman of the Foundation, gave the Foundation Report.
Mary M. received an email from Jay Cohen with ticket information, went through the list
and ended up with 559 new ticket buyers from 2004 who will be receiving a mailing from
the Foundation. The next mailing will go out after the first of the year with more creative
forms on donation ideas.
Special Committee Report – Clif/Chorus Master. Ralph and George are in the
process of putting together job descriptions for the Chorus Master and Music Director
positions for the Board to review before we get input from Clif. The Chorus Master
would run sing thru's, work on the Scholarship Committee, be involved with Expanding
Presence, and possibly be involved with events such as master classes at schools. George
and Ralph will draft the information, meet with members of the Board, then present their
draft at the next Board meeting. Their goal is to have met with Clif for his input by
January.
Steve gave the Warehouse Committee report. Nothing new to report. George says all is
working well and the exterminator has taken care of our rodent problem. The window
was fixed and the AC is on money saving cycle.
Alan Dalby gave the CD Committee report. David Goddard has given Steve and Clif a
CD recording of the Mikado from the 2004 show, but it has not been reviewed yet. Alan
has not heard from the Madrid Publishing company, so he is unsure if they are still
interested. Alan will email the CD sales and inventory report (attached). Some CD’s are
still unaccounted for, but some were also sold in Buxton. Several people have asked to
have an email campaign to publicize our Buxton awards, and to sell our additional wares.
Alan will try to organize a meeting this week to come up with a campaign using our
Buxton experience as a marketing tool. The old prices for the CD are still on the web,
but will be changed soon.
Steve gave the Production Committee report. Steve had a breakfast meeting with Bob
and Clif to discuss a contractual business agreement with the musicians union. It will be
similar to our agreement with the stagehands union with a 3 year contract to set the pay
scale for each year. The details have been discussed, but the ball is in Clif’s court to
work with the union to structure a contract for our review and approval. He would like
to set the rates for things other than performances, like possible fund raisers or extra
performances and believes this will work to our benefit. Tom Boyd has looked at the sets
and there will be refurbishments done at a location to be determined. Costume issues
have not been resolved yet. Bonnie has counted how many could be reused versus
having to get new ones. She also needs to confirm with Alistair which period is to be
used – Mozart versus 1890 (like the last time). George also brought up the need to have
the Brown Theater dressing rooms to use for the quick change of the chorus in the second
act.
Alan D. gave the Data Base Committee report. Alan will be having a Data Base
meeting along with a CD meeting this week. We should not be having a problem with
the Data Base, like Mary had experienced, with the information from Jay. He is trying to
put procedures in place, as to the information you need, to be able to filter what you need.
Glenn L. is to have pictures from the show on the web this week, outside the cast section
for everyone to access. Alan has been frustrated with the time frame in which things
have been getting done.
George gave the Graphics Committee report. He has let Joe Rattan know that there will
be no real deviation from traditional G&S style, and that we would like to see something
quickly. He is looking into NOT having the large posters printed, since it would be an
$870 cost to produce them. All other pieces would stay the same. We do get a price
break on printing by having it done at an off time of the year.
Scott was not present to give the Publicity Committee report.
Dru Anne gave the Scholarship Committee report. Letters will be going out at the end
of December, so they are being worked on now. She will be extending the cut off date
by 2 weeks (to mid April). Members of the Scholarship Committee are Dru Anne, Scott,
Sidney and Chorus Master.
Jenny gave the Auditions Committee report. She has already had one person show
interest in the 2005 audition schedule, and feels confident that we will not have a problem
with the process of auditions next year. She needs to cross check the schedule with Clif
and Alistair on their schedules, to see which weekend will be best. Alistair has already
met with Clif on what he envisions for the principals and what will be needed from the
type and character. Steve said that there is a benefit for Alistair to be here, but we need
to determine if it will be cost effective. Kinkaid has not been approached yet, but HBU is
set for auditions.
Jenny gave the Buxton Committee report. There has been no other news, just happy to
hear we broke even on the costs. George said if people were interested in mementos
from Buxton, he is working on duplicating the certificate we received for both chorus and
overall champions, at a cost of $5-$7 each, to sell for $10 each. George and Jenny will
be looking into the costs and options.
Steve gave the Expanding Presence report. Nothing new to report. Steve will be
approaching Christy to see if she would be interested in heading up the committee.
New Business addressed by Cathy. Meeting dates and locations have now been set thru
June 2005 as follows:
December 13, 2004 – Bill Bridges
January 10, 2005 – Ralph Katz (Cathy Comeaux-Wright will not be present, Mary Metz
will take minutes for the meeting)
February 14, 2005 – Mary Speer
March 14, 2005 – Christy Larimer-Compson
April 11, 2005 – George Eiband
May 9, 2005 – Alan Buck
June 11, 2005, SATURDAY morning – Mary Metz
Motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Dru Anne, seconded by Jenny. Meeting
adjourned at 9:15 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Cathy Comeaux-Wright
Secretary
APPROVED:
Stephen M. Robbins, President