The Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Houston
Board of Directors Meeting
September 12, 2011
The meeting was held at the home of Cathy Comeaux-Wright. Present were Steve Robbins,
Alan Buck, Sidney Buchanan, Judy Pushkin, Scott Peacock, Ralph Katz, Jenny Davis, Martha
Taylor, Alan Dalby, Christine Brandewie and Cathy Comeaux-Wright.
Announcements – October 4th Jenny Davis will take her citizenship exam. The General meeting
will be November 20th at Steve & Barbara’s house with dinner served at 6pm. The meeting will
start thereafter. Steve has secured a business discount with Kinkos for Gilbert and Sullivan. We
need to maintain a usage of approximately $1000 per year. Our FedEx ( Kinko ) Office Account
Number is 02979046710001 for Gilbert And Sullivan Society. After inputting the account
number into the copier the user will be asked to insert a payment card which is the user's
personal credit card. The user can obtain a receipt showing the regular cost, the discounted cost,
and indicating that no sales tax was charged. Although Steve’s name is the name of record on
our account anyone can use our number and receive the discounted price with no sales tax added.
Martha has been asked to head the Nomination Committee, but still needs another board member
and a non board member to participate.
Steve called the meeting to order at 7:30 pm. Ralph motioned to accept the August minutes as
amended, was seconded by Scott. The motion carried unanimously.
Music Director Report – Brian Runnels was unable to attend, but sent his report via email as
follows:
· I was very pleased with the production of The Mikado this year. I thought that the entire
production was excellent. I’ve had so many people tell me how much they enjoyed the
show. I commend Alistair for his excellent direction. Now that we have worked together
for four years I believe I am better able to anticipate some of the things he may want to
do (although I would not bet the farm on that!). It is my distinct pleasure to work with
and learn from him and I look forward to our continued collaboration more and more
each year. The costumes were outstanding if a bit cumbersome. The set and lighting were
very effective. I was particularly pleased to welcome several new people to the
production this year and hope that they will continue to be a part of our family in years to
come. This includes both principals and chorus members.
· While there is much positive to say about each of the principals, I will contain my remarks
to mention Ralph Katz. I am so happy that my time with G&S included 4 years of overlap
with Ralph. I have enjoyed observing him and working with him more than I can ably
express. I congratulate him on his many successes and wish him a blessed and enjoyable
retirement. I also wonder with some small measure of trepidation and anxious
anticipation who will come along to fill those very large and well broken in shoes.
· Justin Smith did another fine job in preparing the chorus. I am happy to report that he
intends to be with us again next year. I look forward to our third production with Justin.
· Dace Gisclard continues to provide excellent service to the Society. I appreciate him very
much. I am sorry that he has had so much trouble with one of his arms and has
experienced considerable pain when playing. This has escalated recently and has become
so problematic that he has been forced to curtail his work at U of H for the fall semester.
As far as I know he is not playing there at all this semester in hopes that the rest will
allow him much needed time to heal. The problem forced him to want and/or need to use
an electronic piano rather than the grand piano at Kinkaid. While the electronic piano
may have helped him physically it was not a good solution for the good of the
production. I will stay in touch with Dace to find out how he is progressing, hoping all
the while that he will be able to continue with us in 2012 and that he will be able to play
the grand piano. I do not want to use the electronic piano again. Yoojin Lee had a
successful second season with us and intends to be with us again in 2012. She has been a
wonderful addition to the music team.
· I was happy with the results of slight changes to the orchestra set up in the pit and will use
that set up again in 2012.
· I liked how auditions worked for Mikado. Having principals on one day and chorus on
another proved to be both efficient and beneficial in making clearer comparisons and
decisions regarding principal, understudy, and chorus casting decisions. I hope that we
continue to use that tactic in 2012.
· I was concerned with attendance issues during the two weeks of music rehearsals prior to
Alistair’s arrival. When Josh told me that he might have to miss as many as five
rehearsals I was all but speechless. As it turned out he did not have to miss that many.
However, finding out about conflicts after the rehearsal process has begun, particularly
those that involve principals and several conflicts, can be both unsettling and disruptive
to the production. I believe we must find a clearer way to convey to all auditioning that
they must commit attending rehearsals according to the posted schedule. Perhaps we can
have a schedule available for all who audition and ask them to mark conflicts and sign off
on the calendar at the audition. Surely we can find a way to have fewer conflicts and
rehearsal disruptions.
· I was happy that we could continue our preview at the University Place. I had feared that
we might not be able to continue that without Norma Lowder steering the ship. It
appears, however, that she successfully established tradition for G&S to perform there. I
believe that we will be welcome to return as long as communication lines remain open.
· Thanks to Christy Brandewie for helping us to have a similar opportunity at the Clarewood
House. This event was done during the day and allowed us to feature the talented
understudies. I hope that we can continue to do this as well.
· Unfortunately we were unable to perform for the Downtown Kiwanis Club this year. I do
not know why that was the case. Perhaps we can renew that relationship in 2012.
· I continue to think it a reasonable idea to arrange for the cast to sing the National Anthem at
an Astros game on an evening a week or two prior to the show’s run. Granted, I don’t
think we would necessarily sell a lot of tickets to baseball fans. However, there is at least
the possibility that having “Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Houston” displayed on the
scoreboard, and to have it mentioned on television and the radio could be advertising that
we could not afford otherwise. Plus, a chance to have an enjoyable evening together apart
from rehearsal might be an added boost to esprit de corps.
I apologize for my unanticipated absence from tonight’s meeting. I trust that you are all
well. Brian
Jenny let us know that she has communicated with Brian and Alistair about the dates for
auditions, and the dates that work best with both their schedules would be March 31st and April
1st. Principals will be on Saturday, chorus on Sunday. The first choice for a location would be at
HBU, so Brian will check on its availability.
Alan Buck gave the Treasurer’s report. The account balances are as follows:
Operating Account - $41,492.26 (includes $1,866.69 from Merrills Lewis account)
Morgan Stanley/Smith Barney - $53,453.46
Linder Fund - $8,894.63
Ida Account - $30,135.00
There are a few more bills coming in, but also some additional funds on their way. Mikado did
not do as well as we anticipated, as we will be lucky to profit by $20k. The pyrotechnics cost us
approximately $3600 that was not anticipated. He asked that any volunteer matching funds be
submitted. Scott motioned to accept the treasurer’s report and was seconded by Jenny. The
motion passed unanimously.
Steve gave the Fund Raising Committee Report. Humphries has received our application, but
we have not heard from them yet. We typically do not hear until end of September or early
October. Steve asked HOW we bring in more fund raising monies. We cannot depend solely on
Sidney and Steve to solicit contributors. If each board member were to bring in approximately 5
patrons in each year, that would help the cause.
Martha gave the Operations Manual Committee Report. Status – Updates have been
distributed and all descriptions are done. Review of August/September Activities – We are on
target so far. Create & review action item list – ACTION ITEMS – September/October –
PLEASE review to ensure all is done. There were MANY items in the “in process” stage.
ACTION to be done – Mary S. needs items to be added to the fall newsletter; Martha needs all
updates/changes to the Ops Manual by OCTOBER from everyone; Scott will send an email blast
to announce the General Meeting in NOVEMBER (11/20) this year; Alan B. will be calculating
CD sales; Graphics/Publicity are in the process of working on the art designs for next year.
Steve gave the Production Committee Report – Princess Ida Restoration Status – Nothing new
to report. If the estimate of $30k for the repairs holds up then we are covered. Musicians Union
Agreement – There is nothing new to report. Meeting with Wortham Management – Nothing
new to report. Ralph will wait until after the annual meeting to contact Tom Boyd about the use
of their box office. Steve has not heard anything more from Wortham about taking the Ushers,
EMT’s and Security in house. Apparently they will be going out for bids. Ralph will call Ric
with Rushers to see if Wortham has contacted him for a bid.
George was not present to give the Marketing Report. Graphics – Scott met with Steve F.,
Barbara and Zonta to let her know that she has until Oct. 10th for her graphics for Iolanthe. They
will plan to take photos of Ida, Pinafore and even Sorcerer in 2012 while Alistair is in town.
Publicity – Gillian Kruse is doing much better and is a publicity professional. Scott will be
asking her to join the committee so she may assist. He has identified a few others, and hopes to
have a formal meeting by the end of the month to get more ideas.
Martha gave the Taskforce Committee Report. They had a meeting a few weeks ago, that went
well regarding the database updating. Board members present were Alan B, Steve, Andy and
Martha and non members were David Goddard, Jay Cohen, Steve F., Barbara and Glenn Taylor.
Jay brought in an overview of what has been done, and he had an analysis of the phone tests.
Martha passed out their overview and break down of four different target groups – 1. 3198 – the
number of DB entries who have attended at least one show in years 2008-2011; 2. 5237 – the
number of DB entries who have NOT attended a show since years 2004-2011 (these people will
no longer receive our mailer, except for certain ones that will be handpicked); 3. 1480 – the
number of DB entries who have NOT attended a show since 2004, however they appear in
somebody’s “little list” (Auditions, Referrals, Patron, Mary Metz and Ralph); 4. 1381 – the
number of DB entries who have attended at least one show in years 2005-2007, but have not
attended any show since then. They will be meeting again in a few weeks, and they will be
targeting the group of 1381 people to verify their information and the best way to do it.
Andrew was not present to give the Website & Database Committee report, but sent his
updates to Steve for inclusion in the minutes. Database – Martha’s update on the Task Force
committee’s work should cover all pertinent info for the Database. Website – Seema recently
completed an update that included a number of tweaks (mostly removing Mikado data/adding
Iolanthe data). The little list is up, as well a listing of show history (as taken from the program).
We have added a photo/video section that currently links to our YouTube channel and Monica’s
site, with plans to expand once we get the photos from Jeff moved to a useable place. I think we
should upload them to Picasa which is a Google property that can go through the same
HoustonGNS account that we use for the YouTube videos. We can get 400GB of storage for
$100/yr which would cover everything we have now with some room to grow. The next tier is
1TB of storage for $256 a year, which is still very affordable. Historically, as memory gets
cheaper, Google does a good job of lowering prices, so by the time we actually need 1 TB, it
may be even cheaper. You can also upgrade at any time, simply paying the prorated difference
for the remainder of the current year. The upside for us is we will never have to worry about the
person hosting the photos no longer having the ability/inclination to do so, and I believe the
pricing is extremely reasonable. We will still keep hard backups, but the remote availability will
be handled through Google’s cloud. If the Board approves the use of Picasa, I would like to
donate the first year of storage. Judy motioned to approve the use of Picasa, it was seconded by
Christine and passed by a vote of 9 for, 1 abstaining.
Andrew was not present to give the CD / Video Committee report but sent his comments to
Steve for inclusion in the minutes as follows: I would like to focus more heavily on the
DB/Website committee, and would like to hand over the CD/Video chairmanship. I spoke with
Tim Cragin and he is interested in taking over, so if the Board has no objection, I would like to
pass this to him. He has also expressed interest in producing the Mikado video. I know David
Goddard is taking bids, so we should consider this as a bid of $0 from Tim. He said he
understands if we want to use a professional house this year, but I believe we should consider
him as one option. I will stay on the CD/Video committee and would like to stay involved in the
Mikado/Patience video process. There are no objections by the Board to have Tim Cragin take
over the CD/Video committee. Patience video status – Per Steve - Steve, Ralph, Martha, Alan D
and David Goddard are reviewing what Jeff Newton has done to see if it is ready for
reproduction. Mikado video status – Per Steve - All bids have been received for the production
of Mikado, except from Glen Wheeler with Tierra Studios, though he did the audio recording for
us. Glen’s audio recording is a lot of raw data. Tim Cragin would be willing to produce it for
nothing. None of the bidders have seen the raw footage that we have to use. The people who are
submitting bids have worked with HGO and other stage companies. Alan D. informed us that we
are out of Pirates CD’s and would like to make some additional copies. Now we need to decide
what type of reproductions we need to make, and give people options on how they want to
purchase – a hard copy or to also make it available on I-tunes. We may even be able to make the
copies of the CD insert at Kinkos.
Jim Robinson, who serves as Chairman of the Foundation, was not present to give the
Foundation Report. Mary Metz was unable to attend, but sent her report to Steve via email as
follows: The Foundation has received official letters with accompanying cards from the youth
and children from Boys and Girls Country, Boys and Girls Harbor and Covenant House along
with an official Letter from Depelchin's Children’s Center. The YMC Groups sent an email
before the production thanking us for the tickets. Letters of Thanks were sent to Houston
Endowment for their grant. I enclosed a program. Letter of Thanks and reporting on a successful
show was sent to Fish Foundation and I enclosed a program. We received a number of requests
for tickets to auction for outreach programs. I enclosed programs of MIKADO with each letter
authorizing tickets. On my return plan to meet with Martha and compile Financial material and
statistics and then meet with Alan Buck in an attempt to see where we can reduce expenditure.
Christine gave the Expanding Presence Report. There is no new news to report, other than the
lovely thank you letter from Clarewood House. They had played to a room of approximately
150 and they thoroughly enjoyed the understudy performance.
New/Old Business – Video Project – Nothing new to report. All Concession prices need to be
reviewed since there were some discrepancies with the CD cost.
Upcoming Meetings:
October 10th - La Madeline – the Wine Cave – from 6:30-9:30
November 20th – Annual meeting at Steve’s
December 12th – Ralph
January 9th – Mary Speer???
Motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Ralph, was seconded by Sidney. Meeting adjourned
at 9:10 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Cathy Comeaux-Wright
Secretary
APPROVED:
Stephen M. Robbins, President