FOURTH MEETING OF THE YEAR 2008 -
MARKHAM THEATRE ADVISORY BOARD
TOWN OF
MARKHAM
Canada Room, Markham Civic Centre
Monday, April
28th, 2008
MINUTES
ATTENDANCE:
Present Staff
Mario
Miranda, Chair Bonnie
Armstrong
Dennis
Cline John
Ryerson
Nancy
Cogger Allan
Seabrooke
Simon
Gulden Debbie
Watson
Brian
Harvey
Jennifer
Kah
Pat
Kincaid
Tony
Wong, Regional Councillor
Regrets
David
Banfield
Neil
Fernandez
Genny
Landis
Michael
Landry
Elizabeth
Richardson
Isabel
Schnapp
Wendy
Woof-Severn
The
meeting convened at the hour of 5:30 p.m. with Mario Miranda in the Chair.
1.0 CALL TO ORDER AND CHAIR’S OPENING
REMARKS
·
thanks
for coming
2.0 ADOPTION OF THE MINUTES OF THE MARKHAM
THEATRE FOR PERFORMING ARTS ADVISORY BOARD MEETING HELD ON MARCH 31ST,
2008.
RECOMMENDED: THAT THE MINUTES OF THE MARKHAM THEATRE FOR
PERFORMING ARTS ADVISORY BOARD MEETING HELD ON MARCH 31ST, 2008, BE
ADOPTED AS CIRCULATED.
3.0 ADDITIONS/CHANGES
TO AGENDA
4.0 BUSINESS
ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
4.1 Update
on Highway Sign
·
still
waiting for parts from Europe
·
hoping
to be completed by end of May
5.0 MANAGER’S
REPORT
5.1 May
Events
·
one
dark day compared to six in 2007
·
busy
month – 2 days double booked
·
Season
Launch May 12th – take advantage of tickets; sure to be a good event
5.2 PES
Sales Update
·
season
completed
·
great
season; received lot of audience kudos
·
looking
forward to new season
6.0 SUB-COMMITTEE
REPORTS
6.1 Financial Performance and Business Plan
Tracking - Brian
Harvey, Chair, Mario Miranda, Pat Kincaid, David Banfield, Michael Landry
·
new
“dashboard report” format
·
revenues
$69,700 below target for month; $129K below year to date
·
expenses
$3K over budget for month but $2.3K under budget to date
·
attendance
slightly below last year
·
$6,250
in sponsorship for month; $12,500 year to date on $80K target
·
spring
PES season – weak audiences for Moccio/Sinclair, David Chilton, Lee Trio,
Campbell Brothers and Edith Tankus, but Hotel California, JFL and Matt Dusk had
strong attendance; overall, $147K below target
·
community
continues to perform well
·
financial
results strong for both month (+$1.8K to budget) and year to date (+$13K to
budget)
·
community
use up in 2008 – 36 events year to date compared to 25 during same period in
2007
·
commercial
performed slightly better than budgeted for the month and $3K better than
budget year to date
·
event numbers
similar between 2007 and 2008
·
education
ahead of budget on both month (+$5K) and year to date (+$20K), and revenues
strong
·
total events
also similar 2007 to 2008
·
department
support over budget by $15K year to date
·
overall,
struggling slightly in 2008
·
when booking
PES shows, have to be aware of your environment and who buys tickets
·
many things
come into play; some categories will always be a challenge, eg. theatre
·
Big Bad
Voodoo Daddy appearing at 2008 Toronto Jazz Festival; Emilie-Claire Barlow just
won 2008 Female Jazz Artist
·
negotiated
out of five profit split agreements last year; are detrimental
·
have been
meeting with Michael Gritt, Manager of Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing
Arts
·
new theatre
so new client base
·
two shows
both doing – Peking Acrobats and Orchestra D’Italia but song list will be
different
·
give and take
between venues
·
Richmond Hill
acknowledges that we do more music but they want to build a theatrical audience
·
they also have
capacity to show movies
·
CCI network
plans tours which gives ability to book artists at lower cost
·
aware that
there could be an impact on rentals but have a good relationship with clients
·
very well
equipped re lighting and audio
·
professional
artists also recognize this; we have an excellent reputation in the industry
·
some revenue
lines performing quite well but projected revenue for fall PES not yet
available
·
couple of
clients left for other venues but have returned
6.2 Fundraising and Sponsorship Development - Neil Fernandez, Chair,
Jennifer Kah, Genny Landis, Dennis Cline, Nancy Cogger, David Tsubouchi, Wendy
Woof-Severn, Simon Gulden
·
no
one available to report at this time; in future, will ask for written informa-
tion if no one present
·
have
a number of sponsors lined up for fall gala
·
returning
sponsors get first right of refusal for choice of shows
·
don’t
know if hotel sponsor will be returning
6.3 25th Anniversary Committee
– Bonnie
Armstrong, Dennis Cline, Simon Gulden
·
need to do
research re grants to get applications in early
7.0 NEW BUSINESS
7.1 Markham
Little Theatre
·
won the 2008
Thea Award for “Best Production” in the “Drama” category at recent ACTCO
Festival
·
approached
the Mayor re showcasing the play in North Bay at upcoming Theatre Ontario
Festival
·
theatre donating
$1,000 reduction in rental fee for last week, plus another $1,000 donation to
help defray costs
7.2 Use of
Endowment Fund
·
established
years ago but question re use of funds; thought timely to open for discussion –
in excess of $275,000
·
fund itself
fund managed by Town, not theatre board
·
has been used
for capital projects, ie, grand piano, sound equipment, not general operating
expenses
·
staff looked
into getting digital projector and screen - $45,000
·
commercial
opportunities - ability to offer community programming and film festivals;
stream university lectures
·
very
strategic from both competitive and programming point of view
·
need a
business case to support use; to board for recommendation and then approval by
Council
·
lot of potential
but have to look at both cost and return
·
haven’t taken
advantage of fund; patrons donate in anticipation of a return
8.0 DATE OF
NEXT MEETING
Monday,
May 26th, 2008, 5:30 p.m.
Canada
Room, Markham Civic Centre
9.0 ADJOURNMENT
·
6:45 p.m.