From the president

The heart of any club is its membership. As such, SCCT's success depends upon the enthusiasm, participation and energy of its 1,400 members.

SCCT's members include several hundred actively engaged in performance and technical support to productions. Equally important are the hundreds of members who simply enjoy good theater and who actively support our efforts as audience members.

This year, your executive board and committee chairs will expand our communication and engagement with all members. We will actively solicit your ideas, interests and feedback as we seek to make this organization as responsive to its membership as possible.

-- Bob Taylor, SCCT president

Membership dues

Dues for 2008 are payable by January 1. Checks made out to SCCT for $10 a person can be mailed or delivered to Sharon Walker, 101 Hampton Circle. Membership packets including coupons to Damn Yankees, Brigadoon, Follies 2008 and Sisters Rosensweig will be available to paid-up members in mid-January.

Your packets can be picked up at 101 Hampton Circle on Wednesdays, January 9, 16, 23 and 30, February 6 and 13 from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm. They will also be available for pickup at any monthly meeting beginning with the February 14 meeting. Please note: Packets will not be available for pickup at the January meeting. Please show your Activity Card when picking up your packet.

If you plan to pick up packets for friends, make certain that you have their Activity Cards as well. For information, call Sharon at 705-3919.

Awards night

Be sure to attend the annual Sunny Awards night when the SCCT recognizes the outstanding performances of 2007. A new format and new awards recognizing technical and support personnel will be included at 7 p.m. January 10 in Pinckney Hall. Note: Membership packets (noted above) will not be available for pickup at the January meeting.

On the road

If you missed Moon Over Buffalo in November, here’s your chance to enjoy a wonderful night’s entertainment. The very funny show will be presented Friday through Sunday, January 18-20, at the Ulmer Auditorium in Bluffton. Friday’s show starts at 8 p.m. The Saturday and Sunday shows start at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 and will be available in the Pinckney lobby from 9 a.m. to noon January 16.

Damn Yankees

The hit Broadway musical will be presented March 13-15 in Pinckney Hall. Tickets for SCCT members (with coupons) will go on sale from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Monday, February 18, in Pinckney Hall. Open ticket sales will start February 20. Tickets are $18, $16 and $12. The purchase limit is eight tickets. Esther Rosen is the director, Art Hansen is the music director, and Judi Rosica is the choreographer.

Auditions

Mark your calendars for tryouts for this year’s summer musical Brigadoon. Auditions will be from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 8, for principals and chorus and from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, March 9, for dancers. Wendell MacNeal will be the director of the show to be presented at the Bluffton High School auditorium. Show dates are July 17, 18, 19, 24, 25 and 26.

It’s a bird!

It’s a plane! It’s Superman! This and other classic radio programs are coming to Channel 51 as an audio feed. The Broadcast Committee, headed by SCCT member Jim McGrath, is launching an hour-long show called “SCHH Old Time Radio,” featuring classic radio shows from the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s, such as Jack Benny, The Lone Ranger, and The Aldrich Family. The show is expected to run five to seven mornings a week. Volunteers are needed for on-air announcers-commentators, programming staff, writers and other production staff. The show is a precursor to and a training ground for a Sun City low-power FM radio station, which is being pursued actively with the federal government. Get in on the ground floor by following the likes of Orson Welles and contact John Lynch at jlynch.pe@gmail.com or 843-540-0332.

Play reading

Join the new Act I group at its next meeting from 7 to 9 p.m. January 13 at Riverbend. The group will do a short play (reading from script with only one pre-rehearsal) and read a few monologues. No memorizing. No long rehearsal times. Just fun. Become a part of this new group of theater buffs operating under the auspices of the Community Theatre. For information contact Joan Flynn at 705-6297 or Riette Boxer at 705-5068.

Friends of the Theatre

You may not be aware that your Sun City Community Theatre has available a special program of monetary giving that enables you to contribute to the overall growth and viability of our theater program. Some members have already made generous and very-appreciated contributions to this program.

With the forthcoming Magnolia Hall now closer to reality, we expect a need to increase our financial support to provide better technical equipment and ancillary items necessary to continue the highest quality entertainment that our community has come to expect.

Now, what we have is a double whammy: Bigger productions and better equipment cost money. This is where Friends of the Theatre comes into play. When you pick up your member packet, along with the 2008 production calendar, you will find a Friends of the Theatre brochure outlining the level at which you may make a monetary gift to help support the SCCT.

We thank you for your continued support of SCCT, whether through your skills and talents or your very much appreciated attendance at theatrical events. Now we invite you to take the next step and become a Friend of the Theatre.

Workshops

Carol Wroblewski will conduct a Beginning Acting II workshop from 2 to 4 p.m. Tuesdays, January 8, 15, 22 and 29, and February 5 and 12. This is a workshop for those with some acting experience and will focus on character analysis and development. Participants will prepare two roles: one a scene with another class member and a monologue. The workshop is limited to 12 participants. If you wish to participate, make sure you can attend all sessions, and call Carol at 705-2387 to get your name on the list.

Also planned for 2008 are workshops on directing, sound, acting, improvisation, readers’ theater, and stage managing. Call Carol for information.

SCCT officers

Elected to two-year terms at the SCCT’s December meeting were Bob McCloskey, vice president; Gordon Hooper, secretary; and Carol Wroblewski, workshop chairwoman. Beginning two-year terms in a new position are Arturo Iriate, playsteering, and Sharon Walker, membership. These other officers will serve the second year of their current terms – Bob Taylor, president; Carl Lehmann, treasurer; Carl Nusbaum, past president; Ralph Spiegel, production; Brenda Compton, social; and Anne Nusbaum, member at large.

Help needed

One important committee that has yet to be formed is advertising. Advertisers are essential to the ongoing success of the SCCT. Advertising by local businesses played a big part in the financial success of such recent plays as 1776 and My Fair Lady. In the past, advertisers have been very supportive of the theater’s efforts and if approached again would surely continue their support. They need to be asked and that’s what some SCCT members are being asked to do. It’s an all-out, once-a-year effort to obtain advertising – and that’s it. Call Carl Lehmann at 705-5184 to help.

Revised: December 30, 2007.