I just finished performing in a Theatre Orillia show- The Affections of May, two weeks ago.
Since then, I have spent 9 days in rehearsal for another show and now less than two weeks later the new show All for Nun- A Stage Xtravaganza, which I wrote, is up and running at the OCC in Orillia.
Today, I write a Message from the Artistic Director- which I am. I've had almost 800 reads on Facebook and now I present it in its entirety to you.
-Rob*
A Message from the Artistic Director of Theatre
Orillia/Double R Productions
I am Rob Reid Artistic Director for Theatre
Orillia/Double R Productions. That sounds like an important title doesn’t it?
It isn’t really. It just looks good on a business card. Besides the card, I
wear many hats as Artistic Director- Actor and Playwright among them. I spent
several months and countless hours writing the script for the current Theatre
Orillia Production- All for Nun- A Stage Xtravaganza.
We have just started our second Summer Production of our
inaugural three show season at the OCC- former Cinema 4, on Colborne Street, in
Downtown Orillia. Our final show will be in September/October at the newly
named St. Paul’s Centre at Coldwater Street and Peter Street North.
To date- with Norm Foster’s The Affections of May and the
current on stage production- All For Nun- and up to and including our fall
production of Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest” we have tried our
best to be “a Part of our Community”- as our tag line says.
We have or will be bringing up to 20 buses, countless
groups and dozens of Sunshine Getaway Tours’ guests to The City or Orillia and
to our Downtown, Waterfront and Restaurants.
That’s a lot of people who will shop in Orillia’s stores,
dine in our restaurants or see the sites. Being a not-for-profit theatre
company we run on a bare minimum budget. We started out with zero dollars. To
help us pay for our season we have received one $500 grant from the City of
Orillia, money from our Season and Show Sponsors, Kickstarter supporters and
advertisers but it doesn’t pay all our expenses.
We pay our cast and crew weekly as well as our venue- the
OCC. That’s a very large outlay of cash. The four of us who started this
company have so far not received one cent of pay. We funnel all our funds
towards paying for the shows, the OCC, costumes, rights, props and Cast &
Crew.
It is a large undertaking.
Looking at the audience numbers we bring to the OCC, I
should mention that the majority of the audience members are from out-of-town.
Local and area support is meagre at best. Oh, there are the hard core theatre
goers who support us time and time again and we thank them every time they show
up. This year Lake Country is supporting us. The Island Princess too. Our
charities that we promote at each show- Green Haven, Dress for Success, Big
Brothers/Big Sisters and the Sharing Place Food Bank all try their best to
bring patrons to our shows.
There are times we offer comp tickets to fill seats. Many
theatres do. However, giving out “free” tickets does not pay our bills. We
offer comps in the hope that those people seeing our show(s) will spread the
word.
Some Media types are a great help to us. The Packet and
Times have been more than generous with advertising. John Swartz of the Packet
is always a stalwart supporter of our company, as is Frank Matys and Orillia
Today. Ross McIntyre has written terrific articles as well. UPS Orillia has been
very generous as has Swisssh Radio- an Online station. We get snippets from
other groups but Radio and Television media- not so much. They are tough nuts
to crack. True, we don’t have hundreds or thousands to spend but what if we are
successful and return for a second season and we have extra dollars for
advertising? Will we hot-foot it to the media that offers no help when we need
it most- during this inaugural season?
Then, there’s our Cultural Department at City Hall. We
haven’t seen nor heard from anyone there nor has a representative- to my
knowledge attended our show(s). We have given some comps to those folks who
work at the Orillia Opera House as the Sunshine Getaway Package includes
Theatre Orillia as well as The Opera House, The Island Princess, OMAH and The
Mariposa Inn.
We have seen our Mayor Steve Clarke and a couple of
Councillors in our theatre. We have even invited Mayors and Councillors from
Severn and Ramara.
I can hear you saying- so what do you want?
Simple.
Support.
Local support from citizens and businesses.
Attend one of our shows.
Give us a leg up. Hang up a poster.
Recognize we are a viable theatre company and pass on the
word to others.
Imagine, our small city of 30,000+ people has two summer
Theatre Companies and has had for two years! We are a Part of Our Community.
We bring tourists to Orillia including folks from
Toronto, London, Cambridge, Hamilton, Huntsville, Haliburton, Burlington and
more. They leave our Theatre Orillia at the OCC beaming. They love the shows,
our actors, our sets, our comfortable, air-conditioned, easily accessible
venue.
Theatre Orillia has a good thing going here. Why there
are those who ignore that fact is a mystery to us. Yes, we can give out comps to fill our theatre but we
really need the cash. We have brought in the various charities to show you that
we want to be here. We want to help other organizations as well as ourselves.
Our Actors in our shows come from not only Orillia but
further afield from the North, East and South. Everyone has an equal
opportunity to audition for us. Our Actors and Crew are hard-working,
professionals and give you a big, big bang for your buck.
We do too.
Thursday’s are Two for One. Buy one adult ticket at $30,
Senior $25 or Student $15 and receive the second free! There are special rates
for groups of 30 or more. Details are on our website www.theatreorillia.ca or
call our Box Office at 705.242.8011. Our Box Office is open at the OCC Monday
thru Saturday from 11 until 2PM.
This past Tuesday we had four, local "theatre
virgins" in the audience. They had never seen a "live" stage
show before. A Sister Mary Margaret
would say- "Isn't that grand?"
If you’re Media, we’d be happy to help you by displaying
logos and ensuring your “brand” is displayed before and during the show. Call
us and we’ll see what we can do.
We don’t want to flounder wondering how we can get local
bums in our Theatre Orillia seats. If we do, we won’t be able to afford to do
this for another year.
Thanks and see you at the theatre!
Theatre Orillia that is…
Best Regards,
Rob Reid
Artistic Director Theatre Orillia/ Double R Productions
