ON CUE
The electronic newsletter of the Association of Community Theatres of Greater Cincinnati
Conference Wrap Up September 1-4, 2023
What a weekend. What a conference. The Southwest knows how to have a good time.
As co-chair of the conference, Peggy Kenney did an excellent job with keeping the whole thing in motion. Unfortunately, Robert Weidle, the other co-chair had some medical issues that took him away from his assistance, but he is on the mend and hopefully he will continue to get stronger.
As in the past, there was an activity scheduled for anyone to take part in. Each day, there was a different activity that allowed people to collect stars for prizes. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, there were hotel stays donated by various hotels in the area and each had an activity associated with it. All of the daily winners were still eligible to win the grand prize which was a 3-night stay in Gatlinburg, which was given by an anonymous donor. The winner of that stay was Ruth Crowley.
The attendance this year was not as high as it has usually been for our region, but considering the state of theatre these past few years, it wasn’t bad. There were 226 people who registered for the full package, 95 for Saturday, 44 for Sunday, and 18 musicians. Out of these, there were 152 first time attendees. Sharon Buchtman and Judy Berrens had plenty of activities for them to participate in with one person winning a basket of goodies. It is hoped that a lot of them will return next year, even if they are not in an excerpt.
Besides all of the excerpts, there were workshops scheduled on all aspects of theatre from acting, to technical elements, stage combat, and the administrative side of theatre. There were also workshops on how to write a play. One of the highlights of the weekend was a workshop by Richard Oberacker who not only gave a highlight of how a musical comes together but also a Musical Theatre Master Class. He worked with several individuals and offered in-depth advice and specific techniques on elevating the performance of a song into a unique expression of character. All who attended this workshop benefited from his expertise.
So, for those of you who don’t know, our region had 4 excerpts at the OCTA conference. In case you didn’t hear, here is the list of awards handed out to our groups. Congratulations to everyone on the awards.
| JOHN MICHAEL DURNIL | MERIT IN ACTING AS GEORGE | KINKY BOOTS |
| THE CAST | MERIT IN ENSEMBLE | KINKY BOOTS |
| THE ORCHESTRA | EXCELLENCE IN MUSICAL ACCOMPANIMENT | KINKY BOOTS |
| ROBERT BRESLIN | OUTSTANDING IN MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCE AS CHARLIE PRICE | KINKY BOOTS |
| GARRETT KLAAS | OUTSTANDING IN MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCE AS LOLA/SIMON | KINKY BOOTS |
| REBECCA WALL | OUTSTANDING IN MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCE AS LAUREN | KINKY BOOTS |
| CHAD BRINKMAN | OUTSTANDING IN DIRECTING | A GENTLEMEN’S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER |
| ALAN MASTERS | OUTSTANDING IN MUSICAL DIRECTING | A GENTLEMEN’S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER |
| AMANDA MARASCH | OUTSTANDING IN CHOREOGRAPHY | A GENTLEMEN’S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER |
| THE CAST | OUTSTANDING IN ENSEMBLE | A GENTLEMEN’S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER |
| THE CAST | OUTSTANDING IN VOCAL ENSEMBLE | A GENTLEMEN’S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER |
| WAYNE WRIGHT | OUTSTANDING IN VARIETY PHYSICAL CHARACTERIZATION | A GENTLEMEN’S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER |
THE GODS OF COMEDY
| DOUG BERLON | EXCELLENCE IN SOUND DESIGN |
| JENNIFER DAY | OUTSTANDING IN DIRECTING |
| THE CAST | OUTSTANDING IN ENSEMBLE |
A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE
| ELLIS QUINNE | MERIT IN ACTING AS RODOLPHO |
| BURT MCCOLLOM | MERIT IN ACTING AS ALFIERI |
| BRIANA KENNEDY | EXCELLENCE IN ACTING AS CATHERINE |
| TOM PETERS | OUTSTANDING IN DIRECTION |
| JONN BACA | OUTSTANDING IN FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY |
| KEITH CASSIDY | OUTSTANDING IN ACTING AS EDDIE CARBONE |
| MARY STONE | OUTSTANDING IN ACTING AS BEATRICE CARBONE |
Each year, OCTA inducts people or theatre groups into the Hall of Fame. These nominations are for a lifetime of commitment to promoting theatre. It is an honor to announce that Burt McCollom was chosen to be inducted into the OCTA Hall of Fame. Those of you who have had the pleasure of either having him for a teacher, a director, or a fellow actor on stage, know that he is most deserving of this honor. Congratulations Burt.
There were several theatres who were recognized for technical awards. Footlighters Inc., Loveland Stage Company and Village Players of Fort Thomas all received awards for their newsletters and Footlighters, Inc. also received awards for their website. There were no submissions from our region for set design or costumes, so if your theatre wishes to be considered for any of these competitions, check the OCTA website for information on what the requirements are for entering. We have some great technical work on our shows, so all you technical people, look into entering for 2024.
Speaking of the 2024 conference, the theme was announced at the Monday brunch. The OCTA board are conference chairs and the theme is Thinking Outside the Box. Next year’s conference will be held at the Midland Theatre and Cherry Valley once again the hotel. Also at the 2024 conference, if you wish to be considered for the 2025 AACTfest, you MUST submit your theatre at this conference. Rules and regulations are/will be available on both the AACT and OCTA websites.
ACT held their first meeting September 26 at St Rita’s. Rivertown Players in Lawrenceburg, Indiana was voted in as the newest theatre member. Welcome and know that we are all happy to have you. ACT meets the 4th Tuesday of each month except for December, July and August. Urge your ACT rep/alt to attend and make your theatre voice heard.
The board approved the proposed budget presented by Jon Scheiding for the 2023-24 season. Jon is also working to get every board position a google email address and to move all to business to google workspace to provide continuity when new people assume the various positions.
The bylaws are still being updated by John Wesseling and Joy Sharp with a few submitted each meeting for approval by the member theatres. It is an ongoing process and John and Joy are doing a great job of updating them.
ACT 1st VP, Amanda Emmons Shumate is looking into moving the ACT-OCTAFest from Parrish Auditorium. At this time, the person we have dealt with is retiring at the end of the year and the college is not signing any contracts until after January 1st. Amanda is looking for a new venue that won’t be as far away for some of our groups to travel. Also, if this change comes about, she is also looking at hotels that will be large enough to host our annual banquet. Even though the Embassy Suites has been a good hotel, ACT has pretty much outgrown the facility. Hopefully she will have answers by the October meeting.
2nd VP, Mark Culp reported on the number of shows that took place over the summer as well as those shows that are scheduled to open by the end of the year. He is placing responders with these shows and is always on the hunt for new people to train. If you or someone you know is interested in being a responder, submit your name. With the number of theatre and shows, this is a much-needed job. The bylaws state that each theatre must provide a responder candidate for each show they perform over the season.
Amy Waldfogle is working on the annual awards and stated that Fairfield Footlighters, MERIT Theatre, Beechmont Players, and Mason Community Players on deck for committee. She is also chairing the education committee and has added Doug Bruening and Denise Schneiders to that committee. The idea behind this is to pair someone who wants to learn a skill, e.g., lighting, with a person who has that skill set. This is a valuable tool for everyone to become more educated on the various skills.
Arlene Balzco who is working on the annual Scholarships has set the 1st Saturday in February as the date for the auditions with the 2nd Saturday as a snow date. More information will be coming. These scholarships are open to any student who is pursuing a college degree in theatre.
Mary Stone has been doing an excellent job at marketing ACT. If you have been seeing a Show of the Week on Facebook, this is due to her. She is also keeping the website current and full of information. Be sure and check all of these out.
ACT will be celebrating its 70th year in 2024-25. When ACT celebrated 50 years, there was an updated history of ACT member groups. This is something that needs updating. So, please send a history of what has happened to your group in the past 20 years along with any pertinent information you want included. Send those histories to Linda Roll at llroll69@hotmail.com. This document will then be added to the website and kept with the history logs. There are also some missing years of history, so anything your group can add will be greatly appreciated. Just as an FYI, ACT was started in order to have a calendar so that there wouldn’t be more than one group presenting a show at any given time. Easy to do when there are only 13 groups doing one or two shows a season. Not so easy now with the number of theatres and shows that are being done.
Thank you for being a part of Greater Cincinnati Theatre.
Any errors, mistakes or omissions are not intentional.
Linda Roll, editor
llroll69@hotmail.com
(Cincinnati, OH) Everyone’s favorite hippo makes her musical debut! Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati (ETC) is thrilled to present Fiona: The Musical, written by Cincinnati native Zina Camblin and ETC composer David Kisor. This touching story reminds us of the power of perseverance, compassion, and never giving up on the underdogs—or underhippos! Playing November 29 – December 29, 2023, this world premiere musical is holiday fun for the entire family! Directed by D. Lynn Meyers. Premiere Sponsor is Schueler Group. Opening Night Sponsors are Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP and The Grant & Ross Family in honor of Fred & Sondra Ross.
THE ONE ACT PLAY THAT GOES WRONG
LYSISTRATA
The Footlighters, Inc. and director Becky Collins are excited to announce the cast of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express running February 15 – March 3. 2024:
Behind the Curtain Cincinnati 