Tag Archives: ACT of Greater Cincinnati

August 27, 2021 · 11:06 am

ACT Cincinnati 2021 ACTFest This Saturday

ACT_2020-2021 ActfestJoin ACT Cincinnati this Saturday, August 28th for the 2021 Virtual ACTFest, celebrating our community’s accomplishments in 2021. It’s been a challenging and strange year, but we are excited to get back to live, in person theater and kicking off the 2021-2022 season with everyone!

Starting at 10:00 AM, each group will be “excerpting” recent shows and accomplishments. Then at 7:00 PM, the live awards banquet that you know and love will begin, only virtually. Orchid awards for the 2020-2021 season will be given out (yes, Virginia, there were shows this year!), the annual Rouse, Grooms, Pitocco, and Spirit of Community Theater awards will be announced acknowledging lifetime achievement in those areas, OCTA and AACT updates, and much more. And of course, the very popular 50/50 Raffle is happening again- it is not too late to buy your tickets so you can take home a little extra spending money and help ACT Cincinnati at the same time: a win-win if you ask me. http://actcincinnati.org/5050raffle.html

Get dolled up, grab a beverage of your choice, and tune into ACT’s YouTube channel at 7:00 PM to see some familiar faces and celebrate getting back to what we love doing: in person theater. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTaEaFd1Onej9HZgBQWj3zQ

The except schedule for the morning and afternoon is below, all broadcast on ACT’s YouTube channel. Subscribe so you don’t miss any of the action! https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCTaEaFd1Onej9HZgBQWj3zQ

ACT_Excerpts 2021

Hope you can join us for all or part of the day on Saturday!

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June 29, 2021 · 12:00 pm

ON CUE Newsletter Summer 2021

ACT_logoThe electronic newsletter of the Association of Community Theatres of Greater Cincinnati
Summer, 2021
Linda Roll, editor
llroll69@hotmail.com

So, here we are in 2021 and most of the COVID-19 restrictions are gone. We all know how much live theatre was missed in 2020. As a consequence, the events we all looked forward to were cancelled. These included not only the OCTA/ACT fest in June but the OCTA conference over Labor Day weekend. The OCTA/Act fest went virtual thanks to the amazing work of Amanda Emmons Shumate, Dan Maloney, and all the other people who put that video together and made it possible for viewing by the theatre community.  

Because of the uncertainty of being able to resume normal theatre functions this year, ACT and OCTA decided to cancel both events again this year. 

In order to bring a semblance of normalcy to the ACT community, the board, with input from all groups, has decided to do things a little differently this year. 

The results follow: 

Due Date Quick View: 

  • Awards Night Group Presenter Name/Email Submission: 8/1/2021 
  • In Memoriam Submission: 8/1/2021 
  • Video for Excerpt: 8/15/2021 
  • ACT Warranty Form Submission: 8/15/2021

Group Daytime Excerpts: Video Submission due 8/15/2021  

  1. Each group will receive up to 20 minutes to share a presentation of their choice. It can be from the 2019-2020 or 2020-2021 Seasons. 
  2. Groups will be scheduled during the day on August 28th where their presentation would be presented “live” from our ACT YouTube channel. 
  3. This would be a pre-recorded presentation, so your video would be sent to the 1st VP ahead of time for her to broadcast for your group.
    1. CLICK HERE to submit your excerpt video.
  4. Your video presentation could be:
    1. The “Excerpt” can be of one of your recent productions (in-person or virtual)
    2. A video montage of multiple shows or projects from the past year and a half or so that highlights your group.
    3. A photo slideshow of your group highlighting your work for the past two seasons.
    4. Groups are responsible for putting together the video in MP4 or MOV file formats.
      • OpenShot is a great free video editing program that will allow you to do this easily if you wish.
  5. Patrons wishing to view these “Excerpts” will visit the ACT YOUTUBE Channel to view the excerpts from each participating group.
  6. This would occur during the day Saturday and the awards would be in the evening beginning at 7pm live streamed.
  7. All groups excerpting must complete the ACT WARRANTY FORM. due by August 15th. 
    1. This form should be signed and returned (or emailed) to Amanda Emmons Shumate. 
    2. Groups submitting a compilation of Photographs instead of video would not need a royalty release, but if you set music to the photography, it would need to be royalty free or have royalty coverage.
  8. Groups will not receive any form of adjudication for their submission. This is simply to allow time for our groups to showcase their work and allow us to celebrate their accomplishments.
  9. This would be optional for the groups.
  10. Deadline to submit this video will be August 15th. 

Evening Award Ceremony
The evening ceremony would be similar to last year’s event. It would be held live on the ACT YouTube channel with guests appearing throughout the evening.  

Here is the TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF EVENTS for the evening.  This is subject to change based on the decisions presented by the ACT member groups.

  • 50/50 Raffle Recommendations: 
    • Options for payment methods:
      1. Check or Cash can be brought to the ACT Meeting on Tuesday, June 22nd.
      2. Payment can be made via PayPal up to August 27, 2020.
      3. Venmo payments will be accepted starting August 20th until 7pm on August 27th. @ACTCincinnati
  • Awards: 
      • Gary Rogers has agreed to compile our 2021 Awards Video 
      • Fred Hunt will distribute the Orchid Awards for the year as he normally does. 
      • Awards will be available for pickup from Fred Hunt after the virtual ceremony.  
  • In Memoriam Video:  Gary Rogers has also agreed to once again create our In Memoriam Video for any members of our ACT community that we have lost since our June event last year.   
    1. Submissions for the In Memoriam Video will be accepted until August 1, 2021. 
    2. Please CLICK HERE to submit for our 2020-2021 ACT In Memoriam Video.  
  • Group Presentations: Groups will be given approximately 3-5 minutes to present during the evening awards ceremony during their assigned slot. (Submit name by 8/1/2021) 
    1. This would be optional for the groups to participate. 
    2. Each group participating would select a representative for their group to present. This could be the group president, the ACT representative or other member. 
    3. The presentation could be live or pre-recorded or a combination of both in case you wanted to present some film of things around your space.   If pre-recorded, the live presenter would be required to share their screen to present or arrange for the video to be played by Amanda.   A short training session will be held the week before the event to allow the presenter to set up and practice anything needed for their presentation. 
      • Please send the name of your group live presenter to Amanda Emmons Shumate along with their email address by August 1st. 
    • Options of what to include during presentation: 
      1. 2021-2022 Season Announcements 
      2. Theatre Updates 
      3. Any additional information for patrons 
      4. Contact Information 
      5. Presentations could include digital presentations such as a season announcement short video, or a slideshow with documents if the group wishes. 

ACT Cincinnati 2020-2021 ACTFest
August 28, 2021 
Excerpt Presentations 10:00am  | Awards Ceremony 7:00pm
YouTube Live: ACT Cincinnati YouTube Channel 

Excerpt Schedule 

  • TBA  

Awards Event 

  • President’s Welcome – Dan Maloney 
  • 1st VP Address – Amanda Emmons Shumate 
  • 50/50 Raffle Information 
  • In Memoriam Video Presentation 
  • Pitacco, Rouse, Grooms Nominees Video Presentation 
  • OCTA and AACT Update – Kevin Noll 
  • OCTA 2021 Spirit of Community Theater Award – Kevin Noll 
  • Rising Stars Slideshow Introduction and Presentation – Dennis Murphy 
  • Group #1 Season Presentations: (Acting Up, Beechmont, CenterStage Players, Cincinnati Music Theatre) 
  • Orchid Awards Set 1 – Fred Hunt   
  • President’s Award – Dan Maloney 
  • Group #2 Season Presentations: (Fairfield, Footlighters, Inc., Gaslight Players, InnovaTheatre, Inspiring Arts) 
  • 50/50 Raffle Reminder 
  • Orchid Awards Set 2 – Fred Hunt 
  • Roger Grooms Award Introduction – Dennis Murphy 
  • Roger Grooms Award Presentation – Jerry Wiesenhahn 
  • Group #3 Season Presentations: (Loveland, Mariemont, Mason, Merit Theatre) 
  • 50/50 Raffle Reminder 
  • Orchid Awards Set 3 – Fred Hunt  
  • Mario Pitocco Award Introduction – Dennis Murphy 
  • Mario Pitocco Award Presentation – Jason Cox 
  • Group #4 Season Presentations: (Sunset Players, Drama Workshop, TriCounty, Village Players) 
  • Last Call for 50/50 Raffle Tickets 
  • Orchid Awards  Set 4 – Fred Hunt 
  • Art Rouse Award Introduction – Dennis Murphy 
  • Art Rouse Award Presentation – Tom and Nancy Storey 
  • 50/50 Raffle Drawing and Thank You – Amanda Emmons Shumate 
  • Closing Thoughts – Dan Maloney 

Participating Groups

  • Click here to access the WARRANTY FORM. This must be completed by any group willing to participate in the excerpt portion. This should be completed and signed then can be scanned and emailed to me, or brought to the ACT Meeting.
  • Click here to access the SUBMISSION FORM. This is where groups will submit their information and group excerpt video if participating.

Now, for other information. 

It was decided at the election meeting that the current ACT board would stay in place for the upcoming 2021-22 season, with one change. Chuck Ingram has stepped down as Marketing/Publicity chair. Mary Stone will take over that position.

The following is the board that will guide us through this next year. 

  • President-Dan Maloney 
  • 1st VP Amanda Shumate 
  • 2nd VP Fred Hunt 
  • Secretary-Kate Coyne-Chailland (nee Crotty) 
  • Treasurer-Amanda Burke 
  • Scholarships-Melissa Smith 
  • Awards-Dennis Murphy 
  • Long Range Judging Committee-Laureen Catlin 
  • Membership-John Wesseling 
  • OCTA-Kevin Noll 
  • Pre-Registration-Joy Sharp 
  • Librarian/Newsletter/Historian-Linda Roll 

John Wesseling and Joy Sharp are currently looking at the By-laws and will submit updates for the board/groups to consider. 

Let’s all hope we get back to “normalcy” and theatre returns in full force. 

Have a good season, stay safe.

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February 4, 2021 · 10:02 am

2021 RESPONDERS’ AND PRESIDENTS’ FORUM on Feb. 27

ACT_logoYou are invited to attend the first virtual presentation of the Annual Responders’ and Presidents’ Forum sponsored by ACT’s Long-Range Judging Committee. Tune in from 1-4pm on Saturday, February 27th.

  • Be welcomed at 1:00 PM for Hear Ye! Hear Ye! The Skills Needed for Sound Execution presented by Forrest Goodwin at 1:05 PM.
  • Chad Brinkman will begin his presentation on Illuminate: The Art & Craft of Designing with Light at 1:45 PM.
  • Thank you, Five! How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love My Stage Manager will be explored by Mary Stone beginning at 2:30 PM.
  • Kristin Vincenty will begin her presentation of What’s This Producer Doing Here Anyway? The Role and Responsibilities of Being a Producer at 3:10 PM.

There will be Question and Answer periods following each presentation and a short break after the first two sessions.

No need to register. You can participate from the comfort of your own home, complete with your favorite snacks and beverage! Comfortable attire is encouraged!

It is as simple as clicking on the link below to join the event at 1pm on the 27th: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIZReUD3s_o

All are invited. Share the link with your membership! Join in!

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November 30, 2020 · 10:24 am

ON CUE Fall 2020

ACT_vON CUE – The electronic newsletter of the Association of Community Theatres of Greater Cincinnati 

Fall 2020 Linda Roll, editor
llroll69@hotmail.com
Wow, what a year this has been. No one could have foreseen all the changes that have taken place. This has impacted every aspect of our lives. Let’s hope for at least some return to normalcy, whatever that will look like.In the meantime, let’s talk about what has been happening in our theatre world. The ACT board has continued to meet via ZOOM to conduct business.

  1. It was decided that groups who are still active will not be charged for any shows they ask to be judged. Groups will still need to pay their dues.
  2. Plans are underway to have the scholarship auditions conducted virtually. Each auditionee will have 5 minutes to show what they can do. 2 judges have already agreed to participate, and Melissa Smith is working to secure the others. It will be interesting to see if this will increase the number of young people who chose to audition.
  3. Dates have been set for the OCTA/ACT regional in June. Amanda Emmons Shumate has booked Parrish Auditorium and the Embassy Suites. This year the dates are June 17-19, 2021. Since most groups have cancelled their season, OCTA has decided that groups may excerpt from the past season. If for some reason there are again no regionals held, then the September OCTA fest will be pushed back another year (We are ALL hoping that won’t be the case)
  4. Even though there have been few shows, the shows that have happened have been adjudicated and have received those critiques. Fred Hunt stated that he is still looking for more judges, so if you have someone you think would make a good judge, let him know.
  5. Laureen Caitlin announced that the winter judges’ forum is scheduled for February 27 and will be via ZOOM. The topics to be discussed are lighting, sound, stage management and producing. As in the past, anyone is welcomed to view this video.
  6. For those of you who use the Wesseling One list to post information, in December, this address will be changing. Yahoo will no longer be hosting group lists, so John Wesseling is working to get relocated to a Google group. This email address will be released when it is up and working. For now, you can still submit to the Yahoo group page.

ACT is pleased to welcome Queen City as a new member. AACT update: This competition will be 100% virtual. This means that any of the theatres that did submit, if they wish to continue it must be 30 minutes. 12 groups will go to nationals, and if selected a professional video crew will come out and tape the 1 hour.

Some of the theatres are producing virtual shows, so be sure to check them out. The following is a list of some of these companies. If you know of a group doing this or are participating in any of these, let others know how to access the productions.

Drama Workshop, Footlighters, Mason, Village Players, Loveland and Equity Productions

If your group is holding events to raise funds, make sure to let us know what they are.

Let’s all support each other during this time.So, here are a few thoughts from your editor.

We are all struggling with just trying to survive what is going on in our lives. Jobs have been lost, family members and friends have been ill from this virus, and some of us have had loved ones die from various reasons, not just this virus. Whether you believe this is real or not, at least think about those around you. If you feel depressed, reach out and talk to someone. We are ALL in this boat together, and we WILL survive this.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you will be sharing the upcoming holidays, however you celebrate, with those you love.

Any errors, mistakes or omissions are not intentional.

Thanks to all of you for being a part of Greater Cincinnati theatre.

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June 30, 2020 · 9:55 am

ON CUE June 2020 – The Electronic Newsletter of ACT of Greater Cincinnati

ACT_purple

This year is not what any of us expected. Because of the Corona Virus, theater productions were halted in mid-March. Some shows were in the middle of their run and a lot of shows were not allowed to go on. People were asked to stay home in order to try to prevent the spread of the infection.

Not only were local productions cancelled, but the ACT/OCTAfest, OCTA Jr and the OCTA State Conference were all cancelled. So “virtual” has become the word of the day. Thanks to the ACT board, the awards were held online. Dan Maloney, Amanda Emmons Shumate, Fred Hunt, Dennis Murphy, Wayne Kirsch and Gary Rogers worked to make the event happen. (To any one else involved in making this happen, kudos to you as well). So, here is a wrap up of the presentations.

The evening was opened with remarks from President, Dan Maloney. Amanda Emmons Shumate, ACT 1st VP, also contributed opening remarks.

Wayne Kirsch presented the first awards of the evening. The Spirit of Community Theatre awards are presented in each region to a person or persons who have contributed to the promotion of community theatre both on the local as well as the state level. The winners this year were Valeria Amburgey and Joel Lind.

The Rising Star award is the newest award and it is given by the various member theatres to recognize individuals who have exemplified a new level of exceptional dedication and commitment to their theatre or the ACT community as a whole.

Those winners are:

  • Acting Up – Kathy Maritato
  • CenterStage Players- Trisha Cooper
  • Cincinnati Music Theatre – Adrianna Boris
  • Footlighters – Katie McCarthy
  • INNOVAtheatre – Michael J. Schumacher
  • Loveland Stage Company – David Vest
  • Mariemont Players – Becky Collins
  • Mason Community Players – Jess Braun
  • Sunset Players – Ross Hazlett
  • The Drama Workshop – Lindsey Pullam

Dan Maloney presented the President’s Award. This award is given annually by the President of ACT to a an Act board member who has demonstrated outstanding commitment and dedication to the goal’s of the ACT during that particular year. This year’s recipient is Fred Hunt.

Dennis Murphy, the Awards Chair, presented the three big ACT awards. He introduced last year’s winners who have the honor of announcing the various winners. ACT member groups can nominate any person to receive an award based on the attributes attributed to their namesakes. Then a committee meets to select the various winners. This year’s winners are:

  • Mario Pitocco Award-this award is presented annually to honor an individual who has shown continuous service and excellence in creative technical theatre-
    Jason Cox-The Drama Workshop
  • Roger Grooms Award-presented to honor an individual who has demonstrated dedication to raising the artistic quality of community theater production through active teaching and/or by demonstrating sustained excellence in the categories of directing, acting, choreography, musical or vocal direction-
    Jerry Wiesenhahn-Beechmont Players
  • Art Rouse Award-presented to an individual or couple who has shown exceptional commitments and dedication to community theatre-
    Tom & Nancy Ann Storey-Mariemont Players

Fred Hunt, ACT 2nd VP, presented the Orchid Awards throughout the evening.There were 43 shows in this abbreviated season with 882 Nominations and 439 Orchids.

The following are the categories with the number of nominations and orchids in each category.

Category | # of Nominations | # of Orchids

  • Sound Design | 28 | 8
  • Sound Execution | 17 | 1
  • Light Design | 32 | 18
  • Light Execution | 20 | 5
  • Set Design | 33 | 23
  • Set Décor | 33 | 22
  • Set Construction | 21 | 15
  • Costume Design | 34 | 23
  • Makeup | 7 | 1
  • Hair/Wigs | 12 | 6
  • Photography | 13 | 3
  • Video Production Design | 2 | 0
  • Video Execution | 1 | 0
  • Other | 17 | 6
  • PreShow | 4 | 1
  • Original Program Art | 27 | 13
  • Program | 25 | 9
  • Special Effects | 5 | 2
  • Lobby Display | 23 | 10
  • House | 21 | 9
  • Properties | 30 | 8
  • Stage Management | 26 | 15
  • Stage Combat | 4 | 2
  • Dialect Coaching | 3 | 1
  • Producing | 36 | 23
  • Overall Technical Quality | 16 | 5
  • Ensemble | 47 | 16
  • Choreography | 10 | 7
  • Dance Execution | 11 | 5
  • Musical Direction | 13 | 10
  • Vocal Direction | 9 | 3
  • Orchestral Performance | 13 | 11
  • Direction | 39 | 23
  • Overall Performance Quality | 11 | 5
  • Musical Theatre Performance | 104 | 55
  • Acting in a Play | 135 | 75

Here is the breakdown by theatre group

Theatre | # of Shows | # of Nominations | # of Orchids

  • Acting Up | 1 | 19 | 10
  • Beechmont Players | 4 | 80 | 26
  • Center Stage | 2 | 41 | 27
  • Cincinnati Music Theatre | 1 | 34 | 18
  • Fairfield Footlighters | 3 | 62 | 32
  • Footlighters | 3 | 83 | 55
  • INNOVAtheatre | 2 | 28 | 20
  • Inspiring Arts Productions | 1 | 23 | 12
  • Loveland Stage Company | 4 | 79 | 36
  • Mariemont Players | 4 | 89 | 44
  • Mason Community | 4 | 71 | 25
  • Merit | 1 | 23 | 9
  • Riverstage Community | 1 | 8 | 2
  • Sunset Players | 2 | 44 | 34
  • The Drama Workshop | 4 | 93 | 49
  • Tri-County Players | 3 | 57 | 23
  • The Village Players | 3 | 48 | 17

For information for winners from each theatre, you can visit this blog entry at Behind the Curtain Cincinnati.

Any errors, mistakes or omissions are not intentional.
Thanks to all of you for being a part of Greater Cincinnati theatre.

Please, everyone stay safe. Hope to see you all soon.
Linda Roll, editor

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