September 2016

September 2016 In this month’s Spotlight From the President’s Point of View ......................................................................................... 2 Combined South Island Meeting details 24 September, Christchurch ................................. 4 NextGen Boot Camp Dunedin – it’s a wrap ............................................................................. 6 Gold Partners and Corporate Members iTICKET attend the Zony’s ................................... 10 Technical Qualifications Update with Dale Henderson ........................................................ 11 Welcome to the 60s – New Plymouth conference 2017 ....................................................... 13 Zone Two news – Ngaire Holmes with Zony Awards Wrap Up ............................................ 15 Centre Stage Taupo Workshops – all welcome .................................................................. 17 News from Rotorua, Whakatane and a sweet transvestite ................................................. 19 Zone Three– Sharron checks out CATS, Upper Hutt, PLT and Urinetown ........................ 23 Sister Act is raising its voice all through Zone Three ......................................................... 25 Junior Theatre Project – Broadway Junior comes to Porirua ............................................ 26 Theatre Hawkes Bay – Motel by April Phillips & Abbey have CATS for hire ..................... 29 Zone Four update from Ross Benbow and meeting report from Ashburton ..................... 30 Show Marked 40 Years for Kirwee with 14 families involved in the one production ........ 34 A sad farewell to Pilgrim Productions in Auckland ............................................................. 36 Peaches and Pickles Presents the first amateur production of Starlight Express ........... 37 Zone Five - Invercargill farewell Mary, Alexandra welcome the Pirates, East Otago staging Anything Goes and Dunedin prepares to be spammed by Monty Python ........... 39 New associate members – Innovation Brokers .................................................................. 42 NASDA Auditions – applications close 10 September ....................................................... 43 Entertainment Technology Updates and Info .................................................................... 44 Light Site – wireless comms system & pixel drape available for hire ............................... 45 News from the copyright holders featuring this month – Hal Leonard and Origin Theatrical plus a reminder from Play Bureau reminding you of your obligations when performing theatre ........................................................................................................... 48 - 56 1 From the President’s View Point Each month I try and put a different perspective on my musings, and this month I would like to talk just a little about the young people in our Societies. Last Month MTNZ ran a very successful inaugural Next Gen Boot Camp, held at the Berwick Camp, close to Mosgiel (that’s not far from Dunedin for the uninitiated). The camp lasted over a weekend, expertly organised by GM Kate, and Zone 5 Rep Helen, with the able assistance of new VP Dan, Next Gen Rep Gwen and with much appreciated local assistance from Bruce McDowell – HOD Transport, Kerry Horsnell - Chef (I hear your Southland Sushi is second to none) and Nigel Donehue – Assistant Chef . Twenty two enthusiastic young people registered for the course, demographically from Zone 2 in the North to Zone 5, in the South, sadly no-one from Zone 1. There weren’t too many home comforts, although all were well fed and watered, there was no cell phone coverage, and it was very cold! Expertly tutored by Jennifer Ward-Lealand, and Teesh Szabo, these young people between the ages of 18 and 30 learnt from two of the very best tutors in their chosen fields this country can offer, and I can only offer my grateful thanks to these two ladies, who gave of their time so willingly for the betterment of community theatre. Before the course proper began, the MTNZ Executive Members conducted a further round of our Knowledge Café, and the responses from these young people were stunning. They have given the Executive so much food for thought, as we go down the road of encouraging and promoting our young people in all avenues of our wonderful organisation, be it on stage, behind stage, being members of their local executive committees, or standing for National Office. I can only encourage all young people not to be afraid to stand up and be counted, and I am so pleased that you the members have put your faith in Dan as Vice President, who I hope will fill my shoes in the not too distant future. Next Genners are the future of our organisation. And on that note I would like to share with you some feedback from one young member who attended the camp, the author puts the experience much more eloquently than me. When I was informed that there was to be a boot camp help for next generation members of Musical Theatre NZ, I knew it was something that I wanted to be a part of. My initial thoughts were that it was going to be great in further developing my skills as a performer and for me to soak in the teaching practices and skills of the tutors. But to arrive in Dunedin and within the first hour, realize that it would be much more than that, was a very positive surprise. 2 Please pass on my thanks to the Executive for enabling me to attend this great weekend. This leads me to my first topic and that is the immense pride I felt while in Dunedin. One of our first activities whilst down there was a knowledge café. One thing that came up among a lot of the other members was that they wished that they’d had more opportunities to develop within their own societies and that maybe we should start holding boot camps, or workshops on developing and encouraging cast members into working backstage. It was at this point I felt very proud of our society in the sense that we do what we can to encourage our members who may not get into show, or may not want to do a show, to become involved backstage. It’s great to have your “regulars” but something we can be happy about is that these “regulars” are always happy to assist in teaching or tutoring the less-experienced members into these roles. The knowledge café was certainly one of the highlights of the experience because we were able to understand each other’s societies on a “next-gen” level. This meaning, fresh and new ideas, different outlooks and open conversation without feeling like we were going against the grain of the more traditional opinions brought forward by the longer-standing members. The next thing I took away from this was an appreciation of the atmosphere at our theatre. Without sounding too “cheesy”, I’m talking about the fact that we are one big family, and that when new members come to our society, they are welcomed and included with open arms. Although the other societies have these qualities, it certainly felt very evident within ours. Lastly on the topic of the knowledge café, we spoke about the importance of communication. One thing we do (which I found was not too common) is the sending out of a monthly Newsletter. It is important for me to stress that this is our biggest form of communication to our members and our most effective way of reaching the members who maybe aren’t so physically active but want to keep informed. We have an amazing secretary who does the best job possible in ensuring that any information which is relevant to our members, goes into the Newsletter. Too often you hear of people being upset because they missed out on a meeting, or an opportunity, or whatever it may be, because they weren’t informed. If it’s relevant to our members, it will be in the Newsletter. The workshops in Dunedin were amazing to say the least. Jennifer Ward-Lealand (who took the singing workshops) and Teesh Szabo (dance workshops) were clearly very experienced and knowledgeable in their fields. Jennifer was easily able to enlighten us on the intent and understanding of our chosen song. Her ability to communicate and feel empathy for her students is what makes her an amazing person and tutor. Teesh was fantastic in the sense that she was able to make the “non-dancers” not look out of place. (I’m sure every choreographer’s dream). Again, her understanding on intent in a performance was very evident. The “dancers” of each group were able to take away new skills in which they’re able to either use, or pass on – which is great! The organisation and running of the whole weekend was clearly well put together and thought out, Kate and her team had clearly put a lot of thought and energy into making sure it was a success (which it was). For a first next-gen boot camp, I think it went really well. I hope we can look forward to more in the future. Personally I would like to see this become an annual event for MTNZ and with the feedback from our members who attend each year, we can only develop in a positive way! I hope to see plenty of our society members register next year because it certainly is well worth your time. I thank the author of this for allowing me to use this letter written to their home society. Kate will be presenting feedback from the NextGen Camp at the Combined South Island Meeting in a few weeks’ time and Ngaire at the Zone Two meeting on 8 October, and I hope many societies that attend those meetings have takeouts from the feedback received – some great ideas and food for thought for all society members. Dan will be making a presentation at the AGM in New Plymouth in March on the NextGen key initiative as the Executive will discuss this in depth at our October meeting. 3 Last weekend, along with GM Kate and Life Member John MacGibbon, we attended the inaugural Zonys – the Zone Two awards evening at the Clarence Street Theatre in Hamilton. A great evening of celebrating community theatre and we were entertained by some truly talented performers including our NextGen Rep – Gwen and sister Ruby. Their Wicked duet was stunning. Also congratulations to MTNZ VP Dan who won best set design for Tauranga’s Jesus Christ Superstar.

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