We will enhance community and quality of life through people, parks, and programs.

Business Development Team of the Grand Traverse County Parks and Recreation Commission Tuesday, February 20, 2017, 5 p.m. Commissioners’ Committee Room, Second Floor Governmental Center, 400 Boardman Avenue Traverse City, Michigan 49684 AGENDA General Meeting Policies: Please turn off all cell phones or switch them to silent mode. Any person may make a video, audio, or other record of this meeting. Standing equipment, cords, or portable microphones must be located to not block audience view. If you need auxiliary assistance, contact 231-922-4780 or TDD 231-922- 4412.

Members: Pete Albers, Rodetta Harrand, Alisa Kroupa, Andy Marek, Shirley Zerafa

I. Call to Order

II. Pledge of Allegiance

III. Roll Call

IV. Public Comment Any person shall be permitted to address the Parks and Recreation Commission, which is required to be open to the public under the provision of the Michigan Open Meetings Act, as amended (MCLA 15.261, et.seq.). Public comment shall be carried out in accordance with the following Board Rules and Procedures: - Any person wishing to address the Board shall state his or her name and address. - No person shall be allowed to speak more than once on the same matter, excluding Commissioners’ questions. The President shall control the amount of time each person shall be allowed to speak, which shall not exceed three (3) minutes. The President may, at his or her discretion, extend the amount of time any person is allowed to speak.

V. Approval of Minutes, December 5, 2017 Business Development Team Meeting

VI. Approval of/Additions to Agenda

VII. Parallel 45 Theatre Proposal for 2019 Summer Season in Civic Center Park (Representatives of Parallel 45 Theatre)

VIII. BDT’s Subject Park for 2018 (Recommendation by Director to return to Civic Center Park in 2018; discussion)

IX. Second Public Comment (Please refer to rules above.)

X. Notices and Team Member Comments

XI. Adjournment

We will enhance community and quality of life through people, parks, and programs.

Business Development Team: Business Planning for Civic Center Tuesday, December 5, 2017, 5 p.m. Commissioners’ Committee Room, Second Floor Governmental Center, 400 Boardman Avenue Traverse City, Michigan 49684 MINUTES

I. Call to Order Meeting called to order at 5:05 p.m. II. Pledge of Allegiance III. Roll Call Members Present: Commissioners Jeri LeRoi, Chair; Rodetta Harrand, Vice Chair; Pete Albers; Alisa Kroupa; Shirley Zerafa IV. Public Comment There was no public comment. V. Approval of Minutes, November 7, 2017 Business Development Team Meeting MOTION by Albers, second by LeRoi, to approve minutes of November 7, 2017 meeting. Motion carried. VI. Approval of/Additions to Agenda MOTION by Kroupa, second by Harrand, to approve agenda, as presented. Motion carried. VII. Draft Medalie Roadside Park Business Plan (Review and Discussion; Plan to Be Presented at Meeting) MOTION by LeRoi, second by Zerafa, to accept the Medalie Roadside Park Business Plan and recommend it for adoption by the Parks and Recreation Commission during its regular meeting in December 2017. Motion carried. VIII. Subject Park: 2018 Business Planning (Recommendation of Park for 2018 Business Development Team) Team discussed making Maple Bay Park and Natural Area the subject of its business plan in 2018. IX. Second Public Comment (Please refer to rules above.) There was no public comment. X. Notices and Team Member Comments There were no notices or comments. XI. Adjournment Meeting adjourned at 6:35 p.m.

PARALLEL 45 THEATRE A PROPOSAL PARALLEL 45 THEATRE PROPOSAL

Objective Audience Demographic/Benefit to Civic Center Park Parallel 45 Theatre seeks a location to launch a 2019 summer Parallel 45 is proud to bring the demonstrable economic benefits of season in rotating-repertory, with plays alternating daily. This model a professional theatre to the region. Theatre patrons—comprised of will build on the success of our first 7 seasons to engage more local and seasonal residents, as well as visitors/tourists—represent audience, produce more theatre, employ more artists, and have a a sophisticated demographic that enjoys shopping, drinking, dining greater cultural and economic impact on our community. Parallel and socializing in locally-owned boutiques, vineyards, breweries, 45 will be a flagship in our community’s professional arts landscape, and restaurants, as well as quality outdoor recreation and family alongside the Traverse City Film Festival, the Traverse Symphony activities. Our ticket-buyers and supporters hail from 31 Michigan Orchestra, and the National Writers Series. counties and 25 other states. Preliminary marketing projections estimate this will grow exponentially, providing Civic Center Park the Who is Parallel 45 Theatre opportunity to introduce itself to thousands of new users. Since 2010, we have invited more than 100 local, national and international trained theatre artists to create engaging, We believe Civic Center Park is the ideal location for this exciting groundbreaking shows for our community, offering the kind project; the centralized location, natural beauty in the midst of the of adventurous work you might see in New York, Chicago, or city, and the County’s commitment to citizens’ quality of life makes Los Angeles. We are the only professional theatre company in Grand Traverse County the ideal partner. By hosting Parallel 45’s northwest Michigan. We produce cutting-edge interpretations of summer season, Grand Traverse County would be our partner in classic plays, giving familiar stories new life — and fresh relevance branding our region as a true arts and culture destination. At this — for both adult and young audiences. By producing a repertory point in our process, we have the ability to be flexible in the above of reinvented classics and imaginative adaptations, we seek to needs. We are very open to discussing adjustment of dates, entertain, encourage critical thought, and inspire conversation in our number of performances, and shared use of our performance tent to community. accommodate existing amphitheater users, as well as potential new users. We see this as the beginning of a conversation. Season Duration Maximum 8 weeks within the window of: We look forward to your feedback. June 15 to September 1, 2019.

Tent Footprint Between 3,000 and 5,000 square feet (see examples). Would cover existing amphitheater area.

Traffic 150– 200 patrons/performance (Tues–Sat evening + Sun matinee) = 3100 patrons/season conservatively. (see sample schedule) THE PERFORMANCE SPACE

Below are potential performance/theatre tent designs. They demonstrate the extreme versatility inherent in these facilities. We continue to research the correct fit for our needs.

PARALLEL 45 THEATRE SAMPLE SUMMER SCHEDULE

Length of Run Show #1 18 performances Show #2 12 performances Late Night Cabaret 2 performances

Rehearsals Tech Performances Fri Sat T W TH F Late Mat Sat pm Sat Late Su Week 1 June 16-22 Load in Week 2 June 23-29 Show #1 Week 3 July -July 6 (Cherry Festival) Show #1 Week 4 July 7-13 (Cherry Festival) Show #2 Show #1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Week 5 July 14-20 Show #2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Week 6 July 21- 27 (July 23-29 TCFF) Show #2 1, 2, 2 1 2 1 2, 2 1 2, 2 Week 7 August- August 3 LNC 1, 2, 2 1 2 1 LNC 2, 2 1 LNC 2, 2 Week 8 Aug 4-11 Load out

PARALLEL 45 THEATRE PROFESSIONAL REPERTORY THEATRE

Parallel 45 Theatre is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that produces cutting-edge interpretations of classic plays, giving familiar stories new life - and fresh relevance - for our northwest Michigan audience. By producing a repertory of reinvented classics and imaginative adaptations, we seek to entertain, encourage critical thought, and inspire conversation in our community.

18 SHOWS WE HAVE EMPLOYED AND ENTERTAINED SINCE 2010 100+ ARTISTS THOUSANDS OF AND DESIGNERS AUDIENCE MEMBERS

PARALLEL 45 THEATRE AND NOW, WE GO SUMMER

Parallel 45 is ready to build on the success of our first 7 seasons: engage more audience, produce more theatre, employ more artists, and have a greater impact on our community.

In summer 2019, we will shift our operational model to one focused on summer rotating-repertory, with additional activities in the shoulder seasons. Rotating-repertory will make it possible to produce several different plays over the course of the summer, utilizing one company of professional actors, directors, designers and technicians, alternating performances daily. The efficiency of this model, and the size of our summer population, will allow us to reach more than 10 times as many patrons, as well as generate exponentially more theatre and more earned revenue, which will help ensure our sustainability.

When fully underway, summer rotating-repertory will facilitate ticket revenue at the industry appropriate level of 35% of our operating budget. It will allow us to reach approximately 15,000 people per Watch: season and will provide our community with an economic impact of Get Ready, $2.4 million. Most importantly, this model provides consistent access Michigan to artistic experiences otherwise unavailable in northwest Michigan.

Additionally, a summer-focused model allows us to enhance our educational offerings, training the next generation of performing arts leaders via a robust apprentice program.

PARALLEL 45 THEATRE AUDIENCE EXPERIENCE

“All the literary allusions layered into entirely new myth-making forms made it something I have not seen, or not to this degree, ever before.” -Anne-Marie

“Non-stop innovation” -Richard

“It’s shocking, and an instructive reminder, that nothing has changed in 2,400 years. Wow.” -Rolf

“The only thing I regret is I couldn’t see it a time or two more” -Charlie

“When we lived in Seattle, we had season tickets to Seattle Rep. We’d given up going to theatre once we moved here, until we found you.” -Barbara

“I always marvel at the continued/renewed/ adaptive relevance of stories penned so long ago... Really wonderful to see such high caliber theatre in TC.” -Nico PARALLEL 45 THEATRE MEDIA RESPONSE

“Simple yet dazzling... The five actors are masterful performers, playing across vast ranges of age, sex, and class (not to mention the spirit world) using little more than their voices and bodies, playfully employing various accents and pitch. It is a delight to watch them play and effortlessly involve the audience with extraordinary skill.... The brilliance of Parallel 45’s concept and creation is that by focusing on the heart of this story and storytelling itself, they succeed in making the tale feel new again.” -Marin Heinritz, Encore Michigan A Christmas Carol in Prose Review

Traverse Magazine Features P45 Read Article> “Parallel 45 Theatre’s production is an award winner.. It is quite the original concept for such a well-known play.” -Tom Emmott, Encore Michigan A Streetcar Named Desire Review

Executive director Erin Anderson “Starving for a bit of culture? Whiting and artistic director Kit One hour in Traverse City’s Warehouse District is all it takes.” McKay on NPR’s Stateside. -Jeff Smith, Northern Express Listen > RECENT PERFORMANCES Parallel 45 creates immersive theatre experiences that put our audience inside the heart of great stories, giving them the opportunity to see the world through another person’s eyes, to hear diverse voices, and to let great stories teach them something new.

MR. BURNS, ALICE IN WONDERLAND A CHRISTMAS CAROL A STREETCAR A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY IN PROSE NAMED DESIRE

MEDEA HEDWIG AND THE THE OZ PROJECT SHAKESPEARE’S R&J ANGRY INCH YOU’LL BE IN GOOD COMPANY

Parallel 45 is proud to include the following funders among our supporters, joined by hundreds of generous individuals.

GREEN BRICK FOUNDATION

PARALLEL 45 THEATRE LEADERSHIP - STAFF She directed the Intermediate Repertory and/or Musical Productions at Interlochen Arts Camp for ten summers. She resides in Traverse Erin Anderson Whiting (Executive Director) holds a Bachelor of City with her husband Noah and her children, Ezra and Scout. Arts degree from Sarah Lawrence College and a diploma from the In- terlochen Arts Academy, where she majored in Creative Writing and Noah Durham (Communications Director) works as a graphic was named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts. Co-founder of Parallel designer, web developer, and video editor for the American Dance 45 Theatre, Erin has enjoyed a 14-year career in nonprofit develop- Institute, a New York dance-producing organization, where he has ment, spending 6 years as Charitable Giving Specialist at the Grand created designs and branding for dance icons including Jack Ferver, Traverse Regional Land Conservancy and 5 years as Charitable Gift Yvonne Rainer, Susan Marshall, Doug Elkins, Jane Comfort, Brian Officer at Interlochen Center for the Arts before assuming her current Brooks Moving Company, and Joe Goode Performance Group, role: directing philanthropy to Parallel 45 and managing its general among others. His design work has been seen in The Washington operations. The author of Look About You: A Magical Childhood in Post, Washington City Paper, and Dance Magazine. Michigan’s Wild Places, Erin is also the co-owner of Mr. Music DJ & Event Services and a proud board member of Crosshatch Center for Susan Boyd (Finance & Operations Manager) is a Suttons Bay Art & Ecology. resident and career finance/operations professional. She holds a bachelor of science degree in Accounting, as well as an MBA, and Kit McKay (Producing Artistic Director) is proud to have spent the has enjoyed the roles of Controller, Accountant, and CFO with sever- last seven years bringing professional artists from across the coun- al well-regarded for- and non-profit businesses in northern Michigan, try and around the world to northern Michigan as the co-founder including CMS Energy, United Waste, Great Lake Environmental of Parallel 45 Theatre, creating immersive, cutting-edge theatrical Center, and the Traverse Health Clinic & Coalition. Experienced in experiences. At Parallel 45, she directed Our Town, Metamorpho- financial forecasting and project management, Susan embraces the ses, A Christmas Carol in Prose, Shakespeare’s R&J, 30 Neo-futurist challenges and opportunities of taking organizations to the next level Plays from “Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind” (30 Plays in through sound fiscal management and detailed analysis. She has 60 Minutes), Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and A Streetcar Named also founded, and continues to operate, an animal-related non-profit Desire. Kit attended Interlochen Arts Academy, Sarah Lawrence organization, giving her insight into the unique challenges of early to College, and Northwestern University’s Master of Fine Arts directing mid-stage non-profits. program, where she had the good fortune to work closely with such artists as Anna D. Shapiro, Mary Zimmerman and Jessica Thebus at Steppenwolf Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre and Chicago Shake- speare Theatre. Upon her master’s graduation, she studied at the Yale School of Drama masters program in theatre management and worked as a Yale Fellow at Seattle Repertory Theatre. She was a curator and producer for LUMBERYARD Contemporary Performing Arts, a New York City producing organization, where she helped herald the Incubator program, a late-stage technical residency for choreographers and performance artists. Her recent two stage pro- ductions at the Rose Theatre of Omaha have been nominated for 7 PARALLEL 45 OEO awards, including Best Direction for Tarzan, and 4 TAG Awards. THEATRE A SUMMARY OF OUR HISTORY • November 2013: produced Charles Marowitz’s The Shrew utilizing a Special Appearance Agreement with Actor’s • 2007 (founded), 2008 (incorporated) Equity Association, the first in the company’s history and • August 2010: debuted a re-imagination of Thornton the first for a resident theatre company in our region. Wilder’s Our Town to sold-out houses in Elk Rapids, MI, • December 2013: produced the company’s first fundraising surpassing ticket-sales projections event, “Green Room Romp,” which featured a one-night- • August 2011: leveraged premier-season success to only presentation of The Complete Wrks of Wllm Shkspr extend performance nights and lengthen rehearsal times (Abridged) by the Reduced Shakespeare Company. when producing Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses, • April 2014: produced The New Opera Project, our first also in Elk Rapids, MI. performance collaboration with an educational institution, • August 2012: expanded our geographic coverage by featuring three world-premiere works of opera theatre producing Phillip Klapperich’s The Terrible Tragedy of written and performed by Interlochen Arts Academy Peter Pan in Traverse City, MI, increasing ticket sales by students. 27%. • July 2014: produced the Michigan premiere of the • December 2012: added a second production to our groundbreaking 30 Neo-Futurist Plays from Too Much season: A Christmas Carol in Prose, adapted by company Light Makes the Baby Go Blind (30 Plays in 60 Minutes), member Ben Whiting. This production was produced in created by Greg Allen and written by the Neo-Futurists, two locations, Elk Rapids and Traverse City, Michigan. attracting standing-room-only audiences.

• December 2012: launched our pilot education program— • November 2014: produced the company’s first musical, Winter Workshop—in collaboration with Elk Rapids Public The Oz Project: a world premiere jukebox musical Schools. The workshop provided pre-professional theatre commissioned from founding company member, classes for Elk Rapids students in grades 6 through 12. playwright and dramaturg, Kristina Corcoran Williams.

• August 2013: produced the regional premiere of • April 2015: produced Cyrano by Jo Roets, a three-person Shakespeare’s R&J, adapted by Joe Calarco, lengthening adaptation of Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac, our production schedule and doubling the number of guest directed by Rose Theatre (Omaha) Artistic Director performances from four to eight, in two locations: Traverse Matthew Gutschick, with original music commissioned City and Elk Rapids. from award-winning composer Ines Thiebaut and performed live onstage by cellist Aaron Fried.

PARALLEL 45 THEATRE • November 2015: produced the company’s second • December 2016: performed a re-mount of audience musical, the Broadway smash Hedwig and the Angry favorite, A Christmas Carol in Prose, at City Opera House, Inch, dubbed “the best rock musical ever” by Rolling produced by CherryT Ball Drop. This remount of company Stone Magazine, with a live rock band and immersive member Ben Whiting’s original adaptation transformed the concept that yielded sold-out shows and our first late- Dickens’ classic into a stunning, paired down, immersive night performances. experience for Traverse City audiences, while raising money for numerous local charities. • January 2016: produced an original adaptation of the Greek classic Medea, commissioned from award-winning • March 2017: regional premier of Andre Gregory’s Alice in playwright and company founding member Kristina Wonderland, adapted in a French clown style with special Corcoran Williams, executing the company’s second permission from this iconic playwright, featuring Parallel Actor’s Equity contract, and guest directed by Rose 45’s resident acting company, as well as designers and Theatre (Omaha) Artistic Director Matthew Gutschick. consultants from around the world. The show enjoyed a Launched 11am student matinees, engaging the area’s 90% sold out 2-week run, the first of this duration in the smaller school systems and providing full performances company’s history. with artist Q&A/talk-backs after the show. • June 2017: produced the regional premiere of Anne • April 2016: produced a re-imagining of Tennessee Washburn’s timely and ambitious Mr. Burns, a post- Williams’ classic A Streetcar Named Desire utilizing electric play, utilizing the company’s fifth Actors’ Equity imaginative staging and a large ensemble cast, pushing Association contract and enjoying an entirely sold-out run the production past traditional “kitchen sink” boundaries, with robust wait lists each night. earning the company our first professional review and facilitating an entirely sold-out run. • August 2017: nominated for a Wilde Award in the category of BEST PLAY for our March 2017 production • September 2016: collaborated with the MITTEN Lab, of Alice in Wonderland. The Wilde Awards honor the best a new Michigan-based residency program aimed at of professional theatre throughout the state of Michigan. cultivating early career playwrights, theatre composers, Parallel 45 was the only theatre north of Lansing lyricists, librettists, choreographers, and performance represented. artists. Parallel 45 produced an evening showcasing the in-progress works of 3 artists in residence at the Lab, as • October 2017: continued partnership with the MITTEN well as provided professional actors. Lab residency program, collaborating with Interlochen Center for the Arts to produce a performance of 3 works- in-progress utilizing Parallel 45 actors and Interlochen students.

PARALLEL 45 THEATRE LET’S COLLABORATE!

We look forward to exploring a partnership between Grand Traverse County and Parallel 45 Theatre. Thank you so much for your time and consideration.

Erin Anderson Whiting Executive Director 231-620-0771 [email protected]

PO Box 1829 Traverse City, MI 49685 www.parallel45.org

PARALLEL 45 THEATRE