MINUTES OF THE WOODSTOCK OPERA HOUSE ADVISORY COMMISSION Tuesday, January 16, 2018 The meeting of the Advisory Commission of the City of Woodstock was called to order at 4:30 pm by Keith Johnson on Tuesday, January 16, 2018 in the Woodstock Opera House Library. A roll call was taken. Those present were: Maggie Amis, Anthony Houston, Keith Johnson, John Puzzo Paul Rausch, Elaine Riner, John Scharres, Roger Zawacki, Daniel Campbell Absent: Michael Levitan Approval of Minutes K. Johnson stated the date in the opening statement was wrong in the November meeting. A motion to approve the minutes of November 14, 2017 was requested. J. Puzzo motioned to approve the minutes, A. Houston seconded. All ayes. The minutes of November 14, 2017 were approved. COMMUNICATIONS Keith Johnson – Chair K. Johnson stated they had a full house for the New Year Eve event in Stage Left Café. He stated the extra publicity has really helped bringing people to the events. Woodstock Opera House – John Scharres J. Scharres stated they have begun working on the Budget for 2018-2019. The Opera House has produced 608 shows so far on the main stage during this fiscal year. CIP request from the Advisory Board were looked at and the mirrors will be taken from operating budget while the Backstage Headsets was added to the CIP list. Holiday season was busy with record numbers for Nutcracker as well as Lighting of the Square (LOTS). K. Johnson mentioned the sound during the LOTS wasn’t great. J. Scharres explained the hired sound company did not live up to the expectation and payment has been held due to negotiations. The Managing Director search will most likely begin by Friday, January 19th. R. Stelford, City Manager, P. Christensen, Assistant City Manager / Finance Director, D. Schober, HR Director and J. Scharres are the member of the selection committee. K. Johnson asked if the publicity budget was spent in full this year. D.Campbell clarified they anticipate using the budgeted amount this year. Opera House replaced the ticket scanners in November that were not working. End users are happy with the new scanners. 2018 Advisory Commission Meeting dates: Jan. 16, Feb. 20, Apr. 17, Aug. 21, Oct. 16 and Nov.13 Opera House staff is in the beginning stages of researching to replace the electromechanical carillon with a digital system. Anthony Houston - Member at Large Starting a new teaching term at Culture, Arts and Music. They are hosting the second 2nd Sunday February 11th with Andrew Huber. Paul Rausch – Member at Large P. Rausch stated the Community Choir held up the tradition of music, although mentioned the problem hearing them as well. He spoke with B. Jankowski, the Madrigals director, and it was stated the event on Saturday after LOTS went well. J. Scharres added he was quite impressed with the program. J. Puzzo asked if P. Rausch felt the Madrigal program would benefit from a donation from FOTOH, he stated they would. Michael Levitan - Member at Large Absent Roger Zawacki – TownSquare Players - Little Mermaid was cast in December 2017 and are currently in rehearsals. There are already 1,727 tickets sold for the shows in March 2018. Maggie Amis – Woodstock Fine Arts Association Creative Living is hosting Richard Cahan and Michael PhD on Thursday, November 16th speaking about Richard Nickel and the Dangerous Years. Woodstock Fine Arts Association will present the check for $15,000 for the replacement of all window draperies in the Opera House’s original building and to purchase two Shure handheld lavalier combo wireless microphone systems to J. Scharres on November 16th as well. K. Johnson asked about the Scholarship program. M. Amis stated the information is available on the website. The scholarships will be announced in April. Elaine Riner – Woodstock Musical Theatre Company It’s A Wonderful Life- The Radio Show had a great run and made some money for the company. Auditions for Spamalot are the last week of January. Kathie Comella is directing. It should be a great show. TSP and WMTC are working together to merger beginning the season 2019-2020 season. This new theatre company will have a new name. They have spoken with J. Scharres and the new company will keep resident company status. John Puzzo – Friends of the Opera House (presented by J. Scharres) Friends of the Opera House Board of Directors are going through a transition losing the president and a board member to retirement. They have plans to offer raffle tickets for a dinner on stage with entertainment as a fundraiser. Date to be determined. 2018 Advisory Commission Meeting dates: Jan. 16, Feb. 20, Apr. 17, Aug. 21, Oct. 16 and Nov.13 This month they are funding the Treasure Island performances on January 27th and February 3rd in Stage Left Café. Friends of the Opera House have joined forces with Friends of the Old Courthouse and Friends of the Public Library to form Friends of Woodstock. This group plans to host events to raise money for all three groups. OLD BUSINESS Final Reports were handed out and it was decided to approve them at the February 20th meeting. K. Johnson asked about the Instagram account. It was determined a training will take place during the next meeting so all Advisory Board groups have access to post. NEW BUSINESS No new business The next meeting: February 20, 2018 Motion to adjourn. A. Houston motioned and R. Zawacki seconded. Meeting adjourned 5:07 pm Respectfully submitted, Betsy Cosgray 2018 Advisory Commission Meeting dates: Jan. 16, Feb. 20, Apr. 17, Aug. 21, Oct. 16 and Nov.13 .