Dear All,
Happy New Year and let me say a big thank you to you all.
Thank you to the new Committee who have thrown themselves into their new roles with determination to do the best job they can on behalf of everyone, and a massive thank you to everyone who has wished us luck and offered their support. Knowing we have the support of the members makes the job a pleasure and helps us to do the best we can.
Over the last few months, members have suggested areas where we can improve and we have listened to and welcome all the ideas.
The Code of Conduct is ready to start the first round of reviews. The members of the CoC working group have worked hard and quickly and the code is now with a number of volunteer members who have begun the reviewing process. Once they have reviewed the documents and sent feedback and edits to the CoC group, it will be re-drafted and sent to the Committee for their final review.
Show Proposal Form
There have been discussions around the subject of finding Directors for our shows and what a daunting role it is. The Committee have made a commitment that it is not up to a new Director to come forward with a show proposal AND a full Production Team. Part of our role as "The Producers" of a show is to help ensure that there is a production team in place.
With this in mind, the show proposal form is being re-drafted. On the form, there is no commitment for a future Director to have a team together before putting in a proposal. Of course, they are very welcome to bring along their own team, but it is not necessary. The new proposal form will be completed online - don’t look for it yet, it is work in progress and is coming soon!
We also do not expect the Directors to be financial wizards, the budget for each show will be set by the GAOS Treasurer after discussion with the production team as a whole who will, as now, be responsible for their own spend once it has been agreed.
Production Guidelines
We hope to form a working group, similar to the Code of Conduct group, to review the current Production Guidelines. Gisela Schmidt-Martin is currently looking through the current guidelines and taking all the suggestions that were collected after Sleeping Beauty. After a first round of edits, it will be brought to the sub-committee for full discussion. If anyone would like to be a part of this group, please email chairman@gaos.ch.
Youth Show
A number of members have over the last few years felt it was a shame that the Youth Show came to an end. The Youth Show was always full of energy and always played to full houses. However, one of the issues was the role of the godparent - it was a big commitment.
For 2023, we are bringing the Youth Show back in a more hybrid format. Gone are the godparents and, instead, the Heads of each Department and The Directors have to be young(ish) and have some previous experience of GAOS Shows.
We have put an arbitrary upper age of 30 for the Production Team but the Cast must be between 12 and 18. We very much hope that starting out on a youth production will encourage our younger members to try their hand at a bigger production in the future.
So rehearsals do not take up the entire summer, Sarah Irwin, the director, is going to try condensing the rehearsals into three full weeks, spaced over the summer holidays. It will be like a GAOS Theatrical Summer Camp cumulating in four shows over the last weekend in August.
Sarah is still looking for a youngish (or young at heart) Musical Director and Props Manager. If you feel you would like to join in the fun, and it will be fun, please contact Sarah at auditions@gaos.ch.
Curtain Up
Curtain Up the newsletter has served its time. Many people were not reading it and so we have changed the way we do things.
Curtain Update emails, our means of communicating quickly, will continue. These will contain links to the website where you will find longer articles that are not time sensitive, for example this article. Learning from the issues at the EGM and AGM, official business e.g. AGM documents will be sent more formally by email with a link to the documents. This we hope will differentiate between news and official business.
Legal advice
We are still following up on the concerns brought up by members during the vote taken to decide the length of Eric Richardson’s suspension. We have contacted an independent legal expert who will give us his opinion. Once the Committee receive these opinions and has time to digest them we will be able to let you know more.
New HQ rehearsal space
We are still waiting to hear back from the Régie with a contract. As soon as we do and we sign it, it will be all systems go to move upstairs. The space upstairs is about the same size but, as the ceilings are higher, it feels more airy and bright. Access will be through the main door and up in the lifts, so no more stair access. Those working in The Barn will use the fire escape to get upstairs. There are plenty of toilets, a kitchen will need to be built and the landlord is building a costume store which will be in a dedicated room as per fire safety regulations. The whole place has a nice feel to it.
Allow me to turn to our Raison d’être - The Shows!
The Fringe are ready to kick off this year, so dust off your cowboy boots and head over to the HQ Saloon for an evening of pure entertainment. Tickets are available now and there will be a retiring collection to show your appreciation and cover the costs.
Our Spring Show, Sister Act, is off to a great start, with an amazing cast, who are learning their lines, music and dances. Construction has started and the technical teams are getting very excited (you should read the texts…!) about the projection and the infinite number of colours that can be used. The Directors asked for sparkle in the last scene, just how much sparkle is too much… I am thinking sunglasses should be considered! It’s going to be an incredible show. My advice is to book your tickets as soon as you can, from 27th February.
As was mentioned early, our Summer Youth Show is Disney’s High School Musical. If you have children who love to sing and dance or even just bounce a basketball, GAOS HQ will be the place for them this summer. Our Director Sarah is a PE teacher with loads of energy and has been in pantos and Youth Shows for many years. Her team have exceptional GAOS pedigrees - Matthew Beveridge as Stage Manager, Cloda Boyle on Choreography, Adam, Thomas and Sam Mathieson on Lights and Deyan Marinov on Sound. There will be no stopping them!
Panto 2023. Not only are we looking for a theatre, we are also looking for Directors to take on Panto 2023. Helen, our Business manager, is currently looking at panto scripts for this year. We need someone to direct and we assure you, you will get all the support you need from "The Producers" to help put on the best show we can, in whatever theatre we find. Again a thank you to everyone who has come up with theatre suggestions; we are investigating every one.
If you made it to the end of this missive, congratulations! It is amazing what we have achieved in only 74 days (as of writing). I am looking forward to the next 74 days!
Jo Beveridge
PS. After writing this, I learnt with great sadness, the passing of Hugh Webster. Hugh was a stalwart member of GAOS for many years and served as Treasurer on the Committee. My thoughts are with his family. A ceremony will take place at the Centre Funéraire de Nyon on Friday at 16h.
