The Rotary Club of Everett
President Tammy Dunn started the meeting, Club Meeting #5480 and #28 of current year, at 12:03 pm and led the members in the Pledge.
The “Thought of the Day” was provided by President Tammy. She shared some of her favorite quotes regarding today’s program: The Future of Musical Theatre. Comedian Steve Martin said, “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” Actor William Defoe once stated, “Great theatre is about challenging how we think and encouraging us to fantasize about a world we aspire to.” Famed writer Arthur Miller commented that “the mission of the theater, after all, is to change, to raise the consciousness of people to their human possibilities.”
Introductions:
Kaye Phinney introduced Ryan Willis, from Coastal Community Bank who has applied to be a member. Kelli Thode welcomed guest and potential member Amanda Abbinanti who is Director of Sales and Marketing for EverHome Healthcare and is a former Rotary Club of Everett member, Liz Stenning, Executive Director, Downtown Everett Association was also in attendance and is a potential member. Ser Jay De Los Angeles, manager of Anthony’s Wildfire Grill was also introduced.
Announcements:
President Tammy announced the upcoming Board of Directors meeting this week at Neil’s office and via Zoom. The Rotary Youth Foundation Trustees meeting is also this week.
Brian Hollingshead promoted the upcoming Happy Hour at the downtown Marriott this Thursday.
Neil Angst called for a President-elect nomination for Michael Kvistad, previously announced at the last Club meeting. Neil motioned for acceptance and Jerry Tucker seconded. The motion was approved.
Happy and Birthday Bucks:
Zak Parpia is celebrating his seventy-fifth birthday with $750 in birthday bucks.
Ian Saltzman and Will McMahon have donated to the Literacy Project. The Interact Club has also added to that fund. Judi Edwards also gave $50 for the project. Over $4,000 has already been raised.
Mark Valentine shared a story about a recent trip, regarding a magician and a $100 bill. He was happy to share the $100 with the club.
Greg Lineberry was also $100 happy.
President-elect Michael Kvistad was $20 happy to promote Girl Scout cookie sales and in appreciation to the visit from the Past Presidents.
Krissy Davis also donated $50 to the Literacy Project.
Raffle:
Neil Angst conducted the weekly raffle. Congratulations to our winners this week: Larry O’Donnell, Guest Laura Lee and our Executive Assistant Sandy Oettel.
Today’s program: Village Theatre
President Tammy introduced the Village Theatre Managing Director Laura Lee to begin the presentation of today’s program: The Future of Musical Theatre. Tammy and Laura have worked together on several projects through the years. Laura stated that the Village Theatre presents productions in Issaquah and Everett. 38% of the annual ticket sales for the theatre group is from the Everett facility. Today’s presentation is the challenges of musical theatre and Laura asked Artistic Director Adam Immerwahr to share his insights on its future.
Adam revealed that musical theatre is based on concise storytelling and usually a standard “formula.” Most musicals start with a “I want” song that reflects a desire or dream. He referenced the opening numbers for Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast or Cinderella. Artists see the challenge of the current world as an opportunity to change in a musical. A musical is also conservative in nature – nostalgic. Artists and writers see humanity in its entirety within a musical. The artist tries to get the audience to grow in empathy for the characters.
Today’s musical theatre is faced with challenges including politics. Hiring is often focused on talent and representation of communities not seen in the past. Classics are re-imagined with more diverse, representative actors. In the next full season of the Village Theatre (2023-2024), the productions will celebrate change and stretch empathy.
In the past couple of years, the theatre has been realistically optimistic. COVID safety has been paramount. The theatre did get a PIP loan to help survive and focus on crew safety and health. One of the challenges of COVID was people got out of the habit of attending productions. Subscriptions, which the theatre funding model relies on, went down several thousand in number (Pre-Covid 70% of sales to $33% of sales.) A large percentage of single ticket buyers occurred but for budgeting purpose, it is not a sustainable model. As for original musical, that is an investment in the future for most theatre groups with the goal of a partnership with Broadway. That model doesn’t work well for the Village Theatre.
President Tammy recognized the presenters with a gift in their names. Tammy also welcomed our guests and thanked the members for their bell-ringers and happy bucks.
Submitted by respectfully,
Kevin Nichols
Photos submitted by,
Walt Greenwood