PENNSBURY DRAMA PARENTS Annual Report,
2011-2012
This past year was a very
good year indeed for the Pennsbury High School theater program. PHS Theater produced the successful Almost, Maine, The Pearl, Magic Theater,
a Night of Three One-Acts and
the ever-popular Dessert Theater. PHS also participated in the PA State Thespian Conference and The Newtown Student Theatre Festival and members of the troupe will be well represented at the National Thespian Festival to be held in Nebraska the week of June 25-30, 2012.
PDP revised the By-Laws in order to better reflect the mission of the organization and the manner
in which it had begun to operate as well as to establish more generally accepted practices for doing business.
PDP re-applied for Tax-Exemption, as our status had been revoked due to
failure to submit annual reports.
PDP set six goals
for this year:
1. Maintain and improve all on-going programs and
projects
2. Build audience – Students, faculty, administration,
public in that order
3. Increase and enhance performance opportunities for students
4. Involve 100 % of parents
5. Create a Scholarship fund for Graduating Seniors
6. Improve the image of theater program at PHS as an integral
part of every student’s education.
1. PDP successfully completed all on-going
programs:
Sales and Refreshments:
PDP, under the leadership
of Kathy Davey and Colleen Gleason, sold soft drinks, candy, pretzels, coffee and flowers at each of the drama and musical
presentations and provided desserts for Dessert Theater. PDP operated a booth providing drinks and games at the
Harvest Day. The public were treated with respect and the proceeds helped fund PDP projects.
Travel and Logistics
PDP,
under the leadership of Vicki Miller and Nancy Hill, provided services to assist Mrs. Everett in collecting fees, taking care
of the paper work and overseeing travel to The PA State Thespian Conference in Lansdale, the Newtown Student Theater Festival
and The National Thespian Festival.
Scholarships
PDP provided assistance for
Vicki Miller and Greg Krum to attend the National Thespian Festival. Five seniors were given scholarship awards to recognize
their accomplishments as part of PHS theater program. To support this program, Nancy Hill conceived and oversaw the successful
raffle of a pearl necklace and pearl earrings.
The
Plant
PDP
continued its efforts to improve “The Cave.” Last year, PDP purchased curtains for The Cave. This year we made
a “gallery” out of the lobby. We created an attractive display for the Orange Auditorium lobby featuring and celebrating
current and past PHS Thespians. Mike Pedretti, Nancy Hill and Susan Light put many hours into the beautification
of the lobby. Though our efforts, Principal Lisa Becker had the lobby freshly painted and replaced several broken-down
seats with seats from the balcony.
2. Build Audience
A massive effort to promote the shows and the program paid off handsomely.
Mrs. Everett reported that Almost, Maine drew the largest crowd for a fall production in recent years. The
Pearl was well attended andDessert Theater played to an enthusiastic and large crowd.
3. Increase and enhance performance opportunities for students
PDP
provided appropriate support for the active and strong season produced by Mary Kay Everett.
4. Involve 100 % of parents
Only a handful of parents got involved. We need to have a better strategy for 2012-2013.
5. Create a Scholarship fund for Graduating Seniors
We initiated the idea to create The
830 Club with the goal to provide named scholarships of $830.00 each to be given to graduating seniors who are members
of Troupe 830 and who plan to pursue theater as an area of study. We received permission from the Superintendent to raise
funds for the scholarships, invented a name, and have engaged Robb Curtis Brown’s assistance to get the club up and
running. The goal for 2012-2013 will be to establish at least five such scholarships.
6. Improve the image of theater program at
PHS as an integral part of students’ education
Image Enhancement
PDP generated scores
of press listings and articles making the program more visible to our community. The District featured the drama program on
their home page several times. Several E-Flyers on the district website received numerous hits. We made a concerted effort,
with considerable success, to invite influential members of our community to performances. The district cable channel covered
PHS drama events several times. We also organized presentations before the District Board of Trustees that can be seen on
the district website. The PDP website was revamped and kept current. The Video Production class [Maggie Morlath,
producer] made [is making] a documentary covering Robb Curtis Brown’s residency. It is believed this will air on the
district cable channel and will be available to PDP to play at special occasions.
Orange
Award & Hall of Fame
PDP
established the Orange Award to honor PHS alumni working in professional theater. The first award
was presented to Robb Curtis Brown on May 5, 2012 and included his induction into the Pennsbury Drama Hall of Fame.
It is our intention to make this an annual award. The beautification of the lobby was part of this effort to promote the achievements
of PHS graduates currently working in professional and educational theater.
Professional Workshop
PDP, with financial support from the Pennsbury
Arts Foundation, brought Robb Curtis Brown to PHS to present workshops for the students. Brown engaged the students in warm-ups,
improvisations and scene work. He also discussed life in the theater and answered questions from the audience.
History and Archives
With significant input
from Susan Light, PDP produced a preliminary history of the PHS theater program, the Thespian Troupe and of PDP. See attachment.
This is an ongoing program and we hope to get information current by fall, 2012. See flyer “Pennsbury Players”
which is being distributed with this report and is to be considered a part of the report.
Respectfully Submitted,
Michael A. Pedretti, President
