Welcome!

Welcome, fellow Center Stagers! I decided that because we have so many folks asking questions about what is happening down at CS that I would just set up a blog to keep you all informed.

As many of you already know, Center Stage has decided to merge with Montana Actors' Theatre, a very successful regional theatre based out of Havre and Missoula at the New Crystal Theater. They have generously offered to help us get out of our financial dilemma by assisting us with fundraising and creating an economy of scale, with one organization to take care of all the business aspects of the group. This will allow us to get back to what we do best - producing great shows!

With this in mind, at the November board meeting the membership elected three board members from Great Falls to the MAT board - Bruce Huff, Glen Weeks, and Phil Faccenda. Brian Court (me) was elected as Artistic Director, DeeAnna Briggs was elected as Business Manager, and Tianta Nelson as Marketing Director. We have since selected Drew Lovec as Tech Director and Wally Bossie as Building Manager.

With the merger, we have changed the way we do business. We are still a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, so donations will continue to be tax-deductible. Our board of directors will be in charge of providing what we need to get the job done, but day to day operations now fall to the AD and Business Manager. If you have any questions about money, talk to Dee. If you need anything else, get in touch with me!

Right now we are working on getting the building opened up again. To that end we are working on getting the roof patched and the utilities turned back on. We will be needing a LOT of help getting the rest of the building in shape for our first show, scheduled for the end of January 2010!

We have already had one fundraiser, with Reggie Watts and Matt Keller providing entertainment at the BECC on November 24th, and have several more in the works. We will be out in front of our building on the Christmas Stroll letting people know that we are back, Justin Fatz is bringing his one-man play Fully Committed to Great Falls for us in December, and we will be performing for an office party right before Christmas, to mention a few more fundraisers. This will all culminate in a "Death by Dessert" fundraising party at the Heritage Inn on January 23rd, one week before we open our first show!

Watch this space to stay updated!