Gail Brown - Lets Put on a Show: A Guide to Fun and Fundraising for Your Community Organization

2006 Gail Brown and Colleen Schuerlein

All rights reserved. Copyright under Berne Copyright Convention, Universal Copyright Convention, and Pan-American Copyright Convention. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher.

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Published by Allworth Press
An imprint of Allworth Communications, Inc.
10 East 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010

Cover design by Derek Bacchus
Interior design by Joan OConnor
Typography by Integra Software Services
Interior images courtesy of Cordelia Ransom

ISBN: 1-58115-442-9

ISBN: 9781581158434

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Brown, Gail, 1939

Lets put on a show: a guide to fun and fundraising for your community/Gail Brown and Colleen Schuerlein.

p. cm.

Includes index.

1. Amateur theaterProduction and direction. 2. Fund raising. I. Schuerlein, Colleen. II. Title.

PN3156.B76 2006

792.02'220232dc22

2006006925

Printed in Canada

This book is lovingly dedicated

to the Orcas Island cast and crew who

shared their time, talent, and energy

by participating in the variety shows

we had the honor of co-producing.

You are Love Made Visible.

Contents

Acknowledgments

A heartfelt thank you to the following people, who are truly an inspiration in our lives and without whom this book would not have been possible.

Thank you to the staff at Allworth Press and special gratitude to our editor, Nicole Potter-Talling, whose encouragement, support, and creative suggestions took our ideas to a whole new level.

To all the creative people who contributed their Stories from the Stage, sharing theater experiences, wisdom, and insights. We applaud you.

A special thank you to Thelma McTavish, Abby Rueb, Frances Harvey, Marguerite Olson, Tim Ransom, Velma Doty, and Phyllis Carney for their contributions to the history of entertainment, fun, and fundraising on Orcas Island through the years.

To our dear friends, Cristy Bethel, Rick Brandeburg, Nancy Craddock, Dean Forseth, Karen Hanzlik, Jackie Henry, Rhoda Klune, Dorothy Manin, Claudia Moorad, Jackie Norris, Barbara Ramsey, Michael and Kristen Schuerlein, Charlotte Steinhorst, David and Mary Stockton, Wendy Williams, Mike Schifsky, Susan Wiley, and Paula Wirth for their continued belief and support in our life and our project.

We would like to give special thanks as well to our Orcas friends, Duff and Marilyn Andrews and George and Marcia Spees. Thanks for the memories.

To The GGs, Colleens Partners in Believing: Debbie Tallman, Rev. Faith Moran, and Rev. Mary Manin Morrissey. Thank you for sharing the journey with me. Your friendship is a blessing in my life.

To our wonderful children, Shannon Hudson, Michele Shane, and Nick Brown. We admire you for living your lifes passion as teachers. Thank you for gracing us with your continued love and support. You, your spousesJohn, Steve, and Carynas well as your childrenIan, Erik, Peyton, Ryan, Sylvie, and Mackbless our lives with love that is beyond words.

To Colleens brother, Bob Hasbrook, I am deeply grateful for your presence in my life.

To Colleens mom, Lucile Hasbrook, whose guidance and love continue to be a bright light in both our lives.

Our deepest appreciation to Doug Brown who assisted us in gathering stories from people across the nation, and his invaluable advice and editing support. Thank you, Doug, for helping us bring this book to life.

Gail Brown and Colleen Schuerlein

Preface

F undraising is more important today than ever before. With government and public funding and grants being cut, many organizations, schools, churches, and community theater groups are left on their own to support their programs. We wrote this book to share our experiences in producing and directing variety shows on Orcas Island, a remote island in Washington State, to help raise money for a Community Center for the Arts.

Orcas has a rich history of people who love drama, music, and art. In the forties and fifties, variety shows were presented at the Grange Hall to raise money for the March of Dimes and other worthy causes. These fun-loving people joined together to entertain friends and neighbors while doing something to help others. June Schulberg, a wonderful pianist, along with Abby Rueb, Thelma McTavish, Sadie Gow, and other talented people, staged variety and scripted musicals during the sixties, seventies, and eighties to raise money for various causes, one of the most memorable being a production of The Fantasticks. (Many of the participants later joined us when we did our Orcas Tonight presentations.) During this same period of time, Earl Eastman and The Magic Medicine Show was a big attraction after the annual Fourth of July parade and at the Library Fair. Earl and his partner performed acrobatic acts and sold bottles of Eastmans Magic Elixir from their rustic wagon.

The Orcas Players produced their first of many plays in 1963. They opened with Arsenic and Old Lace and made enough money to present a scholarship to a graduating senior interested in the performing arts. This group spawned the idea of building a theater for local productions. Years later, a beloved high school English teacher took it to the next level and called a meeting for anyone interested in pursuing this dream.

When the two of us said, Lets put on a show! we were not the first, and certainly not the last, to do so. When you live on an island, you learn to entertain yourselves. Now that the Orcas Center for the Arts is built, it is booked solid year round with plays, musicals, childrens programs, musical presentations, visiting symphonies, art displays, dances, banquets, theater classes, and visiting musicians and artists from the mainland.

Gail Brown and Colleen Schuerlein

Introduction

T his book is about what we did. We plan to pass on some of the things we did, and the lessons we learned, as well as stories from community and professional theaters around the country that have experienced similar situations, with the hope that we can teach, amuse, and inspire you.

In the seventies, our home, Orcas Island, was a small community of about 2000 people in the San Juan Islands of Washington State. Orcas was a tight little place, mostly old farm families with a group of newcomers from Seattle and hippies from California all trying to fit in. It was a diverse but close-knit group of people who depended on one another for friendship and acceptance. When anyone had trouble of any kind, the whole island came together to help.

Colleen, mother of two daughters, started a recycling center, managed an island resort, counseled teenagers with problems, worked at the local pharmacy, and volunteered at the school. She is now an ordained minister in Portland, Oregon who facilitates and participates in secular and interfaith projects.

Gail was the fourth grade teacher at the local school, who believed in theater as an educational tool. Some of her students went on to professional careers in theater, film, and television. All her students remembered the parts they played in the fourth grade play. Music, art, and drama were an integral part of her teaching strategies, and most effective when used to teach the basic skills of reading and writing. Colleen and Gail spent much of their time raising money for island projects.