Starlight Dinner Theatre's news and opportunities

[Jane Zussman]

Here’s a follow-up to the Grumpy Old Men Musical message from yesterday. (See you there opening night?)

Founder/Artistic Director Linda Granger explains below how Starlight Dinner Theatre carries on despite challenges — and how YOU can help.

EXPLANATION OF PRICE INCREASES:

The last thing I wanted to do was to raise prices because I realize most of our audience is older and on a fixed income, but after losing $1,000 on each for our two 
shows once returning to Waverly East (even after a very generous sponsorship from Dr. Dodds), we have no choice if we want to continue operating.  Before Covid, 
we averaged 145 people per performance.  Since returning to Waverly East for Sherlock Holmes and Over the River, we averaged 88 per performance.  
Raised expenses and less income means we may not survive after our October show.

- Our new caterer is $7 more per plate compared to International Catering.  International Catering no longer caters evening events. We realize food prices have 
gone up significantly in the last few years.

- Licensing company is now forcing us to purchase scripts for every cast member, director and stage manager at $11 a script, an expense we never had before

- Our biggest increase has been that Waverly Schools used to let us rehearse at the school for free.  They now want us to pay $35 an hour to rehearse at the school.  
Before Covid, we were able to rehearse at the school at no charge until 10 days before opening when we moved all of our sets, furniture, props and costumes in.  

For 6 weeks before moving our show onto the stage, we rehearsed for 12 hours a week for 6 weeks.  Now with the new imposed fee, that would cost us an 
additional $2,520.  This is on top of tech week and performances which totals $3,025. So the school alone would be $5,545.

We were forced to find less expensive rehearsal space, but that still is money taken out of our budget that was never an expense before.  We tried talking to the school 
Superintendent to no avail. It saddens me that we are one of the few activities our audience, especially our seniors, can attend and we aren't being given any support.
  

HOW YOU CAN HELP: 

REHEARSAL SPACE:  We are currently looking for a space to rehearse, preferably at no cost or a minimal fee.  An organization that supports and appreciates the unique experience we provide to our audience, especially our seniors and the people of Delta Township, would be great.  We are reliable and respectful of the facilities we use.

BECOME A DONOR:  We had many donors before we had to shut down for Covid and school remodeling.  Donors have dwindled down to a few people since then.  
Donations can also be made in memory of a loved one.  Sponsors/Donors will be listed in our program for two years since we are now doing only a few shows a year we
decided it best to list them for two years.
Donation categories:
$1-$99 - SHOOTING STAR
$100 - $249 - SHINING STAR
$250 - $499 - SUPER STAR
$500 - $999 - MEGA STAR
$1,000 - $1,499 - NOVA
$1,500+ - SUPER NOVA
If you would like your donation to be in memory of a loved one, please state "I would like my gift to be in memory of _____________________”
Donation checks can be sent to Starlight Theatre, c/o Linda Granger, 225 Leland Place, Lansing MI 48917

VOLUNTEER OR RECRUIT VOLUNTEERS
We can always use helpers either with the show or the dining room.  Some times all we need is someone backstage helping with costume changes, 
ironing, moving set pieces during blackouts.  This would require being at rehearsals the week before the show opens and all performances.

The dining room and box office needs volunteers for every performance.  Volunteers can come in a help for just one or more shows. 
That volunteer can see the show for free.  They could have a meal at our cost.  We have tried to find a group of students to help in the dining room to no avail.
They would be asked to help set up the tables, serve the food and clear tables before the show starts, (2 hours of volunteer work 5:30 - 7:30). We pay students
$20 for their help. If you know of any youth group, girl scouts, church group, sports team, National Honor Society, etc. that would be interested, please
have them contact me.  Reliability is a necessity. We also need friendly faces to work our box office for all of the performances.  These volunteers can
also see the show for free and only requires 2 hours of work before the show.

The future:  I am working on finding a fun, light hearted show for October.  I realize many of our audience members head south by November and we 
have found that September does not sell, people are still vacationing and getting back into the routine of returning to school, so October is our best choice.  
Front runner right now is the light-hearted mystery/farce  "The Butler Did It". Stay Tuned.

I hope to hear from you and see you at Grumpy Old Men - the Musical.  We have a
very talented directing staff and cast.  I know it will be a real crowd-pleaser.  https://www.starlightdinnertheatre.com 

Phone Linda Granger, Artistic Director 517-243 6040 for reservations.

 

Jane Zussman

G.L.U.T. List

(Greater Lansing Ubiquitous Theatre)

cell 517-930-0932

JSZu...@gmail.com

http://www.greaterlansingtheatre.net 

To review past emails as they were sent, click “About the G.L.U.T.” and choose “email list” from the drop-down menu — also check out the all-theatres calendar.

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