“Murder on the Orient Express” Cast List

We are so excited to have cast our next show, Murder on the Orient Express! We had an amazing turnout for both nights of auditions. Make sure to keep checking back about tickets and other information.

From the Directors:

Thank you all for coming to auditions for “Murder on the Orient Express”. We had so many great auditions ,that it made casting difficult.

The script only calls for 11 main characters and with over 30 people auditioning and the limitations even further with ages and specifics on characters it means that often we have to make choices that mean, very talented people are not cast in speaking roles.

  • Tyler Schone – Michell
  • Chyann Cody – Mrs. Hubbard
  • Owen Lightenberg – Ratchet
  • Timothy Thompson- Macqueen
  • Taffy Anderson – Greta
  • Sharon Thompson – Princess
  • Katharina Steeve’s – Countess
  • Nathan Thompson – Poirot
  • Mitchell Clark – Bouc
  • Stephanie Bussiere – Mary
  • Austin Huether – Arbuthnot
    Carston Sechser – Head Waiter

April 23, 2024 Minutes

7:00 PM
Grap’s Wine Room

Call To Order:

Nathan S

Roll Call:

Nathan S, Nathan T, Heather, Kelsey, Al, Mike, Sharon

Approval of previous minutes:

Motion to approve Mike, Second Kelsey, unanimous passage

Executive Director Report:

Grants

After some time and an issue with addresses, we received the $1,000 grant from BHE into our bank account. We are currently waiting to hear back from MidCo, Walmart, SD Arts Council, Wharf Fund, SD Community Foundation, and Kubota on grants (Total of 24,000 in grant money requested). Hopefully we should start hearing back on some in the next month or two. In June I can submit to First Interstate Bank. I will also look for some more grants as we start hearing back on the others.

Lights and Sound

There have been a lot of sound requests over the last month from the Rec Center and other activities. I have made sure to go to them and handle them, so far things have been going very well and haven’t had any major issues. We also lent out the sound system for the FAB Variety show and will be lending out to the Chamber for River Fest in June. We did purchase another receiver and two wireless mics for the theater, upping the amount of mics we have to 12. I will also be hosting a training session tonight at the Rec Center for staff on how to run things. I would like to set something up for when I get back with a larger group of BFACT people on how to run everything as well. There will be a Concert Series in the theater on May 9 and I would like to see if someone else can cover that for me, I can do a quick training with anyone who is interested. 

Ancillary Materials

I created and have received a new stand-up banner to go with the one we already have plus a pack of rack cards. I will create maybe one more small banner to go on the ticket taker table, I want to speak with Kelsey and what she thinks should go on there.

Officer Reports: 

  • President
    • Met with fundraising and PR committees to prepare duties and expectations
  • Vice President
    • Nothing to report
  • Secretary
    • Nothing to report 
  • Treasurer
    • Current bank balance $14,557.85. Updated current address with IRS
  • Creative Committee
    • Murder on the Orient Express
      • We have start promoting auditions for this show and I am planning on having a meeting with the director and all her assistants coming up so we can get on the same page and create a full budget for the show. I think we have the makings of a great and popular show with this one. There has already been a lot of interest in auditions which is great! I spoke with the 1880 Train and they are going to allow us to take for the poster and social media photos on the train for the show which will be awesome! They are also going to donate a pack of train tickets we can raffle off at the show. We will also provide them with a pack of our tickets they can give away. We are talking about doing more for cross-promotions but that is all in the early stage.
    • GOAT
      • I had a meeting with all of the directors for GOAT last week and it was very productive. Sturgis is in for sure so the dates are 100% set. Oct 10 will be in Belle, Oct 11 in Lead, Oct 12 in Sturgis and Oct 13 in Spearfish. We all agreed to raise the ticket price this year to our default price of $15, $10, and $5. Everyone is excited again for this show and I think it will be another success. We have decided to use a script written by Stephanie Bussiere for the show this year. I found it during the Writers Workshop. The show will be directed by Allie Juso Verry.
    • Next Season
      • I am hoping to get a meeting set up for either late this month or early next month to start finalizing plans for our 2025 Season
  • Public Relations
    • Nathan S and Mike met. Contacting the following members to assist with committee: Derek, Angela, Wes, Whitney, and The Tinsleys. Discussed duties and expectations of the committee. 
  • Volunteer Committee
    • Sharon went through all the volunteer forms and updated addresses we have in spreadsheets. Newsletter officially transitioned to PR committee. Proposes hyperlink to google form on newsletter to gather volunteer information
  • Fundraising Committee
    • Nathan S, Derek, and Al met. Next silent auction proposed for fall. Quilt raffle and train ticket raffle coming. 1880 train willing to work with us and raffle Murder on the Orient Express tickets. Working on getting a booth at downtown Thursday nights
  • 15 Year Committee
    • Brainstormed what we want to be to the community and how to increase visibility. Plan to have everything set by September. 

Old Business:

  1. Scholarship winner: Winner tba at scholarship night
  2. Strategic planning committee- tabled

New Business:

  1. Guest speaker: BH Community Foundation: Eric Zimmer, Director. Cathleen Fitzgerald-Ellis: Northern Hills contact
    • This non profit organization exists to support other non profit organizations. Focused on grant giving, bring donors and organizations they are interested in together, and managing endowments.
    • Currently working on special initiatives with affordable housing and food insecurity
    • Planning a community engagement event to determine upcoming focus on youth mental health, supporting families, arts, and/or conservation.
    • Suggested grants to apply for in the upcoming year: Community action grant and Jim Hess memorial grant. 

Next meeting:

May 21st, 2024 at 7 PM at Grap’s

Adjournment:

Motion to adjourn: Nathan T, Second: Mike. Unanimous passage.

Respectfully submitted by Secretary Heather Pittman

April 23, 2024 Agenda

7:00 PM 
Grap’s Wine Room

Call To Order: 

Roll Call:  

Approval of previous minutes:

Executive Director Report:

Officer Reports: 

  • President
  • Vice President
  • Secretary
  • Treasurer
  • Creative Committee
  • Public Relations
  • Volunteer Committee 
  • Fundraising Committee 

Old Business:

  1. Scholarship winner?
  2. Strategic planning committee 

New Business:

  1. Guest speaker 

Next meeting:

Adjournment:

March 26, 2024 Minutes

7:00 PM
Grap’s Wine Room

Call To Order:

Nathan S

Roll Call:

Nathan S, Nathan T, Kelsey, Heather (via call), Sharon, Mike, AL, Derek 

Approval of previous minutes:

Motion to approve: Sharon, 2nd: Nathan T, unanimous passage

Executive Director Report:

Sponsorships

Business sponsorships are pretty much finished up for 2024, but if anything comes in we will still accept it. We ended up better than last year and my prediction of $8,000. We ended up with $9,250 for the season. We only had two sponsors not return from last season, one was Black Hills Diner that is no longer in business. We ended up with several new sponsors which is great. We are still waiting on $1,000 checks from Farmhouse and BHFCU and $500 from Monument. I will keep following up to get those in. We ended the season with 3 Assistant Director ($1,000) Sponsors, 9 Actor ($500) Sponsors, and 7 Patron ($250) Sponsors. We also have four in-kind sponsors.

Grants

I am currently working on getting three more grants done in the next month or so. That would be for Wells Fargo, First Interstate Bank and Walmart. We have currently completed and submitted grant applications to SD Arts Council, Wharf Fund and the SD Community Foundation. Each of these grants were for $5,000. Once these three new grants are finished I will be on the look out for other grants that we can apply to for this year and next. We won’t hear about any grants for a couple of months. Black Hills Energy approved us for $1000 grant, not yet received.

BH Area Community Foundation

I met with Eric Zimmer, Director of Philanthropy from Black Hills Area Community Foundation. I am bringing their packet of information with me for the board to look at. The organization will keep us in mind as they receive funds that can be dispersed. They also have grant applications we might be able to apply to. Beyond that, they help nonprofits with many different logistical issues. Eric said he would come talk with the board if we want, might be worth seeing if he can come to the next board meeting.

Rec Center Wellness Fair

The Rec Center Wellness Fair will be coming up on April 13 starting at 8am. I will set up our table the night before at 5pm. We will have our banner and poster, plus other ancillary items. I will not be able to attend the actual event like I had hoped, there is a birthing class I will be at all day in Rapid. I will need a person or two to man the table, it should only be for a few hours.

Break a Leg

The show went fantastic! We had a great turnout, 85 tickets sold on Friday with 4 comps, and 112 on Saturday with 5 comps. In total we made $2,225 in ticket sales. Additionally we made $262.88 in bake sale money for both nights. The total show expenses came in at $1,283.46. As long as we get our deposit back, I won’t know for another couple of weeks if we will be, we will only have spent $1,033.46. So if we get our deposit back, we will make $1,191.54 in ticket sales on the show. Beyond the great turnout, the shows themselves went really great. I want to say thank you to the directors, Nathan, Sharon and Stephanie for directing a really fantastic evening of theater. We had three new actors for this show and some people who are fairly new to BFACT so that was great. All in all, it was a great way to start the season.

Sound

We had an issue with one of the back speakers. The Rec is looking to see if it can be repaired and in the meantime we are using one of our speakers in place of it. I am also waiting on quotes so I can send them on to the Rec about new speakers in the theater itself.

Ancillary Materials and Merch

We purchased a standup banner and it came in time to use for Break a Leg, and I think it turned out great! I will be working on another standup banner about volunteering and will hopefully have that in time for the next show. We will also be ordering some rack cards that can be used at various events throughout the year. I will also be working on some new merch and hopefully will have some ready for the summer.

Paternity Leave

Anna is due on May 22 and my plan is to take off around 6 weeks of paternity leave. I will still be somewhat available but I really want to limit my activity during that time. I will handle the marketing for Murder on the Orient Express though. I will ask various board members to help with different things while I am out.

Officer Reports: 

  • President
    • Met with Sharon on volunteer committee. 
  • Vice President
    • Nothing to report
  • Secretary
    • Nothing to report 
  • Treasurer
    • Bank balance $14,499.74
  • Creative Committee
    • Murder on the Orient Express
      • Everything is read to go for our next show. We have our schedule approved and auditions will be on May 6 and 7 at 6:30 – 8:30pm in the Dakota Room. The director will leave open May 8 for callbacks and for anyone who can’t audition on the other days. I am working with her to get a budget and what she will need for help, tech director, costumer, etc. I will be talking with Mike about some fun promotional ideas for the show as well as Allan about a possible fundraiser we can do in conjunction with the show.
    • Workshops
      • With the success of the Writers Workshop we are planning an advanced Writers Workshop and Showcase this coming fall. I am also working with Allie about an Actor’s Workshop possibly this Summer and we will also have a Directors Bootcamp either by the end of 2024 or the start of 2025.
    • Improv
      • In discussion with the Creative Committee we have decided to push Improv back to 2025. Allie and Anna will be working to spearhead this program and we will have more information in the coming months.
    • Next Season Plans
      • We have started planning for 2025 but nothing is set in stone as of yet. If the Board has any recommendations or thoughts, please let me know. We are hoping to do Is He Dead? As part of the fifteen year anniversary. We are also looking at GOAT and possibly a smaller scale musical. We have also had talks about possibly an short one-act festival featuring local authors that could be spun off in 2026 to a more regional level event.
  • Public Relations
    • Not yet formed
  • Volunteer Committee
    • Met last Friday. Derek, Nathan S, and Sharon present. Proposed duty:  staffing shows. Working on standardized expectations for volunteers. Working on continuing to gather data on volunteers and working on exit interviews for directors. Considering moving newsletters to PR Committee. Working on promoting opportunities outside of acting and keeping volunteers involved between shows. Hoping to create sorted lists based on volunteer interests. 
  • Grant & Fundraising Committee
    • Discusses needs with Derek, Nathan T, and Angela. Working on getting booth for hometown Thursday nights. 

Old Business:

  1. FAB request – Seraphim theatrics is handling
  2. Clean up of Drive- Nathan S and Derek Handling

New Business:

  1. Appointment of committee chairs: Nathan S appoints Sharon as chair of volunteer committee, AL as chair of fundraising, Mike as chair of PR, and Anna as chair of special 15 year anniversary committee.
  2. Scholarship apps: Kelsey, Heather, Mike, and Al will judge via ranked choice voting. Applications will be stripped of identifying info by Derek. 

Next meeting:

April 23rd @ 7PM, Graps wine room

Adjournment:

Motion to adjourn: Mike, 2nd Kelsey. Unanimous passage. 

Submitted by Secretary Heather Pittman

March 26, 2024 Agenda

7:00 PM 
Grap’s Wine Room

Call To Order: 

Roll Call:  

Approval of previous minutes:

Executive Director Report:

Officer Reports: 

  • President
  • Vice President
  • Secretary
  • Treasurer
  • Creative Committee
  • Public Relations
  • Membership Committee
  • Grant & Fundraising Committee

Old Business:

  1. FAB request
  2. Clean up of Drive

New Business:

  1. Appointment of committee chairs

Next meeting:

Adjournment:

February 22, 2024 Minutes

6:30 PM
Graps Wine Room

Call To Order:

VP Nathan Thompson

Roll Call:

Derek, Nathan T, Kelsey, Heather, AL, Mike, Sharon attended for first 15 minutes, left, and returned for last hour.

Approval of previous minutes:

Motion Al, Second Kelsey, Unanimous passage

Executive Director Report:

Sponsorship

Business sponsorships are winding down for the season. We have almost all of our sponsors back for the year with a couple of new ones. I am still waiting on a few checks to come in from a few people who have promised to sponsor. To date we are looking at $5,500.

The Farmhouse has said they will sponsor again, just haven’t got the final number yet, should at least be $1,000. I am hoping Jackson Dental will return as well, in the past they have been $1,000. I am also hoping to make a final push over the next couple of weeks before the One-Acts to get a couple of more in. My hope is to be at above $8,000 for the year.

Grants

We have received another $1,000 grant from BHE and are just waiting for the money to hit our account. This will be the third year we have received money from BHE. I am completing a program grant for the SD Arts Council and will send that either tomorrow or Monday, just waiting on a letter of support from the school before sending. We are requesting $5,000 for this grant. I have been told they can choose to do less than what we request. Overall I have a good feeling about this grant. It was pretty involved and a huge thank you to Heather for all of her help on it.

Tomorrow I will also be completing a grant request for the SD Community Foundation. I don’t have an amount yet on what we will be requesting, depending on their levels. This was a grant we had to apply to be able to apply to so I am hoping that is a good sign for receiving some funds. I will also be getting a grant ready tomorrow for Wharf Fund, the foundation out of the mine Coer Wharf.

Beyond that I will be applying for a Walmart grant in the coming weeks, we have received and been turned down before through them, so not sure on our odds there. I will also be looking into a Wells Fargo Foundation Grant. In March we can apply for a grant through First Interstate Bank. There are several others out there as well that I will work on in the coming months. My hope is to be around $9,000 in grants this season.

Rec Center Quoting

I am working with Renee who is the interim Rec Center Director on some quotes for some theater updates. This includes a new four wireless mic system, two of the mics have gone out. We are also looking at getting a new bluetooth projector for the theater and possibly to have it mounted so it no longer has to be out in the theater. Nate also started the process of getting a quote on new speakers. The plan wasn’t what I had in mind originally but after looking at it, I think it might work well. The solution would be a pair of curved speakers for the front that are designed for an auditorium like ours to fill the space. If that works, the back speakers could be moved backstage as monitors instead.

I need to get three quotes for the city on each item, that is a city requirement. I have spoken with Keynan at Stereos ‘N Stuff in Belle already and he is preparing quotes. I will also speak with Haggertys and Perfect Wave Productions out of Rapid City. I don’t think anything is on the fast track, but possibly some could be done this year.

Rec Center Improvements

I spoke with Renee about some small auditorium projects I would love to have done this year. She is going to talk with the city and let me know. The hope is to move the cable holder from the front of the stage to on top of it. This will hide cords better and be less noticeable to audiences. I also requested the power strip be swapped out with a black one, again to be less noticeable. If this project is done, the hope is to possibly refinish the wood on the front of the stage or paint it.

I also spoke with her about trying to get some lights on the steps out in the audience. Not sure what shape that project would end up but I wanted to let the city know about it.

Workshop

The Writers Workshop was at the end of January and beginning of February. We had 15 writers attend the workshop and about 15 – 20 people volunteer to read at the Showcase. A huge thank you to Kelsey for running the Showcase itself since I unfortunately became very ill during the Workshop and wasn’t able to stay for the whole Showcase. Also a big thank you to Allan for running the door of the Showcase. Overall I think the event went really well. I had Workshop participants fill out surveys at the end and all of the comments were overwhelmingly positive. Due to this, I am planning on holding an Advanced Writers Workshop and Showcase later in the year, all of the participants said they would be interested in that.

The Showcase was a big hit amongst the participants as well. We didn’t have many community members attend, but that wasn’t really the point of it. Everyone said they got a lot out of seeing actors read their scripts on stage and it gave them a lot of ideas on how to improve their scripts. Isabella Dietrich was a writer participant but she is also a leader of a student-led theater organization at BHSU. She brought over a handful of actors for the Showcase. I have spoken with her about finding other ways we can collaborate with her group.

This was also our first opportunity to work with Hunter Anderson. He is going to be taking photos of our events and for promotional materials this season in exchange for a sponsorship. The photos were great and I will be getting them online and on social media soon.

Black Hills Area Community Foundation

I was contacted by Eric Zimmer, Director of Philanthropy from Black Hills Area Community Foundation, about meeting up to talk about BFACT. I will meet with him on Monday, he was wondering about everything we do. I am excited to talk with him and see if there are any opportunities there.

Budget

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15zMriIJ2qlI1G3UjWepGqYo9w0gupMyrSES4hcDXcRg/edit?usp=sharing

I have worked up a basic Budget for the 2024 Season. We have never had an official budget like this in the past so it is a bit of a learning curve for me. I am hoping that this should cover everything we need to do. It is an increase from $26,918.80 from last year. That is covered by the ED raise as well as more programming for the year. I will go over the budget and reasonings behind it with the BOD.

Volunteer Workshop

Now that we are members of the American Association of Community Theatre, we have access to free virtual workshops. I attended one this past Wednesday, AACT Roundtable: Recruiting, Retaining, and Recognizing Your Volunteers. It was really great and worthwhile. I took notes and came up with some ideas when it comes to volunteer outreach. I also found some information on a possible free volunteer tracking solution we can use. My notes available upon request.

Ancillary Materials

I am still hoping to create some ancillary materials for this season and beyond. This project has taken a bit of a backseat recently with getting the One-Acts going as well as all of the sponsorship and grant work. I am hoping to get back to it and get some things in before the One-Acts in March.

Teen Court

I was contacted by Christine Allen, she used to work at the Homestake Opera House and is doing some contract work still, about her involvement with Lawrence County Teen Court. We are on her list as an organization students can get in their community service hours with. I have given her our list of shows and she might be able to provide some kids to help with our performances. We will see how the One-Acts in March go. If this works well I will reach out to the Butte County Teen Court and see if we can get on their list as well.

Wellness Fair

I have signed up for space at the Belle Fourche Rec Center Wellness Fair. The cost was $40 and has been paid. Angela has attended this event the last few years. The event is on April 13, starting at 8am. We can setup the night before at 5pm. We will need a volunteer or two to help man our table and setup. My hope is that I will be able to attend as well.

Concert Series

There are Concert Series events coming up on March 22 and May 9. I should be able to do the March event but will probably need someone to run the one in May. I will talk with the new volunteer committee about lights/sound people for events and get a list of possible people. I ran lights and sound for a Concert Series event on January 29 and it went very well and we got some nice compliments on how it sounded.

Officer Reports: 

  • President
    • Absent
  • Vice President
    • Nothing to report
  • Secretary
    • Nothing to report
  • Treasurer
    • Current balance $10,938.01. Donation received from Walmart spark of $5. Filed 1099 for Derek and filed governor’s report. 
  • Creative Committee
    • Meeting
      • We will be having a committee meeting on March 1 to talk about everything coming up in the 2024 Season.
    • Break a Leg
      • Auditions went great and the casts have begun practices for Break a Leg: A Night of One-Acts. I worked with Hunter on getting photos for the poster and that will be done this coming week. Everything is proceeding well with the show and the production date will be coming up very soon. We will need volunteers for ticket taking, bake sale, and ushering. We will also need to set up and tear down chairs at Community Hall for this production. If anyone on the Board is interested in helping, please let me know. I am also hoping to work with the new volunteer committee to help track down volunteers as well for this. We ended up having to pivot with this show, originally the one-acts were going to be all original by Nathan and myself, but we ended up having to make a change. Two of the scripts are written by me and one was purchased.
      • I have a budget created for this event:
        • Licensing: 180
        • Purchased Scripts: 53.70
        • Community Hall Rental: 400
        • Scripts Shipping: 11.60
        • Printing: 50
        • Advertising: 50
        • Costumes, Set, Props: 300
        • Total: 745.30
      • We have already purchased the scripts and paid licensing for Nobody Sleeps. We have also paid the Community Hall rental as well. We had to pay a $250 deposit, but we should get that back after the show.
      • Motion to app budget: Nathan T, Second Mike, unanimous passage
    • Murder on the Orient Express
      • I have been working closely with our director for Murder on the Orient Express, Melita Quinonez. She is very excited and has a lot of great ideas for the show. I know she will do amazing. We are in the process of finalizing audition dates as well as the full schedule and should have that approved by next week. We have already paid for licensing and scripts for this show and I should have a finalized budget by our next meeting that includes everything else.
    • Workshops
      • The Writers Workshop went so well we are hoping to have a few more this season. The hope is to have an Advanced Writers Workshop and Showcase as well as a Directors Bootcamp and possibly an actors workshop as well. Hopefully I will have concrete plans in the next month or two for these events.
    • Improv
      • Improv has hit a bit of a snag. We were hoping Geno would be able to lead this program, but unfortunately he will not be able to. My hope is to still move forward with this program this year, but maybe not until much later in the year. We need to find a new person to lead it. We will be talking about this at the next Creative Committee meeting.
  • Public Relations
    • Attended arts council photo contest on behalf of the theater
  • Membership Committee
    • Transitioning to volunteer committee. Currently working on newsletter. Meeting with derek and working on forming committee. Working on collecting data from one act participants. 
  • Grant & Fundraising Committee
    • Not currently in use

Old Business:

  1. Chamber silent auction donation needed by 3/18: agreed to donate tickets for Murder on the Orient Express
  2. Cleanup of Drive: tabled, to be discussed with Nathan S

New Business:

  1. Determine Committee chairs for members at large: tabled, suggested makeup
    • Sharon : Volunteer committee
    • Al: fundraising committee
    • Mike: PR committee
    • Official appointments must be made by President
  2. Discuss strategic plan committee: tabled, something to work on later this year
  3. Discuss long and short term goals: tabled, this is part of the above item.
  4. FAB wanted to do a murder mystery dinner theater for April/May, do we have suggestions? Can we do it? To discuss at next meeting.

Next Meeting:

3/26/24 Graps wine room, 7:00 PM

Adjournment:

Motion: Mike, Second: Kelsey, unanimous passage.

Submitted by Secretary Heather Pittman

February 22, 2024 Agenda

6:30 PM
Graps Wine Room

Call To Order: 

Roll Call:  

Approval of previous minutes:

Executive Director Report:

Officer Reports: 

  • President
  • Vice President
  • Secretary
  • Treasurer
  • Creative Committee
  • Public Relations
  • Membership Committee
  • Grant & Fundraising Committee

Old Business:

  1. Chamber silent auction donation needed by 3/18
  2. Clean up of Drive

New Business:

  1. Determine Committee chairs for members at large
  2. Discuss strategic plan committee
  3. Discuss long and short term goals 

Next meeting:

Adjournment:

Annual Meeting January 20, 2024 Minutes

Venue 519
2:00 pm

Press-Quality Annual Report Download

Web-Quality Annual Report Download

Call To Order:

President Nathan S

Roll Call: 

Nathan S, Nathan T, Kelsey, Heather, Angela, Allie, Derek. Sharon absent

Approval of previous minutes:

Motioned Nathan T, Second Angela, Unanimous passage 

Executive Director Report:

Summarized presentation of annual reported

Discussion of season and auditions

Discussion of writers workshop

Discussion of volunteer forms and sponsorships

Discussion of merch store

Officer Reports: 

  • President
    • Presentation of annual report
  • Vice President
    • Presentation of annual report
  • Secretary
    • Presentation of annual report
  • Treasurer
    • Presentation of annual report
  • Creative Committee
    • Discussion of upcoming committee plans and call for volunteers
  • Public Relations
    • Presentation of annual report
    • Discussion of relationship building and keeping a community presence 
  • Membership Committee
    • Absent, presentation of annual report by ED Derek
  • Grant & Fundraising Committee
    • Presentation of annual report

Old Business:

  1. NA

New Business:

  1. Board Elections conducted by ED Derek
    1. VP nominee: Nathan T, uncontested
    2. Treasurer nominee: Kelsey, uncontested
    3. 2 year term member at large nominee: Allan Schreier, uncontested
    4. 1 year term member at large nominee: Mike Meemken, uncontested
      1. Allie announced she was stepping down from her term, Mike will complete term
  2. Bill from chamber of commerce to continue membership for 2024: $100
    1. Motion to app payment: Mike, Second: Nathan T, unanimous passage
  1. Chamber of commerce requesting donations for silent auction, response needed by March 18, auction to be held 3/29/2024
    1. tabled
  1. Open forum for membership: *crickets* 

Next meeting:

February 22nd 6:30 PM Graps Wine Room

Adjournment:

Motion to adjourn: Al, Second Mike, unanimous passage.

Submitted by Secretary Heather Pittman.

Break a Leg: A Night of One-Acts Auditions Announced

Break a Leg: A Night of One-Acts Auditions Announced

Come audition for BFACT’s next show, Break a Leg: A Night of One-Acts! We will be performing a night of three one-acts. Auditions will be held on February 6 and 7 at 6:30pm in the Rec Center Auditorium. You don’t need to bring anything for auditions, just yourself. Due to the nature of this show, only those 16 and above will be considered for acting roles. We will do cold readings from the scripts. If you have any questions, or are unable to make the audition date but still want to audition, feel free to message [email protected] or call 605.645.3255. The show itself is March 15 and 16.

TECH CREW

If you are interested in being involved with the show on the technical side please come to auditions as well. This includes: running lights & sound; set building; costuming; props; backstage work. You do not need to have any experience to get involved.

Click here for more information

Tyler Schone

Tyler Schone

What do you do in your day-to-day life?

I work full time at a thrift store. I see it as a way to give back to the community. I am a voracious reader, cinema fantic, and play a variety of video games. I love storytelling. 

How long have you been involved in Community Theater, how long at BFACT?

I have been doing theater regularly since 2015 when I was in college. I first started at BFACT in 2021 from the monologue competition.

Tyler Schone as Dan in "Couch Potato"
Tyler as Dan in Couch Potato struggling with moving into an apartment with an unexpected tenant

What has been your favorite role to play?

My favorite role would have to be Mortimer in Arsenic and Old Lace. It is always great to have an opportunity to work my comedy chops. 

What keeps you coming back to BFACT?

I enjoy the pleasant atmosphere. All the BFACT regulars are a joy to work with. I always feel comfortable with my cast mates, director, and crew. 

What is your favorite BFACT memory?

I think it would have to be when I was playing Mr. Collins in Pride & Prejudice and I just kept trying new things with each rehearsal. Some of it worked and some of it didn’t but it was fun. I got to experiment on stage and I love having the chance to do so.

Tyler Schone as Lance Schroeder in "House on Haunted Hill"
Tyler as the devious Lance Schroder in House on Haunted Hill

What is your favorite part of BFACT?

For me, it’s whenever I can make everyone I work with laugh. I love having fun at BFACT. I feel like if we’re not having fun than we’re doing it wrong. 

Why did you join BFACT?

I joined because I was looking at different community theaters in the area. The monologue competition seemed like a nice, easy way to get involved. From there, I was impressed by the easy going yet professional manner of the group and I stayed on for more projects.

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