Happy Halloween!!!

Well, at the time, it was a good plan...
I hope everyone had a great Halloween filled with pumkins and scary costumes and lots of candy. Unfortunately our Halloween Party fundraiser? ...yeah, not so much with the "happening" on that front. I'm not sure if it's fundraiser fatigue, or if people just lock in their Halloween plans well in advance and so weren't able to come to our l'il fundraiser, but, whatever the reason, the Halloween Costume party for 50 turned into a quiet dinner for 4... Don't get me wrong, fun was had, but I think I need to strategize anew about fundraising in general. I did feel like turning my eyes to the heavens with an: "I get it, Universe! Thanks!" But that seemed too melodramatic. Instead I just focused on a fun evening with friends, good food, lots of trick or treaters (meaning no more candy left over from the movie night), and the Yankees winning game 3 of the World Series. All in all it was a good night...if a low key one.

So, yeah, on the fundraiser front, I'm taking a break until 2010. I have put together a rough calendar for events all through next year and as soon as I lock down some details, I will definitely publish that calendar. Maybe if GTTP takes a little break from Evites and invitations, then when we come back in January, people will be more excited to hear from us after a period of silence...hopefully folks will approach us more with an, "ooohh, Going to Tahiti is back. Where have they been?" then with an, "Oi, another GTTP fundraiser!"

That being said, here are some things I've learned. No more Evites. Look, it's a great website, very convenient and fun, but I think we've all just gotten to a point where we get the Evite and even if we open the thing for details, we just don't respond. I mean, it's not like the planner can't see that you've viewed the Evite and yet, there's a lot of viewing but not responding. I think it's the same thing with Facebook events. I think, if I use either in the future it will be in addition to individual emails, or even, dare I say it, printed invitations!!! I know, that's just plain crazy talk.

I've also decided to switch tactics. Instead of planning fundraisers only a month or so in advance, I'm going with a well reasoned and well scheduled calendar of events. I think this will be better for GTTP, both for actual money being brought in and for budgetary planning reasons. I'm putting together a fundraising budget, how much we need, how many events we're planning, and what our targets are for attendance. That will hopefully allow us to have a more, well, targeted approach for all our events. Although we've had some planning in the past, it's definitely been more slapdash than what I'm aiming for in 2010.

And, the last thing I've learned this year about fundraising (heh, this sounds like one of those "What I Learned Last Summer" essays from elementary school), but I digress...a friend had a suggestion for me that I'm totally taking her up on. Are you ready? Here it is. Going To Tahiti Productions is no longer holding "fundraisers". That's right, you heard it here first. From here on out all we're doing is "Events". I know it seems like a silly change and maybe it's just semantics, but, gosh darnit, words have power and I think after so many Evites from me with the word "fundraiser" in the title, people just got tired of seeing it...not that those people have actually come to any of the events, but I've noticed that people still get very irritated about it: "why so many fundrasiers, Jess?"

So, I'm done with fundraisers. From here on out it's all just a series of "events that cost money." Genius, I tell you, frickin' GENIUS? :)

What if you threw a fundraiser and nobody came?

So we had a winetasting planned...and we were good to go next Saturday...and the place was affordable...and though it had a 20 person limit, I thought, "we can do this"...bring in some cash...really kick off the fall fundraising drive...yeah! I was psyched, psyched I tell you. I put together the Evite. I invited 128 people. I thought, "we can get 10 people to pay 60 bucks for a winetasting, no problem."

Well, actually...Big problem. I don't know if it's the economy or if it's the idea of a winetasting or maybe this is a time when people are travelling a lot? I don't know. I just know that there wasn't enough interest for folks to commit and it suddenly was not a financially viable fundraising idea so I had to cancel, :( which if you can't tell from the emoticon, makes me sad...

So, now what? Where does that leave us? Well, we're still aiming for an October fundraiser. Now we're focused on a Halloween Costume Party. Hopefully the price tag change from $60 to $10 will make a difference. I mean, come on, you go to a party and bring a bottle of wine or a 6 pack of decent beer and you're spending more then 10 bucks so hopefully people will be down for the fundraising aspect of it and we'll make some bank...even if it's just a little bank.

And, we're looking towards the next few months. I think November is out because it'll be so soon after the Halloween Party and then we're into Thanksgiving, but a Holiday Cookie Party in December? Well that might be some fun. Nothing too crazy-just picking a Saturday or Sunday afternoon and inviting people to come on by whenever they want during like a 4 hour period, roll out some cookies and bake them. Kids will be welcome. There will be wine for the grown ups and the brand new Kitched Aid I got for a wedding present can get some use...I figure people can pay $15-$20 and come away with a dozen cookies or so. We'll supply the dough and the oven and the wine and we'll have a nice afternoon holiday party...

So, hopefully that will bring in some bucks (again, we're not talking thousands of dollars but maybe a few hundred).

And, that should take us through the end of the year. I will say that with fundraising slowing to a crawl, we're looking at postponing the show a bit, which is a bummer, but I'd rather wait until we have the funds and do Dreamers of the Day in March or April or even early May, than rush it into production with one fifth of the budget we really need to make the show everything it could be.

Never fear, I'm bummed but not discouraged and I'm NOT giving up. This show, when we pull it off, is going to be FANTASTIC!!! And I am COMMITTED to making it everything I know it can be. Keep your fingers crossed that the money starts flowing. I'll keep everyone posted on progress as we go.

...AND WE HAVE A SHOW!!!!!

I have an announcement I have been ITCHING to make for about two months:
It's official - we have chosen a show. We have just finalized the agreement to do an adaptation of Mary Doria Russell's novel DREAMERS OF THE DAY!

This beautiful book is about a woman, Agnes Shanklin, who, after losing her family in the 1918 influenza epidemic, goes on the trip of a lifetime to Egypt and finds that her visit coincides with the 1921 Cairo Conference. "Arriving at the Semiramis Hotel just as the Peace Conference convenes, Agnes, with her plainspoken American opinions and a small, noisy dachshund named Rosie, enters into the company of the historic luminaries who will, in the space of a few days,...invent the nations of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan." As she says in the opening of the novel her "little story has become [our] history." And it's only through understanding her times, that we can start to get a grasp of our own.

What we're planning right now, is to adapt the novel into a one woman show. It is a story told completely from Agnes Shanklin's perspective so it's ripe for solo possibilities, but that could always change as we get into the meat of the adaptation - we'll see. We're planning to do a whole multi-media kind of thing with still and moving projections, music from the times, and hopefully some exciting, (but not too expensive) design elements to the set, costumes and props.


I have already begun work on the adaptation and there will probably be many posts of me fumbling around as I figure out how to make it work. You see, I've never done an adaptation of this nature. I'm excited (or as Little Red says "excited and scared") to jump into this challenge. I may have assistance in the adaptation and I may be throwing out questions here to get some help on specific issues that come up as I work - so as I post questions, if anyone's out there, I'd love to hear from you.

A word about Mary Doria Russell. If you have never read any of her novels - do so NOW! Hands down, she is one of the very best fiction writers out there right now. Though her books cross different genres and topics, they all share one very special trait, they are all beautifully, gracefully, movingly written. THE SPARROW, CHILDREN OF GOD, THREAD OF GRACE and DREAMERS OF THE DAY are 4 wonderful, amazing, powerful books and I am anxiously awaiting her next one. We are SO honored that Ms. Russell has given us permission to adapt her beautiful book - that she has trusted us with one of her babies. We will nurture it and care for Agnes' story as if it were our own and cannot wait to see the final product when we get it on its feet!

So, not so much a drive in...

Yup, the rain got us again. In fact, it rained all day on Friday, (and most of the night) so about 11am we decided to change the outdoor "drive-in" to an indoor "Tahiti Cinemas" night. We transformed the apartment into a little movie theater (15 seats to be exact - 6 on comfy couches). We hung up a screen (actually an old white sheet from my massage school days) and set up the back bedroom of our apartment as a concession stand. We ran Christmas lights along the "aisle" to the bathroom. And, just for the fun of it, I dressed in a whole 50's style to celebrate the heyday of the drive-in.

Unfortunately the rain and people's jobs kept the crowd small, but what the group lacked in size, they more than made up for in enthusiasm. It was great fun and definitely something we'll do again. It's nice to know that we can do it rain or shine. I think we're going to add the Movie night - whether outside or in - to our roster of Living Room Series Fundraisers. I do think that in the future we definitely need to find a way to insure that we get as close to the max number of people we can fit at these things as possible and that is something I'm still figuring out. But, I think the most important thing for us is to keep plugging away, not get discouraged and persevere. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither was any theater company...

Drive In Fundraiser Countdown...

So, we're now within a week of the fundraiser and it's close enough to the date to check the 10 day report on weather.com. Right now it looks like we have clear skies until Friday, the day of the fundraiser, and then they're predicting a 30% chance of precipitation...It could be worse, and it's still early but if anyone out there has a special relationship with the weather gods, I'd appreciate you putting in a good word for GTTP and our attempts to bring in some funds for our next production.

Also, Steph and I had a meeting with this wonderful little restaurant/wine shop in the East Village and we're about 75% sure we're going to do our winetasting fundraiser on October 10th. If it works the way we're planning, it'll be a great afternoon. It will start around 2pm and there will be 8 or 9 wines to try, all with a selection of bread, cheese, meats and bruschetta/salads. John and I went to a winetasting fundraiser at this same place a year and a half ago and it was a great day all around. Hopefully the GTTP winetasting will be similarly great. As soon as the papers are signed and we're definitely a go, I'll send out emails/invitations/facebook posts...but in the meantime, keep October 10th free.

To Recap:

If the Drive-In goes well and the winetasting happens, we'll have about 20% of our next show's budget in the bank and we'll be heading in to the fall/winter in really good shape.

We are undaunted...

We have rescheduled the Drive-in night. Yay! It will be a week from Friday on the 11th and this time we're doing it rain or shine. When we first scheduled the event, I felt like I had pushed my luck with my last rain or shine event (my wedding). We had lucked out and had beautiful weather and didn't need to be in the tent, but I didn't want to push it again for the drive-in night...However, since I tried to play ball with the weather gods and the weather gods sent me Hurricane Bill, I've decided this time not to bother and just roll the dice. Don't get me wrong, I'm still hoping for a beautiful early fall evening...but, if the weather gods decide again not to smile on us...well then, inside we will go.

Once we decided to reschedule we had the whole, "which weekend should it be?" discussion and decided that since most people wouldn't be around for Labor Day Weekend, that was out. We didn't want to wait more than three weeks from the original date so that put us on the weekend of the 11th. We really wanted it to be on a Friday and though we had some reservations about doing it on September 11th, in the end we decided that it was better to offer a fun activity for people to go out to. Hopefully folks will want to come out and be with friends.

Now that we're doing it rain or shine, I'm starting to get really excited. The popcorn is still ready to be popped, we still have the beer, wine and soda and the movies are ready to go...I will admit that I may need to get some more candy (someone, who shall remain nameless, but looks exactly like the person writing this post, may have been dipping in to the tootsie roll and twix bar stash. Heh.) but other than that I think we're good to go.

Stupid Hurricane Bill!

Had to cancel the Drive-In movie night because of the threatening weather. What sucks the most, aside from the fact that I have a good 5 pounds of candy in the fridge, as well as cases of beer and soda, is that it's not ACTUALLY raining right now. Instead, weather.com is predicting an 85% chance of rain from 8pm on. So, because I think it would be worse to have people show up, pay their money, hustle them inside 30 minutes into the first movie and pray for the rain to stop rather than to just postpone the whole event altogether, postpone is what we decided to do. Hopefully, we can find a night in September that will work out better for us. On the flip side, because I'm all bummed, John has decided to take me out to a nice dinner to cheer me up, so, you know, that's kinda awesome. I'll keep everyone posted about the updated date as soon as it gets, um, updated. :)

Cross your fingers one and all

So, the popcorn and candy are ready for the concession stand, the projector and the movies are in my possession, the chairs are in the backyard and the intermission "movie" is on a dvd and good to go. In other words, we are ready to hold a kick ass drive-in fundraiser...if only hurricane bill can hold off hitting ny until 1 am Saturday morning, we'll be good to go!

Drive In Movie Night

Popcorn bags have been purchased! Now I just have to remember how to pop popcorn on a stovetop...I mean really, in today's day and age does anyone have popcorn that isn't made in the microwave? I'm missing the days of living with Terri - the best stovetop popcorn popper on the planet!!! I'm not exaggerating. In fact, I may have to email her to have her walk me through the process.

Once I solve the popcorn issues, we should be in pretty good shape. I am worried about rain - the weather report is not encouraging right now and in the dog days of summer, it's really hard to know when a thunderstorm will suddenly kick up...not that that's a problem...unless, of course, you're hoping to do the whole drive-in-movie-under-the-stars thing, which is the entire point of this fundraiser. But, I guess I just have to accept that there are things I can control and things that I 100% cannot and the weather is one of those things that falls into the latter category. I'll just have to hope for the best.

Hello Again...

Ok, so I have been woefully remiss in my blogging duties. I found when I first started this blog, that, as I feared, it quickly became like all of those "journalling" assignments I had in college writing/theater classes...You know those assignments where you were supposed to make regular entries about what was happening as it was happening and turn them in to the professor at the end of the semester. You know the ones where you'd put all the writing off until the night before it was due, when you would write a semester's worth of entries - preferably in different colored pens so it didn't look like you wrote all the entries the night before - and turn that in hoping that the sheer volume of text would get you the pass...oops, did I just reveal too much of my journalling college days? ANYWAY, I have found that my need to make every blog entry a tome has prevented me from regularly making updates. THEREFORE, I have decided to knock that craziness off. After this entry, I'm going to wave a wand and make it ok for me to keep the entries short. So a quick update, (which will probably not be quite so quick) and then I'm turning over a new "brief blog" leaf...no, I'm not giving in to the twitter madness (this pronouncement should last for at least a few weeks) but brief should be the name of the game from now on. Hee.

THE UPDATE

LIKENESS
As you can see from the GTTP website, LIKENESS went very well. It was a crazy rehearsal period but the run went well and I learned so much from my experience on that show. The cast and crew were incredible and I feel like I have made some wonderful connections to fill out the company of actors and crew that will one day make the company of Going to Tahiti Productions a viable entity.

The Big Production of the intervening months
As some of you know, one of the reasons I've been a bit in communicado was because I was working on a private production during the months between the end of LIKENESS and the beginning of summer. What production was it (you ask) - I was getting married. Definitely the biggest production of my life up until this point, the wedding was planned and executed by non professionals (me, John, Beth, and other friends and family) so it took a lot of energy and time (in other words - all of my time and energy - thank god I didn't have a full time job at the time). It went very well - actually better than I could have even hoped for - so it was well worth it...but the build up to the event and then the come down after it was over have been very intense and it wasn't until about a month ago that I really was in a place emotionally to get back into the whole "running a production company" thing. However, I am back in full swing now and that should be reflected in the updated blog.

I've decided to look at the time from February until now as the off season. That being said, pitchers and catchers have now reported - regular season play is about to begin again. (little baseball reference for all those ball fans.)


Other Off Season Occurences
Some of you may already know this from the periodic newsletters you've received by email (If you do not receive the newsletters, go to GTTP and add your contact information to our mailing list by filling out the contact us form) but for those of you who haven't heard (and those who'd like a refresher):

Stephanie - Stephanie Bayliss has joined Going To Tahiti Productions as the Managing Director and Co-Executive Producer. For details about Stephanie, check out the About Us page on the GTTP website. GTTP is very excited to have Stephanie on board as part of the team.

Fundraising - Fundraising is continuing. We have a drive in movie night this Friday - pray for nice weather - as our August fundraiser. We are in the process of planning monthly fundraisers. Possible future fundraisers include - a winetasting, an adult spelling bee, a gala party, a game night tournament, a few house concerts and more... If you have any ideas for fundraisers that you'd be interested in seeing - let us know.

Workshops - We're in the process of setting up monthly workshops. Right now we have plans for workshops in the following areas: directing, stage managing, clowning, stage combat, auditions, and improv. Keep an eye on the website for more details as dates, times and costs get locked down for workshops.

Our next show - We're in the process of obtaining the rights to a novel which we are going to adapt into a one woman show - I'll keep everyone posted as things develop.

...and, I believe, that's all for now.