AGM NEWS

After eight long months of pandemic , the members in good standing of the Ottawa Little Theatre were nevertheless able to get together (albeit virtually) for our Annual General Meeting (AGM) on November 15, 2020.  In all, 67 brave souls logged-in muted and invisible to each other for a Zoom call. Yes, there were a few technical glitches along the way, but only to the same extent as experienced in our workplaces or during a Zoom call with  grandma on her birthday. Kudos to Lindsay Laviolette and Venetia Lawless for getting the system up and running quite smoothly and maintaining the all important audio mute button to omit any background noises.

Our beloved theatre has been around for 107 years and has experienced two world wars and one other pandemic. Although the Covid-19 virus has shut down our actual performances, the AGM must go on.

Geoff Gruson began with the President’s Report of the previous year both before and after the dreaded March 2020, remembering  when we were actually putting on plays, and talked about how we then fared financially, production wise, client service and community wise as well.

He stated that our valued subscribers and patrons last season  enabled  us to take in on average of $100K per show which allowed us to run operations within our revenues as well as invigorate the theatre. We have a wealth  of experienced volunteers and, if needed, we can always contract out for the missing expertise as required.

 Our 5 priorities for 2019/2020 and into the 2020/21 fiscal are:

• Focus on core activities – improve productions
• Break even on all shows – a profit would be even better
• Maintain/enhance assets – our building and equipment always need loving care
• Manage prudently/effectively – leverage great dedicated volunteers wherever possible
• Model not for profit status in our community – lending our assets and “giving back, or paying it forward”

He talked about the streamlining  of our communication, production and finances and how we now have a  board of directors and committee leaders (18 in all) essentially running the theatre with the assistance of hundreds of volunteers. Our main objective for this year with all the world, country, province and city closures is “just get through it”.

As is apparent in the review of the financial statements, our revenues are down dramatically. However, as the theatre is effectively shut down, expenses are significantly down as well. All that being said, the theatre (being a 50 year old building) still requires a maintenance budget to cover insurance, heat, water, electricity and some repairs. The audience  “chatted-out” applause for the frugal approach that we had taken in the past year cutting many of the costs by shifting to a volunteer-run organization that allowed us to have a supply of cash to weather this storm.  Joan provided additional reinforcement from our auditors in her report as treasurer.

Board of Directors Acclaimed

The terms of four board members (Geoff Gruson, Lindsay Laviolette, Brian Cano  and Albert Lightstone ) were up for a renewal. The openings were advertised well in advance and as that no new names were put  forward, all four  members’ standings  were renewed  by acclamation. This is good news in that the Board has worked very well together in the past year meeting frequently and shifting gears  as required, to handle the new and ever changing challenges of  the Covid-19 crisis. As you can all appreciate, it is imperative  to have experienced hands at the helm during any crisis.

Remembering Friends We Have Lost

It was noted that it has been a sad year with the passing of several beloved members of the theatre who represented decades of close association. We hope that in the near future, when  we have returned to a “new”-normal, we will be able to gather together again at the theatre and remember these friends.

The meeting was actually very well received with over 82% voting in favour of all the motions presented. In addition, we had a healthy round of Q’s and A’s.

Q and A Session

During the Question and Answer sessions, the following was addressed:

• Covid-19 quiet time was use to complete work on the theatre – eg, clean up the back stage and revamp the rehearsal studio.
• It was recognized that it is difficult to effectively and professionally do play readings on line.
• Tickets can be refunded,  but very few individuals had asked for them – we have been clear that the plays will eventually be put on and the tickets used at that time.
• We have  a team looking at the options of moving to another building/location only if the site is  better than what we currently  have. The building is 50 years old requiring continuous repairs  and the parking spaces are diminishing with each new condominium being built. Our preference of course is to remain where we are unless circumstances force us to find a new home. We are evaluating all options, but there are currently no interesting spaces waiting for us “out there”.
• We will consider the option of revenue generation through naming rights of areas of the theatre.