By Kareen Burns
Tempus fugit. Time flies.
My inaugural season as Huntsville Festival of the Arts president is winding down and I feel immensely proud.
Festival board members, theatre personnel, volunteers, sponsors, supporters and our fabulous audiences have made our 15th eclectic season wonderfully successful.
Next year we will expand on our vision, raising the bar in excellence, diversity and community partnerships. Imagine our summer season 2008!
Kareen Burns is the Huntsville Festival of the Arts board president for the 2007 and 2008 seasons.
Allow me to count the ways to say thank you. Merci, takk, arigato, spasibo, toa chie, danke, gracias, obrigado! There are never enough ways to say thanks, thank you, many thanks.
Thanks to the extra-mile people who make each concert special in so many ways. Placing a delicate vase of flowers and the beautifully arranged Mexican pottery bowl of fruit, cheese, veggies etc. in the performers’ dressing room, replacing forgotten makeup, bowls of jub jubes and liquorice sticks for the backstage team. And yes, you can find bass and conga drums in Huntsville at 7 p.m.
Then there is our very own Hawksley Workman accompanying Bruce Cockburn on stage with a magical impromptu show – all in the line of festival extra-mile people.
Thanks also to the Algonquin Theatre front-of-house team. The friendly smiles, funky festival ties, helping to direct you to your seat with a little flashlight when you are running late, the efficiency of intermission cocktails, selling performers’ CDs. They are a positive and knowledgeable band of Huntsville hospitality promoters.
Thanks to the Algonquin Theatre back-of-the-house team. A highly energetic, strong group in their black outfits directed by a stage manager. They welcome our star performers at the theatre back door, help with their equipment for set-up and rehearsal and are ready for an 8 p.m. show deadline.
Included is training of new volunteers who are full of curiosity and excitement. Huge attention is paid to detail – electrical cables taped down, no fingerprints on the beautiful piano, lighting and set to complement the mood. The stage manager, house manager, lighting and sound all wear cool headsets to communicate. “The house is yours” comes from the front-of-house manager, the pre-show screen goes up, the lights go down, the audience hushes with anticipation and the magic begins.
Thanks to our dear and loyal sponsors and supporters. You make it possible to be incredibly creative, bold and unafraid to showcase new performers and new events – our first Jazz Festival was a great success.
Thanks to a dynamic festival board of directors. You create our festival season, meeting early in October to plan for the following summer season. This includes the Algonquin Theatre main stage shows and exciting avant garde fringe happenings.
Our exciting education outreach committee is always open to new ideas and directions with public and high school students. They are our future audiences and we strongly believe in giving back to our community.
The board is a hands-on team who put up tents and banners, take tickets, serve complimentary mincemeat pies at our Christmas concert, put on kids’ tattoos, introduce shows and the list goes on. They are always passionate festival ambassadors.
And finally, without an audience, we would not exist. Thank you with all my heart. A full Algonquin Theatre festival audience is a joy indeed!
In Scottish, thenk ye.
