February 2, 2006
Dear Annie Parents and Guardians,
For most of you, welcome back to the Santa Monica High School Theatre/SMCLO family, and for the rest of you, welcome to our Theatre family!
Congratulations on your son/daughter's acceptance into our show. We had an overwhelming amount of student interest in this production, and additionally a large amount of talented and capable individuals, which is why some roles have been double-cast.
You are receiving this "Parent Packet" because your son or daughter is playing a role in the show, performing in the pit orchestra, or working offstage, helping to build the set or helping in the production office - all of which are jobs crucial to putting on a show. On any given show night, we will have at least 30 actors onstage, 10 stagehands, 20 musicians in the pit orchestra, 12 volunteers in the front of house, not to mention our 5 staff members. We hope, therefore, that you will help support them by making a commitment now to see the shows we are presenting this season.
If you haven't already, we are asking you to support your son or daughter by becoming a subscribing member of the Santa Monica High School Theatre/Santa Monica Civic Light Opera 2005/06 "All Singing, All Dancing, All Musicals" Season.
Annie runs from Thursday, March 23, thru Saturday, April 8. All shows are at 8pm, with matinees at 2pm on all Saturdays in April. Our preview show on March 23 is at 7pm. 9 performances only!
The remainder of our "All Singing, All Dancing, All Musical" Season features (in order) the musical Annie; the culmination of our "Musical Theatre Workshop" presentation of Showstoppers, A Musical Revue, (all the hit songs to all the hit shows you can't get tickets to); and (finishing off our season with) our sensational professional-alumni-student production and tour with the Santa Monica Civic Light Opera (title TBA.)
We are pleased to introduce you to our world of performing and producing live theatre at Samohi. We don't just put our students up on stage and turn on the lights. We work with our partner organization, the alumni-based Santa Monica Civic Light Opera to fully develop our productions and enhance the student learning experience. That partnership is the key to our success!
By becoming a subscribing member, you are making tangible your support for your son or daughter and demonstrating that the work he or she will do in the year ahead is important to you. New for the 05/06 season is our "Unlimited Pass." With only a $75 donation to our Program, one person may attend all of the performances of any single production.
Now, all they need is you - their audience. Very few high schools can produce a 4-Show season, and fewer still deliver the consistently high quality that is the hallmark of all Samohi/SMCLO productions.
Did you know that this year, Samohi and SMCLO combined will present at least 37 performances, seen by more than 10,000 patrons? We are the largest-attended performing arts organization in the school, one of the largest anywhere.
A majority of the expense for these shows exceeds the annual income from ticket sales, alone and is raised by the Santa Monica Civic Light Opera to make up the difference.
We ask that you join us, as a 3-Show Season Subscriber, for only $45 (
Subscribing members receive five dollars ($5) off the cost of admission, receive premium-reserved seating in the Barnum Hall Theatre (first twelve rows of the center orchestra section) for Annie and The Summer Musical and priority line-up and admission for Showstoppers in the Humanities Center Theater.
It's that simple!
Each donation you make to the Santa Monica Civic Light Opera is tax-deductible and directly supports and benefits the Samohi Theatre Program.
At the very least, we would hope that you or someone from your family may be able to volunteer! There are many volunteer opportunities available and will be explained in detail at our Parent/Volunteer Reception on Thursday, February 2, at 7pm in the Humanities Center Theater. There will be food and drinks! If you have any questions about subscriber benefits or how to best enroll your friends and family in becoming a subscriber, please call me at 310-458-5939 or email me at brett@smclo.org.
On behalf of the Samohi Theatre students, we thank you for your support, and we look forward to seeing you at our upcoming shows.
Sincerely,
Brett Fisher ('95)
Producer and Managing Director
SMHS Theatre Arts/Santa Monica Civic Light Opera
Please invite family, friends, and neighbors to see Annie!