On April 11, 2020, the South Bay Musical Theatre Board of Directors conducted its annual Members Meeting. The event was held online over Zoom, due to the shelter-in-place restrictions from the coronavirus pandemic. We have edited the video recording (see below) to provide a quick summary of the key topics that were discussed.

The meeting normally takes place in January, along with a formal unveiling of the slate of shows for next season. The date was delayed this year, however, due to a number of unusual circumstances combining to throw obstacles in the way of our plans. Each of these obstacles was discussed at the meeting, along with the actions we have taken to circumvent or ameliorate them.

Chairperson Jay Steele welcomed the virtual audience at 10:00 a.m. and introduced Executive Director Sara K. Dean, who gave a summary of the past four productions: Big River, Throughly Modern Millie, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder, and She Loves Me. All four musicals were TBA Recommended and/or nominated for a TBA Award, and Big River won a Best Lead Actor award for Anthone Jackson’s portrayal of Huck Finn’s friend, Jim.

The Board of Directors had its annual retreat last November, where they divided up their 12 members into four subcommittees: Community outreach/Diversity, Fundraising, Organizational Development, and Artistic Development/Vision. At the April Members Meeting, the committee heads reported on progress thus far and invited participation from members who are interested in getting involved. Our four core values were discussed: Heart, Community, Quality, and Growth. We also heard a detailed financial report from CFO Jen Maggio.

We presented awards to Don Masuda (Howard Miller “Bless Your Heart” Award) and to Steve Allhoff (Fred Hassett Service Award) for their contributions to the company over the previous season.

The meeting concluded with an open Q&A period, where Sara Dean talked more about our hopes to resurrect the two shows that we had to cancel because of the health crisis: South Pacific and The Fabulous 40s. South Pacific will not make a reappearance in our 2020-2021 season, she says, due to a number of conflicts, but it will be at the top of our list to insert into a future season.

Thank you to all who participated in this event, and especially to the donors who generously donated back their tickets to the canceled shows so that we can pay our bills while regrouping for next season.