Players Guild of Dearborn Update
August 29, 2020
Dear Players Guild of Dearborn Patron:
This is John Sczomak, President of the Players Guild with a quick update about what’s happening at your Guild. Before I begin, all of us at the Guild hope that this message finds you healthy and safe.
Good News – A piece of good news is that the Players Guild of Dearborn is hanging in there! A combination of good fortune, sound financial management and the generosity of our patrons and membership allow us to keep paying the bills, which as I’m sure you well know, do not stop even during a pandemic. We’ve cut a slew of costs, but we continue to keep the building monitored and in shape for our eventual return to business.
Not So Good News – as a result of the continued restrictions and out of our overarching concern for patron safety, the Players Guild Board of Governors voted to postpone the start of our season until 2021. The specific date of reopening will depend on the situation we are in after the New Year. We are monitoring State and Federal recommendations closely, speaking with medical and public health professionals and keeping in touch with our colleagues at other venues. We have had a very hardworking Scenario Planning Committee that has now morphed into our Next Act Committee, which is at this moment engaged in logistical planning as well as working with our various Board Committees as we plan for future shows. We don’t know what our opening will look like, but it is entirely possible (and probable) that initially we will be required to implement changes within our building and within our show environment to ensure everyone’s safety. We know that you trust us to do our best to keep you safe and we know that you all will do your best to be patient and understanding of changes. Heck, we’ve all had five months of practice at doing things I’m sure none of us ever thought we would do, so this should be easy.
Guild Activities – not only are we working at keeping our building ship-shape, our talented membership (and friends) keep working hard and doing what they love – performing. Please check out the Guild Cabaret performances on our YouTube Channel, which can be found here.
Most recently our Guild Improv troupe performed a Zoom performance, which can also be seen at the above channel. This can be seen here.
We are also working on video streaming of recent past shows. This will be a great opportunity to see shows you may not have seen or shows you would like to revisit. Stay tuned for more information on this.
Keep an eye out for cool Guild fundraisers which will provide useful items for you for a small but very appreciated donation.
Finally – The Players Guild of Dearborn is an all-volunteer organization. As I’ve stated earlier, we still have lots of bills to pay, which historically has been done primarily through ticket revenue. During this time of being shut down we’ve worked hard to seek other sources of revenue. We were fortunate to receive a small emergency relief grant from the Michigan Arts and Culture Council (MACC). We are also hopeful for a grant we wrote to MACC for Operational Support. Thank you to the patrons who wrote such great letters of support for this grant. We should be hearing about that grant in the next month or two.
The ongoing financial support of our patrons and membership has been fantastic, and we continue to need it. If you can, consider a donation to the Guild. There are number of formats in which this can be done, buying a seat (or two), donating online, or mailing a donation. Any amount is gratefully received, and it will be put to good use at the Guild.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I hope you and yours stay healthy, stay safe and keep ready for when the Guild returns for business. All of us at the Guild can’t wait for that day when we can again provide our community with the professional quality live theatre that has been enjoyed for so many years. Keep the Guild in your thoughts as we keep you in ours. As always, contact me at president@playersguildofdearborn.org if you have questions or comments.
Sincerely,
John Sczomak, PhD
President