2007 volunteer award winnersCharles V. York, Jr. Volunteer Service Award: Glenn A. Miller Technical Service Award: Ed Bodell Rookie of the Year Award: Al Wolfheimer Volunteer Awards:
G. Paul SlovenskyPresented by Ellen Landau Tonight I have the pleasure of the presenting the Charles V. York Jr. Theatre Service Award. In the 1978-1979 Season, RLT renamed its Annual Distinguished Service Award to honor this man, who was so active in service at RLT. Mr. York was involved with RLT during the 1960s and served 6 years on the Board of Directors. In 1964 he received RLT’s Distinguished Service Award for his efforts in bringing about renovations and additions to the theatre. A plaque is presented each year at the Annual Meeting to an individual that has exemplified service to the theatre Our recipient this year is the embodiment of such dedication and service. This volunteer has appeared on the stage (he’s one of our King Darlings) and every year stage manages a show. If you are throwing a party and need someone to feed your guests he’s the man to call – he has helped put together the food for the Divas, the Winter Gala, and for tonight, and anyone who has ever been in a cast of a show he has stage managed knows what a great cook he is. Every evening he brings in wonderful and unusual gourmet snacks to share at rehearsals. (We were a little concerned about the actors fitting into their costumes and maintaining the look required of their characters when he stage managed The Diary of Anne Frank.) He organizes our concessions crews, he has helped clean up our archives and has tabulated volunteer lists for me. He is working on up-dating job descriptions and other HR issues. He’s been around, helping wherever he can, for over 20 years. He even had one of his pets volunteer – he says there was a season when his dog was cast in more shows than he was – Rudy played Toto in The Wiz, the year the Main Stage burned down. This spring he accepted his latest challenge - managing our wedding rentals. This year’s Charles V. York Jr. Theatre Service Award goes to G. Paul Slovensky. Becca EasleyPresented by Rick Young I say it every year and every year it's true. This is my most favorite part of my job, the presentation of the Glenn Amos Miller Award for Outstanding Technical Service. Now in the past I have sometimes tried to inject a bit of humor into the presentation. Unfortunately it has now gotten to the point that people are saying they can't wait to see what I'm going to do this year, like I don't have enough stress in my life already. Well no more, this year I am casting humor aside. I shall no longer be a slave to your expectations. No, this year I will present the Glenn Amos Miller Award in song! So, hit it! …She has absolutely no idea what I am talking about. I will not be using accompaniment for two good reasons. One since I cannot read music, I felt that it would be somewhat difficult to write it, and secondly if I were accompanied, she would probably want me to do it the same every time, and that ain't about to happen. Early in my theatrical training, I was taught to never, ever apologize before you perform. So I feel that I must apologize for my apology. Hopefully the two will cancel each other out. I did wake up with a slight sore throat this morning. I'm fairly certain that it was God's way of telling me that this was not a good idea. Also I have not warmed up so I cannot predict what my voice will do. You see my voice only has three or four minutes before it is totally gone and I felt that it would be imprudent to waste those precious minute on warming up. So I give you the 2007 Glenn Amos Miller Award For Outstanding Technical Service. There was a man, lived long ago. Glenn Miller was his name, no, not the famous one. He didn't have numbers on his face, And when he passed, as he had bid, Yes, Glenn had pulled the ultimate all-nighter, So is it any doubt that now each year Now usually the volunteer Except when there's an exceptional exception. And I promise no deception When you know just who it is. Since she showed up at our door And not in one capacity Okay maybe not a rabbit, I know there's no suspense left, Becca Easley, Becca Easley, Becca Easley Scott WrayPresented by Roger Bridges and Rick Young "Get to Work Cinderella!" was a favorite phrase of Ed Bodell's. He motivated and inspired people in a variety of areas of the theatre. He was so involved that he was occasionally accused of running the place. He was a regular member of the Thursday afternoon crew. He was a sound designer/engineer. He even volunteered in the box office. He was also a very dear friend. When Rick thought of naming an award in his honor there was no argument. Last year, we initiated the Ed Bodell Rookie of the Year Award. The Wolfie is intended to honor extended service, and every year we would exclude one or more volunteers because they had not been here long enough. But there are occasions when new volunteers dedicate themselves so fully and have such an overwhelming affect on our theatre that we felt we had to find a way to express our gratitude. This year's Rookie of the Year attended Backstage Night just a week before we began our regular Monday and Tuesday night work calls. He went months without missing one, sometimes being the only person to show up. His attendance at Light Hang and Focus, All-Calls, and Strikes was no less consistent. If he has a spare moment away from work and we need help he is here, and the intensity of his dedication to RLT has only increased with time. He has always been eager to learn, and as he has learned he has advance up the ladder of responsibility. Some of those responsibilities included being an ASM, a Stage Manager, a member of the Volunteer Appreciation Committee and he has even work on stage as an actor. As a matter of fact his first role onstage was not what he had intended. When he was ASM and one of the actors had to be replaced our ASM became our bad guy. He caught a little bite of the bug and then auditioned for Merlin and the Cave of Dreams. He was cast as one of my knights who I named Friday. The 2007 Rookie of the year is Scott Wray. Ben BerryPresented by Roger Bridges I have had many interns in my 5 years here. Most of them have been a joy to have around as well as helpful. However, their internship usually ends about the time they have really gotten to the point of being helpful. Not so with this next Wolfie winner. Not only was he familiar with the shop and helpful from the very beginning of his internship but when it ended he didn’t stop coming to work. He is part of a family that has been involved with the theatre for as long as I have been TD. They have been recognized as a group but tonight we want to single out one of them. Ben Berry has earned this award. I thank you for your help this year. Nick BlinnPresented by Roger Bridges This Wolfie tonight goes to a volunteer who has quietly gotten the crews staffed and not made much of a stir. This person has been around for several years and has worked on too many shows to list (how many did we do last year? Oh, yeah, 11 every year!) I think that this volunteer worked on ten of those. For his consistency and dedication, for his positive attitude all along the way Nick Blinn deserves this recognition. Susan MygattPresented by Linda O'Day Young The next recipient of the Al Wolfheimer Volunteer Award has three children who have been actively involved in classes, our teaching assistant program and our trouping show. She has been an active member of our Youth Parent Committee and has graciously volunteered her services ushering for family series shows and providing our actors and crew with in between show meals. She has been a vital link to Home School associations getting the word out about classes and performances and organizing Home School Groups to attend our shows. This last year, she took over the responsibility for contacting community groups and libraries in order to schedule performances of Wiley and the Hairy Man by Storytellers To Go! and served as the RLT Spokesperson at two of these performances, which I was unable to attend. She is a great cheerleader for Raleigh Little Theatre's Education Program. This Wolfie goes to Susan Mygatt! Tracey PowellPresented by Kathleen Rudolph This Wolfie goes to someone very special to the youth program. I first met her many years ago when one of her children started taking my classes at the Apex Community Center. She always was the first parent to volunteer to do anything I needed. In no time another one of her children started taking classes and an older one became my teaching assistant. Well, I decided it was only fair to use the fourth child, so I asked him to be my AD on a few shows I directed. Soon Linda and I asked her to be on the Youth Parent Committee and she began living at RLT along with us! This woman has volunteered to usher, house manage, provide in-between-show meals, chaperone events, wrangle young cast members, stuff envelopes and label brochures. We truly could not get on without her. This Wolfie goes to Tracey Powell. Keith RothchildPresented by Rick Young This Wolfie goes to a gentleman that exemplifies a whole category of volunteers. Those are the one that are rarely if ever crew chiefs simply because that is not what they want to do, yet are never hesitant to answer a call for help. Ones that are easy to overlook not because they are not here but rather because they so often are here. This recipient has an uncanny ability to know when we are in a crunch (as rare as that might be) and to be here when we need him. He has worked countless crews in all areas with a trademark gentle ease that makes him a true pleasure to work with. This Wolfie goes to Mr. Keith Rothchild. Staci SabarskyPresented by Ellen Landau Our next recipient of a Wolfie award is multi-talented. She has worked on 18 productions at RLT, including appearing in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Spitfire Grill, and most recently, The Full Monty. She is an actress and a singer, a stage manager, and a teacher of the performing arts for our youth program. She has represented Raleigh Little Theatre in our Outreach Program; her crowning achievement was her reign as RLT Diva in 2006. This past year she was the driving force behind the theatre’s most successful fund-raiser to date, the Diva 2007 concert in March. We are already on our second meeting for planning the Diva event for May 2008 – if you are interested in working on the Diva’s Task Force, you can contact her. The Wolfie goes to Staci Sabarsky. Michael TeleoglouPresented by Rick Young I'm sure that I do not need to tell any of you that the theatre is a harsh mistress. Whether as a vocation or avocation it demands long hours of hard work. So why in the world do we do it? Certainly, for some, there is the pay-off that the performance brings, but that doesn’t explain the scores of people that have never and will never perform. I offer a simple explanation, it is the people. I challenge you to find a group of people more open and accepting than theatre people. To do what we do, what we love, we need each other. We don’t have the time to dwell on what people can’t do. Rather in this great collaboration of ours, we celebrate what they can do. And in doing so we can bridge age, race, economics, religion, politics, and impairments. Our next Wolfie goes to an extraordinary young man who should shine as an example to all of us. He began working backstage on our props and running crews. He has since served as co-props crew chief and co-props master. He has never asked for any special consideration nor does he need any. Our next Wolfie goes to Michael Teleoglou. Michael is at his Grandmother’s birthday party and could not be here tonight. Accepting the award for him is his friend and mentor Jim Bates.
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