Volunteering

Ready to get started? Please complete our Participation Form

A special message from Carolyn Kirby, President of ASGT about the reasons for past, present and future success of the Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre.

In 1966, a hearty band of volunteers, led by visionary Joan Baldwin, had a dream to bring fine summer entertainment to the downtown area of Annapolis. They presented the first season of “theatre under the stars” in an enclosure behind the old Carvel Hall Hotel. Then they moved on and found the vacant Shaw’s Shop and turned it into an outdoor theatre. It was so easy to write such a simple sentence—“they turned it into an outdoor theatre.” I can’t even imagine how much hard work went into cleaning out, tearing down and building up on the property that has served as ASGT’s home since 1967.

I recently rediscovered a magazine article from 1990 that details much of that effort. I also had the opportunity to talk with Meg Baldwin Grasso, Joan’s daughter, and look through a scrapbook with wonderful pictures that chronicle the transformation. What really struck me was the dedication of those original volunteers. Some were actors and directors. Many were civic-minded volunteers with little or no theatre experience who found a project that stirred their passion. Whatever their reason for volunteering, we thank them for giving us the treasure that we call Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre. Much has changed since 1966. The Annapolis area has grown and the downtown area has prospered. What has not changed is the need for volunteers to come forward and support a project or a program that stirs their passion.

ASGT cannot survive and thrive for another 43 years without a dedicated group of volunteers. We have no paid staff. Everything we accomplish begins with a volunteer who takes the initiative to lead and who identifies others to follow. There are small projects, like replacing light bulbs in exit lights or setting out chairs before a show opens. There are larger projects, like planning and executing a fundraising event. There are production-related projects like sewing or altering costumes or ushering for one or more performances. All of our actors and technicians are volunteers who do what they do for love of the craft.

Many of our patrons and friends do not know of our critical need for volunteers — perhaps we have made the task of successfully running a community theatre look too easy. Our volunteer pool is always evolving as people go through different phases in their lives. So we must perpetually recruit and retain a new generation to carry on the work of the hundreds who have come before them. We are not the same group that we were in 2000 and we will not be the same group in 2010.

2010 will be the Year of the Volunteer at Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre. Everyone associated with the theatre will be urged to bring at least one new volunteer into the organization. We will reach out to the community to find those who want to experience the joy of staging a production, or raising funds for Stage/2., or doing any of the many tasks necessary to keep “theatre under the stars” running smoothly.

So if you are a potential volunteer looking for an opportunity, or if you are just curious about the ways that your skills could benefit Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre, please review details of the various volunteer opportunities below. Then fill in and submit our Participation Form. If you have questions, please contact our volunteer coordinator, Nancy Janelle, at vol@summergarden.com

You may just find that you can get much more from the volunteer experience than you give.

Production Support

Production Support falls into three categories: Production-Specific, General Theatre and Technical.

• Production-Specific. For each production, numerous other behind-the-scenes personnel are required, from backups for all management positions to techies to grunt-work. Even the person who sees to it that costumes are pressed every night pays a critical part to the success of the show. To some extent, actors make scene changes. But with timing such an important part of showmanship, these and other “roles” also need to be filled. So whether newbie or veteran, get in touch with us and see where you might fit in.
• General Theatre. Some of these jobs are the same as those for a specific production. Volunteering at this level means that you are more open to participating any time, or at a time that is not tied to a specific show schedule.
• Technical Personnel. Both Lighting and Sound are needed throughout the season and even off-season to prepare the Theatre in the spring, close it down in the fall, and organize and repair it throughout the year.

Interested? Please complete our Participation Form.

Front of House and General Volunteering

Volunteers in these categories support the “mechanics” of Theatre operation.

• Box Office Personnel work every day – not just when a production is scheduled – to take reservations, monitor voice mail systems, set up will-call packages, make bank deposits and keep sales records.
• Ushers work on performance nights to maintain house operation and decorum. They spruce up the theater, take tickets at the door, get people in their seats on time, operate house lights, monitor and report any disruptive activity (very rare), and answer audience questions (How long is this performance? Where are the restrooms?) and clean up after the performance.
• Concessionaires manage the supply of food and beverages sold at performances and operate the concession stand through intermission each performance night.
• General Volunteers make themselves available to provide all kinds of services, from cleanup, painting, inventory, errands, gardening and minor repairs to larger repairs and any other general maintenance issues required. Requests for their services come from both the Building & Grounds Director and the House Director.

Interested? Please complete our Participation Form.

Management

ASGT is always looking for a few good – no, extraordinary – men and women who recognize that running our company is just that — running a “company.”

Volunteering to serve on the Board of Directors takes more time than volunteering for most other areas of Summer Garden’s operation. But even more than time, it takes commitment and continuity. Participating at this level trades your time for the uplifting experience of dealing with others equally committed to assuring top-flight artistic contributions to the greater Annapolis community. If you are retired, you can continue to contribute your management skills in a wider range than employment might have provided. If you are a business person, it gives you prestige and potential contacts that can add value to your vocational activities. If you are a parent, it gives your children and other children an opportunity to engage in a profitable, rewarding, extracurricular activity, whether they appear on stage or just vicariously enjoy an intimate relationship with the Theatre.

Officers and Board members serve two year terms. You can learn more about the make-up of the Board by visiting About Us. Now is a particularly good time to volunteer in this area, because the Governance Committee is looking very carefully at a major reorganization. Having a say in that could bring even greater satisfaction to you.

It is obvious that the Board cannot make every decision for the Theatre in twelve monthly meetings. Therefore, management direction of ASGT is supplemented by a series of Management Committees. These committees are positioned against specific major needs and decision-making areas of ASGT’s organization. The current Management Committees are:

• Facility Operations, determining the future of our physical structure, including the implementation of Stage/2.
• Marketing/Publicity, determining the direction of our public image
• Financial, strengthening our financial structure and determining the direction of our fund-raising
• Artistic, determining the methodology by which we select shows, select directors, and manage productions
• Governance, determining the best way to revise our managerial structure for maximum efficiency and value.

Staffing or leading a Management Committee offers as much value to ASGT as serving as a Board member. And it potentially takes less time. Interested? Please complete our Participation Form.

Business Support

There are many specific skills required to successfully manage and run a community theater. If you have one of them, please talk to us.

Perhaps we could refer to this in business terms as “vertical rather than horizontal involvement.” If you are a fine artist or graphic artist or photographer, your talents are very much in demand. If you are an marketing or advertising person, writer, publisher, website guru, or other media specialist, please get in touch. If you are an accountant, lawyer, banker or insurance specialist, we can use your counsel. If you are a fundraising specialist, please contact our Director of Development, A. Reza Jafari at devel@summergarden.com directly at your earliest convenience. When you read the Stage/2. section of this website you will understand why — and what kind of contributions you can make.

Interested? Please complete our Participation Form.

Artistic Involvement

If you want to act, sing, dance or provide music, you’ll have to participate in auditions and win your chance. You’ll find full details on these opportunities on the Artistic Involvement section of this website.

Key management positions of individual productions, including directors, stage managers, music directors and choreographers are also covered in detail in the Artistic Involvement section.

In other off-stage areas, past experience will give you the opportunity take the lead or supervise others. But even if you lack previous involvement, don’t be discouraged from checking us out. Other production activities in include Set Design, Decoration & Construction, Costuming, Prop Collection and Management, and many other backstage roles.

More on these areas and full details on Theatrical Involvement can be found in the Artistic Involvement section.

Copacabana (2009)