The speaker at the March 5, 2019, Rotary meeting was Libby McKay, the President of the Norfolk Community Theatre.
The Norfolk Community Theatre has been active since 1964 and is composed of an 11-member board. Design teams are put together by the board to ensure that the annual shows are a success.
The final show of this season is “Tribes.” Performances will be March 7, 8, and 9, 2019. Each show will be held out at the Cox Activities Center at Northeast Community College at 7:30 p.m. The March 7th show will have an American Sign Language interpreter from Omaha signing the entire program.
The Norfolk Community Theatre usually puts on three shows per season. Shows are usually scheduled for October (season opener), December, and March (finale). Shows usually include a combination of comedies, dramas, and musicals. The opener for next season will be “Little Shop of Horrors.”
The Community Theatre partners with the Norfolk Arts Center each year to put on a youth theatre camp. The age group is now being expanded and includes youth, ages 5-18. The theatre camp gives participants the ability to act, build sets, make costumes, etc. The youth theatre goes for 5 days and then 2 performances are given to the public on Saturday.
Recently, the Grand Theatre was sold to Ben Conover. He is an expert in saving and re-purposing old buildings, such as the Grand Theatre. The Norfolk Community Theatre decided to sell the property due to building conditions and fundraising. The board will be looking for different space in the future.
The board’s main funding comes from sponsorships (similar to our MIP sponsorships), ticket sales, grants, and memberships. Costs are also kept under control thanks to volunteers. For instance, Northeast Community College Theatre students assist with the production and set up. Other volunteers have helped with building sets. The board has also begun to utilize more social media to market events, such as using Facebook Live on opening nights and promoting the website.