Programs! Get Your Programs!

L to R: Christy Burch (directly in front of red banner), kneeling in the beard is Ernie Bauman. I'm standing behind Ernie as Muffles and on the right side bottom of the photo is Pammy. Were surrounded by a girl scout troop that saw our show and were enjoying the complimentary ice cream courtesy of Borden but arranged by our producer Bill Copeland.



Pictured above is the front and interior of the program for the San Antonio Fine Arts Center's (S.A.F.A.C.) 1992 production of "King of the Ice Cream Mountain". Pammy directed it and played the part of "Princess Happy". I played "Muffles the Penguin". At that point in time we had nurtured a good following and generally had good houses for most of our shows. Pam and I know it was because of the devotion by all the S.A.F.A.C. crew to all that went into presenting a play.

Back then we did most everything for the shows we put up there including making the programs for the plays. Keep in mind this was before the convenience of computers and Photoshop. It was all done by hand using pen and paper, rub on letters and white out followed by a trip to the copy place and some more tidying up. We usually had a very tight budget for each show ( sometimes it meant spending our own money) but we always tried to make everything look the very best we could. The programs were some of the first first things patrons would see before the play began and in live theater first impressions count a great deal.

This was on top of the other duties we had writing scripts, making props,painting scenery, acting in the plays, cleaning the theater, etc. It was hard work but we loved it and would do it over again in a heartbeat. It was great training for the theater life. We put up a new play every month. It was like thespian boot camp.

These things were important in building up our audiences over time, which is not a feat easily accomplished by a "for profit" theater. Tomorrow I'll post a couple of programs I've kept from recent San Antonio productions but the next time your catching a play at your favorite theater take a closer look at the program because the show has already begun.