MEET THE BOARD

Rick Weiland, SECT Vice President

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With a good deal of encouragement from my youngest daughter, Alexandra, a musical theatre student at the University of South Dakota, I auditioned for the Sioux Empire Community Theatre (SECT) Season 14 production of Jesus Christ Superstar (JCS) -- and much to my horror and amazement, I got the part of Pontius Pilate. JCS has been a family favorite for decades -- in fact both my niece, Allison Weiland, who recently played Halle Jackson in the SECT Season 15 production of “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” -- and daughter Alex, have both played the part of Mary Magdalene in productions of JCS -- I guess you could say that live theatre is part of the family DNA. So a “funny thing happened on the way…” to rehearsal one night. I was asked to join the SECT Board of Directors. It has been an incredible year as the board has had to reinvent the company’s business model, cut monthly overhead, create and execute a debt retirement program, build out the board and put together Season 16 without an Artistic Director. Now if we can meet our Season 16 budget targets, we will end our year in a very strong financial position and may be in a position to recruit a full time Executive Director for Season 17. We have been able to accomplish a lot over the course of the past year. Kristy Morris and Trina Kuper, our two part-time paid employees have stepped up in a major way, along with the board of directors, to make sure that SECT would continue to offer an affordable and quality theatre experience. The Season 16 opener of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” is a testament to that hard work. Unfortunately, the economic reality of community theatre, as I have learned in the past several months, is always a challenge. Ticket sales alone, won’t fund the company. We need sponsors, donations, actors, directors, production crew and volunteers. We need you, all of you – to exist. Please buy a season membership or individual tickets, donate online and help in anyway that you can by reaching out to Box Office Manager, Kristy Morris, at 605-360-4800 or go online to www.SiouxFallsTheatre.com.

Thanks! Rick Weiland