The 2009-10 season is upon us

Wow, they sure come fast, don't they?

It was just a few weeks ago that we wrapped Pericles. Heck, The Lieutenant of Inishmore doesn't even seem that long ago (though I suppose Chris Holcom and company may disagree as they begin getting all of the effects ready for Night of the Living Dead).

Now we're just over two weeks out from our new season and Paula Vogel's magical comedy And Baby Makes Seven.

It's a big time of year. Auditions are all almost complete for all the 09-10 shows. The Jobsite braintrust has already turned an eye as to what might be available for 10-11. We even have irons in the fire for an 11-12 project. Whew ...

There are a few things though that depend more on you than they do us right now - 09-10 season tickets and annual campaign contributions.

I know I'm good at going on about all the reasons why you should become a season ticket holder, and I've often used this space to do just that. I'll spare you (and my fingers) from another rehash. I'll just leave it that we're still working very hard at finding at least another 25 couples who are ready to reap those benefits and make a big impact on what we're able to do here. Might you be one of them?

The annual campaign is something we've likely never made that much noise about. Our annual campaign is pretty much just what it sounds like - the pool of money we raise every year to help us cover day to day operational expenses (like our annual financial compilation, book-keeping, stamps and so on), to pay folks like myself and our TD for work outside of mainstages and to help act as a safety net when a show falls short of budget.

Falling short of budget is not a problem we've often had until this past year. There were a few reasons. We base out budget every year off of current sales trends and expectations, with a small margin of growth as we've always had. We consider ourselves pretty conservative in that regard, and up til now that formula has worked.

However we've had three back to back shows - Inishmore to Rabbit Hole to Pericles (all critical successes) - fall short of their budgets, not because people didn't come but because people couldn't afford our tickets and needed specials to get them in the door. That hurt us by at least a margin of about $4,000 per show.

Some of that money was made up by donations, and the rest we had to dig into the piggy bank for.

It's been a rough year for many, and many of us working with Jobsite know that too well. However, there are still those of you out there who may be able to help contribute to our annual fund - be it $5 or $5,000. There is truly no such thing as a small gift.

You can learn more about our donor tiers and benefits here, and then easily make your contribution by following the instructions here. All gifts made to our 09-10 annual campaign will be acknowledged through the end of Sept., 2010, and all gifts are fully tax-deductible to the extent provided by law.

Be you a donor, a season ticket holder or a casual patron who enjoys a show of ours once in a while - thank you for your support of Jobsite Theater. Outside of ticket sales, your personal contributions are our next largest stream of income. We truly hope to see or hear from you very soon.