2016-17 Singer Schedule

Hi everyone!

The Google Calendar has been updated with dates and times for the 2016-17 season. Please go through carefully and make sure you've got these dates marked off in your calendars. Some important notes and explanations included below:

Xara Camp
This year, Xara Camp is one weekend later than it usually has been (Sept 9-11) to accommodate university move-in being on Labour Day weekend. As a result, we'll be kicking off the year with a regular rehearsal (plus fun bonding acitvities!) on the Labour Day Monday evening (Sept 5).

General Rehearsals
Rehearsals will be the same as always, Sundays from 1:15-5:30pm at St. Matthew's. Note that there are special Monday night rehearsals on the Labour Day weekend, Thanksgiving weekend, and Easter weekend, in lieu of Sunday afternoon rehearsals.

Power Weekends
We have added two 'Power Weekends' into next year's schedule. This means an all day Saturday rehearsal + a Sunday rehearsal. The dates are November 12 and February 11.

Fundraisers
We have already scheduled three yoga fundraisers into the year (Oct 1, Jan 21, Mar 25). Please make sure you have these blocked off so you can attend and invite lots of your friends to come. Our annual wreath-decorating day is scheduled for the first Saturday in December, as usual. Please note that this is a MANDATORY fundraising day.

Tales of the Old North
There are a few changes from last year's schedule that we need to fill you in on. The first is that we will be doing 4 public shows instead of 3 (Thurs, Fri, Sat evenings + a Sat matinee). This is in response to our sold out shows and waiting lists that we had last year!

We also recognize that tech time was very rushed and stressful last year and are working to make that better on many levels, including more focused rehearsal time in the lead up, the November power weekend, simpler costume design, and more tech time in the space.

Currently you'll see that we have two rehearsals blocked off on Sunday Nov 20 & an evening rehearsal blocked on Monday Nov 21. We will not be using all three of these blocks - maximum of two. We would ask that you hold all three of these blocks in your schedule until September - then we will release one-two of them depending on our assessment of the technical needs for the space. We are trying to find a balance between having enough tech time that we are all feeling secure in the technical elements for the production + making sure you have adequate time off the week of the show. Thank you for your patience as we sort this out.

We then have Cue to Cue & Dress rehearsals for the two nights leading up to opening night.

The Hours Turn to Nothing
This show will be at St. Matthew's and will have the same tech schedule as we did for The House of Bernarda Alba. The only change is an extra matinee show on the Saturday afternoon.

Run Outs
We are in process of booking The Hours Turn to Nothing for touring next spring. These will be weekend touring dates only throughout May and June, and we will have them settled by September.

Sold Services
We are currently in the process of booking sold services/gigs for next year to boost our revenue streams and visibility for the organization. As soon as we have dates confirmed, we will add them to the schedule and let you know.

Thanks all - any questions please let us know!
Claire

Notes for Sunday June 5 Rehearsal + Annapolis Royal Performance!

Hi everyone!

We hope you have had a lovely couple of weeks and are excited for our final two weekends of the year together before our summer hiatus! Please read below for info on our June 5 rehearsal, show in Annapolis Royal including drives, Membership Survey update, and June 12 final gathering!

Sunday June 5 - St. Matthew's United Church, 1:15-5:30 pm

We are going to do our regular warmups, some choreography spot checks, and then a FULL RUN (no costumes/hair/makeup). In particular during the movement session we are going to work on the Miserere and the Kyrie to make sure they are really tight. Following the run we'll do some final tweaks to music and movement. We have the same personnel as the Chester performance + Grace (yay!) so we will need to do a bit of tweaking regarding the stools etc.

Saturday June 11 - Kings Theatre, 209 St George St., Annapolis Royal

2:45 pm Call for Singers
3:00 pm Rehearsal - full mark through
5:00 pm Dinner
6:30 pm Call
7:30 pm Show

To Bring:

• music and script
• costume (including footwear)
• all hair/makeup items
• any props you are responsible for (fans, picture, etc)
• gas money for your driver
• snacks for yourself

We will have 1.5 hours for dinner but it would be best to call ahead to a restaurant in the area to book, or bring your own dinner.

Please note that following this show, we will need you to turn in any costume pieces which do not belong to you and were given to you by Dan. We will have storage bins available for you to return the costumes in.

Drives

Please use this spreadsheet to organize drives for the Annapolis Royal show: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AOBi8iBcfhgIqJrBHHGSVS8xIIGn60iJ3ReqOnQ6i2Y/edit?usp=sharing

End of Year Gathering

As we mentioned on Facebook, we would like to hold an end of year gathering on Sunday June 12 at St. Matthew's during our usual rehearsal time (starting at 1:15). We'd like to invite everyone to bring a snack to share, and it will be a time for reflection on the year past, as well as brainstorming for the future! Plus just fun XaraLove time! :)

Membership Survey

Thanks to everyone (13 people) who have filled out the membership survey so far. Just a friendly reminder that your feedback is truly very important to us and we would really appreciate it as we move forward with developing our strategic plan for the next three years. You can fill out the survey here: http://goo.gl/forms/pP7lZ7v1qxpdAkyA3