THEATRE MANAGEMENTS OF SOUTH AFRICA

• TMSA presented the outgoing Chairman, Des Lindberg with an engraved Mont Blanc pen in recognition of his 22 years as Chairman of SAATM and TMSA, and the 5 years he spent on the State Theatre Board and Civic Theatre Boards respectively. Daphne Kuhn paid tribute to Des for his “dignified, outstanding leadership of this Association.” Richard Loring said that Des “displayed vision and tenacity over the years and that he was a true Theatre Survivor and that he had indeed made a difference.”



• The State Theatre celebrated 25 years.



• The Market Theatre celebrated 30 years.



• Daphne Kuhn celebrated her 200th production with David Mamet’s “Romance” at the Liberty Life Theatre on the Square.



• Dawn attended the Summit at Carnival City in March, convened by Barbara Creecy: “Building Gauteng’s Creative Industries”



• An Arts Management conference was held at the North West University Campus in Potchefstroom in June, with speakers including Deon Opperman, Mike Van Graan, Michael Maas, and Karin Meiring.



• Several big shows played to packed houses during 2006; My Fair Lady, We will Rock you, JC Superstar, Swan Lake, The Suitcase and Menopause the Musical to name but a few. Congratulations to the Producers and performers concerned.



• Richard stressed the need for new out of the box marketing strategies for theatre with the opening of 5 new theatres in 2007: Teatro at Montecasino (with Lion King in March), Gold Reef City (with Hairspray in July) the re-opening of the Alexander theatre (Adam Levy) with Rent in November, the Victory Theatre in Orange Grove (Joe Theron) with Umoja, and The Miracle Theatre in Jabavu White Çity in Soweto.



• Malcolm Purkey said that there are 4 kinds of Theatre in SA: Subsidy reliant Development Theatre, Commercial Independent Theatre, Commercial Subsidised Theatre, and Casino Theatre. All demanded different marketing strategies and claimed a proportion of the market..



• Tribute was paid by TBF to major contributors to the fund over the years: the Baxter theatre, Richard Loring, Ian Von Memerty and Pieter Toerien.



• Debbie Batzofin celebrated 35 years of working with Richard Loring and has now moved to managing Entertainment at Gold Reef City.



• Bryan Hill was appointed General Manager of Teatro Theatre, Montecasino.



• Alfie Reid reported that Computicket now has 210 outlets in various Checkers stores throughout the country.



• Well attended memorials were held for Michael Lovegrove and Anthony Farmer in June, and for Fiona Fraser in January 2007.



• Aubrey Sekhabi has taken over the reins of CEO of the State Theatre until the post is officially advertised and filled.



• Christopher Seabrooke sponsored the building of 110 seat theatre at his old school, Durban High School, to open in June this year.



• A meeting for dancers was held in October facilitated by Gregory Maqoma and Sifiso Kenyama (both of Jazz Art) to address the needs and frustrations of the Ballet and Contemporary dance world and to form an umbrella body similar to TMSA.



• African Footprint was awarded the “Tourism Award” at the Midrand Business of the Year Awards in November



• Dawn was invited to attend a conference facilitated by SATI, (SA Theatre Initiative) to explain the modus operandi of TMSA and also to share the working model for NALEDI with 12 African countries.



• A low light was that after much sleuthing and nagging, it appears that our application for funding for TMSA and Naledi from the Lottery has been irrevocably lost, and a brand new application for both bodies will need to be submitted…sigh…

• The updated Theatre Guide was completed in August after many months of research of data by the TMSA Admin office and is available on order from the TMSA office: info@tmsa.co.za or phone Melinda: 011 880-7760. The TMSA Theatre Guide contains a comprehensive list of all Live Theatre Venues throughout SA, as well as a list of all Festivals, and Funding Institutions as well as a guide to budgeting for a show (put together by the late Michael Lovegrove, CEO of the State Theatre) and much other interesting and essential data for established and emerging Theatre Producers and Entrepeneurs. The theatre guide is also available on the TMSA website: HERE

• Pieter Toerien initiated discussion about the re-introduction of the THEATRE DIARY, and Dawn followed up on this project with Dirk Joubert of Show Ads. Most members bought in and the diary came to fruition on 1 October.



• The diary has been running successfully in the Star Tonight for 5 months.

TMSA: Theatre Managements of South Africa, PO Box 1828 Saxonwold 2132
Tel: 011 880 7760 | Fax: 011 880 0833 | E-Mail: info@tmsa.org.za

Chairperson: Dawn Lindberg
Vice Chairpersons: Aubrey Sekhabi, Bryan Hill