TETA Board of Directors
Treasurer / CFO
Treasurer / CFO
After three consecutive years at the Hyatt Regency in Houston, are you ready to return to Dallas? So are we. Much as we’ll miss our Hyatt partners in Houston, we’ll see them again in 2015. For 2014, THEATREFEST returns to Big D, and there are lots of reasons why you should join us.
In a separate article, Jenny Nichols will detail the amazing Featured Guests which will be on hand at TTF14. We’ll be breaking ground in a couple of new areas of educational theatre, so we encourage you to take note of each guest.
Thanks to a great alliance with the AT&T Performing Arts Center, TTF attendees will be able to access theatre professionals on many levels, including the development team for a show being workshopped in Dallas, but bound for Broadway.
The numbers above? They have to do with this year’s Special Guests.
On Friday, January 31, Carol Channing- the Legendary Dolly herself- celebrates her 93rd birthday, just a few days after the 50th Anniversary of the show with which she is most closely associated: “Hello, Dolly!”, which opened on Broadway on January 14, 1962 (where were YOU then?).
Helping us honor Carol will be her neighbor in Palm Springs- MR. TOMMY TUNE! A nine time Tony Award winner, Mr. Tune has won the coveted award for Featured Actor in a Musical, Best Choreography (4 times), Best Direction of a Musical (3 times), and Best Actor in a Musical. Born and raised in Texas, this great talent will be on hand to talk about himself and his friend and neighbor, Carol.
Both Miss Channing and Mr. Tune will be interviewed by TETA’s own Dr. Aaron Adair. You will not want to miss this truly once in a lifetime event!
Once previously, Best Actor in a Musical Tony Award Winner Brian Stokes Mitchell appeared at TheatreFest to teach a Master Class on interpreting the lyrics of “The Impossible Dream”. It was a great, well-attended class with just one complaint: members wished Stokes could have sung more than one song.
Well, NOW HE CAN! Taking songs from his extensive Broadway career and his newly-released CD, “Simply Broadway”, STOKES SINGS in a mini-concert at TheatreFest 2014. While the songs in his set are known only to Stokes, you should not miss this opportunity to share his reminisces and the amazing baritone from the actor dubbed by the New York Times as “Broadway’s Last Leading Man”.
In addition to the guests highlighted above, there will be over 200 workshops and opportunities for you to network and learn with old friends and new within the Texas Educational Theatre community.
Please Note: Because of the interest in Miss Channing’s and Mr. Tune’s event, which will be her only January, 2014 appearance other than a January celebration in New York honoring she and “Hello, Dolly!”’s 50th Anniversary, please make certain you wear your Convention Badges and carry positive ID with you to this event. Admittance is for members and invited guests only!
Please Note 2: Stokes’ performance will be in a more intimate cabaret setting, which puts less distance between him and the audience. Please be on time for this event, as seating will be a bit more limited than usual. Again, your “ticket” is your Convention Badge. We are exploring the opportunity for a special “Meet and Greet” with Stokes after his performance. Stay tuned for more details.
Don’t forget the great rates in Dallas- LESS than 2013 rates in Houston for one to four people in the same room- and the SIGNIFICANTLY reduced rates for overnight self-parking.
There will be one further TheatreFest update (we hope) prior to the beginning of the Holiday Break in mid-December. But, PLEASE, do not forget the December 1, 2013 deadline for submitting your TTF registration. Registrations received after that date will be returned and the registration fee will increase to $175, which must be paid onsite by MasterCard/Visa or cash only. NO PERSONAL CHECKS. If you have questions about the registration process, please email them to us ONLY at tetaguru@yahoo.com well before the December 1, 2013 deadline.
After they have been reviewed and approved by TETA’s Board of Directors, the Organization’s Financials for 2012 and Form 990 will be posted on this website. A hard copy of all committee reports will also be available at the Business Meeting at TheatreFest 2014.
On a personal note, the entire Board of Directors and Convention Staff extend their congratulations to Jennifer Nichols, the sole winner of this year’s Founders’ Award. No one deserves this prestigious honor more than Jenny, and we thank her for her years of tireless and dedicated service to TETA. BRAVA!!!!!