What's Happening at The Guild:

We are still pursuing negotiations with ARI concerning rent. We are currently having to pay $220.00 a month for the land that the Guild sits on. The building, complete with termites and leaking roof, is ours. This is an additional expense of $2,640.00 a year that we can't afford without raising prices or scheduling more rentals, which would impact on our scheduling of our own productions.

The 97-98 season continues. The adult comedy, "Cheaters", under the direction of Bill Gonzalez, was a resounding success. Kudos to Billy, his cast, and crew. A hilarious production!!

On the heels of "Cheaters," the theater was rented to The International School of Panama for their production of "The Curious Savage." Their Drama Club did a fantastic job on the show and I hope you were able to see it. Some of you may even remember our production of the show back in 1956.

Now in production , our final show of the season, is "The Fourth Wall" by A. L. Gurney. This stylish and sophisticated comedy stars four excellent and experienced actors: Laura Sebastian, a talented new comer to our stage, Linda Dahlstrom, whose last appearance at the guild was as Lola in last season's FORSCOM Award winner, "Damn Yankees," Carl Legore, a talented favorite who most recently appeared in both "The Rain Maker" and "Cheaters," as well as co-directed "Greetings" and Don Armstrong, who was an immediate hit as Micky/Lucius in "Greetings."

This is a co-production between the Guild and USARSO's DCA/Valent Recreation Center, and is partially being sponsored by AT&T. Directed by Ted Turnipseed and produced by Gale Cellucci, this show will be entered into the 1998 FORSCOM Competition. As with last season's "Damn Yankees," which won a total of 27 (no, not a typo, the Board made me put this in, 27 AWARDS!!! CONGRATULATIONS Cast and Crew of "Damn Yankees" FORSCOM awards. We have high hopes for this show which will be judged for this year's competition.

"The Fourth Wall" is a "love letter to the theater" and the author uses the stage to comically explore our place in the world today. Set in the living room of a contemporary, upper-class, Buffalo, New York, couple, Gurney sharpens his wit on such topics as cola wars, politics, and even the very audiences who attend plays."The Fourth Wall" opens on Thursday, June 18, and runs Friday, June 19, Saturday, June 20, Thursday, June 25, Friday, June 26, and closes Saturday June 27. Don't miss this show which The Milwaukee Journal called "two hours of devilishly comic cleverness." As always, Curtain is at 8:00 P.M. Though our phone numbers will be changing for next season, you can still call 272-6786 for reservations.

The Annual General Membership Meeting and Election Of Officers will be held on June 14th, at 2 p.m., at the Ancon Playhouse. Please come, express your opinions, and VOTE. The proposed slate of officers for next year is listed below, but nominations will also be taken from the floor. Attendance at last year's General Membership Meeting and election was very sparse. This is YOUR CHANCE to make a difference to the Theatre Guild's future. The board needs you, your energy, and your expertise.

Elections for 1998-99 Board:

The Guild's Board consists of President, Vice President, Treasurer, Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretary and three Board Members elected to serve a two year term, three Board Members from the previous years election that still have one more year to serve and two Alternate Board Members. There is normally a total of 13 people including the two alternates, which are expected to attend all meetings, but may only vote if another regular Board Member is absent.

Slate of Officers 1998-99:

President: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ted Turnipseed

Vice-President:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joan Othon

Recording Secretary: . . . . . . . Rosario Barrera

Corresponding Secretary: . . . . Randy Grubbs

Treasurer: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anayansi Vial

Candidates for Board Member:

Gale Cellucci, Linda Dahlstrom, Donna Grubbs, Roby Royo, Rita Sosa, Gavin Sundwall, Nancy Welch and Jorge Zambrano.

From this group, we will vote for all of the officers and only five of the needed six board members (in order to prevent all from getting the same number of votes). The three receiving the most votes will be elected to serve two year terms. The next three will serve one year terms, and the remaining two will serve as alternates. As you can see, all will be on the board IF no others are added to the slate, as nominations from the floor, at the General Membership Meeting. We also recognize that with the Treaty mandated drawdown, some may not be able to fulfill their complete terms.

Announcements and communications have been going out via e:mail and our website, http://members.tripod.com/~TGAncon/index.html. If you are online, please let us know so that we may add you to our e:mail contact list. (Just "click" on Jerry's name at the bottom of the page to e:mail him.) Also please be sure to visit the website for the latest info. We will strive to make sure that each member gets a newsletter either in the mail or via the world of technology. Special Thanks to Jerry Hall for all of his hard work, technological talents and for getting us up on "the web." His goal is to eventually get our complete "history" of shows along with other interesting info posted for the world to see. He could use some help...

Anyone wishing to rent the theater, please give us a call at 272-6786 and leave a message. We will call you back. We are currently negociating a rental with the "TOTEM" group from the University of Panama for a show in July.

See you on the 14th, and don't forget MY show! Oops! OUR Show!!

Billy T. Turnipseed

June, 1998