LoftPAC

Congratulations to Seniors Pari Cariaga and Matt Thorsen who represented East Ridge at Chanhassen Dinner Theatre as part of the Star Kids program.  The program celebrates excellence in musical theater from around the Twin Cities.  Matt and Pari had a walk-on role in Bye, Bye, Birdie on the mainstage February 7th.

Woodbury Bulletin article

Feeling the midwinter blues? Missing the musical or one-act? Counting down the days till the spring play? Well don’t worry, I have a few solutions on how you can fill up your current theater-deprived life!

Step 1: Become a member of the Guthrie’s 30 Below program! If you are at least 16 or under 30 (sorry parents, this is kids only) you can sign up to buy your rush tickets any time of day. So instead of getting to the theater two hours ahead of show time to wait in line, all you have to do is call the box office to purchase your seat for that night. The only catch, you have to sign up in person at the theater.  Fortunately, you can buy your tickets through 30 Below the day you register, and then go grab some pad thai before you see your show.  To learn more information about this amazing program, go to:

http://www.guthrietheater.org/buy_tickets/30_below

Step 2: Are you signed up for the Thespian Festival at the Guthrie on February 18th? If not, it’s not too late! Go to http://www.mnthespians.org/ then “Conference Registration” and then “Register Individual Students—Conference Student Registration Form” located towards the bottom of the page. If you want to participate in a NIES event (perform a monologue, song, mime—pretty much a “you name it, they got it”—in front of judges) it might not be too late to sign up although spots are limited. If you have any questions about the Thespian festival, ask any of the LoftPAC officers. If you have any questions about NIES, ask me, Matt, or Katherine as we all did it last year and enjoyed it immensely (we got to perform our solos on the Wurtele Thrust Stage at the Guthrie. No big deal.) Also extra special this year, we will be performing our One-Act, “The Big Meal,” on Day One of the Festival, February 17th at Chanhassen High School. We would love some LoftPAC support!

Step 3: Keep checking the Loft Stage website and the bulletin board located outside the choir room for new information about upcoming events! Things are constantly popping up, even after our monthly meetings.

If these don’t help and your PSD (post-show depression) continues, please see a LoftPAC officer (or a doctor) immediately.

Coupon Cards Fundraiser is Back!

Back by popular demand is our merchant card individual fundraiser. Last year, many students earned big bucks by selling these popular discount cards to family, friends and neighbors. Students can use their individual funds for a variety of theater activities including activity fees, field trips and merchandise/photos. Here’s how it works:

The cards feature local businesses with various product discounts.  Last year merchants included Great Clips, Dairy Queen, Papa Murphy’s Pizza and Acapulco.  The cards sell for $20 and students get to keep $10 for every card they sell.  Most sales occur during a fun weekend sales blitz, where students work in teams to target ERHS neighborhoods to make sales.  This event is followed by a pizza party, complete with cash prize drawings and awards for top sellers.  All who participated last year had fun and were pleasantly surprised at how much they could earn in one afternoon.  “I was amazed how much fun it was and how easy it was to sell the cards,” said Beth Martin, who earned $180 during last year’s blitz.

We also need a handful of parent volunteers to work with teams on the sales blitz date.  Booster Mom Mary Kieffer helped last year: “It was so much fun to see how excited the kids were.  We were calling and texting back and forth with another team to see who had the most sales and the pizza party was a big hit.  Our kids love hanging out together anyway, so this way they can be together and earn money for their theater activities.”

This year’s fundraiser is March 1-22, with the all-important sales blitz on Sunday, March 3 from 1:00 – 5:00 pm.  Students need to sign up to participate by Feb. 8^th.  Ms. Hestwood has a sign up sheet in her office.  Any additional questions regarding the fundraiser can be directed to Todd and Annette Thorsen at 651-756-8032 or athorsen@comcast.net.

As an FYI, The Loft Stage Boosters conducts only two individual fundraisers per season: Butter Braids during the fall and the coupon cards during winter/spring.