ANNUAL REPORT - The National Theatre of Washington DC

The number of touring shows is finite, and four venues vie for presentations in our market area. Four productions were on our stage last season. This year we presented only two. MOVIN' OUT played a successful return engagement. The Washington premiere of the stunning Tony-Award-winning Pulitzer Prize-winning play, DOUBT, with its original Tony-Award-winning star, Cherry Jones, followed. This was a triumphal play, but even with an original star, great reviews and outstanding credentials, this play did not attract the SRO houses it deserved. Ms. Jones was brilliant, as was the play, but ticket sales were somewhat disappointing.

In the early hours of June 2, a broken water pipe deluged the front section of our building in the middle of the night. The extensive damage destroyed the ceilings in all of our offices, as well as in the Entrance Lobby, the Helen Hayes Gallery and the Balcony Lounge. Carpets and draperies were damaged beyond repair. Some sections of wall were destroyed. Furniture and computer equipment was damaged.

Immediately, mold prevention/remediation began. Huge hot-air blowers were set up, and hundreds of holes drilled into walls in order to circulate the hot air.

On the afternoon of August 16, four weeks into the renovation of the spaces, another pipe joint in the same location gave way. Portions of the just-replaced ceilings came down again in almost all of the same locations as before. After another round of mold prevention-remediation, renovations began anew. Numerous joint samples cut from the air-conditioning system revealed further weaknesses, so the decision was made to replace all the pipes involved. Fortunately, most of the damage was covered by insurance. Also very fortuitously, no mainstage shows were scheduled until October. The spaces were mostly restored by the end of the fiscal year, with no interruption in mainstage programming.

However, our SUMMER CINEMA series had to be moved across the street to the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, five SATURDAY MORNING shows were moved to the Marriott Metro Center Hotel, and three MONDAY NIGHT performances were rescheduled to the National Press Club. Our scheduled entry in the 2nd Annual WASHINGTON FRINGE FESTIVAL had to be cancelled. After a challenging summer in rented offices off the premises, things were returning back to normal by the end of September.

The National Theatre has presented plays and musicals at the same location, three blocks from The White House in Washington, DC, since 1835. A commercial playhouse until 1974, it is now a not-for-profit, 501.c.3 cultural, educational and charitable organization, operated by the trustees of the National Theatre Corporation, and managed for the board by The Shubert Organization. It is a pleasure to review for you once again our attractions, programs and projects, and some particular events and achievements of this past fiscal year ~ the 172nd season for this historic playhouse, the oldest continually operated Class-A legitimate professional theatre in America.

MOVIN' OUT - December 6, 2005 through 23, 2006

In its return engagement, the show was again well received. Told through the choreography of Twyla Tharp and two dozen of Billy Joel's hit songs, MOVIN' OUT is the story of five lifelong friends living through two turbulent decades that change them, and the world around them, forever. Songs like "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me," "We Didn't Start the Fire," and "Pressure" come together to weave a musical backdrop which beautifully compliments Tharp's innovative choreography. The songs and dance take audiences through a poignant narrative comprised of three main elements: post-World War II idealism, the Vietnam War and its subsequent unrest, and finally, survival.

DOUBT - March 13 through 25, 2007 - The remarkable Cherry Jones brought her Broadway Tony-Award-winning performance to the National. It is almost unheard of these days for shows to tour with their original cast. Ms. Jones is not only a brilliant performer, but also a class act offstage. Living up to her promise to "shake every hand" at a reception for members of the National Theatre Circle, Ms. Jones was as charming in person as she was formidable in her role as the starchy, no-nonsense nun in Doubt. The play by John Patrick Shanley, set in a Bronx Catholic school during the fall of 1964, is dynamically thought-provoking and a surefire conversation-starter.

TIMELINE
This report supplements the long history of the National Theatre which is recorded in the Chronology of the Theatre's activities on this website. A TIMELINE lists thousands of plays which have been seen over the years, and thousands of performers who have thrilled our audiences. The National is indebted to its early managers who kept the records, to Richard Schneider, our manager in the 1970's and Helen Teske of our box-office, who together established the National Theatre Archive in which the records are preserved, and to Thomas S. Shorebird, our first official Archivist. More recently, National Theatre President Donn B. Murphy, Corporate Administrator John Loomis, and volunteer archivists Mel Goldberg, Elaine Kolodny and Bayla White, have added to and consolidated the several lists, and prepared the cumulative Timeline for transfer to the Internet.

TICKETPLACE

The National cooperated once again in a cooperative arrangement with TicketPlace, the reduced-price ticket outlet managed by the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington. This service helps our ticket sales, as well as making affordable tickets available to the public.The venue sold $34,000 worth of National tickets this year.

APPRECIATION FOR THE SUPPORT OF OUR NATIONAL THEATRE CIRCLE
Certainly this theatre could not prosper without the wise guidance and dedicated efforts of our Board of Trustees, as well as the loyal patronage given by the sustaining supporters of our outreach programs, and our "family of friends" in the National Theatre Circle who renew their commitment annually.

Cherry Jones, the star of DOUBT, was honored at a reception for Circle Members after a matinee performance in the Helen Hayes Gallery.

Circle Members contribute a minimum of $1,500 each year, which helps make a variety of free outreach activities possible. We are continually grateful for their ongoing support.

THE PROPERTY
The extensive flooding suffered this year (see introductory paragraph) wrought design changes in the Helen Hayes Gallery. Famed scene designer Oliver Smith's peach and turquoise color scheme from 1984 was replaced by designer Francesca Carusso with mint-green walls, yellow wainscoting, blue drapes, an apricot stage curtain and pewter crown moldings, with carpet and accents in tan and brown. In the spring, chairs in all the boxes, as well as those in the Helen Hayes Gallery and Corporate Lounge were refinished and recovered in the same dusty blue velvet which was selected for them by Smith 20 years before. Then the Helen Hayes chairs were recovered again only months later in tangerine velvet, after the flood damage.

NATIONAL PLAYERS

The National Theatre once again this year sponsored free performances for high school students of the Greater Washington Area, presented on our mainstage by the National Players in their 58th year of touring. The students saw Shakespeare's OTHELLO in January of 2007. America's longest-running classical touring company, National Players is a subsidiary of the Olney Theatre Center for the Arts, the Official State Theatre of Maryland. National Players is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Maryland State Arts Council as an educational outreach program of The Olney Theatre.

IATSE INTERN TRAINING PROGRAM
The National Theatre is a supporter of the Training Fund of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Local # 22, the union to which our own stagehands belong. The union conducts an ongoing schedule of training workshops, both basic and advanced, in working venues including the National. The focus is on new technologies, and hands-on training with in-house equipment. The program addresses safe, efficient and effective use of theatrical equipment - sound, lighting rigging, etc. A college certificate program for stage technicians is offered in partnership with Prince George's Community College. Stagehands in the photo are shown adjusting rope lines and pulleys set into the steel grid high above the stage. Safety is paramount here, since heavy pipes and pieces of scenery will be attached to the lines.

THE COLLEGE OF FELLOWS OF THE AMERICAN THEATRE

The National Theatre supports the Annual Meeting of The College of Fellows of the American Theatre, a distinguished honor society, by hosting a reception prior to the Inductees Dinner, which precedes a day-long meeting the next day at the Kennedy Center. The College promotes and encourages the highest standards of research and creativity in educational and professional entertainment, through the recognition and honoring of distinguished service and accomplishments in the field of theatre by designers, directors, educators, performers, playwrights and producers of acknowledged national stature.

NATIONALTHEATRE.ORG

The National first appeared on the Internet in 1995, among the first web presences for a theatre in the Greater Washington Area. The site received about 150,000 "hits" in its first six years. After a major overhaul in 2002, the site began registering more than 1,000,000 hits each year. We had 1,370,000 hits last year, and nearly doubled that number with 2,130,000 hits this year, for a total in all years of more than 4,000,000. Hits represent page visits by people looking for information on our site.

Current statistics are always available by clicking on the globe icon at the right bottom of the site's home page, www.nationaltheatre.org The National Theatre is indebted to eXTReMe Tracking for making this service available pro bono.

NATIONAL THEATRE COURTESY EMAIL LIST

In 2000 the theatre established an Email Information List. Messages are sent to patrons who specifically request inclusion for information about our attractions and activities at the National. The list was established using the email program in Netscape Explorer. All "subscribes" and "unsubscribes" were entered manually by the Executive Director.

By mid-summer of 2003, the unwieldy list had grown to an unmanageable 2,500 subscribers. The addresses were moved to ListMail, a then-new computer program designed specifically to handle email mass mailings, popularly referred to as "E-blasts."

With automated sign-ups and resignations, the list had grown to 21,000 members by September 30, 2007, for an average of about eight new subscribers each day from the inception of the list. We feel this patron roster is particularly valuable since all of these members self-subscribed, welcoming email information from the National Theatre on a continuing basis.

Those on the list are frequently offered advance purchase opportunities which allow them to reserve seats before tickets go on sale to the general public, and occasionally they receive special discount offers.

THE DEDICATED SEAT PROGRAM
Brass Plaque

Donors wishing to dedicate seats in the National Theatre may do so in return for a contribution. A handsome brass plate is affixed to the seat, with a dedicatory inscription provided by the donor. This program was envisioned and inaugurated by our late Treasurer, Margaret E. Lynn, and is now being administered by Betsy Libretta. Links inviting patrons to consider dedicating seats have been added to most pages of the website, and have engendered some interest and contributions from visitors to the site.

MONDAY NIGHT AT THE NATIONAL

Our Monday FREE music, dance, comedy and drama showcase continued to attract eager and talented performers as well as enthusiastic audiences from across the Greater Washington Area. Donn B. Murphy produced the series. MC Todd Clark and Host-Ushers Nick Hawkins and Delante Milhouse welcomed our guests and managed the programs.

Two performances are given in fall, winter and spring, one at 6 pm for the convenience of downtown workers, and one at 7:30 pm to accommodate guests who may come in from the suburbs.

We attempt, through variety in the programmng, to represent various forms of performing art - song - instrumental music - dance - plays - humor - monologuists - and many segments of our richly diverse cultural and ethnic community.

The series has been sponsored for many years by the Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation for which we are grateful, and the Trustees of the National Theatre. On the bill this season were the following presentations:

SATURDAY MORNING AT THE NATIONAL

Our FREE family performances brought happy local and tourist and families: kids, parents and grandparents to the Helen Hayes Gallery weekly in Fall and Spring for music, mimes, plays, clowns and a variety of other performers. Donn B. Murphy produced the series. MC Sarah O'Neill and Host-Ushers Johanna Cahill, Claire Martin and Dominic O'Neill welcomed our guests and managed the programs. Gregory Lee was our Barrymore Eagle channeler.

Since these programs began in 1975, Mariott, our next-door neighbor, has been our supporting partner, providing generous annual grants.

We are extremely appreciative for this sponsorship by MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL, INC., and THE J. WILLARD AND ALICE S. MARRIOTT FOUNDATION.

SUMMER CINEMA: HEPBURN: A CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

Due to renovations underway in the Helen Hayes Gallery at the Nationa, films were shown this summer at the ASAE Marriott Learning Center within The Ronald Reagan Building and Trade Center. Admission to these screenings - inaugurated in 1985 - was free. The films, featuring the always elegant and endearing Kate Hepburn, drew good crowds. Attendees ranged from teens to seniors, and included Greater Washington area residents as well as tourists. Audiences responded with enthusiastic laughter, and for the final two films, with teary-eyed empathy. John Henry Loomis programmed the films and produced the series. MC Todd Clark and Host-Ushers Nick Hawkins and Delante Milhouse welcomed our guests and managed the programs.

NATIONAL THEATRE COMMUNITY VAUDEVILLE

The National Theatre Community Vaudeville thrived this year, administered by John Henry Loomis, who scheduled talent and coordinated with the venues. Our variety performers traveled to senior citizen homes, shelters, community clubs and other 501.c.3 venues within the Beltway. Among the responses we received this year were the following: "Thanks to the National for bringing quality programming to our seniors. Please don't stop. . .Wonderful! The participants loved the performer! . . .Thank you for providing this extraordinary service to the community. . .The performance left everyone with a group 'feel good' experience. Thanks!"

THE HELEN HAYES AWARDS NOMINEE ANNOUNCEMENT

For the second year, the Helen Hayes Awards program announced its Nominees, appropriately, in the Helen Hayes Gallery. A "full house" of Washington theatre notables and practitioners assembled to hear HHA Executive Director Linda Levy Grossman read names of nominees. The announcements were, without exception, received enthusiastically. A reception followed the program.

FREE TICKET PROGRAM
The National Theatre Annie Oakley Ticket Fund was established in 1974, and in every year since, free tickets have been distributed to groups of disadvantaged children and adults, residents of shelters and military personnel returning from Iraq. This program is named in memory of Annie Oakley, the sharpshooter celebrated by Rodgers and Hammerstein in ANNIE GET YOUR GUN. Ms Oakley once demonstrated her skills on the stage of the National Theatre, and she was known for providing free tickets to poor people. In the theatre, free tickets used to be punched with a hole. They were nick-named "Annie Oakleys," in a tribute to Oakley's astounding trick of shooting a hole in a playing card, calling card, or theatre ticket thrown into the air!

SPECIAL PATRON HALF-PRICE TICKET PROGRAM
Through the ongoing Special Patron Ticket Program, half-price tickets were made available again this year to children, students, the economically disadvantaged, the disabled, military Grades F 1-4, and senior citizens. The National Theatre Corporation, The Shubert Organization, and the producers of our shows all contribute to keeping the Special Patron Hal-Price ticket program viable.

DISABLED SERVICES

Signed performances enhanced our attractions for the hearing impaired this year. We also had narrations for the visually impaired which were provided by volunteers from The Metropolitan Washington Ear (MWE). In addition, infrared hearing amplification and wheel-chair locations are available for all mainstage shows.

ARCHIVE
In 1975 there were no records of the past at the National Theatre. Since then, programs, photographs, posters and other artifacts and memorabilia have been donated. The collection is lovingly conserved in the Archive by volunteers Mel Goldberg, Mary Hannon Haley, Elaine Kolodny and Bayla White. Contributions of materials related to the National Theatre, particularly pre-1950, are always welcomed. Although the limited space in our crowded storage precludes the accommodation of researchers, the staff attempts to answer all mail, email and telephone research questions from authors, historians, authors, relatives of past performers and employees, and theatre aficionados.

CAPITAL FRINGE FESTIVAL
Due to the flood and renovations at the National this summer, it was necessary to withdraw "at the last minute" from the CAPITAL FRINGE FESTIVAL, but we hope to participate again in the summer of 2008.

ARTS ON FOOT
Due to flood-related changes, Saturday Morning at the National was unable to participate this year in the Arts On Foot project. This downtown arts promotion is produced by the Pennsylvania Avenue Quarter Neighborhood Association. "Passports" distributed at the National and other places were stamped as families and individuals traveled among the many galleries and theatres which participated with special programs. We hope to participate next year, with our mascot, Barrymore Eagle, once again on hand at the National for our Saturday Morning shows, posing for photos with happy children and pleased parents.

MISSION
Facade 1800's The goal of the National Theatre Corporation, which was established in 1974, is to keep Washington's historic "Theatre of Presidents" open and offering top-quality live stage attractions in the nation's capital. Additionally, through our outreach programs, we bring free performances and other services to the public. No governmental grants are received by the theatre either for its maintenance, or for its productions or outreach programs and services.

TRUSTEES, OFFICERS & ADMINISTRATION
John B. Adams, Jr., Chair
Donn B. Murphy, President & Executive Director
Sterling Tucker, Vice President
Victor S. Kamber, Treasurer
Tom Mack, Secretary
Heidi Berry
Jack Golodner
Carol Laxalt
Thomas F. Lee
Genevieve McSweeney Ryan
Robert N. Snyder

John Henry Loomis, Corporate Administrator
Tracie D. Powell, Accountant
Marc E. Miller, Esq., Counsel
Bormel, Grice & Huyett, P.A., Auditors

Our achievements this year would have been impossible without the dedicated efforts of our staff: Corporate Administrator John Henry Loomis, Accountant Tracie D. Powell and Dedicated Seat Program Administrator Betsy Libretta.
National Theatre logo design by Ken Dresser ©1975 The National Theatre.

MANAGEMENT - SHUBERT
The mainstage productions, theatre facility, ticketing and house operations were admirably overseen by our General Manager, Harry Teter, Jr., our Theatre Manager Mark Finkbeiner through the end of 2006, succeeded by Guy Jordin Heard, and the House Staff and Backstage Staff of the National Theatre, including Director of Group Sales Greg Flood, succeeded by Dorrie Schenkel, Concessions Manager Bill Selepak, Receptionist Vickie Lomax and Stage Door Security Chief Bob Lawrence.

The Shubert Organization has provided the National with first-rate attractions and impeccable management services, for which we are grateful. All profits from the Shubert Organization go directly to the not-for-profit Shubert Foundation, which supports a wide array of arts, cultural and other organizations in this metropolitan area and nationwide.

THE CORPORATION
The Annual Tax Filing for the Corporation is available for review at the National Theatre Corporate Office, 1321 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, 20014.

Respectfully submitted with my personal thanks to our trustees, to every member of the staff of the National Theatre, to the Shubert Organization, to our National Theatre Circle and other loyal supporters, and to the thousands of patrons who enjoy performances here, and who provide the motivation and inspiration to keep this marvelous theatre alive.

Donn B. Murphy, Ph.D.
President and Executive Director
30 September, 2007