Flat Rock Playhouse leaders hold open house for the public

A write-up of the meeting yesterday (Wednesday). Don't forget, there is another open house today at 5:30 p.m. at the Rock. From the Times-News:

Flat Rock Playhouse officials held a public informational meeting Wednesday at the downtown theater that began with a presentation about the company's financial struggles and business plan before moving on to a wide variety of other issues regarding the Playhouse's direction moving forward.

About 40 people attended the open house, led by Bill McKibbin, president of the Playhouse's board of trustees, and Producing Artistic Director Vincent Marini, who said the event was part of a concerted effort the past month to speak openly with the public and share details of the Playhouse's goals in trying to recover from a $1.4 million shortfall in 2010....

Marini told the crowd the Playhouse has not done a strong enough job in its promotional efforts to sell more individual and season tickets, and that it will be a key focus moving forward.

[Kathryn McConnell, vice president of community philanthropy for the Community Foundation,] is also confident about the theater's future.

“We will always have a Flat Rock Playhouse — there is no doubt in my mind that it will always be there,” she said. “I have all the confidence in the world in the Playhouse, and just hope that this has been a learning experience, not only for the staff but the board, to look at things a little differently and a little more carefully as they move forward. But we'll always have a playhouse as part of this community; we're not going to lose that.”...

Read it all.