ATG Member Organizations are cordially invited to attend the next meeting of Albuquerque Theatre Guild Liaisons, which will take place on Saturday, October 8, at 10:30 a.m. at the Southwest Rural Theatre Project, 5800 Kathryn SE (directions below). The provisional agenda for the meeting contains the following items, which you are invited to supplement with your own suggestions.

The meeting will open with informational reports about several ATG projects that involve member organizations and a request for your thoughts about them. These include the design of a theatre display in the lower-level showcases of the Albuquerque Airport (between the terminal and the garage); the High School Preview Nights program; the Individual Member Discount Benefit program; and the possibility of scheduling theatre events in several local bistros. If there are other topics or items of business that you would like to bring up or ask the ATG Board to consider, please bring them to the meeting and/or send them by e-mail to .

The main item on the agenda will be a proposal for the establishment of an ATG Theatre Lovers Community (or TLC, for short). This is an exciting plan for expanding ATG membership to theatregoers as well as theatre practitioners, and it involves you. The aim of the initiative is to develop an active community of theatre-lovers whose support will greatly benefit our member organizations and those who work with them. This community would take shape by means of collaborative programs and projects that strengthen the bond between theatre audiences and providers. Among the ideas under discussion are TLC attendance of selected rehearsals, pre-show talks about the plays being performed, post-show discussions and social interactions between TLC members and performers, backstage tours, and other projects that break through the barrier of the so-called fourth wall. As TLC members grow closer to actual theatre-making and spread the word about its fascinations, member organizations stand to benefit from larger, better informed, more enthusiastic and potentially more generous audiences.

The ATG Board has gone on record as approving in principle the creation of the Theatre Lovers Community, but the project clearly requires the willing and active participation of the Guild’s member organizations. Without your cooperation, TLC programming cannot get off the ground. The October 8 meeting will provide an opportunity for you to learn more about the TLC initiative, raise questions about its ends and means, think about the reactions of your colleagues to the idea, and consider the contribution that your particular organization might make to this important audience-building effort. You will also learn how you can earn $500 for your yourself or your theatre group by bringing members of your audiences into the TLC! You are welcome to invite colleagues to attend, and if you yourself have a conflict, we strongly encourage you to arrange for an understudy.

The meeting will take place in the venue of a newly formed ATG member group, the Southwest Rural Theatre Project. SWRTP has invited us to gather in their new space at 5800 Kathryn SE, at the corner of Alvarado. It will be an excellent opportunity to meet the members of this vigorous new company and learn more about their plans for developing plays and productions to take on tour outside the major cities of New Mexico. The best way to get there is to take San Mateo or San Pedro south from Zuni or north from Gibson, and turn onto Kathryn at the traffic light. Come early if you would like to meet, greet, and explore the premises. Coffee and other light refreshments will be provided.

Sincerely yours,
Jeff Anderson, Marty Epstein, Reeve Love, Linda Lopez McAlister, Joel Miller, and Hugh Witemeyer—ATG Board members
Kay Grant and Wendy Orley—TLC Proponents