Hello, Sinag-tala Family. This is it. We’re coasting and actually picking up speed towards the big show in December. So it’s time to get updated. Here goes:
1. AGAIN – WELCOME! Our circle keeps growing as more people contact us through our website or add their names to our sign-up sheets at various events, or are referred to us by the growing number of Sinag-tala enthusiasts out there. So, to all of you who have just joined our mailing list, thanks so much for your interest and welcome to the Family!
2. SEE YOU AT THE ORIENTATION. Don’t forget that at 7:00PM this Friday, September 4, we’ll be holding our ST2009 Orientation at the Colonial Heights Library at 4799 Stockton Boulevard (corner 21st Avenue), Sacramento, CA 95820. All new and returning ST2009 company members, including parents and guardians, must attend. We’re encouraging all alumni to attend as well so we can renew old ties. This will be an exciting evening because for many of you it will be the very first occasion to meet other participants, families, alumni and supporters. You’ll also get to meet our resident and apprentice artists, Board members and Production Staff. More importantly, you’ll get to know more about what we do, how we do it, rehearsal schedules, training policies, volunteer opportunities, how we’re faring in the economic recession and the key roles everyone will play on and/or offstage. Come armed with questions. And while it’s not required, you may come armed with potluck refreshments as well. See you on September 4!
3. WAX POETIC OVER COFFEE (OR OTHER NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES). Don’t forget the SFTPAA Poetry Kapihan (coffee gathering), either. It’s one of the key events being held this year to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the Sinag-tala Theatrical Revue. We’re so honored to be partners with Sacramento Poet Laureate Bob Stanley and the Sacramento Poetry Center in bringing you an afternoon of captivating works by Bob himself, guest Bob Lozano and Sinag-tala alumni such as Angela-Dee Alforque, Mark Fabionar, Mario Ellis Hill, Conrad Panganiban, Krystle Jong and Bria Marie Darling. In addition, Sinag-tala actors Brian Rivera, Gladys Imperio Acosta and others will read selections by Al Robles, Jose Rizal and other Filipino poets whose works have been theatrically interpreted in past Sinag-tala Revues. The Kapihan will be held at 2:30PM on Saturday, September 12 at the Sacramento Poetry Center located at 25th and R Streets, in Midtown Sacramento. Admission is free. So are the refreshments and the powerful words.
4. A NIGHT OF BENEFIT. There’s no doubt that the Sinag-tala Benefit Night will be packed with entertainment, dancing, moving ceremonial moments, awards, raffle prizes and Sinag-tala luminaries plus a silent auction and no-host bar (all checkbooks and cash welcome). But even less doubtful is the huge boost it will be giving to a 20-year-old called Sinag-tala 2009: A Thearical Revue. The net proceeds from the Benefit Night will help cover production costs at a time not only when arts funding is getting harder to come by but production costs are increasing. The hourly fee for the hiring of school custodians alone has gone up a whopping 48%, yet the number of hours we’ll be working the Luther Burbank High School campus may have to increase because of the additional time it may take to put on an anniversary-worthy show. Add to that the cost of insurance, lighting and sound rentals, studio space rental, props, costumes, transportation, storage, printing, advertising, materials, supplies and other production necessities and the big picture gets clearer. That’s just one of many reasons to come to the Sinag-tala Benefit Night at 7:00PM on Friday, September 25 at the Holiday Villa Restaurant, 7007 South Land Park Drive, South Sacramento. Admission is only $32 per person. But reserve your seats by September 11 or you may miss out entirely. It’s easy! Use our “Donate Now” button to the right to purchase your seats online with a Visa or Mastercharge card. For more information, contact Cristine Lacerna or Karen Sinnung.
5. A HIT AT THE STATE FAIR. You’ve got to give it to them – the Sinag-tala Theater Ensemble is one of the hardest working performing groups around, and they showed it at the State Fair on August 29. You see, training and rehearsing for weeks isn’t all that this business takes. They do much more behind the scenes – fundraising: making lunches; loading, hauling, lifting, moving and unloading gear; prepping costumes; marketing – even when it’s 110 degrees in the shade and bare feet blister on hot stage floors. It was par for the course this year at the Fair but the Sinag-tala Theater Ensemble is an annual fixture there – in terms of promoting our brand, the payback is significant. Watch for them next at the St. Paul’s Church Festival on September 13, followed by the Sinag-tala Benefit Night on September 25, the Sacramento World Music and Dance Festival in Old Sacramento on September 27, the Signatures in Brown exclusive concert at the CSUS Department of Music Recital Hall on October 3 and at the Florin United Methodist Church Festival on October 18.
6. FAMILIES AND ALUMNI OF SINAG-TALA (F.A.S.T.) As a volunteer-driven theater company, the SFTPAA is able to operate only because so many people are generous with their time and personal resources. But given all the work that’s involved in running training programs, putting on complex productions and attending to the everyday operations of a nonprofit organization, the SFTPAA Board – one of the most dedicated and passionate boards we know – needs all the help it can get. Consider joining FAST. This relaxed and informal group will independently set up its own policies and structure. It will give volunteers a vehicle for organizing their efforts and deciding in its own terms the whats, whens and hows of families and alumni doing what excites them to support the SFTPAA. Conceptually, FAST is going to modeled after what was once known as Parents and Supporters of Sinag-tala (now SFTPAA), whose support took many forms, including finding ways to help offset the cost of professional videography services or children’s costumes, coordinating social activities for families, providing meals and refreshments for cast members, helping with set construction, mentoring and tutoring student performers, etc. FAST is going through its startup phase right now – the best time to jump in and help determine its course. Please contact Dick Mazon or Marcy Basila now to get involved.
7. INVITATION TO BID FOR VIDEOGRAPHY SERVICES. Know a quality, experienced and reliable firm or person who might be interested in being the official videographer(s) for ST2009? If you do, let us know. We will gladly send that firm or person an official Invitation to Bid. It’s of course important to note from the very beginning two obvious things – first, that theater conditions present unusual limitations in lighting, staging and camera placement; and second, that our budget is small. So we’re shamelessly asking for a lot – the best quality at the lowest price. Send us an e-mail if you’re interested in receiving an Invitation to Bid, or if you know someone who would be.
8. ST2009 TICKETS, VIP SPONSORSHIPS AND SOUVENIR PROGRAM ADS. Tickets for Sinag-tala 2009: A Theatrical Revue are now available. All company members will be given blocks of tickets to sell. Ask about the fabulous $300 package which could help you make a profit while supporting the show. For information, please contact Helena Piamonte. We are also enlisting everyone’s help in soliciting VIP Sponsorships and Souvenir Program ads again this year. For information, contact Production Manager Cristine Lacerna.
9. STAKEHOLDER FOCUS GROUP. Those of you who have been kind enough to agree to participate in our Internet Usage Plan project will soon be receiving a reminder about the stakeholder’s focus group which is scheduled for Thursday, September 17 at the offices of 3-Fold Communications. These consultants are helping the SFTPAA develop a multi-year plan for getting the most out of the internet for communications, data management, fundraising, marketing and other purposes. Meanwhile, please accept our thanks for offering your time and your opinions.
10. LOW OR ZERO- COST WAYS OF SUPPORTING THE SFTPAA. Everyone who hasn’t been doing so already is encouraged to sign up for GoodSearch, a free web-browsing service. By going to Goodsearch first before surfing the web, you will be helping SFTPAA earn some money at absolutely no cost to you. Look up Goodsearch.com now to find out how your day-today internet activities can benefit the SFTPAA. Ask us also for a free SaveMart card. When using this card at any SaveMart or Food Max Supermarket, a percentage of your total purchase will be donated to the SFTPAA – again at no cost to you. But don’t stop there. If you’re about to discard an old or nonfunctioning cell phone, laptop computer, computer speakers, portable CD player or similar smaller hardware (no desktops, hard drive towers, scanners or printers please); or if you want to get rid of used printer ink or photocopier cartridges, take them to our studio. We collect smaller e-recyclables, which we will in turn send to a commercial e-recycling firm for a donation. Also, when doing your Autumn cleaning, gather your good quality-but-no-longer needed belongings and donate them for the rummage sale we will be holding sometime in late September or early October. our donation will be tax-deductible. Another great way you can help us is by finding out if your employer has either a workplace giving or donor match program. Programs such as those conducted by the California State Employees Charitable Campaign, Verizon Foundation, Bank of America and Kaiser Permanente enable employees to pledge automatic deductions from their monthly earnings to a tax-exempt charity (like the SFTPAA) or to match either financial contributions or volunteer hours that their employees make with a corporate donation. These are modest but very effective ways by which we can offset the effects of the economic recession. The young people and families – in fact, the entire community – we serve will continue to benefit if we receive the support we badly need. Anyone interested in learning more about the California State Employees Charitable compaign should contact Dick Mazon.
11. ALUMNI PHOTOSHOOTS. Calling all alumni! We will soon be scheduling photoshoots strictly for alumni on dates and at locations soon to be announced. The photos will be used for purposes of a 20th Anniversary exhibit in the ST2009 Theater Lobby as well as the ST2009 Souvenir Program, possibly even onstage or onscreen. We will also use them for future archival purposes. So, alumni, practice flashing those teeth while saying “Sinag-tala” and watch out for announcements.
12. SFTPAA PROFILE ON THE SRCF WEBSITE. A profile of the SFTPAA and some of our photos will soon be featured on the website of the Sacramento Region Community Foundation. Although as of today we’re not on the site yet, do visit www.sacregcf.org to get acquainted with the Foundation, which is playing a very important role in the advancement of local arts organizations through philanthropic and other avenues and therefore deserves wide support.
13. WATCH OUT FOR REYNA ARMOUR AND OTHER SINAG-TALA TALENTS. We haven’t had as much time this year as we’ve had in the past to keep track of all the comings and goings of the remarkably talented artists within the Sinag-tala Family. So we hope that all of you who have been dutifully reporting to us the various wonderful productions, events, recitals, engagements, concerts and projects that everyone has been involved in will bear with our failure to share your information on a timely basis. But because it’s the most recent development we’ve been made aware of, do keep an eye open if you’re a San Francisco Forty-Niner fan – a November halftime will feature 12-year-old Reyna Armour. There will be Star Spangled Banner renditions in various stadium and sports arena along the way also, but way too many dates and teams for us to remember. We’ll try better next time 
That’s it for now. Remember – if you didn’t notice any typos, you may not have been reading carefully enough Until the next Bulletin – stay excited! Thanks for your continued support!
Sonny Alforque
CEO & Artistic Director
