An open letter to Mondayitis,

Dear Mondayitis,

Yes I’m addressing it like that, during my time as production manager I came to think of Mondayitis as its own little community; performers, photographers, sponsors and supporters, kittens, stage managers, techs, raffle girls, door bitches and of course our wonderful audience. You are all Mondayitis to me, even on the days when I was tressed out of my mind and panicked, we built it for you; and in the end with you because without you all there would have been nothing to build.

First and foremost; I want to say a huge thankyou to each and every one of you.  We have built a lovely and supportive performance community together that allows for freedom of expression, constructive feedback, informal mentoring and opportunity.  You have been wonderful, every show was exciting, to borrow a cliché, every show was like a chocolate box; we never had any idea what we were going to get.

To the performers, to each and every one of you who got up on that stage from our days at Kremlin and after the move to The Abbey; Thank you!  To the experienced and professional performers who donated their time and talents for a fantastic cause; thankyou.  I value your art and that you saw fit to donate it to us is a magnificent gift.  Seeing you perform is always inspiring, sometimes challenging and it was always wonderful to work with you.

To all the performing virgins; you rocked! I sat with you backstage while you fretted and worried, I bought you Dutch courage when you asked and watched you take to that stage and perform your hearts out.  That takes guts, that first step seems like forever and so many of you came back, watching you grow as performers gave me immeasurable satisfaction.  Keep coming back, we made this space for you; use it!

To the snap happy chappies (and the odd chicky) who documented our shows and brought our poster ideas to life; thankyou.  Your images are sexy, sensual, hilarious, grotesque, detailed, bizarre and magical!  Working with you was eye opening, you see the world differently, things jump out to you that I would walk right past.  Your capacity for seeing and capturing beauty in everyone and everything around you is magnificent.

To our key sponsors: The Abbey and Elite Sound and Lighting. Thank you!  The use of your venue and equipment has allowed Mondayitis to become what is has.  From I tiny (and VERY crowded) little club night we have become an amateur showcase with full light and sound.  We have had a ball and I hope Mondayitis continues with you!

To our raffle sponsors; Guerrilla Hair, Oya Yoga, Le Vintage Culture, Rockabilly Floral Lane, CaptaVitae Photography, Make Up by Shalini, Curiouser and Curiouser candles and anyone I have forgotten (hopefully no-one), Thank you!  Raffles made up such a key part of our donation prospects and they just keep getting better!  I’m glad that now I can enter the raffles without a conflict of interest!

To all our MCs, many kittens (and Tom Cats): Again thank you!  You flitted, stomped and sashayed across our stage in many different guises in costumes and character and kept the show ticking over, you surprised and delighted, titillated and terrified.  The time and thought you put into our shows, the material and patter you presented was brilliant, you tied the shows together and helped keep me sane!

To our stage managers; Thank you, the nights I took to the stage and my head was anywhere but on the show you kept it rolling along, wrangled the performers and resolved technical difficulties before I even had a chance to think about it. You know who you are and you were wonderful!

To the techs without you, we would just be a bunch of extroverts faffing about silently in the dark!  You kept the lights on and the music pumping!  You brought an extra measure of colour to our shows, as particularly special mention to our very first tech the mad Dr Daz you stepped in and helped me light our second show so our performers could actually be seen! A special shout out to  Simon the Ninja too, if you didn’t see him that cause he knows how to do his job.

To the gals, guys and queens who manned the door and sold the raffles; thank you.  You stood at the door, before anyone arrived looking fabulous, in theme and you were there until the show finished answering questions, selling tickets and guarding our raffle prizes. Those raffles became a massive part of what we could donate to DVCS after each show.  You sold the hell out those tickets!  Even to the point where we had to make up dodgy tickets to some of the raffles!

A final huge thank you to our wonderful audience and community.  Time and time again you rocked up to our shows, supported our performers, cheered them on and dug deep for a wonderful cause.  You raised thousands of dollars for the ACT Domestic Violence Crisis Service in the year and a bit I was production manager something you should ALL be hugely proud of! 

Mondayits will continue without me and that is how it should be!  We built this little community and for the present it is in the hands of Ms Chocolate e Claire who is now taking on the dual mantle of producer/director.  This is a big task!  If you are inclide to help out I'm sure she would welcome your assitance.

I look forward to seeing what direction it takes and where it goes from here!

Love and Sparkles,

Ivy.