About PHAMALy

Policies

PHILOSOPHY AND OBJECTIVES
The Physically Handicapped Amateur Musical Actors League, Inc., is a nonprofessional, not-for-profit theatre company whose objectives are:

NOT-FOR-PROFIT STATUS
The Physically Handicapped Amateur Musical Actors League, Inc., is recognized by the state of Colorado and by the Internal Revenue Service as a nonprofit organization, and as such PHAMALy is tax exempt. All Monies received by PHAMALy, from any source, are utilized by the organization to pay royalties, production costs, operating expenses and other fees which are necessary to support the philosophy and objectives of the organization. Individual members may declare their PHAMALy membership as a tax deduction. Any item donated to the organization, as confirmed by a written receipt to the treasurer, may also be itemized as a deduction.

NONPROFESSIONAL
PHAMALy is a nonprofessional theatre company which pays no actors. Therefor, policy precludes casting individuals who are members of professional actors unions such as: Screen Actors Guild (SAG), or Actors Equity.

MEMBERSHIP
Membership in The Physically Handicapped Amateur Musical Actors League, Inc. is open to all those interested in community theatre, who are willing to subscribe to the objectives and support members, as outlined in Article III of the bylaws of this organization.

Membership shall be granted after the completion of a membership application and the payment of membership dues.

There are two membership classifications: Individual and family (up to four persons).

Membership in the organization affords individuals the opportunity to attend monthly meetings and events sponsored by the organization; receive a monthly newsletter; receive copies of by-laws, policies and membership lists of the organization; to vote in annual elections and at membership meetings and to run for office. HOWEVER, AN INDIVIDUAL SHALL NOT ACT AS A REPRESENTATIVE OF PHAMALy, WITHOUT THE SANCTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS.

Additionally, the board of directors is given the authority in Article X of the by -laws of the organization to remove individual members who are found to undermine the objectives, policies and philosophy of PHAMALy, with a two-thirds vote of the membership.

MEMBERSHIP DUES
Annual membership dues shall be paid on or before February 1, of each year, and shall cover the calendar year of January 1 through December 31 of that year. The amount of the annual membership dues shall be determined by the board of directors. Any actor/actress wishing to become a member of PHAMALy who feels these dues present a financial hardship is encouraged to contact the board to present his case. Individuals may pay membership dues as any time during the year, however, all those cast in a PHAMALy production, must pay dues within two weeks of the first scheduled rehearsal.

DUES ARE NOT REFUNDABLE.

HARDSHIPS
If the board of directors finds that an individual actor/actress is truly unable to pay dues, as this would cause an extreme financial hardship, the board may authorize payment of that member's dues through gifts or donations from patrons which are set aside to sponsor such members.

NOMINATIONS, ELECTIONS AND VOTING
Election of the board of directors takes place each year in January, at the annual membership meeting. The board shall appoint a nominating committee which will seek and encourage nominations throughout the year for the upcoming annual election. Only active members in good standing may be nominated for office and consent of the candidates must be obtained prior to nomination on or before November 1 of the year prior to the election in January. The nominating committee shall compile a single slate ballot and a short biography of each candidates qualifications and this information will be sent to the members one month prior to the annual meeting. Proxy votes and absentee ballots shall be recognized.

Proxy Voting: A member may vote by proxy by mailing his/her ballot, indicating his choice or choices to the PHAMALy post office box, post marked at least 48 hours prior to the meeting at which the vote is to take place, excluding Sundays.

Tabulation of Votes: The chair will designate a member of the board or the appointed nominating committee to pick up the mail from the post office box after the last mail delivery prior to the meeting in which the vote is to take place. The mail will be opened at the meeting and tabulated by two persons present, designated by the chair of the nominating committee. A majority of the vote cast is required to elect board members.

Voting on general membership issues such as amendments to by-laws, play selections, etc., will be handled in the same way. Information will be sent to the general membership one month in advance, along with instructions as to what is to be voted upon and how to vote. Proxy votes and absentee ballots will be recognized, following the procedure outlined above.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Responsibility for managing the organization and insuring its orderly and smooth operation, rests with the board of directors which is elected each year by the general membership for a term of 3 years. Terms of office for the board members are rotated so that one-third of the board is replaced each year and two-thirds of the board is retained for the purpose of continuity. With few exceptions such as: changes or amendments to the by-laws and selection of the summer production, board action need not be ratified by the membership. However, the board action may be subject to review by the membership and may be rescinded by a two-thirds majority vote of the membership.

The board consists of a chair, vice-chair, secretary, treasurer and up to 8 at large members. Officers of the board are elected each year at the annual membership meeting, by the newly elected board.

Board meetings shall be held at least once a month, at a time, date and location to be determined by the newly elected board and that information will be disseminated to the membership. Board meetings are open to the membership and to the general public. The chairperson shall preside over all board meetings, following a written agenda which has been distributed to all members of the board prior to the meeting, for their review. Any board members wishing to place an item on the agenda for discussion must notify the chair in advance of the meeting so that the item can be placed on the agenda for the information of other board members. Guests wishing to address the board must also contact the chair for this purpose. The chair has the authority to recognize or not to recognize any visitors wishing to address the board without prior approval.

In addition to monthly meetings, special board meetings may be called by the Chair, the Vice Chair or three members of the board giving forty-eight hours notice in advance of the meeting.

In the event it becomes necessary to cancel and reschedule a monthly board meeting, notice shall be given to the board members at least forty-eight hours in advance of the canceled meeting. In the event of inclement weather the notice of cancellation may be reduced to two to four hours. Decision to cancel and reschedule board meetings may be made by either the Chair, Vice Chair or agreement of three members of the board.

Board meetings shall be governed by Robert's Rules of Order. Copies of minutes of board meetings will be made available to the general membership at their request. Copies of financial reports will also be made available to the general membership upon request.

Responsibilities of the board of directors include but are not limited to:

MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS
The annual membership meeting of the Physically Handicapped Amateur Musical Actors League, Inc., is held each January. It is at this meeting that the election of the new board members takes place.

Membership meetings or events are held once a month. The date, time and location of each meeting is announced in the monthly newsletter, which is mailed to all members. Meetings may consist of programs, workshops or entertainment events and an opportunity will be given at the beginning of each event for the discussion of concerns or issues raised by the membership.

Members are encouraged to help expand membership of PHAMALy by promoting the events and activities to those in the community with a desire to promote, support and advance the objectives of the organization.

In the event weather conditions or other unforeseen events make it necessary to cancel a meeting, the change will be noted on the answering machine (575-0005) two hours before the scheduled membership meeting event.

AUDITIONS, CASTING AND REHEARSALS
Auditions will be held prior to each production. Audition notices will be published in a variety of media venues at least 45 days in advance of the audition date. Printing of audition notices is up to the discretion of the publication. All those who audition will be required to complete an audition form indicating to the production staff any special needs or accommodations which they must have provided, so that these can be put into place by the time of the first rehearsal, should the individual be cast in the production. Special adaptations may include but are not limited to: scripts or other materials in Braille, large print or taped format.

Those who audition must be prepared to do a vocal solo, readings or improvisations directed by the production staff.

CASTING: PHAMALy has an open casting policy which means that any one with a physical and/or mental disability may read for a part with the stipulation that if cast, the person becomes a PHAMALy member within two weeks. All casting decisions rest with the director. A cast member must have a disability as defined by the A.D.A. and is required to have his/her disability under reasonable psychological and physical control, in order to participate in the production.

DISABILITY: A physical or mental impairment which subsequently limits one or more of that person's major life activities. Temporary non-chronic impairments of short duration, with little or no long-term permanent impact are usually not disabilities. Such impairments may include, but are not limited to: broken limbs, sprained joints, contusions, concussions, appendicitis, and influenza.

PHYSICAL OR MENTAL IMPAIRMENT: Any psychological disorder or condition cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one or more of several body systems or, any mental or psychological disorder.

SUBSTANTIALLY LIMITING: An impairment is substantially limiting if it significantly restricts the duration, manner or condition under which an individual can perform a particular major life activity, as compared to the average person the general populations ability to perform the same major life activity.

MAJOR LIFE ACTIVITY: Those basic activities that the average person in the general population can perform with little or no difficulty. They may include: caring for oneself; performing manual tasks; walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning and working. (From the Americans With Disabilities Act.)

REHEARSALS: All actors are expected to attend all required rehearsals. Rehearsal schedules will be set by the director any special consideration of a performer's schedule will be made by the director. At the time of the first rehearsal, actors will be asked to sign an actors agreement outlining expectations and responsibilities of the actors during rehearsals and performances of the production. Rehearsals are usually open, which means that others may come to the theatre and observe. No children, under the age of fifteen (15) will be admitted to rehearsals unless 1) They are cast members in the productions or 2) permission has been obtained from Director or other member of the production staff. Occasionally, the director may desire to have a closed rehearsal at which time, only those directly involved in the scene are allowed admittance to the hall. Closed rehearsal notices will be placed on the door in this event.

FINANCIAL POLICIES
The treasurer will Make all payments and issue all checks which will be approved and cosigned by the chair person. NO CHECK WILL BE SIGNED AND GIVEN TO ANYONE FOR LATER USE. Whenever possible, invoices should be requested from vendors for direct payment. In the event prepayment is needed (for seminars, conferences, etc.), a copy of the registration form or subscription notice should be submitted to the treasurer, to be sent with the check.

Any member of the board may claim miscellaneous expenses such as postage, office supplies, copies, etc., by completing a miscellaneous expense form and turning this into the board. This form must then be signed by a member of the board other than the treasurer and/or the party submitting the form. All receipts applicable for the expense will be submitted to the Treasurer. No payment will be made without receipts.

In the event a large amount of money is needed for items required for the operation of the organization, such as materials, costumes, etc., when the amount is not known, a miscellaneous expense form may be requested, not to exceed $100.00, following the procedure outlined above. No subsequent advances will be issued until all receipts applying to any prior advance have been received by the treasurer.

Mileage may be claimed by board members when on official board business. This includes: commuting to and from board meetings or retrieving mail from the mailbox. Suggested rates are twenty-five cents per mile. Only the driver of the vehicle may claim mileage, Mileage will not be paid for attendance at PHAMALy membership functions.

PUBLICATIONS
As a membership organization, PHAMALy takes seriously its obligation to disseminate information to its members. Because we are also a theatre company, we want to reach out into the community to promote and publicize our organizations productions, events and achievements. For this reason, PHAMALy circulates two publications:

A monthly newsletter which is sent to all paid members, informing them of upcoming PHAMALy events, dates to remember, and general information of interest specifically to the general membership of the organization.

Back Stage, is a quarterly publication which is prepared, printed and mailed to all those sponsors, patrons and supporters of the organization whose names appear on our general mailing list.

Oversight of these publications is under the control of the membership committee. The committee will accept articles submitted by the membership and review them to determine relevance for inclusion into one of the publications. Members are invited and encouraged to contribute. The membership chairperson and/or his/her delegated representative, will be responsible to coordinate and oversee the production of these publications including: compilation, formatting, printing and mailing.

INFORMATION AND RESERVATIONS
PHAMALy maintains a 24 hour information and reservation telephone line. Information will be recorded here with regard to upcoming performances, PHAMALy membership events and meeting cancellations. Designated individuals will pick up messages from the answering machine on a regular basis and will respond promptly to any inquiries.

Reservations for any upcoming productions are accepted on this line. The individual in charge of the box office will pick up all messages and respond to all reservation requests promptly. When making reservations three hours prior to show time on the day of the performance, patrons will be directed to contact the box office directly at the theatre. Tickets purchased in advance are not refundable. However, if patrons call in cancellations two hours prior to show time, every attempt will be made to accommodate them for another performance, as seats are available. If tickets are not picked up from the box office by 7:45 on the evening of the performance, these tickets will be made available for purchase by patrons whose names are on the standby list.

COMMITTEES
The chairperson of the board of directors is responsible for establishing committees and delegating to those committees certain tasks or goals to be accomplished. The chair of the board will appoint all committee chairpersons, either from among the board itself or from among the general membership. The chair may have suggestions from other individuals he/she feels would be beneficial or have interest in participating on a particular committee. The committee chairpersons will then seek additional members to fill committee positions and will be responsible to coordinate the work of the committee.

Committees may be standing (continuing on a more or less permanent basis to handle ongoing responsibilities) or ad hoc (committees formed for a specific purpose which are of short term duration).

In addition to specific committee descriptions and duties, each committee will be responsible for the following:

NOMINATING COMMITTEE
The nominating committee shall consist of at least 3 members of the board of directors. The chair of the nominating committee shall be the vice-chair of the board. The chairperson of the board of directors is excluded from participation on the nominating committee.

The members of the nominating committee shall be made known to the general membership in the fall of the year prior to the January election. At that time they will begin to accept and solicit nominations up to and including November 1 of that year. The nominating committee will actively seek candidates who possess strong skills, knowledge or resources in areas which would most enhance and strengthen the board. Candidates will be asked to submit resumes or list of qualifications which the committee will review. Consent will be obtained from candidates prior to placing their names on the ballot. After reviewing all the qualifications of the candidates, the nominating committee will compile a single slate ballot and distribute this to the membership, along with biographical information on each candidate and this will be sent to the membership one month prior to the election. Members of the nominating committee shall not be barred from nomination.

The committee will be responsible for maintaining a list of eligible voters. The committee will count ballots at the annual membership meeting and give results of balloting directly to the chairperson who will announce the election results. A majority of votes cast is required to elect board members.

MEMBERSHIP AND PROGRAMMING
The chairperson of this committee is appointed by the chair of the board and is made up of the chair and at least two other members, either from the board itself or from the general membership. The secretary of the board usually sits on this committee. The chair of this committee may form subcommittees to handle certain projects. Specific duties of this committee include:

PLAYS COMMITTEE
The chair of this committee shall be appointed by the chair of the membership/programming committee. This committee shall consist of the chair and at least 4 other members who are appointed in March of the year. When a vacancy occurs on this committee, the membership/programming chairperson shall appoint the replacement.

FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE
The chair of the fundraising committee shall be appointed by the chair of the board and the committee shall consist of a minimum of 3 individuals. This committee shall be established at the beginning of each new board year, retaining at least one member from the past year's fundraising committee for continuity to ensure its smooth operation. Vacancies on this committee shall be filled by the chair of the board. Duties of the fundraising committee:

CONTRACTED EMPLOYEES
The board of directors of the Physically Handicapped Amateur Musical Actors League, Inc., is responsible to review and approve all contracts entered into by the organization. PHAMALy may choose to enter into contracts with individuals who can provide professional expertise and services to the organization. Such contracts may include, but are not limited to: artistic director, choreographer, music director, stage manager, production manager, set designers, lighting designers, costume designers, props coordinator, special needs coordinator, volunteer coordinator, publicist, etc. Contracts for each position shall include a job description outlining the duties and qualifications required for each position. Copies of all contracts and job descriptions will be kept in the organization's permanent files.

INSURANCE
It is the responsibility of the Board of Directors to obtain appropriate insurance coverage for injury to performer's during productions, liability for the individual Board of Directors and any other form of insurance the Board deems necessary for the well being and protection of the organization.

(6/14/01)
Policy Statement
PERFORMER STIPENDS

This policy statement clarifies the position of the Board of Directors of PHAMALy regarding the payment of stipends to all PHAMALy performers.

In accordance with PHAMALy's By-Laws, Board members are not paid for their Board services. However, in the Board's desire to treat all Performers fairly and equitably, it is agreed that when stipends are paid to individuals who perform in either the annual performance or in outreach performances, such stipends will also be paid to Board members who, concurrent with their Board tenure, perform in these productions.

Therefore, it is the understanding and policy of the PHAMALy Board of Directors that: