QUEEN'S MUSICAL THEATRE CONSTITUTION

<h1>QUEEN'S MUSICAL THEATRE CONSTITUTION</h1><br>
<h2>(Last Revised in February 2009)</h2>
I. Queen’s Musical Theatre

1. Is a not for profit theatre group, dedicated to giving students the opportunity to participate in musical theatre at all levels of production, while simultaneously providing high quality entertainment to Kingston audiences;
2. May hereafter be referred to as ‘QMT’ or ‘the Club.’

II. Mandate 
1.	To provide an environment at Queen's conducive to positive learning experiences for students within the framework of a working theatre company. 
2.	
III. Objectives 
1. To produce at least one full scale musical annually; 
2. To provide, when possible, enrichment opportunities for students interested in musical theatre by organizing events such as workshops, theatre road trips, and smokers. 

IV. Formal Recognition of Subsection 2.01-03 of Bylaw 1 of the AMS 
1. QMT formally recognizes subsection 2.01-03 of the Alma Mater Society Constitution, to writ that the Society shall have control over all legitimate student enterprises of a non-academic nature that fall within its own purview.

V. Discrimination 
1. No person may be barred from membership or be prevented from participating in activities of the Club because of his or her artistic ability or inabilities. 
2. No person may be discriminated against on the basis of sex, race, religion, sexual orientation, or physical disability. 
3. The preceding clauses shall not be interpreted as limiting in any way the creative freedom while choosing the Production Team, cast, crew or orchestra. 

VI. Membership 
1. Full members of the Club shall consist of any student or faculty member of Queen's University, and of the Kingston community. 
2. All full members are liable to an annual membership fee of $5.00 as prescribed by Club policy.  Cast, crew, production and artistic team of a particular show must be QMT members at least two months prior to the opening night of the production.
3. QMT members who are full AMS members have the right to vote at QMT General Meetings, seek nomination and be elected to the Board of Directors. 

VIa. Conditions of Membership 
1. Members of QMT shall be defined as: those persons who have paid their annual membership fees in full to the Vice-President/Treasurer of the Club or his or her designated representative. 
2. Members must behave in an orderly manner at all Club functions and General Meetings and shall abide by the decisions of the Coordinator or Chairperson. Members who fail to comply with this regulation are liable to have their membership privileges suspended and/or to be barred from further QMT activities. 

VII. Rights and Privileges 
1. Each member shall have the right to vote in all matters at the Annual General Meeting and at any Special General Meetings that may be called. The meeting Chairperson shall reserve his or her vote unless a situation requiring a tiebreaker vote arises, in which case he or she shall cast a deciding vote. 
2. Each member may make a motion or second a motion brought forth by another member. 
3. Every member shall have the right to petition for a Special General Meeting (as outlined under Article XII. Rules of Policy and Procedure). 
4. Every member may take advantage of any members’ discount offered on items or events sponsored by the Club.
 
VIII. Annual General Meeting 
1. The Club's Annual General Meeting shall be held within the last two weeks of January or the first two weeks of February every year. 
2. The QMT Executive and Board of Directors shall be elected at this meeting (see also Article XI. Election Procedure). 
3. The quorum for the General Meeting shall be approximately one third of the Club members (while for a regular board meeting the quorum shall be two thirds of the Board of Directors). 
4. Motions may be made at any General Meeting to: 
     1. impeach any officer of the Club or member of the Board of Directors, or 
     2. approve the appointment of members of the Executive or Board of Directors, or 
     3. change a matter of Club policy, or 
     4. make amendments to this constitution 
     5. All votes shall be decided by a simple majority, with the meeting Chairperson ranking his or her choices in a sealed ballot, to be opened only in the event of a tie, and used as a tie-breaking mechanism under such circumstances. 
5.  The producers of the Winter show and the previous year’s Spring show shall provide financial updates at the AGM along with the club's VP/Treasurer.  If the producer is unavailable, show updates may be given by the VP/Treasurer.

IX. Composition of the Executive and Board of Directors 
1. The Executive of Queen's Musical Theatre shall be composed of the following officers: 
     1. The President, who shall act as coordinator for the Board of Directors and as Chairperson at general Membership meetings of the Club, shall be responsible for all operations of the Club within the University, including representation of QMT to the Alma Mater Society and Recreational Services, shall be responsible for calling and publicizing any Board or membership meetings in the absence of the Vice- President/Secretary and shall have the co-signing authority (along with the Vice-President/Treasurer) of the QMT bank account; 
     2. The Vice-President/Secretary, who shall take minutes at all meetings of the QMT membership or its Board, shall be responsible for calling and publicizing all Board or membership meetings, shall be responsible for all QMT correspondence including checking the QMT mailbox and E-mail accounts and, shall be responsible (with the Vice-President/Treasurer) for all Club advertising and promotions (ex. blurb for Who’s Where, organizing Clubs Night) and the keeping of all Club records including a membership E-mail list, shall be responsible for the maintenance of the QMT office, and shall be responsible for submission of reports regarding the activities of QMT to the AMS, JDUC and Recreational Services as required. 
     3. The Vice-President/Treasurer, who shall act as Chairperson at general membership meetings of QMT in the absence of the President, shall be responsible for operations of the Club outside the University, including representation of QMT to such bodies as the Grand Theatre User's Committee, shall be responsible (with the Vice-President/Secretary) for all Club advertising and promotions, shall accept responsibility for the Club's archives, shall be responsible for the Club budget, shall have co-signing authority (along with the President) on the QMT bank account, shall make recommendations to the Board regarding budgets submitted by producers and shall be required to submit a report on the financial position of the Club before the conclusion of the academic year; 
     4. Note that simply because a responsibility is attached to a particular office, this does not preclude the delegation of such a responsibility to another member of the Board or organization: it means only that the designated Executive officer must ensure that the area is attended to. 
2. The Officers of the Executive must be graduate or undergraduate students at Queen's during their entire term of office. 
3. The Board of Directors (hereafter and hitherto referred to simply as the Board) shall consist of the Executive Officers in addition to four Board Members. Collectively, the four General Board Members must be able to advise the Board regarding the musical, dance, and production aspects of potential shows. One General Board Member must also take responsibility for the club website.  If no one is prepared or qualified to do so, the Board must arrange for website management education for one General Board Member. The board member in charge of the website must update it regularly and coordinate all of the QMT shows’ websites.At least one member must be qualified enough to advise the Board regarding the musical aspects of potential shows.  Another member must act as coordinator of special events (see Article III. Section 2) such as workshops, road trips, and smokers as well as social events for QMT members, one member must accept responsibility for the maintenance of the Club's website, one member must be qualified to advise the board on production, and one member must be qualified to advise the board on dance. All Board members are responsible for attending Board meetings, working as committee members and coordinators for specific projects and events, and assisting the Club Executive in carrying out their responsibilities. 
4. The above responsibility descriptions are strong suggestions, but shall be adaptable as each Board of Directors sees fit.
5. The Board of Directors cannot apply for the following positions: Director, Producer, Production Manager, Music Director, Vocal Director/ Coach, Choreographer, Stage Manager, Head of Publicity, Set Designer, Light Designer, Publicity Designer, Costume Designer and Technical Director. 
6. In the event that a qualified applicant cannot fulfill the above positions, a member of the Board of Directors may be appointed to the position of Director, Musical Director, Vocal Director/Coach, Choreographer and Stage Manager, but must resign from his or her position on the Board of Directors.
7. In the event that a qualified applicant cannot fulfill the positions of Producer, Production Manager, Technical Director, Head of Publicity, Set Designer, Light Designer, Publicity Designer and Costume Designer, it is not expected that they resign from their position on the Board of Directors, but they may not have voting privileges in matters pertaining to the production.
8. If a member of the Board of Directors is a part of the cast, crew, or band/orchestra of a QMT show, they must resign voting privileges in matters regarding the production.
9. The three head executives (President, VP/Treasurer, and VP/Secretary) are prohibited from having any position on production and artistic teams, cast, crew, or band of QMT shows
10. If any member of the Board of Directors should be unable to complete his or her term of office, then the remainder of the Board shall appoint a replacement, which must be ratified by membership at a special general meeting. 

X. Procedures for Show Development 
1. The Board of Directors' responsibilities shall include: 
     1. Selection of the Director. 
     2. Selection of the show with the Director.
          1. The Director is expected to propose at least three suitable musicals to the Board of Directors.  Selection of the show to be produced shall be chosen through general consensus amongst the Board of Directors.
     3. Selection of the Producer.  The Producer shall sit in on the selection of the following Production Team positions: Production Manager, Head of Publicity, Set Designer, Light Designer, Publicity Designer and Technical Director.
     4. Selection of the Artistic Team.  The Board of Directors and the Director shall choose the following positions: Musical Director, Vocal Director/Coach, Choreographer and Stage Manager.
     5. If the Board is unable to fill any of the aforementioned positions, they may choose to give this responsibility to the Production Team at a time the Board deems appropriate. 
     6. Approval of the budget for each show upon submission by the Producer, and subsequent allocation of appropriate funds to the production account; 
     7. Overseeing all QMT productions by ensuring a Board Representative (who is not on the Production Team) is present at all production meetings and by requiring periodic progress reports from the producer, and subsequent allocation of appropriate funds to the production account; 
     8. If approached by members of the Production Team, the Board may settle production disputes which cannot be resolved within the Production Team.  This may include the replacement of the Producer or other members of the Directorial Team.
    9. Selection of Cast. The following members of the Production Team are permitted to attend casting: Director, Musical Director, Vocal Director/Coach, Choreographer, Stage Manager and accompanist if necessary.

XI. Election Procedure 
1. Elections shall be held at the Annual General Meeting (see Article VIII.), and shall be chaired by the President. 
2. In the event of the President's absence, or should he or she intend to run for re-election to the Board, the meeting shall be chaired by the Vice-President/Treasurer or the Vice-President/Secretary. 
3. The date, time and location of elections shall be publicized at least two weeks in advance of the election date by means of posters, verbal announcements and/or advertisements in campus publications. 
4. Any person who has been a member of QMT for at least one week shall have the right to cast one vote for each open position at a given ballot. 
5. All positions of the Executive and Board of Directors shall be determined by a secret ballot. The President shall be elected on the first ballot, and unsuccessful candidates shall be eligible to run for other positions on the Executive or Board should they so choose. Similarly, the Vice-President/Treasurer will be elected on the second ballot and the Vice-President/Secretary shall be elected on the third ballot. Board members will be elected on the fourth ballot. 
6. In each instance, the meeting Chairperson shall cast a sealed ballot ranking all candidates for each position. In the event of a tie, this ballot shall be opened and the highest ranked among those ties shall be deemed to have been elected. 
7. The returning committee shall be made up of three members of the Board not running for re-election and shall release only names of successful candidates. 

XII. Rules of Policy Procedure 
1. All matters of QMT Policy, including any changes in membership fees, shall be decided by the Board of Directors, but may be overturned at any General Meeting. 
2. Any member who disagrees with a specific matter of QMT Policy made by the Board of Directors may attempt to have it rescinded by petitioning the President to call a Special General Meeting and by moving that the specific matter be overturned. 
3. The President must call a Special General Meeting within fourteen days of receipt of a petition bearing the signatures of at least nine members of the Club. 
4. All General Meetings shall be subject to standard rules of order with the President acting as Chairperson. 
5. The first meeting of the Board of Directors shall immediately follow their election and shall be a joint meeting between the new and the past Board, chaired by the past President, shall occur within fourteen days of the AGM. At this first meeting, the past Board shall provide Transition Reports for the new Board, including their recommendations for any and all Club issues they deem appropriate. The new President shall chair the second meeting of the Board of Directors at a time and date decided upon by the new Board before the selection of the new production team can take place. 
6. Additions to the agenda for any Board Meeting may be made, with the permission of the Chairperson, by any Board member up to the opening of the meeting, at which time the Chairperson is responsible for setting out the agenda. 
7. The Vice-President/Secretary or President must call a Board meeting within seven days of any request by any two Board Members. 

XIII. Membership Fees 
1. All fees assessed of QMT members shall be matters of Club Policy and shall be decided by the Board of Directors. 
2. The Board may set any fee structure that they wish and must announce any changes at least fourteen days before they come into effect. 
3. Any member who disagrees with changes in the fee structure set by the Board may petition for a Special General Meeting to have the decision overturned. The fees will return to their original status if the decision is overturned. 

XIV. Production Team 
1. The Director shall be appointed by the Board and together with the rest of the Directorial Team shall have overall responsibility for all artistic aspects of the show. Together with the Directorial Team he or she is responsible for casting the show and preparing it, for allocation of rehearsal time, and for working with the cast. The Director is responsible for laying out the rehearsal schedule for the cast, and ensuring that it is followed. 
2. The Producer shall be appointed by the Board (advised by the Director). He or she shall bear overall responsibility for the production and be held accountable to the Board. The Producer is responsible for all financial matters concerning the production (subject to Board approval), including rights negotiations, theatre rental, and fund-raising (patron campaign). He or she is also responsible for the legal position of QMT and all external arrangements. He or she acts as a coordinator for the efforts of the Production Team, runs production meetings, and must ensure that all members of the Production Team are doing their jobs. He or she may be called upon as an arbiter to resolve differences between Production Team, cast, crew and orchestra members to ensure a smooth production. 
3. The Music Director shall be appointed by the Board (advised by the Director) and shall be responsible for selecting the band or orchestra through open auditions. He or she is also responsible for holding all band rehearsals, as well as holding all music rehearsals for the cast. The Music Director shall have overall responsibility for all musical aspects of the show. Together with the Directorial Team, the Music Director is responsible for casting the show and preparing it, for allocation of rehearsal time, and for working with the cast and musicians. He or she is responsible for laying out the rehearsal schedule for the orchestra and ensuring that it is followed.
4. If the Music Director is not qualified to teach the cast proper vocal care and technique, then a Vocal Coach or Vocal Director will be selected by the Board. A Vocal Director shall have overall responsibility for all vocal music in the show, whereas a Vocal Coach works for the Music Director. A Vocal Director is responsible for scheduling vocal rehearsals. 
5. The above appointees are encouraged to train an assistant in all matters of their respective operations within the Production Team, so as to introduce an element of continuity and experience in future years. 
6. The Technical Director shall consult with the Set Designer, Lighting Designer, Producer, and Production Manager on design feasibility. He or she is responsible for tools, safety, organizing the In, Strike, and IATSE calls with the Producer, pricing, pre-construction and construction of set, and acquisition of materials. 
7. The Stage Manager is responsible for recruiting the Assistant Stage Managers. He or she is responsible for compiling phone lists and rehearsal schedules and distributing them to cast and Production Team members. He or she is responsible for taking the minutes at Production Team meetings. He or she must be present (or represented) at all rehearsals where he or she will assist the Director by taking notes and enforcing cast attendance and punctuality. The Stage Manager is responsible for getting rehearsals started on time (and following breaks), and moreover, during the run of the show, is responsible for the house and stage, for calling technical cues and scene changes and for ensuring that the performances conform as closely as possible to the Director’s intentions.
8. The Production Manager shall coordinate all aspects of the production, both artistic and technical.  He or she is responsible for supporting the members of the Production Team in achieving their goals successfully.  Specific tasks include assisting in resolution of conflicts between different areas of the Production Team, and assisting the Producer in analyzing department’s budgets to ensure financial efficiency.
9. The Head of Publicity is responsible for facilitating all aspects of publicity, including advertising, fundraising and public relations.
10. The above responsibility descriptions are strong suggestions, but shall be adaptable to each production. 

Amendments
1998
XV. Affiliation with the Alma Mater Society (A.M.S.) 
1. The constitution of the A.M.S. shall take precedence over this constitution. In particular, the following sections of the A.M.S. Constitution shall be recognized: 2.01.03, 7.01, and 7.02. 
XVI. Assembly 
1. The AMS Assembly is the highest legislative representing students at Queen's, constitutes the ultimate source of authority for QMT. Moreover, it can set up ad hoc committees with specific terms of reference to investigate financial matters and report to its next meeting. 
XVII. Amendments 
1. This constitution shall be reviewed annually and any amendments shall be immediately presented to the AMS for approval, through the commission of internal affairs. 
2001-2002
     1. Board will be in charge of all money. Giving checks made out for specified amounts to Producer of current show. 
2002-2003
XVIII. Complimentary Tickets 
1. A complimentary ticket will be available for press night and/or opening night for everyone involved in the show (cast, crew, and orchestra). 
2. The following people (i.e. those persons selected by the Board of Directors who are not already required to attend all performances) will be permitted to attend any/all performances provided there is a seat available: 
     1. Director 
     2. Producer 
     3. Vocal Coach 
     4. Choreographer 
     5. Designers (Set, Lighting, Costumes, and Props) 
     6. Technical Director 
     7. Publicity Director 
     8. Board of Directors
3. These people are advised to purchase tickets for those performances that are likely to sell out. 
4. This list can be added to according to the discretion of the Producer and must be agreed upon prior to the opening of the show. 
5. Two complimentary tickets for any night of the show will be provided to faculty advisors. This is the Producers responsibility and must be agreed upon prior to the opening of the show. 
2009
XIX. In Reference to the Annual General Meeting (Article VIII)
1. The Club will hold two annual general meetings- fall and winter.
2. Constitutional changes and voting will not take place at the fall general meeting. 
XX. Hiring of Director and Producer (In Reference to Article X and XIV)
1. The Producer will be hired by the board before the Director but interviews and applications for director can take place before the producer is hired. The producer will not sit in on the interviews for the director. 
2. They will work together to pitch shows to the board.
3. The choice of shows is still the director’s but with the input and consideration of the producer.
4. Director applications must be advertised one week before the deadline.
5. There must be a two week period between the hiring of the director and the choosing of a show- one week between hiring and the pitch of the shows and one week between the pitch and the decision. 
XXI. General Board Member Positions
1. Redefinition of positions that must be covered by the General Board Members: Events, Fundraising, Alumni and Alumni Publicity, Webmaster and Queen’s Publicity. 
2. General Board Member positions must be chosen before April exams.
3. The General Board Member who is the Board Representative of each show is responsible for arranging a meeting between incoming and out-coming production team and/or transitions reports to each production team member. 
4. It is also the responsibility of the board to keep a media archive, hard copies and official documentation.
XXII. Production Teams
1. It is left to the discretion of each Production Team as to whether they want to hire another Fundraising person.
XXIII. Theatre Spaces 
1. It is the responsibility of the board to book space for each show. If the Producer chooses not to use the space provided, it is the responsibility of the producer to pick the space and arrange its use.