Ignatians Executive Committee

The purpose of the committee is to oversee the running of the society, and fulfil its responsibility as the producers of all Ignatians productions. 

The committee, which meets regularly throughout the year, is made up of a President, two Vice Presidents, Treasurer, Secretary, Public Relations Officer, Marketing & Advertising Officer, Technical Services Officer, Music Services Officer and four Ordinary Committee Members. Click here to find out more about the people on the committee for 2009-10.

Life Members

In addition to these committee positions, there are also Life Members who are not required to attend, but are welcome at all committee meetings.

Life membership is awarded in recognition of outstanding service to the society.  It is not something that is given lightly, and in the 30 year history of Ignatians, only eight life memberships have been awarded.
 
Sheila Corcoran, the first Life Member, is a fine example of the commitment shown by this special group of individuals. Sheila was the third president of the Ignatians, holding this position for two years, and the first female president.  She has performed in over thirty shows, and completed the Gilbert and Sullivan repertoire.  Sheila still attends committee meetings regularly and contributes to the running of Ignatians today.

The Constitution

The Ignatians Committee, and thus the society,  is governed by a Constitution.  This documents the election procedures and accountability of the Committee and the society, and most importantly defines the society as The Ignatians Incorporated, thus ensuring committee members, or any member of the Society, cannot be held financially responsible for any debt or financial loss.    Constitution (PDF document).

Life Members

Sheila Corcoran
Ralph Devlin
Rev Fr Leo Flynn SJ (deceased)
Barbara Foster
Ruth Gabriel
John Smiles
Jan Veacock 
Derek Griffin

Ignatians Committee Members

President - Bryn Griffiths

The role of the President is to provide leadership to the society, represent it publicly, chair its meetings and ensure that the constitution of the society is upheld.  Together with the Executive Committee, the President is responsible for setting the direction of the society and implementing strategies associated with that direction.

Bryn joined Ignatians in June 2007 having not performed since 1989 when Bryn was enrolled in a Drama major whilst at Uni. Back then, playing rugby and frequenting pubs took precedence over studying Drama which was left behind.

Bryn grew up playing various roles in school G&S productions, college musicals and also captained his colleges’ theatre sports team whilst completing his degree. Since then, Bryn’s career in advertising has seen him work in the Account Service side of the business in Sydney, London, Bristol and now Brisbane where he owns his own Advertising Agency specialising in Branding Identity and Employee marketing for small to medium enterprise.

 

The belief that advertising work is a performance every day has helped Bryn to be confident enough to jump back on stage after such a long absence. Organising many and varied marketing and advertising campaigns over the last 15 years brings much knowledge in being able to assist in producing shows for Ignatians and Bryn is looking forward to assisting where he is needed.

 

Vice President - Harmony Lentz

The role of the Vice Presidents is to provide support and assistance to the President, as well as to the other committee members.  If the President is unavailable, one of the Vice Presidents becomes the representative of the President.

Harmony has been involved with Ignatians on and off for a while now. She was awarded Ignatian of the Year for 2007.

Her first involvement was with the backstage crew for Brigadoon in 1998 and then in the chorus for The Gilbert and Sullivan Gala later that year. After returning from two years teaching in Cairns, she joined the cast of Fiddler on the Roof in 2001, where she was not only part of the chorus but also the Fiddler, using her violin skills on the stage for Ignatians.  Since then, she has been Musical Director and conductor for Footloose (2004), Les Miserables (2005), and Musical Director for West Side Story (2006), CATS (2007) and Showstoppers (2007). Harmony was also co-Music Director and conductor for Ignatians spectacular production of Les Miserables in 2009.

 

When she is not being an Ignatian, Harmony teaches string instruments to children and adults through her home business, Strings with Harmony in Kenmore and is a busy mum for her daughter, Phoebe. She has a Bachelor of Music Education (Hons) from the University of Queensland and has extensive experience as a classroom music teacher, choral director and string teacher. She has conducted and performed with community orchestras and choirs in Brisbane and Cairns and started the Ignatians Choir at the end of 2005. 2009 will be Harmony's fifth year on the Ignatians Committee.

Vice President - Christine O'Brien

The role of the Vice Presidents is to provide support and assistance to the President, as well as to the other committee members.  If the President is unavailable, one of the Vice Presidents becomes the representative of the President.

Christine first started performing in musicals in 1987.  Her first show with Ignatians was in 1997 when she worked backstage on Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Since then she has worked on many Ignatians productions. She was stage manager for The Sentimental Bloke (2000), Fiddler on the Roof (2001), Oklahoma! (2001), The Mikado (2003) and Grease (2004) and Les Miserables (2009).  She was also Deputy Stage Manager for Les Miserables (2005).  She was backstage crew on Brigadoon (1998), The Gilbert and Sullivan Gala (1998) and West Side Story (2006),  lighting operator for Pirates of Penzance (2000) and front of house for South Pacific (1999), Into the Woods (2008) and Showstoppers 35th Anniversary Concert (2008).

 

Christine has also performed, been stage manager, and worked in many other capacities with several theatre companies around Brisbane, including Ocean Theatre Company, Mixed Company, Brisbane Arts Theatre, Queensland Musical Theatre, Savoyards, Twelfth Night Theatre, Act One, Front Row Theatre, Young Actors Company Qld, Centenary Players, Kallangur Community Theatre, Borderline Defamation Productions and Lickety Split.

 

Outside Ignatians Christine works as a Project Officer with the Department of Environment and Resource Management.  This is her third year on the committee. 

Treasurer - Robin Read 

The role of the Treasurer is to record and report on the financial transactions of the society.

Robin joined "Ignatians" after being volunteered into a Front of House role in CATS but has been involved in community theatre since arriving in Brisbane in the mid 1970's.  His occasional ventures on stage have included Sentimental Bloke (factory worker) Oh What a Lovely War (a British General) and Trial by Jury (a juror) and most recently the Ignite Choir.  Mostly, Robin's theatre involvement is in administration and part of either the front of house or backstage crew.  Robin is now in his third year as Treasurer having taken on the role in 2008.

Secretary - Iain Henderson

The role of the Secretary is to maintain membership details, track correspondence and arrange and minute committee meetings.

Public Relations & Marketing Officer  - Bonnie Gardiner

The role of the PR/Marketing Officer is to promote productions and maximise patronage,to place and seek advertising; to seek sponsorship; and to create, produce and distribute promotional material as well as developing the profile of Ignatians within the community.

 

Technical Services Officer - Craig Anderson

The role of the Technical Services Officer is to coordinate the construction, hire, use and management of all  costumes, props, sets and lights that are involved in an Ignatians production. This includes looking after a number of tools and matierials owned by the society that contribute to building sets and costumes. The Technical Services Officer liaises closely with the set and costume designers to assist them in realising their designs within a set budget.

Craig is indebted to Ignatians for the bulk of his social life in the last 5 years, not to mention a significant portion of his career in that time.

 

Upon joining the society in 2003, he rapidly found a niche helping to build sets for his first show The Gondoliers, and for every show since.  (Despite no real experience as a builder – not a hindrance in community groups to be sure).

 

Falling into the role of Technical Services Officer was practically inevitable once longtime Igs stalwart Chris Oldershaw departed for Southern dimes.

 

Also perhaps inevitable was Craig’s elevation to the Presidency of the society for the 2008 show year, (inevitable in the sense that committees of community groups are populated almost exclusively by people unable to say no – and Craig was merely the slowest to say no).

 

After a year convincing himself he should just build sets and not attempt to manage theatrical folk, he has managed to convince other people of this fact and has rejoined the Technical Services portfolio for 2010.

 

During (and because of) his time at Ignatians, Craig has also managed to convince design and corporate theatre company Iceworks Design that building sets is perhaps what (at the moment) he is best suited to.

 Music Services Officer - Edgar Chan

The role of the Music Services Officer is to coordinate all things musical for the Society, including instrumentatlists, repetiteurs, orchestra, the choir, vocal coaching etc.

Committee Member - Andy Perry

Committee Member - Anne Manton 

Committee Member - Natalie Ridoutt

Committee Member - Kate Andrew