What’s Happening at QCT
Written by QCT Executive Director, Burgundy Hill
My working title for this blog post was “The One Where I Can’t Actually Tell You Anything.” And, honestly, that still feels pretty accurate.
August is one of the busiest months at QCT, but it is also one of those months when you can’t actually see the bulk of the work happening. We’re deep in rehearsals, pre-production, marketing, grant writing, scheduling, licensing, designing, planning, and approximately 47 other things, all while getting ready to make several announcements that we are very excited about.
Unfortunately, I can’t tell you most of those things yet.
So instead, let me give you a peek behind the curtain at what our team is working on right now… and perhaps drop a few hints about what’s coming.
First: We Added Another Show!
On August 28th and 29th, QCT Presents will bring FAMOUS to the Black Box. This one-woman show, written and performed by Sandra Bauleo and directed by Thomas Caruso, is a work in development that is continuing its journey toward New York. We don’t typically present new work, which is part of what makes this such an exciting opportunity.
Meanwhile, Things Are Going Wrong. On Purpose.
Over on the main stage, rehearsals are underway for THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG, opening in September. If you aren’t familiar with this title, trust me: you don’t want to miss it.
I first saw the show at HLGU a few years ago, and I have never been in an audience that laughed so hard or was so completely engaged. It is one of those productions where the audience becomes part of the experience because you’re constantly watching to see what happens next. And from a production standpoint?
Well… It’s a technical beast.
Our team has to create controlled chaos onstage. The title says it all: things go wrong. Very wrong. But they have to go wrong in exactly the right way, every single time. That means rehearsals are not just about learning lines and blocking. We’re figuring out how to make an elaborate series of disasters look spontaneous, hilarious, and, most importantly, safe.
Tickets are on sale now, and if you’re on the fence about coming to see it, highly encourage you to take a chance. I really don’t think you’ll regret it.
The Rest of 2026
We’re also deep into pre-production for our remaining three shows of 2026: JUDY MOODY, WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?, and ANNIE. Rehearsals haven’t officially started for these productions, but our production teams are already spending countless hours putting the pieces together. By the time we announce a cast, we want to have a working plan for every department.
That means concept meetings. Design meetings. Prop lists. Scheduling. Drafts of rehearsal calendars. Budget conversations. Materials research. And approximately one million emails. Even when we have guest directors and designers leading a production, our team is actively involved at every step, providing support, resources, and institutional knowledge.
And Then There’s 2027…
This is where things get particularly exciting (and particularly difficult to explain without accidentally ruining a few surprises). We are finalizing the details ahead of our season announcement on September 10.
Planning a season is a months-long process. It starts in the spring when we begin brainstorming titles. From April through July, we work through feasibility, budgets, calendars, rights availability, production needs, and approximately 700 versions of “Okay, but can we actually make this work?” Once the lineup and budget are finalized, everything else must fall into place.
And right now, everything is falling into place. Here’s what the QCT team is working on behind the scenes:
Burgundy: In addition to balancing our programming schedule and the day-to-day operations, I’ve spent the last few weeks deep in licensing contracts and royalty payments so we can officially perform our 2027 shows. At the same time, I’m putting the finishing touches on our production calendar: the giant document that attempts to contain every deadline for the entire year in one place.
I am absolutely not doing this by myself, but it is my job to bring all of those individual calendars together and turn them into one giant puzzle that fits together. Scenic and costume rendering deadlines. Material arrival dates. Commercial shoots. Audition information sessions. Ticket on-sale dates. Preview performances. Total number of performances. The list goes on…
It’s a lot. And, yes, I am currently working from a planner covered in pencil marks.
I’m also finalizing pricing packages for sponsorships and program advertising and supporting marketing with writing show descriptions, loglines, and pulling together all the other pieces that eventually become our season brochure and show web pages.
On top of all of that, we have a few other major projects in the works that are taking a considerable amount of planning time. I can’t tell you what they are yet. But I can tell you that I’m excited about them. More on that on September 10.
Ethan: Since Ethan is directing THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG, the bulk of his time right now is spent in rehearsals. Because this show is so demanding, we’ve added extra rehearsal and tech time compared to a typical show. There is a lot to figure out, and we want to give the production the time it deserves.
Outside of rehearsals, Ethan is in weekly production meetings for all our active shows, working with teams and helping keep everything moving forward. He’s also proofing the 2027 calendar, season descriptions, and all of the other details that come with preparing for a new season. And if that wasn’t enough, he’s already working on recruiting guest designers and musicians for 2027.
Pichi: Pichi is deeply entrenched in marketing all of our programming right now. Commercial shoots. Press releases. Emails. Social media. Posters. Graphics. Website updates. And literally everything else you see coming out of QCT. Seriously: if you see something from QCT, there is a very good chance Pichi created it.
She is also deeply entrenched in 2027, especially the graphics. We generally create all of our own show artwork, which means the last few weeks have included hours and hours of designing, revising, tweaking, looking at things, changing things, looking at them again, and eventually saying, “Okay, THAT’S the one.”
She has been creating the beautiful logos and visual identity you’ll see at the announcement. Once those are finalized, she’ll reformat them approximately 400 different ways for all the places they need to go. Then comes the season brochure, website pages, digital advertising, social media graphics…You get the idea. Ethan and I are deeply involved in this process, but when it comes to actually making it look good? Pichi is the star of the show.
Kristie: Kristie is currently doing what she does best: keeping the wheels on productions. She’s coordinating rehearsal spaces and calendars, making sure our stage management and props teams have what they need, and helping keep our current productions moving forward.
She’s also deeply involved in the 2027 production calendar. She completed the first pass of many of our technical deadlines, and once we finally finish putting the puzzle together, she gets to take my pencil-covered paper masterpiece and turn it into an actual digital calendar. (Thank goodness.)
Casey: Casey is busy filling volunteer positions and supporting the box office, but she is also currently living in Grant Land™. As we look toward 2027, she is completing grant applications to support a major upcoming project and researching new funding opportunities that can help QCT continue to grow.
Grant writing is one of those jobs that is largely invisible when it’s done well. You may never see the dozens of hours that go into an application, but those applications can make a huge difference in what we’re able to offer our community. So, while the rest of us are making calendars and logos, Casey is out there trying to find money for the things we want to do. Go, Casey!
Nicole: Nicole manages all things Box Office, which means she creates everything in our ticketing system and handles daily reporting, among approximately a dozen other things.
As we finalize ticket dates for 2027, she has the gargantuan task of building every show and season ticket package in the system so that season ticket renewals can begin in September. If you’ve ever wondered how a season announcement turns into a functioning ticketing website where you can actually select your seats… Nicole. It’s all Nicole.
Lorne, Harrison & Jayden: Lorne, Harrison, and Jayden are all deeply involved in the remaining productions of 2026. Lorne and Jayden are our scenic and costume designers for THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG, and both have some serious technical challenges to solve for that production. Because, again, apparently we looked at a show where everything goes wrong and thought, “Yes. Let’s do that.” (I’m going to be honest, that one is completely on me.) They all had a hand in building literally everything you see on stage.
They’re also working with the designers for our remaining 2026 shows as scenic and costume rendering deadlines approach. Outside of that, they were heavily involved in early drafts of the 2027 budget and calendar, working through production details and helping us figure out what is possible with our time and resources.
So, What’s Happening at QCT?
From the audience’s perspective, it can feel like there’s a lull between productions. Behind the scenes, we’re basically running a very elaborate game of Tetris.
We’re finishing one show while rehearsing another, planning three more, building an entirely new season, writing grants, designing marketing materials, scheduling volunteers, building ticketing packages, finalizing licensing agreements, solving technical problems, and trying to remember what day it is.
And we love it. Because all of this work leads somewhere.
It leads to new stories onstage. New opportunities for our volunteers. New experiences for audiences. New programs for students. New partnerships. And, very soon, some announcements we are extremely excited to share with you.
So stay tuned. There’s a lot happening behind the curtain. And on September 10, we’ll finally get to pull it back.