Embedded Files
April was sort of out of the ordinary for Minstrel. And a bit misleading if you look at the figures.
First of all, I'm happy to say, the Minstrel survived quite handily without my presence for the first 3 shows of the month. We had our April Fools Day show, which was a lot of fun. Average paid attendance was 76.3 for the month for the 3 shows with paid performers and 69 if we include the Open Stage and April Fools show. The $305 loss shown for the month is misleading, because it does not include Ed Roffman's generous donation (Many thanks, Eddie.) towards the April 29th show, which was deposited last month. If that were taken into account, the number would be $1050 in the black for the month. We are $2422 in the black for the past 12 months.
I made up a new monitor speaker cable to replace the one that went bad in March.
The belated report of the Sound System Workshop that took place in March was that we had 4 trainees and about half a dozen musicians for the event. The trainees got a lot of hands-on time at the board, and had the opportunity to experiment to find the best settings for balance and tone of the amplified sound. They all reported it was very helpful, and we probably have at least one more head sound qualified volunteer.
There is some news from MUF. They have instituted a committee to investigate the future of the building. It is in need of some serious repairs. And being a historic building, those repairs are likely to be very expensive, as they must be done in the original construction. They are looking at a figure of over a million dollars to do the work. They also intend to expand the facilities. There is a possibility that they may move.
We have been assured that no matter what happens, we will have a home. They are looking at several years before any concrete action is taken. I have taken it upon myself to make the offer, subject to Board approval, that we would be more than happy to run a benefit concert to raise funds. Somehow I suspect that I would not have too much trouble in obtaining Board approval. It will be a drop in the bucket, but every little drop helps.
After consultation with Scooter and Mark Schaffer, we have decided to give the "hat" another try for the Birthday Show this year. Scooter will lend a hand in enticing more of the new performing members to take part. We will also provide a skilled on-site lead player, who will be on hand to join in any group who wishes it.
Some nice bookings made since last month:
* June 6: Betsy Rose & the Chicago Fire to open for Reeds Rhythm, and All That Brass (The big band)
* July 1: Amandala: a 13 member all female acapella group of students from from Highland Park High School to open for the Jean Rohe band.
* July 22: The Dirdy Birdies Jug Band (who may draw their own fans on Falcon Ridge Friday.) with FP member Katie Weiss opening.
* November 4: Tracy Grammer
* November 18: Another 1-man musical play from Irish harper, Patrick Ball
* February 17, 2012: Al Parrish, the bass player from Tanglefoot, doing a very Tanglefoot-like solo show.
Highlights for May: Man, they're ALL highlights! A really strong schedule.
* May 6: Anne Hills
* May 13 David Mallett with Barry & Tessa Mitterhoff opening.
* May 20: Susan Werner, my absolute favorite solo artist currently performing
* May 27 the Special Concert with ZaZuZazz.
Just block out all your Fridays this month for the Minstrel
Mike Agranoff
Program Chairman
The Minstrel
Morristown, NJ USA
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