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Minstrel, Part 1
February 2012 at the Minstrel showed how we can use the months with big numbers to support the really worthwhile shows that don't draw such big numbers. Our average paid attendance of 75.7 is lackluster on the surface. But the shows were great, the attendance was sufficient to make the room feel comfortable, and we were able to present a respected historic performer like Archie Fisher, and have him walk away with a reasonable take for his efforts. And we were able to fulfill our mission of supporting our own members, presenting Rich Deans to a respectable audience. The past 12 month average was still respectable at 93.5 for regular shows and 79.5 including Open Stages. (The highly successful Valentines Day Extravaganza did not factor into our figures, as that event is a function of Internal Affairs, not the Minstrel.) The February financial figures have not been entered into Quickbooks at the time of this writing, so they are not available for this report. I will announce those figures at the meeting.
The Committee decided to make the special May 3 movie night featuring "Phil Ochs: There But For Fortune" free to the public, but we will accept a free will donation in the creel.
Our first experiment with offering 2-for 1 admission with a Jersey Arts Card on February 24 resulted in one taker. We have two more scheduled on March 23 with Spuyten Duyvil and April 20 with Craig Bickhardt and Don Henry.
New bookings this month:
April 6: an all members' night with Mark D. Conklin and Roia Rafeiyan
Highlights for March:
Buskin & Batteau on March 16 with new member Beau Borrero opening
Minstrel, Part 2
Hi all
Now that the February financials are posted to Quickbooks, I am able to complete my report with the financial figures. As you can see we came out $66 in the black for February and $3822 for the past 12 months. I was struck by the large difference between the $3822 figure for the past 12 months and the $866 of the previous 12 months. With a little analysis, I found that about $2000 of that was a result of the 6% higher attendance we enjoyed over the past year. But a lot of the profit, $1355 to be exact, came from Ed Roffman's kind, one-time donation to the Minstrel for his anniversary concert/dance weekend last March. This indicates that while the Minstrel is holding its own, it is not quite the cash cow it appears to be just looking at the overall figures. We can't afford to get too self confident.
Also, after reading the minutes of the February meeting, I was reminded that the Board had recommended we make the Phil Ochs Movie Night free to the public. We had made no mention of a free will donation, which was my own addition.
Mike Agranoff
Program Chairman
The Minstrel
Morristown, NJ USA
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