MINSTREL BOOKING
Pretty good month in April. Strong lineup led to an average paid attendance of 97.4 for the month, despite unexpectedly small turnout for Annie & The Hedonists. We came out $443 in the black for April. But the past 12 months show a $176 loss, as they now encompas a very poor showing for the middle months of 2012 without the boost we had from an excellent first part of 2012. That situation will probably continue for a few months, as our schedule for the next few months does not contain any real blockbusters. I'm still working on trying to get a high draw act for August 23 to put a kick into our summer.
We've put a new laptop into service at the Minstrel to handle the Tally Sheet calculations. We're also now sending the tally sheets out to the Treasurer and Program Chairman right from the Minstrel through MUF's wifi, rather than transferring them to flash drives and sending the results out from the Head Staff's home.
We had a nice piece of good news this past weekend, which was immediately retracted. PBS affilliate WNJT had informed us that they wanted to video the upcoming show with Ellis on May 3, to be included in a segment of their "State of the Arts" program. That offer was subsequently rescinded due to scheduling problems on their end. But they do say they would like to do a segment sometime in fall or winter.
New bookings since last meeting:
· Aug. 2: Rachel Streich opening for Finvarra's Wren
· Nov. 15: John Forster, originally scheduled for October 4, was moved to this date to make room for a Special Concert.
Highlights for May
· The Stray Birds May 10 have been garnering a lot of buzz. They will be an act to watch
· Suzie Vinnick from Canada is my pick for an unexpected dark horse. She's primarily a blues player and singer, and she's far from shabby both in her guitar work and vocals. But her real secret weapon is a stage presence that is captivating and mesmerizing. Although a non-blues-afficianado myself, I will not miss that show.
Mike Agranoff
Program Chair
The Minstrel Acoustic Concert Series
Morristown, NJ 07960, USA