MINSTREL BOOKING
General
A poor month in August. Average paid attendance for the 3 regular shows was 57.8, with an unexpectedly low turnout for David Massengill, who's done well in the past. Average over the past 12 months was 79.7. We ran $285 in the red for August, and $648 positive over the past 12 months.
Meeting with MUF
Elizabeth Lachowicz and I had a meeting with Allison Miller (Minister) and Nina McCormack (President) of the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship on August 14. The purposes were to solidify the contact between the Folk Project and the MUF Administration, and establish lines of communication between those in charge of both organization. And also to see if we could renegotiate the rent increase. The first goal was, I think, accomplished. We heard a number of issues they had about our use of the building, and cleared up one or two misconceptions they may have had. With regards to the rent, we asked if they would stretch the increase over 2 or 3 years in order that we not have to pile an admission price increase right on top of the one we imposed at the beginning of 2013. They are considering that request, and I got the impression they would agree to doing that. We also offered to run an annual benefit concert for the Fellowship (with the knowledge and approval of the Special Concerts Committee). And we pointed out other advantages to MUF of our tennancy, such as our contribution to the SCAN concerts they run.
One complaint about us we discovered, about which I never had a clue, was that there are some people in the MUF organization who do not like the acoustic panels we installed in the Meeting Room when we first started using the building. They have gotten a little dirty over the 8 years they've been up. There was a mistaken impression held by some of their people that, while good for amplified music, the panels were detrimental to the regular unamplified services. And some simply did not like the aesthetic aspects of the panels. In particular, the two closest to the center of the stage obstructed wall space on which they sometimes wanted for decoration or use as a projection screen. We offered to address the dirt issue by investigating cleaning or recovering the panels. And we offered to move the two panels blocking the stage walls to areas of the walls not behind the stage.
I subsequently checked into the prices of cleaning or recovering the panels. Cleaning would be $600, with no guarantee that they would look like new. Recovering them would be somewhere around $1000 to $1200. I will personally foot the bill for recovering if they choose to do that. MUF has not yet been informed of this offer, but they know we intend to address the issue. I've gotten color swatches for them to choose from if they accept.
Nina and Allison are discussing our meeting with others in the organization. I am cautiously optimistic that we can get some relief on the rent, and am confident that our outreach has improved our image with them. We intend to establish a scheduled periodic communication with them to keep abreast on any issues.
New bookings since last month:
· September 6: Sleeping Bee (featuring Andy Goessling) as a last minute replacement for Harpeth Rising, which had been scheduled to open for Frank Vignola, but had to cancel.
· December 27: Diane Perry opening for the Shockenaw Mountain Boys
· January 24, 2014: Jean Rohe and the End of the World Show, with The Four Baris (a female acapella quartet) opening
· July 18, 2014: Cliff Eberhardt
· November 29: I am currently working on a show for Thanksgiving Friday called A Blast From the Folk Project Past featuring 4 acts that used to be closely associated with the Project in its early years, but have drifted away. Currently I have confirmation from Bill Hall, Jean (Kanerva) Farnworth, and Liza DiSavino & AJ Bodnar. I have an offer out to another act who is trying to fit it into their schedule.
Highlights for September:
September should be a strong month with two major shows: Frank Vignola on the 6th, and Rory Block on the 27th.
Mike Agranoff
Program Chair
The Minstrel Acoustic Concert Series
Morristown, NJ 07960, USA