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Report2015.doc
Note: 2015 figures do not include Paxton concert
Mike Agranoff
Minstrel Program Chairman
November 29, 2015
THE MINSTREL
2015 YEAR END REPORT
A very good year for the Minstrel. Our paid attendance is up 4% over last year to a healthy 92.3. But financially, it’s like a
completely different operation from last year...to the better. Even discounting the very successful 40th Anniversary Concert, we ran a nearrecord
$4,406 in the black, compared with $666 last year. And, adding in the Paxton concert, we came in with a net profit of $8,766.
That was due to a number of factors. Our admission price increase from $8.00 to $9.00 took place in July of 2014, so last year we
only benefitted from that for 6 months, whereas he higher admission has been in place for a full year in 2015. We have started using the
Terrace Room to hold our Open Stages, rather than the main meeting room, at a rent savings of $141 per Open Stage. 14 of our 40
shows had a paid attendance of 100 or better this year, when compared to 9 out of 42 shows last year.
The abovementioned Tom Paxton concert to celebrate our 40th anniversary what a great success. We held it at the 450 seat
Presbyterian Church of Chatham Township with the assistance of Sanctuary Concerts, who hold their regular concerts there. It was sold
out in a matter of weeks from when the tickets went on sale, and 70 of those tickets went to Folk Project volunteers at the regular Minstrel
price of $9.00 instead of the general admission rate of $30. That concert alone made a profit of $1,860.
The 40th Anniversary of the Minstrel probably was a major factor in the Folk Project’s being awarded the citation of
Outstanding Arts Organization of 2015 by MorrisArts.
The Minstrel has ceded three Fridays during the year to Internal Affairs to run Member Concerts, whose profits will go
towards paying down some of the General and Administrative costs of running the Folk Project.
We have noted that about 22.5% of our audience have not paid admission. These include redeemed ticks, redeemed 2nd-
timer passes, staff, and guests of performers. We will look at means of trimming this number next year.
An error on the part of the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship custodial staff led to the inadvertent discarding of the backdrop
we had been using since the mid 90s. In compensation, the Fellowship commissioned a new one to be made, designed by our
own Deborah Graham and crafted by their own Beth Wilson. It is a masterpiece of museum quality.
An anonymous Minstrel attendee, in gratitude for the musical program we provide made a $10,000 donation to the
Unitarian Fellowship’s building improvement fund to improve the sound quality of our shows.
Our relationship with the Unitatarian Fellowship remains good. We will again be producing a Holiday concert at the end of
the year to benefit them. The building renovations that had been planned for last summer were postponed. They may happen in
2016, and we are still set to use the facilities of the Presbyterian Church of Chatham Township as temporary quarters when and if it
does.
Upcoming 2016 highlights: There are a number of high profile shows already in our 2016 calendar. Look for Beppe
Gambetta on January 2, Joe Crookston on January 22, another Phil Ochs Song Night on March 25, The Shockenaw Mountain
Boys on April 15, and Jay Ungar and Molly Mason on June 3.
Mike Agranoff
Program Chairman
Average Paid Attendance
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140
1991
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2015
Regular Shows
All Shows
Dec. of previous year through Nov. of current year
Minstrel Performance
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1991
1994
1997
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2015
Attendance
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