Minstrel Booking

A very abbreviated month with only one show. (There was also one Member show, one Special Concert, and one night closed for Getaway.) The attendance was 83 paid (109 total) for Joan & Joni for a profit of $135. I have asked the producers of other activities that occur on Fridays to coordinate so as to have no more than one non-Minstrel event per month in future. (Open Stages count as Minstrel events.) Year-to-date, we're $512 in the red. I've attached a new graphic called "Minstrel P&L", along with the ones I've shown previously. This is a show by show profit and loss, with all factors including rent, general Minstrel expenses, insurance, ASCAP & BMI fees etc.

Average paid attendance over the past 12 months was 82.6 for regular shows, down from 90.2 in the previous 12 months. We should do well in June with Jay Ungar & Molly Mason and Joe Crookston lined up.

There is still no resolution on when MUF construction will start. They have been holding meetings with the Morristown Zoning Board, the most recent of which was this past Tuesday, May 24. That was for public commentary, and there was considerable opposition to the expansion voiced from the neighborhood. There was not enough time after the public commentary for the Zoning Board to deliberate and decide, so another meeting is scheduled for that on June 6. One of the concerns was late night noise. I don't know whether that is a real problem or a perceived problem, and I plan on going outside the building with a DB meter to actually measure the noise level during a concert. One of the proposed solutions MUF suggested was to move the start and end time up by a half hour. That might be workable, but also might pose a difficulty for our staff to arrive earlier.

New bookings since last month:

• Aug. 19: River Drivers A multi-generational Celtic band.

• Sept. 9: Brother Sun High-draw harmony trio

• November 4: Mike Agranoff opening for John Forster

• Nov. 18: Fendrick & Peck opening for Mollie O'Brien & Rich Moore: A charming couple of bluegrass-oriented singer-songwriters. They will also be doing a feature act on June 16

• Jan. 13: The April Verch Band win Christine DeLeon opening.

• Feb. 24: Addie & Olin -- Unleashed! opening for Occidental Gypsy. Comedic duo with Klezmer and other Jewish overtones.

• June 16: The aforementioned headline appearance of Fendrick & Peck

Highlights for next month

• June 3: Jay Ungar & Molly Mason top class fiddle & guitar duet

• June 17 Joe Crookston Passionate singer songwriter

Mike Agranoff