Minstrel Booking

Not a particularly good month for the Minstrel in April. We had a good crowd for Shockenaw, but somewhat disappointing numbers for the other shows. Our average attendance was 81.8 paid (106.5 total) for the regular shows, and 71.0 paid (96.0 total) including the Open Stage. We lost $150 for the month, and we are $700 in the red year to date.

My new means of reckoning the actual profit and loss per show is revealing some telling figures. If the Minstrel is to cover the cost of insurance, I need to revisit the financial model of how it operates. With an additional $2500 of expenses per year to cover, we are not profitable. And another very intersting point is made clear: The original model of how we operate was based upon making enough money on the first 100 paying customers to cover our expenses and make a decent profit, and then giving the bulk of what comes in after that to the Feature Act. (75% of the door after the first 100 paid goes to the Headliner.) So essentially we do not recoup all that much from a high-attendance show to make up for losses on a low attendance show. And the losses on low attendance shows can be pretty significant. So I will be revisiting the financial structure of the Minstrel and make some changes.

We started using the MUF built-in sound system this month. It is, as expected a great benefit to us. Not all that much in terms of sound quality, as our old system is of excellent quality as well. The primary benefit is in the ease of setup and teardown. No heavy speakers to lug, and no snake cable to run. It saves about 15 to 20 minutes at both ends of the show in terms of setup and teardown time. It is possible that we will be able to run the simpler shows with only one sound volunteer instead of a Head Sound and Sound Assistant. There is a steeper learning curve for the new equipment. A number of our Head Sound people were given an introduction to the equipment, and they wil be training the rest of the sound crew over the coming months. I'm sure that will be reported in detail by the Sound Committee.

Another feature of the MUF system is that it has built-in video capability. Once we get settled, and after we are back at MUF after the parking lot construction, I will look into what it would take to webcast our concerts on Concert Window. This is a service that streams a live video feed from venues, which can be watched by subscribers. It provides additional revenue to both the artist and the venue. When I had mentioned this possibility to some members, they raised concerns about copyrighted material. I made some inquiries to the management of Caffe Lena, which has been doing Concert Window webcasts for a year now. According to them, since it is only a stream, and the video is not captured or recorded, the copyright issues are rather trivial. But that's all into sometime towards the end of the year.

No further word yet on the scheduling of the parking lot construction. MUF's meeting with the Zoning Board is May 11.

New bookings since last month

• July 1: Eclectic Consort (FP members John Lamb, Kris Lamb, Andy Koenig, and Kathy Haynie) opening fo Shun Ng

• Sept. 2: Ed Rainey & Dixie Lee (2 new FP members: Old time country music ) opening for Tracy Grammer.

• Jan. 27, 2017: Heather Pierson Trio opening for Tim Grimm

• Feb. 24, 2017: Occidental Gypsy: Gypsy jazz quartet. Watch for them at the Spring Getaway.

Highlight for May

• May 20: Joan & Joni: Tribute to the music of Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell. Not only is it a highlight, but it's the only regular Minstrel show of the month. The other three Fridays are the Summersongs, the Irish Mythen Special Concert, and the Getaway.

Mike Agranoff

ADDENDUM by Mike, after the meeting::

As I reported at the meeting this evening, there was an error in the Tally Sheet for the April 29 show. The actual money deposited was $149 greater than the deposit amount shown on the Tally Sheet. The Head Staff for the night and I were unable to find the source of the error, but since the error resulted in an increase of revenue (to the amount of $149), we can safely assume it was due to a mis-count of the cash in the cash drawer, and adjust the attendance figures accordingly. I have adjusted the Tally Sheet to match the actual amount deposited. Attached, you will find the revised Minstrel finances, as adjusted to reflect those changes. The change would not have made any difference to the performer's pay.

The difference in the aggregate figures reported in my original report change as follows:

• Average attendance for regular shows in April increased from 81.8 paid (106.5 total) to 85.0 paid (109.8 total).

• Average attendance in April including open stage increased from 71.0 paid (96.0 total) to 73.6 paid (98.6 total).

• Our financial loss for April decreased frojm $150 to $43, and our Year To Date loss decreased from $700 to $591.

Mike Agranoff