Minstrel Booking

From: The Minstrel <mike.agranoff@folkproject.org>

Date: Sun, Apr 2, 2017 at 10:24 PM

Subject: Minstrel Booking Report, April 2017

To: Board FP <fullboard@folkproject.org>

Cc: wjhall@ix.netcom.com

This month shows how one poorly attended show can really put the damper on an otherwise good month. On March 3, we originally had Orrin Star scheduled, but he was forced to cancel at relatively short notice for health reasons. I made a few attempts to find a similar headliner to replace him, but it was too short a notice. Instead I promoted Tyler Hughes and Sam Gleaves, who had been scheduled as the Opener to the Headliner's spot, and found a new opener. Quality-wise Tyler and Sam were up to the gig. Draw-wise, they weren't, and we only had 38 paid attendees. That dropped the average attendance for regular shows in March from 116 to 75, and dropped our March profit from $304 to $92. Over the past 12 months our average attendance for regular shows has been 92.7 ($73.8 including Open Stages) for an overall profit of $1,474) Year to date, our average paid attendance for regular shows has been 82.8, (66.8 including Open Stages) for a profit of $501. Additional attendance figures can be found on the attached Chart.pdf, and Profit & Loss by show can be found on the attached Minstrel PL.pdf

Concert Window

I am hoping to go live with Concert Window broadcasts in May. Progress is as follows:

• Our account with Concert Window.com has been established.

• There are some hardware glitches that MUF is working on, and plan to be settled sometime before April 10.

• Evelyn McNally has agreed to help out by posting our shows on the Concert Window site, and informing upcoming performers of the program.

• Bill Hall is preparing instruction manuals for the staff on how to initiate and end webcasts, and how to watch a broadcast for potential viewers.

• The Web Team has been given a description of new pages that will be needed, and additions to existing pages on our Website

• John Lamb has been given some changes that will be required on the Tally Sheet.

For about a year, we've had a speaker set up in the lobby to pipe the sound from the auditorium to the staff at the admissions desk. That speaker had been fed from a wireless microphone erected in front of one of the main speakers in the Meeting Room. The sound quality was not particularly good, and the speaker was at the limit of the range of the wireless microphone, which sometimes made picking up the signal sort of iffy. That signal is now being hardwired to the speaker from a TV monitor in the Library, providing higher quality and more reliable sound.

New Bookings since February:

• August 4: The Inspire Project: The trio of singer-songwriters which opened for the Kennedys in December.

• September 29: Bob Malone Dynamic songwriter and pianist.

• November 3: Split bill of Terry Kitchen & Mara Levin and Celestial Harmonies, a 5-member group also featuring Mara Levine.

• April 6, 2018: Joe Crookston

Highlights in April

April 7: Silk City, with special guest, banjoist Tony Trishka comprising 4 of the 5 members of the 80s newgrass group, Skyline.

Respectfully submitted,

Mike Agranoff

Program Chair

The Minstrel Acoustic Concert Series

Morristown, NJ. USA

www.Minstrel.FolkProject.org