Troubadour

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

Sent: Saturday, June 1, 2019 1:00 PM

To: fullboard@folkproject.org

Subject: Troubadour Booking Report May, 2019

(Or should it be Minstrel Booking Report, since it was still Minstrel in May? You know what I mean.)

Attendance and finance

A pretty good month at the Minstrel in May. We had 3 shows with an average paid attendance of 99 (Avg. total attendance 122), and made $543 in profit. If you compare the attendance and profit figures for the past year to those of the previous year (See the table at the bottom of the attached Chart.pdf) the difference is dramatic. The June-’18 through May ’19 figures are just after the attendance slump we had at the beginning of 2018 was over. While the June ’17 through May ’18 figures include just about all of that slump period. Our paid attendance jumped 35% comparing the past year with the previous year. And we went from a$462 loss to a $4,240 profit.

I did make one judgement error with regards to the Jonathan Byrd show, in giving him a higher guarantee than he was able to garner with the size of the attendance he was able to draw. (Certainly not higher than his show was worth.) Consequently we had to make up a substantial $276 to meet his guarantee. In accordance with my program to personally cover any substantial guarantee make-ups during 2019, I made a $276 donation to the Minstrel for that show.

Name change

The confluence of the Minstrel-Troubadour name change and the impending closure of the MUF parking lot during this month made for a fairly hectic month. There was a lot of scrambling and extra work for many Board Members and volunteers. My thanks go out to

• Gary Pratt for updating the name on numerous documents and web pages associated with advance ticket sales.

• John Lamb for scouring every instance of “Minstrel” on our voluminous web site and replacing it with Troubadour, and then verifying the each replacement was appropriate.

• Evelyn McNally for covering name change items on all Concert Window documents and web pages.

• Amy Livingston for covering name change items on all the emails going out to the volunteers.

• Beth Wilson for reworking the name on our backdrop banner.

• Jean Scully for taking care of the name change on the volunteer job descriptions, the volunteer welcome letter, and our Twitter account.

• Paul Fisher for overseeing the design and purchase of new business cards and 2nd-timer cards.

• Lisa Hallman for overseeing all the changes to publicity releases.

• Kathi Caccavale for putting the word out on our FaceBook accounts.

And there are probably more that I’ve missed. It was a huge job with hundreds, if not thousands of edits to be made. Some of those changes are still in process of being completed as I write this. I’m sure that over the next few months, we’ll still be coming across instances of “Minstrel” that need to be replaced in documents, web pages, and communications. And it will probably be years before we all fully make that replacement in our own minds, and stop coming out with the occasional inadvertent “M”-word in our own speech.

Construction at MUF

Repairs and maintenance within MUF’s building, and reconstruction of the parking lot begin today, June 1st. As previously reported the first two shows in June will be cancelled, and parking lot work will stretch into September. Notification has gone out to our mailing list, and procedures are in place to deal with parking restricted to the street and the Morris Museum parking lot. There will be a temporary lot prepared to be used by performers, staff carrying heavy items, and those with mobility difficulties The entrance to that lot will be from Normandy Heights Road, west of the main building entrance (in the direction of the Morris Museum.) There will be space for 15 – 20 cars there, and everyone is asked to respect the limitations of who may use that lot.

Red Roof Inn

Over a year ago, I had arranged for a discount be made available to the Folk Project if we wanted to house performers at the Red Roof Inn. That discount was also extended to the general public if they used a code obtainable from our website. For the first time ever, I was unable to find in-home lodging for our performers, so I booked Jonathan Byrd and his band into that hotel. As it turned out Jonathan encountered a lot of unsavory characters (prostitutes and “mob guys” according to him.) in the halls. So I’ve had that recommendation removed from our website, and will no longer book performers there.

Best of the OpenStage

In conjunction with Mitch, I’ve scheduled November 22nd as a “Best of the OpenStage” show, with Mitch selecting 4 acts, each to do a half hour set. This will be a paid performance run under the auspices of the Troubadour, but hopefully with the support of the OpenStage community.

New bookings since last month:

• July 19: Songwriter David Massengill with Jean Scully opening

• August 30: Johnnie Doyle with Mick McAully: two powerhouse Irish instrumentalists, alumni of the Celtic super group Solas. Harper Sharlys Dugan (formerly of Dugan’s Hooligans) opening.

• December 27: Terry Kitchen & Mara Levine, songwriter act opening for Gathering Time

• April 17, 2020: Trout Fishing in America, high profile Americana duo.

Highlight for June

Well, it’s gotta be a highlight, what with two shows cancelled due to construction, and a third being a member concert of Summer Songs, David Roth will be the only Troubadour concert in June. Sandie Riley band opening.

Mike Agranoff

Program Chair

The Troubadour Acoustic Concert Series

(Formerly the Minstrel Acoustic Concert Series)

Morristown, NJ. USA

www.Troubadour.FolkProject.org