Minstrel

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

Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2019 5:05 PM

To: fullboard@folkproject.org

Subject: Minstrel Booking Report: March 2019 -- PLEASE READ THE SECTION ABOUT UPCOMING NAME CHANGE FOR THE MINSTREL

February was an OK month for the Minstrel. The two shows averaged a paid attendance of 76.0 (117 total attendance), and made a profit of $153. Year-to-date our attendance averaged 106.4 paid / 140.0 total, for a profit of $796. I was particularly gratified by the healthy attendance of 89 paid for Todd Dennison. Member shows tend to have relatively low attendance, and Todd pulled in a bunch of fans, and put on a very nice show.

Parking lot renovation:

There is no further news on the schedule or timing on when the parking lot renovation will start other than a target date of early June. However, the latest estimation on the duration of the project is now 3-4 months. I also gave some inaccurate information last month concerning temporary parking spots on the MUF property during the refurbishment. There will be space there for 15 cars, not 30 as I originally reported. We will use those spaces for performers, people who are mobility impaired, and perhaps staff members that are carrying supplies with them. Parking is legal on the street on the same side as MUF.

I checked with our liability insurance adjustor, Phil Wightman as to whether we could be held responsible for any injuries incurred by people walking between the Morris Museum and the Fellowship. He responds as follows:

“…You cannot be held responsible for a crack in the city street or a bad driver. You have to be negligent (actually create the hazard that causes the injury). That isn’t to say someone couldn’t sue you for something that happened between the venue and the parking lot-and in that case your insurance company would provide defense if needed. Even if the injury occurred at the parking lot itself the owner of the lot would be primary unless The Folk Project actually created the hazard that causes the injury. “

We still need to approve of the plan to use the Museum parking lot during the renovation at the upcoming meeting. Please note I know of no other alternative sites at the moment. If we can’t find one, our only alternative may be to suspend operations of the concert series during the parking lot renovations.

What’s in a name?

A fairly major flap cropped up on the MUF Facebook page concerning the name “The Minstrel Acoustic Concert Series”, and its connection, though unintentional, with the blackface minstrel shows of the 19th’ Century. This controversy cropped up in 1991, prompting us to change the name of the concert series from “The Minstrel Show Coffeehouse” to “The Minstrel Coffeehouse. (And then a decade later we revised it to “The Minstrel Acoustic Concert Series”.)

Although the current controversy was triggered by the Facebook postings, I fear it has been, and will be representative of how we may be perceived by some of the general public as well, particularly in light of the recent national furor over racially insensitive photos of some Virginia politicians. Paul Fisher, Steve Humphreys, Mark Schaffer, and I met last week with Reverend Allison Miller of MUF to discuss it. While Allison did not specifically ask us to change the name, she did express concerns on how the name might be perceived by the public, and the negative image that might reflect on MUF as well as the Folk Project. After a lot of discussions with Paul, Mark, and Steve, I came to the reluctant decision that as much as I’m personally attached to “The Minstrel”, I think we will need to once again change the name to finally rid ourselves of that albatross. This upcoming Board meeting I will be announcing that we will change the name of the series to “Folk Project Acoustic Concerts”. I plan to roll out the change sometime within the next few months. I expect to meet with the Volunteer Chair, Publicity, E-Communications and Webmaster to determine all the actions needed in each of our areas of operation to accomplish this change, .and then determine the actual date when it will take effect.

Please save your commentary for the meeting. This is not something that can be fruitfully discussed by email amongst two dozen Board members.

New bookings since last month

• June 7:............. Small Potatoes Longtime songwriter duo with Jean Scully & Friends opening.

• August 2:......... Happy Traum Fingerstyle guitarist from the 60s and 70s

• August 16......... Richard Shindell Highly respected singer-songwriter with Andrew Dunn opening.

• October 18....... Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas World class Scots fiddler and Cello accompanist.

Highlights for March

• March 22......... Tom Chapin Likely to be a sellout

• March 29......... Phil Ochs Song Night Possible sellout

Respectfully submitted

Mike Agranoff

Program Chair

The Minstrel Acoustic Concert Series

Morristown, NJ USA

www.Minstrel.FolkProject.org