JOSEPH TOUR CAST NOT ALLOWED TO COLLECT $$ FOR BC/EFA

The head of the Masonic Temple in Detroit, MI is not allowing the touring cast of JOSEPH to collect money for BC/EFA. Apparently he gets letters of complaint from his audience base when a curtain speech is made asking for money for Broadway Cares. Maybe we can give him some true letters of complaint.

Please write letters:

http://www.nederlanderdetroit.com/misc/contact.htm


Post comments here.

---

what's up with these Masonic societies, and how do they have that kind of power in such a large city?

---

The Masonic is actually the venue that the show is playing.

---

oh, well color me embarrassed. kind of a heavy name for a place showing Joseph

---

thanks for posting this.

it's truly a shame.

Funny thing..the Needlesslanders have no problem tacking on that for profit "restoration charge". But when an organization that truly needs support come to town, they pull the plug.

If they truly wanted the after show collection to happen, they would let it go on. I hope this is not the start of future happenings.

---

Updated On: 10/9/04 at 07:02 PM

"Restoration Fees" are a way to increase the money that comes in to the box office without it being counted as part fo a show's weekly gross. The producers allow the theatre owners to tack on the fee as part of their deal. So although technically, a show's producer doesn't get the money, they may get a better rental deal with the theatre owner in exchange.

Just bumping this back to the top. Please help us today. We'd like a ton of complaint letters when they arrive in the office on Monday.

---

nycdncr made it very easy, folks. It took me all of 5 minutes to write my email and press send. Take a moment and do it.

---

I'm in the show too. It's pretty simple. We wanted to collect....we were all set to collect...then we were told we were not being allowed to collect because of letters from previous audiences complaining. We couldn't even sell signed t-shirts or programs for BC/EFA. Thanks a lot Detroit.

---

Which is exactly why I decided to post on this website asking people to send letters in support of BC/EFA instead of causing a hige ordeal at the theatre. Wow....people can be so quick to judge sometimes.

---

So nice to have something we finally agree on, ckeaton!

But tell me: How would the two presidential candidates respond to this situation? Don't you agree that John Kerry would support the cast of the show and George Bush would support the manager of the Shrine?

---

Very clever, ckeaton, but I think based on Bush's track record, he would probably say that the people benefiting from BC/EFA should have engaged in "abstinence"--because his administration has cut support for condom distribution or any type of AIDS education other than "abstinence education."

Then he would publicly promise BC/EFA a large amount of money and end up giving them nothing, the way he promised to spend $15 billion on the worldwide AIDS pandemic in his 2003 State of the Union address and ended up spending $350 million.

And finally, I think he would tell the bigoted manager of the Detroit Shrine that if Detroit voted Bush, he would support a constitutional amendment outlawing curtain speeches that raised money for AIDS causes, the way he cynically promised the Religious Right he would support a constitutional amemdment banning gay marriage, even though he knew it would never pass.

George Bush is no friend to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. I'm glad you sent that letter, ckeaton, but by supporting Bush for president and helping him put right-wing judges on the Supreme Court, you are defeating the good you've done with your letter.

---

In all honesty, if you look at the annual reports on BCEFA's website, the return of $$ to the Midwest is not very good. The 2002 report (the most recent available) shows that over 50% of total national grant funding was awarded to NY, CA and Washington D.C. Michigan ranks 30th for money awarded, even though it's the 8th most populous state in the country. Looking at that, why would they want to give to BCEFA? They have to take care of their own people first and have their own organizations to do so.