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

[nycdncr]

Posted: 10/9/04 at 11:43am

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.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 10/9/04 at 11:48am

There's no reason to force it. If they get that many complaints, then they aren't going to get that much money if they do make the speech, no? It's just one tour stop.

[Broadway Matt]

Posted: 10/9/04 at 11:50am

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

[nycdncr]

Posted: 10/9/04 at 11:50am

Wrong....he's just using it as an excuse I'm sure. For every complaint letter he receives, there are hundreds of dollars that could be collected.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 10/9/04 at 11:51am

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

[nycdncr]

Posted: 10/9/04 at 11:52am

Please use the link provided to let the Nederlanders know how the Broadway community feels about this decision.

[Broadway Matt]

Posted: 10/9/04 at 11:53am

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

[nycdncr]

Posted: 10/9/04 at 4:47pm

Please, please, please show your support by writing a letter to the Nederlanders in Detroit. Link in the first post.

Thanks!!!!

[Mr. Tuttle]

Posted: 10/9/04 at 7:02pm

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

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/9/04 at 7:11pm

The reason is simple - the restoration charge goes directly into the pockets of the theater owners. I wonder if they take off for repaid charges to theaters on their taxes. If so, how do they justify " restoration charges" ?

[Jon]

Posted: 10/9/04 at 10:23pm

"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.

[nycdncr]

Posted: 10/9/04 at 10:50pm

The guy who runs the theatre is supposedly some old coot who likes to keep his rich suburbanite ticket base happy by not ruffling feathers. Unfortunately.....we could be making tons of cash for BC/EFA, but because of a few complaint letters he's not letting us collect. Jerk. Anywho...do us a favor. Let's use the link to show him what real letters of complaint sound like.

Thanks!!!!!!

[nycdncr]

Posted: 10/10/04 at 10:01am

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]

Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:43pm

Thank you to all who may have written in this weekend. Our tour is off to Des Moines with full intentions of collecting money Tuesday night.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:55pm

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.

Posted: 10/10/04 at 11:21pm

A friend of mine is in the show. I will have to ask him what is going on with all this.

[nycdncr]

Posted: 10/10/04 at 11:27pm

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.

[Yawper]

Posted: 10/11/04 at 12:32am

Whether you agree with the theater manager's decision or not, you need to remember that your comments and behavior reflect back to BC/EFA when you are acting on their behalf.

[nycdncr]

Posted: 10/11/04 at 8:42am

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.

[ckeaton]

Posted: 10/11/04 at 9:16am

Letter sent.

I have to imagine theatres get a spattering of letters after every curtain speech.

There are seniors at the theatre where I work who write nasty letters if the word "Hell" is in a show. The same people have little time, and a desire to communicate with the outside world. It's a shame. I'd be angry if I couldn't add to my BC/EFA poster collection, all while contributing to a great cause.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/11/04 at 1:35pm

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?

[ckeaton]

Posted: 10/11/04 at 2:41pm

Ah crap, Joey. You couldn't just leave it at that.
Well, you asked for it... and I feel a little bit like we're humping in the middle of a public park, since this isn't happening in the seclusion of the OT board...

I think John Kerry would probably issue a press release that the cast should be able to ask for the money since theatregoers are in the richest 1% of entertainment-goers, then send a letter to the facility manager suggesting that it was an outrage that they ask for any more money on top of the already high ticket price, then give a dollar twenty to the BC/EFA bucket as he pushed his way to his limo.

I think that George Bush would say that the management has the right to exercise their rights as presenters. It's assumed that the presenter has no obligation to allow the curtain speeches. In my estimation, President Bush would argue that the business owners should have a final say, but propose that the charity is a just cause for those who wish to donate on their own. And hell, I doubt he'd even be at the theatre.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/11/04 at 4:38pm

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.

Posted: 10/11/04 at 9:05pm

Oh how sad! Don't these people have a heart and know that donations to BCEFA is a great cause? Such a pity...

~Rosalynn

[Yawper]

Posted: 10/11/04 at 10:30pm

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.