Thursday, July 9th. Waconia, MN. 25 miles. Grass, fairgrounds, chance of rain.
Good presale in a town where CM has had some excellent days. This is the suburban Twin Cities so the first shoppers were off for Mall of America by 10:30. Been thinking a lot about small show, small town circuses lately – the kind of show that CM was in it’s early seasons... turning a profit with domestic labor and seats for 300 people. Of course scrounging for equipment for small shows is the easy part, it’s financing booking a show, insurance, the advance, and getting it down the road when it first opens that’s so costly. You can neither succeed nor fail until it's open and moving.
Wednesday July 8th. Arlington, MN. 65 miles. Grass, fairgrounds, overcast then clear.
Reasonable presale and two respectable shows. Economy is reflected more in the per caps than in box office. Circus fan Chris Grieder came by the show. He’s on his way to Wisconsin for the Great Circus Parade this weekend.
Tuesday July 7th. Springfield MN. 38 miles. Grass lot.
Good presale and business for the early show. Second show delayed by storms. Weather looked so severe at one point, the crew actually pulled the seats from the bigtop for a quick tear down. Second show was wet, but no wind.
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Good presale in a town where CM has had some excellent days. This is the suburban Twin Cities so the first shoppers were off for Mall of America by 10:30. Been thinking a lot about small show, small town circuses lately – the kind of show that CM was in it’s early seasons... turning a profit with domestic labor and seats for 300 people. Of course scrounging for equipment for small shows is the easy part, it’s financing booking a show, insurance, the advance, and getting it down the road when it first opens that’s so costly. You can neither succeed nor fail until it's open and moving.
Wednesday July 8th. Arlington, MN. 65 miles. Grass, fairgrounds, overcast then clear.
Reasonable presale and two respectable shows. Economy is reflected more in the per caps than in box office. Circus fan Chris Grieder came by the show. He’s on his way to Wisconsin for the Great Circus Parade this weekend.
Tuesday July 7th. Springfield MN. 38 miles. Grass lot.
Good presale and business for the early show. Second show delayed by storms. Weather looked so severe at one point, the crew actually pulled the seats from the bigtop for a quick tear down. Second show was wet, but no wind.
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Ben, I'll see the show either July 23rd or 24th. Probably the 24th, as I don't like seeing shows when they show played-out towns! I am glad Springfield was good, it was hit last year by a show who did terrible there with a sponsor.
Posted by
DanTheBooker |
10:57 AM
great time of year to be up there.....
Posted by
Randy |
5:57 PM
Dan, so much depends on the support a sponsor gets from the show. It's never even just to sign a contract -- most sponsors need direction from the main office, regular contact, and a good advance promoting the show and reminding them that they make their money off advance sales. Sometimes it still doesn't work out, and some sponsors leave a lot to be desired and you wonder why a booker thought they w tere up to the task.. But too often when a sponsored date falls flat the show bears some responsibility for a failure to communicate. Fortunately in this economy sponsor/host groups really need to raise money and seem more inclined to work at selling tickets. Presales are wayup this year, at least on this show.
Posted by
B.E.Trumble |
7:46 AM