CRF turning into a Renaissance themed shopping mall?

[Jonas_MacPherson]

I shall indeed. *and probably confuse the hell out of them until I explain it. *

[squiregaby]

Lol yea! Prolly!!   Tell him "Hi Dad"....from his Scarborough daughter 

[Capt Gabriela Fullpepper]

They have a tendancy to make at least one visit to my shop when they arrive in Colorado. So, I'll be sure to tell them if I see them.

Wait....you wanted to keep that a secret? Darn. Oh well.

Which shop is that, so I am sure to stop in?

[Jonas_MacPherson]

Castle Games and Gifts in Colorado Springs.

*and surprisingly, we get a lot of local rennies in there...only a small number actually recongize me out of garb.

[Zoë]

The plain fact is, budget cuts are happening everywhere in this economy.  Is it possible that the department cuts could have been a little bit more evenly spread out?  Maybe.  But I'm not the one in charge so I can't say what would have been best or not.  It sucks, there's no doubt about it, but what is there to do?  I for one am glad that the festival is still OPEN right now.  There's no way to lay blame on one person or even a group of people at that, and it's irresponsible to do so.  May we all hope that by next year things will be a little bit better.

I was one of the people cut from front gate staff, unfortunately, but I still walked out of there yesterday with a full-time job so you'll not hear one bit of complaining out of me.  (For the record, I'm back at the same soda booth where I've been for the last 4 years, but now I'm in charge BUAHAHAHAHA--er, ahem, sorry.) 

I hope we can all still have some fun at the faire this year despite the cuts in cast and crew.  After all, isn't having fun the point of faire?

[Jonas_MacPherson]

I absolutely agree. We're there to have fun, not let the shadow of the economy slip over us and drag the whole season down. Ok, getting off my soapbox now, before someone chucks it at me.

[Capt Gabriela Fullpepper]

It is a shame for all cut, but as we all know the economy sucks. I can fully understand the PTB position on this even though I do not like it. They most likey have to project what faire will look like with the amount of visitors and the money spent. It is the typical projections most business make, and CoRF is a business first and foremost.

As the Gentleman said those of us who are playtons will fill the voids of those missing. Maybe this was the plan of the PTB... I have no idea but it is a possiblity that no one but them can say for sure.

We will all have fun, and we will all see many of your friends and make many new ones.

Zoe I am glad you still will have a job even though it's not at the front gate. Maybe the future will change and you will get that position back as well as anyone else cut.

We shall see ye all next Saturday bright and early say 9ish?

HUZZAH to all cast, and crew past, presesant and future as well as those who fill the voids as playtrons.

[Jonas_MacPherson]

Huzzah! And see ya'll bright and early on saturday.

*note to self, stop at native earth for new boots. *

[squiregaby]

Right someone drive down to Texas and pick me up   I wanna go to the faire!  I miss my dirty jousters!

[pktaxwench]

I was one of the ones cut from the Royal Court this past Thursday.  Honestly, not a huge problem for me since I couldn't be there the first weekend anyway, and I gave them the 'out' months ago.  I am ticked off about the other 10 people that were fired from cast.

However, I had a nice long meeting with Mr. Paradise today about the whole situation. (I work on his site crew, with which he has a marvelous open-door policy.)  Got handed some pretty hefty numbers of what happened, and that side of the story.  I was blatently lied to in my phone call of why I was fired, apparently.  I suspect more changes are coming.

I did find out the truth to the 'dress rumor'.  The newest member won't fit any of the existing dresses left by the previous members, so they have to get her a new dress to match the rest of the group.  So no, the dresses weren't the reason.  It's actually much bigger.

Oh, and for those wondering, I noticed a lot more notices on the board by the office.  Didn't take the time to read them, but it might be worth checking out.

[Zoë]

Zoe I am glad you still will have a job even though it's not at the front gate. Maybe the future will change and you will get that position back as well as anyone else cut.

We shall see ye all next Saturday bright and early say 9ish?

HUZZAH to all cast, and crew past, presesant and future as well as those who fill the voids as playtrons.

Indeed!  I hope that by the time I come back state-side after my jaunt down under things will be a little bit easier money-wise around here.  I am just hoping we will all have a fabulous time this year, in whatever fashion we are able to appear.  Huzzah to faire, making real life seem a little less sucky 2 days a week! 

[Jonas_MacPherson]

If the amazing turnaround from my own business is any sign...this might be just a short term problem, especially considering we have three military bases to draw from in the springs, and I've heard a lot of talk about the fair from various strangers.

[Capt Gabriela Fullpepper]

PK sorry to hear you where also cut. maybe we shal stumble upon you one of these weekends (if you still plan on being there on weekends) I'd be interested to hear the full story from those that know

[RenaissanceBarbie]

Those of us who went to dress rehearsal today received quite a shock.  Nearly a third of the cast was fired Thursday evening, being given the reason that the Entertainment budget was cut, so they got fired.  They were told they could come out on 'guest passes' and perform their characters for free, but understandably, after that insult, rumor has it that many are declining that offer.  Those people have already invested time and money, in rehearsals and in costumes, getting ready for this festival.  And they were fired the day before the dress rehearsal weekend.

Interestingly, the Merrye Madrigal Maidens are bragging to any that will listen that they're now getting new costumes provided to them by the Festival.  Costumes from Noblesse Oblige, the most expensive clothing shop at the faire.  They're basking in that they're to go in for fittings this week for their CUSTOM costumes.
   
It doesn't take much to put two and two together and realize where the budget went.  Obviously, beautiful scenery of a few beautiful women in lovely costumes is more important than having characters filling the lanes, bringing life to the streets.  Without the cast, it's just a flea market with a Renaissance theme.  While they are probably the most talented vocal group out there, are they really worth it at the expense of the street cast that brings the festival to life?

So, if you don't see a lot of familiar faces out there this year, that's probably why.  It certainly has me seriously reconsidering if I want to be here.

Dear NeverSilent,

I don't know who you are but I can deduce that you are/were on cast by way of your prose and specific references to happenings at dress rehearsal.  I can also deduce that you created this account purely with intent to post this thread anonymously.  Reading the post I gathered that the only purpose of the language used was to be hurtful and derisive and to place blame where it doesn't belong by way of spreading what clearly is a rumor without verifying it first.

Here are the actual facts straight from the madrigal's mouth/keyboard.

We are not getting four new dresses, we are getting one.  Our new recruit is a size four and the only available dresses are 6 and 8 sizes too big for her.  In response to the "custom" comment, Leslie does not carry dresses in a size four.  In 2006, we had to order a size four for Emily and we need to do the same for Ginny.  There is the slight possibility that my pink dress could be replaced as it is badly torn, but I doubt it.  However, those decisions are made by only JP himself and sharing my opinion with him would be moot.

For your edification NeverSilent, Jim insisted on the Noblesse dresses in the first place whereas we were in favor of making our own.  In addition, costuming and cast are based on entirely different budgets.  Not only that, but we are four instead of five this year (read:  four, not five salaries) so a new dress wouldn't have been an issue even if it came out of the cast budget.

It truly saddens me that someone from a cast I've been a part of since 2005 would knowingly use a public internet forum to defame my group's character with blatant falsehoods and insults instead of just coming to us directly to clear up the issue.  I don't know when we stopped acting like a family, but this is not the way to resolve problems, this is the way to cause problems.

In the future, my email address is Dana.Ritterbusch@gmail.com and my cell phone number is 720-841-3923, so feel free to come directly to me with concerns before spreading intentionally hurtful rumors on the internet.



Sincerely,
Dana Ritterbusch


PS:  Way to make our new madrigal feel immediately welcome and accepted into the cast family!  Commendably done, I might even be able to dig up a gold star for you!  Gosh I love when people spread vicious lies about me and my friends.  By the way, I accept apologies both in posted response form (anonymously if you really dig this whole "coward" thing or if you prefer at morning meeting).

[GinnyZombie]

Hey everyone. I'm Ginny, the new madrigal singer and I'm really sorry about this whole thing! I didn't mean to cause problems and if I could fit a size ten or a size twelve, I would! Even trying on Dana's size six, it dragged on the floor and wouldn't stay on my shoulders, so I won't be able to fit a six even if I wanted to. More than anything I just feel bad about this whole rumor mess that got blown so out of proportion.

As for bragging and 'basking', I can't recall any of us even mentioning the new dresses except when we were approached and asked about them (might I add, in a decidedly accusatory manner many times, which leads me to believe that whoever posted this has been talking about it to other cast members.) I don't want to cause trouble or anything, I just want to sing. And if I could sing in jeans and a t-shirt, I would, ESPECIALLY if it brought back all the wonderful cast members who got fired.

Anyway, to wrap this up, the basic idea is: I'm sorry I'm a size four, if you'd like I can eat nonstop until this weekend if that'll make you happier. I'm sorry that this whole thing got so out of hand, but if anyone had asked any of the madrigals what was going on, we would've explained and none of this would've happened. I wish that NeverSilent hadn't gone out of her way to make this a public argument instead of the quick fact-check conversation it should have been.

I'm not gonna lie, I feel a little hurt that my joining the Cast family is tainted by popular misinformation. I've been receiving glares at rehearsals and some unfriendly comments that I know are totally undeserved. I hope we can get past this and all be friends. :C I hate conflict!