Cast Changes

[William_MacKean]

Much of the CKC kids issues are mitigated by putting most booths in the hands of orgs.  Not many CKC booths these days.

[Kiss-me-Kate]

Ok.  So you want to split hairs?  I meant the "CKC" type trouble makers in that general age group.   Face it, that is what most "kids" that age group are doing.  They are unsupervised by hovering parents, and/or exhausted booth/shift managers.   Mr. Director is smart to want to weed them out and make the go home to annoy their parents once cannon is shot off, and booths are cleaned up/shut down for the night/weekend.

There is no way in h*ll I would let my fifteen year old (OR my twenty year old for that matter) hang out at Fest after hours with out me, or one of her many Fest "Uncles" to either protect her;  or rat her out. 
Yet I suspect 70% of the pain in the weed puller calls SS receives is from under age brats who have stolen whatever isn't nailed down, destroyed property, underage drinking/smoking, loud behavior etc.

Change may suck for some, but it is coming, and like parking in the pit, it may not be so bad as everyone thought.

[escherblacksmith]

losing the entourage is one thing . . . losing the Mayor?

I dunno, I hope someone has a plan. 

[MissBubu]

The peasants are wonderful!  I hope they keep them.  They were at Chippewa this weekend, and looked like they were having a great time interacting with everyone.   Not sure if they were there for fun, or were asked to come.   We need more of that.  

Thanks for the compliment! The Peasants were at Chippewa for two weekends as a sort of audition for CVRF. We had a great time and some of us will be back for a day trip on the 19th. After dealing with the drama that is MNRF, it is comforting to deal with the management at both CVRF and Siouxland (which is where we were at between the weekends at Chippewa). I think it's a pretty good bet that you'll see Peasants-for-Hire at CVRF next year.

Some of our members were part of the Mayor's Entourage, and some of the Terps would come dance with us when we had our Peasant Dance rehearsals. To my knowledge, they were informed just a few days ago about the cancellation of their group contracts. I haven't heard anything about any of the peasant group yet. We contract as a group to other festivals, but have individual contracts at MNRF.

[Jon Hanslow]

While I think change is a good thing, some of this is just NUTS.

I have been going to MNRF for a long time now, and seeing the things that have been slowly taking shape the past few years has disgusted me...

As Escherblacksmith said, losing the entourage is one thing, but the MAYOR? How long has Bill been out there? I've lost count...

I really do hope someone has a plan, and I understand the need/want to keep things fresh, but some of this is....something I can't even describe.

Its going to be an interesting year...

[groomporter]

I just got an Email from a Terpsichory member on a different topic so I asked for confirmation/denial of the rumor they have been cut as well.

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Update: Terpsichory has been cut from the budget, but they are currently considering whether or not to perform under a Volunteer Contract.

[Jon Hanslow]

I just got an Email from a Terpsichory member on a different topic so I asked for confirmation/denial of the rumor they have been cut as well.

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Update: Terpsichory has been cut from the budget, but they are currently considering whether or not to perform under a Volunteer Contract.

*sigh* Might it be easier to make a list of who HASNT been cut, than who has >.<

[Random Girl]

As a booth owner I can't help but agree that some of the booth helpers are probably more of a problem after hours than cast with volunteer contracts. Heck I wonder how many of the volunteer cast even stay in the campground these days.

I'm going to put on my night crew hat for probably the last time for a while.

Those who are troublesome during show hours are typically worse at night.
Those who bust their butts during show hours I almost never see (Hi Jewel!)
CKC used to be the biggest offenders but I haven't seen as much of that in the last 2 years or so.
There is one booth/game that I won't mention but breeds major issues. No one on here.
GroomPorter, you might want to warn your employees about the dangers of whippets(look it up if you aren't aware) and doing it in the open, and talking back to night crew, one almost got punched in the throat two years ago for being an idiot. 
There are a few bad seeds in the Jaycees but it's not the group as a whole
Entertainment only tends to cause issues in the way of running around on front gate or stages which you aren't supposed to do.  Beyond that most are pretty low key in their shenanigans.

[saphire_glade]

Hi RandomGirl!

[Storm]

Wow....Guess I am glad that I have never aspired to be anything other then a playtron!...

I really hope management isn't going to try to rely on playtrons to "help them out". If they are, they are not very wise and are playing with fire. Playtrons are loose cannons. You never know what you are going to get with them. Some may be in the mood to play and others may not be. Playtrons are under no onus to entertain anyone and if they want to be rude to someone who mistakes them as cast and bothers them at the wrong time, they can and will be. If they weed out street characters and rely more on playtrons that could lead to some bad experiences for the regular patrons and some complaints to management. Also, we all know there are some playtrons that get hammered to the beejeesus out there, and you really never know what to expect out of them! Catch one of them at the wrong time and look out!....

As a playtron, I try to be friendly to regular patrons, because I know they have know way of knowing if I work there or not. Actually, most seem to think I do. But, I really am not always in the mood to deal with them, especially at the end of the day when I am tired and trying to get the heck out of there! When I am not in the mood to play, I won't play along and I can get short with people who bother me. I try not to, but like I said above. I don't work there and I don't have to deal with the regular patrons if I don't want to....

All in all, I think it would be terribly unwise of management to try to use the playtrons....

[groomporter]

I really hope management isn't going to try to rely on playtrons to "help them out".

The description of the plan from the artistic director is not to rely on playtrons to supplement the cast, but rather, to treat cast members who have volunteer/unpaid contracts more like "VIP playtrons" in stead of them being full cast members. I interpret what he has said is that volunteer performers may be treated more like dayworkers/temps who get in free to perform with the cast and get a perk or two like food coupons, but may no longer be allowed space in the participant campground, and potentially may not have the privilege to be on site after-hours.

He seems to feel that too many of the volunteer cast are just there to play during the day and/or party at night as opposed to really entertain the guests. I can't deny that's a concern, but what's baby vs bathwater?

[Storm]

To tell you the truth Chas...I don't know how that VIP playtron thing would go over. It seems kinda laughable to me. I mean really whats the benefit if they can't camp or stay after hours? For free admission and maybe some food coupons it seems like a lot of work for next to nothing. I am guessing they would have to follow cast rules when they were there? They have hours they would have to be there rain or shine, they could not drink, etc. If that's the case it just seems to me it would be much easier to drop down the 65 bucks or so for a season pass and the 30 dollars or so for Fest Friends (if you want a place to escape to) and be able to come and go whenever you want, have a few beers, etc and not have to worry about following any cast rules. It just seems to me that there is not a lot of return value in this VIP playtron thing when for 65 dollars out of your own pocket you can do your own thing and be your own boss.

[William_MacKean]

That is exactly the point.  It weeds out the leeches.  You should be there to entertain, not to soak up the day to party and socialize after hours.  THAT is a perk for those of us working way too hard to make the patron's day special.

And a playtron is not a legal liability.  Nor is a VIP-like playtron.

This will thin the 'entertainer' herd a bit and make those that are left stick out a bit more.  Also a potential benefit.

[Kiss-me-Kate]

Thank you for clarifying Chas.   I agree with Storm.  If it were me "volunteering" to be a VIP Playtron Cast Member, I'd tell Carr and The Owner to get bent.  I'd rather plunk down season pass money, or attend a couple of days and be done with it.   
It will be interesting to see which "leeches" this weeds out.   

Which is fine with me, some cast members think wayyyyyyy too much of their self.    At least from my playtron/boothie perspective.  And I never understood what was so effing special about them besides the decent garb they were wearing.   Last year was the first year in many that I found the cast (besides the peasants) to be engaging.  Funny that was the year that Carr mentioned changes were coming.

[Charlotte Rowan]

Terpsichory has not been cut per se, but our paying contract was not renewed. The reason we were given is budgetary, NOT that we are an inflated "group." We are not a street act but a stage show, and so Carr's new vision does not apply to us this year, as the first year was only meant to apply to street.

We have been offered and have accepted a volunteer contract this year. We do have several new members and practice is coming along great.

It is also true that we were not informed of this until very late, and we basically had to rope Anita into a personal meeting to get any answers; our director talked with Carr on many occasions and all he would say was that there were some changes that would affect us. It seems that many people were (mis)informed of our "not returning" before we were, and I am really not happy in the way that this was handled by the entertainment management. I understand budgetary concerns and while I'm a bit hurt that we, out of all the dance groups, were not renewed as paying, none of us are out there for the money. We all elected, at least for this year, to continue as volunteers. However, the way things were handled and other actions by entertainment management over the past couple of years has many of us to feel that we are not respected as performers. It's a shame, as we are one of the few groups that strives to be at least mostly historically accurate AND also family friendly. I love the fantasy and bawdy aspects of Fest, don't get me wrong, but when management has made it clear that family-friendly is the direction they want to move Fest, and a certain degree of historical accuracy is at least required, you would think that a group that fulfills both of those categories would be more appreciated.

At any rate, we'll see you all out there.