two of my favorite acts are missing

[TKM]

you're probably right, mooncalf. I've heard of some people who would normally be performers thwarted by minor schedule conflicts... a tragedy, really. btw welcome to the forums... is KC your home faire?

[LadyNiniane]

  

One final set of comments on this topic and then I, like Emerald, will be silent...

Emerald, that was a well-spoken discussion about the reality of being an entertainer in a venue that is, all too often, a larger version of what is commonly called 'community theatre'.  Yes, most of us (all of us, let's be honest) started off doing this because we love the work and the environment.  And a great many of us continue to put forth valiant efforts even in situations where the money and the conditions are less than ideal, simply because "the play's the thing" - period. 

But, as Emerald noted, at some point the Real World intrudes, and we have to make hard decisions about how we will spend our time and money, especially when there are families and multiple members involved.  QG made a group decision not to accept a contract that would have resulted in most of us paying (rather dearly, in my case) for the privilege of coming to the faire and performing;  we simply could not afford to put out that sum of money every single weekend for the entire fall.  Nor could many of the other groups who were no-shows at KC this past season;  all of them were offered similar contract terms, and several of them made choices much like ours and Emerald's group. 

KCRF started as a fundraising effort for the KC Art Institute and served in that capacity for 20 years.  But it has been owned and operated by a private corporation for more than 15 years now, one that owns entertainment venues in several locations in a for-profit setting.  I have no idea whether the current festival ownership is making a profit on the faires or not, nor, frankly, do I care very much - if I want the difficulty of faire ownership, I have several opportunities to involve myself in such.  (In point of fact, I already have, to some extent;  some of you are aware of this from previous posts I have made on this and other forums.)

What I *do* know is information that is in the public record.  The lease costs are larger now than they were in the previous lease, but they are not as large as many of the land uses in the same general area.  The extra costs this year were a direct result of the failure of faire management to fulfill one of the first milestones built into the current lease - build a feast/banquet hall.  KCDCChef, regardless of whether you (or anyone else) think that a feast hall should be put up, the fact is that the UG wants it there - and they wrote the lease contract to stipulate that.  Faire management signed off on it - and then failed to fulfill their end of the bargain.  So a penalty clause kicked in, and, as a result, faire management has to pay for the lease and the fine this year - thus no extra money for performers, stage acts and office staff.  (They all took some form of cut in pay.)

That is the crux of the matter - it's not about everyday costs of doing business as much as it is about the failure of the current management to fulfill their contractual obligations.  Until/unless the faire owner begins to fulfill his part of the bargain (both with regards to the land lease and dealings with vendors and performers), KCRF will continue to slide downhill.  And that makes me sad;  I have enjoyed working at KCRF these past 15 years or so, as a vendor boothie and booth manager and, more recently, as a performer.  But I, too, must place a value on my time and my efforts, as must anyone who uses their talents and skills to earn a living.

[kcdcchef]

 

One final set of comments on this topic and then I, like Emerald, will be silent...

Emerald, that was a well-spoken discussion about the reality of being an entertainer in a venue that is, all too often, a larger version of what is commonly called 'community theatre'.  Yes, most of us (all of us, let's be honest) started off doing this because we love the work and the environment.  And a great many of us continue to put forth valiant efforts even in situations where the money and the conditions are less than ideal, simply because "the play's the thing" - period. 

But, as Emerald noted, at some point the Real World intrudes, and we have to make hard decisions about how we will spend our time and money, especially when there are families and multiple members involved.  QG made a group decision not to accept a contract that would have resulted in most of us paying (rather dearly, in my case) for the privilege of coming to the faire and performing;  we simply could not afford to put out that sum of money every single weekend for the entire fall.  Nor could many of the other groups who were no-shows at KC this past season;  all of them were offered similar contract terms, and several of them made choices much like ours and Emerald's group. 

KCRF started as a fundraising effort for the KC Art Institute and served in that capacity for 20 years.  But it has been owned and operated by a private corporation for more than 15 years now, one that owns entertainment venues in several locations in a for-profit setting.  I have no idea whether the current festival ownership is making a profit on the faires or not, nor, frankly, do I care very much - if I want the difficulty of faire ownership, I have several opportunities to involve myself in such.  (In point of fact, I already have, to some extent;  some of you are aware of this from previous posts I have made on this and other forums.)

What I *do* know is information that is in the public record.  The lease costs are larger now than they were in the previous lease, but they are not as large as many of the land uses in the same general area.  The extra costs this year were a direct result of the failure of faire management to fulfill one of the first milestones built into the current lease - build a feast/banquet hall.  KCDCChef, regardless of whether you (or anyone else) think that a feast hall should be put up, the fact is that the UG wants it there - and they wrote the lease contract to stipulate that.  Faire management signed off on it - and then failed to fulfill their end of the bargain.  So a penalty clause kicked in, and, as a result, faire management has to pay for the lease and the fine this year - thus no extra money for performers, stage acts and office staff.  (They all took some form of cut in pay.)

That is the crux of the matter - it's not about everyday costs of doing business as much as it is about the failure of the current management to fulfill their contractual obligations.  Until/unless the faire owner begins to fulfill his part of the bargain (both with regards to the land lease and dealings with vendors and performers), KCRF will continue to slide downhill.  And that makes me sad;  I have enjoyed working at KCRF these past 15 years or so, as a vendor boothie and booth manager and, more recently, as a performer.  But I, too, must place a value on my time and my efforts, as must anyone who uses their talents and skills to earn a living.

nice post, good comments. this discussion, in my mind, has been a productive one. the amount of the rent that midamerica festivals pays the UG was dramatically higher in years passed too, not just this year. as a matter of fact, i believe the amount of a penalty assesed to them wont even show up on their balance sheet until 2010. could be wrong. what i do know is the amount of money that MAF pays to the Unified Goverment has been ridiculously higher, like, according to my math, 3 times higher, starting in 2000, it just went crazy. since then it has been going up every year, cost of doing business i suppose. but my point is and was, it went way up 10 years ago. about the time we all started noticing things.

and it is a labor of love for anyone who does that. been there, done that. i mean, doing gingerbread lane every year for me is the same. i have to make a decision each and every january do i want to spend thousands of dollars, out of pocket, for supplies, advertising, internet design, printing, and it is a hit. there is no one getting fat off kcrf. a lot of performers feel like the "younger prettier ones in better corsets" or the raunchier acts that bring in the youngsters, get paid the most. from my understanding from current performers, i have several of them that are friends of mine, that the most of the dough goes to paying for the fees associated with things like joust, chess, and the like. true, jolly rogers, and the blades, tend to get a bigger cut. but be honest, no one is getting fat financially off of this. kcrf management made a decision long ago to put more money and efforts into stage acts and focus less and less on lane acts. most of the lane acts left do it because they enjoy doing it. a friend of mine in the vulgarian royalty says she doesnt expect to ever get paid a dime off it. but she loves doing it. that, fuels why you guys all do it.

will that sustain it well into the next decade? hard to say. for me, i hope it does. and believe it or not, i do thank you guys for what you do out there and the sacrifices you make.