Chicago Sandy
11-30-2007, 05:20 PM
Dear AGF Friends,
As you know, each year in the weeks between Thanksgiving and mid-December I put down my guitar and dulcimer and become a singing/acting/(allegedly)dancing cast member of the Chicago Bar Association's annual topical satirical musical Christmas Spirits vaudeville revue.(We skewer all sides of the political spectrum equally). This year is no exception.
This year's production, "Young, Frank, & Stein," will run from Tuesday, Dec. 11 through Sat. Dec. 15, 2007 at the Merle Reskin Theater, 60 E. Balbo (bet. Michigan & Wabash), curtain time 8 pm. Tickets are $60 for the show; $115 for the show and a chicken dinner at the Chicago Hilton & Towers, and $130 for the show and a filet mignon dinner--during which dinner you will be personally accosted--er, entertained--by various cast members. (Dinner's at 6 pm). Yes, I know it's a chunk of change, but less expensive than other live stage shows and rock or symphony concerts in and around Chicago--and it's for the benefit of the Charities of the Chicago Bar Foundation, which has "adopted" local public schools as well as provides low-and-no-cost legal services to those people who most desperately need them and can least afford them. And the show has drawn accolades from all sectors of the entertainment press, even from those as famous as Roger Ebert.
Why is this message so urgent? Well, it's my sixth year in the show. But it may well be my last. That's because, after *85 YEARS* it may also be the SHOW'S last as well!!! As you well know, rising energy and plummeting real estate prices have combined to make today's economy a challenging one--and just as prosperity (allegedly) "trickles down," adversity has wafted its way up to what had been the more affluent sectors---many of whom had been Christmas Spirits' most loyal and generous benefactors. Ticket sales have taken a direct hit (and not the kind of "hit" we like to see in the theatre), especially from real-estate driven firms and businesses. Ticket sales are off by more than 1,000 compared to last year (which itself was not a particularly robust one for the box office). If the show does not break even this year, an *85-YEAR* tradition will go down the drain as the CBA pulls the plug on Christmas Spirits.
PLEASE don't let this happen!!! Now, I know many if not most of you are of modest means and might not be able to buy tickets yourselves. But I'm sure we all know people who ARE in a position to buy tickets--your employers, attorneys, accountants, physicians, relatives, etc.; please consider going "halfsies" with them if you can. Others of you have been budgeting holiday gifts at this price point--why not give the gift of an evening's marvelous entertainment, coupled with perpetuating a noble and long tradition and helping the least fortunate?
Rather than enclosing an attachment (of which many folks are justifiably leery), I am going to give you the URL to purchase tickets:
http://www.chicagobar.org/Public/barshow/2007show.asp
Or you can call Awilda Reyes at the CBA and charge your tickets by phone, (312) 554-2000. If anyone you know is a judge, gov't-employed lawyer or a Young Lawyers' Section member, remind them they get ten bucks off the price of either the show or the show+dinner package.
You may, if you wish, mention me when you order your tickets—it may get me a chance to sing a solo in the closing number “The Junior Partners” (or not)—but it’s more important that you buy, period!
So please help this show survive.....and give local cafe owners a four-week breather from my solo gigs!
As you know, each year in the weeks between Thanksgiving and mid-December I put down my guitar and dulcimer and become a singing/acting/(allegedly)dancing cast member of the Chicago Bar Association's annual topical satirical musical Christmas Spirits vaudeville revue.(We skewer all sides of the political spectrum equally). This year is no exception.
This year's production, "Young, Frank, & Stein," will run from Tuesday, Dec. 11 through Sat. Dec. 15, 2007 at the Merle Reskin Theater, 60 E. Balbo (bet. Michigan & Wabash), curtain time 8 pm. Tickets are $60 for the show; $115 for the show and a chicken dinner at the Chicago Hilton & Towers, and $130 for the show and a filet mignon dinner--during which dinner you will be personally accosted--er, entertained--by various cast members. (Dinner's at 6 pm). Yes, I know it's a chunk of change, but less expensive than other live stage shows and rock or symphony concerts in and around Chicago--and it's for the benefit of the Charities of the Chicago Bar Foundation, which has "adopted" local public schools as well as provides low-and-no-cost legal services to those people who most desperately need them and can least afford them. And the show has drawn accolades from all sectors of the entertainment press, even from those as famous as Roger Ebert.
Why is this message so urgent? Well, it's my sixth year in the show. But it may well be my last. That's because, after *85 YEARS* it may also be the SHOW'S last as well!!! As you well know, rising energy and plummeting real estate prices have combined to make today's economy a challenging one--and just as prosperity (allegedly) "trickles down," adversity has wafted its way up to what had been the more affluent sectors---many of whom had been Christmas Spirits' most loyal and generous benefactors. Ticket sales have taken a direct hit (and not the kind of "hit" we like to see in the theatre), especially from real-estate driven firms and businesses. Ticket sales are off by more than 1,000 compared to last year (which itself was not a particularly robust one for the box office). If the show does not break even this year, an *85-YEAR* tradition will go down the drain as the CBA pulls the plug on Christmas Spirits.
PLEASE don't let this happen!!! Now, I know many if not most of you are of modest means and might not be able to buy tickets yourselves. But I'm sure we all know people who ARE in a position to buy tickets--your employers, attorneys, accountants, physicians, relatives, etc.; please consider going "halfsies" with them if you can. Others of you have been budgeting holiday gifts at this price point--why not give the gift of an evening's marvelous entertainment, coupled with perpetuating a noble and long tradition and helping the least fortunate?
Rather than enclosing an attachment (of which many folks are justifiably leery), I am going to give you the URL to purchase tickets:
http://www.chicagobar.org/Public/barshow/2007show.asp
Or you can call Awilda Reyes at the CBA and charge your tickets by phone, (312) 554-2000. If anyone you know is a judge, gov't-employed lawyer or a Young Lawyers' Section member, remind them they get ten bucks off the price of either the show or the show+dinner package.
You may, if you wish, mention me when you order your tickets—it may get me a chance to sing a solo in the closing number “The Junior Partners” (or not)—but it’s more important that you buy, period!
So please help this show survive.....and give local cafe owners a four-week breather from my solo gigs!