Just Koz

A few notes from the week that is about to be was....

Dave Koz and Friends put on a great performance Wednesday night. Dave performed with Dave Benoit, Rick Braun, Peter White and Brenda Russell. You could tell that they enjoy playing together and their Smooth Jazz Christmas 2009 was a mix of holiday faves and the artists' individual hits. I've been here almost six and half years and this probably goes in my Top Ten.

Dave is a real nice guy and spent a half hour prior to the concert being interviewed by my newest best friend, John Bathke of News 12 NJ, for an upcoming News 12 "On the Scene" program. Speaking of News 12, I decided to ask John if he'd put in a good word for me with anchorwoman, Roxanne Evans, but I'm doubting that he did. Last summer, she interviewed me live at the Green when News 12 was doing a live remote from Morristown, and I cannot understand why that didn't change her life. But I digress. Dave also popped in at our sponsor meet-and-greet and spent some time with the folks from Cinedign. He just seems like one of the good guys.

Last night the Morris County Chamber of Commerce had their holiday networking event in our Starlight Room and I got to be Mr. Theatre and help lead tours, so it was nice to have people look at me with esteem for at least 15 minutes. Ran into someone I grew up with who attended the event and hadn't seen --well, since high school, which was several presidents ago. It's always good to bring new people into the Theatre and hopefully they will turn into ticket buyers and donors.

The other big issue we had to face up to is the freeze from Trenton of $14 million in arts funding statewide -- $14 million in grants that were allocated this past July and are crucial to the survival of many of our brother and sister arts organizations. Look, we know that the state is in a financial boondoogle -- but it's the government that's got us there in the first place, so now they are taking it out on the back of arts and culture, which create over 80,000 jobs in the state and millions upon millions in revenue in local economies. The Community Theatre itself brings in over $6 million in direct and indirect spending to the area -- and that study was in '05, before we exanded our season. How does the freeze affect us? There are no immediate consequences, we are a healthy organization, but if state funding fritters away, yes, that wave will crash upon us as well. Whether that's six or 12 months down the line, it's hard to say at this point, but we remain committed to our mission and will continue our outreach efforts as long as we can. We hope the state sees the errors of its way and decides to release the funding, but who knows.

Tonight, it's a sold out house for Temptations and The Four Tops, always a fun show and lots of sequins will fill the stage. Next week, it's the return of the dreaded Secret Santa, so check back for updates.