<p>I think I would rather see the Forbidden Broadway version of this event. ;)</p>
<p>I’m going to suggest that my school rent out the rest of the JCC in Westchester and do a program.</p>
<p>Cost of attendence: $5 donation to charity</p>
<p>$40 per ticket…I wonder how much the Deans are getting for their time. I wonder where they’re being put up. I wonder what lovely restaurant they’ll be visiting before the program.</p>
<p>The show may be bigger than first anticipated. The official admissions “Ivy Deans” group is made up of the 8 Ivies, UChicago, MIT, & Stanford. Perhaps airfare enters into the price…?</p>
<p>Tell me what you think.
I am the Artistic Director at The Bendheim Performing Arts Center in Scarsdale. I am the one who put the evening of The Deans of Admissions of The Ivy League together.<br>
So how about this spin.
I have been a television director for 18 years and I live in a neighboring town. This theatre, The Bendheim PAC is a non-profit Performing Arts Center that has been around for 8 years. It is inside The Mid-Westchester JCC. Last year I did a documentary about the JCC and it’s 50 year anniversary. I stumbled across the theatre and asked the JCC why I never heard of it. They said that was the problem…most people in Lower Westchester haven’t heard of The Bendheim. After long discussions I decided to put my directing television career on hold and take a less paying job to help get this theatre on track or at least keep it fom closing its doors. So I have been creative and I am trying to use all my connections to get The Bendheim on the map. I have created a Battle of The Bands for Adults only with some really great celebrity judges along with a Westchester Idol competition for 8th grade to 25 years old and I have allso put together a Speaker series with a great fundraising kick-off called, The Gatekeepers.
Jacques Steinberg who wrote the book is a good friend of mine and a neighbor. Our 8 year-old daughters are best friends. When we thought of doing this we thought it would be great to have Jacques moderate and get some deans to be a part of the evening. Getting all 8 was a present and surprised the hell out of me. The evening was intended to bring the parents and students of Lower Westchester out to meet and listen and ask questions to the Ivy League Deans of Admissions. It wasn’t supposed to be such a big deal. I only have 215 seats in The Bendheim, so with my expenses to put this event together I was barely breaking even. But I wanted to bring a new audience to the theatre and also do something good for the community. We also have concerts. theatre, films and matinees here.
I felt a Speaker Series like one at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan would work in Scarsdale.
Because of all the hoopla and such criticism coming from so many without really knowing the complete story and without really knowing what The Bendheim was about, the Deans, Jacques and myself decided to open up the adjoining Social Hall for another 300 and close circuit the theatre into the hall allowing then to be a part of the evening. This ticket would be free and would hopefully answer the critics that all we were doing was something good for the community. And with the added expense I would now be losing money.<br>
So this is the whole story and I am interested in anyone’s comments about this and I hope you realize that this evening was done for a good reason and not a selfish one.
Brad Garfield
<a href="mailto:Garfieldb@jcca.org">Garfieldb@jcca.org</a>
or
<a href="mailto:NRProductions@aol.com">NRProductions@aol.com</a></p>
<p>P.S. You can check out The Bendheim’s website at <a href=“http://www.thebendheim.org%5B/url%5D”>www.thebendheim.org</a></p>
<p>Brad:</p>
<p>I don’t think anyone here is criticizing you or Jacques Steinberg for presenting the event. A brilliant idea in the perfect location. The only legitimate criticism is that you probably misjudged your audience. You should have charged $1000 a ticket and you would have had even more demand. </p>
<p>If I lived in the area, I certainly would have gone…just to see eight admissions deans ducking and weaving on the same stage. That would be more high-stepping than the Rockettes.</p>
<p>The joking here has to do with the admissions deans. Simply put, the last thing any of them need is more application frenzy from Westchester County. They’ve kept their hallowed halls (and coffers) overflowing with Westchesterians for centuries. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to quip that assembling all eight might have been a bit more difficult for a theater in, say, Brooklyn.</p>
<p>BTW, the next time you see Mr. Steinberg, thank him for me. IMO, his book taught my daughter what she needed to know to get into the college of her choice.</p>
<p>Hey, I bet a videotape of the show would sell - and would be a continuous source of revenue for the theater! Any chance the dean’s would consent to be videotaped?</p>
<p>What I think:</p>
<p>Great programs coming up. I wish I could round up “the old gang” for the battle of the bands. But my drummer now lives in San Diego and my keyboard player lives near Boston.</p>
<p>Might show up there yet…</p>
<p>It’s great that there’s stuff going on there. As new residents to the greater area, we will definitely show up at something or other.</p>
<p>This particular event is certainly a worthy function. Personally I didn’t think I’d come away with it with much of value, but obviously many others felt differently.</p>
<p>I also have yet to get to the Emelin.</p>
<p>Mr. Garfield, kudos to you for wanting to do something good for your community. I’m all about supporting regional theater. But correct me if I’m wrong – isn’t “barely breaking even” the definition of a ‘non-profit’?</p>
<p>By my rough calculations, if each student brought one parent (though it’s probably the other way around) you would gross $6420 in ticket sales. Sir, that is barely enough to pay the cleaning people for the evening in that neighborhood! I agree completely with interesteddad – you could have charged $1000 per ticket for that event, grossing $215,000. That would have funded a few JCC offerings, and would provide the means to publicize events at The Bendheim in the near term.</p>
<p>Maybe you can use your television connections to produce a DVD, which you can offer for sale, but give for free to disadvantaged schools. Everybody wins!</p>
<p>A.M.
ps, when you said “It wasn’t supposed to be such a big deal” you were kidding, right?</p>
<p>Mr. Garfield: I think it was incredibly thoughtful of you to come and explain this to the parents on this board and hope you will be treated with appropriate respect.</p>
<p>Nonprofits also need to pay salaries, and their mission can include fundraising, especially to support programs that are not going to raise money.</p>
<p>Cleaning crews do not cost that much, but there are many expenses involved in upkeep and production, such as support staff and overhead such as electricity, water, etc.</p>
<p>I don’t think $1000 a ticket would be reasonable, as then the organizers would be criticized for price-gouging potential college students, on forums such as these.</p>
<p>I can see how Mr. Garfield wouldn’t think it would be such a big deal, as he did not anticipate the avid national/international interest on a forum such as CC. The organizers, I’m sure, believed it to be of regional interest.</p>
<p>Since they are based in Westchester, it sounds as if it did not occur to them to do this event in Brooklyn or Detroit. Now it will be up to potential organizers in those locales to try to organize their own events, if they see this as desirable or enviable. </p>
<p>I hope this gentleman’s explanation will be taken at face value, and that he will not be raked over the coals for doing what he is doing. He organized a regional event, he did not do anything more or less. If others want to replicate it, or make money for their organizations, then so be it, that is another story.</p>
<p>Mr Garfield, I understand the frustration you must feel as you deal with all of the public relations diffiiculties you have encountered. But think about it - all the deans of admission in one place is quite a newsworthy and groundbreaking event. If I were the public relations advisors to any one of these universities I would have held up a big red flag pretty quickly on hearing about the venue. </p>
<p>In a real sense, the backlash you have received is a direct result of the type of reporting that Jacques Steinberg and other groundbreaking writers like him have done. Just recently there have been stories in the the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New Yorker and Atlantic magazines that have been eye opening to many of us. Many of these articles focus on the need-blind myth, disparities in opportunity that exist even today, and on the need for colleges to market themselves to a full tuition paying segment. </p>
<p>In this case, the concern was never for whether or not a profit is being made ( I always understood it was about the publicity, not the money) but of equal access, and who is most likely able to attend such a function and that people are being charged at all. The fact that it is the first and only time something like this has been made available only reinforces the perception. </p>
<p>I applaud you for your efforts on behalf of the Bendeim and for making this event available for free in the social hall next door. I expect that will mitigate some of the criticism. If the program were repeated elsewhere, put on the air or likewise made available to everyone, that would go even further.</p>
<p>Good luck on your event. I also read Gatekeepers (have it right in front of me) - it’s a terrific book.</p>
<p>Mr. Garfield,
Since I started some of this firestorm by posting the original notice of this event, I wanted to thank you for coming onto this board and providing an explanation. I hope that you are able to put the Bendheim “on the map.”</p>
<p>I want to thanks everyone for the support for what I am trying to do at The Bendheim PAC. I seriosly thought this would be a unique and exciting kick-off for The Speaker Series which will have discussions on the arts, politics, business and of course education. The Gatekeepers series is intended to be a twice a year series. We plan on doing our next one in the fall of 06’ entitled, “East Coast Gems,” 4 Universities that go under the radar.
It is intended for parents and students in Westchester.
I have asked to video the events but The Deans have opted not which I must respect.
So yes, believe it or not I intended to keep this as low key as possible but I was obviously mistaken and I will learn from my mistakes. I just hope my Westchester Idol competition and The Battle of The Bands For Adults Only, can create as much press as this has.
Again, I want to thank everyone for the support you have sent.
Oh, and one more thing, to answer one of your questions. If this event does manage to make some money, it will not offset the money that has not been made by The Bendheim. I will continue to try to get the theatre out of the red but for a small 215 seat theatre I need more support from individuals, underwriters, grants and whomever and wherever. So any more ideas or if you feel like becomming a supporter just let me know.
Thanks,
Brad</p>
<p>Bumping this up because I haven’t heard anything about this. Does anyone have a report?</p>
<p>Anyone? bump</p>
<p>First time I’ve read this thread. I think Brad should have a west coast event. Geographically, it would help the Westchester kids to apply west. I also think they know less about Pomona, Occidental, Caltech, CM, and other U’s in Wash and Oregon.</p>