Above: Here we
are with Cow, one of our magical rabbits
It's easy to book a Magical School Enrichment
Program by The Steelgraves!
Just
call or e-mail
with your
preferred date(s), and the program you'd like to see. Although we perform year-round,
certain shows may not be available at all times during the school year. We'll do
our best
to
accommodate your choice of date, but all scheduling is first-come
first-served.
THE PERFORMANCE AGREEMENT
Once a performance is confirmed, we send you a Performance Agreement with
all payment terms and
technical requirements for the show. Just sign both copies of the
Agreement, keep one for your records,
and return the other one to us. Although for most other venues and clients
we do charge a non-refundable
deposit, we understand how much paperwork can be involved with Purchase Orders,
etc., so we do not charge
a deposit for school shows. Once we receive the signed Agreement, the performance is officially
"on the books", and we will turn down any other engagements for that
time frame.
FEES
Fees vary depending upon the type of show; please call or e-mail for
specific information.
We have some
programs with fees as low as $250 (restrictions apply). For
the average elementary school performance,
fees range from $350 to $550, depending upon the type of show. Mileage is
additional, and is charged
at a rate of 50 cents per round-trip mile from our East Waterboro, Maine home
base.
BLOCK BOOKING
School performances are available throughout New England; however, all
schools more than 100 miles from
East Waterboro, Maine MUST block book. For distances very far away (150+
miles) there's a minimum requirement of
3 schools block booking. Block booking maximizes the efficiency of our
tours and eliminates redundant driving. For you,
it results in a block booking discount. In addition, the total mileage for
block booked performances is divided among
the number of schools who book together--obviously the more schools on board,
the lower the price for everyone!
Performance Agreements are not sent out until all schools who wish to join the
block booking have verbally
confirmed. The fees and mileage for each individual school are then
figured and listed on
the Agreements.
(We use MapQuest to figure
mileage from our home base, or between multiple school locations.) Once the
Agreements go out, if another school wishes to join the block booking, they will
be booked at the rate
currently in effect for the other schools; there will be no further
discount.
DISCOUNTS
Block booking discounts are based on the
number of schools booking:
2 schools----------$25 discount per school; mileage is divided by two
3 schools-----------$35 discount per school; mileage is divided by three
4+ schools------$50 discount per school; mileage is divided by the number of
schools
Due to the set-up and take-down times involved, and to allow sufficient travel
time between schools,
we can perform at a maximum of two schools during a school day. (Evening
performances are another
option--i.e. family social events, PTO fundraisers, and the like.) If the block booking spans several days,
we currently cover the cost of
accommodations for the nights we are "on the road".
Multi-show discounts are given for performances of
the same show, at the same
location, on the same day, with no removal or take-down of our equipment between
shows.
We can perform up to three shows in a school day at one location.
The first show is at the regular fee; each additional show is discounted $100
off that fee.
If any schools in a block booking are having multiple shows, first the multi-show
discount is applied, then the
block booking discount is taken off the total for that school (the block booking
discount is NOT a per-show-per-school
discount; it is a per-school discount). For instance, let's say the show
fee is $400. Not counting the mileage,
if three schools are block booking, and one of them is having two shows, the fee for
that school is $665
($400 plus $300 minus $35). The fee
for the schools who are only having one show is $365 ($400 minus $35).
MULTIPLE SHOWS IN A DAY
It's always best for a live performance if audience size is
limited. We've found that school groups of 175 or less
respond better to the performance, feel "closer" to the performers,
and have fewer problems with distractions.
There is an inherent intimacy to a live show, and especially when dealing with
groups of young children, limiting
the size of the group makes for a more enriching experience overall. With the
generous discount for multiple
shows, having two or three in a day to accommodate large schools is feasible.
If having multiple shows, feel free to mix the grades any way you wish--just let
us know your breakdown beforehand.
If performing for only grades K-2, or 3-5, we are able to tailor the performance
slightly to accommodate different
learning and maturity levels, which also enhances the performance experience. Although we don't perform a
completely
different show for each age group, the approach we take in terms of performance style, dialogue with the
audience,
sophistication of vocabulary, and possibly one
or two of the magic effects themselves, are slightly different
for each show. If you wish to have two
completely different shows for your different age groups, we still offer a
discount, but less of one, as there is twice the work involved in
bringing and setting up different shows.
CANCELLATION POLICY
Once we have been contracted to perform for a client, we keep that
commitment. We ask that our clients
do the same for us. Although we have never done so, only in rare circumstances
might we have to cancel,
and that would only be
due to severe injury or illness that completely prohibited us from being
physically
able to perform. Obviously if we cancel we're not going to
charge you for it!
The Performance Agreement states our full payment and cancellation policy; upon
reading it over if you have questions
or concerns, please let us know. Once the Agreement is signed and returned
to us, and the performance is officially
booked, the show is expected to go on and we expect payment. Since we do
not require a deposit up-front, we
charge a cancellation fee of 50% of the show fee if a performance is cancelled
between 15 and 30 days of the show
date, and 100% of the show fee if a show is cancelled within 14 days of the show date
(unless it's rescheduled).
IF SCHOOL IS CANCELLED
DUE TO A STORM:
This is Maine, the Way Life Should Be...unless it's
wintertime! We understand that inclement weather (or other
unforeseen circumstances) can force schools to close, resulting in a
cancelled performance. We have that covered!
In the event of a school cancellation,
the performance must simply be rescheduled to take place within 60 days, in order
to avoid the cancellation
penalty (unless it's June; then "the show must go on" by September 30 of the
next school
year).
For winter shows in New England (January through
mid-April), we prearrange a snow date as well as a show date,
when booking a performance. Many assembly presenters don't do this,
without charging an extra fee.
(Above: January 14, 2008--Schools
all over Maine were cancelled; in East Waterboro, we had over 13" of
snowfall.)
Now, as we are based in Maine, and winters like this one
have been fraught with school cancellations, morning
shows at schools more than an hour and a half's drive from us (roughly 70 or more
miles) pose a unique problem.
For these shows, in order to be ready to perform for you at 9:00 or 9:30, we
must arrive at your school by 7:15 or
7:45 a.m. Rather than arise at 4:00 or 4:30 a.m. to get ourselves ready and "on the
road", then drive for hours, and
deprive our doves and bunnies (not to mention ourselves!) of the rest needed in order to
give the best performance
for your school, we travel to your area the night before and stay in a hotel/motel relatively
close to the school.
(We currently cover the cost of overnight accommodations ourselves.)
Again, in New England...in the winter...traveling a long
distance the night before a school show runs the
risk that school, and therefore the show, will be cancelled, resulting in much wasted time
and money.
HOWEVER, as ample advance notice is usually given the day
before a storm by the cheerful folks in
our various news media's dramatic "Storm Teams", we can have a pretty
good idea whether or not
school may be cancelled the following day.
THEREFORE, if we're booked to perform at your (distant)
school in the morning, and it looks there will be a
40-50% chance of school being cancelled on the day
of that performance, PLEASE LET US KNOW THE AFTERNOON
BEFORE THE SHOW that it looks "iffy", and we'll automatically reschedule you to the prearranged snowdate.
This will save us and our critters a very long drive, and a costly night in a
motel, for a cancelled show...
when we'd just have to spend the time and money again for the rescheduled
performance. (Thanks!!)
Although we may not charge a deposit, we
do require full payment of the contracted fee
if a cancelled performance is never rescheduled (minus the mileage charges, of
course).
We realize this is ultimately on the "honor system", but we trust
that since the Performance Agreement had been
read, agreed to and signed by both parties, that both parties would honor the terms of
that agreement. We've only
had a few clients renege on payment in thousands of performances, but it's never
nice when that happens.
However, short of making a "small claims" suit out of it, there's not a lot we
can do. Since we had reserved that date
only for your school, it is also probable that we had turned down other paying
engagements for that time frame; so not
only would we be forfeiting the income from the cancelled show, but also the
potential income from the shows we turned
down. This is completely how we make our living, so in lieu of insisting upon a
50% deposit across the board,
having this cancellation
policy helps avoid those situations where a school cancels because they
"found a cheaper entertainer" or simply "changed their mind".
If you booked a seasonal performance, and it's not possible to coordinate
schedules so the show
can
go on later that same month (we cannot reserve snow dates for highly-in-demand
October or
December shows, for instance), you may select an alternate performance for a different time of year.
Hopefully this causes no inconvenience! Again, we've rarely had a
cancellation that didn't reschedule,
but we try not to take chances. Thank you for your understanding.
Call or e-mail for more
information. Book your Magical School Enrichment Program today!
207-247-2361 (office)
207-590-7989
(mobile)
E-MAIL
US!
Copyright © 2008 by Angelique Steelgrave.
The above information may not be appropriated or adapted for any reason, in whole
or in part, without written permission.