December 14
...serving up your daily dish.
What if you were planning a New Years Eve party for, oh, say 5,000 people? You might be worried about the parking. You might be worried about a blizzard. You might even be worried that the weather would turn out to be too warm -- that is, if you were planning to have an ice sculpture as the affair's visual centerpiece.
What if, in addition to these worries, you had to put this party on in Montclair, where no detail of public life is too small for ferocious debate? And what if you happened to be the town's new arts and cultural affairs coordinator, replacing the previous art czar, the controversial Paul Ellis, whose outster this year drove a wedge through the arts community? And what if Ellis wouldn't give up First Night's old web address?*** Then you would basically be facing the same set of issues as Eileen Sheehan, who since August has been planning a $45,000 extravaganza for Montclair First Night (moved on the net to a dot-com address).
One can't blame the lady for having nightmares.
On the other hand, Sheehan seems to have every chance in the world of throwing a spectacularly successful fete, especially having snagged the Big Apple Circus to Go (everything but the elephant) as the night's top act.
***Correction: Paul Ellis writes to tell us that he's not the one holding onto the old address.
Even before tickets went on sale last week, Sheehan said she had won enough corporate sponsorships that the event had already broken even. First Night returns to Montclair's downtown -- where it had its start in 1987-- leaving the lackluster venue of Montclair High School, whose two buildings contained the event for the past several years. The Lackawanna Center Pathmark and the Montclair Art Museum have agreed to open their parking lots for revelers, and a shuttle bus will run up and down Bloomfield Ave. all night. The popular local pianist Robin Spielberg, who broke off from First Night Montclair several years ago to start a competing event, has returned.
Other features of this year's First Night: clowns and stiltwalkers strolling downtown to add to the festive air; skateboarding demostrations, flamenco dancing, Chinese paper cutting and balloon sculptures; musical performances by Spank, Sweet Georgia Brown, Dr. Dubious and the Agnostics and New York subway violinist Lorenzo LaRoc and (get this!) roaming Starbucks baristas who fill up your cup with free coffee or hot chocolate throughout the night
Tickets for the festivities are $10/adult and $5/child without the circus; add $5 to the prices to get a circus pass. The circus will have three performances, 7:45, 8:50 and 9:55, and Sheehan recommends buying tickets early so you can get your choice. Order tickets, and get more information on the First Night Montclair website.
December 14, 2004 in Our Favorite Diversions | Permalink
How Good of Mr. Ellis to keep last years' site up. Some confusion is sure to ensue.
The Shadow Town Council (grumpy EX-council members on the watercooler) have been having a field day about this one....
Posted by: Right of Center | Dec 14, 2004 9:54:04 AM
I just ordered my tickets online. It was easy and at $15 per person what a great bargain. I am truly looking forward to it. Now I just need to make a reservation for dinner that night.
Posted by: Bill | Dec 14, 2004 11:54:51 AM
"...(grumpy EX-council members on the watercooler)..."
Name one!
Posted by: Montclair Lover | Dec 14, 2004 1:22:36 PM
"Name one!"
A former councilor on the watercooler?
Jessica de Koninck. (for one)
But I stand corrected, she (as far as I can tell) hasn't said anything about Firstnight. Since I do not want to inflate resumes, let me correct myself and rephrase
"The Shadow Town Council (grumpy township council wannabe's on the watercooler) have been having a field day about this one...."
Posted by: Right of Center | Dec 14, 2004 1:45:43 PM
ROC said:
"... I stand corrected..."
Hey Barista-lady: put this day down in the record books!
Posted by: Gonzo Journalist | Dec 14, 2004 2:20:17 PM
Congrats and best wishes to Eileen Sheehan for taking a stale event and giving it new life.
Kudos to Eileen for bringing many volunteers who helped establish First Night and then left, alienated during the era of the Executive Director running the board, not the other way around.
And thank you to Joe Hartnett for hiring Eileen Sheehan and allowing her to bring back beloved acts like Montclair's own Robin Spielberg.
Posted by: Kevin Lee Allen | Dec 14, 2004 2:46:33 PM
^ what he said....
I am square-on with Kev on this one.
Can't wait to go.
Posted by: Right of Center | Dec 14, 2004 2:57:46 PM
Is it my imagination, or did Baristanet say this morning that it was a $75,000 event? How did it become $45,000? Is she using the same accounting firm that the town uses? (grin)
Cary
Posted by: carya | Dec 14, 2004 4:18:10 PM
True. We had the $75,000 figure up earlier and changed it after the First Night people called us and told us we'd made a mistake. Hey, what's $30,000 between friends?
Posted by: The Barista | Dec 14, 2004 4:25:52 PM
Whew....that was a close call I bet. Why I imagine the spreadsheets and innuendo machine over at the cooler were warmin' up on that one....
Posted by: Right of Center | Dec 14, 2004 4:36:26 PM
looks like it will be ok. Just checked. No mention of the 30K....just the 95th message about parking in a no parking zone.
Posted by: Right of Center | Dec 14, 2004 4:38:14 PM
Those over at MontclairMicromanagers.com will i'm sure be happy to hear that the event has "broken even" before tickets are even sold.
Posted by: Butchcjg | Dec 14, 2004 5:24:01 PM
