The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

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November 9, 2008

Vocal Group Hall of Fame may be facing the music

Concert canceled, replaced by karaoke

By Tom Davidson

SHARON — Add another verse to the ballad that is the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.

It’s a mournful tune, although it was conceived in a spirit of hope: Hall officials were forced to cancel Sunday’s “all inductees finale” concert at the Chevrolet Centre in Youngstown because of “non-existent” paid attendance, hall President and Chief Executive Officer Bob Crosby said.

Instead, inductees and a few hall supporters met at a banquet room at Avalon Inn in Vienna to eat pizza and sing karaoke. The mood in the room was similar to a wake.

The decision to halt the show came late Saturday night after the third of four scheduled shows, Crosby said.

“The attendance over the three days was just non-existent,” Crosby said.

Those who did come out weren’t paying customers but folks who had received complimentary tickets in exchange for advertising and promotion, along with friends and family of the inductees.

They were forced to cancel Sunday’s show because they lacked cash to pay the sound and production crews, Crosby said.

Instead, hall inductees like The Association, Maurice Williams of The Zodiacs and Jon “Bowzer” Bowman of Sha Na Na, signed ticket stubs and memorabilia at the Chevy Centre, then drove to the Avalon Inn where they gathered in a muted celebration.

The hall can’t even afford to refund tickets bought directly from it, Crosby said. Those who bought their tickets through Ticketmaster or the Chevrolet Centre box office will be able to get refunds, he said.

The future of the beleaguered hall is up in the air, he said.

“The easy answer would have been for everybody to go to the shows,” Crosby said.

Proceeds would have helped the hall gain some financial footing.

“What’s disappointing and frustrating is that no one took advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he said. “Now it’s much more difficult for us to find our way.

“How do we raise some money so we can pay the bills?”

Tony Butala, a Sharon native and the front man of The Letterman, founded the hall 10 years ago. He lamented canceling the show.

“That’s our lifeblood; you can’t have a hall of fame and not have (concerts),” Butala said.

Fewer than 400 paying customers came out to the shows Thursday through Saturday, Butala said.

“The sound and light people wanted to shut us down,” because they weren’t paid, he said.

The concerts didn’t fail for lack of promotion, Butala noted, but he blamed the lack of attendance on the economy.

“This is a depressed area,” he said.

The hall lost about $150,000 putting on the shows, he said.

Hall leaders will regroup and decide what’s next.

“We need a lot of help,” Butala said. “The question is whether Pennsylvania, Mercer County and Sharon really want to be the home to the hall.

“Do (they) want this enough to keep it?” Butala said.

Since a much ballyhooed opening 10 years ago, the hall has faced a downward spiral mainly caused by lack of cash and “my money tree dried up a while ago,” Butala said.

Crosby and Tracy Rogers, who serves as director of the museum and helped produce the concerts, have worked for seven years without pay, Butala said.

“(They’re) so dedicated,” he said.



On the web: www.vghf.org

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