The Secrets of Sherry’s $236,844 San Francisco Success
Jersey Boys Tour Triumphs at Easter Bonnet

(Representing the Sherry Tour of Jersey Boys, Lori Byars (left) and Jennifer Evans
accept the show’s award for top fundraising honors at Easter Bonnet 2007)

By Andy Smith

When the incredibly popular musical Jersey Boys took first prize for fundraising ($236,844) at this year’s Easter Bonnet Competition, it wasn’t a shock.

However, when David Hyde Pierce and Vanessa Redgrave revealed that the national tour of the Tony-winning show had nabbed top honors, it was not only a nice surprise, but a landmark for BC/EFA.

Luck, pluck and a lot of hard work helped the Sherry Tour become the first touring show in 21 years to win the overall top prize, ahead of Broadway hits like Wicked, The Color Purple, The Lion King and Mary Poppins, and of course, Jersey Boys.

Fortune delivered the enthusiastic sold-out crowds in San Francisco, but collections coordinator Jennifer Evans and stage manager Lori Byars brought the hard work and enthusiasm necessary to boost the efforts of Jersey Boys’ cast and crew.

“We had a good idea we’d be first in touring, but we had no idea we’d won the whole thing until about five seconds before they announced it onstage,” says Byars, who jumped on a red-eye to New York with Evans the night before the awards. (A photo of the duo accepting the award is above).

“It was a little surreal and a complete shock,” admits Evans, who laughs at herself for a certain degree of naiveté. “It was my fourth tour collection and I’d never seen numbers like this. But until Lori joined the show I had no idea there was a fundraising award to win!”

Suggestive Selling
 “I think whether you are on the road or in New York, the key is to get everyone (in a show) involved and work hard to sustain their enthusiasm and energy,” says Byars, who’s also led collection efforts on tours of The Lion King and 42nd Street. “I say ‘please’ and ‘Thank You’ more during those six weeks than for the entire rest of the year.”

Years of touring have given Byars a lot of fundraising know-how. “Collections on the road are truly the luck-of-the-draw, depending on which city you are in and how long you are there,” she says. “And being in a major city doesn’t necessarily guarantee big money. You have to tailor fundraising ideas to your audience. What works well in one city doesn’t necessarily work in another.”

She also recommends “localizing” audience appeals.  “Our show speech always mentions local charities that benefit from the fundraising. People are more willing to donate when they know some of the money will be coming back to their community.”

The Sherry Tour also sold autographed posters (Evans counts 348) and Playbills, auctioned off handmade Four Seasons rag dolls, gave backstage tours and held a successful cabaret benefit and auction with a San Francisco charity, the Richmond/Ermet AIDS Fund.

The staff at the Curran Theatre deserves a large share of the credit for the show’s fundraising success, Evans adds. “They volunteered their time, allowed us to collect in costume and to give the backstage tours. This is their achievement as much as it is ours.”

Tours Taking Center Stage
As a vet of other tours, Lori says all the tours work hard at fundraising. “I’m especially proud that a tour took top honors because it really validates the work that we’re doing out there.”

“Our totals have been rising over the last few years and we (touring shows) are now responsible for a third of the overall collection totals.”