This story originally appeared in the Asbury Park Press on Nov. 22, 1996.
ASBURY PARK – The organizations that will share the proceeds from next week’s Bruce Springsteen Paramount Theatre concerts learned firsthand yesterday the frenzied madness of dedicated Springsteen fans searching for a ticket.
But officials with all three groups — the Boys and Girls Club of Monmouth County, the Asbury Park Fire Department and the Women’s Center of Monmouth County — said the phones ringing off the hook were more than worth it because of what they may be able to do with the windfall.
“I feel honored,” said city Fire Inspector James Bruno, an avid 36-year-old fan who has seen Springsteen perform 25 times, including the singer’s stint at the Paramount rehearsing for his 1978 tour.
Bruno could see the money go to help his tax-supported department replace its antiquated jaws-of-life rescue equipment. Springsteen’s managers sent out the word Wednesday that some of the proceeds would answer Deputy Fire Chief Joseph Mirarchi’s request for help in light of the city’s bleak financial conditions.
Tickets for the acoustic shows went on sale yesterday morning through Ticketmaster Charge-By-Phone in New Jersey and New York only and sold out “as fast as humanly possible,” said Jerry Bakal, vice president of Swing Street Legend Entertainment, the Paramount’s Red Bank-based booking agent.
“It took about an hour and a half,” Bakal said, “but that’s because there was a two-ticket limit. It took a while to get all those calls through. It made the job tough on those operators, but Springsteen wanted to make sure scalpers didn’t get all the tickets.”
The theater on the boardwalk is small, seating 1,592. Telephone sales went “perfectly,” Bakal said. “It’s all done. A lot of people had to get shut out, but I say, see you next year.”
“People now are calling us to find out if they got good seats,” said Kathy Fenton, administrative secretary in the city manager’s office, which has been deluged with calls for tickets the past four days. “People are begging for tickets and someone lucky enough to get one is asking if they’re good seats. Incredible.”
City officials yesterday noted that Springsteen’s decision to play the Paramount could not have happened if the city had not made a difficult decision to spend $1.6 million to renovate the once boarded-up theater.
“It’s a positive image situation for us,” said Mayor Carl Williams. “The concerts will introduce people to some of the things the city has to offer — and of course, this is Bruce’s return.”
The Boys and Girls Club, which sold 150 tickets at $150 each for a special reception and seats in the first five rows Monday night, will also receive the proceeds from the Sunday and Monday night shows, said Seth Cohen, of Shore Fire Media, Springsteen’s publicist.
The club, which during its 58-year history served as a second home for many of the city’s children, plans to use the donations to purchase new vans and to refurbish its computer room, said Lloyd Gorcey, a past president and current member of the club’s board of directors.
Board members said yesterday they have a diverse membership on the board working to increase educational and recreational opportunities for young people. The club’s programs include swimming, basketball, tutoring, woodworking, photography, computer training and weight lifting.
The city fire department and the women’s center, a private nonprofit organization in Hazlet Township providing shelter, counseling and protection services for domestic violence and rape victims, will share the proceeds from ticket sales and T-shirt sales for Tuesday night’s show.
Rose Mikolon, development director of the women’s center, said the group has developed a relationship the past two years with Springsteen’s management company, John Landau Management, Greenwich, Connecticut, in hopes that a benefit might be held.
She said such prospects were buoyed in July when Landau, which also manages singer Natalie Merchant, invited center volunteers to go to Merchant’s July 25 concert at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel Township, where women’s center representatives collected donations.
Of the proceeds from Tuesday night’s concert, Mikolon said, the center plans to use the money for its teen dating-violence prevention program, and probably its transitional housing program.
The center, which is 20 years old, operates both a shelter where women and children can stay from 30 to 60 days, and a housing program that offers women 18 to 24 months to get “a real foothold on a new life” by getting a roof over their head, child care and job skills.
Music writer Kelly-Jane Cotter contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Bruce Springsteen fans help three Asbury Park groups
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