Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Letters: A spanking for the Elks, a cookie for the editors

Today's assorted mailbag brings us a nice bouquet of posies from a couple of recent immigrants fleeing commie-occupied San Bernardino, and a smackdown of Parker Anderson blaming the audience for not showing up at the Elks.

I've got that bone to pick with Parker as well, and if all goes well you'll see it in Read It Here pretty soon.

4 comments:

leftturnclyde said...

Gee steve maybe the old timey guys arent what its gonna take to fill up the opera house.Did Parker ever think of that?
and to our new friends Just in from the peoples republic of San Bernadino (chortle) This paper is Just about as fair and balanced as fox news .

Granny J said...

Well, I had a complaint from a reader who said the problem was simply that one couldn't see the performance, because the seating is basically flat. Hardly a question of good old boys, newcomers or any of that nonsense, but one of audience access.

Steven Ayres said...

=> one couldn't see the performance

It's true that the old-style high stage can be a challenge. It was worse before the audience rake was installed and the floor was flat right to the back. But this challenge is for the production designer to address, not the theatre per se, and when it's ignored, the audience suffers.

coyoteradiotheater said...

I remember sitting in the very first meeting where the idea of the local ownership of the Elks Opera House was broached to the AZ Humanities Commission.

This is the same meeting where the City said they'd never buy it.

AZ Classical Theatre suggested they could manage the Elks for the City, pointing out that managing a theatre calls for people who . . . wait for it . . . are focused on running a theatre.

Hmm, not seeming a better plan in effect at this point, however you look at it.