[NEOPAL]Organ Recital at Fairmount Presbyterian 4/23

Fri Apr 21 10:18:06 PDT 2006

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Elizabeth Lenti, associate organist of All Saints Episcopal Church in
Pasadena CA and former assistant at Fairmount Presbyterian Church (2757
Fairmount Blvd, Cleveland Heights), will present an organ recital at the
church on Sunday, April 23, at 4:00 PM. She will play works of Marcel =
Dupr=E9,
Calvin Hampton, J.S. Bach, C=E9sar Franck, George Shearing, Jehan Alain, =
and
Max Reger on the church's 100-rank Schantz organ. Elizabeth earned her
bachelor's degree at Eastman School of Music and her master's degree =
(with
Todd Wilson) at CIM. There is a free-will offering; reception following.

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<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2><SPAN =
class=3D432391217-21042006>Elizabeth Lenti,=20
associate organist of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena CA and =
former=20
assistant at Fairmount Presbyterian Church (2757 Fairmount Blvd, =
Cleveland=20
Heights), will present an organ recital at the church on Sunday, April =
23, at=20
4:00 PM. She will play works of Marcel Dupr=E9, Calvin Hampton, J.S. =
Bach, C=E9sar=20
Franck, George Shearing, Jehan Alain, and Max Reger on the church's =
100-rank=20
Schantz organ. Elizabeth earned her bachelor's degree at Eastman School =
of Music=20
and her master's degree (with Todd Wilson) at CIM. There is a free-will=20
offering; reception following.</SPAN></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>

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>From Mike Wypasek <sunshinecomedy at earthlink.net>  Fri Apr 21 18:50:11 2006
From: Mike Wypasek <sunshinecomedy at earthlink.net> (Mike Wypasek)
Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2006 13:50:11 -0400 (GMT-04:00)
Subject: [NEOPAL]An open letter re:  Playhouse Square's ticket policy
 for "Wicked"
Message-ID: <21443923.1145641811854.JavaMail.root at elwamui-norfolk.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

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<DIV>Yup, that's Cleveland.  Elitist even in the arts.  It's a mi=
crocosm of the haves and the have nots. Well said Theresa.  Bravo.<BR>=
<BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE style=3D"PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: #000=
0ff 2px solid">-----Original Message----- <BR>From: Theresa Dean <KHARPERNA=
@HOTMAIL.COM><BR>Sent: Apr 21, 2006 9:37 AM <BR>To: neohiopal at lists.fredste=
rnfeld.com <BR>Subject: [NEOPAL]An open letter re: Playhouse Square's ticke=
t policy for "Wicked" <BR><BR><ZZZHTML>
<DIV>
<DIV class=3DRTE>A few weeks ago, there was a discussion here regarding &#1=
47;is theatre as we know it dying?", and what theatres can do to keep audie=
nces keep coming back.  In light of that, I’d like to offer =
the following story.  It’s long, so if you don’t want t=
o read it, let me sum it up for you…if you want to keep theatre alive =
and well, don’t alienate your patrons. </DIV>
<DIV class=3DRTE> </DIV>
<DIV class=3DRTE>I make it a point to pay for the best seats if I really wa=
nt to see a show.  But I’m only willing to pay for <EM>good<=
/EM> seats, and as anyone knows who’s been to the State Theatre, there=
 are some appallingly bad seats that sell for a hefty price.  Too=
 far out to the sides, and you can miss a great deal of action due to poor =
site lines.  Too far to the back or too high up, and you see no e=
xpressions, no subtlety, no detail, and often times the sound quality is so=
rely lacking.  I simply will not spend money for seats if I know =
they aren’t worth the price.  And, while I will pay top doll=
ar for one or two shows a year,  I can not pay the going rate in =
either ticket prices or donations to get a shot at good seats as a subscrib=
er.  I used to be a subscriber, but I could only get the really g=
ood seats by buying tickets a la carte.  I dropped my subscr=
iption for exactly that reason. </DIV>
<P>So I’ve been waiting…and waiting…and waiting for the publ=
ic sale for “Wicked.”  And I’ve been more than a l=
ittle annoyed about the multiple “subscribers-only” sales. (Funny=
, though, how some tickets were available on-line from a ticket broker for =
ridiculously inflated prices – two to three times the regular rate -&n=
bsp; as much as three months ago.  Sounds like scalping to m=
e, and authorized or not, I don’t do business with scalpers.) &nb=
sp; </P>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<P>Yesterday, I happened to mention to a co-worker that I was taking next F=
riday morning off so I could go to the box office when the public sale star=
ted.  She is a subscriber and was kind enough to offer to buy tic=
kets for me so that I could, just maybe, get a chance at good seats. &=
nbsp;We looked on-line and could find no “subscriber’s only”=
 section, so she called the box office.  I listened in to the cal=
l. </P>
<P>Basically, she was told, “tell your friend to forget it, there are =
no good seats left.  Well, there may be a few, but they’ll b=
e gone by the time the public sale hits, so she shouldn’t waste her ti=
me coming down here if that’s all she wants.”  She was =
also told that we couldn’t come to the box office or order by phone or=
 internet, subscriber or not.  The order had to be in writing&nbs=
p; - which sounded to me like we would have no way to give a yay or na=
y to the seating choices at the time of purchase -  and it had to=
 be in her name, which I expected, but that “it doesn’t matter wh=
o’s credit card you use.”  Hmmmm, guess my money’s=
 still good, even though my name and status as a non-subscriber isn&#1=
46;t! </P>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<P>And now we’re hearing that the only way to get guaranteed seats to =
next year’s tour of “Spamalot” is to be a subscriber. &=
nbsp; </P>
<P>I find this policy to be both elitist and insulting.  I fully =
understand the need to offer perks to encourage subscription and that &#147=
;first dibs” on performances is one of those perks.  I under=
stand that, and I <U>expect</U> that.  But I think Playhouse Squa=
re has taken it WAY too far with <EM>multiple private sales to the point of=
 exclusion</EM>, and with their announcement regarding “Spamalot,&#148=
; it sounds like this is going to be an on-going practice.  End r=
esult - they are effectively preventing a large portion of their patro=
n base from having any reasonable chance at getting decent seats.  If =
they think this is going to encourage someone like me to want to be a subsc=
riber...well, think again.</P>
<P>I’ve probably spent a few thousand dollars at Playhouse Square sinc=
e living in this area, but with this practice, I can now do no more than ho=
pe that house seats, reserved blocks, or unadvertised performances are actu=
ally available and will be released as a “last minute offer, new show =
added” marketing ploy. </P>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>I’m sure that “Wicked” and other big shows like i=
t will sell out, so my feelings probably don’t matter one bit to the m=
anagement at Playhouse Square.  And I’m sure some of you wil=
l say, “that’s life, money talks, and if you ain’t got it, y=
ou don’t get to play.”  No kidding.  But here=
’s a thought – not <EM>every</EM> show will be a guaranteed sell =
out, so you might not want to p*ss off <U>any</U> part of your customer bas=
e by implying that they aren’t worth selling to if they don’t buy=
 for every single show.  If you want to keep theatre alive and vi=
brant for an entire community, then make it AVAILABLE to the entire communi=
ty.=20
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<P>T.M. Dean</P>
<P>Lakewood, Ohio</P>
<P> </P>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV></DIV></ZZZHTML>_____________________________________ Ohio Premi=
ere of James Sherman's "From Door to Door" produced by the JCC in associati=
on with Tri C East Theatre Arts. Directed by Fred Sternfeld; featuring Liz =
Conway, Jeanne Task & Barbara Haas. May 4-21. Tickets.com. Special appe=
arance and talk-back by playwright James Sherman at the May 18 performance.=
 http://www.fredsternfeld.com/fromdoortodoor.htm __________________________=
_____________ Fairmount Performing Arts Camp registration now open. Details=
 @ http://www.fairmountcenter.org/fpac06/index.htm ________________________=
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