Good news and Bad News for the Coconut Grove Playhouse

According to this Miami Herald story, the Coconut Grove Playhouse is slooowly creeping out of debt.

Or are they?

Recently, a portion of the Grove's holdings was on the brink of foreclosure; the bankrupt company had defaulted on a mortgage on a parcel known as 'The Bike Shop.' At the last minute, the Aries Development Group stepped in and saved the property.

Kind of. What they really did was assume the mortgage; ADG now holds the mortgage instead of the prior holders. And do you know who held that mortgage, the one that was being foreclosed on?

From the Herald article:

"a group that included four former members of the Playhouse board."

I've confirmed that these four people WERE on the board when they made the original loan. And doesn't THAT stink all to high heaven? I mean, you're on the board of a theater, you help get it INTO debt, you take steps to help get it OUT of debt, and then you make sure it's back IN debt?

It really does seem that ADG wants to get the CGP out of debt, as they have loaned $180,000 to the Playhouse to help them pay off monies owed to its former employees. Some of the money will also go to repaying mis-used grant money that the Playhouse must return to the State.

That's the good news.

The bad news? The idiot board of directors is still there. And they're still idiots. No, I'm not just being mean, or indulging in personal attacks. These people actually ARE idiots, and I can prove it.

Review the facts; the Grove gets itself in terrible debt; they failed to exercise financial oversight and the management team they hired misused funds while the theater had dropping attendance and skyrocketing budget overruns. Instead of taking advantage of its assets, such as arranging rentals or sales of its huge costume, scenery, and prop stock, they fire everyone and lock the building. They've had over a year to come up with a plan to save the theater, or at least cover its debt, and instead of coming up with a comprehensive plan, they find a savior at the eleventh hour.

After all they've been through, wouldn't you think the Grove board would make sure that it had made the best possible arrangements to save the company? I know that I would. Wouldn't you?

Well, here's the comment made by their board Chair on the loan they just received:

''Hopefully the loan agreement is a different type of an agreement than we had in the past,''

Wait a minute! "Hopefully?" "Hopefully" it's a "different type?" Shouldn't she KNOW that it's a different type? Shelly, repeat after me: "Fool me once, shame on you! Fool me TWICE, shame on ME." HOPEFULLY, you have made wise arrangements this time. HOPEFULLY, these new loans will have a better result. But hoping it's a different type of loan? You should really KNOW that before you sign the papers.

It's scary shit. Remember, these "new funds" are not investments, they are not donations, they are LOANS. LOANS have to be REPAID. The CGP got into this mess because they didn't have any funds to repay loans, and they were failing at that back when they were ACTUALLY SELLING TICKETS TO SHOWS. The CGP isn't doesn't have ANY revenue at the moment; how are they gonna repay these loans?

Don't get me wrong; I reeeeeallly want to see the CGP reopened. But I have no faith that their current board can do it.

Censorship in Wilton, Connecticut

I've written before on the attacks the Miami-Dade School Board has made on our most basic rights. Now here's a case of another School Board violating our most treasured right.

A group of students at Wilton High School, in Wilton, CT, worked to create a play that was relevant to their lives. They chose to create a play using the words of soldiers fighting in Iraq. They gleaned the material from published letters and interviews with soldiers.

You might think that this is a fine way to honor our soldiers who are risking their lives to defend our country. Well, you and I might; the principal of the school and the school board didn't: They canceled the scheduled performance of the play.

Wilton High School principal Timothy Canty , quoted in The New York Times felt that it might "hurt Wilton families ‘who had lost loved ones or who had individuals serving as we speak,’ and that there was not enough classroom and rehearsal time to ensure it would provide ‘a legitimate instructional experience for our students.’ "

Remember, this isn't commentary about the soldiers, it's their OWN WORDS. Canty isn't just silencing his captive student population, he's silencing the voices of those making great sacrifices for our country.

And one would hope that the School Board would have more sense; but no such luck:
Superintendent of Schools Gary Richards: "The student performers directly acting the part of the soldiers ... turns powerful material into a dramatic format that borders on being sensational and inappropriate."

So reciting the words and adapting the persona of the soldiers to explore their views is "inappropriate." In my day, that was called "effective instruction."

As much as the canceling of the play distresses me, the REALLY distressing fact is this:
during their history classes, they also discuss CURRENT history, with one caveat: “We are not allowed to talk about the war while discussing current events.”

How can you competently discuss current events in the world that affect our country and NOT discuss the war? Of course, you CAN'T. Wilton students are being deprived of more than their first amendment rights, they are also being deprived of an adequate education.

Our school administrators and school board members are supposed to set an example of what a good American is: someone who defends the Constitution, who protects our freedoms, and respects the rights of others. Wilton's Canty and Richards fail miserably as role models for children of The Constitution State.

These incompetent hacks not only owe their students an apology, they owe the citizens of Wilton their resignations. These men have no place in any education system in the United States; they should perhaps pursue work in Cuba, China, or North Korea.

Fortunately, the students were able to present their play: at the Culture Center, in New York City. A performance at The Public Theatre is scheduled, and some of the soldiers portrayed in the play will attend. Stanley Tucci helped arrange it; he was already working on helping students at his alma mater who were punished for performing "The Vagina Monologues" and using the word "vagina." (Noting that his alma mater was only 15 miles from Wilton, he quipped "perhaps it's something in the water!" What a shame that it's not.)

Theatre is supposed to alter our perception of the world around us; at its best, it moves us to consider things outside our comfort zone. Ours is a country with unprecedented freedoms; it gives us opportunities to express bold new ideas and question ancient taboos. It is this freedom that has allowed us to develop into a premier nation in the world. Men like Canty and Richardson would throw all that away. There simply isn't any good argument FOR censorship; so why expend energy doing it?

We shouldn't stand for it, and we don't have to. Come election time, toss the bastards out. If we don't take steps to remove those who erode our freedom, we deserve to lose it.


REFERENCES:
TruthDig.com
Christian Science Monitor
Hartford Courant
NY TIMES

New Blog

I've started a new blog: South Florida Theatre Scene. It's a blog dedicated to, well, South Florida Theatre. This one will be a collaboration (I hope!). I am inviting participation from every producing theatre in South Florida, as well as people who work in various aspects of theatre: directors, designers, fabricators, etc.

The first post there describes what it is and why I'm doing it. So I'll just say:

HEY! Check out my new blog!

Now Playing

THE BOY FROM RUSSIA had its world premiere last night at Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theater in Coral Gables. It's the latest work from Coconut Grove playwright Susan Westfall.