Bullock Texas State History Museum
Questions Motives of ATA Board
RECEIVED Fri., Aug. 11, 2006
Dear Editor,
As an active member of Austin's theatre community and a theatre artist regularly employed by the State Theatre Company, I feel it's important to make a few things clear about the recent cancellation of the State's season and the firing of its entire staff (a point omitted entirely in most press coverage of the event) [“State Theatre,” Arts, Aug. 11].
The State Theatre Company existed in a dysfunctional relationship with the Paramount Theatre, known as the Austin Theatre Alliance. The union has never been complimentary to the State, primarily because the two organizations have such drastically different missions. As a result, there has been little devotion to, or understanding of, the mission of the State Theatre or its needs as a producing theatre. Instead, the focus of the board, and the ATA's leadership, has always been the Paramount.
The State Theatre is being dismantled, and while the company line is flood recovery, many of us who have experience within the organization fear that the flood is nothing but an opportunity to escape the burden of producing theatre. Remember, this is the same board that sold off the building that the State’s backstage, dressing rooms, rehearsal hall, backstage restrooms, production offices, and scene shop were in – now a serious problem that is being cited as another reason for the shutdown.
One thing is certainly clear: The ATA Board has no commitment to theatre in Austin.
Now, all of what I have said will be discredited with an easy sound bite: “The State Theatre’s remaining season has been canceled due to flood damage.” My purpose in writing this letter is not to prove that all of my suspicions are correct, but to open the debate and encourage those who care about the State Theatre, and the Austin arts community, to carefully consider just what exactly is going down at the Austin Theatre Alliance.
As an active member of Austin's theatre community and a theatre artist regularly employed by the State Theatre Company, I feel it's important to make a few things clear about the recent cancellation of the State's season and the firing of its entire staff (a point omitted entirely in most press coverage of the event) [“State Theatre,” Arts, Aug. 11].
The State Theatre Company existed in a dysfunctional relationship with the Paramount Theatre, known as the Austin Theatre Alliance. The union has never been complimentary to the State, primarily because the two organizations have such drastically different missions. As a result, there has been little devotion to, or understanding of, the mission of the State Theatre or its needs as a producing theatre. Instead, the focus of the board, and the ATA's leadership, has always been the Paramount.
The State Theatre is being dismantled, and while the company line is flood recovery, many of us who have experience within the organization fear that the flood is nothing but an opportunity to escape the burden of producing theatre. Remember, this is the same board that sold off the building that the State’s backstage, dressing rooms, rehearsal hall, backstage restrooms, production offices, and scene shop were in – now a serious problem that is being cited as another reason for the shutdown.
One thing is certainly clear: The ATA Board has no commitment to theatre in Austin.
Now, all of what I have said will be discredited with an easy sound bite: “The State Theatre’s remaining season has been canceled due to flood damage.” My purpose in writing this letter is not to prove that all of my suspicions are correct, but to open the debate and encourage those who care about the State Theatre, and the Austin arts community, to carefully consider just what exactly is going down at the Austin Theatre Alliance.
Mike Lawler
