Here she goes again: Maggie Brooks is in a position to help Monroe County and has no idea what the county needs.
The new plans for Renaissance Square leave out the small theater. I am a fulltime, self-employed performing artist. My discipline is dance. I live in the city, my studio is in the city, and my last three performances have been held in the suburbs. Why? Because the only small functioning theater in town is at the School of the Arts.
Bush Mango, Colleen Hendrick, Anne Harris Wilcox, Kista Tucker Dance, Rochester City Ballet, Park Avenue Dance, Rochester Children's Theater, even Garth Fagan all work and rehearse in the city but have to go to the suburbs to perform. We all rush to the School of the Arts every May to try to get dates for our next season.
The School of the Arts gets better and better. That means that the school itself is using the space more and more, causing an even greater need. Garth and Rochester Children's Theater are performing at Nazareth College. The rest of us are using Pittsford Middle School, Monroe Community College, the JCC, Eastridge High, and any other theater we can book.
I have sold out my last three concert seasons. Garth could do a week of sold-out shows in a 500-seat theater in the city. The smaller theater would cost less to use, and his income would go up. Other groups also could have good ticket sales, and it would help our income. The working artists in the city are performing in the suburbs. It makes no sense to me.
Yes, the Broadway Theater League is in need of a new space, but let's face it: the Auditorium Theater on East Main is not the best, but it functions. And no one else needs a house that size. Rochester needs the smaller theater. It would probably be filled every weekend with the creative artists that have given our city great performances, cultural diversity, and richness in the arts.
Our arts and cultural community is one of the things that give us an advantage over other Upstate New York cities. When you ask people who have lived in Buffalo, Syracuse, and Albany what they like about Rochester, nine times out of ten the response is "this city is much more cultural."
EDWARD J. MURPHY JR., ROCHESTER
Murphy is artistic director of the Drumcliffe Dance Project.