While I normally don't read Liz because of the gossipy
nature of her columns, she has taken a wider perspective recently
covering the NYC tragedy as well as the impact on Broadway:
LIZ SMITH
September 20, 2001 -- Thoughts on allies
'THE METAPHOR of war - and it is more metaphor than
description - ascribes to the perpetrators a dignity
they do
not merit, a status they cannot claim, and a strength
they do
not possess. Worse, it points toward a set of responses
that
could prove futile or counterproductive."
So writes Hendrik Hertzberg in The New Yorker, with its
mourning black cover. Read this brief Talk of the Town
if
you don't read anything else this week. Hertzberg
remarks
on the NATO allies joining us:
"This gesture of solidarity puts to shame the contempt
the
Bush administration has consistently shown for
international
treaties and instruments. By now it ought to be clear
to even
the most committed ideologues of the Bush
administration
that the unilateralist approach it was pursuing as of
Sept. 11
is in urgent need of re-evaluation."
TRAVELERS TO Vermont and New Hampshire in the past
few days found it took about 11 hours driving from NYC
to
the border of these states. Traffic was being pulled
over
randomly. Where usually there are four lanes on the
Northway, coming out of the New York Thruway, it was
closed down to only one lane.
Canada is a great easy-to-reach mecca for terrorists
and
others with fake IDs and no visas and passports. U.S.
authorities are obviously trying to see just who is so
anxious
to get out of the United States to the north.
IF YOU follow theater and read Variety, you weren't
surprised that "The Rocky Horror Show" revival hasn't
lived
up to expectations. "Stones in His Pocket" and "A
Thousand
Clowns" had already posted closing notices before the
recent
tragedy. "If You Ever Leave Me . . ." never did succeed
in
drawing an audience. And "By Jeeves" has been canceled.
Add the Jewish holidays to New York's disinclination to
buy
theater tickets right this minute and you have a
super-exaggerated heft to what is a normal and annual
September slump. But to say that Broadway is on the
"verge
of collapse" is hyperbole.
"Les Miz" and "Phantom of the Opera," two long-running
and wildly profitable musicals, have been rumored
closing
unless "drastic measures" are taken to reduce weekly
running costs. (Maybe they're closing from sheer
exhaustion
after running for more than a decade.) Producer Cameron
Mackintosh seems to be using the World Trade Center
horror as an excuse to crunch costs and impose
across-the-board salary cuts of up to 70 percent for
all
shows.
The "drastic measures" never include reducing ticket
prices.
But forced renegotiating downwards with the unions at
this
awful moment is despicable. And actors seem always to
cave in to producers.
Mackintosh set theater's new lows in salaries when he
first
financed "Cats." He encouraged actors in leading roles
to
sign chorus contracts at a flat salary. (The
"advantage"
would be the option of a "four-week out" if a better
role
came along, which it seldom did.) The actress Frances
Ruffelle, who won a Tony Award for "Les Miz," made
about
$750 a week back in 1987. This practice represents
millions
in profits for producers worldwide.
I appeal to Actors Equity to stand tall on this issue
for the
sake of the long tragic labor battles fought by
American
workers so that they might be strong enough to
negotiate. I
appeal to my many friends who own theaters and work as
producers to do the right thing.
Actors might think of the recent hit from director Mike
Nichols, Chekhov's "The Seagull," wherein the character
Nina says: "Whether we're writers or actors, what
really
counts is not dreaming about fame and glory . . . but
stamina,
knowing how to keep going despite everything, and
having
faith in yourself."
BEVERLY HILLS? - Epitome of chic commercialism and
callous indifference to suffering? Rows of miniature
palm
trees along Rodeo Drive are now adorned with
red-white-and-blue bows. Streets in "The Golden
Triangle" -
Wilshire, Santa Monica, Rexford Drive - all have flags
installed on light posts. Some shop windows have
dime-store
flags but others show the flag in rubies, diamonds and
sapphires. Whatever - it's no less sincere.
"We feel a kinship with New York," says Jeb Baird,
director
of the Beverly Hills Visitors Bureau. "It is our sister
city and
No. 1 feeder market. We want to do our part to help.
Shop
owners joined with us to establish Beverly Hills Cares,
raising funds for families of firefighters.
"We are sending a Beverly Hills postcard to the
terrorists.
They can't win!"
Handbag designer Timmy Woods is donating all sales of
her
American Flag and also her White House handbags to
victims' families who need financial help. "I will
reproduce
this bag, which I made for Laura Bush, so everyone can
buy
it and raise funds."
And, yes, that was George Clooney on his motorcycle
handing out U.S. flags to one and all who passed by.
BROADWAY MOURNS the sudden death of Barbara
Matera, who, along with her husband Arthur Matera,
"built"
the costumes for many Broadway shows. There will be a
requiem Mass tomorrow at Holy Cross R.C. Church on
West 42nd Street at 10 a.m. Donations can be made to
Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
-----------------------
Note to Helen R. : They limit her space in my paper, so I was interested
to see the paragraph on the 11-hour trip from NYC to Vermont.
