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Also this issue: After Saddam, What? R.I.P. DOA Remember |
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September 26-October 2, 2002
mailbag
(Re: "Fringe, Interrupted," Debra Auspitz, Sept. 12, 2002)
THERE'S ANTHRAX IN YOUR BUILDING! GET OUT NOW!
Not funny, is it? I'm sorry, I was creating art just like "The Ruiners." Somehow I can't understand why you would even cover a story on a frustrated artist who promotes terrorism among the arts. I really love your paper and how well you promote the arts, but I had a problem with this article.
I was the person who went so far as to have Deb Block sign a contract to make sure the Ruiners wouldn't ruin the show. I appreciate what she does for the Philadelphia Fringe, but thought this went too far. When you have more money than you own in a show, actors wanting to make an audience laugh, and a small hope of your cast members getting work, then the last thing you want is some pretentious actor taking out his feelings for one jerk on all the artists.
Sure I figured it was a hoax after I called, but regardless, it was an unfunny hoax. There are people arrested for calling in bomb scares to high schools or businesses. Why? Terrorism isn't funny on any level.
We ended up having a great show with full houses every night. We didn't need a common enemy. We wanted a common friend -- the Fringe artists and the Fringe audience.
Michael Toolan Roche
Writer and director of Arnold Dinglemeyer
(Re: Cover story,"I Can Fix Your City," Daniel Brook, Sept. 12, 2002)
The recent cover story on Professor Florida's use of the "bohemian index" as a forecaster of a city's growth potential was an interesting read. City officials could benefit from taking his ideas to heart. I'll also vote for a skatepark to keep the interest of the young X Games types, even though I have no vested interest.
I'll also add that events like the Fringe Festival need more support from the city. Our alternative arts festival pales in comparison to the Theatre Festival I saw this summer in the city of Avignon in the south of France. Each July, Avignon -- an ancient Roman-era walled city whose center is closed to traffic -- comes alive with street musicians, costumed performers, puppet shows, and delighted audiences. The tourist draw and the level of theatrical ingenuity -- both in public and in the theaters themselves -- is a marvel. I propose that our city work with the Fringe Festival to close off Old City to all but foot traffic on weekends during the festival so that the shows can spill into the streets.
While we're at it, why not close off streets like Chestnut between Front and Fourth during the summer months to make room for strollers, café-goers, musicians and the occasional acrobat, as is done in almost all the best cities in Europe? The Inquirer once called Philadelphia the Paris of the U.S. Until we make more room for the marvelous oddities and wild aesthetics of the bohemians among us, we will never live up to that appraisal.
Kelly McQuain
BELLA VISTA
Last week's story about a custody battle involving MOVE member Alberta Africa ("Incendiary Situation") incorrectly stated that Philadelphia Family Court no longer retains jurisdiction in the case. Because both Africa and the child's father reside in South Jersey, a Camden County judge is upholding an existing court order issued by Philadelphia Judge Shelley Robbins New. But because Africa has several appeals pending in Pennsylvania Superior Court, jurisdiction ultimately remains here.
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