Also this issue: An Angry Party -Bruce Schimmel Almost Midnight -Howard Altman Letters to the Editor

March 27-April 2, 2003

slant

Upward and Onward

Saying thanks for a great gig -- and looking forward to a change.

by David Warner

About 10 months ago, I wrote an essay for Slant about how happy I was, after a year in New York, to be back in Philadelphia. "Philly’s got everything New York has, only less of it," was the gist.

Well, now I'm taking the notion of good things in small packages one step further, or rather one step smaller: Next month I'm moving from Philadelphia to Burlington, Vt.

As was reported in various local publications, I'm leaving for reasons both political and personal. My partner, Larry Biddle, has been hired as deputy national finance director for Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont. I'm moving to be with Larry, but also because I believe very strongly in the candidacy of Dean. And after 15 years as an editor at City Paper, I'm intrigued by the idea of making a change, in both my life and the world (or at least the White House).

Most people who've heard my news have responded with, "Oh, Vermont is so beautiful!" or simply, "Congratulations!"

But a few unromantic sorts have asked, "You sure about this? You've got a great gig here."

True. It's a great gig, and I'll miss it. As a way of connecting deeply with the life of a city, the job of editor at an alternative newsweekly is pretty much unmatched. And I'll miss connecting with Philly. City Paper's the place I've worked the longest, and Philly, though I'm not a native, is the place I've lived the longest; I feel lucky and grateful to have experienced both.

But I am thrilled about discovering new opportunities in a new city. I may write, I may edit, I may teach, I may act. I'm open.

Which is a nice place to be at age 50, if a little terrifying.

And I leave knowing the paper will thrive. For one thing, Howard Altman succeeds me as editor in chief. He goes about newspapering the way he goes about life -- with gusto, guts and intelligence -- and he'll be working with about as fine an editorial staff as we've ever had.

I leave knowing, too, that City Paper's long standing as a vital arts and culture resource will remain unchanged. I'm even planting a few seeds on my way out the door.

A few months ago I spent a day as an honorary principal at Meade Elementary School, a school alive with learning in one of the city's most deprived neighborhoods. On March 27, my next-to-last day at City Paper, I'll accompany 15 Meade sixth graders to a matinee performance of the Arden Theatre Company's Twelfth Night, after which they'll write their own reviews. Some of their writing will appear next year in a special supplement to City Paper, a kind of newspaper-within-a-newspaper featuring the work of Meade students.

I don't know how Shakespeare will go over with these kids. But I have a good feeling -- something in their eyes when we briefed them on the plot of Twelfth Night, with its twins and mistaken identities and mismatched lovers. I always believe in the power of a good story, whether in a newspaper or on a stage.

Another project intermingling theater and the newspaper, our online playwriting contest, will return in a new form. Michael Hollinger and Frank Lewis will again guide the process, but this time area playwrights are competing for the chance to sin -- or to write about sin, at least -- for a collaborative play we're calling The Six Commandments (see www.citypaper.net/commandments for details). If the Fringe Festival's panelists smile upon us, you'll get a chance to see a reading of the play at the end of this summer in Fringe 2003.

City Paper was a leader in recognizing the potential of the Fringe, which has become a pivotal event for the city. And if you need evidence that the paper's going to stay ahead of the curve in covering the arts, consider last week's issue: Music Editor Patrick Rapa saw the importance of Ladyfest, the women's music and arts festival making its Philly debut, and he gave it more comprehensive coverage than anyone else in the city. Or you could look at this week's cover story about the survival strategies of artists and activists, or next week's guide to the Philadelphia Film Festival. I've never been alone at City Paper in believing in the importance of the arts; it's a belief that's held by the publisher on down.

And last week, I saw hopeful signs that the city's decision-makers are believers, too -- or at least they're talking a good game. On Tuesday, in a budget hearing in City Hall, councilperson after councilperson assured a large gathering of representatives from area cultural organizations that their requests for an increase in the Philadelphia Cultural Fund would be looked upon very kindly. It was kind of refreshing, really; in the state next door, the governor thought it would be a cool idea to trash arts funding completely, but here was Jim Kenney quoting statistics about Cezanne, and David Cohen telling the arts groups to ask for millions. And Rizzo and Reynolds-Brown and Ortiz and Nutter and Tasco all making comments ranging from very positive to at least polite.

It remains to be seen whether the councilpersons will put their money where their mouths were, but as Cultural Fund President Nancy Goldenberg said afterwards, "It looks very hopeful."

And would the mayor approve such an increase? I asked Street spokesperson Joel Avery. "Requests were raised for a number of important issues during the budget hearing," he responded. "We are still reviewing all of them to see what requests we will be able to honor."

I'd like, as a parting request, to urge any of you readers who care about the arts to call your councilperson and the mayor and tell them so. The arts pump life (and, as it happens, money) into a city; they give it a pulse and a clearer vision of itself. When a city doesn't support the arts, its heart slows, its vision clouds, its brains rot -- and citizens have a right to get angry.

In that same Council hearing, after the Cultural Fund folks made their pitch, representatives from the Friends of Philadelphia Parks stepped up to the microphones to ask for their slice of the funding pie. A passage from the testimony of Carroll Parks Neighbors President Doris Gwaltney stayed with me:

"No one here needs to be reminded that these are difficult days for America and the world. Still, we all have a duty to ourselves and one another to hold fast to those things that make us human."

Wherever I go, whatever I wind up doing, that's what I hope to do.

Hope you will, too.

P.S.: I'm not out of here just yet. Next Mon., March 31, at the Adrienne, I'll be taking part in a reading of a new play by Tom Minter called Breathing Ash. It's a futuristic political drama about power and race. I'm playing the president's press secretary (maybe it's my Ari Fleischer hairdo). Given the state of the country at the moment and my upcoming brush with presidential politics, this feels more than a little ironic.

And next month, I'll return to Philly on April 28 for Last Monday at the Plays and Players Club. Mark Lord, artistic director of Big House (plays & spectacles) and overseer of their monthly Monday revues, has asked me to curate a farewell evening with some of my favorite performers. I hope to see you there.

If you would like to respond to this Slant or have one of your own (850 words), contact Howard Altman, City Paper executive editor, 123 Chestnut St., third floor, Phila., PA 19106 or e-mail altman@citypaper.net.