So far I've talked about fundamental facility issues and the Tuna incident. Now I'm going to do a couple of posts on programming. This one is a relatively short one about the current season.

A complaint quite in vogue lately is that this season's programming isn't any good. I have taken quite a bit of criticism for booking such a "sorry" lineup. This critique is predicated on the bizarre belief that I somehow controlled what shows were available and on tour across the country in a given year. More on that later. To the charge that the current season is inadequate or poor, I offer the following. Of Mice and Men is an American classic performed by the touring arm of the oldest professional theatre in America. Cirque Shanghai performs to sold-out crowds on Chicago's Navy Pier every summer. They're real Chinese acrobats who represent much of the artistry that was on display at the Beijing Olympics recently. Take 6 has 10 Grammy wins, 10 Dove Awards, one Soul Train Award and two NAACP Image Award nominations. Celtic Crossroads is an authentic Irish musical act that traveled to the States from Dublin. They're unbelievably talented and Southerners have a long history of love for Irish music. The Wedding Singer is a recent Broadway musical based on a hit movie. I fail to see how these shows are poor in any way. They may not each be to a person's particular taste, but they are by no means deficient.

Furthermore, a person can't really call himself or herself cultured, broad-minded, or an Arts patron in any sense without showing an interest in new experiences and performances that are outside of his or her knowledge or milieu. A responsible Arts organization recognizes that it has a responsibility to not only comfort people with shows that they already love, but introduce them to new works that they may grow to love or appreciate. I know that last part sounds a bit preachy, but on the one hand I do believe that it's true, and on the other... well... I am a preacher.

But there's a further dimension of programming that is even bigger-picture. As I said, I have taken a lot of heat over this season's programming. In the words of one commenter on a Waco news website:

"Stop blaming TUNA [sic], the blame should be with Scott Baker for booking such a lame season. Remeber [sic] Hairspray, the Producers, Annie, Drowsy Chaperone. [sic]"

**Sigh...** I'm not sure how many times I can explain this and in how many different ways, but let's try one more. When programming a season, all I can do is choose from among the shows that are available to come to Waco. The general process for a touring show is that it launches big accepting multiple-week runs in large cities such as Chicago, Dallas, New Orleans, and Nashville. Then after a year or so it starts taking split-week engagements in either those same cities for a return trip or to some smaller-markets such as Topeka, Richmond, and Huntsville. Only after a show has been out for a few years will it scale down its scenery and costumes to fit into smaller venues like the Hippodrome and accept one-night-only engagements.

What happened in 2008 when the economy tanked is that many of those shows that had scaled down and were looking at taking one-nighters pulled the plugs on their shows because they weren't as profitable, and others changed plans to fill the void by only accepting full-week runs in larger markets. So the roster of touring musicals for '09-'10 was vastly diminished. I'll say this again: the shows that are in Waco this season are literally the absolute best shows that were available to tour through Waco. I did not pass on Wicked, Mamma Mia!, and Beauty and the Beast to book the current season's lineup. What I did was try to select shows that were most likely to appeal to an audience that generally enjoyed Broadway musicals and good music. And had people given the current season a chance, they would have enjoyed themselves immensely. I've talked to plenty of people who have seen this season's shows. There are no complaints about quality and there are no complaints at all from the people who have seen the shows. So to say that the current lineup is my "fault" is ridiculous. To people who feel that way, I would suggest that their lack of broad cultured tastes in performances is their "fault."

Sorry if I got a bit riled up there, but I was personally and repeatedly attacked over this. The next post will be a more expanded discussion of why we don't line up a bunch of popular or up-and-coming music acts, and why we do what we do with programming in general.