This Week In Art/Culture/Entertainment
By John Swartz
Hey, have you looked outside or been outside. It’s a beautiful day and there are some things you can do besides lounge around the pool and sip cocktails.
This afternoon, from 2 to 7 p.m. our local black community is holding CommunityFest at Couchiching Beach Park. This is a chance for members of that community to meet each other and for us to meet them, have a little fun (activities for kids) eat and network.
It’s free to attend and everyone is welcome.
Three Crows Speak, Hibernation Arts, the Shadowbox, Peter Street Fine Arts and Blossom are taking to the streets this evening starting at 6 p.m. Peter Street that is. They are going to have artwork by the artists represented at those galleries on display.
Don’t forget Mississaga and Peter are closed to wheels, so plan parking accordingly.
Live music is happening at Quayle’s Brewery July 13 with Rebekah Hawker (she saved a little from her Mariposa gigs) and Kevin California July 14; Couchiching Craft Brewing has Cam Galloway playing July 13 and Paige Rutledge July 14. Postman Dan plays the Hog N’ Penny July 13 and they have a Sunday afternoon jam lead by Sean Patrick, with a cabal of regular musicians. Even Steven is at Blue Moon Junction July 13. Chris Lemay is at the Sunken Chip July 13.
It Gets Worse
In last week’s column, I outlined what is happening between the Opera House and the rest of the journalistic world.
I made some statements about what I thought was going on, and I thought it was directed at SUNonline/Orillia and me. I still believe that. This week I have information confirming what I understood about what was said to me and what wasn’t said directly to me, showing a gross misunderstanding about the function of reviewers and how things have historically worked.
First of all, I was told there were no seats available for opening day, despite me giving the box office a heads up on May 4 I was making time to see each of the three summer theater plays for review purposes, and despite the Opera house itself – after telling me there were no seats – posting on Facebook there were still some seats for the opening day shows.
I can confirm the new GM was told anyone wishing to review shows for any Opera House show (i.e. not just summer theater) will have to buy tickets from now on.
However, the City will trade advertising and other promotion for tickets. This is absurd on two counts. One they think the value of the tickets equals the value of advertising space of the kind they want, and the value paid to the journalist by whoever is employing them. Even when I did reviews in the Packet the City would have to fork over a few sets of tickets to hit equilibrium, not just one ticket, or as is standard elsewhere two tickets.
Second they think any self respecting journalist is going to go along with this. They think any self respecting media outlet will go along with this. They think its quid pro quo and they are buying advertising.
I have seen some ‘reviews’ in the past they have bought. They weren’t worth the ink or electrons used – and they weren’t labeled as advertising, which in my opinion is not just misleading, but grossly misleading.
SUNonline/Orillia will never trade its journalistic independence for baubles. I’ll bet they never even read our editorial policy. We have a couple of times offered a cut rate for advertising for shows, but only for shows we are familiar with and feel comfortable saying seeing them (spending money on tickets) will be worth it. We would have said the same things about those shows without the advertising.
Producers (of which the City and the Opera House are for summer theater) elsewhere know the risks involved with a reviewer in the audience and welcome having reviewers in the house. I ran what is happening by some other theater managers. They laughed. They said some other things that weren’t complimentary of what is going on. In fact, I was offered tickets to a show I bet my last dollar won’t play in Orillia. No prompting, totally without condition on their part, or expectation of tickets on my part (it’s out of town).
This is what the administration doesn’t get. My reputation. They think we run a blog here. They think we are nothing more than ‘influencers.’ They forget I did this for Thompson, Osprey, Hollinger and Postmedia – all owners at various times of the Packet. They forget I was a staff producer at Rogers TV. They think because I chose to be independent of a corporate structure after Rogers and Torstar abandoned Orillia that somehow this thing is rinky-dink.
Here’s what the reputation of SUNonline/Orillia is. Before Facebook pulled their little stunt we were sending out into the world an average of 6 figures in page counts every month. That went up by two thirds over the last year. I’m as shocked typing that as you are reading it, I expected to have lost 25 to 30% distribution because of Facebook.
The administration is besmirching my reputation. The tone of the information I have does not say otherwise. They picked the wrong guy.
I said last week the culture portfolio has been and is being mismanaged and with the information I have I can say I am not wrong. Culture has been shoved into a department that is not equipped to manage culture. Nobody with any idea of what they are doing would even think of this current mode of operation.
I also said they don’t think they need reviews to sell tickets. One might sleepwalk into that position based on ticket sales of late, but that will only last so long without independent voices weighing in (assuming they keep the quality up, which the past two years has been very good). People do read reviews. They aren’t dummies. Those who follow theater go to concerts and buy tickets can tell the difference between shill reviews and real reviews.
The tone of the information I have tells me this is directed at SUNonline/Orillia and is a result of the other aspects of what we do and not art/culture/entertainment related.
For them to say they will evaluate the professionalism of anyone wanting to do a review is hogwash. They aren’t qualified to evaluate mine, forget anyone else’s No, this is clearly aimed at me and SUNonline/Orillia.
What other city of 33,000 population (not to forget those living close by) has had a reviewer working in it – for 29 years? Name one other outlet in Simcoe County that had anyone reviewing shows for that length of time. Or even now.
Name one other reviewer who has arranged music, or written original music, worked with live event production, choreographed productions, logged tens of thousands of miles riding a tour bus, worked in television and print, has written the equivalent of dozens of books and has 26 years as a performer.
There are three kinds of production which happen at the Opera House. There are the ones they totally produce, like summer theater; ones they put their own money up to bring in, which are then their productions; and shows that book the Opera House for performances but are not produced by the Opera House, which is most concert tours.
You can expect to still find out about, and read reviews (unless they coerce outside producers not to offer review comp tickets; it will not end well if I find out that happens) of events happening at the Opera House. There is no reason the Orillia Concert Band, the Orillia Silver Band, Mariposa Arts Theatre, the Mariposa Folk Festival, or other community groups should suffer because of this – and they won’t. However I am reluctant to write anything about in-house productions so long as this asinine policy (which council has not officially seen) remains.
I also want to make clear I do not believe this is instigated by the new Opera House manager, she’s been at theater management too long to do this kind of thing, or her boss. Of the latter, if this did come from him, based on past conversations, he’s doing it to satisfy those above him and their demands for direction of the culture portfolio (which they do not understand) and metrics about everything people at his level or below are asked for. So, still, not of his own choosing.
There will be a column – part 2.
(Photos by Swartz – SUNonline/Orillia) Main: Art on Peter Street, August 2023.
