"I'm about family entertainment. I'm not about having sex on stage."

[seahag2]

Posted: 5/25/16 at 1:51am

For those who don't know (and there's really no reason for you to know this unless you're from DFW), Dallas has 2 major groups that host Broadway tours, the older Dallas Summer Musicals and the fairly new AT&T Performing Arts Center. The former is currently playing the non-eq tour of Ragtime and is notorious for its consistently family friendly lineup of popular tours: Mamma Mia, Wicked, Lion King, and Phantom come about every other year. The latter's season is usually the one to get direct from Broadway tours like Matilda, Cabaret, Gentlemen's Guide, and Beautiful. In the past they also got Book of Mormon and Spring Awakening- two shows that DSM passed up. 

Recently an article about the firing of DSM's longtime president, Michael A. Jenkins included really great quotes that may explain why he was fired:

"For the Dallas theatergoer, she said, the changes “may mean a slight course correction in programming, and it may mean more diverse choices.”

Jenkins, a Dallas native who first went to work for the DSM as a teenage usher, has been a proud champion of family-friendly shows, refusing to book such edgy, contemporary fare as The Book of Mormon and Spring Awakening, both of which played the Broadway series at the competing Winspear. He described his philosophy by saying: “I’m about family entertainment. I’m not about having sex on stage.” "

And a commenter on the article replied: "

Broadway has succumbed to the politically-correct crowd.

Today's musicals are mostly left-wing political messages set to music and dance or jukebox musicals. 

Mr. Jenkins was doing his best to hang on to what made American Musical Theater great and keep it that way.

This was his thanks. "

Not really sure if anyone cares about this seeing as it's regional theatre drama but I thought it was too funny not to share! They actually rejected two critically acclaimed Broadway tours because it didn't line up with their morals. 

edit: here's the original article
 

Updated On: 5/26/16 at 01:51 AM

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 5/25/16 at 1:59am

You can always tell someone is about to spew totally thoughtless garbage when they open with "Today's ____." Broadway's history is largely progressive. Important live entertainment is progressive. Oscar Hammerstein was spinning the world forward. 

[After Eight]

Posted: 5/25/16 at 5:28am

"Jenkins, a Dallas native who first went to work for the DSM as a teenage usher, has been a proud champion of family-friendly shows, refusing to book such edgy, contemporary fare as The Book of Mormon and Spring Awakening"

Good for him, since both of them are awful.

 “I’m about family entertainment. I’m not about having sex on stage.” "

Good for you, Mr. Jenkins.

"And a commenter on the article replied: "

Broadway has succumbed to the politically-correct crowd.

Today's musicals are mostly left-wing political messages set to music and dance or jukebox musicals. "

Astutely observed.

Thank you Seahag2, for sharing this.

[_IrisTInkerbell]

Posted: 5/25/16 at 5:44am

I think it's fair enough to have two theaters who different programming approaches, i.e. one "family friendly" and more diverse and "edgy". You still get all the more progressive shows in the other theater. I'm sure there are plenty of other theaters who did not book either of those shows, and whole regions who didn't/won't get to see them. That's more problematic, but in this case I think it's totally fine. It's like having 2 movie theaters, one that plays all the blockbusters and animated movies and one that plays arthouse and indie movies.

I'm more having a problem with the non-equity tours, but that might occasionally a problem with both venues.

[After Eight]

Posted: 5/25/16 at 7:04am

"Oscar Hammerstein was spinning the world forward."

 

He had decorum. Class, too. He wrote about raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, not about having maggots in one's scrotum or being totally ****ed.

 

 

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 5/25/16 at 7:10am

After Eight said: ""Jenkins, a Dallas native who first went to work for the DSM as a teenage usher, has been a proud champion of family-friendly shows, refusing to book such edgy, contemporary fare as The Book of Mormon and Spring Awakening"

Good for him, since both of them are awful.

 “I’m about family entertainment. I’m not about having sex on stage.” "

Good for you, Mr. Jenkins.

"And a commenter on the article replied: "

Broadway has succumbed to the politically-correct crowd.

Today's musicals are mostly left-wing political messages set to music and dance or jukebox musicals. "

Astutely observed.

Thank you Seahag2, for sharing this.

 

"

We get it, you don't like theatre.

[rwlevin]

Posted: 5/25/16 at 7:12am

After Eight said: ""Oscar Hammerstein was spinning the world forward."

He had decorum. Class, too. He wrote about raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, not about having maggots in one's scrotum or being totally ****ed.

 He also wrote about having to be taught to hate and fear. Of being afraid of people whose eyes are oddly made and skin that's a different shade. That's pretty darn progressive.

 

 

"

 

[After Eight]

Posted: 5/25/16 at 7:12am

Jorge,

Au contraire, I love it. I just want it to be good. 

 

Updated On: 5/25/16 at 07:12 AM

[Comden Green]

Posted: 5/25/16 at 7:25am

After Eight said: ""Oscar Hammerstein was spinning the world forward."

 

He had decorum. Class, too. He wrote about raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, not about having maggots in one's scrotum or being totally ****ed.

"

If you are not distracted by the profanity you can see that BOM also attempts to "move the world forward".   Helping us to see the reality of village despiration       Raindrops on roses aren't going to do the trick.   


"If you don't like what we say
Try living here a couple days
Watch all of your friends and family die
Hasa Diga Eebowai"
 

[tazber]

Posted: 5/25/16 at 7:35am

That's waaaay over AE's head.

 

He has the critical faculties of a 6 year old.

[South Florida]

Posted: 5/25/16 at 7:36am

"I have maggots in my scrotum", was a necessary part of the story.  "I still have maggots in my scrotum", was a bit much.

[After Eight]

Posted: 5/25/16 at 7:38am

"If you are not distracted by the profanity"

 

And what if one is exasperated and/or offended by it? Then what?

[Wick3]

Posted: 5/25/16 at 7:49am

Was DSM doing well in the box office with its family-friendly shows? 

[backwoodsbarbie]

Posted: 5/25/16 at 7:58am

The more "progressive" shows aren't being withheld from the public. They just have to go do a different local theatre to see them. For the record, I love Spring Awakening, particularly the recent revival. I often forget that it's great to have different points of view...unless they are on the conservative side.  

[Back Row]

Posted: 5/25/16 at 8:43am

Could it be that the DSM's questionable business decision of bringing in the same old shows every other year was a bigger factor in the dismissal of the DSM president, and not so much the nature of the shows that the competition was bringing to town? Frankly, one wouldn't have to include the likes of Book of Mormon or Spring Awakening in order to broaden the spectrum just a bit, and it sounds like he was unwilling to move even that far. If his approach was making money, I'm sure there would have been no problem. His attempt to frame this as some kind of moral crusade rather than acknowledge that he simply made bad business decisions is a bit nauseating. 

[Comden Green]

Posted: 5/25/16 at 8:50am

After Eight said: ""If you are not distracted by the profanity"

 

And what if one is exasperated and/or offended by it? Then what?

 

"

I think the answer is obvious, avoid the show.  For me, it is a profound and important show.  I'll defend it any time when it is characterized as merely a base piece of fluff created merely to see how far the creators could go. 

[AnnieBlack]

Posted: 5/25/16 at 8:55am

Having worked in the touring industry, what irks me about this stance is what a hypocrite Jenkins is, similar to politicans spouting family values and then being caught doing horrible things. 

[jbird5]

Posted: 5/25/16 at 9:32am

Here's an idea, let the marketplace decide.

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 5/25/16 at 9:44am

rwlevin said: "After Eight said: ""Oscar Hammerstein was spinning the world forward."

He had decorum. Class, too. He wrote about raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, not about having maggots in one's scrotum or being totally ****ed.

 He also wrote about having to be taught to hate and fear. Of being afraid of people whose eyes are oddly made and skin that's a different shade. That's pretty darn progressive.

 

 

"

rwlevin, I think you misinterpreted that song.  Maybe you need to see South Pacific again.  It was an incredibly progressive musical that discussed how racism is something that is learned.  How people feel the need to "hate all the people their relatives hate."


 

 

"

 

[haterobics]

Posted: 5/25/16 at 9:50am

After Eight said: "Good for him, since both of them are awful."

Yes, but are you really saying you support someone censoring what an entire community is able to see because of their own personal taste? You were able to attend the show and make your own opinion, whereas this person was deciding to restrict that option.

By the time a show is touring, there's certainly enough online to help the more prudish theatergoer know whether to stay home. But everyone else should at least have the option of attending.

[_IrisTInkerbell]

Posted: 5/25/16 at 11:08am

haterobics said: "After Eight said: "Good for him, since both of them are awful."

Yes, but are you really saying you support someone censoring what an entire community is able to see because of their own personal taste? You were able to attend the show and make your own opinion, whereas this person was deciding to restrict that option.

By the time a show is touring, there's certainly enough online to help the more prudish theatergoer know whether to stay home. But everyone else should at least have the option of attending.

"

Well, you could argue that this always happens when touring houses book their season. They have to put together a program for their subscribers/audiences and in most cases have more choices and than open slots. They can't show everything. He chose to base that decision on "family values" - or so he says... and he failed. Like Back Row said, I suspect he was fired because the theater wasn't making enough money, not primarily because of the shows he chose to book. The problem with limiting yourself to a certain type of show is that it's bound to become repetitive.

I would still argue that in this specific case, audience still had the choice to go these other shows at the other theater in the same city. And that's probably what they did, instead of doing to see the same-old same-old shows at DSM. But like I said in before, in theory, I think it's totally fine when 2 touring houses specialize a bit and focus on different types of shows for different audiences. I'd just say this guy didn't do a very good job.

[MVintheheartland]

Posted: 5/25/16 at 11:24am

I don't know, but this sort of seems to be a non-issue. If one company does family-friendly, and another does more contemporary/progressive, what's wrong with that? Remember, that IS the Bible belt.

 

And just an FYI, I enjoy After Eight's commentary quite a bit, although so many posters here disapprove of his "alternative" views. He has just as much a right to post his opinion as the Hamilton fanboys and girls (which I have seen, by the way. Fine show, just not the Second Coming of Jesus).

 

 

 

[SueBee06]

Posted: 5/25/16 at 11:38am

Here's the thing - in my experience, DSM and he were always a pain to deal with. If I remember correctly, you had to go through their settlements with a fine tooth comb because of items they would try to slip in. Not to mention the fact that the theatre was inconveniently located on the outskirts of the city. My instinct (and I could be wrong) is not that he made a choice to do "family friendly" shows that happened to be non-eq, it's that when given the option to go with a different presenter in a better location, a lot of booking agents with larger shows leapt at the opportunity. 

 

There are other presenters in the midwest that opt not to do what they deem edgier shows. It's accepted and either a four wall deal is reached in those markets where the show literally rents out the theatre, or another presenter steps in.

 

Again, this is a lot of supposition on my part and based on memories from quite a few years ago. 

[ChildofEarth]

Posted: 5/25/16 at 11:39am

After Eight said: "Jorge,

Au contraire, I love it. I just want it to be good. "

 

 

Good, or to your taste? Those are two very different things.

[seahag2]

Posted: 5/25/16 at 11:53am

From what I've heard, (note that I wasn't in Dallas for the school year and didn't keep up with regional theatre politics- everything I've heard is from other local consumer's point of view), people love Dallas Summer Musicals and its historic venue- the music hall located on State Fair grounds. But many theatre goers can't deny that the newer, more popular shows are going to ATTPAC and therefore their money isn't going to DSM. That Fair Park area is in trouble and locals would love to help preserve it by financially uplifting it through theatre but agree that DSM should do its part in booking the shows that people want to see, instead of the non-eq 101 Dalmatians tour and Rain Beatles Tribute that come every 2 years. Book of Mormon is coming to Dallas for the third time this December and it's a commercial hit every time. For Jenkins to actively reject the show in the state DSM is in just doesn't sound like a stable business move. Then again, it is Dallas. While the city itself is blue, the surrounding metroplex is red. Seems like there are going to be the people who strongly agree with the former president and those who will just take their Book of Mormon money to ATTPAC. Dallas Summer Musicals hasn't announced their new season yet, but apparently an American in Paris is included. Along with a new president, important changes might be made! I would love if we had two really strong theatres so that one night I could see 1st Nat'l tour of American in Paris and catch a Deaf West's Spring Awakening matinee the next day.

Also, here is a link to the original article. Sorry for not including it in the first place
http://www.dallasnews.com/lifestyles/arts/headlines/20160502-shake-up-at-dallas-summer-musicals-michael-a.-jenkins-is-out.ece

Updated On: 5/25/16 at 11:53 AM