Hippodrome not alone in programming woes

By Carl Hoover

Two stories out of Dallas show the Waco Hippodrome Theatre isn't alone in suffering from programming issues and Jerome Weeks' Art & Seek blog post touches on both.

The announcement of the second season for the AT&T Performing Arts Center, which books national tours for the new Winspear Opera House and smaller Wyly Theater, caused mild disappointment for some DFW critics who felt it lacked the adventure of the first season's "August: Osage County" (a marvelous play) and "Spring Awakening."

Rather than see it as a shift to the more family-friendly fare that has long constituted Dallas Summer Musicals seasons, Weeks says the issue may be one of simple availability: what's out there to book and when can a facility get shows? That, of course, was one of the questions about the Hippodrome's current season, whose fall offerings failed to draw audiences.

Asked why the Hippodrome didn't offer the types of Broadway shows it had in the past, Waco Performing Arts Company board members replied that those shows just weren't available as tour production companies braced for a slumping economy by cutting back on their offerings.

A link at the bottom of Weeks' post leads to a second Dallas theater affected by programming, the historic Majestic Theatre. With a size close to that of the Hippodrome, the Majestic had problems finding the type of programming that fit its space, with larger theaters like Fair Park Music Hall, the Winspear and Fort Worth's Bass Hall pulling in the big-name shows.

The Dallas Summer Musicals tried managing the Majestic, but still lost money — $1 million, says the WFAA story < > even though it beefed up the theater's schedule. It decided last August to return the Majestic to the city of Dallas this summer. It's interesting that the city intends to install a new AC system and replace the Majestic's roof to cut operating costs, an indication that the Hippodrome isn't the only historic theater suffering from the cost of old age.

      Email    Print