According to the Save the Coconut Grove Playhouse Facebook page: "Michael Spring, Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs who is in charge of the Playhouse, met with Mike Eidson, Playhouse activist, to tell him he is totally opposed to his two theater plan with Kevin Spacey...and that Miami does not need a restored Coconut Grove Playhouse, but instead needs a relocated GableStage. Michael Spring made it clear he was stubborn and unwilling to compromise by having a theater site that accommodated both GableStage AND the restored historic theater."
Many feel that it's an ego thing between Spring, Eidson and Joe Adler, of GableStage.
GableStage has sent out the following to their patrons and subscribers:
"You were there for us on March 12 and we are extremely grateful to you. With your support the issue involving GableStage/Coconut Grove Playhouse was passed by Committee vote. Now we need your help again.
On Tuesday, April 21, beginning at 10 am, the full County Commission will be meeting and a final vote will be taken regarding the agreement between the County and GableStage for our new home at the Coconut Grove Playhouse. We need you to attend and speak at this hearing to show your strong support for this agreement.
At the very start of the meeting, anyone attending who wishes to speak will have an opportunity. When you arrive, please sign up to speak "for GableStage". Once more, here are the facts - and we need you to stress them at the Commission meeting:
We are supporting Mayor Carlos Gimenez's recommendation to enter into this long-term agreement between GableStage and the County to operate and program the renewed Coconut Grove Playhouse.
GableStage has a long track record of artistic excellence and service to our community, including outreach to students.
The County was able to secure a 99-year lease from the State for the Playhouse based on the inclusion of GableStage in a Business Plan for the Playhouse.
This Business Plan requires that a 300-seat theater at the Playhouse be created for GableStage and that this operating agreement with the County be approved.
GableStage is prepared to take full responsibility for creating artistically excellent theater for the Playhouse and raising the money to cover all operating and programming costs.
The County is gaining a partner in GableStage that brings instant credibility, given our track record for presenting excellent work.
You have been here for us throughout the years - and now we need you once more. Please help us by being there to support this critically important step for our future.
County Commission Chamber
111 NW 1st Street, Downtown Miami
(take the lobby escalator to the 2nd floor)"
It is spring now but soon it will be summer
ReplyDeleteMichael Spring has no experience running a professional regional theater such as the Playhouse. MikeEidson on the other hand is chairman and CEO of the Arsht Center and was Chair of Miami City Ballet. He has experience raising hundreds of millions of dollars for arts centers. He single handedly got the interest and agreement of Kevin Spacey to join the Playhouse project. Spring is upset that Eidson upstaged him at the March 12 Economic Prosperity Committee hearing where the commissioners who sat on that committee all voted in favor of Eidson's plan instead of Spring. It's obvious which is the better plan. Spring responded to that threat by intimidating Eidson at their private meeting by telling him the county was rejecting his plan, which wasn't true although Eidson took the bait and blinked first. Based on the March 12 hearing it's obvious which way this was going. Eidson should have trusted that instread of falling for Spring's scare tactics.
ReplyDeleteThis is same Michael Spring in charge of relocating the Youth Fair. Art, drama, county fairs is there nothing this man can't do?
DeleteWould love to see a Spacey led theater in Miami and the Grove would be fabulous.
ReplyDeleteAfter all these years Who cares?
ReplyDeleteMore obfuscation from Save the Coconut Grove Playhouse: Michael Spring is not going to be running the Coconut Grove Playhouse. Joe Adler is, and he has decades of experience - and he's even saved a regional theater that was on the verge of closing.
ReplyDeleteAnd Mr. Eidson has no experience running a regional theater, either. He's a board member of a performing arts center - yes, an executive - but a PAC is a very different animal than a regional theatre company.
I'm sure he's well-meaning, but he has no experience in the specific field we're discussing.
BTW, I have yet to see Mr. Spacey expressing commitment. It's all hearsay. If he's serious about it, let him stand up and say so on the record.
Eidson's plan won't succeed without a celebrity of Spacey's stature. On the other hand, Mr. Adler has a proven track record, and knows the market.
More BS from CLJ. Adler will be as old as the playhouse by the time it's finally built. Then what? Without Adler there IS no GableStage! BTW CLJ you must be living in a cave if you never heard of Spacey agreeing to be involved. He had multiple meetings with Eidson, Michael Spring, and commissioners. You do know how to use google don't you? The Herald covered it extensively.
ReplyDelete