From Baltimore to San Jose

The White administration draws the line on playing fields: The fate of the Cleveland Ballet had been on the wall a long time prior to its demise ["Danced to Death," November 2]. Kind of like that old great-aunt in a nursing home hanging on to life, when everyone knows it's simply a matter of time. The marketing of the Cleveland Ballet was a textbook example of how to kill an organization as effectively as possible. When 90 percent of the funding is generated from 10 or 12 sources, it is obvious the lack of interest Cleveland showed in keeping it here. Sad but true, Cleveland at times lets its cultural sides slip -- but endanger a sport in which millionaires run into each other for a leather-covered ball and all hell breaks loose. Then the populace responds with a multimillion-dollar stadium, tax perks, etc., etc. to get its beloved sport back. It probably didn't help all that much that Andrew Bales had absolutely no business being in the position that he was in or that Dennis Nahat treated the ballet as the Dennis Nahat Ballet Company, his own personal little toy to be used to inflate his already huge ego.

However, the blame doesn't rest on their shoulders; it rests on the shoulders of Cleveland. Now everyone misses the ballet, but probably 1 percent of Cleveland's population even made it to one show. It is a very sad commentary on the legacy of Michael White's administration that, while he added concrete and ironwork to the city's skyline, he did nothing to save one of the remaining jewels of Cleveland. Losing the ballet was like razing the Soldiers and Sailors' Monument to put in a CVS. Another example of not tending to what you take for granted, then acting surprised when you lose it. I certainly hope that other organizations in the fine arts kept their ears open during the process to see what kind of value the current administration puts into that arena.

Randy Sindelar Corturillo
Cleveland

No tutu left unturned: I just wanted to say that "Danced to Death" was a great piece of local investigative reporting.

Will McCulloch
Cleveland

Even Styx fans know Kilroy sucked: Upon reading the preview/pre-review of the Dennis DeYoung show [Nightwatch, November 2], I felt compelled to point out a few things that always seem to escape mention when either Dennis or Styx is brought up. First of all, love or hate him/them, you simply cannot avoid the fact that they were the very first rock act in history to release four consecutive triple-platinum albums. Regardless of what people say or try to make you believe, a lot of people really dug their music. They took merciless bashing from the critics and always came out on top with packed houses, night in and night out. And as much as I love the work of Styx, and especially Dennis DeYoung, I will definitely agree that Kilroy was a bunch of schlock.

That having been said, the show at the Allen was purely outstanding. Anybody could have enjoyed the evening -- even those with a total disregard for anything Styx. Probably the highest compliment to a show like this one is that the music seemed like an orchestrated set with rock overtones, not a rock set with an orchestra thrown in for background. I have witnessed the latter and wished that I'd stayed home instead.

I must admit, though, that the crowd was somewhat different than I expected: We were much older than I remembered us being not too long ago (or maybe I'm just older than I remembered being). At any rate, a great time was had by all, and I don't think too many people left disappointed.

Evilbob
via the Internet

And he's even better when he's bad: Even though Robert Wilonsky's review of Charlie's Angels is probably otherwise right on the money ["Farrah to Poor," November 2] -- it looks truly horrible from the ads alone -- I really disagree with the line in his review about Tim Curry. He said, "Tim Curry -- whose appearance all but guarantees a bad movie . . ." While I do agree that Tim Curry has been in some bad movies, he has always been the best thing in them. He is a good actor, but he really should kill his agent. But since he is almost always the villain, and you don't like him, doesn't that mean that he is doing his job?

Lynda Helms Miller
Cleveland

A gracious note from the cheeriest blues fan around: Thank you for the Best Blues Club award [Best of Cleveland 2000, September 28]. It's a great honor and very much appreciated, and one of the nicest things to happen in 23 years of the House of Swing!

Linda Kallie
House of Swing