THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 22, 1996 TAG: 9610220003
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 33 lines
As a member of the cast of ``Angels In America: Millenium Approaches,'' I'd like to thank The Pilot and writer Teresa Annas for your coverage of the production as well as playwright Tony Kushner's visit to Old Dominion University for the Literary Festival and our opening. Aside from being a Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning play, ``Angels'' has been recognized as one of the most controversial theatrical pieces of the past 50 years. Director Christopher Hanna and the administration of ODU deserve our admiration for having the courage to present this important and beautifully written play.
I wish I could say the same for WAVY-TV, WTKR-TV and WVEC-TV, none of which saw fit to cover either our opening or Mr. Kushner's visit. I realize that as theater, ``Angels'' falls in the category of ``culture,'' a topic the affiliate news divisions shy away from like the plague. However, the appearance of as celebrated and controversial a writer as Mr. Kushner is most certainly newsworthy; so why no coverage? There were no hurricanes that night. No major breaking stories.
The long-standing attitude of local television news pictures Hampton Roads residents as beer-swilling sports fanatics who will sit glued to the tube to hear five minutes of high-school sports but wouldn't listen to 30 seconds of news about area cultural events (with the exception of Jimmy Buffett appearances). This continuing attitude is both patronizing and demeaning. The arts are an important part of our daily lives and deserve to be treated as such by the media.
JONATHAN MARTEN
Norfolk, Oct. 16, 1996 by CNB