DATE: Friday, April 4, 1997                 TAG: 9704040658

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   55 lines

EFFORT CONTINUES TO BRING IN MORE MINORITY ACTS NAACP AND CELLAR DOOR OFFICIALS MEET TO DISCUSS DIVERSITY AT THE AMPHITHEATER.

City entertainment organizers and NAACP representatives met Thursday in an effort to inject more racial diversity into future entertainment programs at the GTE Virginia Beach Amphitheater.

But, since nothing of substance was decided upon, both parties agreed to meet later this month.

Also on the Thursday agenda was increasing the number of minorities hired at the amphitheater and other local entertainment venues operated by Cellar Door Entertainment. These include the Beach Events entertainment program at the Oceanfront, the Abyss Inc. in Virginia Beach and the Boathouse in Norfolk.

Both Sandra Smith-Jones, president of the Virginia Beach chapter of the NAACP, and Bill Reid, president of Cellar Door Entertainment, agreed that another meeting is needed to solidify scheduling of minority acts and review the company's employment practices.

``This was a spinoff from the first meeting, and we discussed the diversity in the entertainment lineup,'' Smith-Jones said Thursday. ``We also discussed recruiting minorities for employment at the amphitheater and other places, like the Oceanfront, the Abyss and the Boathouse. They (Cellar Door officials) have a good track record, but we just wanted to know if things were up to par.''

Reid described the meeting as the first step toward organizing a more ethnically diverse summer program at the amphitheater.

``It isn't soup yet,'' he said of the results, ``but it was a productive meeting. ``It was a process of educating each other.''

Regarding questions about diversity in hiring, Reid replied, ``We assured her (Smith-Jones) that minority employees are well represented at all our places of business.''

At a March meeting held in the offices of Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf, both parties agreed to form an advisory board, which would review coming entertainment attractions. Attending both sessions was Karlton Hilton, a local NAACP member, who said his organization decided to step into the programming issue after a number of African Americans complained about the dearth of minority entertainers appearing at the amphitheater.

Hilton said diversifying the acts would attract more people from all over Virginia and beyond state borders.

``We're in the process of discussing ideas about performers and acts,'' Reid said Thursday. ``It's just an information-gathering process.''

Last month, Reid explained that Cellar Door has been seeking ``urban acts that appeal to both blacks and whites.''

Availability of acts like Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson or Tina Turner depends on whether or not the stars happen to be on tour at the time the amphitheater is booking acts, he said.

Generally, Reid said, artists only tour when they have a record to promote because it is costly to organize a road tour.

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