fact vs fiction

Enough.

It is time for someone to begin questioning the 'facts' that have been presented regarding the radio station theater. I have voiced my opinion once before on this matter and have taken a few shots on various social media sites, in the hope that some media outlet would actually decide to take an ethical journalistic approach to this story. But, instead, falsehoods (dare I say lies) and misrepresentations continue to be spoon-fed to the print media and the news outlets, and they dutifully repeat them.

Let’s start, though, by dealing with my “bias.” Yes, I work for the Craterian. I have for eleven years. Does this mean I'm biased? Sure. It also means I probably know more about the topic than most people. Does this mean, as a member of our community, that my opinions are off-base or should be discredited? Only if all of Ron Kramer’s opinions and suppositions are discredited as well. If you’re going to listen to one side, you have to listen to the other. You be the judge who is distorting facts into fiction. Below I offer only facts - I hope that you can begin asking your own questions, and draw your own conclusions about where the fiction begins.

From the Frequently Asked Questions section on the Holly website:

Q: Would the Holly Theatre duplicate what is already offered by the Craterian Theatre?

A: No. The JPR Foundation’s plans for the Holly have specifically been developed to avoid duplication and establish different types of events. Where the Craterian was built with a sophisticated stage house to accommodate traveling versions of Broadway shows, the Holly restoration would not enlarge the stage house and the Holly would not seek to offer Broadway shows. Instead, the Holly would feature singer/songwriter and related entertainers of the type generally featured on Jefferson Public Radio’s radio programs – a mix which has made JPR’s Cascade Theatre, in Redding, extremely successful. Typically, only 2 or 3 acts which appear annually at the Cascade have been booked into the Craterian (which reports that it has 90 ticketed events annually) so that “duplication” would be minimal.

Well, that's good news. Right? Yes. However, the fact is, in this current season alone the Cascade is presenting:

Brian Regan
Chinese Acrobats
Tommy Dorsey
Vienna Choir Boys
Momix
Spamalot
Celtic Christmas
Blues Harmonica Blowout
Judy Collins
Lady Smith Black Mambazo
Lily Tomlin
Hairspray
Rickie Lee Jones

All of these shows have played, or will play this season, at the Craterian. Also troubling is the line: "Where the Craterian was built with a sophisticated stage house to accommodate traveling versions of Broadway shows, the Holly restoration would not enlarge the stage house and the Holly would not seek to offer Broadway shows.” Well, if you notice on the list, the Cascade, for the first time in my memory, is presenting two 4 truck Broadway shows in Hairspray and Spamalot.

To confirm my memory I pulled up a quote from the December 9th, 2010 article in the Tribune by Damian Mann, in which he reports, "Citing the differences in programming, he [Kramer] said the Cascade doesn't host Broadway productions." In the same article it was reported, "Kramer said that because the downtown doesn't have a larger venue, it misses out on performances that would be suitable for a larger hall." Kramer repeated this recently in a MURA meeting when asking for a million dollars for the Holly, when he stated that groups such as "Manhattan Transfer and Bryan Adams" have "flown over Medford after playing Redding." Just a week prior to this statement Bryan Adams was onstage at the Craterian and Manhattan Transfer is scheduled for next season. The Tribune article also quoted him as saying "Bill Cosby has flown over [Medford]"...Bill Cosby has also played the stage at the Craterian. These are all facts.

Ok, back on my soap box. This is to say nothing of the articles in which the following fictions have been reported: the Craterian can’t do certain shows because it doesn’t have a loading dock, that the auditorium was turned 90 degrees when it was renovated (thereby damaging its acoustics), and that there are several communities our size that support two such similar roadhouses (none of the examples offered are viable – in fact, they’re bad examples).

The arrogance of Kramer and the radio foundation is enough to leave a bad taste in my mouth. But, the relentless insults and falsehoods they have made about the Craterian, the fact that they began their campaign by denigrating the Craterian, that they continue to feed misinformation to the local paper, and that it is reported without investigation, is indefensible. To my recollection there have been at least seven front page articles and two editorials touting the project in the Tribune. If that isn’t advocacy (as opposed to journalism), I don’t know what is. Do you remember the last local story that got so much coverage in so short a time? I can’t think of one.

It also intrigues me that people seem to believe that the radio foundation is doing this as a gift for Medford when actually it’s just the opposite. Kramer has made it clear he is doing this to build and expand his JPR brand, and it is anything but a gift. After announcing he was going to raise the money to buy it, he had to borrow it. Now he is asking the city for money to get the project started, and the community will have to give him the money to finish it. Yet he represents himself as some kind of savior. In fact, JPR wants the community to pay for this project but will brand it as a Kramer/JPR miracle! I’m not drinking the KoolAid…are you?