I hit a nerve with some people with my last “Payne’s Pains” opinion piece.
It was not that much of a shock. I knew that some would not like the one comment where I critiqued the lighting in the theater, but it was a point I used to show how better theater facilities are needed to grow the theatre program at DMACC.
It was, and still is, my opinion that we need to grow the theatre options at DMACC and new facilities are what we need to grow this program that has a lot of potential.
It came as a shock to me however, when I was receiving emails with people criticizing my “news article” for being biased and criticizing the Huff Theatre.
Not once did I say that we need to get rid of the Huff Theatre or say that it is crap. I simply critiqued the lighting (based off of my years working in theatre, particularly in lighting) and added that we need more diverse plays.
I was just making a point that we should have a more diverse selection of productions including Broadway-style shows along with the Huff Theatre shows. I know the difference between Broadway and Huff Theatre, and I know they are different styles. We just need more diversity!
I enjoy the Huff Theatre productions and do not want to see them seize production, or see fewer of them. I just want to see more selections and diversity in the productions on campus.
New theater facilities would help grow the theater program to offer more forms of theater and provide updated equipment for better lighting, sound and set pieces. I know this is not something that is really a major concern for the Huff Theatre’s productions but could help with expanding the program.
I agree that my word choice may not have been the best. Looking back there are some things I would have reworded. However, I do stand by my opinion.
One of the other main points I was trying to make (which was also included in our editorial) called for a new student center and addition of a fine arts building for the art and music programs. In this building we suggested a state-of-the-art theater.
As I have heard from many different people from the Huff Theatre, a nice new theater is not what the Huff Theatre wants. However, many other DMACC students are interested in participating in or watching larger and more musical productions that incorporate different forms of acting, dancing and singing. A new state-of-the-art theater could help expand the many styles of theater we have.
I received more emails than I normally do in response to my writings. To be honest no one ever sends me emails about my work so it was nice. So I guess you could say we had an unprecedented number of responses but I would not go as far as say it was an outpouring of emails. I only received emails from around six people. Unfortunately almost all of them were referring to my opinion piece as a news article.
Opinion pieces are a writer’s opinion and not an unbiased news article. What if people took Rekha Basu’s opinion pieces in the Des Moines Register as 100 percent unbiased news articles?
In many of the emails they kept asking why I did not have quotes from the Huff Threatre. Maybe I should have gotten quotes from Bill Johnson as to why we only do one style of theater, but I did not see the point. My opinion piece was not about the Huff Theatre, but about the need for many different styles of theater and new theater facilities.
My opinion piece was not intended to be a review of the most recent Huff Theatre production, “Paris.”
I am sorry if people took my opinion as something that I did not intend for it to be, but I still stand by my opinion and what I said.
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