The first time I came to Popejoy Hall after moving here in 1980, I couldn’t find it.

   This was before…

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   Heather Hitchens, Executive Director of the American Theatre Wing, was in Albuquerque this past week talking about the place that the arts holds in a thriving community and how we might…

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     “I'm gonna live forever, I'm gonna learn how to fly high.”

     People who perform for a living do it for the glory, right? They just want to be…

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In the 1960s, Danny Newman was the messiah of arts marketing. His theories related to subscriptions led arts organizations out of single-ticket-sales perdition into the season ticket…

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Included in every Popejoy season brochure is the line “Program subject to change.” Most recently that statement came to fruition with the change of date for…

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Is it an oxymoron to talk about focused nervous energy? That’s what I see almost every time I watch a rehearsal. Performers have a specific set of goals for their shows and a limited amount of time in which to accomplish them. That’ll make anyone nervous. Artists who focus the energy from their nerves on the tasks ahead create great shows.



For example, I caught the company for DRUMLine… Continue

At some point in the history of humans, we saw ourselves looking back out of a still pool of water and we have been fascinated with our reflections ever since.



So, are the reflections I propose to post here — on the business and pleasure of entertainment — simple narcissism? I hope not.



Some people make the case that performing arts are all about showing off. For many performers, they’d be right. Others on our stages, though, deserve the name artist. They look in the… Continue

Bad news is hard to break, no matter what it is. It’s particularly difficult to break bad news that goes against the purpose of your enterprise.



This week, we at Popejoy Hall have had to tell patrons who had already bought tickets that Forever Tango was not coming, that the company had canceled the tour. Obviously we could do nothing but send notices to patrons and call as many as possible to forewarn them.



That’s when we heard the stories.



One man from Las… Continue

I’ve been thinking a lot about cooperation lately. I’m not sure why. Maybe I’ve been watching the lack of cooperation in Congress and am hoping for better.



Whatever the roots, my thoughts tend toward the performing arts. Artists are known for their egos and their temperaments, but what they should be known for instead is their cooperative attitude, especially those in the performing arts. Yes, there are those whose egos become impediments to cooperation, but most performers I’ve… Continue