And So It Goes…. 

Surviving the Big Leagues 

Will this new mammoth creation on Biscayne Boulevard, for which all supporters of the arts in Dade County shared the dream, now compete with Miami Beach as a stranger at arms-length? 

By Seymour Gelber
Columnist 

There’s a new big boy coming on our block.  Will the rising Performing Arts Center for Greater Miami (PACGM) be our next-door bully or will it be a boon to Miami Beach? 

Driving over the Venetian Causeway from Miami Beach, exiting on Biscayne Blvd., brings the imposing sight of a group of odd-shaped steel and girder buildings, still shells, but obviously destined for big things when fully assembled.   It’s a big thing not only for what it will bring art aficionados, but that Dade County, lagging far behind Broward and Palm Beach, will now offer an art complex the equal of any in the world.  That’s the big leagues.

When it opens in 2006, Parker Thomson, who has struggled with the planning for well over a decade, and Sherwood Weiser, chairman and resolute fund-raiser, will both breathe a sigh of relief.  That’s fine, but how will it affect our Miami Beach art complex, separated by only the Venetian Causeway?  Will the Jackie Gleason Performing Arts Center suddenly find only a second tier role?

Miami Beach has gone through a similar growth from what a half century ago was described as a “culturally barren community.”  Back in the 1950’s Judy Drucker began a concert series at Temple Beth Sholom which fast became the host for the regular appearances of the greatest symphony orchestras of the world and the finest operatic voices extant.  The opening of the Jackie Gleason Center and then the arrival of famed dancer Edward Villella to form his internationally acclaimed ballet company followed this cultural start.  To add to our luster, the New World Symphony, a school for young, gifted international musicians had acclaimed Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas at the head. This was a vision created through the financial support of the Arison family.   Drucker, Villella and Tilson Thomas are all housed in our Lincoln Road area.  No longer are we a city of only sea, sand and glitz.  

Living in a condo on the Venetian Islands, about half way between Jackie Gleason and the new Greater Miami Arts Center, I can see a cornucopia of delightful evenings for Edith and me and countless others.  But will it play that way?

Will this new mammoth creation on Biscayne Boulevard, for which all supporters of the arts in Dade County shared the dream, now compete with Miami Beach as a stranger at arms-length?  By virtue of its size, splendor and resources, this new edifice will likely have first choice for selection of artists and dates and other considerations.  Performing companies that sought out Miami Beach will now look to this new, more prestigious site.  Guests at our Miami Beach hotels may well prefer this more glamorous nearby venue.  

Miami Beach will not sit quietly to be gobbled up.   The competition may even sharpen up our own production.  But why go through this kind of a struggle to the death?

Still more than a year away for the first curtain to rise, there’s still time to make certain that the competitive juices on both sides of the bay are kept in check.  If they haven’t yet, it’s time for both the Arts Councils in Miami Beach and in Dade County to begin addressing this problem along with the respective management of both sites. 

A lot needs to be addressed.  Surely the selection of artists and dates, joint ticket sales programs, and other measures for the benefit of both can be developed.  There are likely many other areas of joint cooperation.  I do not pretend to know the answers or even the questions.  Probably a few hard and fast rules will be required but for the most part many of the concerns can be resolved on an ad-hoc basis, as they arise.

What I am suggesting is that an understanding be reached by the principals, that the new guy on the block may be a lot bigger, but that both communities are in this together.  And that even if bigger is better, it needs to be wiser.  For this we need open communication between the parties with the red emergency phone always open.

Hopefully, the new Performing Arts Center will be an absolutely dynamic, splendiferous experience for all Dade Countians.   But in the exuberance of its expectations, remember we were here first.  Respect us.

And so it goes…...

Editor’s Note: Seymour Gelber was mayor of Miami Beach from 1991 to 1997.