To the editor:
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Last week’s piece by Lewis Lazare about the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago and the Auditorium Theatre was terribly misleading [October 8]. The Auditorium Theatre Council’s mission and obligation to the public is the stewardship of the Adler and Sullivan jewel, the Auditorium Theatre. In July 1998 we increased the historic-restoration fee to $2 per ticket to bring us in line with the fees charged at other historic theaters across the country. All were notified of the increase. Joffrey Ballet of Chicago apparently chose not to pass the increase on to their patrons. That was their choice.
David Smerling
I had no previous knowledge of a $250,000 restoration project, nor did Smerling mention such a project when I asked him if any work was in progress. As I said in my column, “He stopped short of confirming that the restoration fee might be used to cover operating expenses, but he did indicate that monies could be temporarily diverted from one fund to another if the need arose.”
