On January 12, 2006 Nancy Melich was the featured speaker at our general meeting. Here is a synopsis of her remarks.

A unique combination of high culture and cowboy, because she grew up in rural Moab, former Salt Lake Tribune theater critic Nancy Melich delighted everyone with articulate and knowledgeable plain speak about theater. Now a literary seminar director for the Utah Shakespearean Festival, Melich began with high praise for SLC's plays now currently running which deal with universal themes of human struggle, particularly about those living on the margin.

Among them, she singled out Doug Wright's "I Am My Own Wife" at Salt Lake Acting Company, Terrence McNally's "Love, Valour, Compassion" at Rose Wagner, and California writer Claire Braz-Valentine's "When Will I Dance?", about Frida Kahlo, at Utah Museum of Fine Arts. Collectively, these three plays deal with death, sex, loneliness, and ultimately, freedom of expression.

If she still was a Tribune critic, the ideal would be to first review separately all three plays, then write a follow-up article about what the playwrights are saying, why these Utah companies chose to present these works now, look at the audition process, and so on.

However, in this age of diluted reporting, Melich doubted that she would be the one to review all three plays or have the luxury of writing a follow-up. Clearly frustrated, Melich asked how the Tribune has devoted so much space to film "Brokeback Mountain," even before Larry Miller's pull-out of it from his theater. Other questions included: Why is it there are full pages devoted weekly to capsule reviews of films, but not even a half-page to reviews of theater, dance, music, or visual art exhibits? Why do the two daily newspapers have movie and TV columnists, but no performing arts columnists? In her opinion, television coverage of local arts is almost nonexistent, and the only radio station that consistently shows interest in the cultural climate of Utah is KUER.

Recently on KUER's "RadioWest" program, Doug Fabrizio interviewed poet laureate Ken Brewer, who is dying from cancer. An emotional intense interview, Melich described the scene from Brewer's kitchen in Providence, Brewer's poignant but humorous depiction of his failing body, and the proliferation of new poems since the fateful diagnosis.

Melich then posed additional questions: What if Doug Fabrizio never spoke to Ken Brewer on the air? What if Ballet West cancelled its fall season and no one wrote about it? What if Clear Channel bought the Utah Theatre, renovated it, and scheduled month-long runs of "Phantom of the Opera" and "Beauty and the Beast," and the local columnists had no opinion on the impact of such a decision? What if the only place to read about the current art scene was on a blog, written in cyberspace by someone you have never heard of and whose credentials are unknown?

An optimist, Melich doesn't believe all that would happen. However, tangible signs are that informed, thoughtful arts coverage has been moving for some time in a bad direction: shorter stories, more listings, four stars and thumbs-up / thumbs-down reviews substituting for analysis, fulltime critics leaving major papers who are not replaced.

An active participant in the American Theater Critics Association, Melich cited that currently there are 270 members compared to 290 five years ago, and that members now are largely comprised of freelance writers. When they meet twice a year, the conversation inevitably turns to the shrinking space devoted to the arts, and how editors are giving that space to television, movies, pop culture stories, and DVD reviews.

Years ago after eight years reporting on a variety of subjects for the Tribune, including the arts, Melich said that no editor had ever asked if she knew anything about the arts. Recounting how in 1978 after being accepted into a month-long program called the National Critics Institute, her mentor named Ernie Schier, the Institute's director, said, "Now go home and educate your editors that covering the arts is not the same as covering the police beat or the legislature, but just as important."

For the next 21 years, she practiced that wisdom. At the Tribune, she spent countless hours interviewing actors, directors, and playwrights while also writing stories about truck drivers, softball players, symphony strikes, and consumer advocates in Washington. On the concrete pillar next to her desk at the Tribune, she'd taped this quote: "The job of a theater critic is not to get people to go to the theater, or to get them to stay home. The job of a theatre critic is to keep the reader interested in the theater."

Interestingly, Eliot Hall has been the home of much theater. In 1973, Melich reviewed the anti-war musical "Hair," not knowing whether the production would be shut down because a local official had said the play, with its nudity, violated community standards. Reason prevailed and the Salt Lake Acting Company production continued on. In 1978, Eliot Hall was the rehearsal place for "Saturday's Voyeur," and Melich was fortunate enough to see it in its infant stage.

According to Melich, the creative and performing arts and the dedicated critics are integral and essential to the growth and vitality of a community. When the arts are ignored by the media, the message is they are not that relevant. Asking why newspaper editors vigorously cover city halls, sports, businesses, and schools, and largely ignore the arts beat, there is no one answer. Her mentor, however, said editors and reporters need to be educated.

Melich has worked long hours and spoken up forcefully to push for more arts coverage. Whether as a reporter for the Tribune or in her current position at the Shakespearean Festival, everyone can learn from her knowledge and passion for the arts.

Sidebar: Two audience Q and A may interest some readers.

One question was how does SLC rate on arts venues compared to other cities of the same size. Melich answered that SLC fares very well with exciting regional theater, Westminster College's poetry program, one of the best in the nation, great jazz at the Sheraton, Pioneer Theater, Salt Lake Acting Company, Ballet West, Repertory Dance Theater, an explosion of visual arts, Utah Shakespearean Festival.

Another question was how could an audience member benefit the most when attending a play. Melich's answer was: Practice, practice, practice! Observe. Is the curtain up or down? If it is up, then most scenes will have the same setting. If there are more than two doors, then the play is probably a farce.

What do the props do? Everything on stage should have a purpose; if not, then it is not as professionally done. What do the costumes do? Are actors comfortable in their costumes? The audience must be able to hear the actors if you can't, inform someone during intermission. Do you feel safe, or are you constantly thinking that the, e.g., chandelier might fall? Watch the actors. Look at the lighting. What is the energy of the play? After fifteen minutes, are you thinking about the weather or mowing the grass? If so, then something is amiss with the production.

--Sarah Smith