Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 1977 - 29

not only speak out but to act, personally and publicly.
Recall that these are but the highlights of the destruction,
not the totality. The list of fires and destruction, deaths,
maimings, traumas would fill several annual volumes of
our Journal, if we itemized just those which happened
this year.
Perhaps for each area of training in the Entertainment
Industry, we ought to recommend the in-depth study and
critique of "disasters in the Entertainment Industry." The
mistakes, the building violations, the lack of fire prevention and fire suppression materials, the electrical sidesteps,
the lack of training, the overcrowding, the intricacies of
national, State and local municipalities with inspectors,
affidavits, construction, operation, etc., would cover the
situations a person in the industry will be facing upon
being employed.
Frequently, blue ribbon panels are assembled. Keen
and professional personnel conduct investigations and
make recommendations. Would it not be better to keep
our own house in order? Yes. Doubly, yes. The facts are,
"we will not." Oh, in isolated cases, some will. Some do
now. But when we look at the many-layered spectrum of
the Entertainment Industry and of those who are employed within it or those who are volunteers there, the
task seems insurmountable. It must not be. Theatre by
theatre, stage crew after stage crew, night club after
night club, movie house by movie house, auditorium after
auditorium, school after school, community theatre after
community theatre, we must scrutinize, with the greatest
intensity, the practices, the procedures, the building, the
equipment, the staff, the training, the economics, etc.
which we are now using, and if we see violations or substandard situations and operations we must correct them!
To most of you my words may sound like those of a
blithering idiot. I do not apologize for my stanc·e. There
must be a gadfly!
Some of you say: "Don't help OSHA. Let's do it ourselves." Terrific. I say: "Either we do it ourselves, if it
is not too late, or they will do it for us." Make no mistake, we all have our Beverly Hills Supper Clubs waiting
in the wings. You speak of economics. I speak of economics. Fifty percent of the businesses who have fires,
never open again. Of the remaining fifty percent, thirty
percent who reopen close their doors after six months.
I have been to New York, Chicago, L.A., New Orleans,
Minneapolis, Washington, Phoenix, Cincinnati, Houston,
Atlanta and hundreds and hundreds of other cities and
town and villages in this country and I candidly report
to you, with sadness, that there are thousands and thousands of Beverly Hills Supper Clubs anxiously waiting for
just the right moment. Cost? Burn them down and try
to rebuild in this economy. Lose the audiences by death
or closing and try to get them back. Jobs lost, materials
lost, income lost, Iiability suits lost. Economics? You
bet, economic~. You must have noticed that I am speaking of resources. It is sad that lives come second. BUT
THEY DO. Not with me, to be sure, but to the hundreds
of thousands of institutions and commercial entities
and administrators who deal day by day with our entertainment industry and its personnel. Conjure up the Last
Supper: "I s it I, Lord?" I am in hopes that the echo does

USITT

not deafen any of you.
This is a professional "theatrical" journal. We are
attempting to dramatize the facts for you. I trust you
will remain seated as we continue our picturization.
By the time you have read this article, The Health
and Safety Commission will have made presentations
to most of the national Entertainment Unions and Guilds.
We are asking for cooperation from all levels in order to
effectively and quickly develop a plan of action for the
industry. We have been fortunate in gaining the ears of
the leaders in the industry and of those that represent
performers, technicians and other allied personnel. Perhaps someday we will see the total membership of the
entertainment industry in one body, negotiating and
representing the health and safety of its members. I
believe that is the way to go. I believe that move would
bring about the clout that is needed to protect ourselves,
our buildings and our audiences. Without this united and
concerted effort, we can only deal in a piecemeal fashion
with the needs of our industry.
Since the Beverly Hills Supper Club Fire in May,
there has been a flurry of activity in order to "meet
Codes." It is just that, a flurry. Not an orderly reckoning. Not an examination of the actual needs of the buildings, the performers, and the operation of our industry,
but a flurry. Flurries come and go. Legislation is enacted
in the heat of crisis. Enforcement is an hour by hour,
individual by individual type of order and responsibility.
Justice and economy are served by order. Flurries only
cloud our minds and the purposes we pretend to mouth.
There are Codes, Standards, Laws, Regulations, Rules,
Procedures, and Ordinances on the books - NOW which should have been applied to the Beverly Hills
Supper Club. Wiring, welding, grommets, flammable
liquids, storage, crowding, heat, darkness, fixtures, weight,
exits, directions, sprinklers, alarms, door units, access,
water, procedures and a hundred other items could be
spelled out. Why did they not apply there? Why don't
they apply to some of you? Fear? I imagine so. Honest
fear? Some of you have expressed to me over the years
that you cannot do anything because you will lose your
positions and you have a family to support. I know and
you know I know. For some, it definitely is greed.
GREED. You wouldn't lose your position, but you
might lose money. Less style? Who knows? Less box
office? Less of the good life? It is hard to speak up. It is
even more difficult to be the owner and boss and to put
health and safety in first place. Damn difficult.
There is collusion, bribery and corruption. Some
admit it. The papers carry it. The media hawks it. Yes,
it exists even in our industry. How else did we get some
of our new buildings with such noticeable defects. These
hazards seem to come with many public structures.
"They ain't building them like they used to." Yep.
That's true. Quality does seem to have gone out of some
building. I have spoken to some of you about a number of
the entertainment structures I have observed very carefully, both in construction and in operation. Some are
multimillion dollar edifices, the pride of the architectural
world. We don't find small mistakes, because a mistake or

THEATRE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

WINTER,1977

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