Word: papp
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Free Shakespeare was never anything less than a struggle. Besides the usual problem of financing, Papp and his crew were beset by those, including New York's then parks commissioner, who were scandalized by the very idea of free theater. With surprising political skill and an iron will, both picked up on the streets of Brooklyn, Papp hung on, determined not only to use the park but to have the city pay part of the cost of production as well. Eventually he got his way, and in 1960 the city gave him $60,000-revenue from subway chewing...
Though his operations will still run a projected deficit of about $2.5 million in the fiscal year starting this month (with revenues of $9,000,000 to $11 million), Papp seems on firmer ground than ever before. The principle of public subsidy has been firmly established, with a $350,000 contribution from the city, $200,000 from New York State and $100,000 from Washington. Beyond that, Two Gentlemen of Verona, which started as a four-week production in the park last summer, has become the biggest money earner on Broadway and its profits keep alive such worthy but unprofitable...
...Papp, however, deficit is no more frightening a word than any other. What would make him nervous is surplus, a word that he is unlikely ever to hear. Deficits keep him running. Every time he falls further into the red, it seems, he announces an even more audacious program, generating enough money to pay the current debt while guaranteeing a still larger budget gap in the future. Far from disdaining money, he knows that it is only valuable when it is spent. "First Joe says, 'We'll do it,' " observes Gersten, "and after that...
...fact, Papp leaves the impression that if he ever slowed down, he would stop altogether. Movement, fast movement, is as necessary for him as it is for his plays. A man of medium height, with only a few gray hairs to betray his age (51 last week), he walks so quickly that he is halfway down the street before those with him are out the door. There is no wasted motion, no nervousness, no visible temperament. For a Polish immigrant's son like Joe, proud of his plain taste and blunt speech, an artistic temperament is soft, alien...
Despite his commitment to live, national theater, Papp the populist sees an even bigger audience in television and is now dickering with CBS for four prime-time specials next season. "None of that boring Playhouse 90 look," of course. And a Papp special would certainly not be like educational TV, the lighting on which reminds him of "prisons or hospitals, as if there is something wrong with the color of the walls. I believe in keeping drama bright and popular, reaching lots of people. We've got all sorts of things in mind, and CBS is anxious...