THEATRE PREVIEW
BRAVO
Published in KPBS On
Air Magazine November 2005
It’s the largest arts festival in
Equal parts fundraising ball, arts exposition and
food festival, BRAVO San Diego will bring together some 1600 performers
representing 83 performing groups, tastings from 75 local restaurants and
wineries, and 1200 well-heeled patrons who stroll around the downtown Westgate
Hotel seeing performances and sampling cuisine and drinks from all over the
county.
The mammoth party was the brainchild of a
high-octane triumvirate: Alan Ziter, former executive director of the
Performing Arts League, Georg Hochfilzer, general manager of The Westgate
Hotel, and Rob Appel, director of the event producer, Appel Presents. The
Performing Arts League, original beneficiary of the profits, is no longer
involved. Now BRAVO
“It’s always been a grand affair,” says producer
Appel, who’s retiring from BRAVO this year. “But this time, we’re pulling out a
few more stops.” The theme is “BRAVO Broadway: Salute to the Red, White and
Blue.” The range of arts here, says Appel, is “as diverse a fabric as our
country; bringing it all together is a form of patriotism.”
The opening ‘act’ will be the San Diego Chamber
Orchestra, with 40 musicians offering their own tribute to the
Other additions include 19 stages on three floors
of the Westgate (up from last year’s 17). The two new specialty stages are a
Blues and Jazz Stage, hosted by KSDS Jazz 88, and a Latino Stage.
For the first time, BRAVO Lifetime Achievement
Awards will be bestowed; honorary co-chairs Jessie Knight and Pam Slater-Price
will pay tribute to 92 year-old singing legend (and
local resident) Frankie Laine and the Old Globe’s beloved founding director, 90
year-old Craig Noel.
Another addition this year is a fashion show.
“Our audience itself is quite fashionable,” says
Appel, referring to the high-end crowd’s glitzy response to the invitation’s
suggestion of ‘artful attire.’ At 9pm, there will be a BRAVO Grand Turn in
Fashion; the runway ‘models’ will be selected by ‘spotters’ on the red carpet
when guests arrive, and they’ll glide down the hotel’s Grand Staircase on the
arm of a formally attired escort.
Twenty-two arts organizations are new to BRAVO
this year, says Appel. “There’s a great display of ethnic groups. We have two
Chinese folk dance groups and four belly dance companies,” as well as puppetry,
mime, theater, opera, blues, jazz, classical music, spoken word, cabaret, a
children’s choir, a Klezmer ensemble; African, Cuban, Cambodian, Philippine and
Hawaiian dancers, Gypsy Dwendo, a Mambo orchestra, Mariachis and folklorico
dancers, Japanese music and the Fern Street Circus, to name a few. “There’s no
way to see all that
Appel and his committee interviewed or auditioned
121 performing companies; they were intending to pare it down to 72, but the
high quality and diversity of applicants left them with 83 groups. In the new
format, “everyone has an equal chance,” Appel says. “The largest organization
has the same opportunity as the very smallest -- the same 30-minute performance
window and the same honorarium” ($1000 per group last year; the funds are
administered through the San Diego Foundation). “It isn’t a lot,” Appel
acknowledges, “but with the cutbacks in funding and giving, every little bit is
worthwhile, especially to the smaller companies.
“In many ways, BRAVO is really for the small and
medium-sized organizations. They really benefit from the exposure -- and the
honorarium. For business and society people, who are very busy and may not have
a chance to see all these groups perform, it’s an eye-opener and a great
smorgasbord of what
The BRAVO folks are fond of saying, “Art is good
for business and business is good for the arts.” As Dr. Irwin M. Jacobs,
chairman and former CEO of Qualcomm, has put it, “BRAVO
“BRAVO,” says Appel, as he retires from the
festivities, “has developed a life of its own. I’m hoping 50-100 years from
now, BRAVO will still be here – maybe in a different form or concept – but
still bringing large and small arts groups together under one roof for the
cream of
[The seventh BRAVO
©2005 Patté Productions Inc.