L.A. Theater--Goods & Bads

It was encouraging to see that Dan Sullivan has finally become disenchanted with his job (“L.A. Theater--Does It Have to Be So Bad?,” Oct. 25). Taking swipes at the Ahmanson and the Mayfair theaters, however, is akin to punching your fellow workers over management practices.

Maybe Sullivan should take out his gloves and start punching at the real institutional culprits that keep theater in Los Angeles second-rate.

How about the niggardly corporate giving to the performing arts? How about the cabal at City Hall that keeps the hotel tax subsidizing the Convention Center instead of the arts?

How about the philistine attitude at the state and national level that gives smaller and smaller sums to the arts while making the granting process more and more labyrinthine? How about the studios and production companies in the film industry that use the theaters as their farm system, but support it only in fits and starts?

I believe that Sullivan is sincere in asking the question he asked. I simply hope he will use his editorial power to improve his working conditions.

RUSSELL BEKINS

Los Angeles