Hollywood Bowl Suit Plays on Phantom Fears

Re “Lawsuit May Force Delay of Hollywood Bowl Project,” June 7: Robert Nudelman will deny thousands of music lovers the opportunity to have a new Hollywood Bowl shell that can actually house the full orchestra and project its sound with enhanced acoustics, not to mention the other improved facilities, in the name of a misguided preservationist disguise.

The real reason, I think, is that he and the Hollywood Heritage group he heads fear a phantom of rock concerts that they have conjured up. Why would the replacement be built to house a full 100-or-so-member symphony orchestra, plus chorus, if there were a plan to put eight or 10 rock musicians onstage? That flies in the face of logic. The current shell isn’t a permanent landmark. It’s a temporary rolling superstructure that was never intended to exist for 20 years, let alone 70. It’s time for Nudelman to step aside, let the old shell become a fond memory and let us start creating beautiful new music with the new one.

Ron Samuels

Studio City