Oh, That Dance
They conduct themselves as if they were performing in the parade of virgins.
As if they were garbed in long white robes, worn beneath crowns of flowers, dancing across a verdant lawn on tippy toes, spreading pristine rose petals among the peasants.
They dont like the promoter Gary Mandell.
Havent for years.
No divorce is imminent, though.
Too Embarrassing?
It would be unseemly, they reason, to admit that you killed off what I suppose was the most successful weekly promotion Culver City has seen in its 89 years and 10 months of official cityhood.
How petty.
How catty.
But who will be candid enough to admit it?
Communities the size of Culver City wrack their most imaginative minds for years trying to think up this kind of jackpot promotion.
A Time to Die
And then, at the height of success, City Hall says maybe we should spread our funds around to other cultural events.
That might be fair, except the only event I heard officially mentioned was the one day a year Artwalk, a worthy promotion but hardly a fair tradeoff.
He Is Well-Connected
The skinny but musically muscular Mr. Mandell has been promoting concerts and gigs all of his adult life, stretching back more than 30 years.
He has made connections and formed important relationships across the industry.
This coziness seems to offend the four or five people in City Hall we have been talking about.
Plain old green-eyed jealousy of Mr. Mandells stature on the inside of the music industry.
As for marketing, he knows how to make a concert whistle.
Hint. Hint. Guess which side doesnt.
Every summer Mr. Mandells concerts pack in fans in the City Hall courtyard, out to the sidewalk.
Magnet for Families
Families have loved the Mandell concerts. They come because their kids adore the sounds. And they have plenty of room to romp around in without disturbing older concert-goers.
Many people have to stand.
Lacking a natural forum such as the terrific Santa Monica Pier, Culver City lures hundreds into its Downtown historically an after-dark graveyard every Thursday night throughout the summer.
Ah, That Was Yesteryear
The neighborhood used to rock with enthusiasm and mellifluous sounds every summer Thursday evening.
Until this year when more than a months worth of concerts were chopped off with the crudeness of an axe.
Too successful?
How is that for creative thinking?
Too successful must be a new concept in show business.
As in Well, boys, we made too much money off last nights show. Lets cut the program in half.
Birds Do It, Couples Do It
Surely you know a long married couple that is staying together out of habit more than love.
Besides, who would they fight with? Who would they socialize with? Who would they dine with every evening?
That is my picture of Gary Mandell and about four or five otherwise decent people around City Hall.
The Quirkiest Relationship
Now that Ted Cooke is gone, the most curious professional relationship in Culver City is the annual Dance of Death between the coterie of anti-Mandell boo-birds at City Hall on one side of the table and Mr. Mandell on the other.
A pity for the community.
