I am writing this entry while in Augusta, Georgia to attend the 2015 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. I’m very fortunate to be able to attend this event every year.
Although I know very little about golf, each year I thoroughly enjoy not just the exquisite beauty of Augusta National in full bloom, but I also marvel at how impeccably managed every aspect of this tour-nament is, which lends an air of relaxed formality that makes for a fun and friendly time.
Oh, and then there’s also the golf. Did I mention that? It’s a thrill to see the top players in the world playing one of the best courses in the world and, very often, playing their best game. It’s not just the top pros either. Every year the top amateurs from around the globe are also invited to participate alongside with the best professionals.
I am sincere when I say that this annual event is something of the best the American South and, indeed, this country have to offer. It’s all done with great grace and style.
“What on earth are you, Bill Watkins, Mr. Artsy, talking about?”, you might be asking.
Well, I’m talking about something that we in the arts can learn from those in the world of sports.
Huh?
No, really.
Wouldn’t it be incredible if we could pull off a similarly world-class event one week out of every year in which the best performers from around the world gather by invitation only to demonstrate their craft to hungry spectators?
You know, just the waiting list to get tickets for the Masters has been closed for decades. Unless you’ve had your spectator badges for years already, you simply can’t get in the gates. That’s not snobbery, it’s an indication of the demand to see the top people in their business at work and the appreciation of that privilege that the ticket holders have.
Why not have the same thing in the arts? Yes, we have Broadway shows that run for years and that can be sellouts and “impossible tickets” for a long time. But somehow that’s not quite the same thing.
The 2015 Spectator Guide for the Masters tells us, “The chief objective of the Masters is to stage a golf show that is enjoyable to all — our members, patrons and player guests, and to interested golfers generally. We would also like, if we can, to contribute something to the advancement of the game.” © 2015 by Augusta National, Inc.
To my knowledge we don’t have anything similar in the performing arts in this country. Am I wrong about that? It does seem that other countries come closer to this idea. (I am thinking of the Stratford Festivals in Ontario, Canada and in England, for example.)
Wouldn’t you love to have one week each year, though, to see the likes of Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Meryl Streep, Bill Nighy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hanks, and Joaquin Phoenix all performing in one beautiful venue in plays with their similarly-talented peers in top-notch works?
I mean, an invited festival of the best of the best, based on their skill (not just their looks or their faddish and fleeting popularity). I mean, proven, lasting skill and talent and not the lowest-common-denominator from American Idol-ish shows who can draw the loudest whoops and screams, “full of sound and fury signifying nothing”, and then are “heard from no more”.
You know what I mean. Don’t you?
Wouldn’t it be awesome if the main reason for that one week was simply “to stage a show (or shows) enjoyable to all — the patrons, the players, and just generally-interested folks” and, if possible to “contribute to the advancement of the art”?
If it can be done in golf, why can’t it be done in the arts?
Dream big, Bill. Dream big.
Who would be on your list to perform in this festival?
Do you think in reality anyone in America could ever pull off this kind of thing?
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