Will entertainment in Metro stations really bring in passengers who might otherwise drive? Are you serious? They must be using some potent paint thinner down at Metro headquarters and the fumes are getting to the management and the board if they think that this will be a draw.
I can hear the fantasy conversations going off in their head now: “Honey, they’re doing the Stephen Sondheim songbook at the Dupont Circle station this morning. Let’s take the train into work. In fact, let’s bring the kids, too. Sondheim sounds amazing in the train station; the way the horns and the strings echo off the concrete walls is magical. Remember last spring when we took the Green Line to hear the jazz quintet at Largo and the squealing of the brakes on the trains sounded just like Coltrane? Good times.”
Listen, I like the guy who plays guitar outside Metro Center and the horn player at Farragut North, as well as the quartet of pan flutes and guitars around town. They add a nice feel to the commuting experience because they’re real and because these are people who actually work for their handouts. Going to see the Harlem Globetrotters at the Verizon Center, the musician made sure to play “Sweet Georgia Brown” about every third song and it was fun … it put a smile on your face. But I was going there anyway.
Having these “corporate” groups putting on little more than advertisements for their events is cold and not spontaneous. It’s callous and commercial and, quite frankly, I’d rather not have to plow through a group gathered in my path on the way to the escalators (which aren’t working anyway) while some actor does King Lear to promote a WPAS event. I imagine that there will be leaflets handed out that will end up on the station floor and the whole thing will really create a less than pleasant experience.
On the other hand, if Metro hires a talent scout, maybe they can turn the experiment into a showcase for jugglers, magicians and ’80s cover bands … but NO MIMES and NO CLOWNS please. Maybe they can have “American Idol” tryouts on the platforms. The screeching of those Patti LaBelle wannabes should mix perfectly with the sound of trains sliding to a stop. Or maybe they could just loosen up the current rules and let real people do what they already do outside the stations. After all, these are the same “entrepreneurs” who are just trying to make a buck that have been cited as examples in other cities.
Let’s face it; this is about commerce, this is about allowing another form of advertising into the system. Let corporate entertainment groups buy billboards just like everyone else to sell what they need to sell. Don’t tell me this is a good thing because it will draw more people to transit. The reality is that these “events” will do little more than create yet another obstacle for me between Metro and the places I need to go.
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