I am writing in regards to a captioned photo you published in your last issue, of an Open Mike Night at The Cat in the Cream Coffeehouse. The photo featured a single performer on the stage, and a wide shot of dozens of empty chairs. The caption identified it as one of The Cat's "ever-popular" Open Mike Nights.
I fully respect The Review's right to publish whatever it sees fit, and if that means a photo of an empty coffeehouse, fine. But since you did not see fit to accompany the rather insulting photo with an article, I will provide a few facts: At the time that last week's Review went to press, The Cat had been open for a grand total of five nights since the beginning of the semester. Our first night open was, yes, an Open Mike Night (not the one you shot), attended by upwards of 150 people. Two days later, we featured the Oberlin band Circle With A Smile, which was also well-attended. During the weekend in which your photographer visited us, we had a live jazz night (260 audience members) and a performance by the Canadian band Moxy Fruvous which drew more than 500 people to Hales Annex and The Cat! Yet you chose to sit out these events (blockbusters, by Oberlin standards), and instead to take your photo on the one night when we were sure to have a light turnout.
The Cat in the Cream is run by three very hard-working student managers, on a budget that is, at best, miniscule, and, at worst, a joke. Along with Ilisa Stalberg and Mark Trushkowsky, I work upwards of 20 hours a week to keep The Cat up and running. We never charge admission to any event, yet we provide more nationally-known singer-songwriters, folk musicians, and acoustic bands than any other comparable venue in all of North Ohio (that includes Cleveland - that stat from The Plain Dealer). Your photo was an insult to those of us who devote a significant portion of our lives to keeping The Cat open.
Copyright © 1996, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 125, Number 3; September 20, 1996
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