Letter from Chip Northrup

Festival Venue Is Being Underused

The Glimmerglass Festival has reduced its 2024 calendar to about a third of the potential season length of late spring, summer and early fall. This reduction means that one of the finest entertainment venues in America will sit idle most of the time, which underscores the fact that, were it programmed more effectively—with popular music concerts, entertainers and theater—the facility would not only become more self-sustaining, it would meet a need in the area that has otherwise been addressed in a brewery’s back yard.

Glimmerglass is not the Met. It’s a delightful, rain-proof live performance facility waiting for more ambitious and professional programming. The new board and new director are in a position to make that happen. The late director, Paul Kellogg, grew up in a family of show people—who worked in theater and cabaret in Texas. Paul might not like it, but he would understand the need to keep the show going and the footlights on—as long as the weather permits.

Chip Northrup
Cooperstown