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[an error occurred while processing this directive] (none) The American Theatre Critics Association By Myles Murphy Ashland Daily Tidings The American Theatre Critics Association will hold its annual conference in Ashland in 2001, bringing more national recognition to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival as well as southern Oregon as a whole. The group serves as a way for critics from across the nation to network, share ideas and discuss issues that effect theatre on a national level. Most recently, the critics have been involved in the discussion of funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. They also recommend the winner of the Regional Tony Award. The award, which was given to the OSF in 1983, recognizes a regional theater for its body of work and achievement. Some members of the association also serve coincidentally on the panel that recommends recipients of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. "We don't just sit there saying `This is the worst Eugene O'Neill play I've ever seen,'" Reiss said. The association was in Ashland once before, in 1985. The group met in Philadel-phia last year, where OSF Director of Marketing and Communications Janeen A. Olsen and ATCA member Al Reiss of Jacksonville made the pitch for Ashland as the 2001 site. The efforts of Olsen and Reiss paid off when ATCA members voted unanimously to come to Ashland. "We've been working on this for well over a year," Reiss said. This will be a repeat performance for Ashland, since the group met here previously in 1985. Chicago is the only other city that has hosted the conference more than once in the 25 years since the group formed. While here, the critics will attend association business meetings, seminars and see shows. "They'll probably see six of our shows," Olsen said. Many of the theater critics also write travel pieces for various publications across the country, which could lead to more publicity for Ashland's tourist industry, according to Mary Pat Parker of the Ashland Chamber of Commerce. "We've been working on coming up with different things for them to do other than theater," Parker said. "It's not a typical tour group. These folks have a huge literary background and it's nice to show them what we have to offer. It's important because they get written up in theater and travel journals. It's a different way for us to get some exposure and increase our visitorship year-round." Southern Oregon's attraction does not only stem from the OSF, but from the host of other theater and tourism lures in the area. "The Association does not like to come to a one-theater town," Reiss said. But the presence of the OSF is what has made Ashland one of the premier regional theater areas in the nation, according to Reiss. Other very healthy theater regions include Seattle, Louisville, San Francisco, Chicago and Atlanta. "But Ashland is the mecca for a lot of people in regional theater," Reiss said. Reiss said that the 1985 conference resulted in Ash-land and southern Oregon being written up all across the nation, including publications in Nashville, Chicago, Detroit, and Los Angeles. "I guarantee there will be a lot of ink and broadcast coverage coming out of this," Reiss said. "It could help tourism for a few years to come." During the group's six-day stay, members will attend Ashland's Oregon Cabaret Theatre and the Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater in Medford. There are also plans for a tour of Jacksonville, a visit to Harry and David's in Medford, a boat cruise on the Rogue River in Grants Pass, and catered dinners and brunches throughout the Rogue Valley. "The conference introduces critics to the country at large," Reiss said. "It's broadening. I hesitate to think what my life would have been like without it." The members will have some time to be left to their own devices to explore the area. Reiss, who joined in 1977, is one of the more seasoned critics in the association. He has been a theater critic and writer for the Mail Tribune since 1969. A local association member must act as host and aid in inviting the group to an area for the annual conference, which has meant quite a lot of work for Reiss. "I shall never host another meeting," he said. [an error occurred while processing this directive] (none) [an error occurred while processing this directive] (none) [an error occurred while processing this directive] (none) Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2000 Lee Northwest Publishing