Theater League Left in the Lurch
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But as McCord well knows, many problems remain, chief among them boosting revenue at the Hot Tix outlets, still the League’s main income source. “It all boils down to how you get the tickets sold,” McCord said last week. “If we could crack that nut we would be ahead.” A Hot Tix expansion into Rose Records outlets hasn’t solved the problem; board president Mary Badger said sales have been fluctuating week to week.
Some board members contend McCord was making headway in resuscitating the League, but others were apparently growing impatient with her management style. “She talked in platitudes much of the time,” said one commercial producer, “and we weren’t seeing the kind of follow-through on things that we needed.”
Andy Papas, who runs the nightclub Traxx at 63rd and Central Park and the Tabou Bistro and Bar a few miles away, has come north to open the Tom Tom Club, an intimate haven at 864 N. Wabash. Papas’s club, which is set to open December 12, comfortably holds no more than 175 people and is decorated with huge metal sculptures and other works Papas creates in his spare time. He plans to offer “acid jazz” seven nights a week after 10 for the dance crowd, and says he hopes the arty ambience and intimacy will be the Tom Tom Club’s big selling points. “I think people are tired of the big clubs.” Above the club, Papas’s wife Cathy has opened the Tyro Cafe, her first venture, in the restaurant business and another showplace for Papas’s art. For now the tiny Tyro’s menu is short and sweet: fondues, pastries, and coffees.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Charles Eshelman.
