Letters

Joseph Treviño’s story about the Universal Church [“Demons
on Broadway,” June 29–July 5] was very well done, except for one rather
important point. He reports that Universal Church backers will “steal” even
more Catholics from parishes that will be closed once the Cathedral of Our Lady
of the Angels is completed.

For the record, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has no plans to close any parishes
in the downtown area. In fact, we are having to add more Masses in the churches
that we have in order to accommodate the nearly 5 million Catholics — the majority
of them Latino — in this, the largest Catholic archdiocese in the U.S. Visit
any of our churches in the downtown area, and the vibrancy of our inner-city
parishes will be very apparent.

—Tod Tamberg
Media Relations Director
Archdiocese of Los Angeles

CONDIT UNBECOMING

DEAR EDITOR:

Re: “Congressman
Condom” [July 27–August 2]. It is not surprising Marc Cooper is all for
the sleazed-up gossip on the Condit story; in Cooper’s world, ethics are for
politicians, not the pillars of virtue who cover them in the press. Since Cooper
is still working off the lazy assumptions made in the first week of Monicagate,
one doubts he will ever get to the facts concerning Condit when they do roll
in. Until then, since he doesn’t like Condit’s politics, he feels free to treat
the Levys’ family agony as a mean-spirited hoot. How creepy.

—Greg Wall
Los Angeles

DEAR EDITOR:

I’m with Marc Cooper on the Chandra debate. The 24/7 spotlight on the missing
intern is far more entertaining, and — as Cooper suggests — proof that the First
Amendment ain’t the first for nothin’! If Congress won’t throw the bum out,
at least the media can and will.

—Deanne Stillman
Los Angeles

DEAR EDITOR:

You got it exactly right, Marc. Condit is the story of the year. Finally a
topic to keep us, not to mention Matthews and O’Reilly, awake. Keep it going.

—Bucky Fox
Los Angeles

CONTACT HIGH

DEAR EDITOR:

Is Steven Mikulan smoking crack? I think he must be chasing the dragon after
that marshmallow review of Contact
[“Musical, Schmusical,” July 13–19]. He gives it a flippant title, but seems
to have lost his critical aesthetic by accepting this piece of crap as a legitimate
musical. It has no singing, no original music (and what music it does have is
on tape), canned soap-opera dialogue . . . and that’s okay with Steve? Just
because the Tony Awards are so desperate to give something an award that they
choose a dance recital that could have been produced by any decent dance company
is no reason for critics to go soft in the head. I used to think Steve had some
cojones, but it sounds like he sold them to ensure his front-row seat.
C’mon. Steve. The emperor has no clothes, didn’tja notice?

—Lars Thorson
Altadena

DEAR EDITOR:

Alas, the famous yellow dress must have so overwhelmed your reviewer that
he did not see Contact for what it really was: an opportunity for fashion-faux-pas
yokels to come to town and laugh and cheer and clap on cue. In Act 1, they roared
maddeningly over a man and a woman maneuvering sexually on a swing. In Act 2,
they were beside themselves as a stereotypical chauvinistic male yelled at his
stereotypical submissive female about dinner rolls. In Act 3, they could not
contain their gusto as some guy pined for nearly an hour over said yellow dress,
all to unoriginal music. While enduring Contact’s inanities, I kept thinking
how terrible it would be to be caught in an earthquake with that easily amused
crowd.

—Adam Rose
Los Angeles

DEAR EDITOR:

Re: Alan Rich’s “Carrying On at the Atreus Motel”
[A Lot of Night Music, June 29–July 5]. I think one reason why choral compositions
are flourishing is that there are still plenty of groups to perform them, although
not as many as there used to be. I sing and am involved in the music program
at Pasadena Presbyterian Church, and, in both weekly worship and special concerts,
we usually sing 20 or so new works each year. Rich should consider doing an
article on James Hopkins and Morten Lauridsen, two local composers (both professors
at USC) who have written a great deal of excellent new music, both in the choral
vein (“Songs of Eternity” and “Lux Aeterna,” respectively, for example) and
in other genres as well.

—Bob Thomas
Los Angeles