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Queries and Quibbles

Some of you may remember the old David-Letterman-reads-his-mail skit with the theme song “Letters! Oh, we get letters! We get stacks and stacks of letters! Letters!” Yes, that kind of thing is taking up increasingly precious real estate in my brain, so I feel the need to get some use out of it. 

And while we get comparatively few actual letters these days, emails and social media posts are the next best thing, and we get our share of them, some coming directly to me in my roles as Executive Director and Dean. I always enjoy hearing from our communities, including audiences, artists, educators, students, civic leaders, and donors.

One of the most frequent topics these days, unsurprisingly, is our policy around COVID-19 protocols – particularly the vaccination-or-test check and the requirement to stay masked under most circumstances. I’m gratified by the number of people who have expressed their thanks to us for implementing these safety measures, which mirror the best practices in the entertainment industry and have been thoroughly vetted by George Mason’s nationally-praised COVID mitigation team including physicians, epidemiologists, and public health and facilities specialists, some of whom you’ve probably been hearing on the national media throughout the pandemic. As I’ve mentioned before, Mason is one of the safest universities in the country, with a minuscule test-positivity rate of 0.3% across our community even as we have returned to near-full operations this fall.

Turning to the other pocket of the mailbag, I’ve also heard, and will freely acknowledge, how hard this is on everyone, including families, performers, and staff, and how ready we are to be rid of those pesky masks and mandates. But be assured that we are constantly reevaluating our position (in partnership with the university and other authorities) and our commitment is to safety first. As soon as we can safely add another piece of normalcy to the Hylton Center experience, please know that we will – and we’ll shout the news from our beautiful copper rooftop!

A holiday invitation

On a more festive and very personal note, I am so looking forward to returning to the stage with the American Festival Pops Orchestra for the “Holiday Pops” concert on December 10^th. This time I won’t be wearing my stocking cap as the narrator of “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” – that holiday favorite will return in a future season – but in the character of Francis Pharcellus Church, the New York Sun newsman who famously answered a letter to the editor from eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon with a beautiful missive now known as “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.” Vincent Oppido, a rising young film composer in Hollywood and, oh yes, a Mason music alum, has written a gorgeous score to accompany the letter and the editorial response. I look forward to sharing it with you soon! 

Be well!

Rick Davis

Dean and Executive Director