Turf War Raging At Houston Venue

Miller Outdoor Theater is “one of Houston’s most cherished cultural venues and home to dozens of free concerts and plays every year.” But a power struggle between the theater’s advisory board and the city’s parks department may be jeopardizing the venue’s legacy of providing Houstonians with free orchestra concerts, Shakespeare performances, and dance recitals. Miller board members set the theater’s schedule and pay the performers out of the money garnered from a local hotel tax. But the parks department staffs the theater, and its financial contribution is crucial. With money tight in Houston, the parks commissioner has slashed the Miller’s budget, and there is even talk of privatization, and that has board members up in arms.