Page 4BAThe Battalion/Monday, August 27, 1984 Celebrities visiting A&M demand star treatment Cheap Trick is one of several visiting groups whose contracts require the sponsoring organization to provide special treat ment while at Texas A&M. By DOLORES HAJOVSKY Reporter Common hospitality is shown to entertainers who come to Texas A&M. Before an MSC Town Hall con cert or broadway show, MSC Opera and Performing Arts Society pro duction or MSC Basement concert is conducted at Texas A&M the enter tainers’ contract must be agreed upon. In a contract is a “rider” that spec ifies exactly what the enteratainers request from where they perform. “Most entertainers just want to be treated like human beings,” Suzanne Becker, adviser for Town Hall, said. “They just want fresh food and clean towels —the more things agreed upon ahead of time the fewer sur prises when the performers arrive. One of the first things I tell them is that University policy prohibits alco hol. This is not too well recieved but it is accepted.” The contracts are the same whether the entertainers are in Re union Arena in Dallas or in Podunk, Texas, which causes problems, Becker said. , “For example, Adam Ant was ap palled he had to ride in a University car and that we didn’t have a limou sine for him,” Becker said. “When Jimmy Buffet came in town he wanted 20 Hawaiian shirts for that evening’s performance. Twenty Ha- waiin shirts are not easy to find.” There are a few items commonly found in most contracts, Becker said. Everybody must have bottled water, and most perfomers want ox ygen close by in case of an emer gency, Becker said. “Cheap Trick’s contract is an ex ample of the extent of details the performers want,” Becker said. “For 25 people at 2 p.m. , not a minute later, they wanted a meal for their crew to consist of a lunch deli tray, hot soup, light rye and wheat breads, plus condiments, milk, coffee and soft drinks. If one item was not pre pared as specified they got furious. “At 6 p.m., not a minute later, a catered hot meal for 25 people was to include a hot meat dish, hot vege tables, light rye and wheat breads, butter, desert, condiments, milk, coffee and soft drinks. “It goes into even more detail for the four-member band. We must provide around $1,000 in food per show and most of it goes to waste.” Jim Hurd, adviser for the broad way division of Town Hall, said the performers he deals with are more professional actors and not as much “celebrities.” They do not ask to be catered to as much, Hurd said. When Town Hall provides a fruit basket or flowers it is because the contract asked for it or the organiza tion wants to provide something nice to make them feel good, Hurd said. “Most actors I deal with don’t want anything to eat before they perform, but afterwards they appre ciate the gesture,” Hurd said. Hurd said Town Hall will provide coffee, doughnuts, and recreational passes to the loading crew, because that is who they work with most of the time. “The technical crew will come in the morning of a performance and set up the stage,” Hurd said. “The actors will come in the evening, per form and leave.” The same is true with OPAS, Hurd said. The university sets up the shell of the stage for a ballet or a concert and the performers just en tertain, Hurd said. “When Dianna Ross came she ar rived an hour before the show, got ready, performed and left —nobody even talked to her,” Hurd said. Darlene Wilson, vice chairman of student development for Basement, said a food plate is provided for their entertainers because it is just common courtesy. “Most of the performers we deal with are local talent,” Wilson said. “When they are only being paid $1,000 a performance they don’t have too much clout.” Wilson says Basementwill sponsor two big shows a year paying $5,000, and for those hotel accommodations and whatever else the performer asks for are provided. Wilson says what is provided de pends on the person. Sometimes the performers just want water by the stage, Wilson said. J*' <§> QUALITY NAME BRAND Oy <> 05 *o®o> llllillll ■i \ m ^ ^ (ACROSS FHOM 1921 S* TCXAS-C.S. quo waro votxswAom ALL YOU* AUOtO 4 V!0*O Ng£t>$~ LAY-A-WAY MASTERCARO/VISA POLK AUDIO MARANTZ RCA FISHER Hours 9-3 Sat. 9-6 Mon.-Fri. HARMON-KARDON SANSUI SONY ,STAX ECG PARTS YOUR FULL SERVICE DEALER with SELECTION AND LOWER PRICES A \ 'O' 'o 9-, s?, O' ^ ^ O' ^ ^ <