President of the Trinbago Unified Calypsonian Organisation (Tuco) Eric Taylor (Pink Panther), is pushing for the exhorbitant casts at calypso tents to be slashed as part of a series of measures to overhaul operations at tents if they were to be viable.
He said entertainers with weak material must be honest and step aside for the best bards to be heard by talent scouts to ensure more enjoyable productions were staged. He said the tradition of having 30-plus calypsonians performing on one night was impractical and that, along with false encores, must be stopped. Taylor said tents managers and entertainers alike continued to offer the same products in the same packaging, claimed that it was new and expected consumers to buy them. He said there have been too many advances in entertainment and production for calypsonians to still bring presentations that bordered on the historic and, worst of all, predictable. Taylor believes that calypsonians need to work with image consultants while tent managers leap into the modern world of event management, which will address the issues relating to poor time management and other misgivings at shows.
He said he already has communicated his position for Carnival 2010 to several tent promoters who have been hard-hit by a lack of sponsorship and dwindling patronage over the past decade, all directly linked to poor management. He cited a sharp increase in tent attendance this year but said promoters were far from turning around the industry. At present Tuco operates six tents across the country, which are dependant on taypayers to open their doors. Kaiso House, in Port-of-Spain, is managed by Tuco while the north zone executive promotes Klassic Ruso, which is also in the city. Kaiso Karavan is produced by the eastern region. In San Fernando, Kaiso Showcase is managed by the executive of that region. The Tobago arm of Tuco promotes Magnificent Glow and Super Liner tents. Taylor said he communicated his position to Michael Osuna (Sugar Aloes), but was yet to meet with Weston Rawlins (Cro Cro), who operates The Icons Calypso Tent. No such overtures have been made to the lone all-female Divas Calypso Cabaret International.
He added: "Our emphasis is going to be on the programmes in the tent. Tents must be closed by 11.30 pm. That means shows must start on time. The cast must be cut. As calypsonians, we must have the maturity to know and say our songs are not the best. "We don't want to bore people with long drawn-out programming. The customer is always right. For too long we have been caught up in our own little world and have not been concerned about our stakeholders–the customers," he added. But Rudolph Ottley, manager of Divas Calypso Cabaret International is not impressed by Taylor's remarks.
