Morning Feed

FORGET THE CONDO GLUT. Watch out for the theater seat glut. The DC area is adding close to 2,000 new theater seats to the more than 12,000 it already has, according to City Paper's Bob Mondello. There will be a new stage for the Shakespeare Theater and new space on H Street NE. Wooly Mammouth and other theaters have gotten new space downtown and in the hinterburbs as well.

I want this trend so badly to be a good thing, but all I can think of is an analogy to "The Beverly Hillbillies" or "My Fair Lady" (for a more appropriate reference.) No matter how many beautiful theaters Washington builds, it still is not a theater town. Over the years, the DC Bubble has seen its fair share of wonderful performances here. But theater spaces do not create talent and seats do not create an audience. Unfortunately in this analogy, the people of DC are the Clampets dressed up in our theater mansions, which we dont know what to do with.

From the perspective of an investor in real estate, new theaters are great. They fill the neighborhood with affluence and granduer. Theater companies, however, are much harder to build and foster, and they require acceptance and financial support for economic diversity that does not really exist in DC. To be poor and committed to arts in DC to my mind tells me you are in the wrong place.To support theatrical arts maybe the funds used to build theaters should be used to subsidize theatrical companies. As DC evolves, perhaps this will happen.

Meet you in front of the ce-ment theater, Jedd.

One Liners

A new, quick segment on WETA last night featured Shaw and Ledroit Parks. "WETA Neighborhoods" presents on-the-ground reporting on the great neighborhoods of greater D.C. Next month will be Del-Rey in Alexandria.

TONIC, the Mount Pleasant comfort food tavern, is opening on the GWU campus. ... Ann Cashion still is contemplating a taco joint up on 11th St. NW by bar-of-the-moment Wonderland.

Robert Wiedmaier, auter of Marcel's in the West End, plans to open Beck at 1101 K St. NW. The concept high-end French Belgian. ... Lima -- that's Spanish for Lime -- is opening at 1401 K street.

Understatment of the year: DC is not an easy place to do business, says Major League Baseball Prez Bob DuPay. MLB might be a bunch of sharks, but they are right, they are right. ... Baseball lease dangling.